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Post by Admin on Dec 19, 2013 7:57:05 GMT -5
Back before the invention of fire when I was a little whipper snapper, the guitar was almost entirely considered a backup rhythm instrument. Now, I'm talking about music of the mountains of course. The fiddle, banjo and piano were the lead instruments, and the lowly guitar was used to make a little rhythm. Now we messed around with flatpicking but anytime we would begin to pick a little "Sunnyside of the Mountain", the fiddler would give us a hard look, and begin to saw away on his bow!
And being good little "chillun", we'd just fall in line and begin to flail away on the appropriate chords.
I don't know just exactly when the guitar became a "lead" instrument, particularly in country and mountain music...if it has? smiley-laughing024
But I do know Chet Atkins did a lot for raising the bar for those who followed. When he recorded Mr. Sandman, he announced to the Nashville crowd, the guitar is here to stay! Now Merle Travis did a lot for innovating with the guitar and making it a "lead" instrument, as did Les Paul.
Who and when did you first think about the guitar as a Lead Instrument?
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Post by Steven B on Dec 19, 2013 15:27:59 GMT -5
Good question.....I had to "blow some cob-webs" out of my head to remember back that far. I started trying to play the guitar when I was 4 years old. I guess I was about 6 or 7 when I first heard lead electric guitar. It was a song called "Rebel Rouser" by Mr. Duane Eddy. That dun it right there......sent me on a life-time mission of trying to be a lead guitar player. 60 years later.....I finally gave up on that idea. Thinking about taking up wood carving now.....hehe
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Post by earleg on Dec 21, 2013 2:57:27 GMT -5
I remember listening to the radio in my folks basement while building model cars and heard Duane Eddy and Al Caiola instrumentals that really caught my ear. That would have been early probably 1961. I didn't get a guitar though until 1964 so in the mean time listened to whatever was around like Chet, Ventures, Santo and Johnny, Chuck Berry, and bunch of surf groups.
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