Link Wray has
to do things his own way, even if it means secluding himself in an old
chicken shack in Accokek (sic), Maryland, to write music. Every time
Link had a million-seller, "Rumble" in 1954 and
"Rawhide" in 1959, someone in power wanted to tell him what to do,
how to sing and how to play. So he ran away to Wray's Shack Three
Track, where he and his brothers created "The Sound."
Sometimes it got so noisy in the rickety old shanty they had to put the
speakers for Link's guitar outside in the yard in order to hear themselves
sing. For a while they had no drums, so they just stomped hard on the
floor for the bass drum and rattled a can of nails for the snare. The
sound that emerged from the shack, after 12 years, is in Link and his
family's new album and is as unique as the recording studio they used to
make it. Link's shack family includes: Billy Hodges, piano, organ;
Bobby Howard, mandolin, piano; Doug Wray and Steve Verroca, drums and
percussion. Link does most of the playing on dobro, lead guitar, bass
and sings most of the vocals.
A family
favorite is Spoon Bread - but you don't need a shanty or a strange group of
talented musicians to whip up this ticky-tacky favorite.
SPOON BREAD
2 cups
boiling water
1 1/4 cups enriched cornmeal
1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
2 tablespoons of butter
2 cups of milk
3 eggs
3 teaspoons of baking powder
Stir the
boiling water into the combination of cornmeal, salt and butter. Then
slowly stir in the milk. Beat the eggs lightly and stir into the
mixture. Add the baking powder to make a spongy, light mix. Pour
into a buttered 1 1/2 quart baking dish and bake in a 400 degree oven for 20
to 25 minutes. Serve with ham and bacon, or sausage for breakfast or
dinner. Leftover spoon bread is great reheated and served with syrup.