Duane Eddy, rock 'n' roll pioneer renowned for his echo-laden twanging guitar sound – obituary

Eddy achieved great success with popular songs such as Rebel Rouser, Forty Miles of Bad Road, Peter Gunn, (Dance with the) Guitar Man, Because They’re Young and Shazam!

Duane Eddy, a renowned musician, passed away just days after turning 86. He was known for his unique, gritty guitar instrumentals that had a subtle quality to them. During the pre-Beatles era, Eddy had a string of hits including Rebel Rouser (1958), Forty Miles of Bad Road (1959), Peter Gunn (1960), and (Dance With The) Guitar Man (1962). These hits helped him become the best-selling instrumentalist in the history of rock music.

Eddy was well known for his distinctive musical style that involved heavily reverberating low notes and short, abrupt melodies. When asked about the technicalities behind his sound, he struggled to provide a clear explanation. He stumbled upon his trademark "twang" while facing the challenge of composing an instrumental piece.

Eddy remembered, "I decided to be innovative and write something with varying tones. This is how my initial tune, Movin' 'n' Groovin', came to be. It had a mixture of highs and lows, and I was curious about how it would turn out. I didn't have high hopes for it, as it was mainly an experiment."

I discovered that the low notes sounded better when recorded and I realized that I could sing more powerfully on those notes. So, I decided to include more low notes in my music, and we added some echo effects to enhance the sound. Later on, when recording Rebel Rouser, I experimented with using tremolo and it became my trademark sound and style. It worked so well that I decided to stick with it and make it my signature sound.

Although Eddy may not have been one of the top musicians in popular music as an instrumentalist, he did experience a few successful returns to the music scene. These were made possible by devoted fans such as George Harrison and Paul McCartney, as well as a fresh British manager named Richard Hawley, who is a guitarist and singer-songwriter from Sheffield.

Back in the day, Eddy was quite the big deal in Britain. He came over for his first tour in 1960 and was crushing it with three singles on the British charts, plus he landed an acting gig in a teenage film called Because They’re Young. On the fateful night of President Kennedy’s assassination, Eddy was getting ready to perform in Bournemouth.

Despite his career slowing down during the rise of Merseybeat, Eddy made a comeback in the 1970s with his unexpected hit, Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar (1975), which reached the Top 10 charts in Britain. While some of his counterparts faded into obscurity, Eddy matured gracefully from a youthful and dapper-looking rocker to a bearded, portly man in a black hat - all while maintaining his cool sound.

Duane Eddy, who was the oldest among his two siblings, was brought into this world on April 26, 1938, in Corning, New York. He developed an interest in playing the guitar when he was just five years old and became involved with local radio at the tender age of 10. His passion for country music grew significantly after his family relocated to Tucson, Arizona, to avoid the harsh cold weather in 1951, when Duane was 13 years old.

Duane's mother and father were named Alberta Evelyn and Lloyd. Lloyd initially worked as a bread van driver before being promoted to manage a Safeway supermarket branch. This caused the family to move to Coolidge, where Duane started attending Coolidge High School. However, he ended up leaving the school before finishing three years there.

Duane created a recording that was aired on a nearby radio station and was listened to by another musician named Jimmy Delbridge. As they began to participate in community dances together, Eddy adopted a personalized Chet Atkins-style Gretsch guitar that would ultimately become recognized as his personal instrument.

When Eddy was playing with his band, the Rebels, a disc-jockey named Lee Hazlewood (who later became a prominent figure in the music industry and sang songs with Nancy Sinatra) listened to them. After that, Hazlewood organized their gigs in amateur shows and released some records within their locality.

Lester Sill facilitated the funds to produce four songs with Hazlewood. As a result, Hazlewood allowed Eddy and the Rebels to be signed with Jamie Records, a new record label based in Philadelphia.

In the beginning of 1958, Eddy produced his first successful single called Movin' 'n' Groovin', which had a unique and recognizable twangy sound. Soon after, he released another single with Stalkin' on the A-side and Rebel Rouser on the B-side. This combination of music included enthusiastic handclaps and yells, along with honking saxophones and moody guitar reverberation. The tracks were recorded in an unusual way using an improvised echo-chamber - an empty water-tank with a microphone on one end and a speaker on the other.

Despite being featured on Dick Clark's American Bandstand TV show multiple times, Stalkin' only gained popularity once Clark played its B-side. Teenagers loved it so much that it climbed to No 6 on the charts in the US and No 19 in the UK. Eddy's subsequent hits, such as Ramrod and Cannonball (both released in 1958), followed a similar pattern to the success of Stalkin'.

The beginning of Eddy's story is quite interesting. He was waiting in line to watch a movie and overheard two Texans playfully teasing each other about their preference in women. One of them described a woman as having a very unattractive face, comparing it to "40 miles of bad road". In 1959, Eddy released a single with the same name which surprisingly reached No. 9 in the US and No. 11 in the UK. Right around the same time, he debuted with his album Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel which rose to No. 6 in the album charts.

