What's your ONE favourite guitar solo?

I know that we looked at favourite guitar solos earlier in the year. Right at the start of the year in fact - we built a big list. And all the usual suspects were there - people mentioned Guns N' Roses' Sweet Child o' Mine; people raved about David Gilmour's liquid tone; about Jimi Hendrix and someone probably mentioned Steve Vai's For the Love of God.

I'm sure there was talk of George Harrison and Paul McCartney too? Or there should have been...both have played some great guitar solos.

It's subjective - that's what happens when you write a blog asking for people to list their favourites; the point is to get a range of answers - no right or wrong as they say...

Well, we're going to do it again. And this time you have to name just ONE.

Why?

Well, as many of you will know, from seeing the link at the bottom of the posts - and from joining (becoming a fan) yourself - I have started a Blog on the Tracks Facebook fan page.

And to try to keep things interesting there - as well as posting links to the blog and clips that pertain to topics, which lead on from discussions - I sometimes start a fresh topic just on the Facebook page.

The other day I found this clip - it's The Outlaws featuring a young Ritchie Blackmore (from Deep Purple/Rainbow/Blackmore's Night). Blackmore was, like many musicians from that era, a session player first. He worked with a range of folk and pop acts in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

I posted the clip and suggested it was my favourite guitar solo. I asked people to just pick one solo - not a list of the usual suspects - and some interesting names came up.

Someone suggested The Beatles' Something - saying (correctly) they wouldn't change a note.

Someone suggested Television's Marquee Moon - and made the link between that sound and Wilco's Nels Cline; not overtly, but there's clearly a connection.

And there were calls for Steve Howe, Walter Becker, John McLaughlin and Robert Fripp. All are great players of course - but it was heartening to see these names in place of the standard calls for Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Hendrix and so on...

I think this came from narrowing it down to just one solo.

For me, thinking of just one solo means I think of the expression that goes into it and the story behind it; not just the playing and the player.

One of my favourite guitar solos is Bruce Springsteen's Human Touch. I like it because of the sound of it - the journey it takes the song on - and because Springsteen himself plays it. He's no slouch in the guitar department but you never find him on the usual list of heroes.

Same deal with Tom Petty's Last Dance with Mary Jane - Petty usually chugs along behind Mike Campbell, but with this song he (literally) takes the lead.

As is the way with being asked to name a favourite, you pick one and instantly think of a dozen others.

I'm sticking with The Outlaws' Shake with Me - because whenever I hear it I think of the interview I heard with Blackmore where he describes being very proud of the solo. He talks about being told by the producer to "go nuts", to explore, to find shapes, to throw everything at it. He references the influence of listening to Jeff Beck (of competing with him). And I guess what I like about the solo - as much as the sound of it - is thinking back to being supplied with that information as a 13-year-old and being interested in pursuing it.

The interview finished and I couldn't wait to fast forward the tape through to the track in question; I listened to the song a couple of times in a row; then I focused just on the solo, rewinding it and marvelling at the madness within the sound.

Blackmore would not remain my all-time favourite guitarist for long (but he was, once) yet this song still stands because of the effort I put into understanding the effort of the solo. I hope that makes sense?

And now it's your turn. What ONE guitar solo is your favourite? And is there a story behind it? Is it because you learned to play the piece yourself (or tried and failed?) Is it similar to my story in that you invested time and energy in to researching/understanding the solo? Or is it - perhaps most importantly - because of an immediate visceral connection?

You can only pick one. So what one favourite guitar solo does it for you? And why?

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