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22 The Nashville Musician January-March 2009 Duane Eddy brought the guitar out front in R&R Today’s Duane Eddy. By WALT TROTT Duane Eddy’s roots are country, though best known for single-note melodic, guitar-driven instrumental rockers like “Rebel Rouser.” Eddy plays the Feb. 12 Cecil Scaife Scholarship fund-raising concert at the historic Ryman Auditorium, conducted as the second annual Music City Tribute to Elvis Presley. “I liked country music and Elvis did, too,” insists the King of Twang. In retrospect, the artist’s instrumental rockers would likely fall into the contemporary country category now, and in fact some did chart as such in his heyday. No less than Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty calls Duane a Guitar God, standing tall among those Eddy’s influenced, notably Beatle George Harrison, The Who’s John Entwistle and ELO’s Jeff Lynne. “I guess I was the first rock musician to do an instrumental record and become an artist with a guitar who didn’t sing to make a hit single,” grins Eddy, noting that was rather revolutionary in the infancy of rock. On the record, his pioneering rock instrumental smashes such as 1958’s “Rebel Rouser,” brought the guitar to the forefront of rock and roll. For that and his many achievements since, Duane Eddy was named to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and was just inducted into the International Musicians Hall of Fame here, Class of 2008 (on Oct. 28). “Yeah, that’s an important one to me because the sidemen have always been my heroes,” says Eddy, 70. “I’d rather be in the Hall of Fame with these musicians, so I’m real proud of that. That’s the icing on the cake.” Honors, however, are nothing new to this innovative player. Eddy earned a Grammy award for his 1986 rock instrumental collaboration with the British techno-pop trio Art of Noise on redoing his hit “Peter Gunn,” (which spent six weeks at #1 on Rolling Stone’s dance chart); garnered another nomination for best country instrumental (with Doc Watson) in 1995; was named #1 Rock & Roll Instrumentalist of All Time by Billboard, the trade bible; and was bestowed with Guitar Player magazine’s 2004 Legend Award. Technique is the key to Eddy’s lasting renown as Twang King. During our recent chat at the Blackstone Brewery Pub, we found Duane to be a no-nonsense sort, quiet but willing to answer any questions forthcoming, often in his usual self-deprecating style. We brought up the much-quoted New Music Express magazine popularity poll of 1960, showing Eddy topping a United Kingdom rock survey displacing Elvis Presley as #1. “I didn’t really take that seriously,” he chuckles. “I mean I just toured there for one thing and they never heard somebody sound exactly like their record on stage for another, and that blew them away. Remember at that time I had great musicians and we’d been doing it together a couple years, and the band was tight and had a big sound.” Thanks to his wife, the former singer Deed Abatte’s penchant for genealogy, Duane has learned that the Eddys first came to America in 1630 from England. “There’s so much available out there to check on . . . I think we had one idiot in our family . . . Anyway, that’s how they listed him on the census. What did they call it, Deed?” “It’s nothing to brag about,” laughs Deed. “It was an awful description . . . you don’t want to know it.” Born April 26, 1938 in Corning, N.Y., Duane was 5 when his daddy taught him some basic chords on his Martin acoustic guitar. “Wildwood Flower” was one of the first tunes he picked out, and at 9 Duane got his own Kay acoustic guitar. “I used to listen to radio, stations like WCKY-Cincinnati with the Chuck Wagon Gang and different country artists (like Lonnie Glosson & Wayne Raney), the WWVA-Wheeling (W. Va.) Jamboree and WSM-Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry,” recalls Eddy, who at 10 played an instrumental “The Missouri Waltz” on a local broadcast with his lap steel guitar, a gift from an aunt. “Yeah, I was also a Saturday movie matinee kid and cowboys like Gene Autry and Roy Rogers got me into C& W music. Those guys were good singers and musicians, as well.” Another fond memory came from a local station, he says, “One of the radio shows, like in Rochester, Cornell (University in Ithica) or someplace in midstate or upstate New York, did a thing where they’d start off with just a bass, then the drums would come in, then rhythm guitar, then piano, and then they’d start singing, and I thought that was the coolest thing I ever heard, to hear it build up like that, and hear each instrument individually for a time . . . ” Among his early guitar heroes were Les Paul and Merle Travis: “I was fascinated by Merle’s vibrato for one thing, and you know, just