B-side "The Swag" Format 7" Genre Rock and roll | Released April 1958 Recorded 1954 Length 2:25 | |
"Rumble" is an instrumental by Link Wray & His Ray Men. Originally released in April 1958 as a single with "The Swag" as a B-side and recorded in 1954, "Rumble" utilized the techniques of distortion and feedback, then largely unexplored in rock and roll. The piece is one of very few instrumental singles banned from the radio airwaves. It is also one of the first tunes to use the power chord, the "major modus operandi of the modern rock guitarist".
Contents
History
At a live gig in Fredericksburg, Virginia, 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 live audience, which demanded four repeats that night.
Eventually the instrumental came to the attention of record producer Archie Bleyer of Cadence Records, who hated it, particularly after Wray poked holes in his amplifier's speakers to make the recording sound more like the live version. But Bleyer's stepdaughter loved it, so he released it despite his misgivings. Phil Everly heard it and suggested the title "Rumble", as it had a rough sound and said it sounded like a street fight.
It was banned in several 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. It became a hit in the United States, where it climbed to number 16 on the charts in the summer of 1958. Bob Dylan once referred to it as "the best instrumental ever". The Dave Clark Five covered it in 1964 on their first album, A Session with The Dave Clark Five; it also appeared on their second American album, The Dave Clark Five Return!.
An updated version of the instrumental was released by Wray in 1969 as "Rumble '69" (Mr. G Records, G-820).
Influence
The 1980 Adam and the Ants song "Killer in the Home", from their Kings of the Wild Frontier album, is based on the same refrain that is featured in "Rumble" (Ants guitarist Marco Pirroni has cited Link Wray as a major influence).
The piece is popular in various entertainment media. It has been used in movies, documentaries, television shows, and elsewhere, including Top Gear, The Warriors (in the deleted opening scene), Pulp Fiction, Independence Day, SpongeBob SquarePants vs. The Big One, Blow, the pilot episode of the acclaimed HBO series The Sopranos, Starcraft II, Riding Giants, and Roadracers.
In the documentary It Might Get Loud, guitarist Jimmy Page (of Led Zeppelin) pulls out a 45 RPM single of Rumble, plays it, and describes it as a turning point in his own love of the guitar.
In an interview with Stephen Colbert on April 29, 2013, Iggy Pop stated that he "left school emotionally" at the moment he first heard "Rumble" at the student union, leading him to pursue music as a career.
Heavy metal band Integrity covered "Rumble" on their European tour in 2013 as a tribute to Link Wray.
Experimental hip-hop group Death Grips sampled "Rumble" in their track "Spread Eagle Cross the Block" from their Exmilitary mixtape in 2011.