Post your favorite guitar sounds on albums...

[Jeff Mason]

And I am not talking stuff you like to play or wish (in my limited case) you were able to play.  I am talking stuff you wish you could turn just the right knobs or buy just the right pedal to get just that sound.  I am talking timbre, tone, shading, things that make a guitar sound right, beautiful, or whatever.  And yes, electric guitar can sound absolutely beautiful, and I am talking oboe-and-flute-gentle beautiful.  Which leads to my opening disclaimer: my all time fav guitarist is someone most of you won't know -- Phil Keaggy, an Ohio player who started out in a band called Glass Harp in the late 60's, became a Christian and started making Christiam music.  At his best he can either rock out a la Cream or else make dreamy reflective music making incredible use of effects, eBow, and a little technique where he turns the volume knob up and down with his pinky while he plays.  Most of my moments would be Phil moments.  In standard rock/pop, it's harder to find quiet beauty; it is raw and more on a primal level there.

Having said that, in no particular order....

Jorma Kaukonen, Volunteers -- especially We Can Be Together and the amazing Wooden Ships

Mick Taylor, Get Your Ya Yas Out -- especially Stray Cat Blues.  He makes that whole album for me.

Byrne/Harrison, More Songs About Buildings and Food -- one of the great pairs of rhythm generators and highly underrated.  Everything on this album, possibly the best recorded punk/new wave album of all, sounds great but especially the guitars, especially Found a Job and I'm Not In Love

Roger McGuinn, various Byrds tracks -- actually, I don't like the "in your face" Rick in early stuff as much with the exception of the phenomemal "Bells of Rhymny".  But scattered throughout are great moments, and many of my favs if you can believe it come late in the Byrds career:  Chestnut Mare, Well Come Back Home (first 4 minutes or so), See the Sky About to Rain.

Neil Young, Everyone Knows This Is Nowhere -- Cinnamon Girl is what good rock guitar is supposed to sound like.

Eric Clapton, Cream -- can't limit it much here -- the Gibson ES 335/Les Paul plus the Marshall stack was an amazing combo.  Clapton NEEDS humbuckers.

The Edge, Joshua Tree -- I am an unrepentant U2 fan, and I admire Bono.  Deal with it.  And the Edge may have made the best contributions to rock guitar sound post-punk period.  Pride is probably his best moment, but the Joshua Tree is sustained brilliance.

Robbie Robertson, Live Dylan 1966 -- When I first got Bootleg Series 5, this is what kicked me in the face.  Best live sound I know of on an album, and the guitar sounds great.

George Harrison, It Don't Come Easy -- Of all tracks to find my favorite by a Beatle, it was a solo Ringo track?  But I LOVE the shimmering chorus/flanged/whatever sound George got here.

Any other thoughts...?

[Jason]

Sergio Dias' playing on the Os Mutantes albums, man. He's like Santana without all the mainstream appeal.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

Barney Kessel - Caroline, No
Carl Wilson - California Girls
Jerry Cole and Barney Kessel - Wouldn't It Be Nice

Really, the ultimate "pedal" would simply be a sampled reverb of Western's reverb chambers.  Just plug an electric 12-string into that baby, and I think I'd cry to my own playing.

Rivers Cuomo - Weezer (1994)
John McLaughlin - Lost Trident Sessions LP

Both are pretty much straight up Les Paul juniors with p-90s through Marshalls.  Pretty sounding just the same.

Clapton NEEDS humbuckers.

The man's seeming obsession with Strats is really strange.  I mean, I love the sound of a Strat, but it doesn't work for Eric.  His playing hasn't helped matters much though. 

[Ron]

Alright.  2 guitar riffs I'll post that just bug the sh*t out of me.

1. The doors - Light My Fire (Live) - this is the live version you hear constantly, it was on both of their original live albums I believe.  Anyways, during the guitar solo, there's this awesome triplet? I guess portion that he added in that's not on the original studio version.  doo dee doo dee daa daa daa daa, doo dee doo daa daa daa daa. Just really fast, screaming triplets that sound like the guitar is dancing the polka or something, lol.  Hard to explain but one of my favorite moments on a record.

2. I KNOW I'm in the minority on this one.  There's 3 versions of Let It Be.  1 is the single version, with the harmonium? Solo.  2 is the recently released alternate take that's on the "Naked" album.  BUT, the best! Absolute best! And they never play it version is off the original,  Phil Spector Let It Be Album!  Not only do you have all the reverb drenched over Ringo's drums, and a different mix, but he did the intelligent thing, killed the Harmonium solo that was overdubbed onto a seperate track on the original, and plays the guitar solo instead.  It's one of Harrison's best solos, the last little scream of the guitar at the end of the break is one of the highlights of his career. 

THEY NEVER PLAY IT!  EVER! 

[Ron]

Urgh, I typed to fast, I just noticed I totally didn't even adress the topic, which is tones... sorry, I'll think about that and get back to it.

But still. 

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I was about to say...looks like they missed the point of your thread Jeff...but, hurray, the topic may be saved yet.

[Jeff Mason]

Give it time -- I think that once people finish dinner, it may take off.

And hopefully make me think of more great sounds.  These are just a few.

I never much dug the Wrecking Crew's guitar sounds on BB records, because the other parts all caught my eye instead (especially the great organ and flute parts).  But listening to the Pet Sounds Sessions box helps; guitar tracks of great delicacy buried in the mono mix come shimmering out.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I know what you mean, but there are certain interesting things the mono mix brings out in the guitars.  We've all heard it before, but Brian was working toward the mono mixes, and I think the impact of the guitars is often very dependent on how the guitars were recorded when listening to the stereo mix.