the way he played was a beautiful thing to hear. And, of course, when Chet (Atkins) came along, he took it a step further from Merle and Les.” Eddy never had any formal instrumental instruction and didn’t learn to read music. He has an amazing ear for tone, however, and is particular about the guitar he plays. Reportedly, he’s the first rock picker to have his own signature model guitar - Guild Guitars in 1960 introduced the Duane Eddy Models DE-400 and Deluxe DE-500. “When I was about 12 or 13 my family moved to Arizona and I finished growing up there. Out in Arizona, I listened to the Del Rio, Texas border station where they sold baby chicks and played lots of good country music.” Still a youngster, he used to beg station staff to save their discarded singles for him. At 15 his birthday present was an electric Gibson Les Paul model, which he played for local performances. Three years later, he traded that in on his red Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins’ model (used to record his early hits). Still tickets for DJ & Radio Hall of Fame show Tickets are still available for the Country Music DJ & Radio Hall of Fame induction banquet, at the Nashville Renaissance Hotel on Tuesday, March 3. The 2009 inductees are Chuck Collier and Gerry House (DJ Hall of Fame); Bob McKay and Moon Mullins (Radio Hall of Fame). Merle Haggard will receive the Career Achievement Award and Sheila Shipley Biddy the President's Award. Single tickets are $105; sponsored tables are $2,100; with proceeds going to Country Music DJ & Radio Hall of Fame. Contact CRB for availability. CRS-40 will be held March 4-6, at the Nashville Convention Center, Nashville. For details, call CRB, ( 615) 327-4487 or visit CRB.org Today, Duane embraces rock - traditional or avant garde - blues, jazz and country, and began his career collaborating with Barton (Lee) Hazlewood in Arizona. “Lee was a disc jockey to start with, and he used to dissect those records while playing them on his radio show,” recalls Eddy. “That way, by dissecting them, he knew how he wanted things to sound. So when we got into the studio, Lee worked with the engineer until he got the sound the way he wanted it. I still got those records and they hold up today, 50 years or more later. Lee’s first job as a DJ was in Coolidge, Ariz. (at KCKY), while I was finishing up high school.” Eddy also learned to play banjo, Hawaiian pedal steel and 12-string bass: “I sang with another guy named Jimmy (Dell) Delbridge and we did like a Louvin Brothers’ type thing, except we kinda jived it up a bit, and didn’t know it then but that style would later be called rockabilly. This was in 1953, before they coined the word or before we knew about Elvis.” Duane and Jimmy were of interest to Lee, then burning with ambition for better things. “Lee took us up to Phoenix and acted as our manager, because he’d heard about this talent show up there, and wanted to get into a bigger market as a DJ,” explains Eddy. “They put local acts on and a guy named Ray Odum (a DJ) would put this on in a place called Madison Square Garden in downtown Phoenix on Saturday nights. He’d have local acts on the show for the first part, then he’d have name country artists come out and do their show. We auditioned, and they liked us.” Hazlewood landed a radio slot in Phoenix and promoted his teen-aged duo: “Yes, Lee cut a little record on us, two tracks for his label.” Jimmy & Duane’s first single “Soda Fountain Girl,” had the backing of the Western Melody Boys, but did little to further the pair. “Jimmy got religion and we kinda went our separate ways,” smiles Duane. “After he got saved, he couldn’t sing worldly music. Lee kept producing and got a hit with a singer named Sanford Clark called ‘The Fool’ in 1956 (picked up by Dot Records, it went Top 10 pop and #14 country).” Eddy continued to play locally: “After the main event country acts did their show at the Madison Square Garden, they’d clear all the chairs away and have a dance. Al Casey played in that band (Sunset Riders), and I later got his job as guitar player when he went to California. I worked there the next two or three years.” Meanwhile, Hazlewood had tied in with promoter-publisher Lester Sill, familiar with Jamie Records, Dick Clark’s label based in Philadelphia. At the time, Clark hosted the highly popular Saturday teen dance telecast American Bandstand from the City of Brotherly Love. Duane’s distinctive guitar playing and Lee’s far-out sound experiments proved to be a winning combination for their collaborations, both musically and productionwise, resulting in a string of successes. Their first Jamie effort “Moovin’ ’n Groovin’” nabbed enough attention that the label OK’d a follow-up single. Surprisingly, Jamie’s second Duane Eddy release featured “Stalkin’,” as its A side, but until Clark took Eddy’s advice and promoted the B side, “Rebel Rouser,” on American Bandstand, it looked like another stalled single. “I cut ‘Rebel Rouser’ (which Lee and Duane co-wrote) in March 1958 and they put it out in June. Well, Dick wanted to open the show live with ‘Moovin’ ’n Groovin’,’ when he did his first remote in Miami, Fla. He was getting ready to do that when he asked me, ‘Would you come down to Miami and do my show?’ I said yes. In July, ‘Rebel Rouser’ was doing fine. So we did that and it went over good. Dick said, ‘I need a closer,’ but I hadn’t cut any other records really that would work. The B sides weren’t that thrilling. Then I remembered I’d cut a track on ‘Ramrod’ (for the local Ford 500 label in 1956). We worked up a little arrangement on it, and I played it for them. Duane Eddy in his heyday. “Monday morning there were like advance orders for 150,000 on the desk of Jamie Records. So we had to take the track, cut it, overdub and play sax on it . . . That was Tuesday, and they started mastering and pressing it on Wednesday and on Thursday they shipped it, and by Friday, less than a week after I played it on . . . Bandstand, it was coming into stores.” Let’s not skip over the uniqueness of Eddy’s playing style or the visionary sound effects introduced by Hazlewood to enhance it. During their early recording stints, Duane used a Magnatone amplifier with 15-inch speaker (and tweeter), adding a DeArmond tremolo unit, then setting the amp’s treble control way up, turning down the bass while adjusting the midrange as needed, to create his near-trademark twang. Of course, he liberally utilized tremolo, echo and reverb, created by producer Lee placing a speaker and microphone inside a 2,100-gallon water tank (serving as an echo chamber), capturing that signal or echo effect via an Ampex tape recorder. Duane Eddy’s distinctive vibrato-bar technique proved essential to his unique sound. This he accomplished by using the bar to execute exaggerated bends or add subtle vibrato to chords. And his control of pitch was right-on, and often Duane raised a note up to pitch by depressing the bar before hitting the string. Eddy normally picked between the pickups or near the neck, as he liked the round tone over the more percussive tone created by picking near the bridge. However, he did use the instrument’s bridge pickup for most of his songs, but occasionally utilizing both pickups at once. When playing blues he prefers the guitar’s higher register. How come he resorted to a saxophone sound on his hits? “No, it wasn’t a favorite instrument. If I’d had my druthers, I would probably had a steel guitar because I liked country. But, we were trying to do rock and roll and sax was happening at the time. I remember we didn’t have sax players in Arizona in those days, so we overdubbed a saxophonist (Plas Johnson) on ‘Moovin’ ’n Groovin’,’ our first instrumental.” “Rebel Rouser” was the single that established Eddy as an artist to reckon with (featuring rebel yells and handclaps by a group called The Rivingtons). Not only did it peak at #6 on Billboard’s pop list, but crossed over as a strong country Top 20, and amazingly enough, scored #8 R&B, the first of six major chartings on that list. Eddy’s next charting, “Ramrod,” did better R&B (#17) than it did on the pop chart (#27). Thus 1958 was a good year for both Eddy and Jamie Records. “Rebel Rouser” was declared Duane’s first Gold Record (eventually
January-March 2009 The Nashville Musician 23 topping more than a million in sales). It was also the year Elvis Presley reported to Local Draft Board 86 in Memphis; NARAS awarded its first Grammys; Columbia Records released the first stereo album; and among artist debuts that year were Frankie Avalon, Bobby Darin, Connie Francis, Floyd Cramer, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, and Duane Eddy. Additional successes for the R&R picker included “Cannonball” and “Detour,” plus his first album release: “Have Twangy Guitar, Will Travel,” a Top Five, that hung on the charts 82 weeks. Of course, Duane did a lot of that, touring with top names, and continued to wow viewers via major TV show appearances. His official band, The Rebels, boasted a number of solid players who would surface later as top session musicians, among them Al (and Corky) Casey, Larry Knechtel and Steve Douglas. Having attained all this success, Duane was 20 years old. Another outlet for Eddy was movies, thanks to Dick Clark introducing him in his 1960 starrer “Because They’re Young,” and its title tune gave him his highest-charting to date #4, though sung by co-star James Darren in the film (based on John Farris’ book ‘Harrison High’). Eddy and band did perform for the flick’s school dance. “I played my new single ‘Shazam’ (a title taken