Link Wray Be What You Want To (LP, Ltd.)

LINK WRAY

La De Da

recorded October 1970 at Wray's Shack Three Track, Accokeek, Maryland; Producers: Steve Verroca and Ray Vernon in association with Bob Feldman

with Lincoln 'Link' Wray: vocal/guitars/Dobro/bass; Billy Hodges: piano/organ/ backing vocal; Bobbie Howard: mandolin/piano; Doug Wray: drums/backing vocal; Steve Verroca: percussion/backing vocal

Polydor 24-4064 (LP)

Link Wray played the most important D chord in history: it opened Rumble. Guitarists often remember where they were when they first heard it. Thirteen years later, Wray signed with the newly-launched American division of Polydor, and his back porch sound could almost have emanated from another Link Wray. The extended Wray family was living almost communally on the family farm near Accokeek, Maryland, an hour south of Washington. "Papa started building a chicken coop and a porch on the house," Link told Tom Zito in 1971. "Then he built a room onto the porch, and then another room onto that and pretty soon it was all connected. Ray moved his three-track recorder into one of the rooms and we converted the coop into a studio, but the two were never connected so we still have to yell back and forth, 'Is it running, Ray?' every time we want to start."

 One of Link's steady gigs was at the Two Thieves Club in suburban Maryland. There, he was heard by Steve Verocca, an Italian who'd come to the States in the wake of Volare, an Italian song he claimed to have produced in its original version by Domenico Modungo. "I was overwhelmed by [Link's] music," said Verroca. "Here was a man on-stage singing out his soul, so I asked him about recording an album and he told me about his past experiences, and I suggested we do it at the Shack. I believe the Shack has a soul. You can hear people burping on the record, and that's great. It's real."

When Verroca had no success placing the LP, it was handed to Bob Feldman, who'd been in the Strangeloves and had produced the Angels' My Boyfriend's Back. Feldman had known Link when they were touring together in the late '50s, and was both moved and intrigued by the new record. "Every so often, magic happens," he said. Given the rights for ninety days, he placed the LP with the new American division of Polydor Records. Lyrically, Wray's new songs weren't especially strong, but the funky, organic vibe was compelling. If Rick Nelson's reinvention was still in character; Wray's was a complete 180 degree turn.

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