Link Wray's Rumble & Shows # 987, 986, 985, 985, 983, 982

Link Wray is known as the first guitarist to use the power chord in a song. The song was “Rumble.” Originally released in 1958 on the Cadence label, the song had its origins at a Record Hop (an event that would feature live music and dancing popular in the 50s). In 1957, at one of these Record Hops in Fredericksburg, Virginia, Wray and his brother Doug were playing when they were asked by the announcer to play a stroll. “The Stroll” was a popular song at the time by The Diamonds made to accompany the dance of the same name. Link Wray didn’t know how to play the song, but his brother Doug said he knew the beat to a stroll on the drums and Link Wray made up the chords to what would become known as “Rumble.” Upon playing the song, the crowd went crazy for the song. It was played 3-4 times that night.

Originally under the working title “Oddball,” the song was recorded (like many of Wray’s early songs) with his brothers Doug and Vernon, with the addition of their cousin Shorty Horton on bass. Vernon (Known Ray Vernon and Vernon Wray) would produce/manage Link Wray’s early output. He himself has recorded quite a lot of music on his own, many of which feature the other Wray’s on the recordings. Prior to this, Wray and his brothers had a background playing music starting out with country and western music. Link Wray served in the US Army during the Korean War and contracted Tuberculosis, which led to him being hospitalized and then later having a lung removed. Doctors at the time predicted at he would never sing again. This of course would not be true, Wray would sing on many tracks in addition to performing instrumentals. 

But, back to the song “Rumble.” It would go on to have a lasting influence throughout the future generations of rock music influencing everyone from Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page and The Kinks to Iggy Pop (to name a few). The edgy track, which featured power chords, distortion and attitude quickly, climbed up the top 40 singles charts of the day reaching #16. It would also be banned because DJs thought it would incite gang violence. In 1959 “Raw Hide” would reach #23 on the US singles charts. Other unhinged, tense and raw sounding tracks such as “Jack The Ripper,” “The Sweeper,” “Run Chicken Run,” “The Shadow Knows,” "Ace of Spades," “Deuces Wild,” and “I’m Branded” would be released throughout this early part of Wray’s career. Wray went on to create numerous instrumentals, but also perform tracks with vocals and branch out into different styles. Also of Shawnee Native American heritage, growing up Wray’s family would be subject to racial discrimination. Including times when his family would have to go into hiding. Link Wray would pay homage to his heritage to honour it in songs such as “Comanche” and “Shawnee.”

In the 1960s Link Wray retired from music and went to work on his family’s farm in Maryland, after tiring of the music industry and their attempts to clean up his music. He did around this time build his own recording studio and would record music again, but it would not be released until the 1970s. Recorded in a converted chicken shack on his brother Vernon’s property, Wray would reinvent himself upon his return to music. In 1971 he returned with a country, gospel, folk and blues influenced album simply titled Link Wray. This roots rock album still featured a primal-ness that was present on Wray’s early recordings as he branched out. The album cover to 1971’s Link Wray also pays homage to his Shawnee background in addition to several of the lyrical content of songs found on the album. It would be the first in a series of albums where Link Wray experimented with sounds in this way, Mordicai Jones followed in 1972 and Beans and Fatback in 1973. In between these albums Be What You Want To Be was released in 1973, featuring several guest musicians such as Jerry Garcia and David Bromberg.

Wray would go on to play and record albums with Robert Gordon in the 70s (Robert Gordon with Link Wray (1977), Fresh Fish Special (1978)) and he continued performing live and recording up until his passing in 2005. The impact of the sounds of Link Wray have been reverberating throughout different decades and genres of music since the first opening notes of 1958’s “Rumble.” In May of 2023, it was announced that Link Wray would be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The sounds he embraced when creating music of distortion, fuzz, tremolo, intensity and attitude continue to be heard.

