God bless Larry Carlton’s guitar solo on Steely Dan’s “Third World Man”

By Steve Newton

Steely Dan is famous for a lot of things, not the least of which is having the world’s best guitar players take solos on their songs.

One of those primo players was Larry Carlton, who contributed amazing solos to such tracks as “Don’t Take Me Alive” and “Kid Charlemagne”, both from Steely Dan’s 1976 Royal Scam album.

But the Carlton solo that has really stuck with me over the years is the one on “Third World Man”, from 1980’s Gaucho LP. That 40-second solo, which kicks off at around the two-minute mark, is just so damn beautiful that it almost chokes me up.

It seems to me like there’s a raw current of humanity, or something deeper I can’t put my finger on, in every bluesy bend along the way. It’s definitely worth God’s blessing.

What do you think?

Guitar freaks may be interested to read my other posts in which I’ve asked God, in His infinite wisdom, to bless outstanding solos by guitarists like Thin Lizzy’s Scott Gorham, Blue Öyster Cult’s Donald “Buck Dharma” Roeser, the Outlaws’ Huey Thomasson, the Climax Blues Band’s Pete Haycock, and Steely Dan’s Jeff Baxter.