Link Wray "Shadowman" 1997

"... Link Wray has Guitar Legend tattoo-ed across his forehead and has collected drooling rock'n'roll acolytes like others collect stamps...Wray's guitar sets about these songs with ravenous energy... pulsating with a feedback-drenched gusto." - Q (4/97, p.135)The garage-punk guitarist and legendary power chord originator that made the music world shake with the sheer simplistic power of his 1958 instrumental hit "Rumble" returns with his first full-length in years. Traversing all the styles that he actually helped create, Link delivers a 12-song set that serves as a veritable history lesson. Take the rafter-shaking "Rumble On The Docks," the 7-plus-minute reinterpretation of his 1958 classic, or the new garage gems "Geronimo" and "Night Prowler." Wray's signature volcanic distortion, shimmering tremolo and reverb-drenched riffs prove that time does wait for some men. It just takes a while for everyone else to catch up. SHADOWMAN also puts Link in front the mic once again. Unlike his Polygram material (which tends to be hit or miss), here Link assembles a vast array of songs that, although pulled from every corner of his universe, fit within the framework of the album. His psycho-billy cover of "Heartbreak Hotel," a venomous version of John Fogerty's "Run Through The Jungle" that The Cramps would kill for, and the high lonesome sound of his take on Hank Williams' "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)" show the many sides of a 68-year old rock veteran. With the roar of the opening track, "Rumble On the Docks," the 68-year-old rock & roll guitar legend proves he's back in a big way. Backed up by a spartan bass and drums rhythm section, Link comes to the plate here with nine new originals in his classic, abrasive style, along with covers of John Fogerty's "Run Through the Jungle," "Heartbreak Hotel" and Hank Williams' "I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You)." On "Timewarp / Brain Damage," the recasts the old lick from "Rawhide" in a new speed metal version, and with an album split fairly evenly between his raw vocals and bone-crunching guitar, this album is his most cohesive in years. While other artists from the '50s attempt to move into country or easy listening, Wray's style hasn't altered one bit over the intervening years, and this one finds him kicking and clawing his way into the next century. ~ Cub Koda, All Music GuidePersonnel:
Link Wray (guitar, vocals); Eric "Danno" Greevers (bass, organ); Rob Louwers (drums)

trax:
01 Rumble on the Docks 02 Heartbreak Hotel 03 Geronimo 04 Young Love 05 Moped Baby 06 Run Through the Jungle 07 I Can't Help It (If I'm Still in Love With You) 08 Night Prowler 09 It Was So Easy 10 Timewarp / Spider 11 Listen to the Drums 12 Shadowman