The first UK guitar hero…..?

Sassafras · August 2023

Interestingly, Apache was first recorded by Bert Weedon.

Sassafras · August 2023

Hank Marvin didn't look any more goofy than Buddy Holly.

flying_pie · August 2023

It's all relative.

As someone from the mid point of generation X my first guitar hero (not just UK but first hero overall) was Brian May. Obviously he be wasn't the first UK guitar hero but I can't really comment on what came before having not experienced it. I do think Hank Marvin could well fit the bill though

soma1975 · August 2023

Fairly safe to say that Brian May is the goofiest of all the guitar legends. Clog-wearing Dobson perm-borrowing crazy man.

By comparison Marvin just wore natty suits, had glasses and did a few sweet choreographed moves with the band.

OilCityPickups · August 2023

Power_Freak said:

To those saying Hank wasn't a guitar hero because he was "goofy" or "not rebellious" (or whatever)... You can make the exact same argument against Clapton/Page/whoever.

Ask most guitarists under the age of 40 or so what they think of Clappers and you'll get the same sort of responses as you have here for Hank (or probably worse tbf)

It depends on your outlook on music - to some Iommi would be the first guitar hero, to others Marr, to others it might be Derek Bailey

Exact reason why I classed Clapton as a guitar hero not a guitar icon - Clapton has never been a riveting performer, and his dress style and 'guitar artwork' was all sub Beatles/Hendrix/hippie.
If you judge Marvin by the US rock and roll performance standards of the day - Eddie Cochran for example - Marvin and the Shadows were embarrassingly awkward. But then this was still at a point when the UK music industry was producing pale, watered down versions of Elvis in the form of Cliff Richard and Tommy Steele ... the latter having a hit as early as in 1956 with 'Rock with the the Caveman'. The fact that Steele copied Cochran like guitar poses could almost make him a contender!
I think the UK was still mired in post war austerity and had a particularly old fashioned and gauche approach to 'popular music' compared to the US; and It took the Beatles and the Stones to knock the stuffiness out of British music performance.

wrinkleygit · August 2023

Shame Lonnie Donnegan only gets one mention, @guitars4you ,predates all the others and don’t forget all the stuff Joe Brown played on!!!

flying_pie · August 2023

soma1975 said:

Fairly safe to say that Brian May is the goofiest of all the guitar legends. Clog-wearing Dobson perm-borrowing crazy man.

By comparison Marvin just wore natty suits, had glasses and did a few sweet choreographed moves with the band.

Yes. The knighted saviour of the badgers who completed a PhD in astrophysics 36 years after he started it definitely puts one in an elite class. We've not even mentioned the homemade guitar or using a sixpence for a plectrum which could qualify by itself

soma1975 · August 2023

wrinkleygit said:

Shame Lonnie Donnegan only gets one mention, @guitars4you ,predates all the others and don’t forget all the stuff Joe Brown played on!!!

I was going to say Lonnie but thought it would make me a Guitar hero hipster!

soma1975 · August 2023

OilCityPickups said:

Power_Freak said:

To those saying Hank wasn't a guitar hero because he was "goofy" or "not rebellious" (or whatever)... You can make the exact same argument against Clapton/Page/whoever.

Ask most guitarists under the age of 40 or so what they think of Clappers and you'll get the same sort of responses as you have here for Hank (or probably worse tbf)

It depends on your outlook on music - to some Iommi would be the first guitar hero, to others Marr, to others it might be Derek Bailey

Exact reason why I classed Clapton as a guitar hero not a guitar icon - Clapton has never been a riveting performer, and his dress style and 'guitar artwork' was all sub Beatles/Hendrix/hippie.
If you judge Marvin by the US rock and roll performance standards of the day - Eddie Cochran for example - Marvin and the Shadows were embarrassingly awkward. But then this was still at a point when the UK music industry was producing pale, watered down versions of Elvis in the form of Cliff Richard and Tommy Steele ... the latter having a hit as early as in 1956 with 'Rock with the the Caveman'. The fact that Steele copied Cochran like guitar poses could almost make him a contender!
I think the UK was still mired in post war austerity and had a particularly old fashioned and gauche approach to 'popular music' compared to the US; and It took the Beatles and the Stones to knock the stuffiness out of British music performance.

Still very much in the land of 'artist' and 'repertoire' being separate entities as pre recorded music and requiring the A&R man to bring them together. Those Brits that either wrote their own songs or wholesale stole black American songs and passed them off as their own fundamentally changed the system.

OilCityPickups · August 2023

Sassafras said:

Hank Marvin didn't look any more goofy than Buddy Holly.

