Iceland has certainly made a name for itself as a seemingly limitless source of great music, starting with the full embrace of the rock revolution in the late 1950s. The first days of Icelandic pop music are sometimes a bit murky, so we went to the social scientist Arnar Eggert Thoroddsen to ask questions that had been burning in our minds for years: what was the first guitar solo in the history of Icelandic music? It turns out that it is not as simple as you might think:
“There is an Icelandic wiki page where it is stated that the first Icelandic guitar solo was performed by guitar virtuoso Óli Gaukur on the track ‘Roads run in all directions’, which Elly Vilhjálms sang in 1963. And it’s a great solo; drawn out and tasteful, a replica of the song.
“If it were just that simple. It’s hard to nail down the exact date of the first concert of good Icelandic guitar solos, but in rock terms they came in flowing – naturally – with the advent of rock’nrolls. Icelanders were only slightly behind the development in the United States. For example, Erla Þorsteinsdóttir is polite with “When the saints go march in”, which was released in 1957, with a short, piercing guitar solo as usual with rock’n. contemporary roll numbers.
“So, dear readers, this is as close as an appointment to the first Icelandic guitar solo and all challenges with these non-scientific results are welcome at a regular address. Next: The first use of a cowbell in Icelandic heavy metal. “
Source: The Nordic Page