I’ve seen him play with blues band a couple of times and chatted to him briefly. He played 20 flight rock during soundcheck as someone kept jokingly shouting it out. II wish I had asked him to play the 2000 miles riff in hindsight. My favourite Christmas song by far and of course, he wrote the guitar part.
It's a most beautiful riff indeed. From Wikipedia..
While many people believe the song's title and lyrics refer to two long-distance lovers who miss each other over the holidays, it was actually written for James Honeyman-Scott, the group's original guitarist, who died the year before the song was released. "Robbie McIntosh plays beautifully on '2000 Miles'," Hynde recalled. "Anything to avoid listening to my voice and my stupid words."
The song frequently reappears in the UK Charts around Christmas time staying in the charts for a few weeks over the Christmas period.