That's because he was copying Buddy Holly in suits and glasses and Strat!

Image: https://lastfm.freetls.fastly.net/i/u/ar0/a0b1f4fbfe55d5b5512181dd20879c49.jpg

And Cliff copied Elvis ... right down to practising the 'lip' in front of the mirror ...

guitars4you · August 2023

soma1975 said:

wrinkleygit said:

Shame Lonnie Donnegan only gets one mention, @guitars4you ,predates all the others and don’t forget all the stuff Joe Brown played on!!!

I was going to say Lonnie but thought it would make me a Guitar hero hipster!

and strong marks for Joe Brown - A very competent player and I think still touring today

guitars4you · August 2023

So for a UK v USA or Shadows v Ventures battle - I much prefer The Ventures - Far less' polite' - 100% agree how influential Hank and co were, and still are - And to be honest it isn't that easy to play many Hank songs, the whole way thru' without any error, so top marks to them - But I find it oh so bland

BillDL · August 2023

Not really a "guitar" as such, but George Formby was very popular in his day, as well as being a top class window cleaner.

p90fool · August 2023

Kilgore said:

I think it possibly depends on whether you're a guitar player, music journalist or Joe Public.

I think the first 'proper' guitar hero was Page. He's the template for what came after. Undoubtedly, those who came before were an inspiration to many, who subsequently picked up guitars.

But Page was the one who inspired millions to play air guitar, even if they couldn't be bothered to pick up the real thing.

Jimmy Page wasn't even the first (or second) guitar hero in The Yardbirds, let alone the UK.

It's obviously Hank, with an honourable mention to Joe Brown.

guitars4you · August 2023

BillDL said:

Not really a "guitar" as such, but George Formby was very popular in his day, as well as being a top class window cleaner.

can't wiz and lol at the same time (wiz for the window cleaner comment) - Go back way before the 50's and the guitar took 2nd/3rd place to banjo, mandolin and Ukulele (a few different variations inc the banjolele) - A few, and I bet only a few, will remember a magazine called BMG - Think the first magazine I ever recall before Beat, IM etc as I somehow recall it on my grandads counter - Stood for Banjo, Mandolin, Guitar - think it is/was the oldest monthly 'fret' based magazine

Days of the old music hall days, summer seasons at the seasides etc etc and the Uke, Banjo, Mandolin were all part of various acts - The guitar had its place in a classical environment, but you had to wait until the appearance of jazz before it became 'more acceptable' in any 'combos' - Especially in the UK, as we did not have the black blues guys etc as part of our 'day to day' life/entertainment - But even in the likes of New Orleans jazz, the banjo was more popular than the guitar

freakboy1610 · August 2023

It's got to be Hank. Between 1959 and 1968 The Shadows had 25 top 40 singles including 5 number 1s (without Cliff). 6 top 10 LPs including 2 number 1s.
I'm probably the last person to judge greatness by chart success but those sort of stats are not to be sniffed at.

guitars4you · August 2023

Interesting that Hank wanted the guitar sound as per James Burton - Obviously no/little TV coverage and as such Hank/Cliff assumed he played a Strat and that is what he went for - Only to find out later JB played a Tele - The Hank sound and everything else might have taken a different turn if he got it right

Going back to my post above about Banjo, Mandolin and use - Hank Marvin started off on banjo - little known fact

Voxsupertwin · August 2023

Hank had the first USA Strat in the UK….brought in and paid for by Cliff…..at the time, and I was there and playing in a band, it looked like an instrument from science fiction…..Hank was the first guitarist to exert influence on wannabes…..maybe hero is the wrong word….and still exerts that influence today.
the Shads got their foot routines from the Ventures but although the USA was the place to be in the 1950’s for us Brits Hank & The Shads were revolutionary …..

Voxsupertwin · August 2023

guitars4you said:

soma1975 said:

wrinkleygit said:

Shame Lonnie Donnegan only gets one mention, @guitars4you ,predates all the others and don’t forget all the stuff Joe Brown played on!!!

I was going to say Lonnie but thought it would make me a Guitar hero hipster!

and strong marks for Joe Brown - A very competent player and I think still touring today

Forgot about Joe Brown……great player and played lots as a session guy….Horse Brasses on his strap, Gibson ES335, playing Hava Nagila behind his head ….but not a major influence on us wannabes

Voxsupertwin · August 2023

Lonnie Donegan…..his credibility went down the pan with My old man’s a Dustman and Does your chewing gum lose its flavour on the bedpost over night?
if these songs are new to you check them out …..they are the pits ……

Pabcrane · August 2023

I've often found some confusion around the term guitar hero - I certainly have people that I consider guitar heroes which others on here wouldn't find befitting of the title.

