Dec 14

Rumble

RUMBLE
 
 
“Rumble”  is a rock instrumental by Link Wray & His Ray Men.  Originally released in 1958, “Rumble” utilized then largely unexplored techniques like distortion and feedback.  The piece is one of very few instrumental singles banned from the radio airwaves.  It is also one of the first tunes to use the power chord, the “major modus operandi of [the] modern rock guitarist”.   (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
Link Wray is credited with inventing the power chord (part of the basic language of modern rock guitar); and, together with his band the Ray Men, Link Wray scored hit songs like “Rumble”, “Rawhide” and “Jack the Ripper” (which was given new life when it made the soundtrack for the remake of Breathless that starred Richard Gere).  
 
(June 2011)
 
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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 1956, Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio released “Train Kept A-Rollin’”; a cool video showing them playing the song is available on YouTube.  Wikipedia reports:  “The Trio’s version features guitar lines in what many historians consider to be the first recorded example of intentionally distorted guitar in rock music.”  This record came out 2 years before Link Wray introduced power chords to rock music with his hit instrumental “Rumble”, where he also included considerable distorted guitar. 
 
(June 2015)
 
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To my mind, the musical form that became psychedelic rock was built on the growing availability of gimmicks and gizmos that could greatly affect the sound of musical instruments and vocals.  I have already written of the 1956 rockabilly recording of “Train Kept A-Rollin’” by the Johnny Burnette Trio and the 1958 instrumental “Rumble” by Link Wray and His Ray Men that both used distortion to great effect.  

 

(July 2015)

 

Last edited: April 3, 2021