Link Wray's Border Blues
Was the surf guitar legend the target of racial profiling?
by Kliph Nesteroff
Jul, 14 2005
Surf rock legend Link Wray was to
perform live at the unlikely venue known as The Yale Hotel this past Sunday.
When I first saw the one lone poster slapped to a pole with electrical tape at
the last minute, I figured it was nothing more than some mediocre Link Wray
cover band. I reasoned if it truly were Link Wray, I would have known about it
far in advance, and it wouldn’t be at Vancouver’s number one
"greasy-white-guys-with-mid-life-crises-trying-to-play-the-blues" bar.
When I discovered that Wray really was
playing Sunday night, perhaps for his final time in Canada, I was shocked.
I did not know then I would be shocked beyond belief over the course of
the next two days.
The show was scheduled at the
unconventional time of 4 PM, and the bar was packed with socially awkward
nerds who shouldn't be consuming alcohol, as well as many veteran
Vancouver musicians--not the least of which was local late ‘70s rock star
Teen Angel. The Wraymen’s opening act was a Toronto rocker named Derek
Miller who was late coming on and quick getting off. At seven o’clock he
was back on the stage under a spotlight, and all expected this to be Link
Wray’s introduction.
Instead, we listened to him announce,
"Link isn't here yet. He's... um... just... down the street. Hang tight."
This explanation didn't hold much weight with those near the stage, as an
uncomfortable fear emoted from Miller's eyes. People in the back joked
that the 76-year-old star was probably entertaining himself with lap
dances at the Cecil Hotel next door. The crowd may not have been so jovial
had it known that at that very moment, Link Wray was being both stripped
naked and physically assaulted by Canadian border guards.
Five hours after the doors had opened,
an announcement was finally made. For reasons not totally made clear, Link
Wray’s drummer was being detained and would not be allowed into Canada.
The rest of the Wraymen had arrived in Vancouver, but were in no mood to
perform.
In case you didn’t know, Link Wray is
Native American, and arguably his culture's greatest and most famous rock
star. The show was co-sponsored by Aboriginal Peoples’ Television Network,
and APTN’s Delores Smith, who helped organise the event, has little doubt
the incident was racially motivated. The fact that such an atrocity came
from the hands of Canadian government officials should come as little
surprise to Vancouverites who have witnessed anti-Native brutality from
Vancouver police, and last week's Westcoast Warrior bust as orchestrated
by the RCMP on the Burrard Bridge.
The show was rescheduled for Monday and
free vouchers issued, but anyone who returned was greeted by news of the
show's outright cancellation. Link Wray was suffering from several bruises
and lacerations, which rendered him rather immobile. While waiting in line
Sunday for my voucher, Derek Miller took to the stage again, playing
“Rumble” and some other Link Wray standards. As I waited, I realised I had
ironically come full circle. Link Wray was nowhere to be seen, and I was
at the Yale Hotel... listening to a Link Wray cover band.