Jump to content


Please note: You can easily log in to MPN using your Facebook account!

Great keyboard solos in pop tunes


Recommended Posts



  • Replies 136
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Top Posters In This Topic

Howard Jones takes Synth solos in "New Song", and "Things Can Only Get Better".

 

"The Captain of Her Heart" by Double has a couple of Piano solos.

 

"What Do All the People Know" by The Monroes features a CS80 solo.

 

"I Got You" by Split Enz has a Octave Cat Synth solo.

 

"Outside a Small Circle of Friends" by Phil Ochs has incredible Piano interludes by Lincoln Mayorga.

 

 

 

C3/122, M102A, Vox V301H, Farfisa Compact, Gibson G101, GEM P, RMI 300A, Piano Bass, Pianet , Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, Matrix 12, OB8, Korg MS20, Jupiter 6, Juno 60, PX-5S, Nord Stage 3 Compact
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Bruno Mars - Versace On The Floor (Im surprised this had a synth solo given when it was released)
By Greg Phillinganes.

Life is subtractive.
Genres: Jazz, funk, pop, Christian worship, BebHop
Wishlist: 80s-ish (synth)pop, symph pop, prog rock, fusion, musical theatre
Gear: NS2 + JUNO-G. KingKORG. SP6 at church.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So now that there have been many great examples, its time to decide which is the #1 all time great keyboard solo. After an exhaustive review, our celebrity panel of distinguished musicologists, historians and social media influencers has decided. And the winner is:

 

Bob Mayos brilliant solo on Peter Framptons "Do You Feel Like We Do".

Factors contributing to the #1 ranking include musicianship, dynamics, contribution to popular culture, and last but not least, audience reaction (the live nature of the recording gives this solo an advantage over studio-based solos). Mayo's solo takes its rightful place alongside the greatest guitar solos by Jimi Hendrix and Eric Clapton, and has paved the way for current keyboard solos by such luminaries as Cory Henry.

 

Revisit this timeless masterpiece here at 4:10 5:15. To get the full effect, listen to the entire song and hear the solo in context.

 

[video:youtube]

Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands

Tommy Rude Soundcloud

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right, here we go:

 

You can't get what you want ('till you know ..) - Joe Jackson

organ solo

 

Eagle - Abba

lots of synths breaking the 'limit you solo' rule sucessfully

 

War of the hearts - Sade

(electric) piano lines

 

Three times a lady - Commodores

(grand) piano

 

Body Language - Queen

synths

 

Sympathy for the devil - Rolling Stones

it's not exactly a solo, but in the right mix, there's very interesting acoustic piano going on

 

Remedy - Black Crowes

electric/ac piano

 

Celebration - Kool & the Gang

Maybe it's more a bunch of licks on Wurlitzer and piano, but it's played like a keyboard song

 

The Boy from New York City - The Manhattan Transfer

There's boogie piano, and most of the harmonies do piano stuff

 

Master Blaster (Jammin') - Stevie Wonder

it's got solo lines as from an organ on various instruments

 

While You See a Chance -Steve Winwood

Intro, licks, theme, piano solo

 

Sweet Baby - George Duke & Stanley Clarke

 

Hold On Tight - Electric Light Orchestra

 

I'm Coming Out - Diana Ross

piano

 

Rendez-Vous - Jean Michel Jarre

..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That entire Time and Tide album is phenomenal. From Now On has one of my all-time favorite sax solos, very dry, no effects that I can hear at all.

 

Picked up a clean copy of the LP earlier today, along with a stack of other albums. You're right--Phenomenal!

Hardware

Yamaha MODX7, DX7, PSR-530, SY77/Korg TR-Rack, 01/W Pro X, Trinity Pro X, Karma/Ensoniq ESQ-1, VFX-SD

Behringer DeepMind12, Model D, Odyssey, 2600/Roland RD-1000/Arturia Keylab MKII 61

 

Software

Studio One/V Collection 9/Korg Collection 4/Cherry Audio/UVI SonicPass/EW Composer Cloud/Omnisphere, Stylus RMX, Trilian/IK Total Studio 3.5 MAX/Roland Cloud

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think I saw any of these yet, apologies if mentioned already:

 

Ben Folds Five

"One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces"

Earlier mention of Kenny Kirkland's solo in the live version of "Bring On The Night" made me think of this one, IMO they have a similar vibe

 

Utopia

"Libertine"

Great synth solo from Roger Powell

 

The Cars

"Bye Bye Love"

I was always curious what synth was used for this and how much of the latter part of the solo was fancy playing vs. digital delay echoes

 

Sheryl Crow

"My Favorite Mistake"

Great electric piano solo with lots of vibe

 

Lenny Kravitz

"My Precious Love"

Poignant piano solo in this sparse tune, not sure if played by Lenny or one of the few session players used on this debut album.

 

Michael Penn

"Long Way Down"

Great Chamberlin solo by Patrick Warren, who is a badass because he does pitch bending on said Chamberlin by slowing down a sharp spinning metal wheel with his bare thumb.

