Link Wray

Infobox Musical artist
Name = Link Wray

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Img_size = 250
Landscape = Yes
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Fred Lincoln Wray
Alias =
Born = birth date|1929|05|2
Dunn, North Carolina, US
Died = death date and age|2005|11|5|1929|05|2
Instrument = Guitar
Genre = Rock and roll
Occupation = Musician, Songwriter
Years_active = 1956 - 2005
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Fred Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American rock and roll guitarist, songwriter and occasional singer.

Wray was noted for pioneering a new sound for electric guitars, as exemplified in his hit 1958 instrumental "Rumble", by Link Wray and his Ray Men, which pioneered an overdriven, distorted electric guitar sound, and also for having, "invented the power chord, the major "modus operandi" of modern rock guitarist," [Cub Koda & Steve Leggett (2008). [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:6227gjlrj6i9~T1 "Link Wray" Biography] , "AllMusic".] "and in doing so fathering," or making possible, "punk and heavy rock" [Simmonds, Jeremy (2008). "The Encyclopedia of Dead Rock Stars: Heroin, Handguns, and Ham Sandwiches", p.559. ISBN 1556527543.] .

Early life

Wray was born in Dunn, North Carolina to Lillie M. Norris and Frederick ("Fred") Lincoln Wray. [ [http://www.wargs.com/other/wrayl.html Ancestry of Link Wray ] ] It was there that Link first heard slide guitar at age eight from a traveling carnival worker, a black man named "Hambone". Link and his family later moved to Norfolk, Virginia as his father got work in the Navy shipyards. Link served a hitch in the US Army and was a Korean War Veteran. In 1956, his family later moved to Washington, D.C., and from there, they moved to a farm in Accokeek, Maryland. Link relocated to Arizona with his brother Vernon in the very early 1970s, and later moved to San Francisco in the mid 1970s.

Wray was a veteran of the Korean war, where he contracted tuberculosis that ultimately cost him a lung. His doctors told him that he would never sing again. So Link concentrated on his heavy guitar work. Despite this, on his rare vocal numbers he displays a strong voice and a range equivalent to Clarence "Frogman" Henry.

Career

After discharge from the Army, Wray and his brothers Doug and Vernon Wray, with friends Shorty Horton and Dixie Neale, formed Lucky Wray and the Lazy Pine Wranglers, later known as Lucky Wray and the Palomino Ranch Hands. They had been playing country music and Western swing for several years when they took a gig as the house band on the daily live TV show "Milt Grant's House Party", a Washington D.C. version of "American Bandstand". The band made their first recordings in 1956 as Lucky Wray and the Palomino Ranch Hands for Starday Records.

"Rumble"

For the TV show, they also backed many performers, from Fats Domino to Ricky Nelson. At a live gig in Fredericksburg, VA, attempting to work up a backing for The Diamonds' "The Stroll", they came up with the stately, powerful 12-bar blues instrumental "Rumble", which they originally called "Oddball". The song was an instant hit with the live audience, which demanded four repeats that night. Eventually the song came to the attention of record producer Archie Bleyer of Cadence Records, who hated it, particularly after Wray poked holes in his amplifier's speakers to make the recording sound more like the live version (see "Rocket 88" for Ike Turner's similar story). However, Bleyer's stepdaughter loved it and it was released despite his protest. She was the one who suggested renaming the song "Rumble", because it reminded her of "West Side Story". "Rumble" is slang for a "gang fight".

The menacing sound of "Rumble" (and its title) led to a ban on several radio stations, a rare feat for a song with no lyrics, on the grounds that it glorified juvenile delinquency. Nevertheless it became a huge hit, not only in the United States, but also Great Britain, where it has been cited as an influence on The Who, among others. Pete Townshend stated in unpublished liner notes for the 1970 comeback album, "He is the king; if it hadn't been for Link Wray and 'Rumble,' I would have never picked up a guitar." In other liner notes in 1974, Townshend said, of "Rumble": "I remember being made very uneasy the first time I heard it, and yet excited by the savage guitar sounds."

Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Jimi Hendrix, Marc Bolan, Neil Young and Bob Dylan have all cited Wray as an influence. Mark E. Smith of The Fall sang the line "I used to have this thing about Link Wray, I used to play him every Saturday, God bless Saturday" in the song "Neighbourhood of Infinity" on the album Perverted by Language. He was named as one of the hundred greatest guitarists of all time by "Rolling Stone" magazine, but still has not yet been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He is, however, a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

Later career

The band had several more hard-rocking instrumental hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including "Rawhide", "Ace of Spades", and "Jack the Ripper", the latter named after a "dirty boogie" dance popular in Baltimore at the time. The dirty boogie dance was among the several dance crazes featured in the 1988 film "Hairspray".

