Link Wray

Frederick Lincoln "Link" Wray Jr (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was an American rock and roll guitarist, songwriter and vocalist who first came to popularity in the late 1950s.

Building on the overdriven, distorted electric guitar sound of early electric blues records, his 1958 instrumental hit "Rumble" by Link Wray and his Ray Men invented "the power chord, the major modus operandi of modern rock guitarists",[1]  making possible "punk and heavy rock".[2]  Rolling Stone placed Wray at number 45 of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.[3]  In 2013 he was announced as a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.[4]



Contents
[hide]  *1 Early life  ==Early life[ edit] == Wray was born in Dunn, North Carolina, to Fred Lincoln Wray,Sr. and his wife Lillian M. Coats.[5] [6]  Wray frequently spoke of his half Shawnee Indian ancestry in performances and interviews. Three songs he performed were named for American Indian tribes: "Shawnee", "Apache", and "Comanche". "Apache" was an instrumental composed by Jerry Lordan; it was a hit in the United Kingdom for The Shadows in 1960. Wray recorded a cover version 30 years later, when it was also associated withThe Ventures and the Incredible Bongo Band.
 * 2 Career
 * 3 Personal life
 * 4 Legacy
 * 5 Discography
 * 5.1 Singles
 * 5.2 Albums
 * 5.3 Compilation albums
 * 5.4 With Robert Gordon
 * 6 See also
 * 7 References
 * 8 External links

Wray served in the US Army during the Korean War, and contracted tuberculosis, which laid him up in a hospital for a year. His stay concluded with the removal of a lung, which doctors predicted would mean he would never be able to sing again.[7] ==Career<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">After his initial hits, Wray's career had periods of retirement followed by renewed popularity, particularly in Europe. To escape the "trap" of big business involvement in music, he began recording albums using a three-track studio he converted from a chicken shack.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-hisway_7-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[7]

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">While living in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early 1970s, Wray was introduced to Quicksilver Messenger Service guitarist John Cipollina by bassist James Hutchinson.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-8" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[8]  He subsequently formed a band initially featuring special guest Cipollina along with the rhythm section from Cipollina's band Copperhead, bassist Hutch Hutchinson, and drummer David Weber. They opened for the band Lighthouse at The Whisky a Go Goin Los Angeles from May 15–19, 1974.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-9" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[9]  He later did numerous concerts and radio broadcasts in the Bay Area including KSAN (FM) and the Bill Graham venue, Winterland Ballroom, with Les Lizama later replacing Hutchinson on bass.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-10" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[10]  He toured and recorded two albums with retro-rockabilly artist Robert Gordon in the late 1970s.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[11]  The 1980s to the present day saw a large number of reissues as well as new material. One member of his band in the 1980s, drummer Anton Fig, later became drummer in the CBS Orchestra on the Late Show with David Letterman. In 1994, he played on four songs of the album Chatterton by French rockerAlain Bashung.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-Chatterton_booklet_12-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[12] ==Personal life<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Wray's first three marriages—to Elizabeth Canady Wray, Ethel (Kitty) Tidwell Wray, and Sharon Wray—each ended in divorce. He had three children with Kitty: Link Elvis, Belinda, and Mona Kay. Link Elvis in his youth was a small town singer/ guitar player in Maryland. Belinda is a successful artist whose works range from pencil to paintings, in North Carolina. Mona Kay is mainly known in the small town of Sumter, South Carolina, for her singing, along with her son, Jonathan Tidwell, for his dancing, in bars and grills. Although Wray had eight children with his first three wives, he had little contact with any of them after settling in Denmark.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[13]

Wray's grave in the crypt of theChristian's Church, Copenhagen.<p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Wray moved to Denmark in the 1980s after marrying his wife Olive, a Danish student who had been studying Native American culture. He spent his last years on a Danish island, touring frequently. He died of heart failure, at the age of 76, in 2005 at his home in Copenhagen. He was buried in the crypt of the Christian's Church, Copenhagen.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[14] ==Legacy<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">Jack Rose cited Wray as an influence,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[15]  as did Iggy Pop.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[16]  Jimmy Page says that Link Wray had a "real rebel attitude" and credits him in It Might Get Loud as a major influence in his early career. According to Rolling Stone, Peter Townshend of The Who once said, "If it hadn't been for Link Wray and 'Rumble,' I never would have picked up a guitar."

<p style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;">On October 16, 2013, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced Link Wray as a nominee for inclusion in 2014.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-rollingstone.com_4-1" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[4] ==Discography<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;font-family:sans-serif;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] == ===Singles<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === <p style="margin-top:0.5em;line-height:22.399999618530273px;color:rgb(37,37,37);font-family:sans-serif;"><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-The_Great_Rock_Discography_17-0" style="line-height:1;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;">[17] ===Albums<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === ===Compilation albums<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] === ===With Robert Gordon<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select:none;font-size:small;margin-left:1em;line-height:1em;display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;unicode-bidi:-webkit-isolate;"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[ edit<span class="mw-editsection-bracket" style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">] ===