Worst guitar solos in popular songs

[archtop_fjk]

Winner winner chicken dinner!! (facepalm)

To be fair I’m pretty sure this is from a live rehearsal tape (with Pete Best on drums) and not the version they recorded later in 1963 but ultimately didn’t release.

You also have to remember that John and Paul would write these songs, show the others the chords and melody, and then ask George to figure something out on the solo. Poor George had probably only heard this once or twice before having to perform it!

 

[burntfrijoles]

Or cinnamon girl?

Cinnamon Girl - I just knew Neil Young would be mentioned at some point. He must have really liked that one note. He played lots of it.

It fits the song. Andy Aledort had a nice tutorial on the solo. It‘s a Guitar World video. The link is below.
Cinnamon Girl Solo- Nuances

 

[bottlenecker]

"I played fast to sound frantic, not frilly" - The best reason I didn't go with any Slayer songs. I seriously doubt that either King or Hanneman know how to solo in any given key or scale, but what they do is absolutely perfect for the music they make.

I bet they had some idea, we've just never heard them do that. It can be really hard to sound "out". There are more right notes in a given key than wrong ones. I spend a lot more time hunting for notes when I want them to sound wrong.

Vernon Reid we already know is a studied player, not that I really care. The work put in is the player's business, I just care what I feel when I hear it. I have near zero appetite for rock lead guitar soloing these days, but I still enjoy the cult of personality solo.

 

[Tricone]

I bet they had some idea, we've just never heard them do that. It can be really hard to sound "out". There are more right notes in a given key than wrong ones. I spend a lot more time hunting for notes when I want them to sound wrong.

Vernon Reid we already know is a studied player, not that I really care. The work put in is the player's business, I just care what I feel when I hear it. I have near zero appetite for rock lead guitar soloing these days, but I still enjoy the cult of personality solo.

I am a fan of Vernon Reid's music. The couple of albums he did with Living Colour,James "Blood" Ulmer, the album with Bill Frisell (though the effects sounds are dated), and the work he did with Jack Bruce. Vernon has "Vernon's" sound in everything he plays. To me, that is one of the highest goals. To sound like yourself. Vernon Reid has done that.

"Spectrum Road", the band and last album Jack Bruce did with Vernon Reid, John Medeski, and Cindy Blackman-Santana is outstanding. Tribute to the late drummer Tony Williams.

P.S. I think the "Cult of Personality" solo is genius. The chaos of society and its ever changing tastes are well represented.

 

[knavel]

I think Derringer was still a teenager when he recorded that one. His vocals were just fine on that record, especially for somebody so young.

I forgot the solo part on the song so I put the video on YT. The focal point of the clip made my day and preoccupation with it caused me to not even hear the solo when it came.

 

[Tricone]

Aw yes, The Solo Everyone Loves To Hate. Most folks complaint is that it goes on too long, but seriously, if you learn to play the whole thing, it's a master class in rock lickage. I should try to do that someday...

Love your positivity, but no. I just don't like the ls or their catalog of tunes. Nothing against the ls, the music just does not appeal to me.

Same for "The Band". Meh.

 

[NoTeleBob]

Solo starts at 1:38.

 

[NoTeleBob]

Anything by Big Brother & the Holding Company.

The fills in the entire song are sour, but the real horror begins at 2:15

Brace yourself!

Everyone was so constantly high back then it didn't matter.

 

[Solaris moon]

Police - Hmmm... sounds like he's got some weird pitch vibrato going on even in the rhythm parts. Maybe that explains it, maybe not.

Cinnamon Girl - I just knew Neil Young would be mentioned at some point. He must have really liked that one note. He played lots of it.

It's the chorus - it's too thick. This gives the sound of being out of tune. I heard this song just now and it sounds like it's been to heavily processed and needs to be remastered properly.

 

[Solaris moon]

EVH solo in Beat It

You do realize that THIS SOLO is the reason that Michael Jackson even had a career afterwards - right? No one really listened to him nor did they give a damn about his music until the Thriller album came out. I never knew he did anything else without the Jackson 5 until Eddie wrote that solo. It was QUINCY JONES that called Eddie Van Halen and asked him if he would play on the record. Read Guitar World's article in February 1991 with Eddie on the front cover. What a funny story that was!!!

Can't believe people ripping on my boy Steve Howe. His Asia stint wasn't great but listen to songs like The Wurm or Siberian Khatru.

Any Brian Adams song and Right Here Right Now by Jesus Jones are my votes for bad solos.

