guitar solos where less is more

Check out David Gilmour Live at Royal Albert Hall (DVD) (2-disc)...very tasty w/o flash. I would also say Vince Gil takes a similar approach, though his songs are a wee bit different than Gilmour's.

JJ Cale...any album he has put out.

There's a couple of approaches that could satisfy the "less is more" description. Here are a few guitar solos that are short (less) and that don't feature rapid playing (less, again), but really serve the song (more):

Todd Rundgren - "I Saw The Light"
Terry Kath (Chicago) - "25 or 6 to 4"
Dave Davies (Kinks) - "I'm Not Like Everybody Else"

There are also longer solos that boil along at a slower tempo which could be nominated - but many of those end up at speed. It would probably require a little thought to identify those that never accelerate.

Marty

Yikes! - I forgot to mention a couple of top line choices here:

George Harrison - "Something". Simple, elegant, and purely in service to the song.

The other side of that coin might feature Chuck Berry's solo on "Johnny B Goode". Short, simple and PERFECT in a way that is 180 degrees different from "Something".

I usually think of George as a songwriter first and a guitar player as a distant second (and this one is very easy to play), but this is a really wonderful solo. Berry just about invented the rock n roll guitar solo and "Johnny B Goode" is my pick of his litter.

Marty

Santana- 'Europa' from the moonflower album.
Back in the early 90's, Santana created his own record label called guts and grace where he petitioned the estates of dead artists and released compilation albums from his idols. He only released one album: "Sacred Sources,Vol.1 Live Forever.' On this album is my favorite live Stevie Ray Vaughan song "Riviera Paradise".You can buy this cd off of amazon for a buck. This is one of the best tips I have given on the 'gon. Enjoy.