Jwave Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 This weekend I'm filling in with a classic-rock cover band so I've reacquainted myself with the keyboard solos of "I'm A Believer" (four bars, repeated almost identically) and "Breakdown" (four very cool bars from Benmont Tench). Can anybody think of well known keyboard solos that are similarly concise? I'm thinking of featured expressive solos rather than intros or riffs or fills. [No longest solos please - that would be another topic entirely!] Quote Kurzweil PC4, Expressive E Osmose, UNO Synth Pro, Hammond B-3X on iPad, Rhodes Mark II Stage 73, ART 710-A MK4s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elif Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Mine. Oops. Missed the “well known” part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jwave Posted June 1, 2022 Author Share Posted June 1, 2022 Just thought of the four-bar piano bit after the 2nd chorus of "My Old School", though structurely that's more of a connective "fill" than a solo. Quote Kurzweil PC4, Expressive E Osmose, UNO Synth Pro, Hammond B-3X on iPad, Rhodes Mark II Stage 73, ART 710-A MK4s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stoken6 Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Benmont again, in "Refugee" (Tom+Heartbreakers) - four bars until the guitar takes over. Cheers, Mike. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
synthizen2 Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 The synth solo at the end of "Just What I Needed". I play that one with my classic-rock covers band. We also do "Breakdown". I'm sure The Cars have lots of similar short-keyboard-solo stuff going on in their catalog. 1 Quote Kurzweil PC3, Yamaha MOX8, Alesis Ion, Kawai K3M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffincltnc Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 There is a very quick 6 note arpeggio on the keys at the opening of "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" before the guitar part of the intro. Maybe about half a second in duration. Quote Yamaha U1 Upright, Roland Fantom 8, Nord Stage 4 HA73, Nord Wave 2, Korg Nautilus 73, Viscount Legend Live, Lots of Mainstage/VST Libraries Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Love stinks. J Geils. 1 Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marino Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 "Birdland" from Quincy Jones' "Back on the Block". Well, it's really the intro to the main song, which QJ calls "The Jazz Corner of the World": When Joe Zawinul (who wrote the song) takes its solo on the Korg Pepe just before the song starts, he plays about eight notes total - not even a couple of bars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wineandkeyz Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Probably not what you're looking for, but the piano solos at the end of Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" and the Allman Bros' "Good Clean Fun" fade out just as Billy Powell and Johnny Neel, respectively, really get rolling. Quote Live: Yamaha S70XS (#1); Roland Jupiter-80; Mackie 1202VLZ4; IEMs or Traynor K4 Home: Hammond SK Pro 73; Moog Minimoog Voyager Electric Blue; Yamaha S70XS (#2); Wurlitzer 200A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roygBiv Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone' (organ part by Al Kooper) - cool recollection of how this part came about by the man himself: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baldwin Funster Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 RICK WAKEMAN.... will not be on this list. 1 1 Quote FunMachine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polychrest Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Before Blood Sweat and Tears, David Clayton-Thomas fronted several excellent bands in Canada. One of them, The Bossmen, featured a jazz piano player named Tony Collacott who’d played Carnegie Hall with Sarah Vaughan at age 14. Collacott and Clayton-Thomas collaborated on a celebrated protest song called “Brain Washed” that featured three monster mini-solos by Collacott that scared the crap out of every weekend warrior suburban keyboard wannabe in Canada, me included. The song itself scared the crap out of radio regulators, who insisted the word “damn” be bleeped before it could be played on-air. Collacott’s first rip appears around the one-minute mark. The whole song is worth a listen: 3 Quote "I like rock and roll, man, I don't like much else." John Lennon 1970 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokely Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Dennis Deyoung had a few shorter solos as turnarounds on a few tunes. The one from Rush's Xanadu is pretty short, not sure that would be called a "solo" or just a melody (same for most of the Cars solos, other than the one in Bye Bye Love.) Also from Rush, Countdown has a short solo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timwat Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Hmmm...a few that come to mind: Oh What a Night (December 1963) Get Lucky Take On Me Shut Up and Dance 1 Quote .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
16251 Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 Here's George Duke on Hi Fly. I always dug this short solo on Rhodes - it is So George Duke. I'd say jump to 5:13, which sets it up nicely. 3 Quote AvantGrand N2 | ES520 | Gallien-Krueger MK & MP | https://soundcloud.com/pete36251 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamanzarek Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 The organ solo on "Carry On Wayward Son" is pretty short but packs in a lot of notes. 2 Quote Gibson G101, Fender Rhodes Piano Bass, Vox Continental, RMI Electra-Piano and Harpsichord 300A, Hammond M102A, Hohner Combo Pianet, OB8, Matrix 12, Jupiter 6, Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, CS70M, CP35, PX-5S, WK-3800, Stage 3 Compact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NKB4691 Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 The short electric piano break in Tom Petty "Breakdown". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Paxton Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 The great James Booker, playing his shortest, simplest, and most "how the hell did he end up on this song anyway?" piano solo, starting at about 3:00: 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyRude Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 Piano riff from Eyes Wide Shut - short and complex riff repeated throughout the movie, lasts about 4-5 seconds 2 Quote 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 More sharing options...
