Link Wray

I've been getting into "roots" rock lately, whether it's surf, garage, or rockabilly. One of the first in the latter was Link Wray, who pioneered the use of the power chord. I picked up his greatest hits album the other day.

"Rumble" was his biggest hit, a very recognizable instrumental that was actually banned from some radio stations because it had a sound that was reminiscent of gang warfare (this was in 1958, when West Side Story was a big hit on Broadway). Rumble has the distinctive Wray sound, which is a kind of sharp twang. Most of his other hits were similar instrumentals, with titles like "Ramble," "Rawhide," "Switchblade," and "Jack the Ripper." He also covered the Batman theme, which is cool, except it is marred with some rather amateurish vocals of a hipster Batman and Robin.

Putting this record on certainly takes you into a time and place that's long gone, but nice to revisit, a time when people said words like Daddy-O and did the Jive.