Andrés Cárdenas

🎵 Listened to Link Wray by ·

By the time this self-titled album was released in 1971, Link Wray, of Shawnee roots, have had his breakthrough instrumental “Rumble” banned from radio, gone through one or two odysseys running for his life escaping the Ku Klux Klan, had one of his lungs removed after serving in the Korean War and of course, had been credited with inventing the power chord.

On this album he brings the sound that built his reputation as a raw, bluesy, and hard-hitting rock ’n’ roller and mixes it flawlessly with a bunch of Americana styles, including some “preachy” bits that perhaps did the man no favors as the album didn’t do well commercially or critically.

But the same soulful displays in songs like God Out West and Ice People are what I personally enjoy the most, the whole album and Link Wray’s catalog leave me wondering: Why isn’t the work of such a legendary figure in Rock more recognized?