Show 987 (Originally Aired On May 13th, 2023)(Link Wray, Via Mardot, Sloan, Protomartyr):

1.  Spider Bite - Human Body Human Brain
2.  Dumb - Quarter Stereo
3.  Mason Lowe - Plastered
4.  Iceage - Sociopath Boogie
5.  Biker Priests - Dodge Babylon
6.  Westelaken - Fixed Up By Orange Light
7.  Slim Harpo - Shake Your Hips
8.  Link Wray - I'm Branded
9.  Link Wray - Raw-Hide
10. Link Wray - The Shadow Knows
11. Link Wray - Commanche
12. Link Wray & The Raymen - Big City After Dark
13. Link Wray - Falling Rain
14. Link Wray - Hidden Charms
15. Link Wray - Son of Rumble
16. Via Mardot - Static
17. Via Mardot - Towers
18. Gris Gris - Cuerpos Haran Amor Extrano
19. Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band - Here I Am, Here I Always Am
20. The Courettes - Hop the Twig
21. Shadow Show - Radiant Hue
22. Spooky But Nice - Everytime
23. Priors - Optimizer
24. Plastic Act - What's in the Water

25. Sloan - Keep On Thinkin'
26. Sloan - On the Horizon
27. Preoccupations - Zodiac
28. Uh Huh - Citrus Song
29. Sneakpeak - Strawberry Reality
30. The Particles - The Trumpet Song
31. Protomartyr - Elimination Dances

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the May 13 file to download/stream the episode. 

Show 986 (Originally Aired May 6th, 2023)(PJ Harvey, New Order, Gordon Lightfoot):

1.  PJ Harvey - Man-Size
2.  PJ Harvey - 50 ft. Queenie
3.  Wednesday - Hot Rotten Grass Smell
4.  Divorcer - Tiny Devil
5.  Yessica Whoaneil - Again Again
6.  Orange Juice - I Can't Help Myself
7.  Pulp - Something Changed
8.  New Order - Age of Consent
9.  Destroyer - Leave Me Alone
10. Broadcast - Michael A Grammar
11. Gordon Lightfoot - Early Morning Rain
12. Gordon Lightfoot - Negotiations
13. Gordon Lightfoot - Spin, Spin
14. Century Palm - If You Could Read My Mind
15. Datblygu - Casserole Efeilliad
16. Psychedelic Furs - Heaven
17. La Securite - Try Again
18. Steve Adamyk Band - Do You Wanna Know
19. The Golden Shitters - CIty of Doom
20. SQURL - Berlin 87
21. The Hives - Bogus Operandi
22. The Jackets - Life's Not Like the Movies
23. The Routes - A Day in Hell
24. Link Wray - Deuces Wild
25. The Horrors - Primary Colours
26. Wax Mannequin - Love is a Hunter
27. The Jesus and Mary Chain - Gimme Hell

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the May 6 file to download/stream the episode. 

Show 985 (Originally Aired On April 29th, 2023)(David Bowie's Aladdin Sane 50th Anniversary):

1.  Tea Leaves - Cicada Song
2.  Twin Rains - You're The Only One
3.  Olinda - World Within
4.  Mononegatives - Testing Capability
5.  Priors - Daffodil
6.  Tunic - Indirect
7.  B.A. Johnston - You're Like a Steve Miller Band Song
8.  Buddie - Worried
9.  David Bowie - Watch That Man (Live)
10. David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
11. David Bowie - Drive-In Saturday (German Single Edit)
12. David Bowie - Panic In Detroit (Live in Detroit 1974)
13. David Bowie - Cracked Actor
14. David Bowie - Time
15. David Bowie - The Prettiest Star (1970 Single Version)
16. David Bowie - Let's Spend the Night Together Llive)
17. David Bowie - The Jean Genie (Live)
18. David Bowie - Lady Grinning Soul
19. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Date with the Night
20. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Maps (Four Track Demo)
21. The Replacements - Color Me Impressed
22. The Replacements - Take Me Down to the Hospital
23. Minor Threat - Think Again
24. Minor Threat - Cashing In

25. The Government - Real Computer
26. Harry Belafonte - Brown Skin Girl
27. Harry Belafonte - Go Down Emanuel Road

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the April 29 file to download/stream the episode. 

