Instruments of Desire: The Electric Guitar and the Shaping of Musical Experience

by Steve Waksman

Around 1930, a group of guitar designers in Southern California fitted instruments with an electromagnetic device called a pickup--and forever changed the face of popular music. Taken up by musicians as diverse as Les Paul, Muddy Waters, Jimi Hendrix, and the MC5, the electric guitar would become not just a conduit of electrifying new sounds but also a symbol of energy, innovation, and desire in the music of the day. Instruments of Desire is the first full account of the historical and cultural significance of the electric guitar, a wide-ranging exploration of how and why the instrument has had such broad musical and cultural impact. Instruments of Desire ranges across the history of the electric guitar by focusing on key performers who have shaped the use and meaning of the Charlie Christian, Les Paul, Chet Atkins, Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Jimi Hendrix, the MC5, and Led Zeppelin. The book traces two competing ideals for the sound of the one, focusing on tonal purity, has been favored by musicians seeking to integrate the electric guitar into the existing conventions of pop music; the other, centering on timbral distortion, has been used to challenge popular notions of "acceptable" and "unacceptable" noise. Instruments of Desire reveals how these different approaches to sound also entail different ideas about the place of the body in musical performance, the ways in which music articulates racialized and gendered identities, and the position of popular music in American social and political life.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

384 pages, Hardcover

First published February 4, 2000

About the author

Waksman is associate professor of music and American studies at Smith College in Northampton, Mass. His research and teaching interests are in the history of U.S. popular music and popular culture during the 19th and 20th centuries, with particular focus on music technology, the musical production of identity, and live music performance in the public sphere. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota.

Reviews

[Nicole Woolaston]

I picked this up because I'm a guitarist. I enjoyed reading this book...well, parts of it. The first few chapters were interesting: I learned a few things I never know about Chet Atkins, Charley Christian and Les Paul. And, I wasn't aware of how intimidated other guitarists felt in comparison to Jimi Hendrix. However, the chapters after Jimi Hendrix, made me lose interest a little. There was less information in relation to the electric guitar, and more information about bands like MC5 and Led Zeppelin (not that I don't like reading about Jimmy Page, because I DO). But I was expecting more about the electric guitar. Still, it's an interesting read.

[Jared Gillins]

For my history of American music class.

Another case of not being able to finish what felt like a great book. Grad school-style reading drives me nuts sometimes.