One of the best guitar solos ever. It’s by the Carpenters. Really. The Carpenters. And I haven’t been drinking and I’m not on drugs.

I think you know I like music. Can’t wait to get back to live gigs – I have tickets for five! Managed to get two for Declan McKenna in the Olympia next April – and if you don’t know him, he’s well worth looking up.

Today, though, I’m talking guitar and guitar solos in hit records in particular.

I looked around the web for inspiration. There are plenty of lists, Top Twenty, Top Fifty, Top Hundred.

Not one of those lists included the song I have placed at Number 3.

You look and you think – Murray has finally lost the plot. He’s talking guitar and he’s suggesting the Carpenters. The Carpenters for God’s sake. Richard Carpenter didn’t even play the guitar.

No. But when it came to recording Goodbye to Love back in 1972, he asked Tony Peluso to come up with the guitar solo. Fuzz guitar. Imagine. Fuzz guitar on a Carpenter’s track! It actually annoyed a lot of their fans.

And if, by any chance, you’ve never actually listened to the guitar solo on the song, do.

You can hear it on Spotify I’m sure or on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGrfukZxiOc

Tony’s guitar comes in at 2.55.

I hope you like it as much as I do.

1. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” (Kurt Cobain) – Nirvana Nevermind, 1991
2. “Whole Lotta Love” (Jimmy Page) – Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin II, 1967
3. “Goodbye to Love” (Tony Peluso)– The Carpenters 1972
4. “Shine On you Crazy Diamond” (David Gilmour) Pink Floyd – 1975
5. “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” – Eric Clapton and The Beatles 1968
6. “All Along the Watchtower” (Jimi Hendrix) – The Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland, 1968
7. “Communication Breakdown” (Jimmy Page) Led Zeppelin – 1969
8. “The Boys Are Back In Town” (Scott Gorham Brian Robertson) and Lizzy – 1976
9. “Sweet Child O’ Mine” (Slash) – Guns N’ Roses Appetite for Destruction, 1987
10. “Purple Rain” Prince – 1984
11. “Sultans of Swing” (Mark Knopfler) – Dire Straits Dire Straits, 1978
12. “Layla” (Eric Clapton, Duane Allman) – Derek and the Dominos Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, 1970
13. “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” (Jimi Hendrix) – Jimi Hendrix Experience Electric Ladyland, 1968
14. “Free Bird” (Allen Collins, Gary Rossington) – Lynyrd Skynyrd 1973
15. “Stairway to Heaven” (Jimmy Page) – Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin IV, 1971
16. “Roisin Dubh (Black Rose)” Thin Lizzy – 1979
17. “I Love Rock N Roll” (Ricky Byrd) Joan Jett And The Blackhearts 1982
18. “November Rain” (Slash) Guns N’ Roses – 1992
19. “Live Forever” (Paul Arthurs) Oasis – 1994
20. “Johnny B. Goode” Chuck Berry – 1959
21. “Killing In The Name(Tom Morello) Rage Against The Machine 1992