Who was the first guitarist with "singing" overdrive?

T

tribalfusion

Member
When does the SINGING lead tone emerge?

Is there any credible singing lead tone before Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton of any real note?

I don't mean buzzy distortion or growling guitar like Link Wray and others but gain used for a more singing lead tone (like early Beck and Clapton did for example)

Who were the first guys to do this and preferably do it well?

Thanks!
 
tribalfusion":va32oy68 said:
When does the SINGING lead tone emerge?

Is there any credible singing lead tone before Jeff Beck and Eric Clapton of any real note?

I don't mean buzzy distortion or growling guitar like Link Wray and others but gain used for a more singing lead tone (like early Beck and Clapton did for example)

Who were the first guys to do this and preferably do it well?

Thanks!
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Ted Nugent and the Amboy Dukes "Journey to the Center of the world" was the 1st I remember, BUT that was Fuzz. . . Same with old Beatles tunes. . ALSO , Randy Bachman in the Guess Who did that stuff.... . . MIght have to throw Santana into the mix for 'singing smooth overdrive ' leads though!

Eric
 
Capulin Overdrive":1hyg92ql said:
Pink Floyd was pretty early with delay and fuzz.
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Speaking of Pink Floyd, Dave Gilmour was one of the first guitarists to have that really aggressive-sounding, vicious scooped mids sound. He used fuzz & EQ to get the effect rather than pushing the amp.
But he also used a flanger to swirl the sound a bit, which peaked some of the midrange while the rest was notched out.
 
Capulin Overdrive":2q75ukmy said:
Nugent and Uli Roth, but they were really singing with feedback.

Pink Floyd was pretty early with delay and fuzz.
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Thanks...I love Uli but I think he comes several years after the early Beck and Clapton work (though by then he has more gain available)
 
That's a very good question.

It's pretty hard to think of anything pre Beck with Yardbirds or Clapton with John Mayall but I'll bet some guys on the Blues scene came close.

And of course Hendrix was starting to do it very early when he was Jimmy James on the R@B and Rock sideman gigs he did.

There was a group called The Rising Sons and later called Raven ( fusing Blues and Jazz and Rock incredibly well, with great vocals also ) who became the House Band at the Scene Club in NYC ( where Hendrix used to jam a lot) with a guitarist named John Weitz who used a singing lead tone by I think slaving one Bassman into another as early as '64 and '65. He was the first Fusion Guitarist IMO-the whole group was wayyyy ahead of their time- Weitz also did screaming tones and also had serious Jazz chops.

I'll post a link if I can find something.

This was later than '65 but John Weitz had been playing like this since 65 or even earlier.

Http://www.martyangelo.com/raven.htm

But it's hard to find a recording pre 1964 that actually has that.......

Here's Hendrix in 1965 but we could find earlier probably : Jimmy James W Curtis Knight check out the controlled feedback at around 1 min.30

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqUGEcxEJ44
 
Yeah, first name that popped in my head was Hendrix. For the most part though, a lot of the old school guys did the singing tone with mostly playing in front of their cranked amps. Even though they were using early fuzz box etc, it was all on the volume.
 
The first players who came to mind for me were Santana, Peter Greene, and Clapton.
 
ericb":jtci0q8r said:
Randy Bachman in the Guess Who did that stuff....
Eric
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That's a good one... American Woman was recorded in 1969 and is pretty sustaining and singing. But Clapton had that sustaining sound earlier.
Bachman is a pretty underrated player from back then actually.
 
degenaro":lc70fgk5 said:
Jimi All ALong The Watch Tower, Freedom or Crosstown Traffic
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I will debate with ya :)

1972 Pink Floyd Live at Pompei..................Echos.




Start the vid at 6:27, first sign of Gilmore just dropping the hammer down at 6:53.

7:52 maybe one of the most incredible 10 seconds of raw tone I have ever heard.

That is the shit right there, out in the middle of nowhere with stacks of Hiwatts and PA :rock:

Your old 3:14 and 77 JMP get close to that tone.
 
degenaro":2mi6f9ej said:
Scott that was 4 years after Jimi...
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And Clapton with Mayall and Beck's first record with Yardbirds was '66. Clapton's first singles with the Yardbirds were in '64 though his tone had a lot more bite with the tele.

You can hear he's already got his licks down in '64 but not quite singing tone yet
 
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