Tim in St. Louis wrote:
On a related note... I'd curious if any conclusions could be drawn regarding "influences" based on what model guitars the 2nd generation of RnR played? For instance, what guitars did Lennon, Harrison, Keith Richards, Pete Townsend, etc. play? The same as Chuck? Scotty? Carl Perkins? Eddie Cochran? That might be a key tip-off.
I don't think you can draw too many conclusions from this, for the simple reason that most of the British acts from the 60s couldn't even find genuine American instruments, let alone afford them. I'm sure that (for instance) Paul McCartney would've preferred something better than a Hofner bass & John Lennon a better guitar than a Rickenbacker when first starting out, but they eventually got used to these "cheap" instruments & they became their trademarks. The only real exception I can think of is Hank Marvin with his Stratocaster; he wanted one after seeing & hearing Buddy Holly play the instrument, & Cliff Richard (then the U.K.'s biggest music star) imported one specially from the USA for him.
Tim in St. Louis wrote:But as a frontman, isn't Elvis pretty much it? He was the first (white) to incorporate serious sexual movement into his act. Prior to that, it was crooners standing at a mic, right?
To a degree yes, though Johnny Ray is often cited as the missing link between Sinatra & Presley, & he certainly didn't just stand at the microphone crooning.