The Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916. Gretsch then became one of the most prominent manufacturers of American musical instruments.

Guitar production began in the late 1930s, and Gretsch guitars became highly sought after, most notably in the 1950s and 1960s. They lost favor with players during the 1970s and 1980s for various reasons, including a problematic relationship with the Baldwin Piano Company. Gretsch eventually slid into bankruptcy, but it was revived by Fred W. Gretsch in 1989. Gretsch, who is great-great-grandson to Friederich Gretsch, and is sometimes referred to as Fred Gretsch III, remains president of the company to this day.

Most modern-era Gretsch guitars are manufactured in the Far East, though US-made "Custom Shop" models remain available. In 2003 Gretsch entered into an agreement with Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC), under the terms of which Fred Gretsch III would continue to own the company, with FMIC handling most development, distribution and sales.^[1]

G6122-1962 Chet Atkins Country Gentleman

History[link]

Beginnings[link]

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

Gretsch was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a young German immigrant. His Brooklyn shop was made for the manufacture of banjos, tambourines, and drums.^[2] In 1895, at the age of 39, Gretsch died, and the successful company was taken over by his son Fred. By 1916, Fred had moved the company into a larger 10-story building in the Williamsburg district, becoming one of the most prominent American musical instrument makers.

The 1950s and 1960s[link]

1955 Chet Atkins 6120

By the mid 1950s, after Fred's son Fred Jr. had taken the reins. It was during this time the company introduced several distinctive models, including the 6120 "Nashville," the Duo Jet chambered "solidbody", the Country Club, and the White Falcon.

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During this time, Chet Atkins became an endorser of Gretsch. Atkins was one of the pre-eminent guitarists of his day, and his endorsement gave Gretsch greater visibility in competition with Gibson and Fender. Gretsch ultimately sold thousands of guitars with Chet's name on the pickguard, most notably the 6120 Chet Atkins model, one of which was purchased in 1957 by a young guitar player named Duane Eddy. The worldwide success of Eddy's "twangy" instrumental records, television appearances, and extensive touring helped expose the Gretsch guitar to the teenage rock and roll market. George Harrison, years later, would refer to this model as "the Eddie Cochran/Duane Eddy guitar". Other Chet Atkins models were the Country Gentleman [1] (named after an instrumental hit for Chet) and the Tennessean [2], a lower cost version of the Country Gent.

1964 Chet Atkins Tennessean 6119

Many rockabilly players had followed in the footsteps of Eddie Cochran, who also wielded a 6120 (though modified with a Gibson P-90 pickup in the neck position) and Gene Vincent's guitarist Cliff Gallup, who played a Duo Jet. Elvis Presley himself later owned a Gretsch Country Gentleman - (recently manufactured as "Gretsch Country Classic" but now renamed Chet Atkins Country Gentleman), playing it briefly both on stage and in the studio. Gretsch quickly became a legitimate competitor to both Gibson and its main rivals, Fender and Rickenbacker. Gretsch fortunes rose yet again in the early sixties when George Harrison played a Gretsch Country Gentleman [3] on the Ed Sullivan Show. Despite popular belief, he acquired two Country Gentleman guitars; his first was destroyed when it fell out of the trunk of their car on the roadway. He would later switch to a Gretsch Tennessean and his Country Gentleman made its last appearance in the music video of 'You're Going To Lose That Girl' in the movie 'Help!' The Ed Sullivan Country Gent was given to Ringo Starr by Harrison's wife, Olivia (http://www.thecanteen.com/hudson.html).

The British Invasion brought with it, in addition to an extensive use of Rickenbackers, further popularity to Gretsch models. In addition to the Beatles, Brian O'Hara of the Fourmost used a Country Gentleman; it has been suggested that George Harrison gave him this guitar after acquiring the Tennessean. John Lennon at one point acquired a Nashville (double cutaway) The Animals' Hilton Valentine played a Tennessean on the classic House of the Rising Sun. Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones used a 1963 model 6118 Double Anniversary from late 1963 - mid 1964, used on the Stones' version of I Wanna Be Your Man as well as the Rolling Stones' first album as well as a few tracks on 12 X 5, notably It's All Over Now. Gerry Marsden from Gerry and the Pacemakers can also be seen using a Gretsch guitar.

Beginning in 1966, Gretsch had weekly television exposure when the company supplied the guitars and drums for The Monkees, extending the demand for guitars. Both Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison of the Velvet Underground used a Gretsch Country Gentleman during the bands' lifetime (although not simultaneously - they shared the same guitar), as did The Stone Roses guitarist John Squire. As the sixties waned into the seventies, Gretschs were seen in the hands of Stephen Stills and Neil Young, who each played Falcon models on the Buffalo Springfield's lone hit, "For What It's Worth". Pete Townshend of the Who also used a '59 orange Gretsch 6120 (given to him by Joe Walsh) on their 1971 Who's Next and 1973 Quadrophenia albums, including their hits, "Bargain", "Won't Get Fooled Again" and "5:15".

