I'm having an ongoing debate with the co-producer now. One of the songs has a mad-crazy long (masturbatory) guitar solo. He's telling me to cut it some, cuz folks just aren't going to dig it, and I'm thinking, well, on pop radio, no, they wont. But there's jams like Voodoo Chile, and I could swear there's some good P tunes (or OTHER folks, help me out here) that are verse, chorus, verse, chorus, 4 minutes of gut-ripping solo.

So, tell me - aint there some good, popular songs with a ton of guitar in there? NOT instrumentals, but songs?

Yes Purple Rain has about a minute or two solo in it and past that....no nothing much longer then 10 or 15 seconds in anything weith any kind of popularity. I would agree with your co-producer that a 4 minute solo is WAY too long.

Nonsense!!

Always In My Hair
Automatic

Those have some longer ones, right? I'm not talking about top-10 solid-gold hits, I'm talking about the album songs.

At first, I thought you were talking only about Prince songs, but then there was a whisk of jams that went through my head that had nothing to do with him:

Time- Pink Floyd

Hotel California- The Eagles

Magic Man- Heart

I Drink Alone- George Thoroughgood and the Deleware Destroyers

(shit like that)

Beau, treat this album like it will be your last and do whatever YOU want to do on your album. Tell the engineer guy to shut up and push some buttons.

talmuzic said:

copy that! U`re paying 4 it so U gots the control!

`dre

beauhall said:

Those solos are less then 20 seconds...nowhere near 4 minutes. But obviously you have your mind made up so why ask?

777-9311 (The Time, of course)
Hope You Feel Better Love (the Isley Brothers)
Who's That Lady (the Isley Brothers)
Can You Help Me (Jesse Johnson)

If I recall Bambi's guitar solo was nearing a minute and that thing was bad ass.....one of my songs has a guitar solo that is about a minute too and i love it.....yah I would go with what you feel rocks man if you think a 4 mintue solo is where it's at then hey it's your album go for it if you think it is a tad too much then cut it down a bit. I mean we all want to hear some kick ass music and any music that kicks ass be it guitar piano voice drums the whole band who cares if it kicks ass it kicks ass bottom line...and quite frankly Beau, most of your stuff kicks ass. Trust your judgement and go with what sounds good to you.

Probably half of Led Zeppelin's catalogue has long-ass solos.

Oh yeah, who can forget "Slide" by Slave? That has TWO long-ass smokin' guitar solos

A good deal of Hendrix's work and Santana's and Yes and Pink Floyd to name but a few others...

For me,it all comes down to one thing and one thing alone:


Are the solos rewarding to listen to?



Dosn't matter how long a piece of music is or how many people have or haven't made something like that before or how fashionable it is..etc etc. If it is FUN or ENTERTAINING or MOVING or STIRRING, it has justified its existence.


In shorthand terms: if it's good, keep it in!

How about Joy in repetition studio version & the official ONA version or Just my imagination boot fromm 88

lovemachine said:

Fair question. I do have my mind made up - I'm not asking to be talked down from the ledge, I'm looking for examples to hand to the engineer so he'll be able to get his head around the concept.

It's no problem to tell the guy to shut up and push buttons, but I know that the end result will be much more solid if I can win him over instead. Not win him over by conning him, but by saying, "look, it's not a guitarstramental album, just this one jam that goes a little long, but yeah, check out Hotel California or Time."

This has become much more of a collaboration than a solo project. His input, so far, hasn't steered me wrong, but it's definitely been a case of give and take. I can take his advice, or I can find examples to back up my purpose behind the song. It really is a matter of what serves the project, not "what do I want to put on this record".

Because, while it's easy to say, "who cares, it's your baby, do what you want!" I have quite a few friends in the music community here who have put out a decent record with some rock-solid-clunkers in there... and, you ALWAYS have to ask, "what the hell were you thinking?" With that in mind, I'm trying to keep my eye on the Big Picture, not just individual songs. There's nothing more incredible to me than a record that I'll listen to, all the way through, top to bottom, bottom to top. I want to make one of those.

IF/Whenever somebody says to me, "man I love listening to it all the way through" I will piss myself. Everytime.

SO far, I think it's headed that way. But this is where you have to step outside of your OWN wants and opinions, and think, "what would somebody else think of this crap, if they were 50% interested in the music? How can I win them over all the way to the end of the record?"

The theory is always lead with your strong stuff. At least, when you're coming out of the gate. When you're Prince, you can lead with 3 minutes of a cow taking a dump, but when you're nobody, folks seem to think put the strong stuff up front because nobody will stay for the whole meal. I have to think along those lines as well, but at the same time, yeah, I'm definitely putting a RECORD together, not just some songs I rounded up. They flow, they kind of all fit together, there's a bit of a common thread, (hahaha, and that message would be "mememememememe"!!) but anyhow, I'll hook y'all up when it's done. I promise.

It depends on what it happening with the dynamics of the music underneath the solo.

Mr. Hall,

Exactly.

Beau, I loaded your songs in my mp3 player and listened while at work. I can honestly say that I enjoyed all of your tracks from top to bottom.

yah I see your point Beau
that's awesome Ican't wait to hear it

Prince - Purple Rain
Metallica - Any Song
CCR - Heard It Through The Grapevine
Led Zeppelin - Since I've Been Loving You
Stevie Ray Vaughn - Voodoo Chile (Slight Return)
Eric Clapton - Layla
ZZ Top - Rough Boy
Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Black Sabbath - Fairie's Wear Boots
I could keep going...

It all depends on the song and the structure and flow. It's your song...your vision...

How about Novemeber Rain - Gun's Roses?

Or most Sanatana Songs - Black magic woman comes to mind!
[Edited 8/2/05 20:29pm]

PBS said:

Oh my god how could I have forgot that one? Thank you PBS! That song was the reason I learned to play guitar! I still remember the first time I saw that video.
When Slash walks out of the church...

RobDogg27 said:

I think it's Slashes best solo, well structured and flows beautifully with the song!

PBS said:

I love the solo but I think that in terms of the solo best structured with the song I think its gotta be Don't Cery. Novemember Rain is beautifully executed but Don't Cry is as well and is a bit more technical. But on the other hand November Rain is a much more emotionally charged song. Whatever, any one of the Axl epic Trilogy is great (Don't Cry, November Rain & Estranged) ((actually I heard that their new song The Blues is the continuation!))

"Novemember Rain is beautifully executed but Don't Cry is as well and is a bit more technical. But on the other hand November Rain is a much more emotionally charged song"


I'd have to agree with you on that!

lovemachine said:

Maybe hes talking about the extended version of "Shes Always in My Hair".