Some of my favorite guitar recorded tracks

I've been playing guitar for 49 years as I write this (April 2013), and I've been listening to music longer than that. Obviously, I've not heard every guitarist who ever recorded, not even all the very famous ones. But I've heard a lot of them, and I'd like to share with you some of my favorite guitar tracks.

I'm going to list these tracks with the option to play the track along with a little photo video related to that player or track. Note that this functionality requires Javascript to be enabled. It also is dependent on your browser and default audio player. I've tested this on a number of platforms. If it doesn't work for you, or if you choose not to enable Javascript, then I provide a direct link to the audio (all of which are MP3's) so you can hear the track (although you'll miss out on the video).

Here then is the list in no particular order.

1. Chet Atkins: "Wheels". Chet is undoubtedly my biggest playing influence - me and countless other players. His combining of Merle Travis, Django Reinhardt (see below) and Les Paul styles created a style that was uniquely his own and was copied by all kinds of pickers - country, jazz, rock, or whatever. This track to me sort of references Chet's earlier stuff, with uncomplicated and easy-going arrangements. He makes it sound so easy, which, of course, it isn't. Sure, any number of pickers have exceeded Chet in technical ability, but he was the original and still one of the greatest.
(From the "Travelin" album - time 2:28, size 1.025MB)
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2. Chet Atkins: "My Town". This cut is from "More of That Guitar Country". For my money, Chet did his best work from about 1963 through the late '60's, i.e., from "Guitar Country" through maybe "Yestergroovin'". Certainly, he did outstanding work before and after that period, but this era contains most of my favorites. I have for many years believed that Chet played the "Tabajaras Indians" guitar on this and other tracks on this album, but I have convinced myself that this is not the case. Chet was always about melody. Even jazz superstar Joe Pass was quoted as saying that for melody you should look to Chet Atkins.
(From the "More of That Guitar Country" album - time 2:21, size 974KB)
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Special bonus: Chet plays the Tabajaras Indians guitar live: Here