Gretsch electric twelve-string and The Monkees[link]

According to the audio commentary by Michael Nesmith for the episode "I've Got A Little Song Here" on The Monkees: Season One DVD set, prior to The Monkees, Nesmith liked twelve string electric guitars. At the time, only Rickenbacker and Vox mass-produced them. Nesmith, however, preferred the bluesy twangy sound of a Gretsch over the distinctive pop sound of a Rickenbacker. According to Nesmith, there was a luthier in Los Angeles that converted six string electric guitars into twelve string guitars. Nesmith bought himself a Gretsch Country Gentleman to convert into a twelve string, and that is the guitar he used in the pilot episode of The Monkees, "Here Come The Monkees". (Note: Upon close examination of the film footage, the guitar Nesmith identifies as a Country Gentleman is actually a Gretsch Tennessean. When the pilot episode aired, the music scenes were re-shot. As a result, Mike is holding the original Gretsch as the band is setting up, but has the famous blonde Gretsch once they start playing.) Once the pilot was sold as a series, and Gretsch made the deal to supply the group with instruments, Nesmith contacted Fred Gretsch, and asked if he could make him a twelve-string electric guitar. Gretsch agreed, and the result is the famous blonde electric twelve string that Nesmith used during the Monkees' entire run, on the series, in the recording studio, and in concert. Meanwhile, Fred Gretsch liked the finished instrument so much, he put the electric twelve string into production. One of the first was given to George Harrison and was later known as the "George Harrison Model" (Harrison, preferring his Rickenbacker twelve-string, gave the guitar to a friend).

From 1966 through 1968, Gretsch also produced the Gretsch 6123, which was a Monkees signature electric six string guitar.[4] However, since the Monkees' target demographic was preteen-aged girls, the guitar (bright red in color, with a dubious "Monkees" logo on the pickguard) was not a sales success, since few of these girls played guitar, and even fewer had the cash to cover the $469 price tag.

Sale, Gretsch family regains interest[link]

Fred Gretsch never found an adequate successor, and in 1967 Gretsch was sold to Baldwin Pianos,^[3] becoming a subsidiary.

During the "Baldwin era," new models were introduced throughout the seventies and old favorites soldiered on. Solidbody guitars rose to prominence in rock, with the harder styles of the era favoring Stratocasters and Les Pauls, and hollowbodies fell in popularity. In 1979, after Fred Jr's death, Chet Atkins withdrew his endorsement in response to quality problems and Gretsch's unwillingness to pursue his vision of a nylon-string electric guitar. Factory fires in the early 1970s caused serious problems, and production was finally halted by Baldwin in 1981.

In 1989, another Fred Gretsch, nephew of Fred Jr., and his wife Dinah acquired their namesake company. The first new model was the Traveling Wilburys model, an Asian import which looked much like a Danelectro. While the guitar did little credit to Gretsch classics of the past, it served notice that Gretsch was back.

After numerous failed attempts to acquire facilities or contract production in the United States, Fred Gretsch and long-time Gretsch employee Duke Kramer, who advised Gretsch, turned to Terada of Japan, and production began anew. A range of reissues appeared throughout the nineties to mixed reviews. They were of generally high quality, but with notable non-vintage details and features; occasional US-built "Custom Shop" models were offered at significantly higher prices.

Resurgence[link]

In the 1980s, rockabilly revival player Brian Setzer rekindled interest in the brand with his band The Stray Cats. His influence continued through the 1990s with The Brian Setzer Orchestra and its fusion of "hyperbilly" guitar and powerful big band arrangements. In 1990, he became the first player since Chet Atkins to be honored with a signature-model Gretsch, the Brian Setzer 6120, which is now one of an extensive line of Setzer signature models.

Johan Frandsen and Brian Setzer on stage at the Helsinki Ice Hall, Finland, July 2011

Jim Heath, aka Reverend Horton Heat has been an important Gretsch proponent in the modern era, and also has a signature model.^{[citation needed]}

The FMIC era[link]

In late 2002, Gretsch and Fender reached an agreement giving Fender most control over marketing, production, and distribution of guitars (although the Gretsch family still owns Gretsch Guitars).^[4]

Fender quickly set about improving the line by upgrading substandard electrical components and bringing modern production more closely in line with designs and practices of the classic era. Body and headstock shapes, which on reissues from the 90s and early 00s had varied from 50s-60s practice, were made more vintage-correct. Hollowbodies were returned to 3-ply construction rather than the 5-plies of the 1990-2002 period. Filtertron double-coil pickups were redesigned by TV Jones to sound more like vintage pickups. Duo Jets were more extensively chambered, again in accordance with vintage practice, and the trestle bracing of the 1959-1961 era was re-introduced on the Setzer line and other selected models.

An array of models based on vintage designs has been introduced, with widespread approval among players and even collectors. While such judgments are always subjective and sometimes contentious, many feel FMIC-era Gretschs exhibit the highest level of overall build quality, attention to detail, and consistency in Gretsch's long history.

Gretsch also introduced new models consistent with its heritage but aimed at modern players, with features like premium pickups manufactured by TV Jones, locking Sperzel tuners, and ML bracing designed by Mike Lewis of FMIC and Masao Terada of the Terada company in Japan, where all Gretsch pro-line guitars are now built.

In January 2007, upon an agreement with the Atkins family, Gretsch announced the return of Chet Atkins as an endorser. The Country Classic models became Country Gentlemen once again, the name "Chet Atkins Hollowbody" returned to the 6120 Nashvilles, and the Tennessee Rose became the Chet Atkins Tennessee Rose. In July 2008, a limited run of Chet Atkins 6120 Stereo guitars was introduced, based on a famous prototype from 1956 which featured in several landmark Atkins recordings, but was never produced in series.

Billy Zoom, of the Los Angeles punk band X, was honored with a limited-edition Gretsch Custom Shop Jet model in 2008; this guitar is based on Zoom's own vintage Jet, and includes more extensive internal chambering than any other modern Jet, exactly reproducing the construction revealed when Zoom's original guitar was CAT-scanned at a medical facility during development.

