Link Wray

Fred Lincoln 'Link' Wray Jr (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was a rock and roll guitar player most noted for introducing a new sound for electric guitars in his major hit, the 1958 instrumental "Rumble", by Li

Fred Lincoln 'Link' Wray Jr (May 2, 1929 – November 5, 2005) was a rock and roll guitar player most noted for introducing a new sound for electric guitars in his major hit, the 1958 instrumental "Rumble", by Link Wray and his Ray Men. Before Rumble, electric guitars were used to produce clean sounds and jazz chords. Wray made a new sound by inventing fuzz-tone, adding feedback, distortion and noise. He also pioneered the power chord.

Wray was born in Dunn, North Carolina. It was there that Link first heard slide guitar at age 8 from a black player named "Hambone". Link and his family later moved to Norfolk, Virginia as his father got work in the Navy shipyards. His family later moved to Washington DC, and from there they moved to a farm in Accokeek, Maryland. After moving with his parents to Arizona, Wray joined the US Army and entertained the troops on the American Forces Network in Germany.