Favorite solos/instrumentals

[Ten Pound Hammer]

What are some of your favorite instrumentals/solos in songs? Here are a few of mine:

* I always liked the layered snare drum solo on the bridge of "I Told You So" by Keith Urban, and I'm disappointed that they cut it in half for the radio edit.

* The chirpy-scratchy guitar solos on "Tender When I Want to Be" by Mary Chapin Carpenter. I've never heard a guitar solo with a tone like that.

* Similarly, the crunchy distortion on "Don't Worry" by Marty Robbins, an accident that was left in the final mix.

* The horn/harmonica combo in the middle of "Snap Your Fingers" by Ronnie Milsap. I've never heard a harmonica blended into horns before, and I think it sounds really neat.

* The ending of "Hillbillies" by Hot Apple Pie, with the slap bass solo and cute guitar riff.

* I like the way Vince Gill plays the mandolin on "Cinderella" before the last chorus, because of how he strums it instead of plucking.

* The harpsichord solo on "There's No Limit" by Deana Carter. I'll say that again. HARPSICHORD. SOLO.

[sabre14]

Mar 13, 2016 14:32:26 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

* The ending of "Hillbillies" by Hot Apple Pie, with the slap bass solo and cute guitar riff.

The guitar solo at the end of the first chorus as well. The guitar instrumental on the iTunes single version between the second and third chorus is also great.

* Every fiddle solo/instrumental of "Home Sweet Home" by The Farm. The fiddle instrumental beginning of "Trying To Find Atlantis" by Jamie O'Neal, too (really any heavy fiddle is a sight for sore ears these days).

* The banjo beginning of "The Best Thing I Had Goin'" by Brad Paisley.

* The steel guitar solo during the bridge of "Never Mind Me" by Big & Rich.

* The haunting electric guitar of 'Best I Ever Had" by Gary Allan.

* The drums at the end of "Flowers On The Wall" by Eric Heatherly.

* The entire end instrumental of "Banjo Boy" by Ryan Shupe & the Rubberband.

* The eerie piano intro of "Walk A Little Straighter" by Billy Currington.

* The mandolin during the bridge of "He Oughta Know That By Now" by Lee Ann Womack.

* The banjo during the beginning, middle and end of "By The Way" by Lindsay Ell.

* The steel guitar solo during "If You Don't Wanna Love Me" by Cowboy Troy f/Sarah Buxton.

* The electric guitar opening of "Dearly Beloved" by Faith Hill.

* The electric guitar in "Drinkin' In My Sunday Dress" by Susan Haynes.

* I know its not an actual instrument (human voices) but the "ba da da daow" in "The One In The Middle" by Sarah Johns.

Will add many more later. :)

[onebuffalo]

Mar 13, 2016 14:32:26 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

What are some of your favorite instrumentals/solos in songs? Here are a few of mine:

* I always liked the layered snare drum solo on the bridge of "I Told You So" by Keith Urban, and I'm disappointed that they cut it in half for the radio edit.

* The chirpy-scratchy guitar solos on "Tender When I Want to Be" by Mary Chapin Carpenter. I've never heard a guitar solo with a tone like that.

* Similarly, the crunchy distortion on "Don't Worry" by Marty Robbins, an accident that was left in the final mix.

* The horn/harmonica combo in the middle of "Snap Your Fingers" by Ronnie Milsap. I've never heard a harmonica blended into horns before, and I think it sounds really neat.

* The ending of "Hillbillies" by Hot Apple Pie, with the slap bass solo and cute guitar riff.

* I like the way Vince Gill plays the mandolin on "Cinderella" before the last chorus, because of how he strums it instead of plucking.

* The harpsichord solo on "There's No Limit" by Deana Carter. I'll say that again. HARPSICHORD. SOLO.

