Duane Eddy Albums (10)
What The Critics Say
Twangin' the Golden Hits is a deceptive title -- it suggests that the album contains nothing but Eddy's greatest hits. Well, it contains one great hit -- "Rebel Rouser" -- in a re-recorded version. The rest of the album is Eddy tackling rock instrumental hits like "Rumble," "Honky Tonk," "Raunchy" and "Tequila," as well as smooth pop instrumentals like "Last Date," "Theme from 'A Summer Place, '" "The River Kwai March" and "More (Theme from 'Mondo Cane')." It's a weird mix, but it is often entertaining, even if it isn't memorable. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Water Skiing is a full-throttle surf-rock record, and it only makes sense that Eddy tackles that style, since his endless echo was a catalyst for surf-rockers. Almost all of the songs on the album are originals, including the ingenious ripoff "Whip Off." There's nothing really memorable on the album, but all of the songs are opportunities for Eddy to simply play, and he plays very, very well -- enough to make the album worthwhile for most serious Eddy fans. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Twistin' & Twangin' is in the same vein as Dance with the Guitar Man, but it isn't quite as entertaining, mainly because everything has the same twist beat and is tied into the twist craze -- all but one song has "twist" in the title (even "I'm Walkin'" was retitled "Walkin' N' Twistin'"). Still, there are some fun moments to be had before the concept wears itself out, and it's a reasonably entertaining record, even if it is padded with filler. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Twangy Guitar, Silky Strings'
Release Date 1/1/1962
Tracks 12
Label RCA Victor
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Lee Hazlewood produced Twangy Guitar, Silky Strings, and he helped create a wonderfully lush, majestic sound that allowed Eddy to showcase his romantic side. The twangy guitar can get a little samey, but it's never incongruous on this gem of a record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
'Have 'Twangy' Guitar-Will Travel'
Release Date 1/1/1958
Tracks 15
Label Jamie
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Duane Eddy's debut album, Have 'Twangy' Guitar-Will Travel, was a good value by the standards of the era, with several of his early hits and favorites ("Rebel Rouser," "Cannonball," "Ramrod," "Movin' and Groovin'," and "Three-30-Blues ") included. Many of the songs, though, appear on whatever greatest-hits anthology you're likely to pick up; Rhino's Twang Thang, for instance, has no less than nine of the 12 tracks. The 1999 CD reissue (which is in stereo) adds three 1958 B-sides that aren't always likely to show up on anthologies -- "Up and Down," "The Walker," and "Mason-Dixon Line" -- as well as historical liner notes. The album was also issued on a two-fer CD by Motown, teamed with the 1960 album $1,000,000 Worth of Twang. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Duane Eddy's second LP contained just one hit, "Yep," although "Peter Gunn" would enter the Top 40 when it was issued later in 1960. Unlike his debut Have "Twangy" Guitar Will Travel, it was not built around singles with a few songs to stretch it to album length, with all of the songs (except "Yep") being recorded in a week. Give Eddy this much credit: at a time when virtually all rock & roll LPs were hasty, knocked-together jobs, he did at least try to vary the program. There were slow blues ("Only Child"), pop standards (Rodgers & Hart's "Lover"), a rather long jazzy workout ("Quiniela"), original material in the mold of his hits, sax-driven R&B (a cover of Noble "Thin Man" Watts' "Hard Times"), and poppy stuff with strings and wordless female backup vocals that sounded like themes for B-movie westerns ("Along the Navajo Trail"). It still added up to a pretty inconsequential instrumental album in which the hits ("Peter Gunn" and "Yep") boasted much more arresting hooks than the surrounding tunes. Eddy sounds like he's tearing a page from Les Paul's book on "Lover," with its very atypical (for Eddy) arrangement of hyper-fast guitar licks. The 2000 CD reissue has five previously unreleased bonus tracks, but all of these are in fact alternates: "Some Kinda Earthquake" (a hit single recorded at the sessions but held off the album) and "Only Child" with alternate overdubs, take one of "Yep," "St. James" (actually a retitled version of "Quiniela"), and an undubbed version of "First Love, First Tears," a ballad that was also held off the LP. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
