Great guitar 'breaks" (as opposed to solos).

Sure, we all love a great guitar solo. In Blues and Rock, the guitarist plays runs and scales he has learned in his pursuit of becoming proficient on his chosen instrument. In Jazz, musicians (including of course guitarists) are given more freedom---the solo does not necessarily have to follow or even be related to the chords of the song (atonality).

But by "guitar "break", I’m speaking of something else. A break was common in Pop music prior to the transformation of Rock ’n’ Roll into Rock in the mid-60’s. A break was usually not much more than a variation of the melody of the song, the guitarist merely taking the place of the vocalist. Sound boring? It doesn’t have to be. Here are my nominees for "Best Guitar Breaks Of All Time":

- James Burton in Ricky Nelson’s "Young World". I imagine many of you have never heard the song, therefore the guitar break. Elvis liked James’ playing so much he stole him away from Ricky, and Roy Orbison had him play in his band at the T-Bone Burnett produced tribute show to Roy. The tone James got out of his Telecaster/Fender combo amp remains as good as it gets. His playing on this song defines "cool".

- George Harrison in "Nowhere Man". Compare this break with that in "Young World"; it is obviously modeled on it. George’s guitar sound is SO awesome on this song; he had switched from his Gretsch Country Gentleman into a Voxx amp sound to the Epiphone Casino into a Fender amp sound. Gone was clean sound, in was tube distortion. The signal from the mic on the amp was obviously heavily compressed (the sustain is insane!), and the resulting sound is just incredible. Dig the last note of the break---George hitting a high harmonic with his finger lightly resting on the string. So cool!

- Steve Cropper in "Green Onions" by Booker T & The MG’s. A master of phrasing, Cropper’s playing on this song (not just in the break) is the model for how to play guitar. Musical, tasteful, economic. Not a note uncalled for, nor unneeded. Good songwriter too ("Dock Of The Bay"). One of Robbie Robertson’s (another very musical guitarist) role models.

- Dave Edmunds in "I Hear You Knocking" (the old Smiley Lewis song) from his debut solo album in 1970. Dave is a great guitarist in many ways (he is the best Chuck Berry-style player I’m aware of. Keith Richards WISHES he could play like Dave), and on this song creates the most intense tension-and-release I’ve ever heard in music. Extremely sexual, extremely exciting. My favorite guitar break until I heard:

- Ry Cooder in "Lipstick Sunset" on John Hiatt’s Bring The Family album. I think this is the best guitar playing I’ve ever heard. I was fortunate enough to see Little Village live (that groups’ lineup was that of the Bring The Family album, John Hiatt being "just" a member. A true supergroup, consisting of Hiatt, Cooder, Nick Lowe, and Jim Keltner. Talk about a Million Dollar Quartet!), and during Ry’s break in "Lipstick Sunset" I experienced the most sublime musical moment in my entire life.