I never thought that this solo was a misfit for the song although a little rough on the re-entry after it this was one of my all time favourite songs and it still is today.

THANK YOU!
I’m sorry, it always sounded like it was tacked on during a lunch break by a technically great but very drunk guy who hadn’t *really* listened to the rest of the song.

Oh wait…

I like a lot of Van Halen’s music.
I think Eddie was amazing and literally changed the landscape of popular music…

But a lot of his solos really, really seemed forced in there and/or “tacked on” after the fact, even if they weren’t.

I think some of their best music was when he didn’t worry about inserting all his party tricks into the song but just “got down and boogied”—Running With The Devil, You Really Got Me, Hot For Teacher, Drop Dead Legs, Jump, Black and Blue, Finish What You Started…they just flow better than the “here’s 45-60 seconds of me tapping tacked onto a melody and rhythm that doesn’t really need it…” songs.

I know my opinion won’t be popular.

Oh well. I guess I won’t be able to sit with the cool kids at lunch. (Note Sarcasm/False Disappointment Font)

Quincy Jones had Eddie play on the album as a favour for Michael as he was still basically struggling at that time and not too many people listened to his music. It was all soft and wishy - washy without any real teeth or grit to it. Not until the Beat It solo did any of his albums sell. This is why it sold so many copies in the first few weeks after being played on the radio. It became the most sold record of all time until Garth Brooks took him down in the mid-nineties.

Agree 100%. I imagine the conversation went something like:

Producer: I need a solo
EVH: Ok can I hear the song?
Producer: No.
EVH: Ok can you tell me the time sig and key?
Producer: No.
EVH: Fine. I'll just tap and slide a ton of notes in my typical tuning (Eb)
Producer: Perfect. Here's some money.

Eddie played TWO versions of this solo for this song - Quincy Jones picked this one. So if you want to blame someone for it - blame him as it was all his idea! Read the February 1991 edition of Guitar World magazine with Eddie on the front cover.

Ironic justice?

Nope! Eddie said "And I did it for free!" meaning that he wasn't going to have them pay him for it. He didn't think it would go anywhere and no one would know but it's impossible to not know that it's Eddie playing such a difficult lick. This works because of the energy that Michael Jackson was trying to impart in song. Never until today - almost 40 YEARS later that this solo sucked or didn't sound "cool" enough to impress anyone!

at least he's playing at baseline competence on that one. the solo on californication sounds like a teenage beginner at guitar center.

Yeah - listen to the Mel Bay book song with Chet Atkins - THAT sounds like a ten year old child learning to play!!!

The song is about starting on guitar with Mel Bay books.

And it's HORRIBLE!! This has my pick for number one spot over all with the Californication solo being almost tied.

 

[Telenator]

Everyone was so constantly high back then it didn't matter.

I saw Big Brother at the Tinker St Cafe in Woodstock about 20 years ago and the guitar player sounded exactly the same as he did back in the day. I couldn't believe it. The new singer was very good, and none other than Les Dudek was playing 2nd guitar on the gig. Good show.

 

[brookdalebill]

Everyone was so constantly high back then it didn't matter.

I don’t think that was it.
I think it was SG’s with light strings, extremely, uh, questionable tuning, intonation problems, and poor to nonexistent taste.
Other than that, .

 

[burntfrijoles]

You do realize that THIS SOLO is the reason that Michael Jackson even had a career afterwards - right? No one really listened to him nor did they give a damn about his music until the Thriller album came out. I never knew he did anything else without the Jackson 5 until Eddie wrote that solo.

This might be a stretch. Jackson had a huge hit album "off The Wall" in 79/80, which had some mega hits and won a Grammy and American Music Awards for it. Thriller was far more than "Beat It". "Billie Jean" was also a huge hit and charted before Beat It. MTV couldn't get enough of any of it. Other songs from Thriller also charted.
Jackson would have been a mega star if EVH had never been born.

 

[Greg70]

Any Nirvana song.

 

[Solaris moon]

This might be a stretch. Jackson had a huge hit album "off The Wall" in 79/80, which had some mega hits and won a Grammy and American Music Awards for it. Thriller was far more than "Beat It". "Billie Jean" was also a huge hit and charted before Beat It. MTV couldn't get enough of any of it. Other songs from Thriller also charted.
Jackson would have been a mega star if EVH had never been born.