You're getting two videos with this one. The same week Ronnie Milsap hit the top with Snap Your Fingers, Vince Gill obtained his biggest hit on RCA with Cinderella. First, a chart and links for both songs:

BILLBOARD TOP TEN FOR WEEK ENDING AUGUST 1, 1987:
1. SNAP YOUR FINGERS-RONNIE MILSAP-RCA
2. Love Someone Like Me-Holly Dunn-MTM
3. One Promise Too Late-Reba McEntire-MCA
4. A Long Line Of Love-Michael Martin Murphey-Warner Bros.
5. CINDERELLA-VINCE GILL-RCA
6. Telling Me Lies-Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, and Linda Ronstadt-Warner Bros.
7. Whiskey, If You Were A Woman-Highway 101-Warner Bros.
8. Why Does It Have To Be Wrong Or Right-Restless Heart-RCA
9. Born To Boogie-Hank Williams, Jr.-Warner Bros.
10. Fallin' Out-Waylon Jennings-MCA

Videos:

Snap Your Fingers: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xk987IFW9Q
Cinderella: www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3AsTqh-o8s

Enjoy!

[Ten Pound Hammer]

^ WATZ has been playing "Telling Me Lies" a lot lately.

[Deleted]

The mandolin intro to "Sober" by Little Big Town

[bjer127]

I am an absolute sucker for a steel guitar solo. The sadder it is the better. Here are some of my favorites

Vince Gill "Look At Us" and "There's Not Much Love Here Anymore " and tons of others. His The Key album is soaked in steel

Buck Owens "Together Again" ( the version by The Derailers includes a second steel solo ????)

Ricky Skaggs "highway 40 blues" and "Country Boy"

Rodney Crowell "she's crazy for leaving "

Marshall tucker band "driving you out of my mind"


There's plenty others. But that's all for now. For what it's worth I absolutely loathe the 80s cheesy guitar solos that seem to RUIn every decent song these days.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

^ The snippet of the Looney Tunes theme in "Country boy" cracks me up every time.

[carriekins]

Fiddle outro to Amarillo by Morning and the fiddle solo in Dierks' Draw me a Map. Love.

[dm2081]

Turf's Up - Brad Paisley. The whole dang song is a serious instrumental.

[sabre14]

More:

* The fiddle in "Arlington" by Trace Adkins.

* The electric guitar during the bridge of "Like Red On A Rose" by Alan Jackson.

* The acoustic guitar in "You'll Be There" by George Strait.

* The opening guitar of "In Terms Of Love" by SHeDaisy.

* The harmonica in "Two Pink Lines" by Eric Church.

* The opening piano on "I Wish You'd You Stay" by Brad Paisley.

* The bagpipes at the beginning and of "Bagpipes Cryin'" by Rushlow Harris.

* The steel guitar at the end of the first chorus of "Nobody But Me" by Blake Shelton.

* The electric guitar solo during the bridge of "Boy Like Me" by Jessica Harp.

* The fiddle after the second and third chorus of "Sounds So Good" by Ashton Shepherd.

* The electric guitar in "Smoke Rings In The Dark" by Gary Allan.

[.indulgecountry]

* Steel guitar solo on "Waitin' on a Plane" by Maddie & Tae

* Fiddle bridge on "Caged" by Sara Evans

* The steel/fiddle bridge on "Suds in the Bucket" by Sara Evans

* Fiddle bridge on "Alone" by Sara Evans

* Fiddle bridge on "Three Chords and the Truth" by Sara Evans

* The haunting piano chords on "Just a Dream" by Carrie Underwood

* All of that dobro on "I Got the Boy" by Jana Kramer

* Electric guitar solo on "All I've Got" by Jana Kramer

* Steel guitar/fiddle bridge on "From a Table Away" by Sunny Sweeney

* The cello on "Johnny & June" by Heidi Newfield (particularly in the intro)

* The steel guitar bridge on "Lovin' Your Man" by Mindy McCready

* The fiddle opening of "Follow That Train" by Jessica Harp

* The opening music of "War Paint" by Lorrie Morgan (flute, percussion)

