The following content is related to the April 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.
Cool licks are everywhere, but truly great solos are rare. The missing link is structure—how ideas are joined together to create a whole that is bigger than the sum of its parts.
One such example of greatness is Billy Butler’s classic solo on Bill Doggett’s million-selling 1956 instrumental “Honky Tonk,” a recording that has been covered and cannibalized repeatedly for half a century. Let’s step inside and see how Butler turned a few cool ideas into a 36-bar masterpiece.
“I didn’t even know what we would play. He would just be like, ‘Honey, we’re in G.’ And I’d be like, ‘Okay, here we go’”: Lindsay Ell looks back on cutting her teeth as a teenager playing blues with Buddy Guy – and being mentored by Randy Bachman
“The Food Network couldn’t spend all day mic’ing a guitar amp. Every time I went into the studio, the engineers would say, ‘Don’t bring your amp’”: Meet Tim Rockmore, the TV and session veteran who’s recorded entire tracks with a Fender headphone amp
