Single guitarist bands and good songs

CHrisP86

Current band lineup might be coming to an end so I was thinking of setting up a new band with me as the sole guitarist.

Any good suggestions for crowd pleaser songs that work well for the 1 guitar and bass format?  Looking at anything rock, pop, funk etc and ideally quite straight forward.

Thanks

MagicPigDetective

Nirvana! 

Freebird

Sex Pistols!

MagicPigDetective

Green Day!

DesVegas

Supergrass especially Richard III

uncledick

MagicPigDetective said:

Green Day!

Great band but always have two guitars when I've seen them live.

richardhomer

The Police, Cream, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Dr Feelgood, Pink Floyd, The Smiths, U2 - there’s no shortage of choice...

Veganic

To be fair @CHrisP86 mentioned bands but also mentioned songs and we fellow forumites have let him/her down.

The first question might be, how much gain are you planning on using? 

These posts never seem to get very far though.  The odds are just against us.  14 million songs and we are hoping to find one you like, can play, will please a crowd, and possible most difficult, you or your vocalist can sing. On top of that OP may be too polite be honest about our suggestions. Or maybe I am feeling let down as I made some suggestions in another thread and the poster hasn't been back to tell me how bad my suggestions are. 

So here are my suggestions:
Start - The Jam
Franz Ferdinand - Michael (probably just doable with one guitar)
Lust for Life - (well you asked for some Pop)
Maybe some classic Bowie- Man who sold the world?

Do your worst

Maynehead

Led Zeppelin - Rock n Roll?

Black Sabbath - Paranoid?

Ozzy Osbourne - Crazy Train?

Bad Company - Can't Get Enough?

Free - Wishing Well?

I could go on but don't know if I'm heading down the right track?

guitarfishbay

Feeder - Buck Rogers

Veganic

guitarfishbay said:

Feeder - Buck Rogers

Just youtubed that one as I couldn't place it. The live versions were much better so you may be on to something.

The next on autoplay was Stacey's Mom which is a nice easy one.

Cirrus

Killers

guitarfishbay

Cirrus said:

Killers

Good shout, a lot of their big songs will go down well with this kind of crowd

CarpeDiem

Muse - Supermassive Black Hole, Psycho Rory Gallagher - Tattoo'd Lady

Plectrum

As long as you steer clear of songs where you absolutely need twin harmony guitar the world is your oyster really.

CHrisP86

Thanks for the suggestions so far.

They don't have to be bands with just a guitar and bass but any songs that work well in that format, from the generally gigging experiences.

And the simpler the better.

Songs like Walking on Sunshine that get people up dancing but basically just the same 4 chords in the whole song. 

Found a couple if cools songs last last night that I hadn't heard before.

jessie's girl by Rick Springfield and Your love by the outfield

bigjon

Copied and pasted from my post in the Setlists discussion in the Forum Jams section of this forum. My band often gigs as a 3-piece or as a 4-piece with extra keys player, so I know they're all do-able on one guitar!

I've done a jam-specific version of my master setlist so it doesn't alter depending on my next gig, you can view it here - 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YFJ-oacjZM_hJLxz68Q52utfBWKeJES5whClrcSs2Nw/edit?usp=sharing

300 songs with the top 190 or so very easy to jam to (column J), arranged in order of popularity at my gigs (column K), and the next 70 possible to jam to with a bit of preparation, also arranged in order of popularity at gigs. Here's the top few to give you a flavour

Title	Key	Structure	Chord progression
Uptown Funk	Dm	Ad lib	Dm G
Another Brick	Dm	I VBC VBC SoloOnDm VBC VBC I (diff from orig)	V: Dmx16 ... Br: Gx4 Dmx2 ... Ch: ||F C Dmx2 || x2
Superstition	E (orig Eb)	I VC VC [ExtraSoloVs] VC OutroOnE (diff from orig)	V: Ex16 ... Ch: |B C|B Bb|A B . Ex4
Happy Birthday	E	Once through? or VV SoloVs V	E B B E . E A B E
Way You Make Me Feel	F	I VC VC SoloVC[s] CC	V: Fx8 . Bbx3.5 Cx0.5 Fx4 . . . Ch: Fx8
Halo	C (orig Bb)	Ad Lib	C Dm Am F
Should I Stay Or Should I Go	D	VVC 4barsD[or SoloV(s)] VCC	Dx4 . Gx2 Dx2 . Ax2 Dx2 (12bar)
Johnny B Goode	G (orig in Bb)	I VC VC SoloVV VCC (or Ad Lib)	Gx4 . Cx2 Gx2 . Dx2 G D (12bar but plays V chord 2 bars instead of V IV)
Welcome To The Jungle	A	I VC VC SoloVC VC SoloCs (not as orig)	V: Ax4 Ex4 ... Ch: ||C D Emx2 ||x2 (not as orig)
Get Lucky	Bm	Ad lib	||Bm D F#m E || throughout (not as orig)
Hard To Handle	C (orig B )	I VV SoloV (V) SoloV	V: Cx8 Gx2 C! ... ||Bb F C || x4 (play link following v2 at 1:19 after every verse, not as orig)
Mustang Sally	C	I V V V [SoloVs?] V (diff from orig)	12bar in C
Summertime	Am	IntroV VV IntroV SoloV(s) VV IntroV (or ad lib)	Amx4 . Dm F Ex2 ... Amx4 . C E Amx2
Sweet Home Alabama	D	Varies according to whim	D C G G
Aint No Sunshine	Am	IntroV VV C V SoloVs V repeatLastLinex3	Amx4 . Em Dm Amx2
I Feel Good	D	VV B V [Solos?] B VV repeatLastLine repeatLastLineAndExtendRiffAtEnd	V(12bar): Dx4 . Gx2 Dx2 . A G Dx2 .. Br: Dx4 . Gx2 Dx2 . Gx2 Ax2
I Will Survive	Am	slowV VCC SoloV VVCC Solos Cs adlib (not as orig)	Am Dm G C . F Bm7b5 E4 E
Jambalaya	C (orig G)	I VC VC SoloCs C lastlinex3	C G G C

CHrisP86

@bigjon thanks for this! Epic list of possibilities there!!

Limehouse_Blues

ZZ Top - Tush

Roland

A single guitar band can play a lot of different songs, it's mostly about how you arrange them. It helps if the bass player can also sing, and do more than thud the bass note. In general I'm against technology solutions, but you can use a looper to play both rhythm and lead in songs like Run To You.

ESBlonde

Look at some 60s pop bands, lots of those classic songs are simple and can be reworked into modern sounding versions or well known/familiar songs and they ar e ofton only 3 piece with harmonies anyway. Take your pick from eddison Lighthouse, hermans hermits, Billy J Kramer, Hollies etc.