Off-topic Sunday on a Wednesday.
This morning I was listening to a Marc Maron WTF podcast with his guest T Bone Burnett. I knew the name, but had no idea what kind of musician he was. Anyway, Burnett is explaining the roots of post-war jazz and The Beats (Ginsberg, Kerouac et al); how Charles Manson ruined everything; about war music and sex music. Rock 'n' roll is sex music, but rock is war music Riverdance is war music too, he explains. He spoke about Indian (native American) drum rhythms and how bluegrass is very closely related to indigenous native American tribal music, then talks about all the native Americans who helped shape rock 'n' roll, including Link Wray. I love Link Wray, in fact, Link Wray has a part to play in me taking up flat track racing, and therefore the formation of Sideburn (but you'll have to wait for SB37 for that story), but I knew nothing of his heritage.
Once on the subject of native American influence on rock 'n' roll, Maron and Burnett discuss a documentary, Rumble. I search for it and find that it's subtitled - The Indians Who Rocked The World. The title is taken from the big hit of the same name by Link Wray and the Raymen, released in 1958. Then I, as I do, went searching for live footage of the song. The version above, recorded a whole 16 years after the original release, popped up.
Link looks like a prototype Elvis impersonator on parole. It's a post-Hendrix, fuzzed-drenched version, but it's such a classic song, it cuts through the grease. I immediately wonder how many times Guitar Wolf has watched this performance.
Anyway, it's definitely worth sharing.