A Piece of History: The origin of FUZZ

[Neil mcNasty]

In case you have not heard this...

Here is the origin of the sound that coined the term/word Fuzz.
By the legendary session guitarist Grady Martin back in 1961.
(Please note that: I'm not talking about the first distorted recording!!!, I'm talking about: the song that defined the sound we now call "Fuzz")

Since there was no pedals around in those days, the effect was achieved by using a broken amp.
A story that underlines the fact that there is no such thing as a "right way" to do stuff in our world, since the starting point was totally "wrong" from the beginning!

I strongly suspect that Gibson/Maestro got the idea of creating the FZ-1 Fuzz-Tone pedal after listening to this song...

Enjoy!
https://youtu.be/vp3YHnDPRv0

[Travis]

I always heard Vic Flick was the first, and it was a recording console rather than an amp

[Neil mcNasty]

Yes! That is true!
That was one of the first cases of Overdriving and Distorting with intent captured on an album.
Even though there are many examples of overdriven sounds from crappy amps before that, in old blues recordings.
This is referring to the origin of the term (and sound) "Fuzz"...

[Addy Bart]

Great track! And what a tone!

[Beaker]

Thanks Neil, never heard this before.

It's also worth bearing in mind that when The Rolling Stones recorded the demo version of "Satisfaction", Keef had absolutely no intention of having the Maestro fuzz guitar riff on the record - he wanted it played by a full brass section.

They took the demo to Andrew Loog Oldham who promised to book  brass players for the "proper" recording session, then went and put the demo version out as a single without telling the band! Apparently Keef was furious until it stormed up the charts.

[Battery Acid]

I aways heard it was Link Wray! This sounds so farty and great!

[Neil mcNasty]

Sorry for this guys, but it seem like I need to scream this out for some people to understand what I am saying here:

I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT THE FIRST DISTORTED RECORDING!!!

I'm talking about the song/recording that defined and nailed down the term (meaning: THE WORD) "Fuzz" as a reference to a specific sound!!!
That is why i wrote FUZZ with bold letters, to make it clear that we are not talking about Distorting or Overdriving, but specifically FUZZ!

YES! Link Wray is credited for the first recording where OVERDRIVE/DISTORTION was used by intent!
NO! He was not the first to use a distorted sound in general.
Nobody knows for certain who was the first and that is not important, but if you want to obsess about it: it probably comes into music with the invention of the amplifier itself, as mis-bias and misuse was guaranteed to happen, and therefor creating a overdriven/distorted/fuzzy sound!

[Beaker]

Yes, that's exactly how I read your post - the first use of the term Fuzz.

I've not heard that record before, and I was never sure where the word came from. Now I know.

I only dropped the Stones story in there as not too many people know that either.

[Neil mcNasty]

Sorry if I seemed harsh. It's shouting day today

The Stones story was great Beaker! I did not know that it was how it came to be.

Reminds me about The Kinks who made two mixes of their album, since the label refused to release the songs with "that amp/sound" on it.
So they played them the mix without the amp with the cut up speakers in it, and then sent the other mix to the pressing.
A brilliant move!

[Beaker]

Nowt wrong with a shouting day Neil.

That's a great Kinks story, I did not know that one either.