# Easy guitar solo > Thomas McClary's guitar solo on Easy by Commodores (1977) starts at 2:33. Ranked #445 of all time across 80 lists. A funk/soul classic from the 1970s. Canonical URL: Commodores, 1977. Solo by *Thomas McClary*. A soft soul ballad that suddenly breaks into a distorted, rock-style guitar solo. For most of its length, Easy is as relaxed as its title, a soft piano-led soul ballad with Lionel Richie's warm vocal. Then Thomas McClary steps in with a distorted, rock-style solo that seems to arrive from another record entirely. He does not overplay it, though; the lines are melodic and unhurried, bent with feeling and sitting comfortably over the gentle changes. That jolt of overdrive in a smooth soul ballad helped blur the line between R&B and rock radio in the late 1970s. Listen for the moment the tone first cuts through, and notice how quickly the ear accepts it because McClary keeps the melody so singable. Easy by Commodores is ranked #445 in our consensus of 80 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Thomas McClary and the song was released in 1977. It appears on 1 lists, placing as high as #93 (Rolling Stone). ## In our lists - [The 25 Greatest Funk and Soul Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/funk-soul/) — #9 - [Rolling Stone vs. Everyone](https://greatestsolos.com/list/rolling-stone-vs-everyone/) — #2 - [Pop Songs You Didn't Know Had a Guitar Solo](https://greatestsolos.com/list/pop-songs-with-guitar-solos/) — #10 ## Sources - [Rolling Stone: The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time](https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-guitar-solos-1235519961/) — #93 ### Who played the guitar solo on Easy? Thomas McClary played the solo on Commodores's Easy (1977). ### Where does Easy rank among the greatest guitar solos? #445 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 80 published lists; it appears on 1 of them. --- 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/)