Neal Schon's amazingly bad solo

[ye olde fretmonkey]

I've been away from here for awhile.

I clicked on the "Is Neal Schon tone-deaf?" solo on that "Worst Guitar Solo" thread. It's astonishing.

Can someone please provide me with the YouTube link for that?

[tuuur]

Here ya go. Neal starts around 3:17 into the clip.
My impression is that he couldn't hear himself and was playing from where he thought the good notes should be, only he was apparently very off.
I feel for the guy, an error like that whilst playing with Albert King on stage... terrible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upQiz1pyO9I

[Strat62]

At the start of his solo the guitar sounds almost sharp, although he may be just a bit overzealous in his bends. The second part of his solo he's at least a half a step down and I agree it sounds as if he couldn't hear what was going on, especially with the horns in the background.

[Steinar G]

Ouch!! Poor guy!!

[jeffallwood]

Around 3:50, there's an "Oh, sh!*" moment and he seems to find the correct key!

Yeah, the horns and drums (especially the ride cymbal by his head) probably more than blocked out his hearing-plus, wasn't Albert supposedly one of the loudest blues players?

[Cygnus]

Oh dear ... that's not good.

[jt100]

OUCH, that stings. Albert stops playing and just stares at him. Neal keeps going and starts to wonder "why is he just staring at me?" then he looks down and there is the "oh Sh*t" moment. If that was me after that performance, I would probably lock myself in the bathroom and not want to talk to anyone for a few days. Okay...not really. But i sure as hell would be laying awake for a night or two saying "IDIOT!" over and over.

[tdu]

You gotta give him props for fantastic fashion sense though. I mean, combing that haircut with a moustache is brilliant.

[tiktok]

Given the total arc of Neal's career, if that's his worst night ever, he's still in great shape.

[klasaine]

I Neal's defense ...
I've been in situations where the stage volume was so loud, mushy and indistinct (and my ears were fatigued) that I couldn't hear pitch accurately or even at all. And this isn't an uncommon phenomenon.
I'm not saying that it wasn't just a overly zealous bonehead mistake but ... ?

[Durtdog]

Originally Posted by klasaine

I Neal's defense ...
I've been in situations where the stage volume was so loud, mushy and indistinct (and my ears were fatigued) that I couldn't hear pitch accurately or even at all. And this isn't an uncommon phenomenon.
I'm not saying that it wasn't just a overly zealous bonehead mistake but ... ?

Yeah, I've done it. But I don't think I've ever missed that bad for that long.

I feel for him, but if it was me messing up that badly, I'd certainly expect friends and strangers to have a lot of fun at my expense...and I'd deserve it.

[DustyDave]

At the beginning of the clip, I thought that was Richard Simmons instead of Neal Schon on stage (that would have explained it!). Poor Neal. The good, the bad and the ugly forever archived on YouTube.

[jt100]

Originally Posted by tdu

You gotta give him props for fantastic fashion sense though. I mean, combing that haircut with a moustache is brilliant.

Good Point. He could loosen the suspenders a little too. His jeans are almost up to his chin. Actually are the suspenders really necessary with those pants??

[Durtdog]

Originally Posted by tdu

You gotta give him props for fantastic fashion sense though. I mean, combing that haircut with a moustache is brilliant.

That was a while back. Just wait 25 years when you younger guys look back at 2008 fashions and realize how goofy it looks to have a shaved head, goatee and tatoos.

[fakeocaster]

Now thats funny


The keyboard player looks like an drug dealer in an episode of Starsky and Hutch.

[Just-Jim]

His jeans are almost up to his chin.

That is so he can just reach over his shoulder to grab his wallet out of his pants back pocket.

I really like Neals playing (aside from this video).

In my opinon a solo should never go over the length of time a typical 12 bar blues solo would last, regardless of what type of song it is. Only a few people can pull off the 10 minute solo and keep it somewhat interesting.

[tdu]

Originally Posted by Durtdog

That was a while back. Just wait 25 years when you younger guys look back at 2008 fashions and realize how goofy it looks to have a shaved head, goatee and tatoos.

I was actually serious. I had no idea a white guy could grow an afro like that. He looks cool to me. Although I wouldn't accept a ride from him or let him in my house.

I saw a photo of Mick Taylor with a mean fro too. Was there some lost period in time that I am too young to know about where it was cool for white guys to grow massive afros?

Seriously though, I did see Journey this summer. He's a great guitar player for sure. Too bad one of what is likely very few of his embarasing on stage moments is memorialized on youtube lol.


P.S. one of the comments on youtube brought up a good point. Maybe he couldn't hear properly through his hair lol.

[Just-Jim]

I had no idea a white guy could grow an afro like that.