* The harmonica solo on "Kerosene" by Miranda Lambert

* Flute opening on "Down from Dover" by Dolly Parton (the bluegrass version)

* Fiddle fills/riffs on "Loved the Hell" by Joey + Rory

* Steel guitar fills on "I Wonder" by Kellie Pickler

* The mandolin on "Better Get to Livin'" by Dolly Parton

* The steel guitar on "Backwoods Barbie" by Dolly Parton

[bboat11]

Mar 14, 2016 1:04:59 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

* The mandolin(?) on "Better Get to Livin'" by Dolly Parton

You can get rid of the question mark, because you are right :)

[sabre14]

* The fiddle during the bridge of "All Things Considered" by Yankee Grey.

* The banjo during the start and end of "Better Life" by Keith Urban.

* The acoustic guitars throughout "Bring It On Home" by Little Big Town.

* The mandolin during the bridge of "Baby Girl" by Sugarland.

* The dobro in "Hello" by Sugarland.

* The steel guitar intro of "A Night To Remember" by Joe Diffie.

* The harmonica on "Can't Get Away From A Good Time" by Logan Mize.

* Whatever that thing is that's used throughout "Billy's Got His Beer Goggles On" by Neal McCoy.

[phil1996]

The Outsiders. The entire song.

[Ten Pound Hammer]

Even if you dislike "Sun Daze", I would have to say that the Dobro solo is pretty sweet.

[sabre14]

Mar 21, 2016 20:34:02 GMT -5 Ten Pound Hammer said:

Even if you dislike "Sun Daze", I would have to say that the Dobro solo is pretty sweet.

The instrumentation is the least of that song's troubles, lol.

I actually think the production is maybe the best of all their singles but it was utterly ruined by the lyrics.

[bksouthga]

Diamond Rio has always been one of my favorite bands from an instrumental standpoint. Their soloists were all really good, with guitarist Jimmy Olander being out-freaking-standing. He's about the best B bender I've ever heard.

They recorded instrumental tracks on three of their first four albums: "Poultry promenade", "Appalachian dream", and "big". They also had several album tracks which featured more lengthy instrumental sections than on their singles. Two that I especially liked were "the ballad of Conley and Billy" and "Kentucky Mine".

[sabre14]

The fiddle throughout "No Regrets, Yet" by Sonya Isaacs is awesome too, especially the bridge.

[.indulgecountry]

Mar 22, 2016 17:46:53 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

The fiddle throughout "No Regrets, Yet" by Sonya Isaacs is awesome too, especially the bridge.

I hadn't heard this song before but your endorsement prompted me to change that, and I liked that song a lot!

On that note, Patty Loveless' "I Came Straight to You" is one of the best fiddle songs I've ever heard. It's definitely one of my favorite Patty songs because of that since the fiddle is my favorite instrument.

[bksouthga]

Although I respect the hell out of the Nashville studio musicians past and present (Nashville Cats, right?) I do enjoy when solo artists use their road band in the studio, and band acts who play themselves in the studio (Diamond Rio, for example, mentioned in my previous post). Clint Black was known for doing this, and he had some good players in his band (Hayden Nicholas, Jeff Huskins, etc.) George Strait went through a spell where the Ace in the Hole band played with him in the studio some ("Milk Cow Blues", "Gone as a Girl Can Get", but not "Ace in the Hole", oddly enough). Brad Paisley has done this as well, particularly with his fantastic steel guitar player, Randle Currie.

Again, much respect to the session guys, but if nothing else sometimes it's nice to hear someone besides those guys playing!

[sabre14]

* The mandolin during "Stay With Me (Brass Bed)" by Josh Gracin.

* The electric guitar opening and the steel guitar solo during the bridge of "Just Might (Make Me Believe)" by Sugarland.

* The fiddle during "Just Might Have Her Radio On" by Trent Tomlinson.

* The banjo opening of "Daisy" by Halfway to Hazard.

* The fiddle during the opening instrumental of "Something's Gotta Give" by LeAnn Rimes.

