Rock n Roll Guitar
Jimi Hendrix
You may associate rock guitar solos with the hippy image of Jimi Hendrix, the rawness of The Stones Keith Richard or the metal sound of Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Paige but whichever genre kicks ass for you rock n roll guitar is indisputably inspired by American roots music.
Jimmy Paige
Of course Rock n Roll guitar is an offshoot of Blues guitar but it took such guitar innovators as Hendrix and Paige to make the guitar into the world’s most popular instrument. The amplified electric guitar took on a new lease of life in the 70s thanks to the likes of Brits Led Zeppelin who turned the almost lame country sounding Rock n Roll guitar into a real beast, dropping the “n Roll”part giving birth to the “Rock guitar” that is till very prominent today.
Of course, no self respecting Rock guitarist would have been complete without the wild image, generally created by long hair, scruffy attire and moronic behaviour. This good old anti-establishment attitude is alive and well today with such bands as Metallica, Slayer, Guns n Roses, Slipknot and dozens of others and shows no sign of ever losing it’s popularity.
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The Guitar Solo
In the past the rock n rool guitar solo went on and on often to the point of tedium. Famous guitar solos from the rock genre include Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven," and “Whole Lotta Love”, Free’s "Alright Now" and Jimi Hendrix's “Hey Joe” and "All Along the Watchtower."
All this is a far cry from the likes of Rock n Roll pioneer Chuck Berry. Up until the time Mr Berry came on the scene, the guitar was pretty much played in a sort of country swing style and although amplified it lacked the cutting edge of a solid electric guitar. Chuck Berry changed all that – forever, introducing a unique sound that became the inspiration for just about everybody who took up the guitar from that point on.
The terms Rock Guitar and Rock n Roll guitar tend to be regarded as one and the same but to the purist they are totally different. Even though Chuck Berry created that unique sound and rhythm, the music remained true to its roots and in fact it has always swung as opposed to rock as can be heard in any of Chuck Berry’s songs.
The Originator
Chuck Berry and Duckwalk
Chuck Berry certainly made his own distinctive impressions during the early years of rock and roll but the 60s really brought the electric guitar into its own as a solo instrument through the likes of The Ventures, Link Wray, Duane Eddy and British band, The Shadows. This was a rather unique era as the guitar instrumental was not only massively popular but they also became regular chart toppers.
The popularity of the guitar in the 60s was colossal, the youth of the day were snapping up guitars faster than they could be produced and Rock n Roll finally put an end to the austerity that existed in a post war world. Nowhere was this more apparent than in the UK where groups, as they were called at the time, sprang up throughout the land playing predominantly Black American music that white America had shunned and ignored.
By the time Hendrix, Eric Clapton and Led Zeppelin came on the scene, the guitar instrumental groups had become a thing of the past but they still commanded the respect of their contemporary peers. Guitar solos became wilder and longer in the 70s and the advent of the Beatles meant that someone needed to sing in the band.
So over 50 years of Rock n Roll ,and it’s derivatives, the music is as strong as ever and shows no sign of waning. In fact today, authentic Rock n Roll has never been stronger with the likes of the Stray Cats and particularly guitarist Brian Setzer not only playing the music authentically but also looking and living the true rock n roll lifestyle.