Customer Reviews

Rumble: Best of Link Wray

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3 star:		(1)
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In January 1959, radio stations nationwide banned a certain instrumental song due to fears (unjustified, of course) that it would incite teen violence due to the title, which was slang for fighting. That song was "Rumble" by guitar instrumentalist Link Wray. The song, highlighted by Wray's snarling surfer fuzztone guitar licks, set to a menacingly slow bluesy tempo, kind of like a leisurely swagger. It had enough of an impact that when Wray and his band appeared on American Bandstand, Dick Clark introduced the band without mentioning the song title. "Rumble" ended up being Wray's highest charting hit, reaching #16.

The flipside was the bluesy/rockabilly "Swagger" which is a reminder that like Bill Haley, Wray started out in country/western before his rock career, as there are undertones to that style. As for the A-side, Wray followed up "Rumble" with the near equally-sounding "Ramble" (note the vowel change).

Inspired by the TV series of the same name, the upbeat "Raw-Hide" sports a cool surfer type guitar set to a blues beat, proof enough that Wray was the forerunner of hard blues which led to George Thorogood and "Bad To The Bone." This was their second and last Top 40 hit, peaking at #23, though I would've easily put it in the Top Ten. Speaking of blues, Wray actually sings on his cover of Jimmy Reed's "Ain't That Lovin' You Babe," and the distinctive raspy voice and occasional wheezes is due to the loss of a lung to TB during the Korean War. "Big City After Dark" is electrified surf blues at Wray's best.

The live medley "Dixie Doodle" is one part "Dixie," another part "Yankee Doodle Dandy." The first part of the song is definitely not PC today, but at least he gives both songs equal time verse-wise. If "Jack the Ripper," with its insistent and uptempo drum backbeat and occasional guitar riffs that suspiciously like the Surfaris' "Wipe Out" makes you go twenty over the speed limit, I won't blame you. This reached #64 in 1963, and the live version that closes the record has some screeching feedback and all sorts of buzzing noise that's crazier than the studio version. And the opening guitar melody would later be echoed in the opening riffs of Led Zep's "Moby Dick," another famous instrumental.

Wray does some high pitched theatrics with his guitar to imitate a chicken cackle in "Run Chicken Run" before going into his usual style. One of my favourites due to that creative chicken sound, which I can't get enough of.

Wray did two other songs inspired by TV series. One was the lazy drawling stomp of "The Shadow Knows," where Wray does the intro dialogue from The Shadow in a creepy voice complete with twisted laugh and backing organ. In the other, "Look Bruce, it's the Bat signal," and then that familiar riff sounding like when Bruce Wayne's mom calls him for supper, "dinner dinner dinner dinner dinner dinner dinner Batman!" Yes, you guessed it!

Part surf, part blues, this is a guy Pete Townshend credited as one of his influences in first picking up the guitar. So, to make long overdue amends, "Ladies and gentlemen... Link Wray & his Ray Men with `Rumble!'"

A few years back, a friend made me a mix tape that opened with Dick Dale's "Nitro" & went on to include Link Wray's "Rumble" along with some Satan's Pilgrims and other surf. Recently, I was looking up some Dick Dale and came upon Link Wray again. I remembered being spellbound listening to "Rumble" open the Blow soundtrack. It was one of the great jazz musicians who once said that anyone can make things complicated- that's easy- but to make things elegantly simple... now that takes true talent. The whole record is filled with progressions that sound so simple you're thinking how can it sound that incredible? How did he think of that? The music's raw and driving. It reminds me of the Makers on their earlier records like Howl & Hunger. Sometimes when I buy records from decades past, I find that some of the songs meander beyond the realms of my taste. Like on the Ventures in Space album where "War of the Satellites" & "Out of Limits" shine brightly but the rest is less stunning. Not so on the Link Wray record. Every song makes sure you're insulated from disappointment. You'll feel like your car broke down in the Ozarks and you walked into this trashy dive where a shadowy band is playing this distorted, raspy, exhalting music with everything they've got. You'll feel like the luckiest person alive.

This record's also got comprehensive liner notes.

Link pounds out raw and crude rockabilly rock 'n' roll tunes like none other. I'm surprised he isn't considered one of rock 'n' roll's greatest guitarists. He is certainly one of the most influential, and is the father of the power chord. The songs are perfect for a gang stroll, and remind me of the countless AIP juvenile delinquency schlockers that were so popular in the late 50's and early 60's. Better than the Stones when it comes to primal rock 'n' roll.

Some words to describle Link Wray's guitar: Dirty, nasty, crude, rude, gritty, mean, snarly, growly, and oh yeah, genius.

