Name: Link Wray's 3-Track Shack
Brand: Imports
SKU: 67381555
Price: 14.93 USD
Availability: InStock

Link Wray's 3-Track Shack

Rating

Album: Link Wray's 3-Track Shack
#	Song Title		Time
1)	La de Da	More Info...
2)	Take Me Home Jesus	More Info...
3)	Juke Box Mama	More Info...
4)	Rise and Fall of Jimmy Stokes	More Info...
5)	Fallin' Rain	More Info...
6)	Fire and Brimstone	More Info...
7)	Ice People	More Info...
8)	God Out West	More Info...
9)	Crowbar	More Info...
10)	Black River Swamp	More Info...
11)	Tail Dragger	More Info...
12)	Beans and Fatback	More Info...
13)	I'm So Glad, I'm So Proud	More Info...
14)	Shawnee Tribe	More Info...
15)	Hobo Man	More Info...
16)	Georgia Pines	More Info...
17)	Alabama Electric Circus	More Info...
1)	Water Boy	More Info...
2)	From Tulsa to North Carolina	More Info...
3)	Right or Wrong (You Lose)	More Info...
4)	In the Pines	More Info...
5)	Take My Hand (Precious Lord)	More Info...
6)	I'm So Glad, I'm So Proud (45 Edit)	More Info...
7)	Walkin' in the Alabama Sun	More Info...
8)	Scorpio Woman	More Info...
9)	The Coca Cola Sign Blinds My Eyes	More Info...
10)	All I Want to Say	More Info...
11)	All Because of a Woman	More Info...
12)	On the Run	More Info...
13)	Son of a Simple Man	More Info...
14)	Precious Jewel	More Info...
15)	Days Before Custer	More Info...
16)	Gandy Dancer	More Info...

Album: Link Wray's 3-Track Shack
#	Song Title		Time
1)	La de Da	More Info...
2)	Take Me Home Jesus	More Info...
3)	Juke Box Mama	More Info...
4)	Rise and Fall of Jimmy Stokes	More Info...
5)	Fallin' Rain	More Info...
6)	Fire and Brimstone	More Info...
7)	Ice People	More Info...
8)	God Out West	More Info...
9)	Crowbar	More Info...
10)	Black River Swamp	More Info...
11)	Tail Dragger	More Info...
12)	Beans and Fatback	More Info...
13)	I'm So Glad, I'm So Proud	More Info...
14)	Shawnee Tribe	More Info...
15)	Hobo Man	More Info...
16)	Georgia Pines	More Info...
17)	Alabama Electric Circus	More Info...
1)	Water Boy	More Info...
2)	From Tulsa to North Carolina	More Info...
3)	Right or Wrong (You Lose)	More Info...
4)	In the Pines	More Info...
5)	Take My Hand (Precious Lord)	More Info...
6)	I'm So Glad, I'm So Proud (45 Edit)	More Info...
7)	Walkin' in the Alabama Sun	More Info...
8)	Scorpio Woman	More Info...
9)	The Coca Cola Sign Blinds My Eyes	More Info...
10)	All I Want to Say	More Info...
11)	All Because of a Woman	More Info...
12)	On the Run	More Info...
13)	Son of a Simple Man	More Info...
14)	Precious Jewel	More Info...
15)	Days Before Custer	More Info...
16)	Gandy Dancer	More Info...

Performer Notes

Liner Note Authors: Dave Burke ; Alan Taylor.
While most anyone who worships at the altar of rock guitar knows Link Wray as the gutbucket minimalist who gave birth to the definitive six-string snarl on such primal 1950s singles as "Rumble," "Rawhide," and "Ace of Spades," that's not all the man was capable of, and folks expecting the hard-edged roar of his best-known work may be a bit taken aback by this release. Wray's Three Track Shack is a two-CD set which reissues three albums Link Wray cut between 1971 and 1973, recorded in a primitive home studio on his Maryland farm -- Link Wray, Beans & Fatback, and Mordecai Jones (the latter, in essence, a Link Wray album though pianist Bobby Howard, aka Mordicai Jones, took top billing). The music on 1971's Link Wray bears little resemblance to Wray's classic work, sounding more like a funky country blues set than anything else, with Wray playing as much acoustic guitar as electric, and pianos and mandolins adding a warm and down-home mood to the songs. If the approach is different, and Wray's rough but emphatic vocals establish this as a different animal from his early instrumental hits, there's an unapologetically raw and unpolished energy that sets this apart from the standard issue roots-music work of the day, and there's no questioning the passion and heart in these tunes, which often recall a childhood growing up poor and Native-American in the deep South. Beans & Fatback, which was issued by Virgin in 1973, is a noticeably looser and harder-rocking set than Link Wray, and "I'm So Glad, I'm So Proud" offers a solid dose of Wray's patented gnarly guitar, but most of the album still sounds rootsier and less hard-edged than Link's larger body of work, and offers a more personal insight on such songs as "Shawnee Tribe" and "Hobo Man." And finally, Mordecai Jones was an attempt on Wray's part to crash the charts by having his piano man, Bobby Howard, take the lead vocals under an assumed name; Howard's voice is more conventionally appealing than Link's (the fact Howard never lost a lung to tuberculosis doubtless helped), and there's a loose and engaging blues mood to the album that suggests a late-night jam caught on tape, with Link contributing some great slide guitar on the session (though one can't help but wish he could have hit his guitar a bit harder). Wray's Three Track Shack is a solid and comprehensive overview of an often overlooked period in Link Wray's life as a recording artist, and while newbies and casual observers may be a bit puzzled by its low-key tone, completists will find it fascinating (and be glad to pick up three hard-to-find LP's in one package). ~ Mark Deming

Professional Reviews

Mojo (Publisher) - "That old Shack magic is fully intact."