At the same time, FMIC has refined and improved the mid-priced Electromatic line by discontinuing the low-end bolt-neck models of the late 90s and early 2000s, which incorporated generic humbucking pickups and wraparound bridges. The Electromatic Hollowbody line has proven particularly successful, from the 5125 - 5129 series with its US-made DeArmond 2000 pickups and the similar 5120 series. The 5120, a single-cutaway model inspired by the 6120, has become the best-selling guitar in Gretsch history, with an active after-market in replacement pickups from TV Jones and other makers for players who feel they provide a more characteristic tone than the stock "Gretschbucker" double-coil pickups. The double-cutaway 5122 model, introduced in 2008 and inspired by the 6122 Country Gentleman, fills out the Korean-built Electromatic Hollow line.

The Electromatic line also includes Pro Jet and Double Jet chambered solidbodies based on Gretsch's venerable Duo Jet line; these are equipped with Gretsch mini-humbuckers unavailable on any other guitar. Final members of the Electromatic line are the Corvette series, thin mahogany solidbodies based on the identically named and same-shaped model of the early sixties – but with the newly designed Mega'Tron double-coil pickups exclusive to the Corvette line. Both G. Love and Patrick Stump of Fall Out Boy have been honored with signature-series Electromatic Corvettes, the G. Love introduced in January 2008 and Stump's "Stump-o-matic" in January 2009.

Current models[link]

Hollow body electric[link]

Single cutaway body style

Double cutaway body style

Solid body electric[link]

Single cutaway body style

Double cutaway body style

Acoustic[link]

Drums[link]

During the 1950s and 1960s, many renowned Jazz drummers, such as Elvin Jones, Tony Williams, Art Blakey, Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, and even Billy Cobham (during the early 70's in the early Mahavishnu days) utilized Gretsch drums. They were all playing the now classic "round badge" kits. Micky Dolenz also used Gretsch drums during the filming of the Monkees TV series. Phil Collins used a Gretsch drum kit for many years while touring with Genesis, also legendary studio and all around drummer Vinnie Colaiuta plays Gretsch. Charlie Watts (the Wembley Whammer) of the Rolling Stones has played Gretsch drums for forty-five years. Other artists who have used Gretsch drums include Brad Wilk from Audioslave and Rage Against the Machine, Taylor Hawkins of Foo Fighters, Debbi Peterson of The Bangles and Steve Ferrone of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.

Replicas[link]

Harmonix Music Systems released a replica Gretsch Duo-Jet Guitar controller with along side the release of "The Beatles: Rock Band".

Notes[link]

Bacon, T. (2000). (Ed.). Fuzz & Feedback: Classic Guitar Music of the 60's. Miller Freeman Books. San Francisco. ISBN 0-87930-612-2.

External links[link]

• Gretsch

Chester Burton Atkins (June 20, 1924 – June 30, 2001), known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.

Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle Travis, Django Reinhardt, George Barnes and Les Paul, brought him admirers within and outside the country scene, both in the United States and internationally. Atkins produced records for The Browns, Porter Wagoner, Norma Jean, Dolly Parton, Dottie West, Perry Como, Elvis Presley, the Everly Brothers, Eddy Arnold, Don Gibson, Jim Reeves, Jerry Reed, Skeeter Davis, Waylon Jennings and many others.

Among many honors, Atkins received 14 Grammy Awards as well as the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, nine Country Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year awards, and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum.

Biography[link]

Childhood and early life[link]

Chet Atkins was born on June 20, 1924, in Luttrell, Tennessee, near Clinch Mountain. His parents divorced when he was six, after which he was raised by his mother. He was the youngest of three boys and a girl. He started out on the ukulele, later moving on to the fiddle, but traded his brother Lowell an old pistol and some chores for a guitar when he was nine.^[1] He stated in his 1974 autobiography, "We were so poor and everybody around us was so poor that it was the forties before anyone even knew there had been a depression." Forced to relocate to Fortson, Georgia, to live with his father because of a critical asthma condition, Atkins was a sensitive youth who made music his obsession. Because of his illness, he was forced to sleep in a straight-back chair in order to breathe comfortably. On those nights, he would play his guitar until he fell asleep holding it, a habit which lasted his whole life.^[2] While living in Fortson, he attended historic Mountain Hill School. He would return in the 1990s to play a series of charity concerts to save the school from demolition.^{[citation needed]}

Stories have been told about the very young Chet who, when a friend or relative would come to visit, and if that person played a guitar, would crowd in and put his ear so very close to the instrument that it became difficult for that person to play.^[2]

Atkins became an accomplished guitarist while he was in high school.^[1] He would use the restroom in the school to practice, because it gave better acoustics.^[3][4] His first guitar had a nail for a nut and was so bowed that only the first few frets could be used.^[5] He later purchased a semi-acoustic electric guitar and amp, but he had to travel many miles to find an electrical outlet since his home had no electricity.^[6]

Later in life he lightheartedly gave himself (along with John Knowles, Tommy Emmanuel, Steve Wariner and Jerry Reed) the honorary degree CGP, standing for "Certified Guitar Player".^[5] In 2011 Daughter Merle Atkins Russell bestowed the CGP degree upon long time sideman Paul Yandell. She then declared no more CGP's would be allowed by the Atkins estate.^{[citation needed]}

His half-brother Jim was a successful guitarist who worked with the Les Paul Trio in New York.^[2]

Atkins did not have a strong style of his own until 1939 when (while still living in Georgia) he heard Merle Travis picking over WLW radio.^[2][7] This early influence dramatically shaped his unique playing style. Whereas Travis's right hand used his index finger for the melody and thumb for bass notes, Atkins expanded his right hand style to include picking with his first three fingers, with the thumb on bass.

