Guitar solos have been an essential part of rock from the beginning. But have you ever stopped to think about who was the first person to engage in some six-string shredding?
It might be a guy named Eddie Lang, a jazz guitarist who emerged in the mid-1920s. In 1923, he appeared on a Bing Crosby song entitled The Man I Love playing an acoustic guitar. During the track, he plays what may be the first-ever guitar solo on record. A little later, he tore off another solo during the Deep 2nd Street Blues track by the Mound City Blue Blowers.
For the rest of his life, he was a much-in-demand session player and would have probably become one of the world’s most important guitarists. Unfortunately, he died in 1930 at the age of 30 after having his tonsils removed.
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