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Thread: The Joe guitar solo (almost) everyone forgot...

  1. #1
    Stuck on the Border
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    Default The Joe guitar solo (almost) everyone forgot...

    So, having listened to this solo a lot lately, I've come to a strong opinion.

    Joe Walsh's best guitar solo is not on a James Gang record. Or a Barnstorm record. Or a solo record. Or an Eagles record. Nope. None of the above. I bet you are thinking "what the heck?". Keep reading!

    No, Joe Walsh's best guitar solo is on a Don Henley record. The record is "I Can't Stand Still". The song is none other than "Dirty Laundry". The first guitar solo. The "falling down the stairs" solo. The solo that seems on the surface to be the most un-Joe Walsh-ish solo one could find. Yup, that one! Yet if you take a deep dive on it, it's full of Joe-isms. It's probably his most chops-intense one that he's ever done, IMO.

    This guitar solo is soooo underrated and not talked about enough. Heck, even I until this week have under-appreciated it. But now - it is my FAVORITE Joe Walsh guitar solo. Other than Hotel California, which I consider a joint effort, Dirty Laundry is my favorite Joe Walsh guitar solo and has become so highly valued by me, I'd put it on my list of favorite guitar solos period. I've been wearing it out on Spotify this week.

    Now in seriousness, best is subject to subjectivity, but I DO think it's his most complicated solo, yet it retains all of the soul and swagger that makes Joe Walsh, Joe Walsh, and not Steve Lukather. Speaking of Luke, the second solo is great too, don't get me wrong. And I'd argue it's quite unlike Luke. In fact, years ago I thought someone had the two mixed up on who did which one. It's not shreddy, which I love but yet again if you take a listen, the phrasing is not that of Walsh. It's got that LA signature thing on there I associate with Mike Landau, Dann Huff, etc and the 80s LA studio cats. A lot of those guys sound alike to me.

    So, if you like guitar or just want to get a glimpse on what I'm talking about, or you just want to prove me wrong - go listen to the studio track on any format of your choosing. Probably the clearest you're going to hear the actual solo. Then go watch it on the F1 DVD if you want, or maybe an Eagles HFO era bootleg like Christchurch. Felder does Luke's solo, Joe does his own of course. And Stu does Luke's solo on F1 DVD.

  2. #2
    Stuck on the Border KingWalsh's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Joe guitar solo (almost) everyone forgot...

    Walshfan88 thank you for giving this solo praise!!! I read somewhere that Don said he needed someone to play (I'm paraphrasing)"an angry solo and the only one I know that can do it is Joe. " it IS overlooked! Many have no idea it's Joe. He is shredding! I wish Joe would let loose more because hes fully capable. When you say swagger, I couldn't agree more. I tell this to my daughter, you can play a solo note for note, but it's have to have feeling it has to have personality, and we both know Joe has tons!

    Lukather is a fine guitarist, I saw him with Ringo not too long ago, yet I agree Joe's is fantastic! I have it on heavy rotation too!

    I have been delving into all His guest appearances on other people's records and it's quite lengthy, another thing I don't think people realize. I am currently putting a playlist together on spotify that is his guest appearances. I will add as I find more. Should have it done soon and I'll share of anyone is interested.there are so many cool ones, my faves change daily but some of my faves are "Wandering Stranger" Lionel Ritchie, "The Devil Must be Laughing" John Mayhall, "Paying Time" and "Thunder Island" Jay Ferguson
    I'm getting a little side-tracked, which I tend to do, but thank thank thank you for highlighting this amazing solo!!!!!!

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    Default Re: The Joe guitar solo (almost) everyone forgot...

    You're most welcome.

    I do normally not care for shredding for the sake of technicality and fastness for the sake for fastness. I really don't get off on the Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Yngwie Malmsteen, Paul Gilbert types.

