While getting dressed this morning I started wondering: "Who was the first guitarist to use a distorted tone?" I know the sound popped up here and there amongst some of the Blues greats, and maybe Chuck Berry touched on it. But who brought it to the mainstream? Opinions?
My friend Link Wray was one of the first comericaly known guitar players to purposely use distortion on his song Rumble. Guitar Slim also was an early advocate of distored tone.