Lap Steel Origins
Filed Under Lap Steel Guitars |
Hawaii is where lap steel guitars got their start.
Who actually invented the lap steel guitar is a mystery. Some say a school aged Hawaiian biy named Joseph Kekuku accidentally stumbled across the sound when he took a railroad spike and slid the metal along the strinds of his guitar.
Other people who are credited with the invention are Gabriel Davion, an Indian sailor, around 1885, and James Hoa, a Hawaiian of Portuguese ancestry.
the sound of the Hawaiian guitar was gradually integrated into blues and country music. As it evolved it began to be accepted into rock, pop, African and Indian music.
As western music began to get used to the sound, even rockabilly bands and experimental groups, like Magnet, began incorporating the sound into their music, even becoming pillars of their sound.