Spider76 Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 Can't believe nobody mentioned In My Life yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamanzarek Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 Some other Monkees songs have short but interesting solos. I've played all these songs at various Monkees-themed events over the years, the most recent in early May 2022. "A Little Bit Me , A Little Bit You" has Artie Butler playing a short Hammond (Butler also plays Hammond on "I'm a Believer" according to an interview) solo with a tremolo effect. "Words" has Peter Tork doing a very short atmospheric Hammond solo. There is something that sounds like heavy Hammond leakage under the solo. "The Girl I Knew Somewhere" has Peter doing a two-handed Harpsichord solo. He demonstrated it to our band at soundcheck when we opened for him several years ago. "Stepping Stone" has two short organ interludes played by co-writer Bobby Hart. "Early Morning Blues and Greens" has Peter doing two short Hammond solos. It sounds like he does heavily reverbed percussive hits on the organ in much of the song. He also plays Wurly arpeggios as the main backing for the song. There is a Moog modular solo in "Star Collector" played by Paul Beaver. "Daily Nightly" has Moog noises done by Micky Dolenz. Dolenz owned a Moog modular. John Lennon was at a party at Dolenz' home and played with it for hours before The Beatles got their own. Dolenz later sold the Moog to Bobby Sherman. 1 Quote Gibson G101, Fender Rhodes Piano Bass, Vox Continental, RMI Electra-Piano and Harpsichord 300A, Hammond M102A, Hohner Combo Pianet, OB8, Matrix 12, Jupiter 6, Prophet 5 rev. 2, Pro-One, CS70M, CP35, PX-5S, WK-3800, Stage 3 Compact Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokely Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 Forgot that Kansas has a few short solos in various songs, thinking of the one (later similarly done by violin) on Miracles out of Nowhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still VanDerGraaf Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 On 6/1/2022 at 7:55 PM, Jr. Deluxe said: RICK WAKEMAN.... will not be on this list. Haha the first one I thought of was his harpsichord break in Siberian Khatru. 4 bars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Real MC Posted June 3, 2022 Share Posted June 3, 2022 Billy Squier "Everybody Wants You" ...and it's an incredibly difficult part 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docbop Posted June 3, 2022 Share Posted June 3, 2022 Viewing the word solo differently how about the Windows startup music/sound by Brian Eno? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted June 3, 2022 Share Posted June 3, 2022 16 hours ago, Docbop said: Viewing the word solo differently how about the Windows startup music/sound by Brian Eno? Since you went there, the 5 note melody that is my Android ringtone sounds like it was generated by a keyboard. "Dee dee dee dee dee..." Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Docbop Posted June 3, 2022 Share Posted June 3, 2022 9 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said: Since you went there, the 5 note melody that is my Android ringtone sounds like it was generated by a keyboard. "Dee dee dee dee dee..." But did the person who wrote it get a Million dollars like Eno got for his Windows solo. <grin> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eric Posted June 3, 2022 Share Posted June 3, 2022 "Situation" by Yazoo has a really quick synth "solo" type lick near the end about 4:20 that fits this topic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KuruPrionz Posted June 4, 2022 Share Posted June 4, 2022 6 hours ago, Docbop said: But did the person who wrote it get a Million dollars like Eno got for his Windows solo. <grin> Who made the most money from the fewest notes is another topic entirely. 😁 Quote It took a chunk of my life to get here and I am still not sure where "here" is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyRude Posted June 4, 2022 Share Posted June 4, 2022 I like the way you guys are thinking. Here's a compilation of famous ringtones converted to short keyboard solos. 1 Quote 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 More sharing options...
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