I had one - but by accident. I was just trying to get the late 70's rocker look. I can laugh now. Something went horribly wrong with the chemicals or something that they put in my hair. I had to go to work just after getting this done. I was pushing grocery carts on a really windy day, and the thing blew out like Bernie from Room 222, Link from the Mod Squad or the 70's Jackson 5. That was one of the worst days of my life. The look on my co-workers faces when I was bagging up groceries with this enormous wig looking thing on my head made that shift drag out forever. I think they thought that was the look I was going for.

[voodoostation]

My dad got one in the early 80's, still don't know why. He looked like Bob Ross. Only time in my life I've ever seen a pig farmer with a 'fro.

[Guitar_Ninja]

He actually looks a lot like Ben Stiller in your avatar there, Just-Jim.

I thought it was really funny, up there with "Clapton Shreds". Though you have to feel bad for the guy when King starts coaching him on stage in front of everyone.

[TomHB]

I think Albert King played while tuned two steps down (or more), so that may have thrown Schon off if he was watching King's fretboard for the key. May also be why Neal later lost the huge afro, so he could hear better

Seems like King was playing in Bb. Can't figure out what key Neal was in, but it was flat, whatever it was

[Telemarkman]

I think Neal played great - it's just that he played in the wrong key ...

[Charlie Bernstein]

Originally Posted by Durtdog

That was a while back. Just wait 25 years when you younger guys look back at 2008 fashions and realize how goofy it looks to have a shaved head, goatee and tatoos.

Why wait? It looks pretty goofy now!

----------------

"Seems like the only way I'm ever gonna get a date is if I shave my head, grow a goatee, and get a Cavalier with a cracked windshield." Duane Young

[thepassivevoice]

Originally Posted by tdu

I saw a photo of Mick Taylor with a mean fro too. Was there some lost period in time that I am too young to know about where it was cool for white guys to grow massive afros?

I believe this is what Roger Waters referred to as, "the obligatory Hendrix perm".

[TomHB]

Originally Posted by thepassivevoice

I believe this is what Roger Waters referred to as, "the obligatory Hendrix perm".

Recently revived in a Los Angeles court room!

[Robbie W]

Ah....the old "half step off" gremlin strikes.

I think we have all done that at some point in our playing careers if we have played out live quite a bit.........but the difference is most people notice it within the first one or two notes.

Neal is a good player though, I'm sure he couldn't hear what was going on.

That look on his face when he looks at the fretboard and moves up a half step is priceless

[thepassivevoice]

Originally Posted by TomHB

Recently revived in a Los Angeles court room!

If only that technology have been available in the 60s.

[Larry F]

He sounds a half-step flat to me. Then in the middle of his solo, he slips and goes down another half-step, which he quickly corrects.

Does anyone remember when middle-class white guys in their 30's got perms a la Mr. Brady?

[Fatmanstratman]

Originally Posted by Guitar_Ninja

Though you have to feel bad for the guy when King starts coaching him on stage in front of everyone....

There appears to be a monitor just in front of King, but of course that doesn't mean that Schon can hear himself through it.

King appears to turn to him, look at him, place his hand on the fretboard, then deliberately (and obviously) slide it up to indicate that Schon is playing flat. Schon then looks down, and the "Oh sh*t" moment happens...

We've all been there....

[Telarkaster]

Originally Posted by Fatmanstratman

We've all been there....

I was there at my last show: started my solo in C instead of B but caught myself after one bar. No one noticed but when my friend watched the video after he laughed and heard what I was talking about when I confessed to him after the gig. Oh well, the only thing to do is to continue playing and play twice as well to make 'em forget what just happened!

[ye olde fretmonkey]

Originally Posted by Durtdog

That was a while back. Just wait 25 years when you younger guys look back at 2008 fashions and realize how goofy it looks to have a shaved head, goatee and tatoos.

Hey!!!

25 years from now I'll be...uhh...OLD...and I'll still have a shaved head, goatee and tattoos.

[tdu]

Originally Posted by TomHB

Recently revived in a Los Angeles court room!

The best part about this photo is it was taken during his trial for murder lol. He wore that to court.

[jeffallwood]

Originally Posted by TomHB

Recently revived in a Los Angeles court room!

It looks like a sea anemone precariously perched on his head!

Do you suppose his attorney has ever pulled him aside and said "Phil! Take it down a notch!"?

Of course, if you were trying to build an insanity defense...

[bradpdx]

Originally Posted by fakeocaster

The keyboard player looks like an drug dealer in an episode of Starsky and Hutch.

Only the keyboard player?

Neal starts one fret below where he should be, and he probably just couldn't hear it well. Poor guy - how embarrassing.

I once played a room with a big resonance between A and Bb. When the bass player kicked off a song in one of those keys, either key seemed equally "wrong" due to the resonance. Pretty hard to tell what you were doing!