There’s a rumor circulating ‘round the net of Link Wray’s passing on Friday. I hope it’s a hoax on the order of the Lou Reed overdose a few years back. But the “Grandfather of the Power Chord” (an honorific that pigeon-holed Wray’s music to an unfair degree) was pushing 77 so it’s more than possible he’s shredding guitar picks with the cherubim and seraphim right about now. I never got hear him live despite two near-misses, once at the Club Congress in Tucson back in ’96 and another at The Quest here in Minneapolis in ’03 (the roof of the latter joint caught fire the night Link was supposed to play) & definitely regret it. Wray sits slanderously sandwiched between Vernon Reid and Jerry Miller (of Moby Grape) on Rolling Stone’s 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time- proof again of how wack such subjective heirarchies can be, especially when the afore-mentioned Reed outranks him by 15 slots and Jack White of The Stripes perches pretty at “17” (what?!?!). Add to that the fact that Lonnie Mack isn’t even listed & I'm ready to lob sulphurous eggs! Even with these ignominious indignities there’s still nearly a half-century’s worth of Wray recordings to revisit. I’m jumping in my jalopy, charting a course for the open asphalt & starting with the Norton set Mr. Guitar covering the Swan era, then moving on to Guitar Preacher: The Polydor Years…
Posted by derek on November 20, 2005 9:39 AMCan't believe no one has posted on this 'un, so i'll go ahead.
It is indeed true, Link Wray is gone - as of Nov. 5 according to Rolling Stone and the official Link Wray site: http://www.wraysshack3tracks.com/
Sad indeed...I was lucky in that I got to see Link live 3 times over the years and he was never anything less than fantastic. Most recent one was at the Ponderosa Stomp festival here in New Orleans, an event that runs concurrently during the JazzFest, but features the likes of Link, Blowfly, Sonny Burgess, Lady Bo, Scotty Moore, DJ Fontana, Johnny Farina (of "Santo & Johnny" fame), Nathaniel Mayer, Hubert Sumlin, and even both James Blood Ulmer and The Sun Ra Arkestra (for 3 nights!) one year.
Link looked a bit frail, but then again he always did whatwith having only one lung and all. But the guy rocked mightily and appeared to be in good spirits and really enjoying himself. This was the case each time i saw him. So while you could definitely say he never got the full recognition he deserved it appeared that he enjoyed the attention he was getting late in life and he clearly still LOVED playing. Neil Young always acknowledged Wray's influence, and you can really hear how Young carried on Wray's uniquely fierce tone and blunt execution into other territories. Those two guys continue to be two of my favorite guitar players ever and their influence grows keener (for me, at least) with each passing day.
So, my improv bretheren, let's get them guits up off the tabletops, grab 'em by the neck and SALUTE this man.
Posted by: Rob Cambre at November 28, 2005 2:08 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................