The recordings were produced in Phoenix, however, some session musicians located in Los Angeles were added in at times. Delbridge withdrew from the group, and the Rebels were fortunate enough to acquire the talented saxophonist, Steve Douglas, who later became one of the most in-demand session musicians (especially with Phil Spector, the Beach Boys, and even toured with Bob Dylan in 1978), and the pianist, Larry Knechtel (who eventually played in Simon and Garfunkel's Bridge Over Troubled Water, and with one of the famous groups of the 70s, Bread).

Eddy created a popular tune by chance with his rendition of Henry Mancini's Peter Gunn theme, used in the TV series of the same name. He recorded it as the last track to complete an album in 1959. However, it unexpectedly became a hit in Australia when released as a single. Its success overseas led to its release in Europe, where it rose to number 6 on the charts in the UK. Finally, 18 months later, it reached American audiences.

In a different tune entitled "Because They're Young," which reached No. 2 in the UK in 1960, Eddy played alongside renowned jazz artists such as drummer Shelly Manne, bassist "Red" Callender, and guitarists Barney Kessel and Howard Roberts. Although Eddy held his own, the inclusion of lavish string arrangements while he was on tour transformed the piece into something better suited for a hackneyed Western film than the adolescent flick in which it was featured.

This year, Eddy led a group that included Bobby Darin, Clyde McPhatter, and Emile Ford on a tour around the UK. During this time, their hits “Shazam!” and “The ‘Twang’s’ The ‘Thang’” both reached high spots on the charts - No. 4 and No. 2, respectively. Additionally, readers of the New Musical Express selected Eddy as the top global musical figure in the magazine's yearly survey.

When Eddy switched to the RCA label in 1962, he produced a rendition of The Ballad of Palladin, originally composed for the Western TV show Have Gun - Will Travel, in which he had made various appearances. Additionally, he acted in the subpar Western film titled A Thunder of Drums in 1961.

One of his most popular songs was the track called "Guitar Man" (also released in 1962). This song became his third million-selling hit and made it to No. 4 on the British charts. However, many of Eddy's greatest works during this time were never officially released. Among them were some recordings where he collaborated with another guitarist named James Burton. Burton was also known for enhancing much of Elvis Presley's music during the 1970s.

After The Beatles rose to fame, Eddy had to play in smaller venues and his music became more associated with the past. Additionally, he released an album that was only available in Japan. But in 1973, Eddy produced Phil Everly's album called Star Spangled Springer. Two years later, he released a catchy new single called Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar, written by British writer and producer Tony Macaulay. The song became a hit, reaching No.9 in the UK.

Once more, Eddy disappeared from the public eye, and a handful of impressive collaborations featuring Ry Cooder on guitar, Don Randi on piano, and Jim Keltner on drums were never officially released in the early 1980s. After being away for 15 years, Eddy resurfaced in 1983 for a live performance at Randi's Baked Potato club in Los Angeles, which led to a tour across America.

It was quite uncommon when he collaborated with the techno-pop band The Art of Noise in 1986 to create a fresh rendition of Peter Gunn. The song performed quite well, reaching the 8th spot on the UK charts. Eddy took advantage of this success by performing the song on televised programs such as Top of the Pops and The Tube on Channel 4. Additionally, the song won a Grammy award for the best rock instrumental.

Duane Eddy, his first album in America in 20 years, was made with the assistance of Paul McCartney and George Harrison. They started off by humming a melody that was taught to them by Ravi Shankar, Eddy's previous sitar teacher. Then, Eddy contributed a part of his own to complete the track, which was named "The Trembler". This collaboration is considered to be one of the more unusual pairings in popular music history.

The year 1994 saw the utilization of this in the movie called Natural Born Killers directed by Oliver Stone.

During one particular year, a song called "Eddy's Rebel Rouser" appeared in the popular movie Forrest Gump. Additionally, the musician who created this song, Eddy, was recognized for his contributions to the music industry when he was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Mayor of Nashville, a city in the United States, also honored Eddy by labeling him the "Titan of Twang" in 2000. Flash-forward to 2012, and Eddy released his latest album, called Road Trip. This project was produced by a new manager, Richard Hawley, and it marked the first time Eddy had released any new music in 15 years.

Eddy stated that there are two categories of guitarists; those who have honed their abilities to the extent that they can perform effortlessly in any genre, and individuals such as himself. He confessed that he was never one to spontaneously join a musical get-together. Instead, he found a distinctive sound that he specialized in; the renowned twangy guitar sound, and he adhered to it.

After his passing, his wife Deed, a son, and a daughter from his initial marriage to Carol Puckett, as well as a daughter from his subsequent marriage to country singer Jessi Colter (who then wed Waylon Jennings), have all survived him.

Duane Eddy passed away on April 30, 2024, at the age of 86. He was born on April 26, 1938.