What were country & western guitarists using before 1951?

[cotecj]

I was listening to some Hank Williams the other day, and there are some blistering guitar leads sprinkled throughout his songs. A lot of them were recorded in the late forties, I believe, and this got me to wondering what guitars were used on these recordings. Gibson archtops with P-90's? Custom guitars like Merle Travis's Bigsby?

 

[maestrovert]

Electric guitars Pre '51 ? Archtops ruled the day....
Gibson, Gretsch, Epiphone, Stromberg, D'Angelico and others....

 

[brokenjoe]

I was listening to some Hank Williams the other day, and there are some blistering guitar leads sprinkled throughout his songs. A lot of them were recorded in the late forties, I believe, and this got me to wondering what guitars were used on these recordings. Gibson archtops with P-90's? Custom guitars like Merle Travis's Bigsby?

Yup!

Big body Gibsons, mostly. And for the most part, they weren't playing them in a style that we would refer to as 'country' guitar playing.

Just goes to show you how the Telecaster really helped define a style.

 

[rosett]

I think that hollowbodies were the norm in Nashvile right up through the 70's. If you ever get a chance to see those old Porter Wagoner shows from the 70's, the guitarists were always playing hollowbodies or semi-hollow guitars. Hank Garland, Chet Atkins, Billy Byrd, etc were all hollowbody players, and when Fenders started to appear in the hands of the Nashville guys, they were usually Jazzmasters. The Teles and Strats were more of a west coast thing in country music for a long time.

 

[Mojohand40]

I was listening to some Hank Williams the other day, and there are some blistering guitar leads sprinkled throughout his songs. A lot of them were recorded in the late forties, I believe, and this got me to wondering what guitars were used on these recordings. Gibson archtops with P-90's? Custom guitars like Merle Travis's Bigsby?

Sure what you were hearing on Hank Williams stuff wasn't non pedal steel guitar? Some of Hanks studio stuff featured Jerry Byrd on his famed 7 string Rickenbacker Bakelite lap steel. Some of Byrd's licks could be mistaken for a more modern electric guitar. Almost all of Hanks stuff was just upright bass, steel guitar, fiddle and of course a flat top acoustic.

 

[Larry F]

Wasn't country and western called hillbilly back then? Or maybe the name change occurred earlier. And how about bluegrass? Wasn't that hillbilly, as well?

 

[Mojohand40]

Here is a video of Hank. It shows one of the various "Drifting Cowboys" playing an electric, mostly just tic-tac behind the bass. looks to be a solid body. Don't know what it is though..
this is probably video from "The Louisiana Hayride" show, I'm guessing.

 

[Mojohand40]

Wasn't country and western called hillbilly back then? Or maybe the name change occurred earlier. And how about bluegrass? Wasn't that hillbilly, as well?

I imagine that depended entirely on which part of the country you where in at the time. I believe folks in the south weren't to happy with the label of "Hillbilly" applied to their music. The Bristol sessions with the Carter Family were called "Folk" recordings and even Hank himself, in a rare interview, called himself a "folk" music writer.
I collect old radio recordings from that era. Programs like the Grand Ole Opry, Hanks' "Health and Happiness Hour", WLS National Barn-dance, etc.. never reffered to the artist or music as Hillbilly music. Often the Barn-dance announcer might say something like "bringing you the very finest in country and western entertainment".
I think the "change" form "hillbilly" to "country" music happened, like always, when it sold. When Hanks' song "Lovesick Blues" was a commercial success everywhere, and not just the deep south, folks up north started dropping the derisive term "Hillbilly" music, in favor of country music.
This is just like early blues recordings being called "race" records until they began to sell a little better.

as for the name "Bluegrass" referring to old time music...Bill Monroe coined that term entirely. The term itself (when used to describe music) did not exist until after Bill Monroe called his band the "bluegrass boys".

 

[rosett]

Here is a video of Hank. It shows one of the various "Drifting Cowboys" playing an electric, mostly just tic-tac behind the bass. looks to be a solid body. Don't know what it is though..

I'm pretty sure that it's a Bigsby.

 

[cotecj]

Sure what you were hearing on Hank Williams stuff wasn't non pedal steel guitar? Some of Hanks studio stuff featured Jerry Byrd on his famed 7 string Rickenbacker Bakelite lap steel. Some of Byrd's licks could be mistaken for a more modern electric guitar. Almost all of Hanks stuff was just upright bass, steel guitar, fiddle and of course a flat top acoustic.

Could be. "Take-off lead guitar" was in its infancy at that time. There isn't much of it in Hank's music, mostly pedal steel and fiddles in the solos.

 

[emiller45]

It might add perspective to the instruments being used to understand that many of the early Nashville players (Garland, Byrd, Martin, etc) were not necessarily "Hillbilly" players. They were jazz/swing oriented players who made a very good living playing Nashville music. Hence the big hollow body guitars.

 

[Caffeine Patrol]

Could be. "Take-off lead guitar" was in its infancy at that time. There isn't much of it in Hank's music, mostly pedal steel and fiddles in the solos.

I think Zeb Turner added some hot licks to a few Hank records. Mind Your Own Business has a fun guitar break.

 

[maestrovert]

It might add perspective to the instruments being used to understand that many of the early Nashville players (Garland, Byrd, Martin, etc) were not necessarily "Hillbilly" players. They were jazz/swing oriented players who made a very good living playing Nashville music. Hence the big hollow body guitars.

Well, yes....an' no....
Amplified and unamplified, Archtops pretty much ruled the day...regardless of one's musical orientation.
Here's Mother Maybelle & Sisters...

image removed

 

[Mojohand40]

I think Zeb Turner added some hot licks to a few Hank records. Mind Your Own Business has a fun guitar break.

Yep! Zeb Turner did indeed do some studio stuff with Hank Williams (as well as his own stuff, which is worth seeking out). Thanks for jogging my memory!

 

[woodman]

young Chet Atkins played the lead on a lot of those Hank hits.

 

[Wardpike]

Here, read this....

Google Books review of Gibson Book

 

[Guitarzan]

Can one of the moderators rig the profanity filter to automatically edit "country and western" and "C&W" as unspeakable words here?

Pleeeeease!

 

[Justinvs]

I have a friend who plays and listens ONLY country music. He started playing in the late 50's and used an archtop Gibson. To this day he refers to solid bodies derisively as "plank guitars."

Justin

 

[Hiker]

Gibson Super 400 ruled from the mid 1930's until the 50's and whad'ya want to bet-it was pricey...

 

[Ben Harmless]

Can one of the moderators rig the profanity filter to automatically edit "country and western" and "C&W" as unspeakable words here?

Pleeeeease!

Hey man, you picked up the Telecaster. Nobody held a gun to your head.