3/25/2005 12:37:00 AM|||Dave|||I was listening to some Steely Dan today and experienced anew jazz impressario Larry Carlton’s cool guitar solo in “Kid Charlemagne”. The solo begins around 3:50 but really takes off to a cresendo at 4:09 and forward. Carlton used the warm, overdriven sound of a Gibson ES-335 played through a Mesa Boogie and he nails it.

I wanted to make sure it was in fact Carlton who played on the song, so I Googled. It’s him all right, and I found the following tidbit about the solo: “Rolling Stone magazine lists Carlton's work on Steely Dan's 'Kid Charlemagne' as one of the three best guitar licks in rock music.”

I looked around some more and it turns out that Carlton’s solo on this song may have been his defining moment. From a 2001 interview with Carlton on the website of Gibson guitars:

INTERVIEWER: Your "Kid Charlemagne" (Steely Dan) solo is one of the greatest ever and is still admired by guitarists for its phrasing and tone. Do people still probe you about it?

LARRY CARLTON: I do get asked a lot about that solo, and a few years ago I put a little segment in my show where I would play just the solos from four or five of the most famous recordings I had done. "Kid Charlemagne" was one of those, and I had to go back and relearn it (laughs).”

Man, are those some tasty licks.|||111172926734997303|||Kid Charlemagne