ROOTS of Country Music

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-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Guitars and Country Music

The guitar arrived in America with early European settlers and gradually European guitar makers like Christian Freidrich Martin emigrated to America and began building the stringed instruments.

As the guitar became popular in stringbands, a number of guitarists began creating their own innovative styles, such as Roy Harvey, who worked with Charley Pride, and Riley Puckett, who worked with Gid Tanner. Each created rhythmic bass runs that enhanced their bands' sounds and formed the basis for the later guitar styles of bluegrass.

Jimmie Rodgers also helped sell many guitars in the late 1920's and early 1930's by his use of the instrument. He appears to have been the first country singer to have a guitar model named for him, when Weymann created their "Jimmie Rodgers Special" model in 1930.

In 1932 WLS National Barn Dance singer, Arkie the Arkansas Woodchopper, had Martin guitars build him one of their large D-2 "dreadnought" guitars with a herringbone wood trim. It became the classic Martin D-28.

In 1933 his fellow Barn Dance star, Gene Autry, had Martin build him a elaborate pearl inlaid version of "Arkie's" guitar that became the D-45. Sears Roebuck began marketing its inexpensive "Gene Autry" guitars in the 1930's and these were the first guitars many young future guitar stars owned. Other musicians, including Ray Whitley, preferred Gibson acoustics (the company build their classic J-200 jumbo acoustic for Whitley in 1937).

After complaints that Ernest Tubb's early acoustic Decca recordings were inaudible, Tubb had guitarist "Smitty" Smith use an electrified guitar on his 1941 "Walking The Floor Over You." It established Tubb's style and helped end the Opry's ban on electric guitars when Tubb came to the show. Still, few country singers used electrics, one exception being Floyd Tillman.

The first true guitar stylists were a varied lot. Maybelle Carter's famous "drop thumb" guitar style, epitomized by her solo work on Wildwood Flower, inspired generations of country pickers. Karl Farr's acoustic guitar work with The Sons of the Pioneers combined country with a bit of jazz. California guitarist Porky Freeman had a huge regional hit with his amplified version of "Boogie Woogie on the Strings" in 1943. After the war, Zeb Turner used a similar style on his "Zeb's Mountain Boogie."

The syncopated Western Kentucky thumb and index finger picking style pioneered by Kennedy Jones, featuring a thumb pick, formed the basis for the picking of Ike Everly and Mose Rager, who taught the style to Merle Travis. Travis' playing over WLW in the late 30's and early 40's inspired young Chester Atkins to develop his own version of the style.

Jazz guitarists like Belgian Django Reinhardt and black electric guitarist Charlie Christian also influenced country guitar players. Harold Bradley and Billy Byrd were both Christian disciples, as were Bob Wills/Spade Cooley guitarist Jimmy Wyble and pioneer Nashville studio musicians, Hank Garland and Grady Martin. Nashville guitarists, a group that included Ray Edenton and later Reggie Young, could usually play in any style required.

Though Rickenbacker had introduced a solid body model in the 1930's, it never caught on. In 1950 Leo Fender introduced the Fender broadcaster (changed to Telecaster), the first successful solid body guitar, and its success largely come from country pickers.

Other gifted soloists also appeared, including Jimmy Bryant, who played dazzlingly fast country jazz and whose playing was much in demand in Los Angeles, California recording studios in the 50's, and Joe Maphis, a pioneer in flatpicking fiddle tunes on guitar, who played the first doubleneck "Mosrite" brand electric guitar made by Semie Moseley. Gretsch's Chet Atkins line and Gibson's Byrdland, designed by Billy Byrd and Hank Garland, also cought on.

But acoustic stylists hadn't stagnated during this period. Lester Flatt, buidling on the styles of earlier players like Roy Harvey, created a punchy guitar style combining chords and bass runs that he used with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys and then with his partner, Earl Scruggs. Other fine bluegrass guitarists included The Stanley Brothers' George Shuffler, who "crosspicked" his instrument like a mandolin, as did guitarist Bill Napier.