Chet Atkins was a Ham Radio General class licensee. Formerly using the call-sign, WA4CZD, he obtained the vanity call sign W4CGP in 1998 to reflect the C.G.P. name. He was an ARRL member.^[8]

Early musical career[link]

After dropping out of high school in 1942, Atkins landed a job at WNOX-AM radio in Knoxville. There he played fiddle and guitar with singer Bill Carlisle and comic Archie Campbell as well as becoming a member of the station's Dixieland Swingsters, a small swing instrumental combo. After three years, he moved to WLW-AM in Cincinnati, Ohio, where Merle Travis had formerly worked.

After six months he moved to Raleigh and worked with Johnnie and Jack before heading for Richmond, Virginia, where he performed with Sunshine Sue Workman. Atkins's shy personality worked against him, as did the fact that his sophisticated style led many to doubt he was truly "country." He was fired often but was soon able to land another job at another radio station due to his unique playing ability.^[2] Atkins and Jethro Burns of Homer and Jethro married twin sisters, Leona and Lois Johnson who sang as Laverne and Fern Johnson: the Johnson Sisters. Leona Atkins outlived Atkins by eight years, dying in 2009 at the age of 85.^[9]

Traveling to Chicago, Atkins auditioned for Red Foley, who was leaving his star position on WLS-AM's National Barn Dance to join the Grand Ole Opry.^[10] Atkins made his first appearance at the Opry in 1946 as a member of Foley's band. He also recorded a single for Nashville-based Bullet Records that year. That single, "Guitar Blues", was fairly progressive, including as it did, a clarinet solo by Nashville dance band musician Dutch McMillan with Owen Bradley on piano. He had a solo spot on the Opry; but when that was cut, Atkins moved on to KWTO-AM in Springfield, Missouri. Despite the support of executive Si Siman, however, he soon was fired for not sounding "country enough."^[2]

Signing with RCA Victor[link]

While working with a Western band in Denver, Colorado, Atkins came to the attention of RCA Victor. Siman had been encouraging Steve Sholes to sign Atkins, as his style (with the success of Merle Travis as a hit recording artist) was suddenly in vogue. Sholes, A&R director of country music at RCA, tracked Atkins down to Denver.

He made his first RCA recordings in Chicago in 1947. They did not sell. He did some studio work for RCA that year but had relocated to Knoxville again where he worked with Homer and Jethro on WNOX's new Saturday night radio show The Tennessee Barn Dance and the popular Midday Merry Go Round.

In 1949 he left WNOX to join Mother Maybelle and the Carter Sisters back on KWTO. This incarnation of the old Carter Family featured Maybelle Carter and daughters June, Helen and Anita. Their work soon attracted attention from the Grand Ole Opry. The group relocated to Nashville in mid-1950. Atkins began working on recording sessions, performing on WSM-AM and the Opry.^[2]

While he hadn't yet had a hit record on RCA his stature was growing. He began assisting Sholes as a Session Leader when the New York–based producer needed help organizing Nashville sessions for RCA artists. Atkins's first hit single was "Mr. Sandman", followed by "Silver Bell", which he did as a duet with Hank Snow. His albums also became more popular, and he was featured on ABC-TV's The Eddy Arnold Show during the summer of 1956; as well as on Country Music Jubilee in 1957 and 58 (by then renamed Jubilee USA).

Atkins's Gretsch Country Gentleman, model G6122-1962

In addition to recording, Atkins became a design consultant for Gretsch, who manufactured a popular Chet Atkins line of electric guitars from 1955–1980. Atkins also became manager of RCA's Nashville studio, eventually inspiring and seeing the completion of the legendary RCA Studio B, the first studio built specifically for the purpose of recording on the now-famous Music Row.^[5]

Performer and producer[link]

When Sholes took over pop production in 1957—a result of his success with Elvis Presley—he put Atkins in charge of RCA's Nashville division. With country music record sales declining as rock and roll took over, Atkins and Bob Ferguson took their cue from Owen Bradley and eliminated fiddles and steel guitar as a means of making country singers appeal to pop fans. This became known as the Nashville sound which Atkins said was a label created by the media attached to a style of recording done during that period to keep country (and their jobs) viable.

Atkins used the Jordanaires and a rhythm section on hits like Jim Reeves' "Four Walls" and "He'll Have to Go"^[11] and Don Gibson's "Oh Lonesome Me" and "Blue Blue Day".^[12] The once rare phenomenon of having a country hit cross over to pop success became more common. He and Bradley had essentially put the producer in the driver's seat, guiding an artist's choice of material and the musical background.

Atkins made his own records, which usually visited pop standards and jazz, in a sophisticated home studio, often recording the rhythm tracks at RCA but adding his solo parts at home, refining the tracks until the results satisfied him.^[5] Guitarists of all styles came to admire various Atkins albums for their unique musical ideas and in some cases experimental electronic ideas. In this period he became known internationally as "Mister Guitar", inspiring an album named Mister Guitar, engineered by both Bob Ferris and Bill Porter, his replacement.

At the end of March 1959, Porter took over as chief engineer at RCA's Nashville studio, in the space now known as "Studio B". (At the time there was only one studio at RCA, with no letter designation.) Porter soon helped Atkins get a better reverberation sound from the studio's German effects device, an EMT plate reverb. With his golden ear, Porter found the studio's acoustics to be problematic, and he devised a set of acoustic baffles to hang from the ceiling, then selected positions for microphones based on resonant room modes. The sound of the recordings improved significantly, and the studio achieved a string of successes. The Nashville sound became more dynamic.^[13] In later years, when Bradley asked how he achieved his sound, Atkins told him "it was Porter."^[14] Porter described Atkins as respectful of musicians when recording—if someone was out of tune he would not single that person out by name. Instead, he would say something like, "we got a little tuning problem ... Everybody check and see what's going on."^[14] If that didn't work, Atkins would instruct Porter to turn the offending player down in the mix. When Porter left RCA in late 1964, Atkins said, "the sound was never the same, never as great."^[14]

Atkins's trademark "Atkins Style" of playing uses the thumb and first two—sometimes three—fingers of the right hand. He developed this style from listening to Merle Travis occasionally on a primitive radio. He was sure no one could play that articulately with just the thumb and index finger (which was exactly how Travis played) and he assumed it required the thumb and two fingers—and that was the style he pioneered and mastered.

