'Rawhide' - Link Wray

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- Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show. March 21, 1959. Host, Dick Clark.

LINK WRAY, 1929-2005, Rockabilly Hall of Fame

Rock guitarist Link Wray was born on May 2nd in North Carolina. In his 1958 instrumental hit "Rumble," Wray invented the power chord, the basis of modern rock guitar-playing from thrash to heavy metal. He is the missing link in the history of rock guitar in that he is not often given credit for being the connection between early blues guitarists and the late '60s gods (Jimi Hendrix, Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, etc.).

Wray began his career in the early '50s as a member of Lucky Wray and the Palomino Ranch Hands, a band that he formed with his brothers Vernon and Doug. They moved from North Carolina to Washington, D.C., where they recorded an EP. Soon after, Wray began concentrating on guitar, since an earlier bout with tuberculosis began to make singing increasingly difficult. He then developed his guitar style: a slow drag across distorted strings in a simple chord progression. This led to his recording of "Rumble," which cracked the U.S. top 20, despite being banned by some radio stations because its title connoted gang violence. The Wrays then signed to Epic Records after disagreeing with their original label, Cadence, which wanted to tone down the tough image they began to have from "Rumble."

The Wrays' next single, the pounding "Rawhide," went to #23 and was a hit among leather-jacketed, motorcycle-loving male youths. Link Wray was becoming the hero of juvenile elinquents and this scared record companies, who forced him to record non-rock songs such as "Danny Boy" with orchestras. The Wrays tried forming their own record company, Rumble Records, which produced their next big hit, "Jack The Ripper." The song was later used in the '80s remake of the film "Breathless," starring Richard Gere...http://www.rockabillyhall.com/linkwray.html

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2. Rawhide, The Blues Brothers

- A huge song at the time from the popular TV show w Clint Eastwood. I was a kid, barely remember it.

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4. Rumble by Link Wray

- First recorded by Wray in 1958.