Link Wray & The Wraymen "Slinky!" The Epic Sessions '58-'61 - 2002

Corrals Link’s complete Epic Records output for the 1st time! Slinky! The Epic Sessions, a deluxe double-whammy 2 CD set from Link Wray and the Wraymen - brother Doug on drums, Shorty Horton on bass, and brother Vernon on rhythm guitar and piano - captures their complete raw-hided, fuzz-fueled Epic recordings and some of the raunchiest guitar ever committed to tape! Recorded between late 1958 and early ‘61, our master-tape motherlode features 46 cuts - a whopping 16 previously unissued - including sensational single-sides, album cuts and alternate takes, all with riffs as sharp as a switchblade! - amazonIs there anything else that we really need to say about guitar mauler Link Wray? Quentin Tarantino has nearly made him a household name in the soundtrack realm, while Pete Townsend and Jimmy Page have pledged their undying allegiance over the years, so now even classic rock fans have to begrudgingly give him their due (there could always be more, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame might be nice, considering his all-encompassing influence on every garage band from the late fifties through the present day…). But at some point you have to get back to the essence of the matter. And the essence of this matter are rough Washington D.C. joints like the 1009 Club and Benny’s Rebel Room, stomping grounds where Link and his band the Wraymen crafted and cranked out a soundtrack of tough instrumentals to accompany the booze and brawls.
By the time he signed with Epic Records, Wray had already scored that elusive hit with 1958’s starkly menacing “Rumble,” which sounded like the prelude music to a gang war. The majority of things he’d do in the coming years would have the same power-chord heavy brand of raunch stamped upon them somewhere, but Wray was rarely derivative. His guitar playing was absolutely destructive; he attacked and mangled the strings more than he actually played them and there are plenty of fine examples laid out over this excellent sixty-six track collection, from the Indian-themed “Comanche” to the brakeless rockin’ of “Rawhide.” But if it was his guitar mauling that gave him his well-deserved notoriety, he took the same approach to the rare vocal number. Two of the finest moments of his career are a re-working of Jimmy Reed’s “Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby” and Ray Charles’ “Mary Ann,” both included here in their original, as well as alternate, versions. The Cramps’ Lux Interior seems to have used “Ain’t That Lovin’ You Baby” as a spring board for his entire sound, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Mick Jagger studied the record as well. The instrumental backing is just as ferocious and the guitar solos, are, of course, completely over the top. - Dan Gilbert

trax CD 1:
01 Slinky 02 Mary Ann (alt. take) 03 Right Turn 04 Raw-Hide 05 Ramble 06 Ain't That Lovin' You Baby 07 Caroline 08 Studio Blues 09 Walkin' With Link 10 Dixie-Doodle 11 Radar 12 Oh Babe Be Mine (alt. take) 13 Lillian 14 Comanche 15 Dance Contest 16 Guitar Cha-Cha 17 Rumble Mambo 18 El Toro 19 Comanche (demo) 20 Right Turn (alt.take) 21 Lillian (alt. take) 22 Kiki 23 Moonlight Love
trax CD 2:
01 Handclapper 02 Mary Ann 03 Golden Strings 04 New Studio Blues 05 Rendezvous 06 Trail of the Lonesome Pine 07 Ramble (alt take) 08 Slinky (alt take) 09 Walkin' with Link (alt take) 10 Young and in Love (demo) 11 Stupid Pony 12 Goose Bumps 13 Scool Girl 14 Night Life 15 Slow Drag 16 New Studio Blues (alt take) 17 Golden Strings (demo) 18 Ain't That Lovin' You Baby (alt take) 19 If This is Wrong 20 Oh Babe be Mine 21 Radar (alt take) 22 Tijuana 23 Tenderly