Leo Fender - Creator of iconic guitars like the Telecaster, the Stratocaster (first favored by Buddy Holly who was iconic to many british guitarists. Other notable strat users include Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix, arguably the first two rock guitar gods.) He also was famous for the P-Bass and the J-Bass. James Jamerson, a session player for Motown, favored the P-Bass. Joe Osborn played a J-Bass on countless sessions in L.A. as part of The Wrecking Crew, a group of ace session musicians. The P stands for Precision, as it was marketed to upright bassists as a portable solution that was easy to play in tune due to the use of frets. The J stands for Jazz bass, although most jazz players in the 50s and 60s favored the upright bass.
You can read more about Leo Fender at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/leo-fender-mn0001319188
Les Paul - Jazz guitarist and inventor. Gibson's iconic Les Paul guitar was designed by him. He also was an inventor who was instrumental in pioneering multi-track recording which was a huge step forward in the recording world. Originally from Wisconsin, he was based in NYC for much of his life and held a weekly gig almost up to his death this decade.
You can read more about Les Paul at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/les-paul-mn0000818559
There is also a fantastic documentary about him titled "Les Paul: Chasing Sound!" which you can watch for free at http://www.hulu.com/watch/91100 . I love documentaries because I'm a nerd, and this one is especially good. If I manage to live that long, I'd like to keep gigging like he did.
Bill Haley and His Comets - predated Elvis with Rock Around the Clock. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIJrYnvUU_k
Elvis Presley - Elvis was never my favorite but I can see why he was the king of rock and roll. I like his early work for Sun Records alot more than his output for RCA records as it sounded alot more dangerous and exciting to my ears. Some people favor his later Vegas era output but that always struck me as cheesy and insincere, although his band of that era, the TCB (taking care of business) were astoundingly good players. However, despite my personal preferences, one cannot diminish his importance to the history of rock and roll as an artist, and as a rock and roll icon in movies.
You can read more about Elvis Presley at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/elvis-presley-mn0000180228
Chuck Berry - An african american guitarist from St. Louis who wrote such hits as Johnny B. Goode, Roll Over Beethoven, Maybelline, You Never Can Tell (re-popularized by Quentin Tarantino in Pulp Fiction during the dance competition at Jack Rabbit Slim's with Uma Thurman and John Travolta). However, most of his success came from other artists, notably British artists such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones covering his songs. He was a savvy business man who re-invested his earnings in his home town, but then was imprisoned in the late fifties for giving an employee a ride home across the Mississippi River into Illinois. Many think that this arrest was racially motivated. He has been imprisoned a couple of times since for tax evasion and other indiscretions but is still alive and playing today.
You can read more about Chuck Berry at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/chuck-berry-mn0000120521 and you should definitely watch some early live performances on youtube as he is quite entertaining and animated.
Buddy Holly - Born Charles Hardin Holley in Lubbock, Texas and died too young in a plane crash (which also claimed Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper), Buddy Holly was a gifted writer and guitarist whose recordings showed divergence from the standard I-IV-V blues progressions and four on the floor boogie woogie beat that his contemporaries were noted for. He was hugely influential on The Beatles. Note that Buddy Holly's band was The Crickets. The Beatles were originally named The Quarrymen (for the high school that they attended), and changed their name to The Silver Beetles in homage to The Crickets, and finally became The Beatles. He might be my favorite songwriter of the 50s.
You can read more about Buddy Holly at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/buddy-holly-mn0000538677
Little Richard - Born Richard Penniman Jr. in Macon, Georgia, Little Richard was a flamboyant pianist who wrote songs such as "Good Golly Miss Molly", "Lucille", and "Tutti Frutti". He had a powerful voice and could switch into his falsetto with a high pitched "woo" quite often, which was a vocal tic that both Paul McCartney and John Lennon adopted. He left rock and roll to pursue a religious life in the seminary, only to return to rock and roll in the sixties. He is still active as a performer today.
You can read more about Little Richard at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/little-richard-mn0000824022
Jerry Lee Lewis - From Farriday, Louisiana, Jerry Lee Lewis should have been the king of rock and roll. With songs like "Whole Lotta Shakin Going On" and "Great Balls of Fire" and a stage persona that bordered on insane, he was given nicknames like The Farriday Fireball, and The Killer. He was expelled from bible school in Waxahachie, TX for playing hymns in a boogie woogie style, and was on wife number three by age 21. Unfortunately for him, wife number three was his 13 year old first cousin Myra, and the british press and the american public shunned him when it became common knowledge. He has been married 8 times, and it is widely believed that he has murdered at least three of those wives although it has never been proven. He is still recording albums and playing to this day, and is still quite the character.
Also of note, he learned to play piano as a kid with his cousins Jimmy Swaggart (famous televangelist who fell from grace) and Mickey Gilley (country star featured as a guest on The Dukes of Hazzard and owner of the bar that was the major setting of Urban Cowboy starring John Travolta).
You can read more about Jerry Lee Lewis at http://www.allmusic.com/artist/jerry-lee-lewis-mn0000332141
More to come...
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