Favorite Beatles Guitar Solo?

Ok, I can't remember if this has been done yet—whether or not I, myself, already has done this at some point(!)—but I was sitting here listening to my "Revolver" mono CD and the guitar work on it, and had this idea for a Thread/Poll...

Which is your favorite guitar solo in a Beatles song? A tough question for sure... one that I will need to toss back and forth in my own head for a while.

I am posting a poll for voting, as well. Please understand... I can only post 10 options (including an "other" option)—not nearly enough to cover the topic. However, I am going to include those which I—as a guitarist—have always felt were their strongest solos. If you don't see your fave, then vote "other" and post in a response.

After pondering this topic, myself, I had to cast my vote for George and John's solo to "Nowhere Man".

I love the grit of George's solo on "Hey Bulldog".... I love Paul's brilliant six-string attack in George's "Taxman"—and the fact that he laid it down in roughly two takes(!)... and I can't say enough about the innovative backwards solo from "I'm Only Sleeping".

However, from the opening E chord... to the tasteful interplay of the two guitars... to that final high-pitched harmonic "ring", the "Nowhere Man" solo has always ranked in my top-5 Beatles guitar solos.... and favored by me enough to get my #1 spot. Both melodic and rhythmic all at once, and those Fender Strats sound so crisp and clear.

I know it's not technically a "solo", but the guitar passage in "And Your Bird Can Sing" is very fine. A non-Beatlemanic friend commented recently that "It's just slightly out of time; you'd think they'd have done it again."
So it is, here and there, but so what? It's those little things that make good music. Otherwise, we might as well do it all on a computer, with perfect, regimented timing and with no human element at all.

Originally Posted by yol

I know it's not technically a "solo", but the guitar passage in "And Your Bird Can Sing" is very fine. A non-Beatlemanic friend commented recently that "It's just slightly out of time; you'd think they'd have done it again."
So it is, here and there, but so what? It's those little things that make good music. Otherwise, we might as well do it all on a computer, with perfect, regimented timing and with no human element at all.

yol, yeah.... "AYBCS" was on my mind when I first made this thread. But the fact that the "solo" is also the intro and the outro, I had to "disqualify" it—at least exclude it as a poll choice.

Not sure what you friend means. Are they referring to how both guitars are not totally locked-in to one another, note-per-note? Pshaw!!!

Til There Was You is a fantastic piece of guitar work. I love George's Chet Atkins influenced playing. But since TTWY is not an original I'll vote for All My Loving.

Originally Posted by Colonel Angus

Til There Was You is a fantastic piece of guitar work. I love George's Chet Atkins influenced playing. But since TTWY is not an original I'll vote for All My Loving.

Good to see people here know where it's at with regard to Beatle guitar solos....

"Til There Was You" is a stand-out solo, IMO... and it was on my mind as I posted this thread. But, as you say Colonel, it's not a Beatles original and I was giving priority poll positions to original songs.

I voted for I'm Only Sleeping because it was truly the most inventive... I mean, nothing else sounds like that! I almost went for The End, but then I realized it was for mostly sentimental reasons... just the beauty of the artistic statement is almost reason enough. The symbolism of ending their musical relationship by showcasing their different personalties and how they work as one... very emotional. But I still love, love, LOVE George's work on I'm Only Sleeping the most!

Originally Posted by Maia 66

I voted for I'm Only Sleeping because it was truly the most inventive... I mean, nothing else sounds like that!.... But I still love, love, LOVE George's work on I'm Only Sleeping the most!

Maia, I was listening to Revolver over the weekend... and of course, I heard the "Taxman" solo followed shortly by the "I'm Only Sleeping" solo. I found myself thinking, "Wow! What amazing guitar work they were delivering around this time...!".

And thus the inspiration for this thread/poll.

I'm glad to see everyone starting to get into this. I wish I had ten more poll choices!

