Ace of Spades

Description

It is surely no surprise that Quentin Tarantino used the tracks "Rumble" and "Ace of Spades" by Link Wray for the film "Pulp Fiction". The man with the dark guitar, born in North Carolina in 1929 as Fred Lincoln Wray Junior, hails from pulp territory — the mythical America of rock 'n' roll. Wray's mother, from whom he inherited his striking appearance, was a Shawnee Indian.Although the tuberculosis he contracted during the Korean War affected Wray's voice, it was above all his guitar playing that allowed him to sing, but he was not always versatile, with "Lillian" and "Alone" revealing the heart beneath the tough exterior. Fiercely independent, when the rock 'n' roll boom erupted, Link Wray built himself a three-track home studio from a chicken coop and largely withdrew from the music industry, though he continued to record and play, stating: "Money doesn't rule me, record labels don't own me." Nothing owned Link Wray, but he owned rock 'n' roll. Although the monochrome era is over, Link cast a long shadow, earning the admiration of Neil Young, Keith Moon, and Pete Townshend, who said of Wray: "He is the king, without Link Wray and 'Rumble', I would never have picked up a guitar."Though often marginalized throughout his career, Wray was like the night, an unquantifiable influence on successive generations of guitarists who sought to burn rather than soothe. In November 2005, Bob Dylan was about to take the stage at the Royal Albert Hall when he learned that Link had played his final chord. In tribute to the great man, Dylan began his concert with "Rumble".