The subject of the 'Sympathy for the devil' solo is a very interesting one. I often thought about this, NOT because of rumors or anything but rather from my own very subjective impression.
I love Keith but I would bet a lot of money that 'Sympathy' isn't him doing the solo.
Naturally I can't proof it but there's something about the phrasing that doesn't sound like Keith IMO. The soloing on 'Get yer ya ya's out' is way different, much looser, 'sloppier' and nowhere near as 'dead-on' as on the studio track.
I'm 100% sure though that it's NOT Page on 'SFTD', nor did I ever hear such a story. It doesn't sound like page at all, perhaps more like Clapton 'in disguise' (the steely, piercing sound of this and other 'BB' solos like 'Stray Cat Blues'.)
But I don't think it's Clapton either.
My guess? 'BB' was produced by Jimmy Miller who also produced Traffic at that time. If you listen to Dave Mason's soloing on tracks like 'Dear Mr. Fantasy', well there's a certain 'immedeacy' in Mason's phrasing and a 'ice-picky' touch to his tone that IMO is very similar to the playing on 'Sympathy'.
I might be totally wrong but it's fun guessing this stuff, isn't it?
I'm also pretty sure that it's Ry Cooder on 'Honky Tonk Women', others like Sonny Landreth have also suggested this.
Again, I love Keith's playing but the phrasing on 'Honky Tonk Women' is way different than how Richards plays it live. Ry Cooder was officially featured on the Jagger solo track 'Memo from Turner' that was recorded at roughly the same time.
If you compare the tone/phrasing to 'Honky Tonk Women', well again I get ideas......
In these modern times we really should have 'solo detector' software! You can do it with handwriting, so why not with sonics too by analyzing attack, phrasing, etc
