Flamenco to the Blues

John Wilson explores the story of the guitar as a driver of social and cultural change – powering youth movements and counter-cultures from blues and folk to punk, rock and indie to Disco and funk. But where does its extraordinary legacy stand now?

2026 is the 60th anniversary of Bob Dylan bringing an electric guitar to the UK. His ‘plugging in’ - the transition from acoustic to electric guitar - was more than a change of musical direction. It was seen as a moral and political choice, between two worlds. The acoustic guitar was pure, idealistic, lyrical – the troubadour, the itinerant blues man carrying the news, uncorrupted by commercial society. But electrification brought with it a sense of excitement, insurrection and even danger, new sound worlds and technologies of amplification meant the capacity to fill stadiums and reach vast audiences.

The guitar is intertwined not only with the history of popular music and song but with wider society, politics and culture. It’s accessible, portable and easy to pick up and learn a few basic chords. An incredibly social and democratic instrument, it’s built movements. In the 1960s it became a symbol of the counter-culture, of political defiance.

Capable of simple storytelling as well as dazzling virtuosity, the guitar expresses deep emotion, romance, passion, resistance, hope. For well over a century, the instrument has opened up music making and a sense of cultural belonging to generations of young people, of diverse nationalities and identities, and in untold numbers, around the world.

Hearing from guitarists, producers, songwriters, critics and historians, this series tells a social, cultural and political story as well as a musical one.

Part 1, Flamenco to the Blues, explores the development of the classical guitar in Spain alongside the adoption of blues guitar in the United States and early experiments with electrification.

Series guitarists include Johnny Marr, Pete Townsend, Justine Frischmann, Billy Bragg, Ana da Silva, Graham Coxon, Jake Bugg and Nile Rogers.

Presented by John Wilson
Produced by Simon Hollis

A Brook Lapping production for BBC Radio 4