Duane Eddy - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

Born in Corning, New York, he began playing the guitar at the age of five. In 1951 his family moved to Tucson, and then to Coolidge, Arizona. At the age of 16 he obtained a Chet Atkins model Gretsch guitar, and formed a duo, Jimmy and Duane, with his friend Jimmy Delbridge (who later recorded as Jimmy Dell). While performing at local radio station KCKY they met disc jockey Lee Hazlewood, who produced the duo's single, "Soda Fountain Girl", recorded and released in 1955 in Phoenix. Hazlewood then produced Sanford Clark's 1956 hit, "The Fool", featuring guitarist Al Casey, while Eddy and Delbridge performed and appeared on radio stations in Phoenix before joining Buddy Long's Western Melody Boys, playing country music in and around the city.

Eddy devised a technique of playing lead on his guitar's bass strings to produce a low, reverberant "twangy" sound. In November 1957, Eddy recorded an instrumental, "Moovin' n' Groovin'", co-written by Eddy and Hazlewood. As the Phoenix studio had no echo chamber, Hazlewood bought a 2,000 gallon water storage tank which he used as an echo chamber to accentuate the "twangy" guitar sound. Eddy signed a contract with Philadelphia-based Jamie Records. "Moovin' n' Groovin'" reached #72 on the Hot 100 in early 1958; the opening riff, borrowed from Chuck Berry's "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," was itself copied a few years later by The Beach Boys on "Surfin' U.S.A.". For the follow-up, "Rebel-'Rouser", the record featured overdubbed saxophone by Los Angeles session musician Gil Bernal and yells and handclaps by doo-wop group The Rivingtons. The tune became Eddy's big, breakthrough hit, reaching #6 on the chart.

"Duane Eddy and the Rebel Rousers" were the opening act for the first Saturday night "Dick Clark Show."

Eddy had a succession of hit records over the next few years, and his band members, including Steve Douglas, saxophonist Jim Horn and keyboard player Larry Knechtel would go on to work as part of Phil Spector's Wrecking Crew. According to writer Richie Unterberger, "The singles - 'Peter Gunn,' 'Cannonball,' 'Shazam,' and 'Forty Miles of Bad Road' were probably the best - also did their part to help keep the raunchy spirit of rock & roll alive, during a time in which it was in danger of being watered down." On January 9, 1959, Eddy’s debut album, Have Twangy Guitar Will Travel, was released, reaching #5, and remaining on the album charts for 82 weeks. Eddy's biggest hit came with the theme to the movie Because They're Young in 1960, which featured a string arrangement, and reached a chart peak of #4 in America and #2 in the UK in September 1960. Eddy's records were equally successful in the UK, and in 1960, readers of the UK's New Musical Express voted him World's Number One Musical Personality, ousting Elvis Presley.

He gained a well earned reputation in the industry for identifying and grooming musical talent and encouraging his band members to secure regular studio work. Those who benefited from this approach included Steve Douglas, Jim Horn and Larry Knechtel who all went on to achieve great success as studio musicians.