3. Deep Purple: "Kentucky Woman". I loved those early Deep Purple albums - the first ones with Rod Evans as vocalist, and especially the later ones with the great Ian Gillan as vocalist. Both editions featured Jon Lord on keyboards, the sensational Ian Paice on drums, and one of my favorite guitarists, Ritchie Blackmore. Deep Purple always seemed to remain melodic even when things were getting crazy. This track was perhaps their first hit (at least in the US) and features what is still to this day one of my most favorite rock guitar solos.
(From the "Purple Passages" album (and other collections) - time 4:45, size 1.956MB)
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4. Deep Purple: "Why Didn't Rosemary". Another track from the first version of Deep Purple. It's an interesting variation on the 12-bar blues where the verses are 14 bars and the guitar solos are 17 bars. I loved the way Blackmore didn't seem to let his immense technical prowess override his melodic sense.
(From the "Deep Purple" album (the one with the Hieronymus Bosch cover) - time 5:04, size 2.09MB)
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5. Deep Purple: "Lazy". From the second version of Deep Purple which featured Ian Gillan as vocalist. I think he's one of the greatest rock singers ever (he sang the title role in the original "Jesus Christ Superstar"). The "Machine Head" album contained what was probably their biggest and most famous hit, "Smoke on the Water", with it's "dunh-dunh-dunh, dunh-dunh-da-dunh" rif. I've chosen "Lazy", however, because I think it's a tremendous track.
(From the "Machine Head" album - time 7:23, size 3.037MB)
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6. Elmore James: "Shake Your Money Maker". Elmore was a pioneer of electric blues slide guitar. This song is a classic.
(From the "Dust My Broom" album - time 2:31, size 1.041MB)
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7. Scotty Moore: "Mystery Train" (with Elvis Presley). Rock 'n' Roll did not begin with the tracks Elvis recorded at Sam Phillips' Sun Studios in 1954 and 1955, but it definitely took off from there. Soon Elvis was signed to RCA and the rest is history. But these early tracks with Elvis, bassist Bill Black, drummers Jimmie Lott and Johnny Bernero (erroneously attributed to D.J. Fontana), and guitarist Scotty Moore were the foundation of it all. Scotty was a major influence to many of rock's greatest pickers.
(From the "Sun Sessions" album - time 2:27, size 1.018MB)
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8. Johnny Winter: "Let It Bleed". In his prime Johnny Winter had licks to match anybody. I'm a great fan of slide guitar, and Johnny was sensational. As he says at the end of this track, "Goddamit, did that git it or what!".
(From the "Still Alive and Well" album - time 4:10, size 1.717MB)
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9. King Benny Nawahi: "Tickling The Strings". I love the old Hawaiian steel guitarists from the 1920s and '30s. I never get tired of Jim & Bob ("the genial Hawaiians"), Sol Hoopii, Roy Smeck and many others. But for me Benny Nawahi is the best. This track is pretty doggone close to my most favorite guitar track ever.
(From the "Hawaiian Classics" album - time 3:26, size 1.419MB)
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10. Led Zeppelin: "Whole Lotta Love". I don't think I need to say anything about this, except that I could have chosen any number of Led Zepp tunes.
(From the "Led Zeppelin II" album - time 5:35, size 2.298MB)
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11. Lonnie Johnson: "Uncle Ned, Don't Use Your Head". Johnson was a pioneer in the '20s of jazz guitar and of single-string guitar solos. His string bending and stinging vibrato influenced many diverse artists such as Django Reinhardt, T-bone Walker, and other electric blues guitarists. This track is his best of those I've heard.
(From the "Those Dirty Blues vol. 2" album - time 3:11, size 1.317MB)
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12. Lonnie Mack: "Memphis". In 1963 this was the must-learn tune for guitarists. Mack took this Chuck Berry tune and ripped through an instrumental version that is credited by some as the birth of blues-rock.
(From the "The Wham of that Memphis Man" album - time 2:32, size 1.050MB)
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13. Los Indios Tabajaras: "Maria Elena". The Tabajaras Indians, two brothers from Brazil, had been recording possibly as early as the 1940's, but their big break in the USA came in 1963 when this track reached the top 100 for 14 weeks. It's a beautiful guitar duo played on the DelVecchio "Tabajaras Indians guitar" which Chet Atkins used on many of his recordings (see "My Town" above).(There is large disagreement whether Maria Elena was recorded on the DelVecchio or on a classical guitar.)
(From the "Maria Elena" album - time 3:08, size 1.299MB)
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14. Marshall Tucker Band: "Take the Highway. I had the pleasure of seeing the Tucker boys in concert several times while Toy Caldwell was still alive and playing with the band. They never failed to please. I believe Toy Caldwell was absolutely one of the best American rock guitarists.
(From the "The Marshall Tucker Band" album - time 6:12, size 2.555MB)
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15. Marshall Tucker Band: "Can't You See". This is one of my favorite tracks ever, guitar or otherwise. Toy sang the lead vocal on this great song. Notice in the pictures how he played guitar with his thumb and not with a pick.
(From the "The Marshall Tucker Band" album - time 6:01, size 2.481MB)
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16. Mike Auldridge: "Bluegrass Boogie". I love the sound of the dobro, especially played by the late Mike Auldridge. He always had a smooth sound and a really nice tone. This album was played on a specially-built 8-string dobro. This track never fails to make me smile.
(From the "Eight String Swing" album - time 3:33, size 1.464MB)
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17. Rick Nelson: "I Got A Woman". James Burton played guitar on the biggest Rick Nelson hits. He was a tremendous influence on the Fender Telecaster players who came later. This track, while not a big hit for Nelson, is for sure one of my top ten favorite recordings ever. The band absolutely smokes on this one, and so does Rick.
(From the "For Your Love" album - time 2:24, size .994MB)
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Special bonus: Rick and James play "I Got a Woman" (of course it's lip-synched):
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18. Rick Nelson: "Hello Mary Lou". This track may represent Jimmy Burton's most famous solo. He plays with a combination of flatpick and fingers (maybe with fingerpicks). This solo is a classic.
(From the "Ricky Nelson - Greatest Hits" album - time 2:20, size .965MB)
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19. Roy Buchanan: "Sweet Dreams". This song was written by Don Gibson and made famous, of course, by the great Patsy Cline. This recording by Roy Buchanan was used over the closing credits of Martin Scorsese's movie "The Departed". This track is an absolutely inspired and beautiful guitar piece. I love this recording.
(From the "Roy Buchanan" album - time 3:33, size 1.467MB)
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20. Roy Rogers: "Terraplane Blues". This song, of course, was written by Robert Johnson. This version is by slide guitarist extraordinaire Roy Rogers. Roy alternates playing both slide in an open tuning and fingerstyle. The playing on this track is exceptional. There are licks where I can't even begin to see what he's doing. And this is a live recording!
(From the "Live At the Sierra Nevada Brewery Big Room" album - time 7:01, size 2.880MB)
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Special bonus: A video of Roy playing this track which I believe is the same recording: HERE

