Music -1935 - Bob Dunn’s Electric Steel Guitar on “Taking Off” (ELECTRIC ECHOES CHANNEL)

Step into 1935, the dawn of amplified sound in Western swing. “Taking Off,” recorded by Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies, features Bob Dunn’s pioneering electric steel guitar — a shimmering, metallic voice that startled audiences and marked one of the first commercially released electric guitar solos in history. Dunn’s bold experiment with amplification transformed the guitar from a rhythm instrument into a lead voice, paving the way for future generations of jazz and swing players.
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🎶 Style: Western swing infused with jazz phrasing, blending fiddle, brass, and amplified steel textures.
🎸 Guitar: Bob Dunn played a lap steel guitar fitted with early pickups, producing sustained tones that cut through the orchestra.
🎼 Composer: Milton Brown and His Musical Brownies, with Dunn contributing improvisational steel guitar lines.
🏛️ Studio: Dallas, Texas – 1935 sessions that captured the electrified shimmer of swing.
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👥 Featured Musicians:
• Milton Brown – vocals, bandleader
• Bob Dunn – electric steel guitar, trombone
• Cliff Bruner – fiddle
• Fred Calhoun – piano
• Derwood Brown – guitar
• Wanna Coffman – bass
• Ocie Stockard – banjo
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👤 About Bob Dunn:
• Bob Dunn (1908–1971) was among the first musicians to record with an amplified guitar.
• His lap steel solos introduced electric sound to Western swing and jazz.
• Dunn’s innovations influenced later steel guitarists like Leon McAuliffe and Alvino Rey, and set the stage for Charlie Christian’s rise in the late 1930s.
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🎵 Genre: Western Swing / Early Jazz / Electric Steel Guitar
📁 Source Reference: Public domain and historical archives, including Bob Dunn – Master of the Electric Steel Guitar 1935–1950 (reissues and historical collections).
All images were created and processed using artificial intelligence.
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