Sonoma musicians name favorite guitar solos of all time

The popular music of the 1950s through the 2000s was guitar heavy, and we loved it. Back then, the kids had guitar gods. Hendrix and Clapton ruled the minds and fingerboards of budding guitar players everywhere. Not so much anymore.

Recently, while chewing the fat with some other guitar guys here in town, I mentioned my favorite guitar solo. My comment was met with supportive comments from some, surprise from others and uncertainty from a few. It was then that the idea for this story was born.

My favorite all-time guitar solo was played by Canadian Amos Garrett in 1973. Anchoring the moderate-size hit by Maria Muldaur, Garrett’s solo on “Midnight at the Oasis” stuns me still. It is not flashy or fiery for the standards of the day. But it is, in my opinion, the sexiest, slipperiest and most creative solo I know of.

On the record, Garrett skillfully sauntered up and down the fingerboard and bent three strings like no other guitar player of his day. For cryin’ out loud, how did he do that?

Garrett is not my favorite guitar player, but his incredibly creative and sultry 38-second solo on this record will stand out in my mind forever.

Other musicians from the Valley of the Tunes chimed in with their favorite solo. In no particular order, here are a few.

Jacob Phillip Benning played at the first Farmers Market this year with his trio. He offered this opinion for favorite guitar solo.

He cites David Gilmour’s solo on the Pink Floyd song “Time” (1973).

“David Gilmour’s use of heavy analog reverb on a Fender Strat resonated within me the divine soul-bearing cry of my own (then) teenage soul, at which time I was just learning to express and found clarity and inspiration through the nuances of his timeless, woeful, string-bent melody,” Benning wrote.

Singer and restaurateur Codi Binkley said Mark Knopfler’s solo on “Sultans of Swing” (1978) got his vote, with Binkley saying it is “fingerpicking mind-blowing.”

I first heard this song while driving on 101 North near the Arata Lane exit in Windsor. Listening to KVRE on a nine-volt transistor radio, I almost had to pull over when I realized the dude was fingerpickin’.

New Sonoma County guitar picker John Beland knows a thing or two about solos, as he’s played them with a plethora of famous musical acts. Beland chose “I Ain’t Got You” (1964) by the Yardbirds, with a solo by Eric Clapton.

“What makes this solo so special is the fact that, in 1964, guitars did not sound like this. Loud volume, biting and sustaining,” Beland wrote. “It was the blueprint for all future guitarists like Page, Beck and Hendrix.”

He continued, “(the solo) remains my favorite guitar solo for its groundbreaking history as well as performance. Amazing for its time.”

Local vocal arrangement master Mark Dennis also contributed a solo he loves: Larry Carlton’s work on Steely Dan’s “Kid Charlamagne.” As a guitar player, he knows solos.

“The lead on “Kid” is a roller-coaster ride of virtuosity,“ Dennis wrote. ”Not just mindless riffs, but carefully constructed pyrotechnics of perfectly executed bending, arpeggiating, scales and weird notes held for effect. Like an Escher painting where you walk up a staircase to end up on the same floor you started out on.”

Dennis added a second solo, breaking the rules of the game, but it’s OK because I agree with him. He says George Harrison’s work on “Something” stands out I his mind.

“Simple lead, melodic, slightly over-driven with caramel warm tones,” he wrote, adding that it is harder to play than it sounds.

Public relations mogul Michael Coats contributed Mick Taylor’s solo of the Rolling Stones song, “Time Waits for No One” (1974).

“Taylor is my favorite of the Stones lead players,” he wrote. “His solo is a climaxing stroll that just keeps giving.”

Lastly for this week, an excellent guitar player from the Springs, Dave “Davo” Farrell, chipped in with a solo from the late, great David Lindley.

“So many favorites, but this one really speaks to me: Lindley’s solo on Jackson Browne’s “That Girl Could Sing” (1980),“ Farrell wrote. ”Amazing tone, melody, rhythm, and feel.”

Since about 1936, when guitarist Charlie Christian began using an acoustic guitar with a pickup attached to the body, there have been a zillion guitar solos. What’s your favorite?