Best songs utilizing the 'wah-wah' guitar effect

Voodoo Child (Slight Return)
Jimi Hendrix Experience
Electric Ladyland, 1968
This is the grand-daddy of all wah-wah songs and the Platonic Form of electric guitar for many an aspiring players. Flat out, this may be the best electric guitar song ever put on vinyl. Gifted guitarist Joe Satriani sums it up this way: "It's just the greatest piece of electric guitar work ever recorded. In fact, the whole song could be considered the holy grail of guitar expression and technique. It is a beacon of humanity."

The Ring
Robin Trower
Victims of the Fury, 1980
No one has mastered the depth and breadth of electric guitar sounds like British rocker Robin Trower. Easily one of the greatest Stratocaster players in history, Trower flows from the ethereal to the raw in his guitar work. Victims of the Fury is a masterful album, and The Ring is unequaled raw, wah-powered brilliance--the guitar line is so aggressive, it'll peel paint.

Soul to Soul
Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble
Soul to Soul, 1985
Stevie was perhaps the best technical guitar player ever. Not as creatively brilliant as Hendrix, but easily his master in technique. In Soul to Soul, he delivers a romping, wah-infused instrumental that's both as catchy as it is edgy. It'll make your eyes water at the same time you're tapping your foot. The ease and accuracy of his playing, coupled with the rich tone, is simply unbelievable.

Charlie, Joel and Fred

Last night, I had the pleasure of hearing both Charlie Hayes/Joel Fleming and Fred Dixon prepare for their upcoming Deep Blue Innovators Blues Festival performances at an open mic at McMahon's Pub in Monmouth.

Charlie and Joel were on fire, with Charlie playing both acoustic and electric Dobro slide guitar. It was amazing hearing the tone and range from Joel's harmonica playing--certainly not the sound you hear from your garden variety blues harpist. His high-end solo on Shake Your Money Maker was simply amazing!

Fred was working through a potential set, trying out the best flow and fit of a number of way-old-school blues songs. It's simply amazing the depth of material he has access to. He was telling me that his love of deep blues came from his childhood in Chicago (he moved up there at 12), where his "hillbilly" accent and poverty governed who he could and could not hang out with. There, with the poor kids on the streets of Chicago, he fell in love with the authenticity of the blues.

I'm getting psyched about the show--I can hear in my head the flow from one act to the next and I think it'll be a day to remember!