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Last night the old lady and I made the trip to Atlanta
to see Link Wray at The Earl. I'm dead tired this
morning from staying up and then getting up early
again to go take an exam so take that into account if
I sound kinda "blah" about the whole thing or my
writing is awkward.
First off, I hate Atlanta. It sucks. Other major
cities I've been to (Boston, NYC) are all a lot cooler
than Atlanta for a number of reasons. Secondly, it is
totally worth my time to go the venues in Atlanta.
There is a real rock 'n roll scene there and Athens
offers NONE of it (up yours Rolling Stone). It's cool
to go see a show and listen to stuff I know and like
or don't know and still like over the PA while I'm
waiting for the set. There are also much cooler
people to talk to; lots of rockabillies, older guys
that are still coming to shows and keeping up. It's
very cool.
On that note, I met a guy named Eddie who is a surf
guitarist! And I thought the entire region was dead
for surf. He was in a currently defunct band called
The X-Rays and is now in a band called Surge with (if
I'm remembering him correctly) the drummer from The
Penetrators. He also informed me that The Penetrators
are still kicking in Atl as a three piece, which was
nice to hear, and that there are a few other people
keeping the flame burning there, including a band
called Stratogeezer, who supposedly has a really funny
website. I referred him to the list, of course, and
hopefully he'll check it out.
I got there early despite my fear of standing around
for hours waiting for things to start rolling, but the
first band kicked off around 8:30. Having two opening
bands at any show is a mistake IMO, because the first
one always sucks, the second one is the one you
wouldn't mind seeing if your patience wasn't already
completely worn out by the first band, and by then you
just want to see the act you came to see and leave.
The first band was horrible. I didn't know who they
were and neither did anybody else. Nasty, piercing,
clackety Rickenbacker bass with a guitarist who's bag
of tricks included a lot of really dissonant chords
and lots of high, squealy distortion. Lots of people
walked out. I did about halfway through. The second
band was The Subsonics and they were cool; punk,
garagey rock three piece with a touch of Iggy from the
guitarist/singer. I'll never understand that whole
sexually ambiguous rocker thing (he looked like a dude
before he dressed for the stage) but they were
infinitely more enjoyable than the first band. After
that the wait for Link was interminable.
After what seemed like an age the lights went down and
the band preceded Link on stage. I'm pretty sure they
just used The Subsonics' amps, an Ampeg B100R and Link
played through a Silverface Fender Super Reverb. He
had what looked like a 70's reissue Stratocaster in
sunburst. He was dressed as usual; black jeans, black
t-shirt, black jacket. He also looked extremely old,
even compared to the somewhat recent DVD I've got.
His wife accompanied him on stage and stayed there the
entire time playing tambourine and tending to him.
His son came and hung the Strat around his Dad's neck
and they didn't waste any time. Right into Rumble and
then a few other standards I know by heart but can't
remember the names of at the moment. It was shaping
up to be really badass and the crowd was going nuts.
Then things started to get a little weird. Apparently
one of Link's best friends is a guy named Billy Ray
that lives in Atlanta and he kept calling for Billy
Ray to come up and play with him, which the guy was
apparently not quite prepared for because he wasn't
ready and wasn't in tune. At this point it became
obvious as he began to ramble and repeat himself a bit
that age has finally begun to catch up with the wolf.
He wouldn't play another note until Billy Ray got on
stage with him but the guy wasn't ready. Billy Ray,
an older bald guy with a bunch of earrings in each ear
kept reasurring Link that he would and then got on the
mic and called for the audience to make Link play a
song. So Link says ok and launches into Batman, which
was awesome. There was a definite change in Link when
he went from rambling to playing. He still has his
chops and remembers his songs...but he sometimes
forgot where he was in the song and got stuck on
repeat. Consequently, Batman ran a little long, but
that was cool with me and the crowd was still going
apeshit. Then Billy Ray was ready and they launched
into a three chord blues rocker than could've been any
number of things Link (or anybody else) has done,
stopping every verse for Billy Ray to bust out a blues
solo. Fifteen minutes later it was still going.
Twenty minutes later it was still going and people
were starting to look around and some left. I'm not
sure how long it actually went on but Billy Ray tried
repeatedly to end it and Link wouldn't let him. He
just kept shaking his head and saying no whenever
Billy Ray tried to bow off stage. They traded off
blues solos for a little while longer until Link broke
a string, which I think his son fixed up for him while
Billy Ray took over (Link refused to take Billy's
Strat from him), and then continued until at some
point Billy Ray bowed off stage despite Link's
protests. I looked around and about two thirds of the
original crowd had left the room. I'm not sure how
long it lasted but I was pretty glad that it was over
at that point.
After that Link launched right back into Batman again.
The bass player looked confused but went with it.
After another protracted Batman Link talked some more
about random things from the past, and then after
announcing he had another song for us launched back
into Batman. The drummer stopped him and tried to
explain to him that they'd already played it, then
Link said he knew but that he was honoring Billy Ray
so he played it again. The remaining crowd was
receptive and I was relieved and glad. Link could do
not wrong.
