Never ending guitar solo
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Never ending guitar solo is a phrase that has entered popular usage, often as a derogatory reference to the perceived excess of rock and roll musicians, especially during the mid-to-late 1970s.
[edit] Origins
The origins of the phrase are unclear, but it is certain that the saying was inspired by the musical styles of iconic rock bands. The music produced by these bands often contained a prolonged, enduring midsection which involved all other instruments quietening and the lead guitar taking over. The length of these midsections often grew to incredible lengths during live performances.
One of the forefront representers of this kind of trend was Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia, accompanying with the band's own fame of very long shows. Rumor has it that Garcia once managed to make a guitar solo that lasted over 37 hours; however, there is no recorded proof of this.
The longest recorded guitar solo, in fact, lasted 17 minutes and 15 seconds and was made by Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page in the live version of "Dazed and Confused" heard in The Song Remains the Same. Garcia falls short of this mark, having his longest recorded solo clocking 13 minutes and 22 seconds in the song "Dark Star", as heard in Live/Dead.
[edit] Derogatory use
The idea of the guitar solo became unfashionable during the period of punk music in the late 1970s and early 1980s, where such excess was seen by some people to be pretentious and annoying. The short, sharp rhythms of punk music were the direct antithesis of the elongated, patient build up that many rock and roll bands employed.[1]
[edit] References
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