from the comic-book character Captain Marvel) in the movie. You know John Williams was our conductor on the film, but in those days, they actually called him Johnny (who won multiple Oscars later for movie themes a la ‘Jaws’ and ‘Star Wars’).” How come a ruggedly-handsome chap like Duane didn’t become a Hollywood hero? “A lot of people had that idea,” muses Eddy. “Actually one of my best friends in my life was actor Richard Boone (of TV’s Paladin - Have Gun, Will Travel fame). I did a couple of his TV shows, and he was dead certain I would became a big actor, but truth is I just didn’t like acting that much. “The hours are brutal. You have to get up at 4 or 5 in the morning, work yourself up to do a scene for a matter of minutes, then sit around for hours before doing it again at a different angle,” continues Eddy. “At the time I just didn’t get it. I guess I’d like to try it now. Don’t misunderstand me, it was fun at first and I got to do cowboy things, which were what I wanted to do as a kid, like jumpin’ on a horse, gallopin’ away and everything. That was cool.” How did he meet Boone, reportedly a cousin of Nashville native Pat Boone? “I met him when my publicist in L.A. got me a part in a cavalry picture called ‘A Thunder of Drums’ and Dick was the star of that at MGM. I mean it had a great cast: Arthur O’Connell, George Hamilton, Richard Chamberlain, Charles Bronson and Slim Pickens. Hey, even (rodeo champ) Casey Tibbs was there hangin’ around. They were a great crew, a good bunch of people. Dick and I took a liking to each other and we got to be good friends. Next thing I knew he invited me to do a ‘Paladin,’ so I did one, then two. We started hangin’ together over the next 20 years. Then he died in 1981 from cancer.” When did Duane record the CBS-TV Paladin theme ballad? “My musicians, like Larry Knechtel (on piano), Jim Horn (sax) and I, cut the theme after I knew him a couple years. It went Top 40 (for RCA in 1962).” Theme songs proved fruitful for Eddy, notably “Peter Gunn” (from Craig Stevens’ TV series), and “Pepe” (a movie starring comic Cantinflas with an all-star cast). Duane’s 1959 singles scoring were “The Lonely One,” “Yep!,” his second Top 10 “40 Miles of Bad Road” and “Some Kinda Earthquake,” which set a record of sorts for Top 40s, coming in at 1 minute, 17 seconds on radio, where the three-minute single rules. Another interesting record was his “Theme From Dixie,” when he was joined in the studio by both the Anita Kerr Singers and The Jordanaires (who backed Elvis Presley). That classic Civil War song, penned by black composer Daniel Emmett in 1860, was recorded during its centennial anniversary. Two more 1960 chartings were “Bonnie Came Back,” adapted from the Scottish folk song “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean,” and “Kommotion.” Obviously, Eddy wasn’t the first to hit with an instrumental number, as there was zither player Anton Karas’ #1 multi-million selling “Third Man Theme” in 1950; followed by Local 257’s Del Wood piano smash, “Down Yonder,” a million-seller in 1951, among others. “Yes, people had one-shot hits, but having a string of instrumental successes had never been done before and it sort of knocked them for a loop,” notes Eddy. “I think we had a string of like 15 in a row . . . , ” all of which Eddy did the arrangements on. Established as a solo star, Duane co-starred in a routine 1962 sagebrush yarn “The Wild Westerners,” featuring Nancy Kovack, James Philbrook and Guy Mitchell, directed by Oscar Rudolph, about Yankee gold shipments. At one time, he was being considered for a TV series of his own: Duane participated in a pilot film titled The Quiet Three, which unfortunately didn’t get picked up. After a long dry spell, Duane returned to movies in ’68 with low-budget “Savage Seven,” a motorcycle melodrama starring Robert Walker, Jr., Eddy and Adam Roarke; and also played a cameo that year in Richard Boone’s “Kona Coast,” featuring Vera Miles, Joan Blondell and Kent Smith, as a fishing skipper tries to track down his daughter’s killers. In August 1961, Eddy married teen-vocalist Miriam Johnson at her preacher-mother’s church in Arizona, and produced her at Jamie on a song titled “Lonesome Road.” Although she toured with him, her career didn’t take off until she later recorded as Jessi Colter, known best for her self-penned ballads “I’m Not Lisa” and “What’s Happened To Blue Eyes.” The marriage ended in 1968, and she later wed Waylon Jennings. Among Eddy’s hit LPs were the #2 ranked “The Twang’s The Thang” (1959), on which he first cut “You Are My Sunshine”; “One Million Dollars Worth of Twang” (1960); and that same year an all-acoustic album “Songs Of Our Heritage,” featuring standards such as “On Top Of Old Smokey” and “The Prisoner’s Song.” In 1962, after all those