Scar Tissue

Red Hot Chili Peppers, 1999, from Californication. Solo by John Frusciante.

Aching slide on a Telecaster.

Frusciante's slide playing on this hit is spare, raw and deliberately simple. He plays a handful of melancholy, wavering phrases with a thin, bright Telecaster tone, leaving plenty of air around them. The lead breaks last only a few bars, yet their fragility matches the song's mood of recovery and reflection. The song marked Frusciante's return to the band, and his less-is-more approach influenced a generation of alternative players who had grown up on flashier heroes. Listen for the slightly unsteady, sliding pitch of the notes, which makes the guitar sound as tender and bruised as the vocal, and for how quickly it gives way to the song again.

Scar Tissue by Red Hot Chili Peppers is ranked #123 in our consensus of 79 guitar-solo lists. The solo is played by John Frusciante and the song was released in 1999. It appears on 5 lists, placing as high as #10 (Far Out Magazine).

In our lists

• The Most-Taught Solos — #36
• The Greatest Solo of Every Year — #56
• The Modern Canon: Best Since 1990 — #29
• The Road Trip 50 — #28
• The 25 Greatest Alternative Rock Guitar Solos — #4
• The 1990s — #22
• Slide Guitar — #4
• SGs & Telecasters — #17
• The Best John Frusciante Guitar Solos — #4
• The Best Red Hot Chili Peppers Guitar Solos — #5

Sources

• Far Out Magazine: The 10 greatest guitar solos of the 1990s — #10
• Bombay Lives (Substack): 100 Greatest Guitar Solos — #63
• Topito (now 10h26.com): Top 100 des plus grands solos de guitare de l'histoire (Benoit Floyd) — #63
• Rolling Stone: The 100 Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time — #96
• Thomann: 25 Iconic Guitar Solos
• Guitarhabits: 50 of The Greatest Guitar Solos of All Time