After his initial hits, Wray's career had periods of retirement followed by renewed popularity, particularly in Europe. He toured and recorded two albums with retro-rockabilly artist Robert Gordon in the late 1970s. The 1980s to the present day saw a large number of reissues as well as new material. Inspired by the use of his songs in various feature films, the 1997 "Shadowman" album is generally regarded as the Rumble Man's return to his raw rock'n'roll roots. Backed by a Dutch band consisting of Eric Geevers on bass and Rob Louwers on drums, Wray toured Europe and Australia as well, documented on a live album and DVD. Link's last new recording was 2000s "Barbed Wire", again recorded with his Dutch rhythm section. He was generally accompanied on tour by his wife Olive Julie, and since the late nineties his "colorful" Irish born road manager John Tynan. His regular backing band in the USA from 1998 until 2003 were bassist Atom Ellis and drummers Danny Heifetz (Mr. Bungle, Dieselhed) and Dustin Donaldson (I Am Spoonbender, various). In terms of musical history, it should be noted that one member of his band in the '80s, on drums, was Anton Fig (famous as Paul Shaffer's drummer on the Letterman show for the past 26 years.) He continued to tour up until four months before he died.

His music has been featured in numerous films, including "Pulp Fiction", "Desperado", "Independence Day", "Twelve Monkeys", "This Boy's Life", "Blow", "Johnny Suede", "The Shadow", "Breathless", and "Pink Flamingos", which is set in Baltimore.

Native American ancestry

Part Shawnee Indian, Wray frequently spoke of his ancestry in performances and interviews. Three of the songs he performed bear the names of American Indian tribes: "Shawnee", "Apache", and "Comanche." "Apache" was an instrumental composed by Jerry Lordan, which became a hit in the UK for The Shadows in 1960. Wray recorded one of the better covers of the song 30 years later, somehow finding new life in this mythic, minor-key, guitar/drum dialogue which by then was also associated with everyone from The Ventures to the Incredible Bongo Band.

He moved to Denmark in the 1980s after meeting and marrying a Danish student, Olive, who had been studying Native American culture. He lived his last years with Olive on a Danish island, touring frequently. Link Wray died November 5, 2005 at his home in Copenhagen. He was 76. He was buried at the Christian Church Cemetery in the eastern Copenhagen suburb of Christianshavn on November 18, 2005.

According to a note added by Deborah Wray on his Rockabilly Hall of Fame page, Link Wray was married four times and is survived by nine children: Fred Lincoln Wray III, Link Elvis Wray, Shayne Wray, Elizabeth (Beth) Wray Webb, Mona Kay Wray Tidwell, Bellinda Wray Muth, Rhonda Wray Sayen, and Charlotte Wray Glass. Print and online obituaries have only mentioned the wife and son he was living with at the time of his death, Olive and Oliver Christian Wray.

Wray was backed by members of the Seattle band Jet City Fix for the duration of his next to last tour. His very last tour was booked and managed by Marc Mencher of Action Packed Events. Link's drummer on that tour was Gary Weiss of the rockabilly band Vibro Champs and he was backed on bass by Kris Day current bassist. The Vibro Champs website also features photos and video of Link's last touring band.

Robert Ehrlich, the governor of Maryland, declared January 15 to be Link Wray Day.

On March 25, 2006 Link was honored by "The First Americans in the Arts" with the Life Time Achievement Award.

On June 8, 2006, Link was inducted into the Native American Music Hall of Fame.

Discography

ingles

With Robert Gordon

Notes

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/linkwraysraymen Link Wray’s Raymen® Official MySpace Site]
* [http://www.wraysshack3tracks.com/ WraysShack3Tracks.com] , the largest Link Wray site on the Internet
* [http://www.rockabillyhall.com/LinkWray.html Link Wray's entry at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame]
* [http://tony-50.bravepages.com/index.html Link Wray's Place]
* [http://www.msigarmy.com/linkwray/link.htm Punk Rock Artiles: Masculine Studs into Guitars, Link Wray] - Photo Gallery
* [http://www.furious.com/perfect/linkwray.html Perfect Sound Forever: Be Wild, Not Evil: The Link Wray Story] a tribute by Jimmy McDonough (Best Link Wray Web Bio)
* [http://www.newyorknighttrain.com/zine/issues/2/linkw.html Mr. Guitar's City After Dark: Link Wray Obituary] , "NewYorkNightTrain.com" (In-depth Link Wray obituary that explains his importance in American music and culture)