hit Jamie discs, Eddy signed with RCA Records, then run by his guitar hero Chet Atkins. Why did Eddy fare better on the indie label than on the major RCA? “They had a great promotion man (Harry Finfer) who ran Jamie (named after Harry’s daughter). He was the best in America at the time, not only saturating the Philadelphia area, but out around the country, doing a great job. Yet, I had a good run at RCA, as well.” Yes, Eddy had a near-Top 10 with “Dance With the Guitar Man” in ’62, followed by “Boss Guitar,” both tracks boasting some vocal backing by his Rebelettes (The Blossoms). RCA albums include “Twistin’ and Twangin’,” and “Dance With the Guitar Man.” Another major change occurred in 1965 when he cut two albums for Colpix, a subsidiary of Columbia Pictures-Screen Gems. Lee Hazlewood’s former partner Lester Sills was an executive there. Eddy cut instrumental LPs “Duane A-Go-Go” and broke new ground with his melodic “Duane Eddy Does Bob Dylan.” How did Eddy meet Deed? “She sang and pursued it for awhile . . . Well, she did a demo for a friend of hers that I heard when I was working for Jimmy Bowen. Then I got to meet her, and bang! That was it! But after she hung around me awhile, Deed decided not to have any part of that anymore.” So why did he give up singing? “Well I think that was my biggest contribution to music, when I quit singing.” Son Chris appears to be a chip off-the-oldblock, singing and playing multi-instruments including guitar, bass, violin and organ. “Chris plays and sings really well,” adds Dad. “He’s worked around here for a few years. I remember once he had a band with Larry Knechtel . . . and the guys all liked him.” Indeed, Chris, a winning contestant on cable TV’s Star Searcher, received good reviews for his “Night Toucher” in 2006 with Rich Vogel and Ted Roper. Additionally, his resume inlcudes working in the bands of Shelby Lynne and Shania Twain, and supplying songs for Lynyrd Skynyrd and Hank Williams, Jr. “I also have two daughters,” continues Duane. “Linda’s my oldest and Jennifer my youngest. Jennifer tickled the devil out of me when at age 10 she started writing songs. For a 10-year-old, she wrote some pretty good ones; at least she had the right idea.” More notable tracks Eddy played on include Ray Sharpe’s R&B hit “Linda Lu” (1959, with pal Al Casey); Nancy Sinatra’s #1 “These Boots Were Made For Walking” (1966), produced by Hazlewood; B.J. Thomas’ “Rock & Roll Lullaby” (1972); and Paul McCartney’s “Rockestra Theme,” a 1980 Grammy winner. Oddest disc? In 2004, Duane collaborated with polka prince Jimmy Sturr, mixing polka and twang, resulting in “Rebel Rouser Polka.” Did Duane ever dream how lasting his recordings would be? “No, because we were just concentrating on getting hits and having fun at the time . . . now we’re regarded as pioneers.” Duane’s received praise for his cover of B. B. King’s “Three Thirty Blues,” bringing to mind a show he played in Oakland, Calif. “I guess it would’ve been 1961 or ’62. I didn’t know it at the time, but found out later that John Fogerty and the entire Creedence Clearwater Revival band was in the front row that night. Actually, I didn’t even know who was on that package show. I knew Jerry Lee Lewis and I were among the headliners, but we got there late, coming in from somewhere else. They double-booked us somehow, but we got there in time for our portion. I did that song and was back in my dressing room when this very well-dressed black gentleman came in and said, ‘Duane, I gotta give you a big hug. I just loved that ‘Three Thirty Blues!’ I liked it so much I gotta kiss you on the cheek!’ “Now I’m just standing there helpless thinking, ‘Who is this guy?’ But it was a very nice thing to do and obviously he really liked the blues. Then he let me go and stood back and said, ‘Oh, I didn’t introduce myself, did I? . . . I’m B.B. King!’ Then I said, ‘Well it’s MY turn to hug you and kiss you on the cheek!’ He laughed, but obviously liked the way I played his blues.” In 1966 and 1967, Duane recorded two albums for Frank Sinatra’s Reprise label, playing big band hits: “The Biggest Twang of Them All” and “The Roaring Twangies,” respectively. Another act he admires is the Everly Brothers and in 1973 actually produced Phil Everly’s solo album “Star Spangled Springer” in England: “That was right after he broke up with Don (when Phil smashed his guitar and walked off the Knotts Berry Farm stage in Buena Park, Calif. July 14, 1973, leaving Don to explain their bust-up to the crowd).” Did Duane ever meet Elvis? “Sure. I went to see him in Vegas in 1971, but we never worked together. I went backstage after his show, though I didn’t get to attend his performance. I met him in his dressing room and Priscilla was there, too. He seemed pleased to meet me and invited us to