Early Electric Guitarist George Barnes Mixes It Up

By Kevin Whitehead, eMusic Contributor

So who was the first electric guitarist on a Bob Dylan single? Well, duh, you can read a headline — not Mike Bloomfield, not Robbie Robertson, but George Barnes, in 1962. The record was Mixed-Up Confusion, the band skiffling like Bill Black's combo behind Elvis. Producer John Hammond's idle comment about cutting the tune, that they even tried it with a Dixieland band, sent collectors scurrying for a lost take. But Hammond may have meant… more »