Show 984 (Originally Aired On April 22nd, 2023) (R.E.M.'s Murmur 40th Anniversary):

1.  The Pop Group - She is Beyond Good and Evil 
2.  The Pop Group - Words Disobey Me 
3.  R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe 
4.  R.E.M. - Pilgrimage (Live Toronto 1983) 
5.  R.E.M. - Laughing (1982 RCA Demo) 
6.  R.E.M. - Talk About the Passion 
7.  R.E.M. - Moral Kiosk (Live Holland 1987) 
8.  R.E.M. - Perfect Circle 
9.  R.E.M. - Catapult (Stephen Hague Demo 1982) 
10. R.E.M. - Sitting Still (1981 Demo) 
11. R.E.M. - 9-9 (Rough Mix) 
12. R.E.M. - Shaking Through (1982 RCA Demo) 
13. R.E.M. - We Walk 
14. R.E.M. - West of the Fields 
15. Tough Age - Give It A Day 
16. Eddie Current Suppression Ring - Our Quiet Whisper 
17. By Divine Right - How Soon Is Now 
18. Leather Rose - Space Girl 
19. Julie Doiron - Back to the Water 
20. Apollo Ghosts - Pink Tiger 
21. Whitehorse - I Miss the City 
22. Packs - Smallest One 
23. Love Language - New Power 
24. Cat Clyde - Mystic Light 
25. The Beths - Watching the Credits 
26. R.E.M. - There She Goes Again 

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the April 22 file to download/stream the episode. 

Show 983 (Originally Aired On April 15th, 2023)(Uh Huh, Olinda, David Lynch, Home Front, The Specials):

1.  Tee Vee Repairmann - Time 2 Kill
2.  Mononegatives - Television Funeral
3.  Uh Huh - Rain (In the Afternoon)
4.  Universal Cleaner - Her Mind Was A Psychic Slaughterhouse
5.  Chain of Flowers - Serving Purpose
6.  The Tubs - Wretched Lie
7.  Sniffany and the Nits - Good Boy
8.  Es - Swallowed Whole
9. The GN Band - The Bell Song
10. Olinda - Dreams in Transit
11. The Jellies - Jive Baby On A Saturday Night
12. Yellow Magic Orchestra - Pure Jam
13. The Scarlet Ribbon - Four in the Morning
14. Breanna Barbara - Rise
15. The Ketamines - Midnight Dawn
16. Messer Chups - Blue Velvet
17. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - 3 Piece Suit
18. The Waterheads - WAHWAHWAH :(
19. Good Throb - Slick D***s
20. The Rebel - Why Must I May?
21. The Ex - The Rise of the Dutch Republic
22. You’ll Never Get To Heaven - Exquisite Tension
23. David Lynch - Star Dream Girl
24. Home Front - Focus
25. Kim Gray - No Moonlight
26. Carol Kim - Saigon
27. The Mob - Witch Hunt
28. Milk Music - No, Nothing My Shelter
29. The Specials - Do Nothing

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the April 15 file to download/stream the episode. 
 

Show 982 (Originally Aired On April 8th, 2023) (Violent Femmes 40th Anniversary):

1.  Sloan - Nice Work If You Can Get It
2.  Alvvays - Pressed
3.  Mad Ones - Molly Moth
4.  Hotkid - Letters
5.  The Leather Uppers - You Know I Do
6.  The Gruesomes - Won't You Listen (Live)

7.  The Gruesomes - My Dad's A Ho-Dad (Live)
8.  Violent Femmes - Promise
9.  Violent Femmes - Prove My Love
10. Violent Femmes - To the Kill
11. Violent Femmes - Gone Daddy Gone (live)
12. On Film - Blister in the Sun
13. The Dandy Warhols - Kiss Off
14. Yo La Tengo - Add It Up
15. Beck - Painted Eyelids
16. Shana Cleveland - Gold Tower
17. The Courettes - Misfits & Freaks
18. Ghost Woman - Tripped
19. The Ichi-Bons - Show Me the Ropes
20. Bloodshot Bill - Vertigo
21. Calvin Johnson - Pink Cadallac
22. Deerhoof - And the Moon Laughs
23. Amos the Kid - Enough as It Was
24. Doctor Mother Father - Act Like I Like You
25. Mister Rabbit - Anyone
26. A Certain Ratio - Samo
27. Kosmetika - Psycho Tv
28. Dragnet - Strike
29. Husker Du - Do You Remember? (Live)
30. Mudhoney - Move Under

To hear this program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and click the April 8 file to download/stream the episode. 

