THE TWANG IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE TWANG!

Duane Eddy wasn't a surf guitarist but his sound, the echo and tone of his guitar, were hugely influential. There had been guitar instrumentals as long as there have been guitars but Eddy played his leads largely on the bass strings and that, combined with the echo, provided the "twang" that producer Lee Hazelwood dubbed his sound. (Hazelwood devised the echo chamber from an empty 2,000 gallon water tank.) This was a couple years before Leo Fender made the first reverb unit for Dick Dale. So, in regards to his influence on surf music, as one of his album titles says, "The 'Twangs' The 'Thang'"

Duane Eddy died last week. For me it's almost like losing a relative. [Personal story alert.] Hear me out. When I was about ten, my Uncle Mike had just returned home after an Air Force stint in Okinawa. When we went to visit him at my Grandma's he had this enormous sound system set up. He'd had bought it in Japan and had it shipped home. He asked my brothers and I if we wanted to hear it. At that young age our collective record collection consisted of three 45s. We'd only heard music from transistor and clock radios and a crappy portable record player.  We did not know what we were in for. Uncle Mike proceeded to blast the Ventures' version of the "Hawaii Five-O" theme at a thousand decibels. There it began.

A while later we got a few hand me down LPs from Uncle Mike. The Ventures, Santo and Johnny and Duane Eddy. Having no LPs of our own, these ushered in the guitar mania that would dominate the next several decades of our listening habits. I know, I can hear it. You're saying "It's not all about you. How about some Duane Eddy background info?" Fine.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Duane Eddy - Moovin' n' Groovin' mp3 at Internet Archive
Duane Eddy - Rebel Rouser mp3 at Internet Archive
Duane Eddy - Stalkin' mp3 at Internet Archive
Duane Eddy - Ramrod mp3 at Internet Archive