Top 10 Blues Rock Guitar Solos That Changed Everything

The bends, the sustain, the soul — the solos every guitarist tries to cop.

A great blues rock solo isn't about notes — it's about the space between them. We ranked the ten solos every guitarist has spent a sleepless night trying to learn, from Clapton's 'Crossroads' to Stevie Ray's 'Lenny', and the brief was the solo, not the song — the part the guitarist played, not the song the band wrote around it. The best blues rock solo is the one that says more with fewer notes, and the ten on this list are the ones that taught a generation that restraint is louder than shredding.

We started from a simple premise: a blues rock solo is not a technical exercise. It's a vocal — a sung melody played on a guitar, with the bends, the vibrato, and the sustain that make a guitar sound like a human voice. The solos on this list all share three things — a vocal quality, a sense of space, and a tone that you can identify in two notes. The best blues rock soloist isn't the fastest; they're the one who makes you forget there's a guitar at all, and the ten on this list are the ones who did it best.

10. Duane Allman — 'Layla' (1970). The slide solo that taught a generation that a guitar could cry. Allman's slide work on the Derek and the Dominos record is the most emotive slide playing ever committed to tape, and the solo on the title track is the one that every slide guitarist since has been trying to copy. The solo is here because it taught the genre that a slide could be a vocal, and that a vocal could be a solo.

9. Peter Green — 'Need Your Love So Bad' (1968). The solo that taught a generation that a guitar could whisper. Green's playing on the Fleetwood Mac record is the most understated soloing in the blues rock canon, and the solo on 'Need Your Love So Bad' is the one that every blues guitarist since has been trying to copy. The solo is here because it taught the genre that a solo could be quiet, and that quiet could be louder than loud.

8. David Gilmour — 'Comfortably Numb' (1979). The two solos that taught a generation that a guitar could weep. Gilmour's playing on 'The Wall' is the most emotive soloing in the rock canon, and the two solos on 'Comfortably Numb' are the ones that every guitarist since has been trying to copy. The solos are here because they taught the genre that a solo could be a narrative, and that a narrative could be a solo.

7. B.B. King — 'The Thrill Is Gone' (1969). The solo that taught a generation that a guitar could sing. King's playing on the record is the most vocal soloing in the blues canon, and the solo on 'The Thrill Is Gone' is the one that every blues guitarist since has been trying to copy. The solo is here because it taught the genre that a solo could be a vocal, and that a vocal could be a solo — and because B.B. King is the man who taught the whole genre to sing.

6. Eric Clapton — 'Crossroads' (1968). The solo that taught a generation that a guitar could shred the blues. Clapton's playing on the Cream live record is the most aggressive blues soloing ever committed to tape, and the solo on 'Crossroads' is the one that every blues-rock guitarist since has been trying to copy. The solo is here because it taught the genre that a blues solo could be fast, and that fast could still be blues.

5. Jeff Beck — 'Cause We've Ended as Lovers' (1975). The solo that taught a generation that a guitar could talk. Beck's playing on 'Blow by Blow' is the most expressive soloing in the rock canon, and the solo on 'Cause We've Ended as Lovers' is the one that every guitarist since has been trying to copy. The solo is here because it taught the genre that a solo could be a conversation, and that a conversation could be a solo.

4. Gary Moore — 'Still Got the Blues' (1990). The solo that taught a generation that a guitar could scream. Moore's playing on the record is the most sustained soloing in the blues rock canon, and the solo on 'Still Got the Blues' is the one that every blues-rock guitarist since has been trying to copy. The solo is here because it taught the genre that a solo could be a scream, and that a scream could be a solo.

3. Stevie Ray Vaughan — 'Texas Flood' (1983). The solo that taught a generation that a guitar could roar. Vaughan's playing on the record is the most powerful soloing in the blues rock canon, and the solo on 'Texas Flood' is the one that every blues-rock guitarist since has been trying to copy. The solo is here because it taught the genre that a solo could be a roar, and that a roar could be a solo.

2. Jimi Hendrix — 'Red House' (1967). The solo that taught a generation that a guitar could bleed. Hendrix's playing on the record is the most emotive blues soloing ever committed to tape, and the solo on 'Red House' is the one that every blues guitarist since has been trying to copy. The solo is here because it taught the genre that a solo could be a wound, and that a wound could be a solo.

1. Stevie Ray Vaughan — 'Lenny' (1983). The solo that taught a generation that a guitar could love. Vaughan's playing on the record is the most tender soloing in the blues rock canon, and the solo on 'Lenny' — a tribute to his wife — is the one that every blues guitarist since has been trying to copy. The solo is here because it taught the genre that a solo could be a love letter, and that a love letter could be a solo. The solo is the whole argument for the blues rock solo as a vocal, and it's the one that's never been refuted.

These are the solos that taught a generation that restraint is louder than shredding. Learn one, and you'll sound better immediately. Learn all ten, and you'll never need another solo again.