As an early popular example of hillbilly boogie, it is a link between 1940s Western swing and honky-tonk and 1950s rockabilly. By 1949, 'Guitar Boogie' reached number eight during a stay of seven weeks on the Hot Country Songs chart and number 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, making it 'the first guitar instrumental to climb the Country charts crossover, and climb the Pop Charts'.

In October 1948, MGM Records (which had purchased Super Disc and Smith's contract) re-released the instrumental under the name 'Arthur (Guitar Boogie) Smith and His Cracker-Jacks'. Regionally 'Guitar Boogie' did well, due in part to Smith's appearances on popular radio programs, such as Charlotte, North Carolina WBT's Carolina Hayride. The piece was released under the name 'the Rambler Trio featuring Arthur Smith' by the independent Super Disc Records label. There has been conflicting information on the type of guitar Smith used for the recording several sources identify it as an acoustic guitar and others as an electric guitar. Smith first recorded 'Guitar Boogie' in 1945 with the Rambler Trio, with Don Reno on rhythm guitar and Roy Lear on bass. Originally a jazz musician, Smith explained, 'I guess I picked that from Tommy Dorsey's 'Boogie Woogie', 'cause I didn't listen to country or blues, I listened to big band in those days'. In his version, Smith performs the piano parts on guitar, alternating between boogie rhythmic patterns and soloing. Music historian Larry Birnbaum describes it as 'not the same as Arthur Smith's country hit by the same title'. It features a descending arpeggio based on ' Pinetop's Boogie Woogie', a piano-based piece recorded by Pinetop Smith in 1928. Roosevelt Graves and His Brother recorded an instrumental 'Guitar Boogie' in 1929, which was issued by Paramount Records. 'Guitar Boogie' is an uptempo twelve-bar boogie-style instrumental and is patterned after older boogie-woogie piano pieces. It is among the songs discussed as the first rock and roll record. 'Guitar Boogie' has been interpreted and recorded by a variety of musicians. It was the first guitar instrumental to climb the country music charts, and then crossover and also gain high rankings on the popular music charts. It was one of the first recordings in the style later dubbed ' hillbilly boogie' to reach a widespread audience, and eventually sold nearly three million copies. ' Guitar Boogie' is a guitar instrumental recorded by Arthur 'Guitar Boogie' Smith in 1945. Single by the Rambler Trio featuring Arthur Smith We make real music for real music people, and that’s it.For the 1971 record release, see Guitar Boogie (album). “I don’t think that just because you have a platform it should be used to impose those beliefs. “None at all,” he says, laughing at the suggestion. We’re begun working on a new album and really hope to add the UK to the places we play regularly.”

“I was hoping that the audience would get what it is that we do, and they did. “Being on that stage, there was such a sense of history,” Harris says. Last November the band played their UK debut, at The Troubadour in London, which brought a slew of rave reviews. “Ten of the twelve tracks have been out in America but a couple are brand new,” Harris clarifies, “and they were all re-recorded.” The Great Southern Hustle is actually a reworked collection of the best parts of the band’s previous two albums, Ringo Manor and ’76 (released in 2011 and ’16 respectively), and its irresistible lead-off single High Time For A Good Time dates back to the latter.

And if a comparison exists between the two bands, then that’s what it is.” They didn’t care if people called them southern rock, they were rock. “Oh man, that’s terrible,” he says, grimacing. Harris is horrified to learn that one over-enthusiastic British critic hailed his band as “the new Lynyrd Skynyrd”.

Hillbilly rock hillbilly roll original