# I'd Rather Be the Devil guitar solo > The guitar solo on I'd Rather Be the Devil by John Martyn (1973) starts at about 2:30. Watch from the solo, plus the story and gear. Canonical URL: John Martyn, 1973. Solo by *John Martyn*. Martyn runs his guitar through an Echoplex, turning a Skip James blues into a pulsing, looping trance. I'd Rather Be the Devil is John Martyn's reworking of a Skip James blues, and he runs his guitar through an Echoplex to create a pulsing, looping trance. The echoes build on each other, creating a hypnotic texture that seems to expand and contract with the rhythm. His playing is percussive and intense, turning the old blues into something otherworldly. It was a radical approach for a folk guitarist, and it still sounds ahead of its time. Listen for the way the echoes stack up and interact, turning a single guitar into a swirling, rhythmic cloud of sound. I'd Rather Be the Devil by John Martyn is featured in our Folk Rock (#20) list. The solo is played by John Martyn and the song was released in 1973. ## In our lists - [The 25 Greatest Folk Rock Guitar Solos](https://greatestsolos.com/list/folk-rock/) — #20 ## Sources ### Who played the guitar solo on I'd Rather Be the Devil? John Martyn played the solo on John Martyn's I'd Rather Be the Devil (1973). --- 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/)