11–20 of 36 posts
The electric guitar was invented in 1931. It then follows that guitars were being electrically amplified in 1931. Are we really to believe that it took 20-30 years for someone to turn up the gain higher than what would allow it to accurately amplify the input signal?
The distortion in "Don't Worry" was a faulty preamp on the console, probably tube-based since the first transistor-based mixing board was made in 1964. The distorted guitar in the Beatles' "Revolution" was also an overdriven mixing board, but theirs was solid state IIRC.
But if you like country-flavored fuzz, WFMU has you covered with a retrospective: http://blog.wfmu.org/freeform/2007/11/country-fuzz-sp.html
The "discovery" of distortion is an example of the idea that inventors are sometimes the first person to tell someone else about something, instead of the first person to discover the thing. The electric guitar was invented in 1931. It then follows that guitars were being electrically amplified in 1931. Are we really to believe that it took 20-30 years for someone to turn up the gain higher than what would allow it t…
> The distorted sound of rock ’n’ roll guitar aggression was born in Nashville, in 1960. That's not the way I heard it. Snoddy might have introduced the Fuzz-Tone in the 60s, but the distorted guitar sound began with Link Wray poking holes in his amplifier's speaker on "Rumble", in 1958. Not to minimize the Fuzz-Tone's impact, by any means. Just setting the record straight. ;) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumble_(in…
A torn speaker was responsible for the rocking sound in Rocket 88, recorded in 1951. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_88
Link to Rocket 88 (1951): http://grooveshark.com/s/Rocket+88/24PPYE?src=5
Rock a While (1949), featuring the trademark rockabilly riff: http://grooveshark.com/s/Rock+A+While/3pQhHy?src=5
> The distorted sound of rock ’n’ roll guitar aggression was born in Nashville, in 1960. That's not the way I heard it. Snoddy might have introduced the Fuzz-Tone in the 60s, but the distorted guitar sound began with Link Wray poking holes in his amplifier's speaker on "Rumble", in 1958. Not to minimize the Fuzz-Tone's impact, by any means. Just setting the record straight. ;) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumble_(in…
Although all of the comments here have been valid and interesting, I'm gonna poke this reply thread with a Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAqTrbuxCRI James Cotton - Cotton Crop Blues, on Sun Records. Recorded 1954, with a guitar solo harder/heavier than most records up until the late 60s (with a few exceptions like Dick Dale). And it features distorted power chords. Pretty much the first really heavy tr…
It would really be borderline impossible to try to pinpoint the origins of the distorted electric guitar sound. Well before 1960, most amplifiers would begin to distort at higher gain levels. And even if you only want to count "deliberate" distortion, there's the famous example of Link Wray poking holes in his amp's speakers in '58. This is an interesting story, but it's kind of overstating the significance. Or maybe…
I think it's reasonable and interesting to ask how it became art, though.
http://thecollectivereview.com/hugh-padgham/hugh-padghams-ga...
> The distorted sound of rock ’n’ roll guitar aggression was born in Nashville, in 1960. That's not the way I heard it. Snoddy might have introduced the Fuzz-Tone in the 60s, but the distorted guitar sound began with Link Wray poking holes in his amplifier's speaker on "Rumble", in 1958. Not to minimize the Fuzz-Tone's impact, by any means. Just setting the record straight. ;) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumble_(in…
http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/columns/the_history_of/accide...
Maybe it is just confirmation bias, but it sounded a bit like his invention of the fuzzbox did more for his reputation in the industry than it did for his bank account.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
A torn speaker was responsible for the rocking sound in Rocket 88, recorded in 1951. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocket_88
Yes, when the 60s came around, guitar distortion was already a pretty common sound. Just think Beatles, Kinks, Rolling Stones, and of course Chuck Berry before them. What the fuzz changed is that it was the first distortion pedal, a smart alternative to destroying your amp speakers. Link to Rocket 88 (1951): http://grooveshark.com/s/Rocket+88/24PPYE?src=5 Rock a While (1949), featuring the trademark rockabilly riff:…
I'll go next! You were on the right track with blues from Texas, but it goes way before 1949. Try to find the Chuck Berry riffs...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odwaE1hlwgc
T-Bone Walker - I Got A Break Baby (1942) (B-side of Mean Old World, Capitol 10033) (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mean_Old_World)
Here's an article about him that I grabbed off Wikipedia's sources: http://www.there1.com/browse_articles.php?action=view_record...
> "[This single was] the first important blues [recording] on the electric guitar"
Some other cool stuff in the article too, like how he worked with Blind Lemon Jefferson (Robert Johnson also worked with him) and with Charlie Christian, who brought the electric guitar to jazz.
I'll go again just because it's fun: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbWmAgp2R30 - Ernest Tubb - Walking The Floor Over You (1941) (Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_the_Floor_Over_You)
A country single that sold over a million copies, and it used that nice prominent electric guitar, beating Walker by a year.
Reading further on Wikipedia to try and find earlier recordings, I'm pointed to an artist I've been exploring only this past week: Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies, one of the "big 3" Western Swing artists (along with Spade Cooley and Bob Wills & His Texas Playboys).
Ugh, this stuff's hard to find on Youtube... Found something: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnjE5aB-cWQ - Milton Brown & His Musical Brownies - Right Or Wrong (1936, date source: http://www.secondhandsongs.com/performance/200653)
Note the electrified pedal steel solo midway through. That's some innovative stuff, though I like Merle Haggard's version better (on his Bob Wills tribute album, "A Tribute To The Best Damn Fiddle Player In The World" from 1970. Wills' version is also pretty good, but not all that much better than Brown's. As you can see, I think Western Swing is great stuff (my last.fm is utterly full of it), and my secret theory is that there were only 3 big Western Swing bands because there were only 3 pedal steel players talented enough in the 30s and 40s to do the style justice. Before it came along, there wasn't all that much popular music that really used the electric guitar.
Anyway, I digressed pretty hard, but I think I've made my point somewhere in there...