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elcome to the Digital Meltd0wn Music Blog. The aim of this blog is to introduce the readers to music that is out of print, commercially unavailable, released under a creative commons license, or with approval by the featured artist. The majority of the music posted here would be considered underground. Don't let that fool you into thinking that the music featured here might be any less enjoyable than that of the mainstream artists you hear on the radio, as this couldn't be further from the truth. Please keep in mind that the majority of the artists that appear on this blog, along with their respective record labels, are not wealthy and need your support. If you enjoy the material that you find here, please support the artists/labels by purchasing their material afterwards. If you are an artist/label that would prefer to have your material removed from this blog, simply leave me a comment, and I would be more than happy to promptly remove the offending post. In addition to running this blog, I also work on a few other projects during my spare time. You can find links to those, as well as a few other important links associated with Digital Meltd0wn in the menu bar above.

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Link Wray - Rumble! The Best of Link Wray


Link Wray was a rock and roll guitar player most noted for introducing a new sound for electric guitars in his major hit, the 1958 instrumental "Rumble", which is considered by many to be the best rock instrumental of all time. Before Rumble, electric guitars were used to produce clean sounds and jazz chords. Wray made a new sound by inventing fuzz-tone, adding feedback, distortion and noise. Link Wray invented the power chord, the major modus operandi of modern rock guitarists. Listen to any of the tracks he recorded between that landmark instrumental in 1958 through his Swan recordings in the early '60s and you'll hear the blueprints for heavy metal, punk, thrash, you name it. Though rock historians always like to draw a nice, clean line between the distorted electric guitar work that fuels early blues records to the late-'60s Hendrix-Clapton-Beck-Page-Townshend mob, with no stops in between, a quick spin of any of the sides Wray recorded during his golden decade punches holes in that theory right quick. If a direct line can be traced forward from a black blues musician crankin' up his amp and playing with a ton of violence and aggression to a young white guy doing a mutated form of same, the line points straight to Link Wray, no contest. Pete Townshend summed it up for more guitarists than he probably realized when he said, "He is the king; if it hadn't been for Link Wray and "'Rumble,'" I would have never picked up a guitar."

Track List:
1. Rumble
2. The Swag
3. Raw-hide
4. Dixie-doodle
5. Rumble
6. Ain't That Loving You Baby
7. Jack The Ripper
8. The Black Widow
9. Big City After Dark
10. Run Chicken Run
11. The Shadow Knows
12. Deuces Wild
13. Hang On
14. Ace Of Spades
15. I'm Branded
16. Batman Theme
17. Climbing A High Wall
18. Switchblade
19. Hidden Charms
20. Jack The Ripper (Live Version)

Download: Link Wray - Rumble! The Best of Link Wray
Download Size: 68MB

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do not have much to comment, but a big THANKS is better than any comments; so THANKS!!!

Slobodan Burgher said...

I have a comment actually; since this morning every time I click on the link it says "Upload in progress". Am I stooopid or something or is it the wrong link?

I need this record!!!

:)

Anonymous said...

Fuck Damn Shit... Me too wants this.. that fuckin "Upload In Progress" has going on whole day... something is wrong with the link i guess...

Anonymous said...

Yes yes yes I got the "upload in progress" too... So I think that Mr. Digital MeltdOwn is uploading the file ! Just wait and see.

Zer0_II said...

The file is up now. I apologize for the wait time, but my computer froze up three different times while I was trying to upload it. Enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Along with Dick Dale, one of the woefully underappreciated axemen of the early sixties. Thanks for sharing.

napsmear said...

Excellent..i love stuff like this...Duane Eddy,..Davie Allan...The Ventures...Dick Dale..
Link Wray & His Raymen..it all rules

Slobodan Burgher said...

Hear hear! Thank you SIR! Have a great weekend.

Anonymous said...

Link Wray is the reason were all here now isn't it . i mean really he started it all folks everything mean and nasty about rock n roll started with Link Wray and his Wraymen. can you believe this man and work is not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. what the fuck is wrong with this world? BRANDONIO!

Zer0_II said...

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a joke in my opinion. The Real Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is in our hearts..

Anonymous said...

hey amigo!
thanks a lot for this record. the riffs are terrific!i appreciate your efforts very much!!!

a dios

pancho villa

Anonymous said...

Sorry to bother you but any chance this could be uploaded again please. Link appears to be dead. Great blog by the way, thanks!!

Anonymous said...

Any chance for a re-upload please, link appears to be dead. Great blog thanks!!

Anonymous said...

Thank you very much!!!! Rock 'n' Roll

Dualtrack said...

Link Wray has cache that is tough to put a finger on. He's cool in a way that few other guitarists ever could have hoped to be. I have half of this stuff from a Canadian bootleg CD but I'm guessing this is the real deal, with Rhino/Warner Bros behind it.

Thanks so much for this share, it's about as cool as cool is ever going to get.