Two blues/rock guitar legends passed away recently.

On November, 5th Link Wray, aged 76, died in Copenhague where he was buried in privacy on Friday. Link Wray started playing western swing after the war and got famous in 1958 with Rumble, a blues instrumental with a powerful, menacing riff. The first known use of a power chord (fuzz tone) in rock music. Apparently Wray punched a hole into his amp. At least ten years ahead of its time. Jimi Hendrix is unthinkable without him. Neil Young acknowledged Link as one of the big influences on his noisy guitar style. I found a live version of Rumble from 1977 on this ILM thread on Wray which he performed as a member of Robert Gordon's band at the Loeb auditorium in NYC.

Chris Whitley died on Sunday from lung cancer. He was only 45 years old. Most pictures on his website show him with a cigarette in his mouth. Chris had a very intense and personal way of playing the guitar. To me it often sounded as if he was expressing his darkest and deepest feelings through his blues guitar. Listen to Can't Get Off from 1995's Din of Ecstasy. A heavy-riffed blues with soulish almost funky vocals.

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