Guitar Boogie (song)

"Guitar Boogie" is a guitar instrumental recorded by Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith in 1945. It was one of the first recordings in the style later dubbed "hillbilly boogie" to reach a widespread audience, and eventually sold nearly three million copies. It was the first guitar instrumental to climb the Country music charts, and then crossover and also gain high rankings on Pop charts. "Guitar Boogie" has been interpreted and recorded by a variety of musicians. It is among the songs discussed as the first rock and roll record.

Original song

"Guitar Boogie" is an uptempo twelve-bar boogie-style instrumental and is patterned after older boogie-woogie piano pieces. Smith performs the piano parts on guitar, alternating between boogie rhythmic patterns and soloing. Originally a jazz musician, Smith explained, "I guess I picked that [boogie-woogie] from Tommy Dorsey's 'Boogie Woogie', 'cause I didn't listen to country or blues, I listened to big band in those days".

Smith first recorded "Guitar Boogie" in 1945 with the Tennessee Ramblers, with Don Reno on rhythm guitar and Roy Lear on bass. There has been conflicting information on the type of guitar Smith used for the recording; several sources identify it as an acoustic guitar and others as an electric guitar. The piece was released under the name "The Rambler Trio featuring Arthur Smith" by the independent Super Disc Records label. Regionally "Guitar Boogie" did well, due in part to Smith's appearances on popular radio programs, such as Charlotte, North Carolina WBT's "Carolina Hayride".

Guitar Boogie (album)

Guitar Boogie is a compilation blues rock album with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page, compiled from Immediate Records' 1968/69 record series Blues Anytime which were released in the U.S.A. under the title British Blues Archives Series. Most songs on this album were written by Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck or Jimmy Page. The album was re-released in the US in 1977 by Pickwick Records. Only two of the guitarists appear on any given track. Jeff Beck does not appear on any of the Page/Clapton numbers. Similarly, Clapton doesn't appear on the Allstars tracks.

This album was compiled by Richard Robinson. The 1971 release contains a piece by rock critic Richard Meltzer on the back cover.

Track listing

References