The backwards stuff is cool but I don't really consider it a pure solo. Taxman is a fierce piece of guitar work. But if I'm to understand correctly, the same solo was spliced into the outro. That doesn't diminish the quality of the solo, but I would prefer Paul take a second run at a complimentary solo. Not to overstate the obvious, this band was an embarrassment of riches in the guitar dept. McCartney was creative. John had a right hand that couldn't be matched (Maybe Townshend has a better right hand). And John's biggest contribution was his arsenal of chords. And George was no slouch in that dept either. I think he actually lays claim to freaking inventing the E7flat9. And those All Things Must Pass chords? Forget it. I know the Allmans borrowed that for Melissa. But simple as it seemed, I loved the different versions of the solo in Let it Be. The smoother, more polished solo on the single is beautiful. While the album version is dirty, overdriven and more aggressive. I guess in summary, if there's 5 of the best Beatles guitar solos, George is responsible for 4 of them. Which I guess shouldn't come as a surprise since he was the lead guitarist.

Originally Posted by Colonel Angus

But simple as it seemed, I loved the different versions of the solo in Let it Be. The smoother, more polished solo on the single is beautiful. While the album version is dirty, overdriven and more aggressive. I guess in summary, if there's 5 of the best Beatles guitar solos, George is responsible for 4 of them. Which I guess shouldn't come as a surprise since he was the lead guitarist.

I hear you on the backwards solos thing. A solo "presented" backwards on record isn't the same as a straight solo. But, the sound is so innovative!

Funny... as a young Beatles fan, I never knew the "Taxman" solo was simply patched-into the outro—I thought it was just the same solo played two separate times. At that time, I still thought it was George, as well.

I really wanted to post the "Let It Be" solo—but I was faced with a conundrum: which one??? With the release of "Naked", we were also given the "movie" solo—which I actually prefer over the single's solo. Each of the different solos released in the various forms are worthy of the top-10, but my preference has always been the over-driven album solo.

Originally Posted by 62hofner

But the fact that the "solo" is also the intro and the outro, I had to "disqualify" it—at least exclude it as a poll choice.

Not sure what you friend means. Are they referring to how both guitars are not totally locked-in to one another, note-per-note? Pshaw!!!

There's also the inescapable fact that the lead guitar work in "And Your Bird Can Sing" is a duet, not a solo. A solo can be at the beginning of a song: take Gary Moore's "Still Got the Blues", among many others. As for the end of a song, there's no better example than "Hotel California" (although, it could be argued that this is a swapped solo, becoming a duet at the end). A solo can also be interspersed throughout a song, in the manner of "Sultans of Swing", a song in which the solo guitar work is a constant and essential aspect of the whole.

(My friend was being a bit of a dick in making that comment.)

Originally Posted by yol

There's also the inescapable fact that the lead guitar work in "And Your Bird Can Sing" is a duet, not a solo. A solo can be at the beginning of a song: take Gary Moore's "Still Got the Blues", among many others. As for the end of a song, there's no better example than "Hotel California" (although, it could be argued that this is a swapped solo, becoming a duet at the end). A solo can also be interspersed throughout a song, in the manner of "Sultans of Swing", a song in which the solo guitar work is a constant and essential aspect of the whole.

(My friend was being a bit of a dick in making that comment.)

Ha ha! Not a problem. We all know solos can come at any point in a song. Not a major revelation.

But as far as Beatles solos... they almost always were used as a "statement" made, more or less, somewhere in the middle of the song. "Nowhere Man" was a bit unique as it strayed from this "rule" by appearing rather early on in the song. Interestingly, that song's solo is also a "duet". So, "duet", "solo"... one in the same.

"AYBCS" I didn't include as a choice as it is more of a recurring "theme" than a solo—like those that "Something", or "Hey Bulldog" contain.

"Fixing A Hole" is my favorite guitar solo. So thats why I choose other.

Originally Posted by Brainwashed

"Fixing A Hole" is my favorite guitar solo. So thats why I choose other.

That IS a great one, Brainwashed... and it was one I wanted to include, but didn't have enough poll choices.

So thanks for giving it a much-deserved nod!