 

Scritti Politti

"Wood Beez (Pray Like Aretha Franklin"

"Slippery" sounding synth in the solo reminds me a little of the synth sound used in the Stop making Sense live album, in songs like "Life During Wartime" and "Girlfriend is Better"

Absolute

Great use of a "clangorous" tone in this solo, not sure if was done on a DX7, which could do those types of patches.

 

 

Van Halen

"I'll Wait"

The synth solo in the middle of this tune is pretty cool and it has 2 bonus aspects:

 

1-When I saw Van Halen live a few years ago and they played it, David Lee Roth started playing "air-synth" to the 16th note pattern, which was kind of cool

 

2-A very long time ago, on this forum I think, we got to learn a special new kind of "keyboard tab" for this tune that involved some sort of Chicken-Foot icon as part of the music notation.

 

Some years later, Van Halen's 2nd singer formed a band called "Chickenfoot", proving that they keyboard corner's influence runs strong in the head world of rock n' roll.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[video:youtube]

 

VERY tasty and musical minimoog solo from the man Kenny Kirkland on this tune with Michal Urbaniak from the brilliant album "Ectasy" from 78....and the vocals....oh my god....beyond funky....check out "Just a funky feeling" from the same album...game over...

 

Another GREAT album with Urbaniak featuring Kirkland is "Urbaniak" from 77.

He really had his own style mixing polish/gypsy music with funk/soul/fusion

All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.

Arthur Schopenhauer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

George Harrison - All Those Years Ago has some nice synth solos. At 2:44 and 2:57 and later.

]

This whole song has some nice synth throughout.

Teardrops has a synth solo at 2:34

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iVgJ6KF-RJA

That whole album has nice synth work. Im guessing Prophet-5.

Yamaha MX49, Casio SK1/WK-7600, Korg Minilogue, Alesis SR-16, Casio CT-X3000, FL Studio, many VSTs, percussion, woodwinds, strings, and sound effects.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Organ/ clav solo on Bostons Smokin........actually pretty much half of the song is a pretty bad ass organ solo.

 

Also, organ on Hitch a ride by Boston but that wasnt as Pop as Smokin, as I recall...

Kurzweil Forte 7, Mojo 61, Yamaha P-125,

Kronos X61, Nautilus 73

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Modern Talking - Youre My Heart Youre My Soul

What ? :confused:

 

A.C.

OK Al, you made me want to investigate. The best I can summarize is this is a David Hasselhoffian Seigfried & Roy-like German Duo. As for any keyboard solo in this song, unless I dozed off, there's not a solo anywhere to be found.

 

[video:youtube]

Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands

Tommy Rude Soundcloud

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is a more recent version, synth solo by Tim Carmon, almost invariably I find blues synth solos to be cheese, but this is stunning, it starts at about 8 minutes in and follows Claptons' own solo:

 

[video:youtube]

 

 

Chuck Leavell's piano solo begins at 5:15. So so tasty! His playing throughout the entire tune is great.

 

[video:youtube]

Gig keys: Hammond SKpro, Korg Vox Continental, Crumar Mojo 61, Crumar Mojo Pedals

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great thread. Lots of the obvious greats mentioned already. Have I missed it, or has nobody yet cited one of my all time fave perfect pop piano solos?

 

Benny And The Jets

 

Such a perfect 12 bar story.

Kawai C-60 Grand Piano : Hammond A-100 : Hammond SK2 : Yamaha CP4 : Yamaha Montage 7 : Moog Sub 37

 

My latest album: Funky organ, huge horn section

https://bobbycressey.bandcamp.com/album/cali-native

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great thread. Lots of the obvious greats mentioned already. Have I missed it, or has nobody yet cited one of my all time fave perfect pop piano solos?

 

Benny And The Jets

 

Such a perfect 12 bar story.

No you didn't miss it. Not including Sir Elton in this list is a major oversight! So many.. a lot of parts that are akin to solos are more like transitions or bridges, super memorable and iconic sections, like the beautiful breakdowns in Tiny Dancer, Levon, on and on. Then there's the epic blockbuster production intro to Funeral for a Friend.

Some music I've recorded and played over the years with a few different bands

Tommy Rude Soundcloud

Link to comment
Share on other sites

For Elton, Id say the Farfisa breaks on Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting and Your Sister Cant Twist But She Can Rock & Roll and the intro to Funeral To A Friend.

Billy Joel has a great piano solo in Piano Man.

Id definitely say

Rhodes and piano and organ solos

Doors: Riders On The Storm

Little Feat: Dixie Chicken

Koes Plus: Ojo Podo Nelongso (has a short piano solo)

Koes Plus: Kolam Susu (piano solo again)

Doors: Break On Through

Favourites Group: Rek Ayo Rek (Yamaha organ solo)

Favourites Group: Tetes Hujan Di Bulan April (organ solo again)

The foreign songs are on Spotify, so you know.

Yamaha MX49, Casio SK1/WK-7600, Korg Minilogue, Alesis SR-16, Casio CT-X3000, FL Studio, many VSTs, percussion, woodwinds, strings, and sound effects.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Unfortunately, your content contains terms that we do not allow. Please edit your content to remove the highlighted words below.
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...