Re: (TV) Re: Foxhole

["Mark G. Ryan" <mgryan@cruzio.com>]

russvr <russvr@blarg.net> wrote:
>
> [snip] a fantastic guitar solo,
> one of verlaine's more Neil Young-ish sounding ones to my ear...

I don't really think there is much wrong with the solo per se.  I just 
meant that I can't figure out the connection with the rest of the song.  

The second (ending) solo--the one with the chorus over it--sounds more
like Neil Young to me. It uses even fewer notes, and unlike the first solo, 
it's clearly how it relates to the whole.

Neil Young of course is famous for "one note solos".  But he always 
picks up on the rhythm on of the song, usually uses notes from the 
chords, and often picks up bits of the melody or baseline as well. 
In other words, he chooses his one or two notes very carefully.

For example, you could never mistake the solo from "Cinnamon Girl" 
as being from any other song.  Whereas the solo from "Foxhole" could 
be from any Television song. (If you disagree, try listening to just 
the solo, then imagine it dubbed into some other song, say "Ain't
that Nothing".)   

By comparison, the solo in "Ain't that Nothing" is much more functional in 
that it plays off the base line harmonically and builds to a big climax.   
The two songs are actually quite similar in construction: each has a 
soaring lead line at the end with a fade out.  In "Ain't that Nothing" 
the pieces just fit together better (even if the song is a thin on melodic 
material, IMHO).

Richard Lloyd forcefully argues on his Web site that solos should not
just be scale exercises.  That's one of the things I like about Neil 
Young: he never just goes around a box.  The Foxhole solo doesn't quite 
fall into the scale exercise category, but it definitely seems a little
generic.

Or maybe this solo is another instance of irony?  Could be.

Mark
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