Somebody to Love
Jefferson Airplane, 1967, from Surrealistic Pillow. Solo by Jorma Kaukonen.
Kaukonen's stinging fills and closing lead give Grace Slick's vocal a sharp counter-voice.
Somebody to Love is driven by Grace Slick's commanding vocal, and Jorma Kaukonen's guitar acts as a sharp counter-voice. His fills and closing lead are stinging and fuzz-tinged, with quick bends and biting phrases that answer the vocal lines. Kaukonen blends blues roots with psychedelic energy, giving the song a tense, urgent feel. His playing is concise, never stepping on the vocal, yet always adding colour. Listen for the short, sharp licks between vocal phrases and the more extended lead near the end, where the guitar seems to spiral upwards alongside Slick's voice, giving the song its sense of rising intensity and restless, searching emotion.
Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane is ranked #307 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by Jorma Kaukonen and the song was released in 1967. It appears on 1 lists, placing as high as #66 (uDiscover Music).
In our lists
Sources
Who played the guitar solo on Somebody to Love?
Jorma Kaukonen played the solo on Jefferson Airplane's Somebody to Love (1967).
Where does Somebody to Love rank among the greatest guitar solos?
#307 in the GreatestSolos consensus of 79 published lists; it appears on 1 of them.