Items20The creator’s order
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Goodbye to LoveTony Peluso's fuzz tone enters after Karen Carpenter has delivered loneliness with remarkable composure. Richard Carpenter wanted the solo to have a melody, and Peluso gives the electric sound a singable shape. The voice has said what it can. The solo takes over where her control might otherwise…0 - 2
Impossible GermanyThe opening guitar lines set up a conversation. When Nels Cline gets more room at the end, the others still give him phrases to play across. Cline chose a brighter tone than he usually favors, and it helps his high notes stay legible even when all three guitars are busy.0 - 3
That Lady, Pts. 1 & 2Ernie Isley's fuzz guitar answers the singers in short bursts before taking up more space in the second part. He recalled having to redo a pass that left too little room for the voices. The finished track shows how much can come from holding the guitar back long enough for the second part to open…0 - 4
Bold as LoveA drum break makes the sound begin to swirl just as the last guitar passage opens up. Engineer Eddie Kramer remembered playing that change back to Hendrix in the studio. The last lead feels as if the room has grown around it, a fitting expansion for a song that has been describing emotion through…0 - 5
Kid CharlemagneLarry Carlton's phrases follow the changes closely enough to sound like part of the arrangement. Listen for how a quick run will settle on a long note just when the chord beneath it moves. The solo brings a kind of sure-footedness to a song about a man whose luck is running out.0 - 6
Didn't It RainLive at Wilbraham Road station, Manchester, 1964.
There is room for the guitar to answer the shouted gospel lines from the start. In the instrumental break, Tharpe uses that same clipped attack to keep the rhythm moving while her voice rests. The solo belongs to this performance because it picks…0 - 7
Purple RainThe guitar starts with enough patience to let Wendy Melvoin's chords keep setting the pace. Prince builds the lead a phrase at a time until it becomes the loudest expression of the song's appeal. Its slow start is what makes the later height feel earned.0 - 8
Black Magic Woman / Gypsy QueenCarlos Santana's lead has room to bend and hang above the groove as the singer leaves space between lines. When the arrangement moves into the quick closing section, the guitar has a sharper rhythmic job to do. Its role in both sections helps the two pieces sound like one performance.0 - 9
SomethingGeorge Harrison begins the solo with a line as easy to follow as the verse melody. The notes lengthen and bend while the strings move underneath, letting the guitar hold on to the tenderness of the sung lines. It sounds like another way to speak in the same song.0 - 10
Touch and GoElliot Easton's lead lets notes ring long enough to feel almost unguarded against the song's angular backing. He worked over the part away from the studio before recording it. The space between phrases is as important as the quicker bursts, especially when the rest of the band keeps the beat so…0
