{"id":2085,"date":"2026-06-09T12:03:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:03:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085"},"modified":"2026-06-09T12:03:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T12:03:39","slug":"the-electric-guitar-spawned-garage-bands-rock-god-dreams-and-generations-of-popular-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085","title":{"rendered":"The electric guitar spawned garage bands, rock-god dreams \u2014 and generations of popular music"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<ul><\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>ATLANTA<\/strong> | What is more American than taking a musical instrument with ancient roots and zapping it with electricity? That new creation, the electric guitar, has launched the dreams of millions of teenagers.<\/p>\n<p>It turned garages into impromptu rehearsal spaces for would-be rock stars across the American suburbs. For those who couldn\u2019t play, couldn\u2019t try to play or couldn\u2019t get some friends with instruments together, there was always the air guitar. (Does anyone ever play an acoustic air guitar?)<\/p>\n<p>Nearly 100 years ago, Americans\u2019 love of tinkering, music and just making things louder combined when George Beauchamp created and Adolph Rickenbacker produced the first commercially successful electric guitar. That was \u201cthe Frying Pan.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The tinkering continued. Musician and inventor Les Paul put strings and pickups on a block of wood called \u201cthe Log\u201d and made it one of the first solid body electric guitars. And now we\u2019re talking.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p>Imagine the intro to Chuck Berry\u2019s \u201cJohnny B. Goode\u201d without the electric guitar. Would that song about a guitar player even exist? It\u2019s the engine powering Jimi Hendrix\u2019s version of \u201cAll Along the Watchtower\u201d and Bruce Springsteen\u2019s \u201cBorn to Run.\u201d It spawned the ax man, the guitar god and the apotheosis of look-at-me American exceptionalism, the guitar solo.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s in your face and loud. It goes to 11, after all.<\/p>\n<p>It was so provocative that many felt deep betrayal when Bob Dylan plugged in.<\/p>\n<p>It became so ubiquitous, so essential to rock and pop music, that MTV created its successful \u201cUnplugged\u201d franchise, where bands were forced to play nonelectric instruments as an acoustic counterprogramming novelty.<\/p>\n<p>And like all the best American inventions, it was exported around the world, where it still has the power to make kids dream. As long as they have somewhere to plug in.<\/p>\n<p>Part of a recurring series, \u201cAmerican Objects,\u201d marking the 250th anniversary of the United States. For more American objects, click here. For more stories on the anniversary, click here.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2079\">TUESDAY NEWS IN A RUSH: Top headlines in today\u2019s NewsMinute video<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2081\">A flesh-eating cattle parasite spreads beyond Texas as new screwworm cases are found<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2083\">Broncos pass rusher Jonathon Cooper pleads not guilty in domestic violence case<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>ATLANTA | What is more American than taking a musical instrument with ancient roots and zapping it with electricity? That new creation, the electric guitar, has launched the dreams of millions of teenagers. It turned garages into impromptu rehearsal spaces for would-be rock stars across the American suburbs. For those who couldn\u2019t play, couldn\u2019t try [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1101,1102,149,150,152,515,516,1103,1104],"tags":[3396,3397,3398,3399,3400,3401],"class_list":["post-2085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-0-no-apple-publish","category-1gridmagazine","category-a-town-magazine","category-celebrities","category-sentinel-lifestyle","category-sentinel-music","category-total-scene","category-uncategorized","category-z-other-galley","tag-adolph-rickenbacker","tag-chuck-berry","tag-electric-guitar","tag-george-beauchamp","tag-les-paul","tag-mtv"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>The electric guitar spawned garage bands, rock-god dreams \u2014 and generations of popular music - Denver Moving Chronicle<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The electric guitar spawned garage bands, rock-god dreams \u2014 and generations of popular music - Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"ATLANTA | What is more American than taking a musical instrument with ancient roots and zapping it with electricity? That new creation, the electric guitar, has launched the dreams of millions of teenagers. It turned garages into impromptu rehearsal spaces for would-be rock stars across the American suburbs. For those who couldn\u2019t play, couldn\u2019t try [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Denver Moving Chronicle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-09T12:03:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\"},\"headline\":\"The electric guitar spawned garage bands, rock-god dreams \u2014 and generations of popular music\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-09T12:03:39+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085\"},\"wordCount\":386,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bf70799ea367c1ae8beaec1dabf5aa1c.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Adolph Rickenbacker\",\"Chuck Berry\",\"Electric Guitar\",\"George Beauchamp\",\"Les Paul\",\"MTV\"],\"articleSection\":{\"0\":\"0 - No Apple Publish\",\"1\":\"1gridMAGAZINE\",\"2\":\"A-Town Magazine\",\"3\":\"Celebrities\",\"4\":\"Sentinel Lifestyle\",\"5\":\"Sentinel Music\",\"6\":\"Total Scene\",\"8\":\"z-other-galley\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085\",\"name\":\"The electric guitar spawned garage bands, rock-god dreams \u2014 and generations of popular music - Denver Moving Chronicle\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bf70799ea367c1ae8beaec1dabf5aa1c.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-09T12:03:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bf70799ea367c1ae8beaec1dabf5aa1c.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/bf70799ea367c1ae8beaec1dabf5aa1c.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":768,\"caption\":\"The Rickenbacher \\\"Frying Pan\\\" and its amplifier are displayed at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\\\/Dario Lopez-Mills)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?p=2085#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The electric guitar spawned garage bands, rock-god dreams \u2014 and generations of popular music\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Denver Moving Chronicle\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/denvermovingchronicle.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The electric guitar spawned garage bands, rock-god dreams \u2014 and generations of popular music - Denver Moving Chronicle","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The electric guitar spawned garage bands, rock-god dreams \u2014 and generations of popular music - Denver Moving Chronicle","og_description":"ATLANTA | What is more American than taking a musical instrument with ancient roots and zapping it with electricity? That new creation, the electric guitar, has launched the dreams of millions of teenagers. It turned garages into impromptu rehearsal spaces for would-be rock stars across the American suburbs. For those who couldn\u2019t play, couldn\u2019t try [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085","og_site_name":"Denver Moving Chronicle","article_published_time":"2026-06-09T12:03:39+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b"},"headline":"The electric guitar spawned garage bands, rock-god dreams \u2014 and generations of popular music","datePublished":"2026-06-09T12:03:39+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085"},"wordCount":386,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf70799ea367c1ae8beaec1dabf5aa1c.jpg","keywords":["Adolph Rickenbacker","Chuck Berry","Electric Guitar","George Beauchamp","Les Paul","MTV"],"articleSection":{"0":"0 - No Apple Publish","1":"1gridMAGAZINE","2":"A-Town Magazine","3":"Celebrities","4":"Sentinel Lifestyle","5":"Sentinel Music","6":"Total Scene","8":"z-other-galley"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085","url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085","name":"The electric guitar spawned garage bands, rock-god dreams \u2014 and generations of popular music - Denver Moving Chronicle","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf70799ea367c1ae8beaec1dabf5aa1c.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-09T12:03:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf70799ea367c1ae8beaec1dabf5aa1c.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/bf70799ea367c1ae8beaec1dabf5aa1c.jpg","width":1024,"height":768,"caption":"The Rickenbacher \"Frying Pan\" and its amplifier are displayed at the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Saturday, May 30, 2026. (AP Photo\/Dario Lopez-Mills)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?p=2085#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The electric guitar spawned garage bands, rock-god dreams \u2014 and generations of popular music"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/","name":"Denver Moving Chronicle","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/#\/schema\/person\/860d8c9be7e4969f72ed251197548d9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com"],"url":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2085"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2085\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/denvermovingchronicle.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}