One of the innovators of the surfy-garage rock sound Link Wray is everything rock & roll is meant to be, loud fast, and out of control...

Buy this find out why Link rocks better than anyone today.

Link Wray lost a lung to TB in Korea, and his doctor told him to go light on the singing. As a result, he became one of the first real guitar stylists of rcok & roll; and, for my money, the greatest. While everyone else in R&R at the time was trying to get as clean of a sound as possible, Wray was poking holes in his amp with a pen and getting that truely nasty fuzztone. And he was strumming dissonant power chords while the Ray Men raced along at twice his tempo; then he would start playing fast. This is oversimplification, or maybe overcomplication, of one of the most fascinating sounds ever produced by a rock & roll guitarist. It's well represented in this, the most consistent of the Wray discs out there. But if you're like me, you'll need more!

I was so glad Quentin Tarantino used the Link Wray songs in the movie Pulp Fiction. I believe it was Rumble and Ace of Spades. If you see the movie, it was at Jack Rabbit Slims scene with Uma Thurman and John Travolta. Too bad they did not make the Pulp Fiction sound track. I had to stick around to the final credits to see the movie sound track. This film got me to buy the Link Wray CD. Pretty much Link Wray was a cutting edge rocker for his time. Thank God for Q.T. for being a like minded music afficionado.

I can remember "The Hound" on WKBW Buffalo opening his show with Rumble when it first came out and playing it six or eight times throughout his program. We budding guitar players fell in love with Link immediately and quickly added a shaky version of Rumble to our bag. If you're a hard core Link Wray fan you'd want at least the Epic sessions along with this CD. But if you have to own just one Link Wray CD this is the one! A great overview of his work. There was nobody like him. Way,way ahead of his time is putting it mildly! Great stuff!!

Link Wray is one of the biggest influences in rock & roll that you've never heard of. The "power chord" is basically Link's brain child. Call him Surf, call him Rockabilly, call him what you will - but don't call him tame. Even by today's standards, Link Wray is one bad motor scooter. You've probably heard his biggest hit, RUMBLE, and didn't know that it was Link who played it. In addition to RUMBLE, this CD covers the whole spectrum of the "Dual Tone Dynamo" from beginning to end.

Take for instance...

Track 1. RUMBLE What better way to start off the 'best of' album than the song that started it all. RUMBLE is hands down one of the greatest rock & roll songs ever written. Blues and rock are brilliantly fused to create a song that harkens back to the days of pompadours, switch blades, fast cars, and even faster women.

Track 6. AINT THAT LOVIN' YOU BABE Holy smokes! I've heard a lot of blues artists in my time, but Link shows you the way it is. I love the low-down dirty guitar licks, and Wray's voice is definately one of a kind. There is more feeling on this song than most bands have on a whole album.

Track 7. JACK THE RIPPER Once again, Link has created one of the heaviest (and grooviest) songs to ever come out of the 50's. If you've seen the movie "Desperado" with Antonio Banderas, then you've heard this scorcher. It is the song that was brilliantly picked play during the first shoot-out in the film.

Track 10. RUN CHICKEN RUN If you could possibly imagine a better song for a fist fight, I'd like to hear it.

Definately add this one to your CD collection. Link Wray will never go out of style. I also suggest checking out the movie THE ROAD RACERS starring David Arquette. ROAD RACERS is basically a tribute to Link Wray. The soundtrack is almost entirely Link Wray music, and it gives you an idea of what type of people liked Link's music back in the late 50's.

Last summer i picked up this cd, jammed it in the player in my vette and cranked out a 130 mile per hour blast down I-55 out of chicago. This is raw, brutish, nasty, locked and loaded rock. 5 stars to Link Wray.

The fact that Link Wray is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but nearly every baby boomer limp-wristed "singer songwriter" is is more proof that the HOF is a sham."Rumble" alone should guarantee him a spot there. There has never been a more dangerous sounding slab of raw rock n' roll before or since. It was the only INSTRUMENTAL I can think of that was banned from the radio for being "too suggestive"!! How cool is that? Link was the first guitarist to INTENTIONALLY use distortion(by ripping holes in the speaker of his Premier amp) and to use power chords, way back in 1959, years before anybody else was doing so. The Who and the Kinks have all called Link a primary influence, though the Rolling Stone magazine types refuse to even acknowledge his existence. The tracks on this cd were the prototypes for garage rock, punk and metal. Link's guitar spat glorious, fuzz-fueled noise, and he only got louder and crazier as he got older. Link was truly ahead of his time and VERY underappreciated. If you're not familiar with Link, this is the perfect introduction.