Blind guitarist Doc Watson also picked up the idea of finger picking fiddle tunes as Joe Maphis had. Hank Snow, who often soloed on his records, showed the influence of Karl Farr. Like Snow, singer Billy Grammer was another superb guitar soloist.

In the 60's, the Fender Telecaster stylings of country-rockabilly guitarist James Burton, singer Buck Owens (who played guitar on many Capitol rock and country released), Owens' lead guitarist Don Rich and Merle Haggard's guitarist Roy Nichols all had considerable impact, as did the nylon string playing of Jerry Reed, who expanded the Travis-Atkins style to use all the fingers of the right hand.

Owens, Reed, Roy Clark and Glen Campbell were amoung the bestknown singers of the 60's who were also formidable guitarists. In the 70's, telecasters symbolized the Outlaw movement through Waylon Jennings' prominent use of the instrument.

British Telecaster ace Albert Lee's work with Emmylou Harris' Hot Band had considerable influence in the late 70's, as did that of his fellow Brit Ray Flacke. In the 80's the Telecaster stylings of Dwight Yoakam guitarist Pete Anderson, Jerry Donohue and Desert Rose Band guitarist John Jorgenson proved the instrument as durable as ever.

In acoustic music, Willie Nelson's gut-string guitar work, influenced equally by Django Reinhardt and Grady Martin, became a trademark of his stage and recorded performances.

In bluegrass, Eddie Adcock's playing revealed the influence of Jimmy Bryant and other electric players. Tony Rice, a veteran bluegrasser, epitomized a more complex style combining jazz influences, as did Merle Haggard's young electric guitarist Clint Strong.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Fender Guitar

Fender, is a manufacturer of stringed instruments and amplifiers, such as solid-body electric guitars, including the Stratocaster and the Telecaster. It is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona. The company, previously named the Fender Electric Instrument Manufacturing Company, was founded in Fullerton, California, by Clarence Leonidas "Leo" Fender in 1946.

Leo Fender also designed one of the first commercially successful solid-body electric bass, the Precision Bass (P-Bass), which has become known in rock, jazz, country, Motown, funk and other types of music.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Gibson Guitar

The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names. With a history of over a century, Gibson has been one of the companies that have revolutionized the development of the acoustic and the electric guitar and along the way have built one of the world's most iconic guitars, the Gibson Les Paul. Many of their instruments continue to increase in value, and some Gibson guitars are among the most collectible guitars.

The company was founded by Orville Gibson, who made mandolins in Kalamazoo, in the late 1890s. He invented archtop guitars by using the same type of carved, arched tops found on violins. By the 1930s, the company was also making flattop acoustic guitars, as well as one of the first commercially available hollow-body electric guitars, used and popularized by Charlie Christian.

Gibson was at the forefront of innovation in acoustic guitars, especially in the big band era of the 1930s; the Gibson Super 400 was widely imitated. In the early 1950s, Gibson introduced its first solid-body electric guitar and in 1952 began producing its most popular guitar to date—the Les Paul, designed by Ted McCarty and Les Paul.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Gretsch Guitar

The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916. Gretsch then became one of the most prominent manufacturers of American musical instruments.

Guitar production began in the late 1930s, and Gretsch guitars became highly sought after, most notably in the 1950s and 1960s. They lost favour with players during the 1970s and 1980s for various reasons, including a problematic relationship with the Baldwin Piano Company.

Gretsch eventually slid into bankruptcy, but it was revived by Fred W. Gretsch in 1989. Gretsch, who is great-great-grandson to Friederich Gretsch and is sometimes referred to as Fred Gretsch III, remains president of the company to this day.

Most modern-era Gretsch guitars are manufactured in the Far East, though US-made Custom Shop models remain available. In 2003 Gretsch entered into an agreement with Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC), under the terms of which Fred Gretsch III would continue to own the company, with FMIC handling most development, distribution and sales.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Martin Guitar

C.F. Martin & Company is a US guitar manufacturer established in 1833 by Christian Frederick Martin. Martin is highly regarded for its steel-string guitars and is a leading mass-manufacturer of flattop acoustics.

