3 Long Classic Rock Guitar Solos That You Don’t Want To End

A feature of classic rock is the guitar solo. And many are quite lengthy. But as guitarists expanded the art of the solo, they also proved that listeners had longer attention spans than the radio programmers of the time had assumed. So in the spirit of epic shredding, here are three long classic rock guitar solos that I imagine you don’t want to end. No matter how many times you’ve heard them. And if these sagas end too soon, just put them on repeat!

“Machine Gun” by Jimi Hendrix

Band Of Gypsys, the first Jimi Hendrix album recorded without his band, The Experience, was recorded live at the Fillmore East in New York City. Backed by bassist Billy Cox and drummer Buddy Miles, “Machine Gun” features Hendrix ripping through an ambitious anti-war jam. Though the track approaches the 13-minute mark, it could have kept going. Here, Hendrix and his new rhythm section mimic the sound of a chaotic battlefield with the kind of shredding that blew the minds of Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, and others.

Well, I pick up my axe and fight like a farmer,
You know what I mean?
Hey, and your bullets keep knocking me down.

“Dogs” by Pink Floyd

Nestled between Wish You Were Here and The Wall is Pink Floyd’s 10^th studio album, Animals. “Dogs” features multiple guitar solos, and David Gilmour punctuates the sprawling tune with soaring melodies and dramatic blues. The track stretches past 17 minutes, and Gilmour’s weeping notes add sadness to the Orwellian concept of humans’ grinning self-dealing and primal cynicism.  

And it’s too late to lose the weight
You used to need to throw around.
So have a good drown as you go down,
All alone, dragged down by the stone.

“War Pigs” by Black Sabbath

Many Black Sabbath musical interludes feature Tony Iommi’s multi-tracking guitar solos. One on top of the other. Similar to “Machine Gun” above, this anti-war epic uses a deluge of blues licks to give one the disorienting sense of a firefight. “Generals gathered in their masses / Just like witches at black masses,” Ozzy Osbourne sings between Iommi’s stabbing power chords. Finally, this may be the quickest eight-minute track in classic rock.

Photo by David Redfern/Redferns