Feel Like Makin' Love

Bad Company, 1975, from Straight Shooter. Solo by Mick Ralphs.

Ralphs moves from gentle acoustic verses to a heavy electric chorus and a concise, bluesy solo.

Feel Like Makin' Love is a song of two halves, and Mick Ralphs designs his guitar parts around that contrast. The verses float on gentle, strummed acoustic guitar, then the chorus lands like a door slamming, with thick, crunchy electric chords. His solo is short and to the point, built on bluesy phrases with confident bends and no wasted notes, keeping the song's easy swagger intact. Ralphs was a songwriter first, and you can hear that he treats the solo as part of the arrangement rather than a detour. Listen for how the solo borrows the rhythmic feel of the chorus, and how the shift from acoustic to electric does as much dramatic work as any lead line.

Feel Like Makin' Love by Bad Company is featured in our Rock (#15) list. The solo is played by Mick Ralphs and the song was released in 1975.

In our lists

• The 25 Greatest Rock Guitar Solos — #15
• The Best Bad Company Guitar Solos — #2

Sources