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Also this issue: Under the Radar Summer Monster Coming Up Rosey Beat Box The Gig |
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July 12-18, 2002
musicpicks
Forty-five years ago, when the cauldron of rock was just starting to simmer, Link Wray went into the studio and recorded his signature tune, "Rumble." It was a raw, aggressive debut, but little did anyone realize then that the three down-stroked power chords opening the song would become an electric-guitar template for bands ranging from The Who to The Pixies. As country and blues began to midwife rock 'n' roll in the late '50s, instrumental rock became a force on the charts. The same year Duane Eddy's clean twang and top-10 hit, "Rebel Rouser," made Eddy a household name, "Rumble" was doing the same for Wray, landing him in the top 20 and in hot water for the "outlaw" sound of his fuzzed-out masterpiece, which critics said promoted gang violence (despite its utter lack of lyrics). For several years hence, Wray played Stones-y bad boy to Eddy's Beatles-esque mass appeal, until the British Invasion made instrumentals an anachronism. While those sessions in the first half of the '60s are Wray's major legacy, producing gems like "Raw-Hide," "Jack the Ripper," and the inimitable Wray composition, "Batman," he's continued to produce albums through the years, and like Les Paul, the 73-year-old Wray shows no sign of slowing down.
--Chris Parker
Fri., July 12, 10 p.m., $12-$14, North by Northwest, 7165 Germantown Ave., 215-248-1000.
