Instrumental Rock - Early History

Early History

Instrumental rock was most popular during rock and roll's first decade (mid-1950s to mid-1960s), before the British Invasion.

One notable early instrumental was "Honky Tonk" by the Bill Doggett Combo, with its slinky beat and sinuous saxophone-organ lead. And bluesman Jimmy Reed charted with "Boogie in the Dark" and "Roll and Rhumba".

Jazz saxophonist Earl Bostic revived his career with instrumentals like "Harlem Nocturne" and "Earl's Rhumboogie". (Other jazz musicians who scored pop hits include Tab Smith and Arnett Cobb). Several rhythm and blues sax players had hit instrumental songs, including Big Jay McNeeley, Red Prysock, and Lee Allen, whose "Walking with Mr. Lee" was quite popular.

There were several notable blues instrumental songs during the 1950s; Little Walter's rollicking "Juke" was a major hit.

Instrumental hit songs could emphasize electronic organ (The Tornados' "Telstar", Dave "Baby" Cortez's "The Happy Organ", Johnny & the Hurricanes' "Red River Rock"), or the saxophone (The Champs' "Tequila", Bill Black's Combo's "Don't Be Cruel", The Piltdown Men's "McDonald's Cave"), but the guitar was most prominent. Duane Eddy scored several hits (his best known probably being "Rebel 'Rouser"). Eddy was the first rock & roll artist to release an album in stereo.

The Fireballs, featuring the distinctive guitar work of George Tomsco, began their career in the late 1950s with instrumental hits such as "Torquay" and "Bulldog." The band pioneered the guitar/guitar/bass/drums configuration, paving the way for The Ventures, The Shadows, and the surf music scene. The Fireballs were one of a few instrumental bands that successfully transitioned into vocal music, going as far as having the biggest hit record of 1963 ("Sugar Shack").

The Shadows from the UK, with American Fender Stratocaster guitars with British Vox amplifiers using a (lead guitar) reverb and echo unit from 1960 onwards recorded their major European hit-singles e.g. Apache; Wonderful land; FBI; etc. The Shadows (with Cliff Richard) dominated the UK charts from 1959-1963 until Beatle-mania arrived combined with DJ indifference to non-vocal singles.

The Ventures' precise guitar work was a major influence on many later rock guitarists; they also helped shape surf music, which at this stage consisted almost entirely of heavily reverbed guitar instrumentals.

Surf music was quite popular in the early 1960s, and was generally rather simple and melodic—one exception being Dick Dale, who gained fame for his quick playing, often influenced by the music of the Middle East, and frequently using exotic scales.

Following the British Invasion, rock changed appreciably, and instrumental hits came mostly from the R&B world. Notable artists include Booker T. & the MG's and saxophonist Junior Walker.

The early incarnation of Fleetwood Mac with band leader Peter Green achieved number one chart positions with guitar-based instrumental Albatross (composition) in February 1969.

Steve Cropper of the MG's asserts:

"We had trouble getting airplay because disc jockeys did not like playing songs without vocals on them. It got worse and worse and worse until they finally pushed every instrumental band in the country out of business."

The last important development in instrumental rock before the British Invasion was Lonnie Mack's version of Chuck Berry's "Memphis", which soared to #5 on the Billboard Pop chart in June, 1963. A full-length virtuoso guitar showpiece employing both the blues scale and distortion, Mack's "Memphis" ushered in the era of blues-rock guitar, a genre which reached its zenith in the later recordings of Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Previously, only three other rock guitar instrumentals had cracked Billboard's top 5, The Virtues' "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" in 1959, and Duane Eddy's "Because They're Young" and The Ventures' "Walk, Don't Run", in 1960.

In August 1964, Checker Records released the album Two Great Guitars recorded by rock and roll pioneers Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley which is one of rock music's first recorded guitar jam sessions.

Frank Zappa's album Hot Rats, one of his best-selling, was a purely instrumental rock album (with the exception of Willie the Pimp, featuring vocals from Captain Beefheart).