Charlie Christian

Induction Year: 1990

Induction Category: Early Influence

Charlie Christian elevated the guitar as a lead instrument on par with the saxophone and trumpet in jazz and popular music. His single-string technique established a solo style that was carried on by such contemporaries as and emulated by later disciples like and . Born in Bonham, Texas, on July 29th, 1919, and raised in Oklahoma City, Christian was influenced by country music and jazz, an odd hybrid of influences that can be heard in his recorded works, such as “Seven Come Eleven,” with the Benny Goodman Sextet. Unfortunately, his recording career lasted less than two years, as he was brought down in his prime by tuberculosis, dying on March 2, 1942, in New York. Though his life was short, his hornlike, single-note style, which capitalized on innovations in amplification technology, revolutionized and redefined the role of the electric guitar in popular music. The reverberations from Christian’s pioneering efforts have echoed down the decades, through Western swing, rockabilly and rock and roll to the present day.”

Essential Songs

(note: all tracks recorded with the Benny Goodman Sextet or Septet)

Solo Flight
Airmail Special (Good Enough to Keep)
Flying Home
Rose Room
Star Dust
Ad Lib Blues
Gone With What Wind
AC/DC Current
Memories of You
Breakfast Feud

Jeff Beck's (The Yardbirds) Fender Esquire Electric Guitar

Photo by Design Photography
Collection of Seymour W. Duncan. Chairman Seymour Duncan Pick-ups, Santa Barbara