21. Roy Rogers: "Down In Mississippi". Another terrific slide guitar piece from Roy. The guy has some licks!
(From the "Live At the Sierra Nevada Brewery Big Room" album - time 5:02, size 2.077MB)
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Special bonus: Roy plays the "Walking Blues" live (note the amazing guitar - appears to be a 12-string electric dobro): HERE

22. Santana: "Black Magic Woman/Gypsy Queen". You can't say this is technically a great guitar piece, but the sound is gorgeous. It's probably one of the most recognizable tracks in this list.
(From the "Abraxas" album - time 5:21, size 2.197MB)
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23. Django Reinhardt: "Love's Melody". Django was a Belgian-born gypsy who was an early jazz guitar pioneer and still rates as one of the greatest and most popular guitarists of all time. His partnership with violinist Stephane Grappelli in the Hot Club of France quintet produced a huge number of unforgettable recordings including this one.
(From many different album collections - time 3:11, size 1.314MB)
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24. Django Reinhardt: "Stompin At Decca". Django's third and fourth fingers (ring and little) of his left hand were severely injured in a fire when he was young, leaving them almost useless. You can see this in several of the pictures. In spite of this handicap he could play licks that are not only very fast but spread out all over the guitar's neck.
(From many different album collections - time 2:34, size1.067MB)
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Special bonus: The Quintet play the "Jattendrai" live - the only live video I've seen of Django: HERE

25. Django Reinhardt: "Avalon". Don't overlook Stephane Grappelli's violin playing. His playing was also outstanding. Django was a big influence on many players including Chet Atkins and Les Paul, who together recorded this song (and referenced this track) on their "Chester and Lester" album.
(From many different album collections - time 2:55, size1.208MB)
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26. Eagles: "Hotel California". This is another recording that needs no introduction from me. On any list of all-time great rock recordings it's always in the top 5 (of course, so is Aretha Franklin's Respect - so much for lists!). Like the Santana track above, it's not particularly incredible guitar picking, but what a sound!
(From the "Hotel California" album - time 6:31, size 2.687MB)
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27. Ventures: "Walk, Don't Run". When I was starting to learn guitar I spent a lot of time listening to the first album from the Ventures. Their twangy and reverb-laden playing essentially started the surf music craze. I think their lineup of two guitars, bass and drums was an influence on later groups. This track from that first album is a rock 'n' roll classic.
(From the "Walk Don't Run" album - time 2:05, size .868MB)
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28. Stevie Ray Vaughn: "Say What!". SRV is an all-time great blues guitarist, but he was more than that. He played straight-ahead rock, as well, and even touches of jazz now and then. What a tragic loss when that helicopter went down in 1990. As with many of the artists in this list, there are any number of Stevie Ray tracks I could pick, but this one, with its wah-drenched sound and blistering clusters of notes, seems to me to be one of the best.
(From the "Soul To Soul" album - time 5:24, size 2.224MB)
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29. UFO: "Rock Bottom". Michael Schenker was not the original guitarist for this British band, but he was featured on this album. To me he has a very British sound although he was a native German. I like this 1974 album a lot, and this selection is maybe the best track.
(From the "Phenomenon" album - time 6:30, size 2.696MB)
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30. Woody: "Since I Met You Baby". Okay, I never said these are the GREATEST tracks of all time - just that they are some of my favorites. I recorded this track and the next one in late 1989 or early 1990. This one starts with slide guitar, then does a few verses straight picking, then concludes on slide.
(Sadly, not from any album - time 8:01, size 3.299MB)
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31. Woody: "12 Bars (In One Night)". These two tracks were both played on my Mustang. The band is entirely the PSS480 (100 sounds and 100 rhythms). They are both 1-take with all the clinkers and equipment malfunctions included. This one is sort of funky blues. A common factor among all of the hard rockers in this list, it seems to me, is a full-ahead, take-no-prisoners, damn-the-torpedoes approach to their playing. That, I think is what I was doing on these two tracks. Some quantities of beer probably helped.
(Sadly, not from any album - time 5:48, size 2.387MB)
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32. Tommy Tucker: "Hi-Heel Sneakers". This record made it to #11 on the Billboard list in 1964. I spent countless hours trying to play these licks. The guitar was reportedly played by Dean Young, part of the Rhythm and Blues duo Dean and Jean (NOT the surfers Jan and Dean).
(From a number of collection albums - time 2:45, size 3.425KB)
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Okay, that's my list. It's not complete - there are many others I might include. Some are just too long, such as Jim Hall's album "Concierto". Some of my favorite artists have a tremendous body of work, such as BB King or Elvin Bishop, but no single track stands out like these do. Some, I'm sure, I just flat overlooked. But for sure these are some of my favorite guitar tracks.