Twang Thang: The Duane Eddy Anthology
All pompadour, cheekbones, and a trademark "twangy" sound that boomed like it was recorded at the bottom of the Grand Canyon, Duane Eddy was rock & roll's first guitar-hero.  Beginning with "Moovin' n' Groovin" (1957), the combination of Eddy's hollow-body Gretch, Bigsby vibrato tailpiece, a tremolo unit, and oceans of echo racked up dozens of hits. The best ("Rebel Rouser," "Forty Miles of Bad Road," and "Dance with the Guitar Man") are also typical--Duane twangs a simple melody over some yakkety sax and much excited yelling in the background.  As such, his worldwide influence on a generation of guitar-pickers was massive. Eddy returned to the charts in 1986 when the U.K. studio collective, Art of Noise, collaborated with him on an electronic cut-and-paste version of "Peter Gunn" (he'd first recorded the tune 26 years earlier). Incidentally, the 40 songs on this 2 CD set include several previously unreleased mid-'60s blues and early-'80s superstar sessions that are hipper than the hits. Nevertheless, Eddy remains a master of tone, timing, dynamics, and--most importantly--feel and expression, and there's not a single day goes by that some session leader doesn't call for "a Duane Eddy-type" guitar sound.--Don Waller