Great Rock And Roll Keyboard Solos

Rock Cellar Magazine recently had an article Rock’s Top 11 Keyboard Solos written by Frank Mastropolo.

I’ve listed the titles of their choice of the top eleven (I suppose in homage to the Tap) keyboard solos in rock but strongly recommend you check out the entire article for the interesting historical details. A lot of these solos were inspired by Bach.

11. Piano Man by Billy Joel (Piano: Billy Joel)
10. Hush by Deep Purple (Organ: Jon Lord)
9. Us and Them by Pink Floyd (Piano: Rick Wright)
8. Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan (Organ: Al Kooper)
7. Frankenstein by the Edgar Winter Group (Synthesizer: Edgar Winter)
6. A Whiter Shade of Pale by Procol Harum (Organ: Matthew Fisher)
5. Lady Madonna by the Beatles (Piano: Paul McCartney)
4. Chest Fever by The Band (Organ: Garth Hudson)
3. Bridge Over Troubled Water by Simon & Garfunkel (Piano: Larry Knechtel)
2. Light My Fire by the Doors (Organ: Ray Manzarek)
1. Layla by Derek and the Dominos (Piano: Jim Gordon)

Now I don’t have a huge problem with any of these solos being listed in the Top 11 but a lot of them seem to be playing the song’s main riff and just repeating that for a solo in the middle such as A Whiter Shade Of Pale and although it was somewhat groundbreaking guitarist Al Kooper’s organ playing on Like A Rolling Stone is really pretty awful.

Where is First of Fifth on Selling England By The Pound by Genesis? Or how about Cans and Brahms (Extracts from Brahms' 4th Symphony in E Minor, Third Movement) performed by Rick Wakeman with Yes on their Fragile album? Or any one of a dozen organ solos by Keith Emerson of ELP? I suppose this is yet another example of Progressive Rock not being considered “real” rock and roll.

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