Rock'n'roll pioneer Duane Eddy captured in the 1960s
Duane Eddy was a rock‘n’roll pioneer whose early instrumental hit Rebel Rouser helped shape the sound of music for decades to come. Eddy was born in New York, and grew up in Phoenix, where he began playing guitar at age 5 and dreamt of singing on the Grand Ole Opry. However, his skill as a guitarist won out — ‘‘One of my biggest contributions to the music business is not singing’’ he once joked — and his distinctive ‘‘twanging’’ style earned Eddy a record deal in 1958. Rebel Rouser, his second single, was released later that year and sold more than 1 million copies, reaching six on the charts and propelling his debut album — the Lee Hazlewood produced Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel up to number five. A string of successful releases followed, as well as an acting career, as Eddy sold more than 100 million records worldwide. Beatles Paul McCartney and George Harrison were fans of Eddy and he recorded with both of them after their Beatles’ days. In the 1970s the hits petered out and Eddy began to work behind the scenes in music production. He was still an in-demand session musician though, and played with the likes of Waylon Jennings and the Art of Noise, with whom he enjoyed one last smash hit with their 1986 reworking of Eddy’s cover of Henry Mancini’s Peter Gunn. Duane Eddy died on April 30 aged 86. — Agencies
