DUANE EDDY INTERVIEW #1
(Originally aired on October 23, 2008)
Eddy is the architect of the twangy, reverb-drenched low-string riffage that remains as vital today as it was when he introduced it with "Moovin' N' Groovin'," his 1958 debut single. "Rebel Rouser" — his second single — became a Top 20 hit and launched his career. His first album, Have Twangy Guitar Will Travel, contained four instrumentals that reached into Billboard's Hot 100 chart. The album itself stayed on the Billboard charts for 82 weeks—an amazing feat for an instrumental guitarist.
In the late '50s and early '60s, Duane Eddy had a string of hits that established him as the king of twang, and ultimately put him in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Those who have drawn inspiration from Eddy's pioneering electric tones include Hank Marvin of the Shadows, The Ventures, Mark Knopfler, George Harrison, film composer Ennio Morricone (who scored many of Sergio Leone's spaghetti western classics, including The Good, The Bad And The Ugly), Twin Peaks composer Angelo Badalamenti and Portishead.
In our exclusive feature, excerpted from a 2004 interview, Eddy explains about how he and producer Lee Hazelwood developed the guitar sounds in the groundbreaking "Rebel Rouser."