One of the primary aspects of the guitar’s rise to prominence was the number of guitar heroes that it produced. It began with Chet Atkins, the man with perhaps the most influence (he worked as both a guitarist and a producer in Nashville) on the direction of country music for the rest of the century. It continued to maintain steady crossover appeal through artists such as Chuck Berry, who played a role in establishing the guitar as the lead instrument of rock and roll. Both were pioneers with electric guitars, as Atkins refined “Travis Picking” (originally a signature Merle Travis style) in hits like “Mr. Sandman”. Later, the British Invasion brought the Beatles and the Rolling Stones to the US, where they helped solidify the standard rock band configuration: two guitars, a bass, and a drum set.
However, Jimi Hendrix has had more of an impact on guitar-driven popular music because of his exploration, and discovery, of the abilities of a solid-body electric guitar (a modified Fender Stratocaster, essentially an update to the Telecaster, was his instrument of choice). Are You Experienced, the debut record from his group Jimi Hendrix Experience, explored the sonic capabilities of the guitar/amplifier setup, and made frequent use of effect pedals.
Now used frequently throughout many styles of music, pedals such as compression, delay, reverb, and overdrive were used on the album in order to allow Hendrix to create tones and sounds that are barely identifiable as a guitar; he used the instrument as a canvas to create at a degree that hadn’t been seen before, tying in perfectly with the psychedelic rock era.
Harding notes, “It’s been said nobody understood the sonic capabilities of the electric guitar until Hendrix picked up a Stratocaster, even Leo Fender himself… he was the guy that made it so visual, so challenging.” As a result of Hendrix’s work, the guitar started to become even more widespread and versatile, strengthening its hold on American music.
In Steve Waksman’s review, he rather bluntly describes the guitar’s status at this point, saying “Jimi Hendrix’s distortion and feedback-laden performance of ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ at Woodstock which used the American national anthem as a protest against the Vietnam War and transformed the electric guitar into an instrument of political commentary and social change” (Waksman, 239).
The Jimi Hendrix Woodstock National Anthem, which took electric guitar tone into a new avenue of possibilities.