    But I don't mind some complexity if it's still melodic. This DL solo is. I find Neal Schon to straddle the soulfulness yet complex fence pretty well. Very few do. I normally like the Joe Walsh, Angus Young, Joe Perry, Jimmy Page, Eric Clapton, Slash, etc types. I think very few play fast or really scaly retain that ragged rawness that I love about classic rock music. I feel like Eddie Van Halen inspired a lot of guys with his technicality, the problem is when they went to copy him they got all the theory and technical prowess and chops, but lost all of Eddie's strong blues backing and the groove and totally forgot he's also an ace rhythm player and riff writer. They got the tapping down and even surpassed Ed in terms of speed, but totally forgot what to me made EVH cool in the first place. Eddie is another one who straddles that fence well. George Lynch can be soulful at times when he wants to be, but at times just mechanical almost like a machine. I find Warren DeMartini to be pretty bluesy however, although most guitarists who like 80s guitar would tell you he's just trying to be Lynch (who was his friend!), but I actually DO prefer DeMartini. He might be the only one in the 80s who "got" Eddie's bluesy sense along with the chops. His solos are lyrical.

    But guys like Vai, Satriani ARE brilliant don't get me wrong. It's just that it's the musical equivalent of watching paint dry for me. I like a less is more seat-of-pants style. Which is why although I appreciate Felder, I lean more towards Walsh in terms of who I want to play like. Same with why I prefer Steve Clark over Phil Collen, Joe Perry over Brad Whitford, etc. I think it's just the music I listen to. I really love that rawness and what some might call sloppy. But I'll take Jimmy Page at his sloppiest before I'll sit down and watch Yngwie Malmsteen at his best. It's nothing against their ability. It's just not what I want to listen to. It's no different than someone who doesn't like jazz. Not saying it doesn't take skill, but it's not for everybody, LOL. Some guitarists think that people just cannot think this way and they can't fathom someone not liking all that shreddy stuff and that if they don't they secretly wish they could so they pretend to bash it. I'm definitely not one of them, and I think that line of thinking is outdated. I wouldn't want to play like Satriani. I wouldn't mind his success, but I'd much rather be Eric Clapton for a day, lol. It's just what I like to listen to and therefore I want to play like. Learn to play what you hear in your head and what you like. Authentic!

    Joe Walsh at his most technical is still bearing that Harrison-esque lyrical playing and therefore it's very nice to listen to. I love the note choices and the phrasing. It's not Eruption-level hard, though. Which I like!

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    Stuck on the Border KingWalsh's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Joe guitar solo (almost) everyone forgot...

    I couldn’t agree more. When I started to play in middle school, I was all about how fast can I play, I wanna shred! Then as I learned and developed as a player, I came to the knowledge that wait all the players I truly admire aren’t super fast, spewing notes just because they can. I love melodic players. I love to feel the passion, hear the guitar cry, scream, or be so sweet!. I loved players that have charisma, personality that you can here in the way they bend a note or as with Joe his “Joe-isms”, particular note runs, harmonics, play a beautiful slide yet can also be nasty!

    I became obsessed with Joe’s playing trying to replicate his technique. His rhythm skills are unreal as well. My hands are much smaller than his (duh) so I run into a challenge with his ability to bend those strings unbelievably, or his reach.

    I saw Satriani way back in the day, and while he was amazing, it is too technical and looses that fire for me as well. Although I listened to many heavy metal bands, unfortunately a lot are indistinguishable from each other and the solos tend to blur into each other. Not saying they aren’t talented but, I love that when I hear Joe, I know it’s him!

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    Moderator Ive always been a dreamer's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Joe guitar solo (almost) everyone forgot...

    Joe is one of a kind - for sure. I love his Dirty Laundry solo, but I don't know if I can pick a favorite. There are just too many. Life's Been Good will always be my favorite Joe song and has one of most legendary guitar riffs of all time, so that's high on my list. But, there a lots of others, too.

    "People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
    Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016

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    Default Re: The Joe guitar solo (almost) everyone forgot...

    Quote Originally Posted by Ive always been a dreamer View Post
    Joe is one of a kind - for sure. I love his Dirty Laundry solo, but I don't know if I can pick a favorite. There are just too many. Life's Been Good will always be my favorite Joe song and has one of most legendary guitar riffs of all time, so that's high on my list. But, there a lots of others, too.
    Agreed Dreamer!