Link Wray Big City After Dark & Show # 432

 

Link Wray has released a lot of singles, but in 1962/1963 he released a series of singles on the Mala record label that are relatively obscure in his catalogue and hard to come by nowadays. In 1962 Link Wray released the “Big City After Dark”/”Hold It” single. It was actually released under the name Ray Vernon & His Wraymen, which was a tribute to Link’s brother Vernon who played with his band, but was also an aspiring Pop star who would work behind the scenes with Link serving as a producer/recordist. “Big City After Dark” is a deep Blues cut with dirty raunchy guitar sounds, some of the dirtiest tones Link has captured on tape. The b-side to this single is a cover of Bill Doggett’s “Hold It”, Link and His Wray Men work up the song into a smoking panic serving as an excellent Garage Rock track that pre-dates early Beatles recordings. “Dance Party” was one of the other Link Wray songs released on the Mala Record label and it has been released under a few names. It was released under the “There’s A Hole In The Middle Of The Moon” single in 1963 with “Dancing Party” as it’s b-side. It has also gone under the name “Friday Night Dance Party”.

What do these singles have in common other than being rare and hard to find Link Wray singles? They were both reissued for the Black Friday edition of Record Store Day in 2012. When re-issued it came as a double single with “Big City After Dark”/”Hold It” on one single and “Dance Party” on the other, it features an extended version of the song listed as “Dance Party Parts 1 & 2” with part one on side A and part two on side B. What these singles serve as are rare glimpses into some raunchy obscure singles from Link Wray, ones that before Record Store Day were really hard to find other than on the odd compilation album. On the cover of the “Big City After Dark” single there is a picture of a young Link Wray with a smirk on his face and a certain look in his eyes, the look is somewhat ominous, but one of determination. The fact that these recordings pre-date Garage Rock further emphasises the importance of Link Wray’s sound on Rock music. Link’s look on the cover reflects the sounds we find on these singles and with his music. It has been said many, many times that Link Wray is an influential artist, these recordings prove that even on the deepest rarest cuts in Link’s catalogue he still had that unhinged raw Rock and Roll sound that that was not only original, but was bound to be influential. On this “Big City After Dark” re-issue, Link Wray’s sound is resurrected from the dusty grooves of the past, yet at the same time the music still sounds fresh. It is further evidence of his immediate influential and unrelenting Rock sound.


The Play List:

1. Holy Wave – Albuquerque Freakout
2. Davie Allan & The Arrows – Blues Theme
3. The Clique – You’ve Been Unfair
4. The Yardbirds – Mister You’re A Better Man Than I
5. Lowlands – Black Mask II
6. John Cale – I Wanna Talk 2 U
7. Drew Smith – Smoke & Mirrors
8. Neil Jarvis – What’s Done Is Done
9. Orphan Choir – Haunt The Highways
10. The Blue Squares – Time To Get Over You
11. The Checkerlads – Shake Yourself Down
12. The Skaliwags – Turn Him Down
13. The Zombies – Just Out of Reach
14. White Stripes – Stop Breaking Down (Live at BBC Studios, Maida Vale)
15. The Polymorphines – I Gotta Vibration
16. The Baracudas – (I Wish It Could Be) 1965 Again
17. Link Wray – Big City After Dark
18. Link Wray – Hold It
19. Pow Wows – Fire Song (Live WFMU September 15th, 2012)
20. The Zeros – What’s Wrong With A Pop Group
21. The Scabs – Amory Building
22. Lost Patrol – Dead or Alive
23. Long Weekends – Shame On You
24. Iggy Pop & James Williamson – Johanna

To download this weeks program, visit CJAM's schedule page for Revolution Rock and download the file for November 26. Or subscribe to Revolution Rock as a Podcast.

The Original Rumble...The Story of Link Wray....Show # 288

Link Wray was an American guitarist that was originally born in Dunn, North Carolina as Frederick Lincoln Wray. His family would later relocate to Virginia. Link served in the US Army and was a veteran of the Korean War. During the Korean War Link got tuberculoses causing him to lose one of his lungs, the doctors said that he would never sing again, but they were wrong. While this was a huge reason for Link to focus on instrumental guitar based songs, Link would sing occasionally on some of his songs. By the end of 1955, Wray had relocated to Washington, D.C.

