Link Wray Albums (16)
'White Lightning: Lost Cadence Sessions '58'
Release Date 10/17/2006
Tracks 18
Label Sundazed
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What The Critics Say
Link Wray's huge rattling guitar sound was partially due to various health problems. A childhood bout with measles left him partially deaf so that when he took up the guitar he had to play the instrument extremely loud to hear it properly. Then as a young man he contracted TB and lost a lung, which meant he couldn't sing, so he turned to guitar instrumentals as his musical stock in trade. But Wray was no typical 1950s guitar player. His relentless search for edgier, dirtier guitar tones made him the Godfather of modern rock guitar, and his rumbling, careening and decidedly electric guitar playing still sounds stunningly alive and fresh even five decades on from his first recordings. The song that jump-started Wray's recording career, the left-field instrumental "Rumble," was released by Archie Bleyer's Cadence Records in 1955, and even though Bleyer had nothing but disgust for Wray's sound and approach, he set him up in Edgewood Studio in Washington, D.C. to record material for a projected LP, finally dropping Wray's contract altogether early in 1959, and then shelved the master tapes from the D.C. sessions. Wray went on to sign with Epic Records and further refine (a word that doesn't seem to fit comfortably in a sentence with the name Link Wray) his cone-rattling guitar sound, and all concerned forgot about the Cadence album sessions. Now nearly fifty years later, and a year after Wray's death, Sundazed has finally released them. It would be wonderful to say that White Lightning: Lost Cadence Sessions '58 comprises a lost masterpiece, but that isn't the case. This is the sound of a young and innovative guitar player trying to find his way, but falling just short of finding it. There are flashes of vintage Wray here, certainly, including the intriguing "Pancho Villa" (re-recorded for Epic as "Guitar Cha-Cha"), an early version of "Rawhide," and a kinetic take on Duane Eddy's classic "Rebel Rouser," but most of the tracks feel more like sketches than completed takes, and Wray's trademark ear-blasting guitar tone is seldom present, although one can sense it just around the corner. Truthfully, Wray was a victim of the day's technology at these sessions. Guitars then were manufactured to deliver a clean, clear sound, as were amplifiers, and certainly recording engineers and studios were geared to eliminate anything that popped the needle into the red, and in the red was exactly where Wray was trying to go. It wasn't until Wray and his brother Vernon took over their own production that Wray was actually able to finally realize the sound he was after. In the end, White Lightning is an important historical recording but it doesn't really add much to Wray's body of work beyond revealing a starting point. ~ Steve Leggett, All Music Guide
'Walking Down a Street Called Love'
Release Date 5/13/1997
Tracks 18
Label Cleopatra
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What The Critics Say
With the roar of the opening track, "Rumble On the Docks," the 68-year-old rock & roll guitar legend proves he's back in a big way. Backed up by a spartan bass and drums rhythm section, Link comes to the plate here with nine new originals in his classic, abrasive style, along with covers of John Fogerty's "Run Through the Jungle," "Heartbreak Hotel" and Hank Williams' "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)." On "Timewarp/Brain Damage," the recasts the old lick from "Rawhide" in a new speed metal version, and with an album split fairly evenly between his raw vocals and bone-crunching guitar, this album is his most cohesive in years. While other artists from the '50s attempt to move into country or easy listening, Wray's style hasn't altered one bit over the intervening years, and this one finds him kicking and clawing his way into the next century. ~ Cub Koda, All Music Guide
'Born to Be Wild: Live in the U.S.A. 1987'
Release Date 9/5/1994
Tracks 15
Label Line
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What The Critics Say
A good collection of 15 of Link Wray's lesser-known early cuts. Everything's been reissued elsewhere, though; most of the ones on this album appear on the double-CD Mr. Guitar. ~ Richie Unterberger, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Link Wray plays Bob Dylan here, backed up by guys who used to back up Bob Dylan, or maybe it is just a rhythm section that sounds like a Dylan rhythm section during an era when listeners complained about his rhythm sections. For Wray to play "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is a guitar dream, in a way, elaborately sketched over more than five minutes but marred by overdone production touches. The track combines nicely with a selection of terse Wray originals -- "Snag," "Wild Party" -- and a "Switchblade" that was apparently pulled out of the group's collective pocket. If this album lacks in any way, it is not as if everyone involved wasn't trying hard to make a great Link Wray record, most of all the wonderful guitarist himself. It's just that other configurations, a more raw approach, and definitely no background vocalists would make for a more enjoyable outing. ~ Eugene Chadbourne, All Music Guide
