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Sometime back, I had read where the Ventures were credited in being the first to use a fuzz unit in 1962.
One of their first recordings with the fuzz unit was "The 2,000 Pound Bee (Parts 1 & 2) and it was the first
to hit the Singles Chart in using such a device........or was it??

Upon my 'snoopin' around, I've come across a couple of Youtube Vids that made me go "WHOA!!"
Of all people, the first VIDEO is from Miss Ann Margaret with the Studio Guitarist (Chet Atkins?) using a fuzz,
and the 2nd VID was none other than Mr. Roy Buchanon. So, what's the big deal?? Well, both of these Videos
have Guitarists using fuzz on the recordings.........ONE YEAR before the Ventures 2,000 Pound Bee recording.
Both of these recordings on Youtube were from 1961 Recordings.....
First up-Ann Margaret....

And Last, But Not Least....Roy Buchanan

Doesn't the case in Roys video look an awful lot like a Mosrite case?

Rocco

Hey, very interesting discovery Dennis!
The 'first Fuzz' thing seems to be a topic of ongoing discussion...but ...I'm falling in love again with Ann-Margaret ...

and for the sake of completion, here's the Ventures' "first use of the Fuzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz"

Veenture wrote:
...but ...I'm falling in love again with Ann-Margaret ...

Ditto for me I still remember her doing a dance number on the Johnny Carson show - so hot!! - even Johnny had to catch his breath.

The Ann Margaret cut is definitely a fuzz, but the Roy Buchanan cut still sounds more like an overdriven amp.

Byron

Byron posted:

but the Roy Buchanan cut still sounds more like an overdriven amp.

It's a close call, the very beginning (intro) sounds like an overdriven tube amp,
but when he gets into the tune, it sounds like he kicked on something .....

Dennisthe Menace wrote:Byron posted:

but the Roy Buchanan cut still sounds more like an overdriven amp.

It's a close call, the very beginning (intro) sounds like an overdriven tube amp,
but when he gets into the tune, it sounds like he kicked on something .....

I was thinking the same as Dennis, but it could be a second (studio) guitarist was doing the Fuzz bits...

On the Roy Buchanan cut, it reminds me of Paul Burlison's/Burlson's guitar on Johnny Burnette's "Train Kept a Rollin'". He's doing the riff on the low E and A strings and it sounds real dirty, but I think it was just him driving that amp on the low end.

I just paid attention to the title of this thread, and if it hadn't been for Link Wray and his pencil hole overdriven Premier amp, we may not have ever had a fuzz pedal. I saw Ray Davies during his storytellers tour and he penciled some speakers on an amp because they heard Link did it. I believe Bo Diddley used to slice them with razor blades too. I say it counts!

Rocco

Cool stuff, Dennis.
Roy Buchanan: I'm kinda with '64 on this. He's getting a low string overdrive. When he plays the higher notes, it is overdriven in a more typical small Fender amp sorta way; a little cleaner than the louder, heavier gauge strings. Just before the fade out, he plays a lick in a more mid register, and it sounds closer to the low string fuzz-sort of intermediate between the two call/response riffs.
The Ann Margaret bit sounds like a fuzz to me. Could Chet have gotten a prototype Maestro from Gibson?

Rocco I understand what you're sayin' but I think Dennis is focussing on the fuzz gadget itself (stomp-box or built into the amp) rather than the fuzz tone which may perhaps be generated in several different ways...
Gotta love that fuzzzzzz, man
Paul