Well the ALBUM SALES can't be argued with!! It's funny that Billie Jean was on the same album but the airplay wasn't any more than Beat It or Thriller. Most of the guys that were seen buying this record were YOUNG WHITE BOYS at the record stores wanting to blast BEAT IT from their homes or car stereos! No - Michael Jackson wouldn't be or have been the icon that he was if Eddie hadn't played that solo. STEVE LUKATHER of TOTO played the backing track and they were just as established as Van Halen was at that time. It's apparent that they needed someone with much more musicality and talent or understanding of music to pull it off.

 

[John Stephen]

I forgot the solo part on the song so I put the video on YT. The focal point of the clip made my day and preoccupation with it caused me to not even hear the solo when it came.

Right, I've seen that video too. Very memorable...

 

[Fiesta Red]

You do realize that THIS SOLO is the reason that Michael Jackson even had a career afterwards - right? No one really listened to him nor did they give a damn about his music until the Thriller album came out. I never knew he did anything else without the Jackson 5 until Eddie wrote that solo. It was QUINCY JONES that called Eddie Van Halen and asked him if he would play on the record. Read Guitar World's article in February 1991 with Eddie on the front cover. What a funny story that was!!!

I never thought that this solo was a misfit for the song although a little rough on the re-entry after it this was one of my all time favourite songs and it still is today.

Quincy Jones had Eddie play on the album as a favour for Michael as he was still basically struggling at that time and not too many people listened to his music. It was all soft and wishy - washy without any real teeth or grit to it. Not until the Beat It solo did any of his albums sell. This is why it sold so many copies in the first few weeks after being played on the radio. It became the most sold record of all time until Garth Brooks took him down in the mid-nineties.

Eddie played TWO versions of this solo for this song - Quincy Jones picked this one. So if you want to blame someone for it - blame him as it was all his idea! Read the February 1991 edition of Guitar World magazine with Eddie on the front cover.

Nope! Eddie said "And I did it for free!" meaning that he wasn't going to have them pay him for it. He didn't think it would go anywhere and no one would know but it's impossible to not know that it's Eddie playing such a difficult lick. This works because of the energy that Michael Jackson was trying to impart in song. Never until today - almost 40 YEARS later that this solo sucked or didn't sound "cool" enough to impress anyone!

NOTE:
I’m not a Michael Jackson fan.
I like a couple of his tunes.
He was a talented but EXTREMELY flawed person.

But you’re wrong.

I looked at your age in your profile, and I’m a little surprised that you think Michael Jackson didn’t have a career before Eddie visited the studio…but you were around 8 or 9, so maybe you’re just piecing together what was happening at the time, 40+ years ago.

”Thriller” was a highly anticipated album, because it was a follow-up to the extremely successful “Off The Wall” album. Michael was already a star, and not just as the little kid from the Jackson Five. He was a known commodity.

It’s true that he wasn’t in the rarified air of being one of the biggest stars on earth (as he became after “Thriller” was released), but he wasn’t some down-and-out nobody, especially in the R&B genre (read: mostly non-white audience).

He was famous/popular enough that he and Paul McCartney recorded two songs together (“The Girl is Mine”—the first single off of “Thriller”—and “Say Say Say”—which was on a Paul McCartney album and released later in the year 1983, riding the wave of Thriller’s success)—both of which were released as singles and both of which were hits…and both of which put more non-R&B eyeballs and eardrums on Jackson.

Quincy Jones was smart to pull in EVH, because he knew once the connection became known (and was “leaked” by Jones himself), that a bunch of Van Halen’s audience of headbangers/rockers/suburban kids/surfers/skaters (read: white kids) would buy the single (or album) to hear EVH’s solo (remember, there was no Spotify—outside of radio, the only way to hear a song back then was to buy the single or album) and possibly become fans of Jackson along the way. EVH’s presence on the song *helped* open a new audience to Michael Jackson, but that’s not what put him over the top.

**Jackson replicated that trick again a couple of years later with Slash contributing a couple of guitar tracks on the “Dangerous” album.

Also, you need to remember that the Van Halen album 1984 had not been recorded and/or released—so while Eddie was a known rock star, Van Halen (the band) and Van Halen (the man) were not as famous as they would become a couple of years later…a *lot* of everyday people would have said, “Eddie Van Who?”

And “Beat It” was not the most popular track of the album—“Billie Jean” was…in fact that was Jackson’s biggest selling single, ever, IIRC.

