S.O.D. "Rumble" by Link Wray & His Ray Men

3/27/2015     One of the few instrumentals to ever be banned from the airways and one of the first tunes that experimented with distortion, feedback, and power chords.  The song was originally called "Oddball" until Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers suggested the name "Rumble," saying it sounded like a street fight coming through the amplifiers.  The band first introduced the song during a live gig in Fredericksburg, Virginia and the crowd couldn't get enough calling for four repeats, and the band obliged.  The reasoning for the airways ban was that the word "Rumble" referred to a street fight and it was believed that the song would glorify juvenile delinquency.  

     The 1958 blues/rock release was a big hit in the US and also the UK where it was a great influence on The Who and The Kinks.  It would turn out to be influential for many artists, as Jimmy Page stated that the song was the turning point in his life for his love of the guitar.  Bob Dylan once said that it was the best instrumental ever written, Pete Townshend's main reason for ever picking up the guitar was due to "Rumble" and Iggy Pop explained in a 2013 interview with Stephen Colbert that when he first heard the song during high school he immediately and emotionally left school and decided to pursue a career in music.  The song has been used in many social media ports including the films Pulp Fiction and The Warriors.  Link is rated #45 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.