Hard rock and rumble

By Albert DeSimone

Jimmi Hendrix used it. Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, Dave Davies, and Tony Iommi used it, as did many others from the 1960s hard rock scene. 

We’re talking about the power chord and how it was incorporated into the distorted sound of rock music in the 1950s. 

The process of the heavy, distorted sound of hard rock goes back to Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The Godmother of Rock and Roll, as she is often referred to, is credited with creating the first rock and roll song in 1944, "Strange Things Happening Every Day.” As her playing progressed, she pioneered the use of the electric guitar and associated distortion techniques. 

Tharpe’s approach to distortion was non-destructive. She used higher volume to create the sound, unlike the other pioneers. 

Seven years later the song “Rocket 88” came along. This time, the distortion was an accident of fate. 

On the way to the recording session, the group recording the song, which included Ike Turner (as in Ike and Tina Turner), had a mishap. As the story goes, the guitar amplifier fell off the roof of the car, and the cone was damaged.

There was no opportunity to repair the amplifier, so the song was recorded with the amplifier as it was. The band liked the fuzzy, gritty sound of the guitar and the song was released with the amplifier-damaged distortion. 

Apparently, they were right to release that recording. “Rocket 88” climbed to Number 1 on the Billboard Top 50 Rhythm and Blues chart in 1951. 

Then in 1958 the power chord was added to the intentional distortion by Link Wray in his song “Rumble.” Not only did Link Wray poke holes in his amplifier to distort his sound, he created a two-note chord known today as the power chord. 

I am not a musician, but, as I understand it, standard chords consist of at least three notes. A power chord is stripped down to its absolute essentials, having only two notes, giving it a powerful, driving, gritty, and aggressive sound that complements the distortion. 

The distortion and power chord combination are often referred to as "a deliberate musical weapon.” 

Radio stations in major markets also saw it as a weapon, banning the song in major markets like Boston and New York. It remains the only instrumental ever banned. 

The name “Rumble” conjured up images of street fights, and the overall mood of the song convinced program directors that it would incite teenage riots and glorify juvenile delinquency.

This ban, however, did not damage its impact. In fact, it most likely enhanced it. Here’s what two of the all-time music greats had to say.

“He is the king. If it hadn't been for Link Wray and 'Rumble,' I would have never picked up a guitar." —Pete Townsend (liner notes he wrote for Link Wray’s 1974 comeback album)

"The first time I heard 'Rumble,' it was so dominant... It was the first track I ever heard with distortion in it, and it just had a profound effect on me." —Jimmy Page (It Might Get Loud, 2008 documentary) 

On a final note, "Rumble" is available on YouTube. If you are a fan of the movie "Pulp Fiction," you have already heard the song. The song plays in the background when hitman Vincent Vega (John Travolta) takes his boss’s wife, Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman), out to dinner at the restaurant Jack Rabbit Slim's.

Albert DeSimone is a resident of Bishop