Instrumental rock is rock music that emphasizes musical instruments and features very little or no singing. Examples of instrumental rock can be found in practically every subgenre of rock, often from musicians who specialize in the style. Instrumental rock was most popular from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s, with artists such as Bill Doggett Combo, The Fireballs, The Shadows, The Ventures, Johnny and the Hurricanes and The Spotnicks. Surf music had many instrumental songs. Many instrumental hits had roots from the R&B genre. The Allman Brothers Band feature several instrumentals. Jeff Beck also recorded two instrumental albums in the 1970s. Progressive rock and art rock performers of the 1960s and 1970s did many virtuosic instrumental performances.
Blood, Sweat & Tears is a jazz rock music group founded in New York City in 1967, noted for a combination of brass with rock instrumentation. In addition to original music, the group has performed popular songs by Laura Nyro, James Taylor, Carole King, the Band, the Rolling Stones, Billie Holiday and many others. The group has also adapted music from Erik Satie, Thelonious Monk and Sergei Prokofiev into their arrangements.
Richard Anthony Monsour, known professionally as Dick Dale, was an American rock guitarist. He was a pioneer of surf music, drawing on Middle Eastern music scales and experimenting with reverb. Dale was known as "The King of the Surf Guitar", which was also the title of his second studio album.
The Surfaris are an American surf rock band formed in Glendora, California, United States, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and "Wipe Out", which were the A-side and B-side of the same 45 rpm single.
Surf music is a genre of rock music associated with surf culture, particularly as found in Southern California. It was especially popular from 1958 to 1964 in two major forms. The first is instrumental surf, distinguished by reverb-heavy electric guitars played to evoke the sound of crashing waves, largely pioneered by Dick Dale and the Del-Tones. The second is vocal surf, which took elements of the original surf sound and added vocal harmonies, a movement led by the Beach Boys.
The Trashmen were an American rock band formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, in 1962. The original line-up of the group featured guitarists Tony Andreason and Dal Winslow, bassist Bob Reed, and drummer Steve Wahrer.
Hank Brian Marvin is an English multi-instrumentalist, vocalist and songwriter. He is widely known as the lead guitarist for The Shadows, a group which primarily performed instrumentals and was the backing band for Cliff Richard, and subsequently for Marvin, Welch & Farrar.
The Challengers were an instrumental surf rock band started in Los Angeles, California, in late 1962. They represented a growing love for surf music and helped make the genre popular. Their debut album, Surfbeat, was the biggest-selling surf album of all time and helped bring surf music from California to the rest of the world.
The Bel-Airs were an early and influential surf rock band from South Bay, Los Angeles, active in the early 1960s.
The Tarantulas are a surf guitar / rockabilly / punk band. The Tarantulas Formed in 1995 in Orlando, Florida, with Randy J Shams on guitar and Chris Valentino on drums.
Randy Holden is an American guitarist best known for his involvement with the West Coast acid rock group Blue Cheer on their third album, New! Improved! (1969). Additionally, he is a painter. His album Population II from 1970 is considered to be one of the earliest examples of doom metal.
The Sons of Adam were an American garage rock band. Originally from Baltimore, Maryland, they relocated to Los Angeles and became a regular fixture on the Sunset Strip music scene during the mid-1960s. The band released several singles for the Decca and Alamo labels, which included the songs "Saturday's Son", "Feathered Fish" and "Baby Show the World". They included guitarist Randy Holden, later of The Other Half and Blue Cheer, and drummer Michael Stuart, later of Love. Although the band, with Randy Holden, played "Feathered Fish" in clubs before it was recorded, Craig Tarwater played the guitar on the studio recording since Holden had left by then.
The Other Half was an American psychedelic garage rock band, based in San Francisco, and active in the mid-to-late 1960s. The band gained interest after one of the Nuggets compilations in the 1980s included their single, "Mr. Pharmacist".
Guitar God 2001 is an album by Randy Holden guitarist, as the follow-up to a previous album Guitar God released in 1997. The newer Guitar God 2001 featured a 22-minute instrumental titled "Prayer to Paradise" in celebration of the new millennium, whose musical content was a rock guitar styled journey through time and cultures of music of the world, as a musical statement of the journey of man to the destiny of his endless quest to reach paradise. Originally titled "Parade to Paradise", the title was changed to move more toward the poetic sense of the music. This was the second album recorded and released by Randy Holden after a hiatus from music.
Imperial is an American metalcore band from Orlando, Florida. Their music is a mixture of modern metal, hardcore, and Black metal.
Laramie Dean is an American guitarist.
Dead Boots were an American indie rock band from Duxbury, Massachusetts. The band was formerly known as TAB the Band. Formed in December 2006, the group consisted of brothers Adrian Perry and Tony Perry (guitar), and Ben Tileston (drums). Adrian and Tony Perry are both sons of Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry. In August 2008, Lou Jannetty joined the band.
Unknown Territory is a studio album by the American surf guitarist Dick Dale, released in 1994. Dale supported the album with a North American tour. The cover of "Ring of Fire" was a tribute to Dale's childhood love of country music.
Calling Up Spirits is an album by the surf guitarist Dick Dale, released in 1996. It was dedicated to the American Indians.
Will Glover a.k.a. Willie Glover is a musician and songwriter from Southern California. He was a member of the surf group The Pyramids. He has the distinction of being one of the very few or possibly the only black musician in surf music.