go to his goodbye party (it was his last night). Priscilla took us up to the penthouse and at their party were other artists like Dottie West and Merle Haggard . . . You know he was everything I wanted him to be. I watched him inter-act with people. He was the perfect example of how an artist should be. I was impressed by that, and he and I sat and talked until about 7:30 in the morning.” In 1977, Duane had his final country charting to date with “You Are My Sunshine” with Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson. Also featured on the track were background vocals by Deed Eddy, Kin Vassy and Jessi Colter, proving something of a real family affair. How did Duane get to collaborate with legendary sitar player-composer Ravi Shankar from India? “That’s a long story. I had the hit with ‘Pe- ter Gunn’ (with Art of Noise) . . . Then we went to the Montreaux Music Festival in Switzerland. There I ran into Jeff Lynne who said, ‘Any time you want me to do anything for you, let me know. I know you’re going to get an album out of this hit.’ And I did. “Well we got one with Capitol, so I called Jeff, but he said, ‘Oh, I can’t right now, I’m working on an album with George Harrison,’ which turned out to be ‘Cloud Nine’ (his 1987 comeback hit). I said OK and hung up. Then 10 minutes later, Jeff called back saying, ‘I mentioned it to George and he wants to put his album on hold and do a couple things with you!’” (Eddy’s 1987 Capitol album was titled simply “Duane Eddy” and boasted input from fellow Eddy admirers Ry Cooder, James Burton, John Fogerty, David Lindley, Steve Cropper and Paul McCartney.) “So I went over there and met with (George) and he was real nice . . . So we started to work on these things, then George hummed me a little melody and said, ‘Ravi Shankar taught me this, but he only gave me this much of it,’ playing the melody, saying, ‘I love that last note. It’s the greatest note in the world today.’ So I finished it out and wrote it up. We made it work. So George gave us both half writer credits on the number (‘The Trembler’). “George was a big fan of Ravi’s and he also liked my playing, and was delighted to have a cut by Ravi Shankar and Duane Eddy, who came from such opposite poles. He said, ‘Who would’ve thought it?’ George had the publishing on the song, but kept only 20 per cent for the administration, splitting the other 80 per cent between Ravi and me.” Sharing the mic on the tune were Duane, George and Jeff. An interesting postscript occurred when film-maker Oliver Stone used “The Trembler” in his 1994 satirical thriller “Natural Born Killers.” That same year Eddy had no idea his signature song was featured in the Tom Hanks’ movie “Forrest Gump.” “I went to the movie and when ‘Rebel Rouser’ came on, I missed that part of the movie because I was listening so intently to the song to see if it was mine or a cover version and then how it was mastered and if it sounded right. But it was fine. I had to go back to see the film again to find out what I’d missed.” How did his participation come about in the 1996 movie drama “Broken Arrow”? “Well, I went out to do a little video thing regarding the ‘Forrest Gump’ bit and met Hans Zimmer, the movie composer. A couple weeks later, Hans called and asked, ‘How would you like to do the music for the bad guy in my next movie?’ I asked, ‘Who’s the bad guy?’ He said John Travolta and I answered, ‘Yeah, thank you very much! I’ll be there!’ “So I went out to his studio in Santa Monica, a beautiful set-up. He played me the whole score and I sat there and watched the picture and played where he told me to. He said he wrote it with me in mind. Hans said, ‘Everybody imitates Duane Eddy, but I got the real thing.’ It turned out good.” How do you make it fresh playing classics like “Rebel Rouser” and “Peter Gunn” so much? “I learned very early on in my teen years when I’d go to see a show and some artist apparently got sick of doing their hit ballad the same way and would maybe speed it up or change the arrangement - I’d be disappointed. So once I had a hit I figured most people out there want to hear it like the record. Although you couldn’t always sound exactly like the record, we would emulate what was heard on the hit pretty close. “I remember one night thinking I was sick of playing it the same, but not having lyrics, you’ve got to communicate with your audience pretty much with the instrument. I came out that night and thought some of these people are hearing this for the first time and some are hearing it for the first time in a long time, and they’re not going to know it if I do it differently. Sure I’ve heard it a million times, but they haven’t - and they paid to hear it, so it’s important to play (Continued on page 31)
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