The haunting, moody sound of the slippery or bottleneck guitar has become increasingly popular on movie soundtracks, television commercials, and television shows. Think of the movie Paris Texas and you’ll remember the haunting, whiny sound of the famous Ry Cooder accompanying soundtrack.
The origins of the slide style of playing the guitar can be traced back to a one-stringed instrument that originates from West Africa. This ultra-basic musical instrument was developed, in the United States, in what is called a diddley bow. This is a single-string instrument, usually homemade, consisting of a wire stretched between two screws or dowels along a piece of wood. The string is plucked while setting the tone with a piece of bone, metal, or glass. Some diddley ties were made by attaching the simple rope to the wall of a hut or house. Lonnie Pitchford, a Mississippi blues musician, was well known for demonstrating his diddley bow that used two nails driven into a beam that was part of his front porch. His grave marker is designed with a playable diddley-bow on its side.
It was in the Mississippi Delta region that African influences on American music really took hold. Many emancipated slaves moved to the area after the American Civil War bringing with them their love of rhythm, dance, and accessible musical instruments, one of which was the diddley-bow.
Many have speculated that the Mississippi Delta is the birthplace of the blues. The first documented blues tune was heard by WC Handy in 1895 or 1903 while at the train station in the town of Tutwiler, Mississippi. He is said to have witnessed a poor black man in tattered clothing and worn shoes playing a guitar by pressing a knife against the strings to vary the pitch, much like how Hawaiian guitarists would use steel rods. The tune the man played was a brooding, brooding tune that made a great impression on WC Handy.
It was during the 1890s that some well-known American folk-blues tunes are believed to have originated, such as “Joe Turner Blues” and “Frankie and Johnnie.” A well-known exponent of the style that originated at this time was Charley Patton. His exact date of birth is unknown, but it is believed to have been between 1885 and 1892. He learned his musical skills from the people around him, including Henry Sloan, who was a resident of the Dockery Plantation in Ruleville, Mississippi. Some say that Henry Sloan is actually the mysterious black slide guitarist WC Handy overheard at the Tutwiler train station.
It wasn’t until 1929 that Patton was discovered by HC Spier, the white talent scout who famously auditioned notable blues artists in the back of his furniture store in Jackson Mississippi. In June of that year he recorded 14 tracks for Paramount albums, including the well-known blues classics “Pony Blues”, “Banty Rooster Blues”, “Bo Weavil Blues”, “Screamin ‘and Hollerin’ the Blues” and “A Spoonful. Blues”. . Pony Blues with Banty Rooster sold 10,000 copies, making Patton a major star for Paramount records.
Another fantastically influential bluesman who made recordings for Paramount records in 1930 was Son House. His distinctive playing style, which featured a strong, repetitive, and hypnotic rhythm, was to be enormously influential for decades to come. His guitar playing was accompanied by his unique voice that was derived from the wailing and screaming of string bands, likely influenced by the time he spent in jail after allegedly killing a man.
No discussion of the blues and guitar bottleneck would be complete without mentioning Robert Johnson, probably the most famous of the many influential men at Delta Blues. He made a large number of historical recordings between 1936 and 1937 and his guitar playing skills and songwriting talents have influenced countless thousands of blues and rock-and-roll artists in the decades since his untimely death at age. only 27 years old.
The bottleneck or slide guitar style is synonymous with blues. It is a playing style that allows notes to shake, sound uncertain, sound like the human voice or someone crying. It’s a style of play that doesn’t require any fancy or expensive gear, making it immediately accessible and engaging. The sound of the slide guitar is immediately attractive but at the same time it can evoke feelings of sadness and melancholy. Slide guitar is what blues is all about.