He enjoyed jamming with fellow studio musicians which led to them being asked to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1960. Although that performance was canceled due to rioting, a live recording of the group (After the Riot at Newport) was released. Atkins performed by invitation at the White House for presidents Kennedy through George H. W. Bush. Atkins was a member of the Million Dollar Band during the 1980s. He is also well known for his song "Yankee Doodle Dixie", in which he played "Yankee Doodle" and "Dixie" simultaneously, on the same guitar.

Before his mentor Sholes died in 1968, Atkins had become vice president of RCA's country division. In 1987 he told Nine-O-One Network Magazine that he was "ashamed" of his promotion: "I wanted to be known as a guitarist and I know, too, that they give you titles like that in lieu of money. So beware when they want to make you vice president."^[15] He had brought Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Connie Smith, Bobby Bare, Dolly Parton, Jerry Reed and John Hartford to the label in the 1960s and inspired and helped countless others.^[16] He took a considerable risk during the mid-1960s, when the Civil Rights Movement sparked violence throughout the South by signing country music's first African-American singer Charley Pride, who sang rawer country than the smoother music Atkins had pioneered.

Atkins's own biggest hit single came in 1965, with "Yakety Axe", an adaptation of his friend saxophonist Boots Randolph's "Yakety Sax". He rarely performed in those days, and eventually had to hire other RCA producers like Bob Ferguson and Felton Jarvis to alleviate his workload.^[5]

Later career[link]

In the 1970s, Atkins became increasingly stressed by his executive duties. He produced fewer records but could still turn out hits such as Perry Como's pop hit "And I Love You So". He recorded extensively with close friend and fellow picker Jerry Reed, who'd become a hit artist in his own right. A 1973 diagnosis of colon cancer, however, led Atkins to redefine his role at RCA, to allow others to handle administration while he went back to his first love, the guitar, often recording with Reed or even Homer & Jethro's Jethro Burns (Atkins's brother-in-law) after Homer died in 1971.^[5]

By the end of the 1970s, Atkins's time had passed as a producer. New executives at RCA had different ideas. He first retired from his position in the company, and then began to feel stifled as an artist because RCA would not let him branch out into jazz. His mid-1970s collaborations with one of his influences, Les Paul, Chester & Lester and Guitar Monsters, had already reflected that interest; Chester & Lester was one of the best-selling recordings of Atkins's career. At the same time he grew dissatisfied with the direction Gretsch (no longer family-owned) was going and withdrew his authorization for them to use his name and began designing guitars with Gibson. He left RCA in 1982 and signed with Columbia Records, for whom he produced a debut album in 1983.^[10]

Jazz had always been a strong love of his, and often in his career he was criticized by "pure" country musicians for his jazz influences. He also said on many occasions that he did not like being called a "country guitarist", insisting that he was a guitarist, period. Although he played 'by ear' and was a masterful improviser he was able to read music and even performed some classical guitar pieces. When Roger C. Field, a friend, suggested to him in 1991 that he record and perform with a female singer he did so with Suzy Bogguss.^[5]

He returned to his country roots for albums he recorded with Mark Knopfler and Jerry Reed.^[5] Knopfler had long mentioned Atkins as one of his earliest influences. Atkins also collaborated with Australian guitar legend Tommy Emmanuel. On being asked to name the ten most influential guitarists of the 20th century, he named Django Reinhardt to the first position, and also placed himself on the list.^[17]

In later years he even went back to radio, appearing on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion radio program, on American Public Media radio, even picking up a fiddle from time to time.^[5]

Legacy[link]

Atkins received numerous awards, including 14 Grammy Awards and nine Country Music Association Instrumentalist of the Year awards.^[10] In 1993 he was honored with the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Billboard magazine awarded him their Century Award, their "highest honor for distinguished creative achievement", in December 1997.^[18]

Atkins is notable for his broad influence. His love for numerous styles of music can be traced from his early recording of stride-pianist James P. Johnson's "Johnson Rag," all the way to the rock stylings of Eric Johnson, an invited guest on Atkins's recording sessions who, when Chet attempted to copy his influential rocker "Cliffs of Dover", led to Atkins's creation of a unique arrangement of "Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)."

Chet's recordings of "Malaguena" inspired a new generation of Flamenco guitarists; the classical guitar selections included on almost all his albums were, for many American artists working in the field today, the first classical guitar they ever heard. He recorded smooth jazz guitar still played on American airwaves today.

While he did more performing in the 1990s his health grew frail as he was diagnosed with cancer again in 1996. He died on June 30, 2001 at his home in Nashville.^[19]

Atkins was buried at Harpeth Hills Memory Gardens in Nashville.^[20]

Atkins was quoted many times throughout his career, and of his own legacy he once said:

Years from now, after I'm gone, someone will listen to what I've done and know I was here. They may not know or care who I was, but they'll hear my guitars speaking for me.

A stretch of Interstate 185 in southwest Georgia (between LaGrange and Columbus) is named "Chet Atkins Parkway".^[21] This stretch of interstate runs through Fortson, GA where Atkins spent much of his childhood.

