# The Best John McLaughlin Guitar Solos

> The 19 best John McLaughlin guitar solos, ranked. #1 is Birds of Fire (1973), then Meeting of the Spirits and The Noonward Race.

Canonical URL: <https://greatestsolos.com/list/john-mclaughlin-guitar-solos/>

John McLaughlin fused jazz harmony, rock volume and Indian rhythmic thinking into a new vocabulary, first with Miles Davis and Tony Williams and then at full force with the Mahavishnu Orchestra. His blinding alternate-picked runs and odd-meter improvising set the bar for fusion guitar technique.

Informed by: [Wikipedia – John McLaughlin (musician)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McLaughlin_(musician))

1. [Birds of Fire](https://greatestsolos.com/song/mahavishnu-orchestra-birds-of-fire/) — Mahavishnu Orchestra · solo by John McLaughlin · 1973
2. [Meeting of the Spirits](https://greatestsolos.com/song/mahavishnu-orchestra-meeting-of-the-spirits/) — Mahavishnu Orchestra · solo by John McLaughlin · 1971
3. [The Noonward Race](https://greatestsolos.com/song/mahavishnu-orchestra-the-noonward-race/) — Mahavishnu Orchestra · solo by John McLaughlin · 1971
4. [Vital Transformation](https://greatestsolos.com/song/mahavishnu-orchestra-vital-transformation/) — Mahavishnu Orchestra · solo by John McLaughlin · 1971
5. [One Word](https://greatestsolos.com/song/mahavishnu-orchestra-one-word/) — Mahavishnu Orchestra · solo by John McLaughlin · 1973
6. [Dance of Maya](https://greatestsolos.com/song/mahavishnu-orchestra-dance-of-maya/) — Mahavishnu Orchestra · solo by John McLaughlin · 1971
7. [Right Off](https://greatestsolos.com/song/miles-davis-right-off/) — Miles Davis · solo by John McLaughlin · 1971
8. [Dawn](https://greatestsolos.com/song/mahavishnu-orchestra-dawn/) — Mahavishnu Orchestra · solo by John McLaughlin · 1971
9. [Fantasia Suite](https://greatestsolos.com/song/al-di-meola-john-mclaughlin-and-paco-de-lucia-fantasia-suite/) — Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin & Paco de Lucía · solo by John McLaughlin · 1981
10. [Celestial Terrestrial Commuters](https://greatestsolos.com/song/mahavishnu-orchestra-celestial-terrestrial-commuters/) — Mahavishnu Orchestra · solo by John McLaughlin · 1973
11. [Emergency!](https://greatestsolos.com/song/the-tony-williams-lifetime-emergency/) — The Tony Williams Lifetime · solo by John McLaughlin · 1969
12. [Do You Hear the Voices That You Left Behind?](https://greatestsolos.com/song/john-mclaughlin-do-you-hear-the-voices-that-you-left-behind/) — John McLaughlin · solo by John McLaughlin · 1978
13. [Joy](https://greatestsolos.com/song/shakti-joy/) — Shakti · solo by John McLaughlin · 1975
14. [Short Tales of the Black Forest](https://greatestsolos.com/song/al-di-meola-john-mclaughlin-and-paco-de-lucia-short-tales-of-the-black-forest/) — Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin & Paco de Lucía · solo by John McLaughlin · 1981
15. [Binky's Beam](https://greatestsolos.com/song/john-mclaughlin-binky-s-beam/) — John McLaughlin · solo by John McLaughlin · 1969
16. [Spanish Key](https://greatestsolos.com/song/miles-davis-spanish-key/) — Miles Davis · solo by John McLaughlin · 1970
17. [Resolution](https://greatestsolos.com/song/mahavishnu-orchestra-resolution/) — Mahavishnu Orchestra · solo by John McLaughlin · 1973
18. [Eternity's Breath](https://greatestsolos.com/song/mahavishnu-orchestra-eternity-s-breath/) — Mahavishnu Orchestra · solo by John McLaughlin · 1975
19. [Marbles](https://greatestsolos.com/song/john-mclaughlin-marbles/) — John McLaughlin · solo by John McLaughlin · 1970

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GreatestSolos ranks the greatest guitar solos by consensus across published lists. Agent guide: [llms.txt](https://greatestsolos.com/llms.txt) · [Sitemap](https://greatestsolos.com/sitemap.xml) · [Dataset (CSV)](https://greatestsolos.com/data/greatest-guitar-solos.csv) · [How we rank](https://greatestsolos.com/method/)