Martin instruments can cost thousands of dollars and vintage instruments often cost six figures. The company has also made several models of electric guitars and electric bass guitars.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Guitars Played By Country Music Artists

Barbara Mandrell

Semie Moseley

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Bill Anderson

• Fender

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Billy Grammer

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bob Bob McNett

Gibson 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Buck Owens

• Fender Telecaster
• Gibson
• Semie Moseley American (red, white & blue)

Fender Telecaster

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Carl Smith

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Carter Stanley

• Martin D-28

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chet Atkins 

D’Angelico Excel

Del Vecchio 

Chet’s favorite Del Vecchio, a Brazilian-made resonator guitar, was used on most of his recordings.  The guitar was purchased from Nato Lima of the Los Indios Tabajares after Chet heard the song Maria Elena on the album by the same title. 

Gibson

In the 1980s, Chet Atkins collaborated with the Gibson Guitar firm to design a new line of guitars. They eventually included this Chet Atkins SST Fleur de Lis electro-acoustic model, which he often played on tour throughout the ‘80's

Gibson worked with Chet to design a new Country Gentleman electric guitar. He played this model on a number of albums including his 1990 collaboration with Mark Knopfler, Neck and Neck.

• Chet Atkins Tennessean
• Chet Atkins CE
• Chet Atkins Phasar
• Chet Atkins SST
• Gibson L-7 Acoustic
• Gibson L-7 Electric
• Gibson L-10
• Gibson Country Gentleman
• Gibson Fretless CE
• Gibson Studio Classic
• Gibson Super 4000

While playing for Red Foley at the Grand Ole Opry in 1946, Chet played a L-7 Gibson equipped with two P-90 pickups.  Here he began playing electric solos but didn’t play an electric on a recoding session until late 1947.  It was used in the time period 1948-1950.

Gibson’s production of the CA Super4000 was Gibson’s way of honoring Chet.  This was their all out attempt to build the ultimate archtop guitar; only fifty of them were made.  Chet was the recipient of the first one.  It was fashioned from the finest woods, used a floating pickup with controls mounted on the pickguard, and made to perfection in every detail.

Gretsch 

Gretsch Country Grentleman 1967 

 Chet Atkin’s long-standing association with the Gretsch company led to a line of a signature electric guitars, such as his 1954 Chet Atkins CA 6120 prototype, a version of which is featured on the cover photo of Chet Atkins at Home.

• Chet Atkins Country
• Chet Atkins CA 6120
• Chet Atkins G6121 Solid Body
• Chet Atkins Super Axe
• Chet Atkins Super Chet
• Chet Atkins Tennessee
• Country Gentleman G6120
• Hollowbody Electric G6120TM
• Nashville Electric 6120DC
• Tennessee Rose G6119
• Tennessee Country Gentleman G6120

Gretsch Tennessean Model 1964

The CA Super Axe was developed in 1976.  It was a genuine solid body guitar from the nut to the tailpiece.  Incorporated the standard effects needed for contemporary playing, aimed at rock and performance players.  It was used by Chet for certain songs at Chet’s concerts and other performances.   

Hascal Haile Classic Guitar

Juan Estruch Classic Guitar 

One of Chet’s early classical guitars that he used was a 1959 made by Juan Estruch of Barcelona.  Chet installed a Baldwin Prismatone pickup under the bridge. 

Manuel Velasquez Classic Guitar

This classic was made in 1974 by Manuel Velasque, and was a gift from Jorge Morel. 

Martin

• D-28
• D-45

Chet Atkins played a Martin D-28 owned by Harlan Howard.  It was the guitar he used for writing Heartaches By The Number, Pick Me Up On Your Way Down and other hit songs.  When Chet returned the guitar after his session with the Nashville String Band, Howard told him to keep it.

