Legendary Rock ‘n’ Roll Guitarist Duane Eddy Passes Away at 86

American guitarist Duane Eddy died of cancer at the age of 86. With his character bold way of playing, he brought a whole new sound to rock ‘n’ roll and inspired generations of collaborators, from George Harrison and The Shadows to Bruce Springsteen.

Eddy can rightly be called the most important rock ‘n’ roll musician of all time. Or: King Twang, because of his distinctive guitar reverb. It was a white raven in music with such instrumental beats Rebel Rouser, Peter Gunn, Cannon ball in Forty miles of bad road.

“Not singing was the most important contribution I made to the music industry,” he once jokingly summed up his influence.

Eddy plays some of his hits:

“Instrumentalists usually never become famous, but Duane Eddy’s electric guitar was a voice unto itself,” the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum said in response to his death. “His sound will forever be in The DNA of country and rock n’ roll.

“Duane inspired a generation of guitarists with his invincibility a ghostsound,” his family said in a statement. “He was the first guitar god of rock ‘n’ roll and he was a very humble and wonderful man. We will miss him.”

Eddy started playing the guitar as a child. Inspired by the singing of cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rodgers, he was soon allowed to play for local radio stations. At the age of nineteen he had a record deal and a small hit with him Moovin’ and Groovin’.

Already in that first sample the bold the playing style he liked best: loose, lazy notes on the low strings with lots of touch. It turned out to be a direct influence: his producer later used the sounds for Nancy Sinatra These Boots Are Made for Walkin’. Californian surf bands also picked up the sound: the Beach Boys clearly adopted its opening riff USA Surfing. Anyway, Eddy had an opening Moovin’ and Groovin’ again from Chuck Berry on loan.

Although Eddy was not directly involved in all of this, he had sixteen top 40 hits in the US between 1958 and 1963, although he did not reach number 1. His sound did not take off in the Netherlands: no ‘ until he reached the charts here later in his career Play Me How You Play Your Guitar (1975) in Because they are young (1980).

When American artists moved through the The British invasion pushed aside, Eddy worked in the 70s and 80s, living off his royalties, mostly behind the scenes. He was the producer of Waylon Jennings, Phil Everly and BJ Thomas. His popularity among musicians became evident in 1987, when his new album was produced by Paul McCartney, Jeff Lynne and Ry Cooder, with contributions from George Harrison and John Fogerty. .

One of the songs from that album, The Tremblerwas used in an Oliver Stone film Natural Born killers. It was the same year Rebel Rouser used for the film Forrest Gump, where the upbeat tune plays as the main character is chased by bullies in a pickup truck. Even the game industry appreciated it: in 2018 Eddy contributed to the soundtrack of the game Wild West Red Dead Redemption II.

Eddy once analyzed that it was the result of his childhood style choice: “I’m definitely not the best player technically, I just sell the best,” he admitted. I chose a signature sound and stuck to it.”