* The fiddle throughout "As She's Walking Away" by Zac Brown Band w/Alan Jackson.

* The acoustic guitar throughout "Stupid Boy" by Keith Urban.

[sabre14]

Mar 22, 2016 18:47:05 GMT -5 .indulgecountry said:

Mar 22, 2016 17:46:53 GMT -5 sabre14 said:

The fiddle throughout "No Regrets, Yet" by Sonya Isaacs is awesome too, especially the bridge.

I hadn't heard this song before but your endorsement prompted me to change that, and I liked that song a lot!

For anyone else who hasn't heard this one yet.



Peaked at #35 on R&R and #36 on Billboard in early 2004. You gotta thank Ten Pound Hammer for the audio. :)

[sabre14]

* The fiddle throughout "Bomshel Stomp" by Bomshel.

Plus that horn honking, lol. Just a jam that is one of the catchiest earworms I've ever heard.

[H.]

Mar 21, 2016 14:33:46 GMT -5 phil1996 said:

The Outsiders. The entire song.

This, plus Uncaged by ZBB.

[phil1996]

Mar 24, 2016 9:09:55 GMT -5 H. said:

Mar 21, 2016 14:33:46 GMT -5 phil1996 said:

The Outsiders. The entire song.

This, plus Uncaged by ZBB.

Junkyard by ZBB too.

[sabre14]

* The fiddle during "Three Mississippi" by Terri Clark.

* The electric guitar open in "Anything But Mine" by Kenny Chesney.

* The fiddle solo/steel guitar solo during the bridge of "I May Hate Myself In The Morning" by Lee Ann Womack.

* The electric guitar solo during the bridge of "Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off" by Joe Nichols.

* The fiddle in "Don't Break My Heart Again" by Pat Green.

* The steel guitar solo/fiddle solo during the bridge of "From A Table Away" by Sunny Sweeney.

* The mandolin throughout "Change" by The Warren Brothers.

* The fiddle throughout "We Rode In Trucks" by Luke Bryan (bring the fiddle back, Luke!).

* The slick electric guitar in "Since You Brought It Up" by James Otto.

* The steel guitar after George Strait sings "Wouldn't be standing, right here right now" in "Texas".

The last one sounds so good -- look it up if you haven't heard it.

[sabre14]

* The entire instrumentation in "Drink Myself Single" by Sunny Sweeney.

* The electric guitar in "Man To Man" by Gary Allan.

* The steel guitar solo in "My Kind Of Music" by Ray Scott.

* That electric banjo in "How 'Bout You" by Eric Church.

* The saxophone in "Cryin' For Me (Wayman's Song)" by Toby Keith.

* The drums at the end of "Famous In A Small Town" by Miranda Lambert.

* Even though the vocal arrangement is terrible and Shania sounds childish on it, the instrumentation in "I Ain't No Quitter" was pretty cool.

[Todd]

The steel guitar solo in the middle of "That's Where My Baby Feels at Home," by George Strait

"Orange Blossom Special" - Charlie McCoy version

"Orange Blossom Special" - Mark O'Connor version (Includes a bit of the themes from Bonanaza and The Flinstones)

"Bowtie" - Mark O'Connor

[Andy]

I'll have to post more as I think of them, but my favorite instrumental of all-time is basically the entire outro of Jamey Johnson's "High Cost of Living."

[Ten Pound Hammer]

A few more:

* Anything with Lee Roy Parnell on slide guitar (e.g. "Shut Up and Kiss Me" by Mary Chapin Carpenter)

* Nearly any guitar or ganjo solo by Keith Urban. I love the soulfulness in his playing, and the way that he maintains a solid melody instead of shredding and noodling like Brad does.

* Clinton Gregory's electric fiddle on "Play, Ruby, Play" (I'm actually not too much of a fiddle person)

* The "Woodrow" on "Long Stretch of Love"

* The double-tracked electric guitar/mandolin (both played by Vince Gill) on Jeff Wood's "You Just Get One"