Stella

• Chet Atkins Stella

Compiled and written by Richard Bell, Dec. 27, 2011

Contributor: Patrick Bell, Dec. 27, 2011.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Cliffie Stone

Doc Watson

• Martin D-28

Don Gibson

• Gibson Super 400

Don Rich

• Fender Telecaster
• Gibson Les Paul

Dwight Yoakam

• Fender Telecaster

Eddy Arnold

• Gibson J-200N

Emmylou Harris

• Gibson J-200

Ernest Tubb

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Faron Young

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Gene Autry

• Gibson SJ-200
• Martin D-45

George Jones

• Martin D-28
• Martin D-45

Glen Campbell

• Ovation Deluxe Ballader

Grady Martin

• Bigsby

Hank Thompson

• Gibson L-5 Guitar
• Gibson Super 400 Guitar
• Gibson J-200 Guitar

Hank Snow

• Martin D-28
• Martin D-45

Hank Williams

• Gibson J-35
• Martin D-18
• Martin D-28

Hank Williams Jr

• Martin D-28
• Gibson Les Paul Goldtop

Harold Bradley

• Grammar

Henty Strzelecki

• Fender Jazz Electric Bass

Jeanne Seely

• Fender

Jeff Cook

• Steinberger Double-neck

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jimmie Rodgers

Martin 0018

On August 4, 1927, at a makeshift studio in a former furniture store in Bristol, Tennessee, an unknown singer from Mississippi made his first recordings for Victor Records. Accompanying himself on this plain-looking, but elegantly designed, mahogany and spruce Martin 00-18 guitar, Jimmie Rodgers recorded The Soldier’s Sweetheart and Sleep Baby Sleep.

Released two months later, they launched a recording career that would turn him into country music’s first superstar. The inscription “8-4-27 B. VA-TENN,” written in India ink inside the guitar’s sound hole, documents Rodgers’ recording debut at the Bristol Sessions, which marked a turning point in the history of country music.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Joe Maphis

Mosrite 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Jerry Reed

Johnny Cash

• Martin D-28
• Martin D-35S

Kitty Wells

• Gibson SJ-200
• Martin 00-15
• Martin D-28

In 1952, Kitty Wells’ plaintive It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky-Tonk Angels soared to No.1 on the strength of its protest against the stereotype of “bad” honky-tonk songs.

Wells' success proved that women could sell records and headline shows, prompting record companies to open their rosters to other women. A mahogany Martin 00-15 was her first guitar.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lefty Frizzell

Bigsby/Gibson Custom SJ-200

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Leon McAuliffe

Fender Broadcaster (1950)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Lester Flatt

• Martin D-28

Little Jimmy Dickens

•  Gibson J-200

Luther Perkins

• Fender

Marty Robbins

• Marty Robbins ¾ Martin

Maybelle Carter

• Gibson L-5

Merle Haggard

• Fender Telecaster

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Merle Travis

• Bigsby Electric
• Gibson Super 400
• Martin D-28

Gibson Super 400

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Paul Yandell

• D’Angelico Excel
• Fender Telecaster, Stratocaster
• Gibson Country Gentleman
• Gretsch 6120 Country Gentleman
• The “Peaver”
  
  

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Porter Wagoner

• Rich & Taylor
• Alvarez Yari Acoustic
• Martin D-28
• Martin D-41

Martin D41

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Ray Whitley

• Gibson J-200

Rex Allen

• Fender Telecaster

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Roy Clark

• Alvarez Yari Acoustic
• Gretsch  Super Axe

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Roy Rogers

• Gibson SJ-200

Shot Jackson

• Shot Jackson Resonater (Sho-Bro)

Tex Ritter

• Fender
• Gibson SJ-200

Vince Gill

• Gibson ES-335

Wanda jackson

• Martin D-28

Waylon Jennings

• Fender Telecaster

Willie Nelson

• Martin N-20 (Trigger)

Willie Nelson was one of the few major artists known to use a Martin classical.  Nelson has played his N-20 nicknamed Trigger, for 35 years.  Nelson's persistent use of a pick on a nylon strung guitar with no pickguard has worn a hole through the body.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Researched, written and compiled by Richard Bell, Roots of Country Music, Dec. 2011