As a long-time pop music fan and a retired guitarist I've always meant to put together a list of great guitar performances. But the "Greatest Guitar Solos Of All Time" lists have been done to death already, so I decided to list some great guitar performances that the casual music fan probably hasn't heard. Some are searing solos, others technically mind-blowing, still others are just small pieces or moments that highlight a certain guitarist's unique style or expressiveness.

I listen to a lot of different styles of popular music. I grew up in the late 70s listening to Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, Yes and Pink Floyd, so I love all that stuff, especially the blues-based rock. I like pretty much everything but metal and synth pop. For guitar playing, then, I obviously prefer blues-based styles and faux-fusion (although I'm not really a hardcore jazz fan) and that's mainly what you'll find on this list.

The list is in date order.

NOTE: To keep download speeds tolerable and to save disk space the audio is only excerpts and the MP3s are not top-end quality.

1. The Clap
   1:01, MP3 (479KB)

   Yes, The Yes Album (1971)

   Steve Howe's body of guitar work from the 1970s is enough to make most aspiring guitar players want to quit. There are so many highlights that it's hard to decide, but I chose "The Clap" because it's the best of his solo acoustic guitar pieces. Howe is accomplished in just about any style of playing, from jazz to classical. On this recording he gives a tutorial on acoustic guitar finger picking, Chet Atkins-style. This excerpt is the end of the piece.

2. Please Send Me Someone To Love
   1:19, MP3 (619KB)

   Paul Butterfield, Paul Butterfield's Better Days (1973)

   This is probably the most obscure selection on the list. Unless you're a blues fan you've probably never heard of Paul Butterfield, let alone guitarist Amos Garrett who plays on the album and this song. But this solo is a masterpiece of slow blues. It's hard to describe. It seems like Garrett was just finding the right notes as if by magic. I especially like the backward bends. There's nothing really flashy here. It's all feel and style.

3. The Boston Rag
   1:22, MP3 (642KB)

   Steely Dan, Countdown to Ecstasy (1973)

   The Steely Dan catalog is filled with guitar gems. One of my favorites that doesn't get played on the radio is "The Boston Rag" featuring Jeff Baxter on lead guitar. I would have to call this solo aggressive. It starts out with some volume knob whining and moaning and then comes snarling in on a wave of overdrive and distortion. Baxter is a jazzman at heart and even in this grunge-fest he digs into some jazzy chops and scales. Just a unique and powerful guitar solo.

4. Cause We've Ended As Lovers
   2:26, MP3 (1.1MB)

   Jeff Beck, Blow By Blow (1975)

   In the mid-1970s, Jeff Beck lit up jazz fusion with the albums Blow By Blow and Wired. Both were produced by the Beatles' producer/collaborator George Martin and are packed with amazing guitar sounds, tones, and playing. "Cause We've Ended As Lovers" is a slow piece where Beck really shows his feel and phrasing. I love the contrasts: high register to low, quiet to loud, fast to slow. And check out his command of note bending. Throughout, it feels like Beck is singing through the guitar.

5. La Villa Strangiato
   1:42, MP3 (801KB)

   Rush, Hemispheres (1978)

   Before morphing into a synth band, Rush was a power trio where guitarist Alex Lifeson could really show off his chops. Hemispheres was the first Rush record I owned and their 1979 Tour of the Hemispheres in support of the album was also my first concert. (I remember they did this song at the show.) "La Villa Strangiato" is a 9-1/2 minute instrumental that closes the first half of the album and, to me, is power trio Rush at their finest. This excerpt is the first electric guitar solo and shows how tasteful--and fast--Lifeson can be. How about the killer vibrato!

6. I'm Gonna Crawl
   1:13, MP3 (575KB)

   Led Zeppelin, In Through The Out Door (1979)

   There are many spectacular guitar solos in the Zeppelin catalog but this one doesn't get much airplay. I think this is guitarist Jimmy Page's last great Zep solo and fittingly, "I'm Gonna Crawl" closes their final album before the death of drummer John Bonham. There are two parts that I think are brilliant. First is the transition in the middle to the major key with that gorgeous stretched note. The second is the closing bend that sounds for all the world like a guitar crying in anguish, and that just trails off like nothing more can be said.

7. Nothing Left To Lose
   0:50, MP3 (391KB)

   The Alan Parsons Project, The Turn of a Friendly Card (1980)

   Ever heard of Ian Bairnson? Odds are that you haven't but you've probably heard his guitar work countless times on the radio or at sporting events. Bairnson has been the guitarist for The Alan Parsons Project since 1976 and has to be one of the greatest rock guitarists that you've never heard of. Knowing Parsons' love of studio precision, it's no surprise that Bairnson is his guitarist of choice. He has impeccable phrasing, every note just right and he plays lean, clean and mean. Most are familiar with his work on such classics as "I Wouldn't Want To Be Like You" and "Games People Play," but check out this blazing little solo that closes the fourth part of the obscure "The Turn of a Friendly Card" suite.

8. Talk To Your Daughter
   1:07, MP3 (639KB)
9. Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues
   1:21, MP3 (529KB)

   Robben Ford, Talk To Your Daughter (1988)

   A double-shot from another guitarist you've probably never heard of. I didn't know anything about Robben Ford until reading an article about him in Guitar Player Magazine and I picked up Talk To Your Daughter after being impressed with the comments in the article. Frankly, the album is uneven with some uninspired pop songs. But there are a handful of blues gems in among them and the title song is one of them. Ford's style is smooth and fluid, with a lot of bends. The first cut is the main solo from the title song and I just love the way it all builds up to the high notes toward the end. "Ain't Got Nothing But The Blues" is a slow blues piece that shows off his jazzy side. The first double-stop (simultaneous notes) is a highlight for me. And I wish I could get tone like that: clean with terrific sustain and just a little bite.

10. High Landrons
    1:37, MP3 (762KB)

    Eric Johnson, Ah Via Musicom (1990)

    Eric Johnson was another Guitar Player Magazine find. The article pretty much painted the soon-to-be-released Ah Via Musicom as the next Are You Experienced? Well, it's not all that but it is filled with mind-blowing guitar work. A couple of the instrumental cuts made the radio and "Cliffs of Dover" is on a lot of Greatest Guitar Solo lists, but I think the guitar work on "High Landrons" is the best on the album. This excerpt is the swirling, heavily flanged outro solo. Great stuff.