In 2002, Atkins was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.^[16] His award was presented by Marty Stuart and Brian Setzer and accepted by Atkins's grandson, Jonathan Russell. The following year, Atkins ranked No.28 in CMT's 40 Greatest Men of Country Music.

At the age of 13, jazz guitarist Earl Klugh was captivated watching Atkins's guitar playing on The Perry Como Show.^[22] Similarly he was an extremely big influence on Doyle Dykes. Atkins also inspired Drexl Jonez and Tommy Emmanuel.^[23]

Clint Black's album "Nothin' but the Taillights" includes the song "Ode to Chet," which includes the lines "'Cause I can win her over like Romeo did Juliet, if I can only show her I can almost pick that legato lick like Chet" and "It'll take more than Mel Bay 1, 2, & 3 if I'm ever gonna play like CGP." Atkins plays guitar on the track. At the end of the song Black and Atkins have a brief conversation.

Chet's song Jam Man is currently used in commercials for Esurance.

In 1967 a tribute song called "Chet's Tune" was produced for his birthday, with contributions by a long list of RCA/Victor artists including Eddy Arnold, Connie Smith, Jerry Reed, Willie Nelson, Hank Snow, and others. The song was written by Nashville songwriter Cy Coben, a friend of Atkins. The single reached #38 on the country charts.^[24][25]

Discography[link]

Industry awards[link]

Country Music Association

• 1967 Instrumentalist of the Year
• 1968 Instrumentalist of the Year
• 1969 Instrumentalist of the Year
• 1981 Instrumentalist of the Year
• 1982 Instrumentalist of the Year
• 1983 Instrumentalist of the Year
• 1984 Instrumentalist of the Year
• 1985 Instrumentalist of the Year
• 1988 Instrumentalist of the Year

Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

• Inducted in 1973

Grammy Awards

• 1971 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Jerry Reed – Me and Jerry
• 1972 Best Country Instrumental Performance – "Snowbird"
• 1975 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Merle Travis – The Atkins-Travis Traveling Show
• 1976 Best Country Instrumental Performance – "The Entertainer"
• 1977 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Les Paul – Chester and Lester
• 1982 Best Country Instrumental Performance – Country After All These Years
• 1986 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Mark Knopfler – "Cosmic Square Dance"
• 1991 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Mark Knopfler – "So Soft, Your Goodbye"
• 1991 Best Country Vocal Collaboration with Mark Knopfler – "Poor Boy Blues"
• 1993 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Jerry Reed – Sneakin' Around
• 1993 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award'
• 1994 Best Country Instrumental Performance with Asleep at the Wheel, Eldon Shamblin, Johnny Gimble, Marty Stuart, Reuben "Lucky Oceans" Gosfield & Vince Gill – "Red Wing"
• 1995 Best Country Instrumental Performance – "Young Thing"
• 1997 Best Country Instrumental Performance – "Jam Man"

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

• Posthumously inducted in 2002

See also[link]

Biography portal

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Kienzle, Rich (1998). "Chet Atkins". In The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Paul Kingsbury, Editor. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 26–7.

External links[link]

• Chet Atkins at the Country Music Hall of Fame
• Allmusic entry for Chet Atkins
• Chet Atkins Official Web site
• Bob Moore's A-Team Musicians Website
• Chet Atkins at the Internet Movie Database
• Chet Atkins Interview – Vintage Guitar magazine, June 1996(This reference no longer exists at this link – May 2011)
• Chet Atkins on the Pop Chronicles

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (April 2010)

Philip Xenidis, better known as Phil X (born 10 March 1966), is a Greek-born Canadian ^[1] guitarist and co-founder of the Los Angeles-based turbo pop band Powder. He also has a second band, the Drills. He is best known as the guitarist who replaced Rik Emmett in the Canadian rock band Triumph, for the Edge of Excess album and tour and as the Guitar Reviewer of fretted americana^[2] on YouTube.

An early opportunity in Xenidis's career came when he was asked in 1990 to tour with Randy Coven, whom he met through Aldo Nova; in 1991, he toured the US with Aldo Nova.^[3]

Phil X is a prolific session guitarist, having played on albums by Tommy Lee, Methods of Mayhem, Avril Lavigne, Kelly Clarkson, Orianthi, Rob Zombie, Chris Daughtry, Alice Cooper, Thousand Foot Krutch and many others. He wrote the song "Tired" and also played guitar on Tommy Lee's Tommyland: The Ride album. He has appeared with Lee on Ellen and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Phil X was featured in the "making of" video for the movie Josie and the Pussycats. He, along with his Powder bandmates, taught the young actresses to appear as if they were actually playing their instruments.^[4]

He has performed with the band Frozen Ghost. Phil X is also the inventor of the "Flip Stick," an innovative replacement for the "whammy bar" on Floyd-Rose-equipped guitars.

Since 2008, Phil X has been a faculty member of Camp Rock, a camp in Ontario for aspiring musicians.^{[citation needed]}

In April and May 2011, Phil X substituted for Bon Jovi's lead guitarist Richie Sambora, who could not be present for the required dates. He played the last 13 American shows of Bon Jovi's 2011 world tour.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Web site of Phil X
• Camp Rock Faculty member since 2008
• [1]

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (October 2009)

Billy Duffy (born William Henry Duffy, 12 May 1961, Hulme, Manchester^[1]) is an English guitarist and songwriter, best known as the guitarist in The Cult.

