The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by Woody Sound
    Speaking of nicely composed pop guitar solos, how about "Shadows in the Moonlight?"

    OR, Rita Coolidge's "We're All Alone."



    Hey at least back then there was *something* to hear on mainstream radio and appreciate the tasteful musicianship.

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  3. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    lol, yeah if I was a hard-core Rafferty fan I would hang it on the wall and turn it into a shrine!

    Not knocking Gerry mind you, Baker Street is a great song.

    I think I will have to do something about that flaky lacquer though...
    In the matter of ES-175s outside of jazz can only think of Rafferty, Dylan ( Wilburys clip ), Jeff Beck ( Scorsezi Blues series ) and Steve Howe in Yes. Any others?

  4. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by blackcat
    In the matter of ES-175s outside of jazz can only think of Rafferty, Dylan ( Wilburys clip ), Jeff Beck ( Scorsezi Blues series ) and Steve Howe in Yes. Any others?
    John Fogerty. And a couple of blues guitarists as well.

  5. #29

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    Quote Originally Posted by Doctor Jeff
    I guess my point is there is a decent melody and lyrics and good musicianship, but IMO need more instrumental oomph. That was missing element in the 80’s, with some notable exceptions like Stevie Ray Vaughn.
    I think this is a minority view. As for no-solos at all, many punk bands went this route in the late '70s. (Did The Ramones EVER have a guitar solo????) The Clash didn't offer many and they had two guitar players! The Buzzcocks wrote many catchy "pop-punk" tunes but they didn't play a lot of solos. Elvis Costello songs rarely had solos in them.


    I'm a guitar guy. I like guitar solos. But the more people are expecting to dance (rather than "rock out"), the less interested they are in guitar solos. (And if there are guitar solos, they're more like structured breaks who keep the groove going.)

    Hell, James Brown records rarely had guitar solos on them. Maceo Parker played a lot of 4-bar interludes in songs---as in "I Feel Good (I Got You)"---but those were neither complicated nor improvised. They were little re-sets in between short choruses. The older I get, the more I appreciate those things (and the less interested I am in hearing long solos.)

    For that matter, AC/DC was built on Malcolm Young's killer rhythm playing. (They didn't call him The Right Hand of God for nothing.) Angus played very cool parts but they were well-worked out and not all that complicated-----but they absolutely KILL. I love that band. SRV had more "instrumental oomph" than Malcolm and Angus put together but he never made a record that kills as much as "Back In Black" or "You Shook Me All Night Long."

    Instrumental oomph is less important than good songwriting and arranging.

  6. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by blackcat
    In the matter of ES-175s outside of jazz can only think of Rafferty, Dylan ( Wilburys clip ), Jeff Beck ( Scorsezi Blues series ) and Steve Howe in Yes. Any others?
    BB King.

  7. #31

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    Great tune, but I got sick of it (like so many other tunes) because it was played to death. Raphael Ravenscroft claimed he wrote the sax solo but the original demo used a wah wah-heavy guitar solo which can be heard here:



    Hugh Burns confirmed that Rafferty wrote the solo.

    But check out the first few seconds of Half A Heart from a Steve Marcus album:



    One more fun fact: Gary Burton (good friend of Marcus) is credited as the composer of Half a Heart but says that he didn't write and would have copyrighted it if he did!

  8. #32

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    Rafferty's song was a great piece of songcraft alright.

    Solos have come and gone, and are in an uneasy place, at this point--IMO. As a musician, I feel pressure to play shorter solos, with more punch. There is less build up of the story than I would prefer, these days, but audiences seem to want to here an A-section, or an A-Section and B-Section as a solo, rather than one soloist building through two or more complete stabs at the song form. (I judge this from the applause and the tips, and not just for me, but for everyone in the band.)

    The exception is when we do a more traditional blues--something from, say, the Robert Johnson to Willie Dixon period. Audiences for this music will listen to a call/response building solo for several choruses of the form and fill the tip jar. Blues are pretty resilient.

    With many other genres, though, it's often appreciated by the audience IME to keep the solos to 8 bars or so. "Git 'er done."

  9. #33

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    Some other songs named after London Underground stations








  10. #34

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    Short solos


    Of course this is limited by the format, and more instrumental playing than on a pop cut, but I love this type of thing; it slaps as the kids say. Everything is super exiting and engaging.

    I think even though we can record as long as we want now, there’s a lot to be said for keeping studio stuff really focussed. It’s not like live where can feed of an energy, and everything isn’t under the microscope. A solo should do something specific.

    you know I’ve had a few comments recently for people saying ‘I wish we could have had more of you’ after gigs… I think that’s the way to have it haha.

    Plus I’d rather be thought a musical fool than play five choruses and remove all doubt.

  11. #35

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    The lacquer on my 175 has always had a cloudy and worn patch, which is now flaking off, just where Gerry was putting his right arm in that video. I blame his sweaty armpits!

    Attachment 83338
    I wouldn't worry too much at this stage.
    Attached Images Attached Images Songs That Changed Music: "Baker Street" (Gerry Rafferty)-rory-gallagher-61-strat-jpg 

  12. #36

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    Well if we're doing short solos...


  13. #37

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    I like a good short solo as much as the next guy. Clapton's After Midnight and Scotty Moore's solo on Mystery Train come to mind.

    Some songs--to me--just call out for a bit more in the instrumental category than little bleeps and blurbs. I think if you construct a song with a fairly ornate structure, with a broad narrative focus, it would really benefit from a solo that's more than 8 or 12 bars. At least this was the case in the mid-70's.

    Look at Sultans of Swing for instance. Or Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side. Or the Stones' Waiting for a Friend. Or Deacon Blue. (I don't know how long the solos are, they just seem longish.)