He played a few more vocal numbers and then announced
that he was going to play Desperado and launched into
Jack The Ripper, which was kind of messy but pretty
cool. Then he started talking about how Kurt Cobain
ripped off the riff from Run Chicken Run for some song
(which I'm sure he did but I've just never paid much
attention to Nirvana)...then he said, "Jack The
Ripper!" and launched into Run Chicken Run. After
that he called a couple of more songs Jack The Ripper
that weren't Jack The Ripper and ended the set with
Rumble again.
This has already run long and I'm tired and rambling
myself so I'll stop. I'm glad I went and wouldn't
have missed it for anything but it was sad to see the
man's decline. I have a feeling that this will be
Link's last tour, though I could be wrong. He got
lost a lot and here and there made a few odd changes,
almost like a skipping record, and sometimes he would
start songs over in the middle of them (or maybe he
was drawing them out on purpose), but his rhythm
section did a great job keeping up. It was a great
experience but I've got mixed feelings about it, but
again, I'm glad I got to see him.
Richard
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Richard, thanks for the *great* report on Link!
He isn't coming anywhere terribly convenient to me this time around
unfortunately. I would really like to see him.
Do you suppose it was alcohol rather than age that may have had
something to do with his erratic behavior? I've read conflicting
reports; either he abstains or he's into it heavily (or was). But
I've also read of similiar behavior on recent tours of the US; it's
nothing new about him playing the same song multiple times.
How would you like to be a member of his "band"? It would keep you
on your toes alright. I bet he didn't even rehearse with them, they
just met at the first gig. That's what it sounded like from Moon
Dawg's report on Cow.
Thanks again Richard and more power to Link.
BN
PS So his wife just stands there and plays tambourine the whole time?
--- Brian Neal <> wrote:
> Do you suppose it was alcohol rather than age that
> may have had
> something to do with his erratic behavior?
Nothing that I saw indicated that. I don't know if
he's ever had any problems with alcohol in the past.
He sipped on one bottle of Heineken for the entire
set, which is all I've ever heard of him doing.
> How would you like to be a member of his "band"?
Man, as well as I know most of Link's songs, I don't
think I could do it. I have trouble enough not
screwing up when I know exactly what's gonna happen
next.
> PS So his wife just stands there and plays
> tambourine the whole time?
Yeah, she stood there playing tambourine and would
periodcally straighten his collar or his ponytail,
whispering things in his ear when he'd start to look
confused and question what was going on. I got the
impression she was there to take care of him. An
INCREDIBLY drunk/high girl tried to get on stage at
one point and his wife moved to block her and started
demanding some security (which they didn't have at the
venue) or Link would quit playing. The girl got
incredibly violent and hit the floor kicking at
everything around her, including my girlfriend. I was
contemplating an undiplomatic way of dealing with her
when the guy next to me wrapped her and ran right out
the door with her. Came back 30 seconds later. Link
didn't notice but stopped playing to ask his wife
why'd she'd switched to his other side.
I hope I don't make the guy sound like an invalid. It
really was great and I consider myself lucky to have
gotten to see him.
Richard
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that pretty much sums up the wray man when i saw him about 8/9 years ago in a
small venue in nj. but maybe he seemed less confused
it was the first and only time ive seen him, the guy looked so frail, almost
like he was ready to die. He needed a milkcrate, and several people to help him
up on stage. The venue was maxwells, pretty famous in its own rights, about
15x35 space. Link used to half stacks and pointed them against the wall. still
way too much for that size of space. anyway he got his guitar, all hunched over,
and started to play. the guy tore up the place, i could not believe it, totally
differnt person when he plays. The only annoying part was his wife fixing his
pony tail the whole time, if that was me, i would have told her to back off
already. The saddest thing though was when he played a slow vocal tune. He was
really screwing up the parts, and his voice seemed so sparse, everyone jusy
immediatly looked sad. right after that he began tearing the place up again, not
missing a beat, unbelievable.
i beleive hes playing soon at BB kings in NYC ?
Richard <> wrote:
Last night the old lady and I made the trip to Atlanta
to see Link Wray at The Earl. I'm dead tired this
morning from staying up and then getting up early
again to go take an exam so take that into account if
I sound kinda "blah" about the whole thing or my
writing is awkward.
First off, I hate Atlanta. It sucks. Other major
cities I've been to (Boston, NYC) are all a lot cooler
than Atlanta for a number of reasons. Secondly, it is
totally worth my time to go the venues in Atlanta.
There is a real rock 'n roll scene there and Athens
offers NONE of it (up yours Rolling Stone). It's cool
to go see a show and listen to stuff I know and like
or don't know and still like over the PA while I'm
waiting for the set. There are also much cooler
people to talk to; lots of rockabillies, older guys
that are still coming to shows and keeping up. It's
very cool.