Early days[link]

He grew up in Manchester, where he began playing guitar at the age of fourteen. Duffy got his start playing in different punk line-ups in the late 1970s, but these earlier years were more notable for his introducing Johnny Marr (The Smiths) to the guitar and encouraging Morrissey to make his singing debut with Duffy in The Nosebleeds.^[1]

When the initial punk rock movement (led by the Sex Pistols) died out, Duffy eventually settled as guitarist for the moodier and more arty Theatre of Hate. He eventually met Ian Astbury (the frontman for gothic rock band Southern Death Cult) who was impressed with Duffy's playing and abandoned Southern Death Cult to start a new band with him. Together, they exploited the Southern Death Cult's success by calling themselves Death Cult. After initial fanfare and a couple of singles, Duffy, following a trip to New York, convinced Astbury to shorten the band's name to The Cult in 1984.^[1]

As early as The Cult's debut single "Spiritwalker", Duffy began establishing a distinctive flanged sound with an offbeat choice of guitar, a mid 1970s Gretsch White Falcon.

Late 1980s and 1990s[link]

Duffy helped change The Cult's sound into metal-blues for their third album, 1987's Electric, the credit for this change goes to producer and AC/DC fan Rick Rubin. Fresh from his work producing the Beastie Boys' debut album Licensed to Ill, Rubin gave both Duffy and The Cult a new musical direction.

Duffy moved to Los Angeles in 1988 with Astbury, where both remain. There, the two writing partners (with longtime bassist Jamie Stewart) turned to stadium rock and recorded Sonic Temple. The Cult reached a larger, mainstream audience, but the public's attention could not be sustained with their next album, Ceremony, at the dawn of the grunge age.

Following the 'Ceremonial Stomp' tour of 1992, Astbury pressured Duffy to return to their roots, with The Cult's The Cult album. This would ultimately lead to Astbury's departure from Duffy and The Cult in 1995.

During The Cult's four-year hiatus, Duffy played with Mike Peters of The Alarm in a project called Coloursound.^[1]

Duffy plays on the title track from Japanese musician J's 1997 debut album, Pyromania.

Cult reformation[link]

Duffy reformed The Cult with Astbury in 1999,^[1] which led to a new recording contract with Atlantic Records. This was capped off by a show at Atlanta's Music Midtown Festival in May 2001, where over 60,000 people watched them perform, leading up to the release of Beyond Good and Evil.

Their single to promote it, "Rise", which reached No.41 in the US and No.2 on the mainstream rock chart, was removed from radio rotation a week after the album's release. Disappointing sales, reviews, and tour attendance ensued, and in 2002 Astbury sent The Cult onto a hiatus once more, when an offer to sing with The Doors came his way.

2006 onwards[link]

The Cult reformed in early 2006 and after playing several US concerts toured Europe. Duffy appeared in Ethan Dettenmaier's film, Sin-Jin Smyth, which was filmed in 2006, but remains unreleased.

In early 2006 Duffy recorded a debut album with his new band, Circus Diablo. The album was recorded with Duffy playing lead guitar and former Cult touring bass player Billy Morrison handling lead vocals and bass guitar duties. Former The Almighty frontman, Ricky Warwick, played rhythm guitar on the CD. The former Cult, current Velvet Revolver drummer, Matt Sorum also played on the record.

After the completion of the album, former Fuel member Brett Scallions was added to be the bassist, so Morrison could focus on being the lead singer. Then, Jeremy Colson formerly with Steve Vai, was brought in to be the full time drummer for the band. Duffy's involvement ended in 2007.

In 2007 he was a judge on Bodog Music's Battle Of The Bands.

In 2010 Billy Duffy appeared on the TV-series Married to Rock, which starred his girlfriend AJ Celi.

2011 – He is currently on tour with The Cult

References[link]

Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is a Grammy Award-winning American guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s he had a string of hit records, produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including "Rebel Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young". He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994.^[1]

Early life and career[link]

Born in Corning, New York, he began playing the guitar at the age of five. In 1951 his family moved to Tucson, and then to Coolidge, Arizona. At the age of 16 he obtained a Chet Atkins model Gretsch guitar, and formed a duo, Jimmy and Duane, with his friend Jimmy Delbridge (who later recorded as Jimmy Dell).^[2] While performing at local radio station KCKY they met disc jockey Lee Hazlewood, who produced the duo's single, "Soda Fountain Girl", recorded and released in 1955 in Phoenix. Hazlewood then produced Sanford Clark's 1956 hit, "The Fool", featuring guitarist Al Casey, while Eddy and Delbridge performed and appeared on radio stations in Phoenix before joining Buddy Long's Western Melody Boys, playing country music in and around the city.^[3][4][5]

Eddy devised a technique of playing lead on his guitar's bass strings to produce a low, reverberant "twangy" sound. In November 1957, Eddy recorded an instrumental, "Moovin' n' Groovin'", co-written by Eddy and Hazlewood. As the Phoenix studio had no echo chamber, Hazlewood bought a 2,000 gallon water storage tank which he used as an echo chamber to accentuate the "twangy" guitar sound. Eddy signed a contract with Philadelphia-based Jamie Records. "Moovin' n' Groovin'" reached #72 on the Hot 100 in early 1958; the opening riff was copied a few years later by The Beach Boys on "Surfin' U.S.A.".^[6] For the follow-up, "Rebel-'Rouser", the record featured overdubbed saxophone by Los Angeles session musician Gil Bernal and yells and handclaps by doo-wop group The Rivingtons.^[3][7] The tune became Eddy's big, breakthrough hit, reaching #6 on the chart.