Fortunately for the stereo "listening experience" (completely sucky for studying the guitar parts), most of the time all the guitars were recorded to the same track so they keep their combined sound.  "I know there's an Answer" for example, features really a mind bogglingly cool dual-guitar part (or one 12-string, one Kessel-Mandotar?), and while I'd love to hear each part seperately, it's the combined sound of the two instruments playing together in harmony and wallowing in the chamber that is so powerful.

Some of the guitar on Pet Sounds is so subtle...like Barney's stuff on IJWMFTT.  Well, this is sort of going on a tangent...

[Jeff Mason]

Not necessarily -- sometimes guitar tones that sound great have to be done in tandem.  Like the great sound AND riff on And Your Bird Can Sing, which not coincidentally features the best IMO guitar sound on a Beatles track.  But it's John and George playing together.

And certainly listening to the guitar parts outside of the mono mix for BB records is instructive.  Lots of beautiful sounds there.

[the captain]

I love the electric guitar on "Getting Better," from Sgt. Pepper and "Something" on Abbey Road.

John McLaughlin on Miles' Jack Johnson disc.

Wes Montgomery's tone was always awesome.

Eddie Van Halen on "Hot for Teacher," when the gain wasn't really high up (the boogie parts)

Beach Boys on "Don't Worry Baby" in the verses/intro.

Hendrix, "Red House" off of Live at Winterland (I think is the disc...some concert) and the album version of Voodoo Chile (Slight Return).

I'll think of some others later.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

John McLaughlin on Miles' Jack Johnson disc.

What's interesting about that is, apparently, on all of the Miles stuff John did, he was using a bottom-rung entry-lever Fender Musicmaster which were so boring as a model that nobody remembers them.  Like a Mustang, only the stock arrangement was one single-coil pickup.

[Sheriff John Stone]

On Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay", I've always enjoyed the sound of the pedal steel guitar (is that what it is? - I'm not a musician). Very soothing. Great vocal also...

[the captain]

This might be (correction: IS) very lame, but as a young teen, Ace Frehley throughout the KISS Love Gun album...

[al]

Ben Keith's pedal steel sound and playing always get me - particularly on the Tonights The Night LP - Albquerque and Tired Eyes are just beautiful. Neil's guitar sound on his solos is great.

I'm a sucker for a Rickenbacker 12 string.

Richard Thompson gets the most wonderful sounds out of his strat - the new box has a whole CD devoted to 'Epic Live Workouts' which is just that.

Townshend has often had a poor guitar sound (Tommy, Quadraphenia) but Who's Next is perfect. Played largely on a Gretsch.

THe guitar sound I most hate is Brian bloody May's squeaky home made thing. Ughh!

You have to say Dave Gilmour has one of the best guitar sounds around. Stratospheric.

[Joel5001]

Love the sound Lindsey Buckingham got on"Out of the Cradle".

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

Ticket To Ride - The Beotels.

The power of that note being plucked out is so supportive with the booming drums, it works well.

[theCOD]

Trey Spruance - Everything on Disco Volante.  He's got an awesome sound, goin' down.

[Beckner]

Tony Iommi "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"-- has a Gibson SG ever sounded better?

[Old Rake]

My Bloody Valentine: "Soon"

and

The Velvet Underground, "Rock and Roll."

Oh, and John Squire, "She Bangs the Drums."

Oh, and the Verve, "Blue"

Oh, and the Byrds, "Renaissance Fair."

These are some magnificent lil' guitar tones.

[the captain]

OH! Velvet Underground, Sweet Jane. No question.

[Chris D.]

The Velvet Underground, "Rock and Roll."

Yes!

The Misfits -- "Where Eagles Dare"
The Rolling Stones -- "19th Nervous Breakdown," "Citadel"
The Seeds -- "I Can't Seem to Make You Mine"
Pere Ubu -- "Final Solution"
The Stooges -- "Penetration"
The Residents -- "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction," "You Yesyesyes"
The Ramones -- "Commando"
The Sex Pistols -- "I Wanna Be Me"
Chuck Berry -- "School Days," "Johnny B. Goode"
The Temptations -- "My Girl"
Red House Painters -- "Katy Song"
Television -- "Venus"
The Damned -- "Silly Kids Games," "Sick of Being Sick"
Led Zeppelin  -- "The Ocean"
The Pixies -- "River Euphrates," "Ana"
Duran Duran -- "Rio"
David Bowie -- "Starman," "Suffragette City"
Steely Dan -- "Reelin' in the Years," "Daddy Don't Live in that New York City No More," "East St. Louis Toodle-oo"
They Might Be Giants -- "Ana Ng"

[cabinessence]

(Yardbirds) - Jeff Beck: Shapes of Things
(Bowie) -Mick Ronson: Man Who Sold the World
(Amboy Dukes) -Ted Nugent: Journey to the Center of the Mind
Pete Townshend: Sheraton Gibson ('sittin' in the Sheraton Hotel playin' my Gibson")
Paul Simon: Duncan (not actually his most noteworthy picking but it does have his best guitar-player sentiment: "Just thanking the Lord for my fingers")

[Mitchell]

Brian May, especially on Queen II. And, for unique guitar sounds, how about Good Company from A Night at the Opera? The fanfare at the end of Bohemian Rhapsody I love, too.

[I. Spaceman]

Only two possible choices for me:
Velvet Underground "I Heard Her Call My Name"
The Band "Unfaithful Servant" (Rock Of Ages)

[Chris D.]

Velvet Underground "I Heard Her Call My Name"

Have to second that one too.