What you do have here is a "fat" hour containing, I believe, some of the very greatest guitar solos that have been issued on record since the electric guitar began appearing on recordings back around 1940 (well over 50 years ago now!). This is all absolutely wonderful music -- great songs, great singers, great bands and grooves -- and each of these 19 performances showcases beautiful, stunning, innovative, and emotionally powerful guitar soloing by a great roster of masterful players. Every one of these solos stands up to many repeated listenings, and careful study and analysis, either by students and players of the instrument, or by anyone who simply loves soulful, funky, honest and heartfelt American music. I'll say a little about each of the individual selections in a moment, but first a few additional words on the process I went through to choose these performances.

Any of the guitarists I included here has of course recorded many, many other solos that are as great or nearly as great as the selection included here, and of course it's impossible to sum up any great artist's contributions in one brief piece. I have had the opportunity to discuss some of these players at greater length, in profile pieces I've written for this Website; others, I'll be talking about in future pieces which we're already planning as our Great Guitarists series continues. I tried hard to limit myself to one selection per player or band, so as to include as many different artists as possible; but as you can see, in 3 cases I wound up breaking my own rule and including a second number by guitarists whose contributions on the instrument cover a specially broad stylistic range.

I'd like to just mention here, too, a few of my very favorite players who for one reason or another did not get included in this particular program. In some cases these players make their most important contributions in lead fills and embellishments around the song, rather than in soloing as such (as Curtis Mayfield did in his absolutely seminal work with the Impressions, or as other soul-era guitarists like Steve Cropper often did). In other cases, there were solos all right, but they were so concise, they filled such a brief (though brilliant) moment in the song, that it seemed fairer to the listeners who are checking out this program for guitar work as such, to use cuts that showcased the instrument for at least slightly longer.

Some of the many great players who don't appear on today's program, but who are personal favorites of mine, and whose work is a mighty contribution deserving similar study and appreciation, include Leo Nocentelli, Steve Cropper, Curtis Mayfield, Jimmy Nolen, Hubert Sumlin, Earl King, of course B. B. King and Albert King, "Gatemouth" Brown, Guitar Slim, Robert Ward, Roebuck "Pop" Staples, Dick Dale, Duane Eddy, Roy Nichols, Don Rich, Jerry Reed, Bill Kirchen, Junior Barnard, Zal Yanovsky, Keith Richards, all 3 of the Beatles' guitarists, Mark Knopfler, Amos Garrett, more of the Steely Dan constellation (Becker, Carlton, Dias, and so on)... and, well, Lord, I could go on and on! Note too that all the solos I've focused on here are fretted playing rather than slide or bottleneck work -- a topic which would get us into a whole additional gallery of great players, from Muddy Waters, Robert Nighthawk, and Elmore James on down to Ry Cooder and David Lindley and loads more.

With that said, what was I looking for in the selections I did end up presenting to you today? These characteristics stand out. First, I was looking for solos which in some way add to, define, or explore some of the expressive power of the instrument -- solos which open up specific techniques and vocabulary that make them inspiring and instructive to other guitarists. Second, I looked for solos which really make a complete statement: solos which don't simply contain a string of hot licks, as many good solos do, but which have a musical shape and structure so compelling and memorable that they stand as satisfying compositions in their own right, and so are particularly worth learning or studying. Finally, and perhaps most important, these are solos with an enormous amount of soul, of emotional power, solos with the quality of deep feeling powerfully poured out to us in the moment of playing. It's this, of course, that is the really essential element in the music -- this that makes all these solos (and the songs in which they occur) worth hearing again and again, for all of us, guitarists and non-guitarists alike. With the mysterious beauty of all great music, these solos touch the heart.