Artists
Link Wray
Latest Release
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Vernon’s Diamond
Released April 13, 2019Easy Eye Sound will release two previously lost and unreleased tracks from the archives of the legendary Link Wray. “Vernon’s Diamond” which was recorded between 1958-59 at the Broadway Recording Studio in NYC and “My Brother, My Son” recorded in 1970 at Fred Foster Studios in Nashville, TN, will be released as a 7-inch vinyl on Record Store Day 2019. All profits from sales of the 7-inch will benefit a planned Link Wray Statue in his home state of North Carolina.
1. Vernon's Diamond
2. My Brother, My Son -
Son Of Rumble
Released April 13, 2017"It's time we give Link Wray a statue on the top of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame." — Dan Auerbach
The legendary guitarist's never-released follow-up to "Rumble," the song that introduced the world to power chords and intentional distortion, will be released as a vinyl 7" b/w another never-heard track, "Whole Lotta Talking."1. Son of Rumble
2. Whole Lotta Talking
Videos
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Son of Rumble
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Vernon's Diamond
About Link Wray
In 2018, it will have been 60 years since legendary guitarist Link Wray released his influential instrumental song “Rumble,” and changed the face and sound of rock and roll forever. Easy Eye Sound is proud to release “Son of Rumble,” Link’s intended but never released follow-up to the song that introduced the world to power chords and intentional distortion. Said Dan Auerbach of Wray’s importance: “I saw him play in Cleveland at the Grog shop and he blew my mind. To get the chance to put out unreleased songs on Easy Eye is amazing and a dream I never thought was possible. It’s time we give Link Wray a statue on the top of the rock and roll of fame.” “Son of Rumble” is a never-released track from the Link Wray archives. The song, along with b-side “Whole Lotta Talking,” another never heard track, will be released as a 7″ vinyl.
Link Wray’s “Rumble” became a flash point for countless musicians including Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees Neil Young, Bob Dylan, Pete Townshend, Iggy Pop, Steven Van Zandt, Jeff Beck and Elvis Costello. The song was banned in New York, Boston, and Detroit, for fear it would incite juvenile violence, making Wray the only artist in history to have a banned instrumental. Thirty-three years after becoming eligible, this unsung hero of rock and roll is currently a Rock Hall nominee for the Class of 2018, and fans can vote for his inclusion with a daily ballot through December 5 here.
Link Wray is one of the featured artists in the Sundance award winning RUMBLE: The Indians Who Rocked the World, a documentary about the profound, essential, and indelible impact Indigenous people have had on American music. The film includes interviews with Dan Auerbach, Iggy Pop, George Clinton, Slash, Steven Tyler, and other notable musicians; watch the film’s trailer here.
The story of Link Wray sounds like something straight out of a Hollywood movie. In 1937, a boy from the Shawnee Indian tribe was taught guitar by an African American traveling carny named Hambone in the segregated south. In 1953, that boy became a Western Swing musician who played the wake of Hank Williams. By 1956, he was a Korean War Veteran who lost a lung to TB and was told he’d never sing again. Yet, Link Wray spent the next half-century as the only one-lung singer in rock and roll, and laid the foundation for what the genre would become. The impact of Link Wray, placed in the top 50 of Rolling Stone‘s Top 100 Guitarists of All Time, can be heard in generations of American and British metal, punk, garage, grunge, thrash, and psychobilly rockers, all of whom have claimed him and “Rumble” (and follow-ups “Raw-Hide,” “Jack The Ripper,” “Ace of Spades,” and many more) as their own.
Tour Dates
Latest News
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One of the godfathers of rock and roll guitar, Link Wray’s ‘Vernon’s Diamond’ was recorded between 1958-1959 at the Broadway Recording Studio in NYC. Here’s the track from the Record Store Day 7″!
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Congratulations to the late Link Wray, whose highly influential 1958 tune “Rumble” was inducted into the inaugural class of Rock & Roll Singles at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony on Saturday! Easy Eye Sound released “Son of Rumble,” Link’s intended but never released follow-up to the song that introduced the world to […]
Press Release
EASY EYE SOUND TO RELEASE TWO LOST LINK WRAY TRACKS, “VERNON’S DIAMOND” & “MY BROTHER, MY SON,” AS 7-INCH VINYL FOR RECORD STORE DAY 2019
PROCEEDS TO BENEFIT PLANNED LINK WRAY STATUE HONORING THE ROCK AND ROLL GREAT IN HOMETOWN OF DUNN, NORTH CAROLINA
Dan Auerbach’s label, Easy Eye Sound, will release two previously lost and unreleased tracks from the archives of the legendary Link Wray. “Vernon’s Diamond” which was recorded between 1958-59 at the Broadway Recording Studio in NYC and “My Brother, My Son” recorded in 1970 at Fred Foster Studios in Nashville, TN, will be released as a 7-inch vinyl on Record Store Day 2019. All profits from sales of the 7-inch will benefit a planned Link Wray Statue in his home state of North Carolina.
Said Dan Auerbach of Wray’s importance, “I saw him play in Cleveland at the Grog Shop, and he blew my mind. To get the chance to put out unreleased songs on Easy Eye Sound is amazing and a dream I never thought was possible.”
The story of “Vernon’s Diamond” is as fascinating as the man himself. During the late months of 1958, Link was in New York for a gig and tracked the song at Broadway Recording Studio which was cut live to 45 acetate disc. The disc sat, unrecognized and gathering dust, on a shelf for 60 years before being recently rediscovered. Keeping with Link’s practice of re-naming versions of his music throughout the years, “A Cook for Mr. General” transformed into “Vernon’s Diamond.” Then, recorded again later, was renamed one more time and became Link’s “Ace of Spades.”
Easy Eye Sound has previously released “Son of Rumble,” Link’s intended but never released follow-up to the song that introduced the world to power chords and intentional distortion. ‘Rumble” itself was recently inducted into the inaugural class of Rock & Roll Singles at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The story of Link Wray sounds like something straight out of a Hollywood movie. In 1937, a boy from the Shawnee Indian tribe was taught guitar by an African American traveling carny named Hambone in the segregated south. In 1953, that boy became a Western Swing musician who played the wake of Hank Williams. By 1956, he was a Korean War Veteran who lost a lung to TB and was told he’d never sing again. Yet, Link Wray spent the next half-century as the only one-lung singer in rock and roll, and laid the foundation for what the genre would become. The impact of Link Wray, placed in the top 50 of Rolling Stone‘s Top 100 Guitarists of All Time, can be heard in generations of American and British metal, punk, garage, grunge, thrash, and psychobilly rockers, all of whom have claimed him and “Rumble” (and follow-ups “Raw-Hide,” “Jack The Ripper,” “Ace of Spades,” and many more) as their own.
Press Photos
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Photo: Perry Shall
