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Dwayne Eddy, the rock and roll guitarist who achieved solo fame with a string of instrumental hits in the late 1950s and early 1960s, including Rebel Rouser and the theme to the TV series Peter Gunn, has died aged 86.
The Grammy-winning artist died of cancer surrounded by his family at Williamson Health Hospital near his home in Franklin, Tenn., said his wife, Deed Abbott. Associated Press.
“Dwayne inspired a generation of guitarists around the world with his inimitable signature ‘Twang’ sound,” a representative said in a statement. “He was the first rock and roll guitar god, a truly humble and incredible human being. He will be greatly missed.”
With his distinctive rhythm sound, shouts and handclaps, and the principle that the lower strings of a guitar sound better on a recording than the higher ones, Eddie helped establish a “soundy” rock ‘n’ roll sound that inspired future guitarists from George Harrison to Bruce Springsteen.
He had 16 top 40 singles between 1958 and 1963 – almost single-handedly establishing himself as a rock ‘n’ roll guitar star.
“Instrumentalists usually don’t get famous. But Dwayne Eddy’s electric guitar was a voice of its own,” said Kyle Young, CEO of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, in a statement to Diversity. “His voice was muscular and masculine, raspy and hard. Dwayne scored more than 30 hits on the pop charts. But more importantly, his style inspired thousands of hill cats and downtown rockers—the Ventures, George Harrison, Steve Earle, Bruce Springsteen, Marty Stewart, to name a few—to learn how to growl and touch people to the core them Duane Eddy’s sound will forever be sewn into the fabric of country and rock and roll.”
Born on April 26 in Corning, New York, Eddie began playing guitar at the age of five. He began appearing on local radio shows as a child, his guitar style largely shaped by singing cowboys Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, as well as musicians Les Paul, Chet Atkins and Merle Travis.
After moving to Arizona at the age of 13, Eddie connected with a friend, Jimmy Delbridge, to perform in local shows. They were scouted by aspiring producer Lee Hazelwood, who went on to record Eddie’s first solo single, Movin’ n’ Groovin’, in 1957, when Eddie was 19. Hazelwood and Eddie developed the distinctive “twang” style that Hazelwood later -later adapted Nancy Sinatra’s 1960 Big Hit “These Boots Are Made for Walkin'”.
Although his chart success waned during the British Invasion of the mid-1960s, Eddie’s style had an immediate impact on future musicians, including Harrison and Hank Marvin of the Shadows. His music lives on, however, through use in more than 30 films and television shows over the years. He only hit the charts in 1986 with a remake of his 1960 Peter Gunn song by British band The Art of Noise.
Eddie recorded over 50 albums in his lifetime, including reissues, most of them before his retirement in the mid-1980s. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.
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