Link Wray dead at 76

Guitarist Link Wray, who died last month in Copenhagen, Denmark at the age of 76, isn't necessarily a household word with oldies fans, but he should be, and not just because he scored a hit with the 1958 instrumental "Rumble," which stands as one of the greatest guitar instrumentals of all time. (Younger music fans may know the song from its inclusion in the film "Pulp Fiction.") That groundbreaking song proved amazingly influential, one of the first to feature what guitarists call the "power chord." That innovation, along with Wray's pioneering use of feedback and distortion, have made him a hero to surf, punk, hard rock, and heavy metal guitarists alike.

Ironically, "Rumble" -- a title which led to the song being banned on many radio stations at the time for fear of inciting gang violence -- wasn't originally called that at all. While playing a date with the group The Diamonds at a sock hop in Virginia, Wray was asked to fill in on the group's big recent hit, "The Stroll." Wray didn't know it, so he improvised, and the result -- then named "Oddball" -- was so popular he decided to record it for Cadence Records. The record label's owner wasn't fond of it, but his daughter, who thought it reminded her of "West Side Story" fight scenes, loved it. Hence, "Rumble."

Once he'd poked holes in the studio speakers with a pencil, he got the distortion he wanted, and a generation of guitar players paid swift attention. George Harrison, Neil Young, and Steve Van Zandt have long sung his praises; Pete Townshend of the Who, a man who many feel brought the power chord into its full rock glory in the late Sixties, cited him as a primary influence, and even Bob Dylan has referred to "Rumble" the greatest instrumental of all time. Wray was buried at Copenhagen's Christian Church and is survived by his wife and a son.