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If Duane Eddy's instrumental hits from
the late '50s can sound unduly basic and repetitive (especially
when taken all at once), he was vastly influential. Perhaps the
most successful instrumental rocker of his time, he may have also
been the man most responsible (along with Chuck Berry) for popularizing
the electric rock guitar. His distinctively low, twangy riffs
could be heard on no less than 15 Top 40 hits between 1958 and
1963. He was also one of the first rock stars to successfully
crack the LP market.
That low, twangy sound was devised in collaboration with producer
Lee Hazlewood, an Arizona disc jockey whom Eddy had met while
hanging out at a radio station as a teenager. By the late '50s,
Hazlewood had branched out into production. Before Duane began
recording, his principal influence had been Chet Atkins, but at
Hazlewood's suggestion, he started concentrating on guitar lines
at the lower end of the strings. His opening riff of his debut
single, "Movin' and Groovin'," would be lifted for the Beach Boys
five years later to open "Surfin' U.S.A." It was the next 45,
"Rebel Rouser," that would really break up him as a national star,
reaching the Top Ten in 1958. Opening with a down-and-dirty, heavily
echoed guitar riff, it remains the tune with which he's most often
identified.
Eddy's phenomenally successful run of hits over the next few years
was to some extent a variation on the "Rebel Rouser" theme. With
cowboy whoops from the backup band helping drive things along,
they weren't nearly as innovative as work of Link Wray during
the same era, but they were much more popular. The singles — "Peter
Gunn," "Cannonball," "Shazam," and "Forty Miles of Bad Road" were
probably the best — also did their part to help keep the raunchy
spirit of rock & roll alive, during a time in which it was in
danger of being watered down. Much of that raunch was not solely
due to Eddy himself, but to the honking sax solos of Steve Douglas,
who would go on to become one of the top session players in the
industry. Duane would have his biggest hit, however, in 1960,
when he sweetened the twang with strings for the movie theme "Because
They're Young."
Eddy's records were also huge influences on legions of budding
guitar players. In England, the Shadows no doubt took Eddy as
one of their chief inspirations for their spare, moody sound,
as one listen to their most famous hit, "Apache," makes obvious.
More subtly, his influence can also be heard in the work of George
Harrison. For evidence, listen to the growling riffs that decorate
the verse of "I Want to Hold Your Hand."
Eddy started to lose momentum in the early '60s, and left the
Jamie label in 1962 for the much bigger RCA. "(Dance With The)
Guitar Man," which featured an atypical chorus of female vocals,
would be his last Top 20 hit that same year. His albums — often
based on loose themes, like A Million Dollars Worth of Twang,
Twisting With Duane Eddy, and Surfing With Duane Eddy — kept him
afloat to some degree. But his style doggedly refused evolution,
although scattered cuts indicate he was capable of abandoning
the twang for more bluesy or straight-out rock sounds. The British
Invasion wiped Duane out commercially, although he recorded intermittently
over the next couple of decades. In 1986, he enjoyed a brief comeback
when the Art of Noise built their "Peter Gunn" hit around his
guest contributions; Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ry Cooder,
and Jeff Lynne all helped produce a 1987 album. It's that run
of late-'50s and early-'60s hits, though, for which he'll principally
be remembered.
This bio courtesy www.allmusic.com
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