Greatest one note guitar solo ever?

The beauty of the one note solo is that it follows a one-chord solo.

Can't believe I never posted to this thread.

But then, I can't think of one.

Bummer Bitch by Freestone has a great one. As dunderheaded as the rest of the tune.

Some mentioned Cinamon Girl upthread, but the raggedy solo in Southern Man comes to mind.

(for me!)

Isn't it the Shaggs "Who Are Parents" that has that solo the start of which is just one note hit repeatedly, with even spaces, and then a few ascending notes that end the song?

Rocket from the Tombs - Raw Power

totally smokin'

"Behind the Wall of Sleep" - The Smithereens

The first half of Jeff Beck's "You Shook Me"

The first half of (again) Neil Young's "Vampire Blues"

easy winner - i just posted about it, which reminded me - wire, 'i should have known better', last 20 seconds

The intro to YYY's "Maps" is awesome

Yo La Tengo - Little Honda

hey guys,
I took some of your suggestions, researched some more and have collected all the records over the last 10 years. I then DJed them all into a mix tape - all songs with one note guitar solos, just the guitar solos - which has just been released by "Bridgetown Records".
thanks!
there is a sample here: http://www.bridgetownrecords.info

Les Savy Fav's "Reprobate's Resume" has a section that can be qualified as a one note solo

tom petty "runnin down a dream" my classic fav

also pixies' "manta ray" is a good one

Did anybody mention "Howzat" by Sherbert?

A true one-note solo, a bit like "Wichita Lineman", but on one note only.

Has "You Keep me Hanging on"'s morse code intro/solo been mentioned? It doesn't get much better than that imo.

^^^ That just reminded me of an MST3K joke in which the movie being watched fades in on a Morse code key rapidly beeping out a message (or some such thing), at which point Tom Servo starts singing the aforementioned song. Ned probably knows which episode it was.

I always thought the solo in Fleetwood Mac's The Chain (the end bit, that's the famous BBC formula one theme) was one note, but um it's like several one-note solos after each other :-/

Sure I started a thread like this and everyone ended up confused about whether you could include drones, how many extra notes were allowed, etc...

A few more: Witchita Lineman, Bowie's Starman, Libertines' Can't Stand Me Now

Bowie's Starman

I don't hear this one

where is the one-note solo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muMcWMKPEWQ

I lived in rural MS for a couple of years, and enjoyed a bit of playing music in various clubs there. One Friday, a local guy was playing with a bunch of other locals, and called me and said I could sit in if I wanted to.

I showed up, guitar case in hand, and walked to a spot to the right of the band. A guy wearing all denim, white Reebok hi-tops, and a feathered mullet asked me "What's that? A trombone?" I demurred, just chuckling at his idiocy. He got up and played a cover of Cream's version of "Crossroads." He was good. Damn good. But WAAAAAYYY too Van Halen for a cover of that song where we were (approx 100 yards from the Mississippi River).

So, he finishes, and the whole crowd applauded, but in a respectful way, not in a getting drunk on a Friday night sort of way.

So, I get up and tell the guys, 4/5 of whom I had played "Crossroads" with the night before, "Same song. Half as fast." They grin, and grind into it. When it came time for a solo, I played one note. I let it hang. And feedback. And then I played the same note again. And again.

The crowd was enthused. It was pretty awesome. Upon leaving the stage, I made a trombone motion to the dude, and he laughed. Good times.

Which leads me to a question: What is your favorite single note solo from a song?

Back in the USSR is a great one.

I didn't realize it would automatically post to this thread. I would have removed the final line from my first post. Ah well. You understand.

I meant that little guitar bridge between the verse and chorus at 0:50, Shakey.

1) that's not a guitar
2) that is like two bars

In all the research I did for this, I found MANY suggestions of what people remembered as one note solos, or bridges, or just one great note repeated in the middle of an otherwise note-rich solo.

it's good to see you've got a passion for maintaining the integrity of the TRUE one-note solo!

Revolting Cocks 'Stainless Steel Providers'

I am still wrapping my mind around Talk Talk's Laughing Stock, which is like the album I wish I had known at the time as I am completely blown away by it....the one-note solo is completely spine-chilling, to me at least!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9HsGsB-MCM

Many of the solos in this thread are not one note solos, including the lovely Talk Talk feedback solo above.

Actual one note solos are few and far between

yeah I realize that but i took a broader view

This is a true one-note solo.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PyXMv2eA79M

The Who: "I Can See for Miles"

― Rahul Kamath (Rahul Kamath), Saturday, October 19, 2002 9:48 PM (10 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^ yep.

The label that put out this tape has it streaming on bandcamp now: One note guitar solo mixtape

"Radiated" - Story So Far

http://www.myspace.com/newtownproducts/music/songs/radiated-by-story-so-far-2652840

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=public+nuisance+love+is+a+feelin&oq=public+nuisance+love+is+a+feelin&gs_l=youtube.3..33i21.6067.16425.0.17332.31.23.0.8.8.0.103.1001.22j1.23.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.HWFoHfduDpA

Hmm, I like the idea of that one-note mix tape, but surely the first one is more than one string, and the second one has pitch-bending going into semi-tone range. Will keep listening though.

Beiss Mich [Bite Me] by Fraulien Wunder. This and Cinnamon Girl are the best, I think. Len Bright is pretty cool too.

I know it's not guitar but...

this is absolutely the worst solo i have ever heard by any instrument pic.twitter.com/tr9HPaZCYq

— Gal Gracen (@galgracen) September 25, 2019

That is absolutely the best solo ever

untitled goose solo

i knew this would be the revive

xp lmao fuck

There's a solid chapter about this subject in Ben Ratliff's book "Every Song Ever."

Agreed with those who said it above: Neil Young is the master at one-noters although my favorite is Phil Manzanera's on Eno's "The True Wheel," possibly my favorite Eno song.

that "absolutely the worst solo" is pretty great, come on now

Seen them live a couple of times. They didn't have a sax player but they are certainly musos.

Cake's "I Will Survive" has a pretty great solo, which is one note until almost the end

For the record, the Ben Ratliff book mentions the mix tape that was compiled using the suggestions collected from the first 10 years of posts in this thread.