Pat Hare
Pat Hare was born Auburn Hare in Cherry Valley, Arkansas on the 20th of December, 1930.
Pat recorded at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, playing as a sideman for James Cotton, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Bobby Bland and other blues artists.
In 1951 Pat Joined a blues band led by Junior Parker called Little Junior’s Blue Flames. It’s with this group he recorded the guitar for the song “Love My Baby”, a track cited as a prime influence and inspiration for the rockabilly movement. It’s rumoured that “Love My Baby” was the inspiration for Elvis Presley and Scotty Moore’s 1955 song “Mystery Train”.
While recording at Sun, Pat laid down some of his most influential guitar playing. One of the first recorded guitar players to deliberately use distortion in his playing and solo’s, Pat’s guitar on James Cotton’s famous track “Cotton Crop Blues” was the first recording ever to feature heavily distorted power chords and is cited as a prominent precursor to heavier rock guitar playing.
Pat Hare was a dangerous force both on and off the stage and was renowned as much for his aggressive drinking problem as his aggressive guitar playing.
Pat’s career come to an end in 1963 when he was sentenced to life in prison for shooting and killing his girlfriend and shooting and killing the police officer who was called to the scene.
Pat spent the next 16 years of his life in prison playing in a jail band called sounds incarcerated, he died in prison from lung cancer in 1980, he was 49.
Techniques And Musical Concepts They Popularised
Pat Hare’s bold and stinging blues guitar style, embracing the use of overdrive and power chords has been cited as a prominent precursor to hard rock and heavy metal guitar playing. Pat achieved his signature distorted tone by turning the volume on his amplifier all the way up to eleven.
Not only has Pat been cited as one of the first recorded electric guitar players to successfully use overdrive, but one of the first recorded electric guitar players to deliberately use power chords as well.
Notable Rock Guitar Players They Influenced
Pat’s guitar playing on records with Muddy Waters was paramount in shaping the British invasion of blues rock in the 1960’s, inspiring such groups as The Yardbirds, The Rolling Stones, Cream and Led Zeppelin.
Notable rock guitar players who where influenced by Pat Hare are: Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, Keith Richards just to name a few.
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