    Maybe I'm wrong for singling out Baker Street, since it seems to be of a piece if not a bit better than most songs from 1978, but it does seem to be part of a trend at least in more rock-oriented music.

    Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1978 - Wikipedia

    Contrast that with 1977, where you had Hotel California, Barracuda, Southern Nights, So into You, which had more straightforward structures that allowed for more expansive instrumental breaks.

    Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1977 - Wikipedia

  14. #38

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    Doctor Jeff makes a sensible case for longish solos. The songs that he invokes are compelling.

  15. #39

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    Fun fact, my Gibson 175 used to belong to Gerry Rafferty (he had just sold a lot of his guitars to the shop where I bought it in 1982). I recently trawled through his videos on youtube to see if I could find it, and I think he is playing it here:
    Presumbly here as well:


  16. #40

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    Quote Originally Posted by blackcat
    In the matter of ES-175s outside of jazz can only think of Rafferty, Dylan ( Wilburys clip ), Jeff Beck ( Scorsezi Blues series ) and Steve Howe in Yes. Any others?
    Vic Flick (of James Bond theme fame) on guitar.


  17. #41

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    Looking back at the discussions in this thread about solos in pop hits, I don’t think anyone mentioned this great example (by guitarist Amos Garrett):


  18. #42

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    Quote Originally Posted by grahambop
    Looking back at the discussions in this thread about solos in pop hits, I don’t think anyone mentioned this great example (by guitarist Amos Garrett):

    That's a great one, and a great song. What memorable solo--and TONE!--and of course the lyrics and vocal delivery are top-notch. Just a great example of early 70's songsmithing.

    Midnight at the oasis
    Send your camel to bed
    Shadows painting our faces
    Traces of romance in our heads
    Heaven's holding a half-moon
    Shining just for us
    Let's slip off to a sand dune, real soon
    And kick up a little dust...

  19. #43

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    Flick actually up on the podium?

  20. #44

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    Quote Originally Posted by blackcat
    Flick actually up on the podium?
    I just read Flick's autobiography, "Guitarman", and he started out as a jazz player, who singled out Tal Farlow as his main inspiration.
    When rock came along, he had dreams of being the next Duane Eddy, but John Barry destroyed his chances.
    EMI came down to hear the JB7, and expressed real interest in Flick, and they asked JB about signing Flick to a recording contract, and JB nonchalantly just said (lied), "Nah, he's under contract with me", and walked away!
    When Flick found out, he wanted to kill Barry.

    The book is loaded with stories about Barry screwing Flick one way or the other, but Flick never would've played the 007 theme (on an a Clifford Paragon Essex Deluxe archtop) without Barry getting him into the studios for all the early Bond flicks.

  21. #45

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    Quote Originally Posted by zdub
    Great tune, but I got sick of it (like so many other tunes) because it was played to death. Raphael Ravenscroft claimed he wrote the sax solo but the original demo used a wah wah-heavy guitar solo which can be heard here:



    Hugh Burns confirmed that Rafferty wrote the solo.

    But check out the first few seconds of Half A Heart from a Steve Marcus album:



    One more fun fact: Gary Burton (good friend of Marcus) is credited as the composer of Half a Heart but says that he didn't write and would have copyrighted it if he did!
    That Rafferty demo sounds terrible without the sax and the electric piano.
    All those guys on the Marcus LP were involved with creating Jazz-Rock, especially Mike Nock whose band The Fourth Way on the West Coast were considered the first US Jazz-Rock Band.

    Coryell, Marcus and Moses came next with the Marcus alnum "TNK", and The Free Spirits.
    A jazz drummer friend of mine got called to sub for Moses on a Free Spirits gig, and all he remembers was Coryell yelling at him in the middle of a song, "More backbeat, man. More backbeat!"

  22. #46

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    Quote Originally Posted by blackcat
    Flick actually up on the podium?
    No, on the podium is the bass player (Mike Peters?). Flick is on the floor by the piano.

  23. #47

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    Quote Originally Posted by dot75
    I wouldn't worry too much at this stage.
    If there is one guitar on the planet I'd like to spend an hour playing, that's it: Rory Gallagher's 1961 Strat.

  24. #48

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    Quote Originally Posted by Cunamara
    If there is one guitar on the planet I'd like to spend an hour playing, that's it: Rory Gallagher's 1961 Strat.
    Rory was an early guitar hero of mine and a huge influence. His untimely death was a tragic loss.

  25. #49

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    Quote Originally Posted by citizenk74
    Rory was an early guitar hero of mine and a huge influence. His untimely death was a tragic loss.
    + several...

    Saw him numerous times in the 70's, including 20 minutes chatting about Blind Boy Fuller & Tommy McClennan in the bar while the Student Union rep tried to find dressing room keys (I was carrying LPs I'd just bought) - I had a poster too but didn't think to get him to sign it...

    The video of this whole set is fantastic, took decades to get released because of rights issues, (Murray Lerner was only supposed to record a few minutes of each 'non headlining' band but took an executive decision...)

    Recorded the day before my own intro to Da Rory, 'Taste - Live at Montreux' still up there, as is 'Irish Tour '74'

    I saw Tony Palmer's doc when it came out, at one point some poor fool came out, they muted the sound,
    'Would the owner of the white ford, registration...' was as far as he got - rarely been that close to a riot since.


  26. #50

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    Quote Originally Posted by blackcat
    In the matter of ES-175s outside of jazz can only think of Rafferty, Dylan ( Wilburys clip ), Jeff Beck ( Scorsezi Blues series ) and Steve Howe in Yes. Any others?
    Of course Jim Hall and Wes Montgomery never really explored the full potential of the ES175 - here it is with a talk box! And the guitar appears on all three of the band's hits.