Link Wray (born Fred Lincoln Wray, Jr. May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American rock and roll guitarist, songwriter and vocalist who first came to popularity in the late 1950's. Building on distorted electric guitar sound of early electric blues records, his 1958 instrumental hit "Rumble" by Link Wray and his Ray Men invented "the power chord, the major modus operandi of modern rock guitarists", making possible "punk and heavy rock". Rolling Stone placed Wray at No. 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. In 2013 he was announced as a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (More from Wikipedia)
I have had the idea for a "might-have-been" post about rock and roll for most of the year; this is a mistake that I will not make again, I assure you! I had no conception that the post would be this gargantuan when I started out, and this is likely due in no small part to having thought it through for several months. There are several other examples that I had intended to include – the troubled life of the original frontman for Pink Floyd, Syd Barrett, and the San Francisco psychedelic band It's a Beautiful Day that had a gorgeous hit in 1969, "White Bird" – plus others that have no doubt slipped my mind. In the future, when I have a lot to say about a particular rocker, I will take them one at a time – as I did with the long discussion on Link Wray's classic instrumental "Rumble" in the UARB post on Link Protrudi & the Jaymen.
(June 2013/2)
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"Train Kept A-Rollin'" is a jump blues song that was originally recorded by Tiny Bradshaw in 1951, the 1956 rockabilly recording of "Train Kept A-Rollin'" by the Johnny Burnette Trio is said to be the first rock and roll record to deliberately use distorted guitar. (The trio is also known as the Rock and Roll Trio but are not to be confused with the Johnny Johnson Trio, where Chuck Berry started out). This song even predates Link Wray's "Rumble" in this regard (that instrumental came out in 1958), though Wray is still the man credited with bringing power chords to rock guitar.
(July 2013)
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In 1998, an organization called Native American Music Association & Awards was started in order to bring awareness of the contributions of Native Americans to music in all its forms; the Awards have been presented annually since that time. The surprise at taking even a quick glance at their "Did You Know" roster at http://www.nativeamericanmusicawards.com/halloffame.cfm is the incredible number of stars of popular music who have Native American blood – the tribe or confederation name(s) are given in parentheses here and elsewhere in this post: Elvis Presley (Cherokee), Jimi Hendrix (Cherokee), Hank Williams (Choctaw), Willie Nelson (Cherokee), Ritchie Valens (Yakui), Aaron Neville and the Neville Brothers (Choctaw/Cherokee), Loretta Lynn and her sister Crystal Gayle (Cherokee), Kitty Wells (Cherokee), Wayne Newton (Powhatan), Michael Jackson and the Jacksons (Choctaw/Cherokee), Link Wray (Shawnee), Richie Havens (Blackfoot), Robbie Robertson of the Band (Mohawk), Tina Turner (Navaho), Cher (Cherokee), Rita Coolidge (Cherokee), Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen (Native Hawaiian – Native Americans who are not among those often called Indians), Tori Amos (Cherokee), Toni Tennille of the Captain and Tennille (Cherokee), Billy Ray Cyrus and his daughter Miley Cyrus (Cherokee), Anthony Kiedis of Red Hot Chili Peppers (Mohican), LL Cool J (Cherokee), Beyoncé (Creole), etc.
Tommy Allsup (Cherokee) was a member of Buddy Holly's new band in 1959; he "lost" a coin flip with Ritchie Valens and was thus not on board the airplane that crashed on the day the music died.
(August 2013)
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The back cover of The Silencers by the Silencers shows a flame-encircled dragster with the quote: "Link Wray & the Ventures rolled into one big ball and heaved through Dick Dale's living room window!!!" Referring to that quote, Richie Unterberger in Allmusic says: "It's not as mind-bending as that description would have you believe, but it's a very respectable 1990's surf revival effort, with excellent chops and a good sense of menace. Of their three cited influences, Dick Dale is definitely the biggest, as Eric Toth's banzai guitar leads amply demonstrate."
(December 2014)
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