Thursday 18 April 1996
The truth is the truth and it must be told!
Link Wray is a rock legend, any doubt about this assertion was
dispelled tonight by the firestorm of guitar noise created on stage
by Mr. Wray and his rhythm section.
Although he had his Marshall turned around so the
speakers faced the back wall, this was no polite rock/cabaret oldies nostalgia
trip. Throughout the performance Link's guitar squealed with feedback,
crackled and spat fire. (During one part of the show he even turned his
back on the audience and proceeded for a full three or four minutes to tune up
his guitar with the volume on 11 while the band ploughed on regardless).
Sure, Link is pushing the big seven-O and all of his hits are at least
30 years old, but hell - this guy bristles with the kind of hard rock
aggressive punk attitude that transcends guitar playing technicalities and would
make kids a quarter of his age tremble.
Just hearing 'Rumble', 'Batman', 'Ace of Spades' and 'Jack the Ripper' performed
by their creator was worth the price of admission alone but Link also sang
(quite credibly, although he'd occasionally drop a word or phrase here and there
if his guitar part needed attention) and generally displayed a control over the
dynamics of his performance so that it was never less than totally engaging.
The
vocal highpoint was probably his reworking of Hank Williams' 'Why
Don't You Love Me Like You Used To Do?' into a smoldering, steamy ballad with a
6/8 feel. He also sang the Bruce Springsteen song 'Fire' (which he
recorded in the late 70's with Robert Gordon...
remember?).
During this song he launched into a guitar solo which quite honestly
defied description. It was like some totally free form Jimi Hendrix
'scuse me while I kiss the sky type of rave-up but its roots weren't
Afro-American, they were Native American, the guitar imbued with the violence
and spirituality of a proud warrior culture. Woof!
Here was the guy who invented the power chord, who
virtually laid out the blue print for hard rock and heavy metal (the dull throb
of which is now unfortunately far removed from the vitality and life affirming
nature of the original) offering his guitar to the audience to make their own
noise on. This wasn't some untouchable guitar hero, the walls had been
broken down and performer and audience alike were reveling in the joyful noise!
I've seen Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and Keith Richards play definitive
rock 'n roll guitar. After this performance I place Link Wray in the
same category.
Mark F