Link Wray

Link Wray's contribution to the language of rockin' guitar is a major one, even if he had never walked into another studio after cutting "Rumble." Quite simply, Link Wray invented the power cord, the major modus operandi of modern rock guitarists. Listen to any of the tracks he recorded between that landmark instrumental in 1958 through his Swan recordings in the early 1960s and you'll hear the blueprints for heavy metal, thrash, you name it. If a direct line from a Black blues musician crankin' up his amp and playing with a ton of violence and aggression can be traced to a young white guy doing a mutated form of the same, the line points straight to Link Wray. Pete Townshend said, "He is the king; if it hadn't been for Link Wray and 'Rumble,' I would have never picked up a guitar."