Link Wray

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Dunn NC, United States (1929 – 2005)

Frederick 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,” “and in doing so fathering,” or making possible, “punk and heavy rock”. Rolling Stone included Link at number 67 on their list of the 100 greatest guitarist of all time.

Wray was born in Dunn, North Carolina to Lillie M. Coats and Frederick Lincoln Wray. It was there that Link first heard slide guitar at age eight from a traveling carnival worker, an African-American man named “Hambone.” 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.

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.

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Popular tags: rockabilly, surf, surf rock, rock and roll, rock  See more

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Top Albums

• The Original Rumble
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• Rumble! The Best of Link Wray
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• Link Wray
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• Guitar Preacher: The Polydor Years (Disc 1)
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Top Tracks

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1		Rumble			708
2		Jack the Ripper			159
3		The Swag			145
4		Ace Of Spades			100
5		I'm Branded			88
5		Batman Theme			88
7		Hidden Charms			78
8		The Black Widow			77
9		Fat Back			66
10		Ramble			65
11		Big City After Dark			64
12		Run Chicken Run			58
12		Deuces Wild			58
14		Raw-hide			55
14		The Shadow Knows			55

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