Oh, That Tremolo!
Do you hear that sound? It’s the 1960’s calling.
The 1960s was a magical decade, full of disruptive social change and cultural evolution. Not the least of which was the innovation achieved by musicians who played the guitar in new ways to control the sound it produced, in fact they created ways for the guitar to produce a range of emotion.
This year the music industry paid respects to the early days of the electric guitar and some of the players who made the instrument sound so damn cool.
One of the most influential guitarists was Link Wray, who hooked up his guitar to a series of gizmos and thingamajigs and introduced distortion, fuzz, tremolo, and wah-wah effects to produce sounds that became a soundtrack for a generation.
A lot of guitarists will say it was Wray’s instrumental ‘Rumble’ that had so much of an effect on their careers… (note: if you’re reading via email clicking on the video play button will take you to the Youtube video.)
Wray’s guitar echoed with an edgy, primitive energy that spoke to a generation of outsiders and rebels tuned in on the radio.
He was honored with a Musical Influence Award at the 2023 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in November with this tribute from none other than Jimmy Page.
During the 1960s those seductive, twangy guitar riffs took over the airwaves with songs about surfing, gunfights and broken love affairs. The sound of 60s electric guitar reverb and tremolo came echoing back from the past when I was building a playlist and realized just how consequential the sound was to the Beatles, Pink Floyd and so many other groups who were hooking up to these new electronic devices.
A San Francisco record producer DJ Sylvester “Sly” Stewart, later of Sly & The Family Stone fame, produced for the Beau Brummels, a group that had a brand of ‘moody pop’ music that sounded British. The group’s management spread rumors that they were British. But this haunting sound came from San Francisco.
The tremolo sound was also perfect for surf movies and spaghetti westerns. Used at pivotal moments in the script the electric guitar could communicate danger, or the immediacy of something sinister. Italian composer Ennio Morricone used this to great effect in the scores he wrote for the series of Spaghetti Westerns starring Clint Eastwood.
On his Tone Lab channel, a very talented Mr. JayLeonardJ takes this fun look at all the elements that go into making these guitar tracks so alluring.
If you’re still wanting more here are a few more links to check out:
Top 10 Riffs That Make Great Use of Tremolo — Let’s Play All
What some people say is the most iconic use of tremelo — How Soon Is Now, The Smiths
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