What put Jackson over the top was three things:

(1) The MTV videos.
The videos to Billie Jean, Beat It and (of course) Thriller would have put eyeballs and eardrums on him on him anyway. He was a great dancer and visual artist, and those videos weren’t just grainy “performance clips” with chicks dancing in the background. They were mini-movies—especially Thriller.
We forget how big of a phenomenon MTV was, but new artists like Duran Duran, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper exploded and established artists like ZZ Top, Bruce Springsteen and the Dire Straits had career refreshers/revivals based on videos alone.

(2) His appearance on the “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever” special.
He danced the moonwalk, and suddenly, he and it (the moonwalk) was EVERYWHERE. That clip was even featured on the local nightly news, because it was a visually stunning moment. It may seem weird today, but we only had five or six broadcast TV channels, a lot of people were just getting cable TV for the first time, we weren’t bombarded with stuff 24/7, and there were “shared moments” that dang near everybody saw or heard; the last episode of “M*A*S*H”, the Columbia disaster, things like that. That clip of him dancing was such a phenomenon that white kids in the little redneck/hick town I was living in were doing their best to replicate the move.
Nowadays, in 2023, a pop star gliding across the stage wouldn’t be noticed—that’s why they have become more outrageous (Lady Gaga) or sexual (Cardi B), because you can’t stand out based on simple things any more.

(3) The Venn diagram of great production, great songs, great studio musicians (Steve Lukather and almost two dozen other specialists and legends of the studio scene) and a music scene ripe for a change.

The “Beat It” solo was a *piece* of the puzzle to making Michael Jackson a superstar. But it would have happened anyway. Eddie’s contribution—storied as it is—is minuscule compared to the (cue Paul Harvey voice) “Rest of the Story”

 

[Solaris moon]

NOTE:
I’m not a Michael Jackson fan.
I like a couple of his tunes.
He was a talented but EXTREMELY flawed person.

But you’re wrong.

I looked at your age in your profile, and I’m a little surprised that you think Michael Jackson didn’t have a career before Eddie visited the studio…but you were around 8 or 9, so maybe you’re just piecing together what was happening at the time, 40+ years ago.

”Thriller” was a highly anticipated album, because it was a follow-up to the extremely successful “Off The Wall” album. Michael was already a star, and not just as the little kid from the Jackson Five. He was a known commodity.

It’s true that he wasn’t in the rarified air of being one of the biggest stars on earth (as he became after “Thriller” was released), but he wasn’t some down-and-out nobody, especially in the R&B genre (read: mostly non-white audience).

He was famous/popular enough that he and Paul McCartney recorded two songs together (“The Girl is Mine”—the first single off of “Thriller”—and “Say Say Say”—which was on a Paul McCartney album and released later in the year 1983, riding the wave of Thriller’s success)—both of which were released as singles and both of which were hits…and both of which put more non-R&B eyeballs and eardrums on Jackson.

Quincy Jones was smart to pull in EVH, because he knew once the connection became known (and was “leaked” by Jones himself), that a bunch of Van Halen’s audience of headbangers/rockers/suburban kids/surfers/skaters (read: white kids) would buy the single (or album) to hear EVH’s solo (remember, there was no Spotify—outside of radio, the only way to hear a song back then was to buy the single or album) and possibly become fans of Jackson along the way. EVH’s presence on the song *helped* open a new audience to Michael Jackson, but that’s not what put him over the top.

**Jackson replicated that trick again a couple of years later with Slash contributing a couple of guitar tracks on the “Dangerous” album.

Also, you need to remember that the Van Halen album 1984 had not been recorded and/or released—so while Eddie was a known rock star, Van Halen (the band) and Van Halen (the man) were not as famous as they would become a couple of years later…a *lot* of everyday people would have said, “Eddie Van Who?”

And “Beat It” was not the most popular track of the album—“Billie Jean” was…in fact that was Jackson’s biggest selling single, ever, IIRC.

What put Jackson over the top was three things:

(1) The MTV videos.
The videos to Billie Jean, Beat It and (of course) Thriller would have put eyeballs and eardrums on him on him anyway. He was a great dancer and visual artist, and those videos weren’t just grainy “performance clips” with chicks dancing in the background. They were mini-movies—especially Thriller.
We forget how big of a phenomenon MTV was, but new artists like Duran Duran, Madonna and Cyndi Lauper exploded and established artists like ZZ Top, Bruce Springsteen and the Dire Straits had career refreshers/revivals based on videos alone.

