Here are Paul McCartney's top five guitar solos as a Beatle.

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As a musician, Paul McCartney is probably best known for his creative, melodic Beatles and Wings bass lines, but he's always been a guitarist at heart.

The guitar was, after all, his first instrument (if you ignore the trumpet his father gave him for his 14th birthday), and it's always been his main songwriting tool.

Here are McCartney's top five electric guitar solos as a Beatle. Of course, George Harrison played most of the Fab Four's lead guitar parts, but McCartney stepped in occasionally, as did John Lennon (and Eric Clapton, for that matter).

05. "Back in the USSR," The Beatles, aka the White Album (1968)

By the White Album era, the days of The Beatles sticking to their traditional roles were very much over. In this case, McCartney wrote the song, sang it and played drums on it. Why not play lead guitar, too?

The solo, which follows the melody line, is simple but effective -- and don't forget his fine, fast, alternate picking during the last verse.

[[ No band made a bigger mark on rock in the 20th century than The Beatles. Guitar Legends: The Beatles takes you through the band's history, walks you through the making of three Beatles albums via interviews with the people who were there and gives you deep insights into the playing styles of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison. It's available now at the Guitar World Online Store. ]]

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