This article is about the Fred Frith album. For the melodic section or entire piece of music written for guitar, see Guitar solo. For the fiftieth anniversary edition, see Guitar Solos / Fifty. For the Derek Bailey album, see Solo Guitar (Derek Bailey album).
1974 studio album by Fred Frith
Guitar Solos
Studio album by
Fred Frith
Released
October 1974 (1974-10)
Recorded
11–13 and 15 July 1974
Studio
Kaleidophon Studios, London
Genre
Free improvisation[1]
avant-garde[2]
Length
37:17
Label
Caroline
Producer
Fred Frith
Fred Frith chronology
Guitar Solos (1974)
With Friends Like These (1979)
Guitar Solos series chronology
Guitar Solos (1974)
Guitar Solos 2 (1976)
Guitar Solos is the debut solo album of English guitarist, composer, and improviser Fred Frith. It was recorded while Frith was still a member of the English experimental rock group Henry Cow and was released in the United Kingdom on LP record by Caroline Records in October 1974. The album comprises eight tracks of unaccompanied and improvised music played on prepared guitars by Frith without any overdubbing.
Guitar Solos was voted one of the best albums of 1974 by NME critics. AllMusic called it a landmark album because of its innovative and experimental approach to guitar playing. It also attracted the attention of Brian Eno, resulting in Frith playing guitar on two of Eno's albums, and spawned two follow-up albums, Guitar Solos 2 (1976) and Guitar Solos 3 (1979).
Guitar Solos was remastered and released on CD on Frith's own record label, Fred Records, in 2002. In February 2024, a fiftieth anniversary edition of the album was released on double-LP by Week-End Records entitled Guitar Solos / Fifty, comprising the original 1974 album, plus a new solo album of 13 previously unreleased tracks.
^Milkowski 1983, p. 24.
^Cite error: The named reference Westergaard was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
contains a two-part guitarsolo with both rhythm and lead guitar taking solos (e.g., "Master of Puppets" by Metallica), or dual solos with both lead and...
GuitarSolos is the debut solo album of English guitarist, composer, and improviser Fred Frith. It was recorded while Frith was still a member of the English...
GuitarSolos 2 is the second in a series of three albums of improvised guitarsolos by various musicians. It was released in the United Kingdom by Caroline...
the rise of grunge and nu metal, both of which eschewed flashy lead guitarsolos. Lesser known guitarists like Shawn Lane and Buckethead continued to...
chords) and performing guitarsolos, and in many rock subgenres, notably heavy metal music and punk rock. The electric guitar has had a major influence...
virtuoso "shredding" guitarsolos that had become the centerpiece of heavy metal songs, instead opting for melodic, blues-inspired solos – focusing "on the...
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rhythm section. Jazz guitar soloists are not limited to playing single notes by their instrument. This allows them to create "chord solos" by adding the song's...
switched from acoustic to semi-acoustic guitar and began using amplifiers, it enabled them to play solos. Jazz guitar had an important influence on jazz in...
the Hell Was I Thinking?", a 75-minute piece featuring guitarsolos by dozens of famous guitar players. The project has suffered from numerous difficulties...
GuitarSolos. Besides his work with his several bands, he has released 12 solo studio albums, six compilation albums, and two live albums. His solo hits...
lyrical style. The guitarsolo by jazz fusion guitarist Larry Carlton was ranked #80 in the list of the 100 greatest guitarsolos by Rolling Stone. The...
Songs". Clapton's performance was ranked 42nd in Guitar World's 2008 list of the "100 Greatest GuitarSolos". Harrison and Clapton often performed the song...
The Wall, "Hey You". To write the two guitarsolos, Gilmour pieced together elements from several other solos he had been working on, marking his preferred...
from 29 January 2009 Guitar World magazine rated Jimmy Page's guitarsolo at number one in the publication's 100 Greatest GuitarSolos in Rock and Roll History...
about their use. Lifeson's approach to the guitar tracks for the album eschewed traditional riffs and solos in favour of "tonality and harmonic quality...
wanted to have guitarsolos on Metallica's 2003 album, St. Anger, but drummer Lars Ulrich and producer Bob Rock thought that the solos did not sound right...
taking very long guitarsolos [when performing live]—10–15 minute guitarsolos and really he should have taken two or three minute guitarsolos, because they...
Gentlemen. Talking Heads and Brian Eno subsequently hired Belew to add guitarsolos to several tracks on their 1980 album Remain in Light. He then joined...
Democracy Tour. His guitarsolo on "There Was a Time" received acclaim, with several publications listing it amongst the best solos of the decade. Despite...
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