Your favourite guitar work from someone hired as guitar player for an album?

axisus

I was a big SRV fan, I discovered him via Sounds music rag in '83, bought his debut album and loved it. He was my fave guitarist for many years. Very soon after I saw another sounds interview talking in depth about his playing on Bowie's Let's Dance album. I had never bought a Bowie album in my life but I got that one and loved it, the guitar solos were fabulous!

The other one that I loved (but haven't heard now for decades) was the PiL album with Vai. An amazing choice from Lydon, I would never have guessed he would do that in a million years! Another band that I never thought I'd buy an album from.

camf

Nils Lofgren on Neil Young's "Tonight's the Night". Still my favourite album over 40 years after hearing it. I don't even like the guitar tone he has on it, but its jarring presence and great playing really added to the whole album.

Hattigol

Hard to beat SRV on that album but up there with him is Fripp's playing on Scary Monsters.

Recall him saying in an interview that he had been 'spraying burning guitar over Bowie's new album'.

Never has playing been so accurately described. Brilliant.

Grangousier

Jeff Beck on Roger Waters' Amused to Death. Hiring Beck and Clapton were possibly the most flamboyant fuck yous to David Gilmour in a career that seems to have been heavy on fuck yous to David Gilmour. 

SRich

Doesn't get any better than Larry Carlton on "The Royal Scam"..........................YMMV

axisus

4 posts in and already a bunch of albums I want to hear!

cm01

Robert Quine on Lloyd Cole’s ‘X’ ... lovely shimmering tones and some beautiful playing ... and Neil Taylor on Tears for Fears ‘Songs from the Big Chair’ - again, great playing and tones 

EricTheWeary

axisus said:

I was a big SRV fan, I discovered him via Sounds music rag in '83, bought his debut album and loved it. He was my fave guitarist for many years. Very soon after I saw another sounds interview talking in depth about his playing on Bowie's Let's Dance album. I had never bought a Bowie album in my life but I got that one and loved it, the guitar solos were fabulous!

The other one that I loved (but haven't heard now for decades) was the PiL album with Vai. An amazing choice from Lydon, I would never have guessed he would do that in a million years! Another band that I never thought I'd buy an album from.

Album has a line up that looks like a jazz fusion supergroup yet without sounding at all like that. Bill Laswell ( co-producer, most of the bass) on credits often a sign that something interesting is occurring. 

Hattigol said:

Hard to beat SRV on that album but up there with him is Fripp's playing on Scary Monsters.

Recall him saying in an interview that he had been 'spraying burning guitar over Bowie's new album'.

Never has playing been so accurately described. Brilliant.

I was thinking Fripp, not someone who interests me in terms of his own projects but with Bowie and David Sylvian some of my favourite sounds. 

stratman3142

SRich said:

Doesn't get any better than Larry Carlton on "The Royal Scam"..........................YMMV

Yes that one takes some beating. Larry Carlton has been great on numerous sessions.

Steve Lukather is another player that springs to mind on numerous albums.

Winny_Pooh

Johnny Marr on Modest Mouse's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

Philly_Q

cm01 said:

Robert Quine on Lloyd Cole’s ‘X’ ... lovely shimmering tones and some beautiful playing …

Reminds me of Robert Quine, Ivan Julian and Richard Lloyd contributing to Matthew Sweet's albums Girlfriend, Altered Beast and others.  Lloyd Cole himself makes at least one appearance too.  I can't remember exactly who features on what, but all Sweet's albums from that period are great - pop music but with really cool, gnarly, interesting guitars.

camf

Winny_Pooh said:

Johnny Marr on Modest Mouse's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

Yes! Good call. 

zedhex

Wayne Perkins on "Hand of Fate" and "Worried 'bout You" on the rolling stones Black and Blue album. Also, Ray Crawford's guitar solo on Tom Waits "Blue Valentines"

DrCornelius

Some great suggestions but as a huge Bowie fan I've got to go with SRV on Lets Dance  (apparently Bowie nicked him from under the noses of The Stones at the time).  The solo on China Girl is one of my favourites of all time - monster tone

Philly_Q

Speaking of SRV, I own this album:

Yes, it is that Don Johnson.  Featured guitarists include Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dickey Betts, Ronnie Wood and Dweezil Zappa.

axisus

Philly_Q said:

Speaking of SRV, I own this album:

Yes, it is that Don Johnson.  Featured guitarists include Stevie Ray Vaughan, Dickey Betts, Ronnie Wood and Dweezil Zappa.

Yeah, I bought that being an SRV fanboy! Can't remember, he plays on one or two tracks?

monquixote

Always enjoyed Slash's contribution to Mama Said by Lenny Kravitz though it's only two songs.

Gassage

• Earl Slick on Station to Station.
• Glenn Tilbrook on Look Now (Costello Album)
• SRV on Let's Dance

Philly_Q

@axisus I just went and dug out the Don Johnson LP... it's got these irritating little cartoon drawings to show who played on what track, they're a bit hard on my eyes!  Looks like SRV plays solos on two tracks and Dweezil on one.

Wikipedia tells me there's a reissue CD with six bonus tracks.  I'd hazard a guess that they don't feature celebrity guest musicians.

Now that I'm thinking about it, I've also got a mini-album by Adrian Zmed out of TJ Hooker.  It's got Rick Derringer and Edgar Winter on it.

breakstuff

Vini Reilly on Viva Hate by Morrissey, especially the franticness of his playing on I Don't Mind If You Forget Me. 

ICBM

axisus said:

SRV... on Bowie's Let's Dance album.

axisus said:

the PiL album with Vai.

Grangousier said:

Jeff Beck on Roger Waters' Amused to Death.

cm01 said:

Robert Quine on Lloyd Cole’s ‘X’

All these. I'm not even a huge fan of Beck normally, but Amused To Death is fantastic. And not forgetting Nile Rodgers on Let's Dance as well...

I'll nominate an unusual one - Richard Hawley on A Girl Called Eddy (Erin Moran), self-titled album.