LINK'S LOST YEARS
NEVER BEFORE SEEN PICTURES FROM BRUCE STEINBERG

Special thanks to Bruce Steinberg for allowing us to display these incredible rare pictures of Link.  Bruce recently passed away from a brief illness.  He was a noted rock and roll photographer. 

Before you leave this website, please visit the Bruce Steinberg Gallery for more examples of his work. 

Except as noted, all of the photos below are taken by Bruce.  You'll see shots from Link and Bruce on the road, as well as "behind the scenes" photos from the Polydor "Be What You Want To" and "The Link Wray Rumble" sessions, family photographs, as well as many other previously unseen rarities.

Of course, all of these photos are copyrighted by the Bruce Steinberg Estate.  If you would like to use them please contact this website.

Sit back and enjoy this rare look into some of Link's "lost years" - compliments of Bruce Steinberg!

Bruce's friendship with Link began in 1960 when Link and the Raymen were playing the "Animal House" parties at Cornell University.  They continued their close association thru Link's heyday in the DC area - cutting sides for Vernon's Vermillion releases and playing those "knife and gun clubs" like The Famous and Vinnie's. In fact, when they reconnected in San Francisco in the early '70s, it was Bruce who encouraged Link to return to his roots, conceiving and co-producing Link's third and final Polydor LP in 1974, which they simply called "The Link Wray Rumble."  Bruce also shot and designed the covers for both "The Link Wray Rumble" and the previous "Be What You Want To."  A gallery of selected photos that he shot in the '60s and '70s may be seen at http://brucesteinberg.com, and a personal discography of the many albums he's worked on through the years can be seen when you click here.

Link and Bruce with Link's kids Shayne and Rhonda, Foster City, CA, 1973  photo - Sharon Cole Wray

Jerry Garcia and Link during the BE WHAT YOU WANT TO sessions.

Link, Jerry Garcia and Vernon Wray

Link and Rogue, a good friend.  Rogue was a roadie for Link as well.

Bruce and his co-producer Skip Drinkwater flank Link at the "Link Wray Rumble" sessions

photo above right by Sharon Cole Wray

UNRELEASED cover shot for The Link Wray Rumble LP

Many of these photos are from that era, when Bruce and Link did a "whistle stop tour" in the summer of 1974, hitting radio stations up and down the East and Midwest, talking to music directors and DJ's to promote "The Link Wray Rumble."   PICTURED: Washington DJ Barry Richards, Link, Milt Grant and Doug Wray

ABOVE AND BELOW: Link returns to his roots on the Milt Grant Show (hosted by Barry Richards) during the promotion of The Link Wray Rumble

UNRELEASED promo shot

Unfortunately, Polydor barely got the record into the stores, and it sadly became another obscure footnote and rare collector's item in Link's history.  "The Link Wray Rumble" is one of Link's best recorded works, and has yet to be re-released on CD. Fortunately, most of the cuts from "The Link Wray Rumble"  and "Be What You Want To" can be found on the Polydor double CD "Link Wray / Guitar Preacher - The Polydor Years", which also includes songs from his first Polydor LP "Link Wray" as well as "Mordecai Jones."

UNRELEASED promo shot

The Guitar Preacher CD as well as The Link Wray Rumble LP are long out of print, but they do surface on eBay and other internet outlets.


Polydor promo photo for THE LINK WRAY RUMBLE LP.

Bruce last saw Link, still rockin' at 76, playing at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz, CA, on July 13th,  2005, just a few short months before Link died.  After the set, they reminisced about the "good old days" (or, as Link often referred to them in both conversation and song, "it was a bad scene..."), bringing their 45-year friendship full circle. RIGHT: Link's set list from the Moe's Alley gig in Santa Cruz.

Link, Shayne and Rhonda Foster City, CA

ABOVE: Business card from Doug's Barbershop
BELOW: The ORIGINAL liner notes for THE LINK WRAY RUMBLE, written by Pete Townshend

MORE RARE GEMS FROM BACK IN THE DAY....

Early promotional picture of the Raymen, featuring Chuck Bennett and Mike Hunnicutt

Link and the Raymen playing Leonardo's in Ithica NY, 1962.  Chuck Bennett on guitar.  Three images above are compliments of Rogue.

PHOTOGRAPHS © BRUCE STEINBERG
USED BY PERMISSION

"They're Outta Here," says Archie - the long lost Link Wray Cadence recordings...IN STOCK NOW!!!