Duane Eddy, pioneer of rock and roll, dead at 86
After helping invent the way rock and rollers played guitar throughout the 1950s, guitar icon Duane Eddy has passed away at the age of 86.
Eddy had been struggling with cancer and died at Williamson Health Hospital on April 30th, 2024. The news of his death was confirmed by his widow, Deed Abbate.
Known for popularising his distinctive style of guitar playing, Eddy had a unique playing style centred around playing the lower strings of the guitar. This led to his unique sense of rhythm that was prevalent in his solo recordings, which he got through working with producer Lee Hazlewood.
This style would come to be known as twang in guitar circles, something which Eddy said few could imitate, telling Associated Press, “I had a distinctive sound that people could recognize, and I stuck pretty much with that. I’m not one of the best technical players by any means; I just sell the best”.
Outside of his various solo work, Eddy was also known for working his magic on some of the biggest records of the 1950s. His guitar tones can be heard on the Nancy Sinatra staple, ‘These Boots Are Made For Walkin’.
Being admired by every guitar player in The Beatles, Eddy also lent his skills to the Paul McCartney song ‘Rockestra Theme’ from Back to the Egg, playing alongside other rock legends like Pete Townshend of The Who and John Bonham of Led Zeppelin.
When not making his solo hits like ‘Rebel Rouser’, Eddy also focused on providing guitar to various television theme songs. While he initially turned down the chance to perform on the theme to James Bond, he would provide the guitar lines to the theme of Peter Gunn and a collaboration with Ravi Shankar entitled ‘The Trembler’ would be used in the 1990s action thriller Natural Born Killers.
Shortly after the release of an anthology of hits entitled Have Guitar, Will Travel, Eddy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. His final album of material, Road Trip, was released in 2011. He is survived by his wife and three children, Linda Jones, Chris Eddy, and Jennifer Eddy Davis.
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