On that note, I met a guy named Eddie who is a surf
guitarist! And I thought the entire region was dead
for surf. He was in a currently defunct band called
The X-Rays and is now in a band called Surge with (if
I'm remembering him correctly) the drummer from The
Penetrators. He also informed me that The Penetrators
are still kicking in Atl as a three piece, which was
nice to hear, and that there are a few other people
keeping the flame burning there, including a band
called Stratogeezer, who supposedly has a really funny
website. I referred him to the list, of course, and
hopefully he'll check it out.
I got there early despite my fear of standing around
for hours waiting for things to start rolling, but the
first band kicked off around 8:30. Having two opening
bands at any show is a mistake IMO, because the first
one always sucks, the second one is the one you
wouldn't mind seeing if your patience wasn't already
completely worn out by the first band, and by then you
just want to see the act you came to see and leave.
The first band was horrible. I didn't know who they
were and neither did anybody else. Nasty, piercing,
clackety Rickenbacker bass with a guitarist who's bag
of tricks included a lot of really dissonant chords
and lots of high, squealy distortion. Lots of people
walked out. I did about halfway through. The second
band was The Subsonics and they were cool; punk,
garagey rock three piece with a touch of Iggy from the
guitarist/singer. I'll never understand that whole
sexually ambiguous rocker thing (he looked like a dude
before he dressed for the stage) but they were
infinitely more enjoyable than the first band. After
that the wait for Link was interminable.
After what seemed like an age the lights went down and
the band preceded Link on stage. I'm pretty sure they
just used The Subsonics' amps, an Ampeg B100R and Link
played through a Silverface Fender Super Reverb. He
had what looked like a 70's reissue Stratocaster in
sunburst. He was dressed as usual; black jeans, black
t-shirt, black jacket. He also looked extremely old,
even compared to the somewhat recent DVD I've got.
His wife accompanied him on stage and stayed there the
entire time playing tambourine and tending to him.
His son came and hung the Strat around his Dad's neck
and they didn't waste any time. Right into Rumble and
then a few other standards I know by heart but can't
remember the names of at the moment. It was shaping
up to be really badass and the crowd was going nuts.
Then things started to get a little weird. Apparently
one of Link's best friends is a guy named Billy Ray
that lives in Atlanta and he kept calling for Billy
Ray to come up and play with him, which the guy was
apparently not quite prepared for because he wasn't
ready and wasn't in tune. At this point it became
obvious as he began to ramble and repeat himself a bit
that age has finally begun to catch up with the wolf.
He wouldn't play another note until Billy Ray got on
stage with him but the guy wasn't ready. Billy Ray,
an older bald guy with a bunch of earrings in each ear
kept reasurring Link that he would and then got on the
mic and called for the audience to make Link play a
song. So Link says ok and launches into Batman, which
was awesome. There was a definite change in Link when
he went from rambling to playing. He still has his
chops and remembers his songs...but he sometimes
forgot where he was in the song and got stuck on
repeat. Consequently, Batman ran a little long, but
that was cool with me and the crowd was still going
apeshit. Then Billy Ray was ready and they launched
into a three chord blues rocker than could've been any
number of things Link (or anybody else) has done,
stopping every verse for Billy Ray to bust out a blues
solo. Fifteen minutes later it was still going.
Twenty minutes later it was still going and people
were starting to look around and some left. I'm not
sure how long it actually went on but Billy Ray tried
repeatedly to end it and Link wouldn't let him. He
just kept shaking his head and saying no whenever
Billy Ray tried to bow off stage. They traded off
blues solos for a little while longer until Link broke
a string, which I think his son fixed up for him while
Billy Ray took over (Link refused to take Billy's
Strat from him), and then continued until at some
point Billy Ray bowed off stage despite Link's
protests. I looked around and about two thirds of the
original crowd had left the room. I'm not sure how
long it lasted but I was pretty glad that it was over
at that point.
After that Link launched right back into Batman again.
The bass player looked confused but went with it.
After another protracted Batman Link talked some more
about random things from the past, and then after
announcing he had another song for us launched back
into Batman. The drummer stopped him and tried to
explain to him that they'd already played it, then
Link said he knew but that he was honoring Billy Ray
so he played it again. The remaining crowd was
receptive and I was relieved and glad. Link could do
not wrong.
He played a few more vocal numbers and then announced
that he was going to play Desperado and launched into
Jack The Ripper, which was kind of messy but pretty
cool. Then he started talking about how Kurt Cobain
ripped off the riff from Run Chicken Run for some song
(which I'm sure he did but I've just never paid much
attention to Nirvana)...then he said, "Jack The
Ripper!" and launched into Run Chicken Run. After
that he called a couple of more songs Jack The Ripper
that weren't Jack The Ripper and ended the set with
Rumble again.
This has already run long and I'm tired and rambling
myself so I'll stop. I'm glad I went and wouldn't
have missed it for anything but it was sad to see the
man's decline. I have a feeling that this will be
Link's last tour, though I could be wrong. He got
lost a lot and here and there made a few odd changes,
almost like a skipping record, and sometimes he would
start songs over in the middle of them (or maybe he
was drawing them out on purpose), but his rhythm
section did a great job keeping up. It was a great
experience but I've got mixed feelings about it, but
again, I'm glad I got to see him.
Richard
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