The first great rock ‘n’ roll guitar solo
The 1950s was dominated by short, snappy radio hits. It was the decade that would shoot Elvis to global success, gradually adopting the once rebellious genre of rock and roll into the mainstream. Everything was geared towards rock taking the throne, but the world wasn’t ready for the first great guitar solo.
As radio remained king in the music industry, the music of the 1950s and earlier was designed to be quick and catchy. Songs never really broke out of the traditional verse and chorus format and left no space for extended instrumentals or drawn-out interludes. There was no such thing as filler in a time when all artists were only fighting for coveted radio playlists.
It makes sense then that in the ’50s, a guitar solo was totally unheard of. That’s not to say that there weren’t already some iconic guitar players making waves in music. Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Buddy Holly, John Lee Hooker and more were already releasing music that would be written into the history books, but guitar solos in the middle of radio hits were yet to become a common thing.
Instead, the two things were kept pretty separate. Genres like blues, jazz and folk let the instrument shine as a main focal point, with key figures often coming in the form of fully-instrumental musicians. More connected to traditional forms or classical music, genres with strict musical styles afforded more space for extended musical sections.
The newly mainstream sound of rock and roll or pop, however, had yet to extend its sound. All crafted for the radio listener to capture and keep their attention, an instrumental section like a guitar solo would go completely against the ideas and rules that governed modern music at the time.
But one musician was ready to change all that. In 1954, Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson decided to launch himself into the music world with an incredibly daring debut single, continuing the first great guitar solo.
His first track, ‘Space Guitar’, had a sound so fresh and different that upon its release, Billboard couldn’t find words to describe it. So confused and astonished by the new sound, ‘Space Guitar’ received a review score that read, “??”.
While underpinned by a typical blues beat and count, it’s Watson’s shredding electric guitar that stunned the world. Taking the traditional blues chords and exploding them into something entirely new, what you hear on the track is one of the first examples of what we’ve come to know as a lead guitar riff or solo. Flamboyant, maximalist and energetic – 1950s music fans had never heard anything like it.
But listening back, it’s clear that without Watson, music may never have been the same. Only two years later, Chuck Berry would release ‘Roll Over Beethoven’ in 1956 with its iconic guitar solo. Elvis would adopt the new guitar solo section into tracks like ‘Jailhouse Rock’ to huge success. Music would go on to worship acts like The Kinks, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin and beyond, all creating some of history’s most iconic guitar solos.
As the first person to bring the guitar solo to the radio, exploding the sound of the 1950s with his electric guitar riffs, we have a lot to thank Johnny ‘Guitar’ Watson for.