I think though possibly that it may come down to influence and notoriety. A few of the more famous and prominent guitar heroes of the sixties have name-checked Lonnie as a big influence, such as Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck (as well as the Beatles and The Shadows and loads of others). I don't know enough musical history but I think that Lonnie Donegan had enough influence and probably enough notoriety to be considered 'the first UK guitar hero '.

Voxsupertwin · August 2023

Pabcrane said:

I've often found some confusion around the term guitar hero - I certainly have people that I consider guitar heroes which others on here wouldn't find befitting of the title.

I think though possibly that it may come down to influence and notoriety. A few of the more famous and prominent guitar heroes of the sixties have name-checked Lonnie as a big influence, such as Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck (as well as the Beatles and The Shadows and loads of others). I don't know enough musical history but I think that Lonnie Donegan had enough influence and probably enough notoriety to be considered 'the first UK guitar hero '.

Lonnie was just a strummer, his forte was singing in his nasally voice…..nobody at that time considered him to be a guitarist …..

Power_Freak · August 2023

OilCityPickups said:

Sassafras said:

Hank Marvin didn't look any more goofy than Buddy Holly.

That's because he was copying Buddy Holly in suits and glasses and Strat!

And Cliff copied Elvis ... right down to practising the 'lip' in front of the mirror ...

And Elvis is the hallmark of originality!

dazzajl · August 2023

Many great players and heroes mentioned now, some earlier, many more heroic and lots with brighter and louder legacies but none are displacing Hank for my vote.

For all the amazing and greater accomplishments of the rest, Hank was the first to be both an inspiration to a generation of guitar players and instantly recognised by a whole nation too.

Aaaaand…. If it was to be someone from the Clapton, Page etc era, I think it should have been Dave Davies. He’s never had the recognition he deserves for his sound on those first few singles that changed the UK pop landscape.

rossi · August 2023

No TV ad has exhorted your inner Eric so its Hank with his red strat toting schoolboys .

ICBM · August 2023

Alexis Korner.

He was the guitarist in Chris Barber's Jazz Band as early as 1950, before even Lonnie Donegan had any success, and went on to be a huge formative influence on the British blues scene of the 1960s.

Sassafras · August 2023

guitars4you said:

Interesting that Hank wanted the guitar sound as per James Burton - Obviously no/little TV coverage and as such Hank/Cliff assumed he played a Strat and that is what he went for - Only to find out later JB played a Tele - The Hank sound and everything else might have taken a different turn if he got it right

Going back to my post above about Banjo, Mandolin and use - Hank Marvin started off on banjo - little known fact

All the very best guitarists started off on banjo!

KDS · August 2023

Wizz Jones

EricTheWeary · August 2023

Bert had a guitar instrumental hit before The Shadows and a minor hit with Apache before they recorded it. So I think he beat Hank to this.

A few American blues artists toured the UK in the early 50s, pre rock and roll era. Lonnie Johnson who was a fairly legit guitar hero in the USA (after whom Tony Donegan renamed himself) and particularly Big Bill Broonzy who, I gather, garnered some mainstream acceptance being played on BBC radio. Obviously not British but probably the first guitar heroes in the UK.

guitars4you · August 2023

Voxsupertwin said:

Pabcrane said:

I've often found some confusion around the term guitar hero - I certainly have people that I consider guitar heroes which others on here wouldn't find befitting of the title.

I think though possibly that it may come down to influence and notoriety. A few of the more famous and prominent guitar heroes of the sixties have name-checked Lonnie as a big influence, such as Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck (as well as the Beatles and The Shadows and loads of others). I don't know enough musical history but I think that Lonnie Donegan had enough influence and probably enough notoriety to be considered 'the first UK guitar hero '.

Lonnie was just a strummer, his forte was singing in his nasally voice…..nobody at that time considered him to be a guitarist …..

Correct - But how many kids formed a skiffle group on the back of him - In a way he was the punk of the day - You did not need a lot of talent to get into a skiffle group and 'jam/bash' along with a wash board for rhythm and a tea chest bass - He wasn't a guitar hero as such in the 'rip roaring solo' format - But his influence was legendary back in the day -The Stones, The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Who all cite him as an early influence - The Quarry Men were just a skiffle group at first and even gigged without a drummer at times, before Colin Hanton joined them

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The first UK guitar hero…..?

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