After playing in various combinations of bands involving his brothers, the band Link Wray and His Ray Men emerged. The band consisted of Link Wray on lead guitar, Doug Wray on drums, Vernon Wray was on lead vocals, and Shorty Horton on Bass. Originally starting out playing Country and Western Swing music, Link would begin to focus on instrumental based songs. In late 1958, Link Wray wrote the instrumental song "Rumble". Originally called "Oddball", this song is notable for its enormous influence on Rock music. Being the first song to use a power chord, distortion, and feedback it was banned from radio stations because they thought that the title promoted gang violence in teens. "Rumble" is also the only instrumental song to be banned from radio airwaves.  This song influenced bands such as The Kinks, The Who, Bob Dylan, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page, Marc Bolan, Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young and more. "Rumble" was a favourite amongst live audiences often being played several times in one night due to the demand for it.

The band would sign a deal with Epic Records (previously being on Cadence). The next single that was released was the Surf and Hard Rock song "Raw Hide". A notable difference about this song was the fact that Link Wray switched guitars from his 1953 Gibson Les Paul to a Danelectro Longhorn guitar. The lipstick pick ups of the Danelectro added a blistering sound to Link Wray and His Wray Men. After several attempts by the bands label to make Link Wray into a mainstream artist involving the band with numerous different kinds of producers, Link Wray and his Wray Men were no longer on Epic Records. Instead of looking for another label, Link and Vernon Wray created their own label titled Rumble Records. The bands next release was "Jack the Ripper". The band was then picked up by Swan Records. A family chicken coop was turned into a recording studio and Link Wray spent more than a decade recording and experimenting with different kinds of musical styles. He recorded several albums including Link Wray in 1971, that incorporated elements of Folk, Blues, and Country, and Beans and Fatback in 1973.

In the 70's Link Wray was part of Robert Gordon's backing band, Gordon being a Rockabilly revivalist. He recorded two albums with Gordon, Robert Gordon w/Link Wray (1978) and Fresh Fish Special (1978). In the 1980's Link Wray got married and moved to Denmark. He recorded the odd album off and on and toured intermittently. Several of Link's songs were featured in films. He has had songs in films such as "Shadowman", "Twelve Monkey's", "Pulp Fiction", "Desperado", "The Warriors", and "Independence Day". Another important aspect of Link Wray was his Native American heritage. Being part Shawnee Indian, Link wrote several songs such "Shawnee", "Apache", and "Comanche". He also spoke of his ancestry in interviews and during live shows.

Link Wray passed away in Copenhagen on November 5th, 2005. In concert a tribute was done by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, they both played the song "Rumble" respectively. There is currently a petition going around the internet to get Link Wray inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. He for some reason has not been inducted despite his vast influence in the world of Rock music. However, tt should be noted that he is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Link Wray's music often blurred the line between Rock, Surf, Folk, Blues, and many other genres and styles. Link Wray has recorded numerous albums and singles and is known as being a highly influential, innovative musician, and the father of the power chord. Link Wray paved the way for Hard Rock and Punk Rock, the sounds of "Rumble" will forever resonate throughout the world of Rock music.

Surf Play List:

1. The Beans - Surfs Up
2. The Ventures - Surf Rider
3. The Fireballs - Bulldog 
4. The Rotations - Heavies 
5. Huevos Rancheros -Gump Worsley's Lament
6. Aqua Velvets - Guitar Noir
7. Spring Break Shark Attack! - Theme
8. Phono-Comb - Burnt Down With Feedback
9. Tiki Tones - Twister
10. Kon Tikis - 1000 Foot Wave
11. Surf Messiahs - Kilgore
12. Surf Trio -Beach Genius
13. The Torpedos - The Snake
14. Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet - Zombie Compromise
15. Atomic 7 - Loving Not Gouging
16. The Wipeouters - Luna Goona Park 
17. Dean Drouilard - The Dragon
18. April March - Chick Habit 
19. The Mad 3 - Spy From Kyoto
20. The Cavliers - Le Ride Du Jugement Dernier
21. The Squiers - Mustang
22. The Surfdusters - The Reef 
23. Teisco Del Rey - Pier Pressure 
24. The Phantom Surfers - Banzai Run 
25. Dick Dale & His Del-Tones - Surf Beat
26. Link Wray - I'm Branded
27. Link Wray - Raw-Hide

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