(2) His appearance on the “Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever” special.
He danced the moonwalk, and suddenly, he and it (the moonwalk) was EVERYWHERE. That clip was even featured on the local nightly news, because it was a visually stunning moment. It may seem weird today, but we only had five or six broadcast TV channels, a lot of people were just getting cable TV for the first time, we weren’t bombarded with stuff 24/7, and there were “shared moments” that dang near everybody saw or heard; the last episode of “M*A*S*H”, the Columbia disaster, things like that. That clip of him dancing was such a phenomenon that white kids in the little redneck/hick town I was living in were doing their best to replicate the move.
Nowadays, in 2023, a pop star gliding across the stage wouldn’t be noticed—that’s why they have become more outrageous (Lady Gaga) or sexual (Cardi B), because you can’t stand out based on simple things any more.

(3) The Venn diagram of great production, great songs, great studio musicians (Steve Lukather and almost two dozen other specialists and legends of the studio scene) and a music scene ripe for a change.

The “Beat It” solo was a *piece* of the puzzle to making Michael Jackson a superstar. But it would have happened anyway. Eddie’s contribution—storied as it is—is minuscule compared to the (cue Paul Harvey voice) “Rest of the Story”

Well I was almost ten years old when this came out. 1973 is my birth year - do the math. So I remember that Jackson had a career but it wasn't anything until the Thriller album and I remember Billie Jean and Beat It and Thriller were on the air in almost constant rotation. We didn't have cable T.V. yet but our neighbours did. We used to go down to their house to watch it. I remember some of the songs that he did before this time but those songs were A.M. radio songs with little air play. So the rankings of Jacko as the English would later call him didn't really take off until after Thriller. And as far as Paul McCartney he too was called upon to do an album with Jackson. This was Quincy Jones once again. It seems that every time he needed someone to help pull the album together that he got someone FAMOUS to do it. But what would've happened and would Jackson have been as much of a hit without Thriller no one will ever know as Michael, Eddie and Quincy are all dead. We only know now what they said in old interviews and this is the only way we'll ever see them again.

 

[Engine Swap]

………. This was Quincy Jones once again. It seems that every time he needed someone to help pull the album together that he got someone FAMOUS to do it. But what would've happened and would Jackson have been as much of a hit without Thriller no one will ever know as Michael, Eddie and Quincy are all dead. We only know now what they said in old interviews and this is the only way we'll ever see them again.

Quincy Jones = alive

 

[Tricone]

Well I was almost ten years old when this came out. 1973 is my birth year - do the math. So I remember that Jackson had a career but it wasn't anything until the Thriller album and I remember Billie Jean and Beat It and Thriller were on the air in almost constant rotation. We didn't have cable T.V. yet but our neighbours did. We used to go down to their house to watch it. I remember some of the songs that he did before this time but those songs were A.M. radio songs with little air play. So the rankings of Jacko as the English would later call him didn't really take off until after Thriller. And as far as Paul McCartney he too was called upon to do an album with Jackson. This was Quincy Jones once again. It seems that every time he needed someone to help pull the album together that he got someone FAMOUS to do it. But what would've happened and would Jackson have been as much of a hit without Thriller no one will ever know as Michael, Eddie and Quincy are all dead. We only know now what they said in old interviews and this is the only way we'll ever see them again.

Quincy Jones is still living. He is 89 years old, still kicking.

MJ's record before Thriller was produced by QJ in 1979 and was a hit selling over 10 million copies.
Quincy Jones wanted EVH on the album bc he was THE guitarist everyone was talking about and trying to emulate at the time. He wanted to see what a rock guitar solo sounded like in a pop setting. Nothing more, nothing less.

It took two phone calls by QJ to get Eddie to do it bc Eddie thought it was a joke. He went over after the second call and the rest is history.

I think both MJ and EVH benefitted from the recording equally. MJ had the album of the year in 1982 and his career would continue to grow. I think Eddie learned about keyboards and how to record them from QJ. In 1984 EVH would lay down a famous keyboard line in a song and through out the album for the first time. EVH and Van Halen's 1984 would win record and song of the year in 1984.

Quincy Jones and Eddie both did interviews about how Eddie did two solos for "Beat It." He made his first pass with the original tracks. Then when MJ stepped out, Eddie changed the middle section and recorded another solo.
According to both Eddie and Quincy, Jackson loved it and was flattered that Eddie went above and beyond the call of duty. Based on that, I don't think the solo was "slapped" down. A little editing went into it.

I would say all three, Eddie,Michael, and Quincy would agree the recording and experience was good for everyone involved. It was win win.

Edit: @Engine Swap got there before I did. See post#119.