guitar solos that mimic the vocal melody

[oustemnow]

anyone else have a special place in his/her heart for them? A modern classic example, I guess, would be Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," but then there's also a bunch of others, e.g. the Buzzcocks' "What Do I Get?" and the Clash's "Police and Thieves."

I really like a lead that can take a song in a different direction, but for some reason a vocal-mimic guitar lead, executed well, really gets to me.

[AngryYoungMan]

1. "I Want You" by The Beatles

#1 example of this, in my opinion.

Pink Floyd tried this trick a few times, like on "Animals."

I'm trying to think of more...

[oustemnow]

3. perfect example

boy, that lead is sending chills up my spine just thinking about it. The weird, cool, menacing tone it sets just by nuance alone. What an awesome song overall.

[deek]

11. absolutely

so intimate!

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

31. You stole my answer!

I Want You (she's so heavy) is a perfect example.

[Must_B_Free]

2. Jimi Hendrix - Rainy Day

better than mimicing - That guitar solo it actually sounds like talking

Sit back and groove on a rainy day.

[ulysses]

4. damn you

Now I have to go find my copy of Nevermind...

[RetroLounge]

5. Zeppelin - Nobody's Fault But My Own

na na, na na, naaaa naaaa

[mitchum]

6. "God Don't Ever Change" by Blind Willie Johnson

[DrFunkenstein]

7. All Day and All of the Night n/t

[Fovea]

8. Hm...

Lowell George of Little Feat on the album Waiting for Columbus.
Lowell singing a trio with his own slide guitar and the lead in Dixie Chicken...and the soaring incredible lines of Rocket in my Pocket... DAMN!

[deek]

12. little feat

dixie chicken!
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

[peterh]

9. I think Peter Frampton did a good rendition on his live album…

Just can’t remember the song right now.

[oustemnow]

10. I Think the song was "I Want You" or "Show Me the Way"

I'm not by any stretch a big Frampton fan, but that's definitely a good example of, Cool melody, why not just fortify it? (S'funny, but I believe he played that one with the Heil Talk Box, which means he was both singing the solo and playing it on the guitar at the same time).

[Kat45]

20. Yup, it was "Show Me the Way" with the Talk Box

Same here, not so much a Frampton fan, but that was a good one.

[DS1]

13. Don't hate me, but

Mountain Song - Jane's Addiction

[oustemnow]

15. the song does rule, as does the solo, as always for Mr. Navarro

(I was gonna suggest "Been Caught Stealing" for the best guitar solos thread, but I kinda got outta hand over there), but I don't believe it qualifies, as it doesn't follow the vocal melody, at least not closely.

And I could never hate you, DS1, even if you can't hear the guitar beauty of Television.

[Alexander]

14. "Start Me Up" by the Stones

Does that work? Because that song ruled.

[oustemnow]

16. I think that one's actually the inverse case

it seems pretty clear (at least to me) that Mick was taking his melodic cues from Keef on that one, not the other way around.

You're right though, that's a good song. One of the last gasps of life for what was once one of the best bands going.

[DrFunkenstein]

17. Like "Can You Hear Me Knockin"

The guitar kinda determines the vocal.

[MiddleRiverRefugee]

18. Bob Marley's "Is This Love"...

My favorite song of his.
Of course, in that case it's Family Man's **bass** which follows the vocal.

[southpaw]

19. Twisted Sister...

We're Not Gonna Take It!

Sad that I should know that... but its true nonetheless.

Someone recently suggested that song as the Dem candidate themesong for 2004. Dee Snider would be proud.

[Character Assassin]

21. The master: George Benson's "This Masquerade" or "Broadway"

The guitar lead and the vocal are exactly the same effing thing.

That's one hot sumbiatch.

[ProfessorGAC]

22. I Don't Think That's What The Question Meant

You're right about George's ability to play/skat. It's pretty cool. Roland Kirk used to do that by humming and playing at the same time. Sometimes he did parallel harmony on vocal while playing a soprano and tenor sax at the same time, so he had three parts at once.

But, i think the question referred to a solo that was the same as the melody of the song itself. Hence, the suggestions proferred.

So, i think you're answer doesn't match the question, but thanks for reminding me about George Benson. I'm going to go home and listen to some later.
The Professor

[Eat_The_Rich]

23. Led Zepplin

The solo in "You Shook Me"

Or the slide guitar/vocal during the verse for that matter!

[Ellen Forradalom]

24. Todd Rundgren's The Ballad of Denny and Jean

Featuring Waldo the Singing Guitar:
"But you don't always know what to say
When they ask you, what do you say."

[XNASA]

25. "I Saw the Light" qualifies as well, I guess.

Todd uses this method quite a lot.

[noonwitch]

26. "Estranged" by GNR

It has a few different solos that change as the vocal meoldy does.

[deek]

27. anything by satriani n/t

.

[geniph]

28. Allman Brothers' Whipping Post

although I don't know that you can call that a guitar "solo" since there are multiple guitars playing in unison...

[Tom Kitten]

29. Strange Kind of Woman by Deep Purple

...from Made in Japan, Ritchie Blackmore and Ian Gillan exchange notes tit for tat ,,,

Also I believe the Frampton Comes Alive people are thinking of is "Do you Feel Like We Do", and he used a talkbox...Joe Walsh did the same on "Rocky Mountain Way", as did Stevie Wonder on "In the City"...

Ah yes, the high school days...funny how selectively trivial memory can be sometimes...can't remember anything I learned, but I remember this!

[Karenina]

30. I'm talking guitar as voice here

NO ELECTRONIC ENHANCEMENT other than that native to the guitar. (Hold on a sec, I'm hearing over my shoulder that I missed your point. Nope, I score on that). Jeff Beck, "Once We've Ended as Lovers." We're talking lyrical duets here, courtesy Mr-All-time-slick-fingered-brilliant- interpreter. IMHO it is CLASSICAL.