    Although, it's probably the guitarist in me but there is a difference between riffs and solos. A riff is usually a few notes stringed together that introduces a song, or is played underneath the verse or chorus. A solo is usually towards the end, maybe at the very end or between the 2nd and 3rd verse and is more instrumental and a longer amount of notes. Dirty Laundry really doesn't have a prominent guitar riff. There are single-string fills that Danny Kortchmar plays (right after the "evening news" line, for example) that is a descending thing that ties the thing together but it doesn't have a riff that sticks. The synth intro is the key.

    The Life's Been Good guitar solo (that Joe used to use the helmet cam for!) is fantastic too, and is a simple yet effective one at that. He did the helmet cam for the LROOE tour I saw, and I loved it. And of course the Life's Been Good guitar intro riff is one I play all the time and use to test out new guitars and amps. It's truly one of the best riffs Joe has ever done, including LITFL, etc. It's very iconic. I play it so often...

  7. #7
    Moderator Ive always been a dreamer's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Joe guitar solo (almost) everyone forgot...

    No Austin - I totally agree with your distinction between a riff and a solo. I just didn't make myself clear in my post. I mentioned the riff in LBG because it's so classic and catchy. I love it, but I meant to say I also love the solo in LBG - probably even more than the riff.

    "People don't run out of dreams: People just run out of time ..."
    Glenn Frey 11/06/1948 - 01/18/2016

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    Default Re: The Joe guitar solo (almost) everyone forgot...

    KingWalsh your right about Joe's playing. One main difference between him and others is he's a musician who plays guitar, among other instruments, not just a guitar player. He has a very good understanding of music. He was asked in an interview one time, "What would you say to others trying to learn to play your solos" His answer was "Don't overplay them. My solos are very simple"
    Vince Gill said sometimes Joe's solos can be only 6 notes but what he does with those 6 notes is unreal.
    His daughter Lucy said she has watched him practice a 20-30 note solo for hours till he got it just right.
    To me he's the master of string bending, tremolo, slide guitar and using a wah pedal. I noticed since he's been using Duisenberg guitars he seems to be using the tremolo a lot more. He also seems to like getting different and unusual sound from his guitar. His slide playing is the best there is, I think even better than Duane Allman who taught him but only because he's been playing longer because of Duane's early death. He just has such a light touch and sometimes he goes clear to the bridge with the slide.
    With him playing so long, he's on a lot of others albums that we don't think about, like Andy Gibbs and Keith Moon's
    He's said he plays everyday but doesn't practice songs he already plays. He just likes to play his guitar. When he was on Brian Johnson tv show you could see him looking out the front of the limo playing to what he sees. It's no wonder he seems willing to play with anyone anywhere.

  9. #9
    Stuck on the Border KingWalsh's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Joe guitar solo (almost) everyone forgot...

    Hi Scamp! Joe is so under rated as we know! You are right he has A Lot of guest appearances!! another couple of favorites are "I love the life I live" with Kenny Wayne Shepherd And "Baby Come Home", JD Souther, man that song deserves more recognition. And he never boasts or brags. I am almost done with my spotify playlist (currently at 36 songs, more to add not including full albums he's been on, ie Fogelberg, Ferguson, Ringo)with all his guest appearances on other albums and such. I do it in my spare time, and keep stumbling on more, some aren't available in spotify either.


    I love the duesenbergs. Way out of my price range though, ha ha . They have a beautiful look and sound. He uses the tremolo wonderfully, as an accent, with nice control.

    I don't know if you read The book Joe Vitale wrote, but there is a.cool story regarding Joe and slide. Man that book is chock full of great stories and pics. The Brian Johnson interview was great! He was comfortable and made for great interview, man do I wish xfinity offered AXstv i miss it so much in fact they are reairing The Rocky Mountain Way tonight.

  10. #10
    Border Desperado Scamp's Avatar
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    Default Re: The Joe guitar solo (almost) everyone forgot...

    I saw that, in fact it's on right now. I recorded it last time so I can watch it when ever I want.
    It's to bad Joe isn't in the Rock and Role Hall of Fame as a solo or slide player but the owner doesn't like Joe. He picks who his voters get to vote on it's not a fan vote or peer vote.
    When you look at Joe's wrap up videos when he's at the Forum his back stage room looks like a who's who of rock and role

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