By the way, Tahvo, I finally checked out that video from YouTube that you linked. Simply atrocious. I knew nothing of Frijid Pink before watching that performance, but if the rest of their oeuvre is anything like that screechy cover of House of the Rising Sun, then I'll pass.

The main problem I have with many of the rock 'n roll guitarists that emerged in that era is that they abused distortion and other effects to such an absurd degree. That era pretty much gave rise to the rockist "guitars or nothing" mentality that continues to permeate casual and critical circles alike. That's just one reason why I get on my soapbox about people not showing any respect for pre-1960s music. There is no justifiable reason to ignore the first six decades of the 20th century and focus only on what happened between 1965-1976 (give or take a couple years), inclusive.

Are you familiar with Charlie Christian? Now there's a guitarist truly worthy of all the adulation that Jimmy Page and his distorted brethren receive. Since Christian worked mainly in jazz, I suppose that some reading this post will foolishly ignore him, but I'm sure you're open-minded enough to give him a chance (that is, if you're not already acquainted with his catalog).

Now here's what a truly skilled guitarist sounds like!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ce9Jtl9D6FQ

Posted by Zach on Thursday, 04/25/2013 @ 01:01am

The main problem I have with many of the rock 'n roll guitarists that emerged in that era is that they abused distortion and other effects to such an absurd degree. That era pretty much gave rise to the rockist "guitars or nothing" mentality that continues to permeate casual and critical circles alike. That's just one reason why I get on my soapbox about people not showing any respect for pre-1960s music. There is no justifiable reason to ignore the first six decades of the 20th century and focus only on what happened between 1965-1976 (give or take a couple years), inclusive.

Posted by Zach on Thursday, 04.25.13 @ 01:01am
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You're forgetting that a lot of those early rock guitarists readily messed around w/primitive effects, or attempted to achieve them. Link Wray was trying distortion out, Dick Dale was an early techie of sorts, & the Rock & Roll Trio tried out some sort of primitive distortion on their early records.

Why turn around & stifle an attempt to move forward w/ the instrument?

In addition, no one's really ignoring the period 1900-1960. It's just that a great deal of the audience for the music is not here any longer. You probably cannot remember the days when there Was, in fact, stations that catered to this music. Growing up in Philadelphia in the 1980's & 90's, we had station 950 (WPEN) which billed itself as "the Station of the Stars". All Big Bands, pop vocalists, some jazz, & practically no concessions to rock, outside of Elvis ballads, & maybe one or two Beatle ballads.

This station is now a sports-talk station.

Posted by Cheesecrop on Thursday, 04/25/2013 @ 08:54am

"You're forgetting that a lot of those early rock guitarists readily messed around w/primitive effects, or attempted to achieve them. Link Wray was trying distortion out, Dick Dale was an early techie of sorts, & the Rock & Roll Trio tried out some sort of primitive distortion on their early records."

C'mon Cheesecrop, you know me better than that! I haven't forgotten anything. I'm one of the biggest advocates for Link Wray's entrance into the Hall. Ditto for Dick Dale and Johnny Burnette and the Rock 'n Roll Trio. I'm well aware of their experimentation with guitar distortion and other effects.

"Why turn around & stifle an attempt to move forward w/ the instrument?"

Is this supposed to be your interpretation of my missives directed at Jimmy Page and his contemporaries? If so, then I'm afraid you're putting words into my mouth. I never said I was against guitar distortion or experimentation in general. I enjoy the work of Link Wray and his Ray Men very much. I prefer Link to the overblown late 1960s pack because his guitar never sounded as obnoxious or overblown as what Page did (Kashmir is the worst offender, and that's saying a lot considering how many other LZ songs feature earache-inducing solos from the torn page).

Wray came about at a time when guitar distortion and similar effects were not commonplace in rock 'n roll. It holds up better because distortion was still a neat gimmick at that time. As soon as the late 1960s arrived, it almost became imperative for nearly every rock 'n roll band to showcase overly distorted guitar playing. With a few exceptions, this is why I've never been a serious fan of metal.

