CD: Duane Eddy – Road Trip

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Although Duane Eddy will forever be identified with his deeply twangy late-Fifties/early-Sixties instrumental hits like “Rebel Rouser”, “Ramrod” and “Peter Gunn”, he’s never gone out of style. His 1958 debut album was titled Have “Twangy Guitar” – Will Travel. And he has – through time and space. He scored a British hit with “Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar” in 1975. It didn’t chart in the US. His 1986 re-recording of “Peter Gunn”, made with The Art of Noise, was Top 10 in Britain. Now, here he is again with a new album, recorded in Sheffield with big-time fan Richard Hawley. His homeland might not be too fussed, but the love for Eddy continues over here.

Working with Hawley makes sense, as Eddy is obviously an influence on the steel-city sonic auteur, as is Lee Hazlewood - who, as a producer, invented the Eddy sound. Hawley always responds sensitively to his influences, never copying, but using them to feed his muse. His handling of Road Trip is similar. This is no Art of Noise-style revamp, setting Eddy’s instantly recognisable guitar in an updated context. Despite a clean, modern production this is recognisably Eddy. There are also no vocals, unlike the 1975 hit. In Road Trip’s credits, Eddy describes Hawley as “an old soul”. There’s clearly an empathy between the two (see video clip below), despite the 31-year age gap.

Road Trip’s opening cut “The Attack of the Duck-Billed Platypus” (written by the album’s pianist Jon Trier) kicks off with a slab of the vibrato of The Marketts’ “Out of Limits” that paves the way for Eddy’s razor-sharp low-register guitar. This shimmering, spacey instrumental could have been recorded in the early Sixties. Next up is Eddy’s own “Twango”, a Hot Club of France-type instro of the kind he bulked his albums out with in the Sixties. Title track “Road Trip” will no doubt figure in a future David Lynch film as the soundtrack to some horrifically surreal psycho-dramatic moment. Road Trip is a sensitive showcase for a legendary musician. Although he’s never really gone away, it seems OK to say, “Welcome back, Duane Eddy.”

Watch the Duane Eddy and Richard Hawley perform “Peter Gunn” on Later... with Jools Holland

Comments

Lovely review of Duane Eddy's new album, but a few small corrections are needed. Duane's recording of Peter Gunn with Art of Noise won a Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental of 1986 in America. Yes, Lee Hazlewood produced Duane's early hits and must surely be given full marks for the great sound on those records, but he did not invent Duane's style of playing, contrary to an often repeated urban myth. They were collaborators and partners, co-writing those classics in Phoenix, Arizona. As the final thought of this review kindly says, "Welcome back, Duane Eddy"...