Link Wray

Although he only scored two chart hits early in his career, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member Link Wray – born Fred Lincoln Wray, Jr. in Dunn, North Carolina on May 2, 1929 – was one of the most influential guitarists of the early rock era. He is now credited for creating the ‘power chord’ and for being an influence on future rockabilly, rock and roll, hard rock, and heavy metal guitarists. He began his musical career performing with his brothers Ray, Vernon, and Doug in bands like The Link Wray Band and the Palomino Ranch Gang. After serving in the US Army during the Korean War (1950-53), he contracted tuberculosis and spent a year in the hospital. After doctors removed a lung, he was told he would never be able to sing again. Instead, Link Wray focused on the guitar, creating new sounds using distortion and tremolo. His first hit was 1958’s “Rumble,” released on the Cadence Records label. The song was a number 16 hit even though it was banned in New York and Boston, Massachusetts because the title was a slang word for gang fight. Signed to Epic Records, his single “Rawhide” rose to number 23 in 1959. Subsequent singles including “Comanche” (1959), “El Toro” (1961), “Jack the Ripper” (1961), “Deuces Wild” (1964), and “Ace of Spades” (1965) were not as successful but have become early rock and rockabilly classics since their release. Link Wray began releasing singles under pseudonyms and eventually moved away from the music business, preferring to release his records on a series of independent labels. He also began to collaborate with many artists, moving to San Francisco, California in the early 1970s and playing with members of Quicksilver Messenger Service. Collaborating with New York-based vocalist Robert Gordon (Tuff Darts), the duo released two albums on the Private Stock Records label: Robert Gordon and Link Wray (1977) and Fresh Fish Special (1978). Link Wray released many albums over the course of his career as well as an equal number of compilations, live albums, and reissues. In the early 1980s, Link Wray relocated to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he died on November 5, 2005, at the age of 76.