"In addition, no one's really ignoring the period 1900-1960. It's just that a great deal of the audience for the music is not here any longer. You probably cannot remember the days when there Was, in fact, stations that catered to this music."

By the time I started listening to oldies stations (I was roughly about six years old), the 1950s were still well represented. The top station in my area, WODS 103.3, began to phase out the 1950s around 2001 or so and by 2004, all traces of that great decade were gone. They got bought out last summer and were turned into a generic top 40/R&B/pop station. I consider it karma for abandoning the 1950s.

So the dearth of the original audience is reason enough for music from the 1900-1960 to be shafted? By that logic, we shouldn't bother watching classic Hollywood films from the silent era up through the 1950s anymore because most of the people who saw them when they were new are dead.

Why stop there, though? William Shakespeare has been dead for nearly 400 years, and his original audience has been long gone. What's the point in theatres

Do you get my point? Just because most of the original audiences for rockabilly, swing, blues, and other pre-1960s forms of music are gone, doesn't mean we should pretend that those developments in music never happened and that everything started with The Beatles (as many ignorant folks already do).

Commercial FM radio is a wasteland. YouTube, online radio stations, and other digital outlets are preferable for discovering/re-discovering the greats from the first six decades of the 20th century. The tools are there, it's time for the millennials for start using them properly so they can learn about the trailblazers (Nat King Cole, Hank Williams Sr., Louis Jordan, Benny Goodman, Charlie Christian, Bill Monroe, Ray Charles, Dizzy Gillespie, and Buddy Holly for starters) and possibly appreciate them.

I don't expect everyone to have the passion I do for music from the 1900-1960 timeframe, but people who call themselves serious music fans should be familiar with the giants of rockabilly, swing, jump blues, doo wop, bebop, western swing, and other pre-1960s forms of music.

And that's why I always say...

GIVE ME MORE OF THE PAST SO THAT I CAN ENJOY THE PRESENT!

I wish I could take credit for the above motto, but that honor goes to George Schire, a poster on Kayfabe Memories (a vintage wrestling message board). He used to have that line in his signature but removed it. He still breaks it out once in a while.

Posted by Zach on Thursday, 04/25/2013 @ 15:12pm

So the dearth of the original audience is reason enough for music from the 1900-1960 to be shafted? By that logic, we shouldn't bother watching classic Hollywood films from the silent era up through the 1950s anymore because most of the people who saw them when they were new are dead.

Why stop there, though? William Shakespeare has been dead for nearly 400 years, and his original audience has been long gone. What's the point in theatres

Do you get my point? Just because most of the original audiences for rockabilly, swing, blues, and other pre-1960s forms of music are gone, doesn't mean we should pretend that those developments in music never happened and that everything started with The Beatles (as many ignorant folks already do).

Posted by Zach on Thursday, 04.25.13 @ 15:12pm
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I do think you know what I'm getting at. I do in fact agree that even the Oldies stations have done a disservice in dropping the 50's from the fold. In Philly, one of the major oldies stations, 98.1 WOGL dropped the 50's back in the mid-2000's. Instead of 50's-70's, it's now 60's through 80's, but w/no really good 80's music, as I see it (lots of ballads that weren't so hot the first time round).

In the case of music vs. movies/theaters, I was referring to straight commercial media. Obviously those will be fully market-driven, so they'll cater to those w/the disposable income - that being younger folks.

I agree that the tools are there, but those same tools tend to individualize the audience. You can put out the clarion call, but these days you've got to hope everyone's on the same wavelength at the same time, & that doesn't always happen that much.

Posted by Cheesecrop on Thursday, 04/25/2013 @ 15:32pm

Jimmy Page was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame twice. He was in the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin.

Posted by Brian Schonour on Tuesday, 10/19/2021 @ 20:52pm