It doesn't need to be distorted imho, but what I'm talking about is a chord struck loudly and held. Up until the Kinks and The Who I think the guitar was mostly played in a 'twinky twonky' style, think of stuff like Duane Eddy's plucked bass string technique.
From Wikipedia:
There is disagreement over which was the first record to feature power chords. Link Wray is commonly cited as having introduced power chords with his hit 1958 instrumental "Rumble". Wray used a pencil to punch holes into the loudspeaker of his amplifier in order to replicate a distortion effect first improvised at a show in Fredericksburg, Virginia.[6] Wray pioneered electric guitar distortions, like overdrive and fuzz, and was the first guitarist to use power chords to play a song's melody.[citation needed]
However, power chords can also be found in earlier, less commercially successful recordings. Robert Palmer has argued that blues guitarists Willie Johnson and Pat Hare, both of whom played for Sun Records in the early 1950s, were the true originators of the power chord, citing as evidence Johnson's playing on Howlin' Wolf's "How Many More Years" (recorded 1951) and Hare's playing on James Cotton's "Cotton Crop Blues" (recorded 1954).[7]
A later hit song built around power chords was "You Really Got Me" by the Kinks, released in 1964. This song clearly demonstrates the fast power chord changes that would become typical of heavy rock riffs:
Early heavy rock bands such as Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple also helped to popularize power chords.
Pete Townshend, having been influenced by Link Wray, is often credited for introducing the term and the power chord in general and is an avid user of them.
GC
