Link Wray - Rumble - 11/19/1974

Link Wray - Rumble - 11/19/1974

"Rumble" is an instrumental by American group Link Wray & His Wray Men. Released in the United States on March 31, 1958, as a single (with "The Swag" as a B-side), "Rumble" utilized the techniques of distortion and tremolo, then largely unexplored in rock and roll.

In 2018, the song was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a new category for singles.[5]
History

At a live gig in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in early 1958, while attempting to work up a backing for The Diamonds' "The Stroll", Link Wray & His Ray Men came up with the instrumental "Rumble", which they originally called "Oddball". It was an instant hit with the audience, which demanded four repeats that night.[6] The host of the sock hop, disc jockey Milt Grant, paid for the song to be recorded and released as a single; in turn, Grant would receive songwriting credit.[7][8]

Eventually the instrumental came to the attention of record producer Archie Bleyer of Cadence Records, who hated it, particularly after Wray poked a pencil through the speaker cone of his amplifier to make the recording sound more like the live version.[9][10] But Bleyer's stepdaughter loved it, so he released it despite his misgivings.[11] Phil Everly heard it and suggested the title "Rumble", as it had a rough sound and said it sounded like a street fight.[10]

It was banned in several US radio markets, because the term 'rumble' was a slang term for a gang fight, and it was feared that the piece's harsh sound glorified juvenile delinquency.[10] The record is the only instrumental single ever banned from radio in the United States.[12][13]