Welcome to the One Hit Wonders Series on Rock and Roll Flashback! In 2018 the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame introduced a new Singles category. Two of the six songs inducted that year were "Rumble" and "A Whiter Shade of Pale". I'm Jumpin' John, and in this episode I will discuss Link Wray's influential 1958 hit, "Rumble"! I will review "A Whiter Shade of Pale" in a separate podcast episode .
Fred Lincoln Wray, Jr. (whose last name was spelled W-R-A-Y) was born in 1929 in Dunn, North Carolina and grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia. Link Wray's mother was of Shawnee descent, and three songs he performed during his career were named for Indigenous peoples: "Shawnee", "Apache", and "Comanche". Wray served in the U.S. Army for two years during the Korean War, where he lost a lung to tuberculosis. After his hospital discharge he joined his brother Vernon's country and western band, Lucky Wray and the Palomino Ranch Hands. Relocating the band to Washington, D.C., Vernon landed a deal with Starday Records in 1956. After recording a few country singles, in 1957 Vernon Wray was among the first to sign with Philadelphia's Cameo Records. The label's owners tried to market him as a teen idol, changing his name to Ray (spelled R-A-Y) Vernon. Performing as Ray Vernon, he recorded four singles for Cameo, however, it was his younger brother Link who would go on to musical fame. While backing his brother Vernon on those singles, Link on guitar, another brother Doug Wray on drums, and Shorty Horton on bass supported themselves doing local shows as The Ray Men (with Ray spelled R-A-Y). Here is the story behind the song "Rumble" - a song that would ignite Link Wray's career and set a rock benchmark.
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All podcasts on the Rock and Roll Flashback Podcast are produced by brothers-in-law Bill Price and "Jumpin' John" McDermott. The Podcast Theme Song, "You Essay", was written by John. It was initially recorded by Bill and John on April 1, 2004 with several revisions since then.
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