Eddy had a succession of hit records over the next few years, and his band members, including Steve Douglas, saxophonist Jim Horn and keyboard player Larry Knechtel would go on to work as part of Phil Spector's Wrecking Crew.^[8] According to writer Richie Unterberger, "The singles - 'Peter Gunn,' 'Cannonball,' 'Shazam,' and 'Forty Miles of Bad Road' were probably the best - also did their part to help keep the raunchy spirit of rock & roll alive, during a time in which it was in danger of being watered down."^[6] On January 9, 1959, Eddy’s debut album, Have Twangy Guitar Will Travel, was released, reaching #5, and remaining on the album charts for 82 weeks. Eddy's biggest hit came with the theme to the movie Because They're Young in 1960, which featured a string arrangement, and reached a chart peak of #4 in America and #2 in the UK in September 1960.^[6][9] Eddy's records were equally successful in the UK, and in 1960, readers of the UK's New Musical Express voted him World's Number One Musical Personality, ousting Elvis Presley.

He gained a well earned reputation in the industry for identifying and grooming musical talent and encouraging his band members to secure regular studio work.^{[citation needed]} Those who benefited from this approach included Steve Douglas, Jim Horn and Larry Knechtel who all went on to achieve great success as studio musicians.^{[citation needed]}

Later career[link]

During the 1960s Eddy launched an acting career, appearing in such films as A Thunder of Drums, The Wild Westerners, Kona Coast, The Savage Seven, and two appearances on the television series Have Gun–Will Travel. He was married to singer Jessi Colter from 1962 to 1968.

In the 1970s, he produced album projects for Phil Everly and Waylon Jennings. In 1975, a collaboration with hit songwriter Tony Macaulay and former founding member of The Seekers, Keith Potger, led to a worldwide top ten record, "Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar". The single, "You Are My Sunshine", featuring Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings, hit the country charts in 1977.^{[citation needed]} He also recorded an album of completely acoustic music, Songs of Our Heritage.

In 1986, Eddy recorded with Art of Noise, remaking his 1960 version of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn". The song was a Top Ten hit around the world, ranking #1 on Rolling Stone Magazine's dance chart for six weeks that summer. "Peter Gunn" won the Grammy for Best Rock Instrumental of 1986. It also gave Eddy the distinction of being the only instrumentalist to have had Top 10 hit singles in four different decades in Great Britain.^{[citation needed]} (although his 1970's top 10 hit featured a female vocal group).

The following year, a new album, the self-titled Duane Eddy, was released on Capitol. Several of the tracks were produced by Paul McCartney, Jeff Lynne, Ry Cooder, and Art of Noise. Guest artists and musicians included John Fogerty, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ry Cooder, James Burton, David Lindley, Steve Cropper, and original Rebels, Larry Knechtel and Jim Horn. The album included a cover of Paul McCartney's 1979 instrumental, "Rockestra Theme". In 1992 Duane did a duet with Hank Marvin on Hank's album Into the Light, with a cover version of The Chantays' 1963 hit "Pipeline".

In the spring of 1994, Eddy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Eddy's "Rebel-Rouser" was featured that same year in Forrest Gump. Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers used "The Trembler", a track written by Eddy and Ravi Shankar. Also in 1994, Eddy teamed up with Carl Perkins and The Mavericks to contribute "Matchbox" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Country produced by the Red Hot Organization. Eddy was the lead guitarist on Foreigner's 1995 hit "Until the End of Time", which reached the top ten on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. In 1996, Eddy joined Hans Zimmer on the soundtrack of Broken Arrow.^{[citation needed]}

On 5 April 2000, at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, the title "Titan of Twang" was bestowed upon Eddy by the mayor.

In 2004, Eddy was presented with the Guitar Player Magazine "Legend Award". Eddy was the second recipient of the award, the first having been presented to Les Paul. Among those who have openly acknowledged his influence are George Harrison, Dave Davies (of the Kinks), Hank Marvin (of the Shadows), the Ventures,^[10] John Entwistle (of the Who),^[10] Bruce Springsteen, Adrian Belew, Bill Nelson (of Be-Bop Deluxe), and Mark Knopfler.

October 2010 witnessed a return to the UK at a sold out Royal Festival Hall, London at which he was given a 10 minute standing ovation before he had played a note or spoken a word. Following the concert an equally appreciative ovation was bestowed upon him.^{[citation needed]}

This success promulgated the subsequent album for Mad Monkey/EMI produced by UK band Pulp Guitarist Richard Hawley in Sheffield UK. The album, Road Trip, was released on 20 June 2011, and was well received by music trades and the UK national press critics alike.

He appeared at the world famous Glastonbury Festival on 26 June 2011.

Signature guitars[link]

This biographical section of an article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (December 2011)

Duane Eddy was the first rock and roll guitarist to have a signature model guitar. In 1960, Guild Guitars introduced the Duane Eddy Models DE-400 and the deluxe DE-500. A limited edition of the DE-500 model was reissued briefly in 1983 to mark Eddy's 25th anniversary in the recording industry.

The Gretsch "Chet Atkins 6120" model has long been associated with Eddy. In 1997, Gretsch Guitars started production of the Duane Eddy Signature Model, the Gretsch 6120-DE. In 2004, The Gibson Custom Art and Historic Division introduced the new Duane Eddy Signature Gibson guitar.

A new Gretsch G6120DE Duane Eddy Signature model was released in Spring 2011.

Awards[link]

• Number One World Musical Personality in the NME Poll (UK; 1960)
• Grammy Winner Best Rock Instrumental Peter Gunn (1986)
• Grammy Nomination Best Country Instrumental (Doc Watson album) (1992)
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Member (1994)
• Rockwalk Induction (1997)
• Presented with "Chetty" award by Chet Atkins (2000)
• Guitar Player Magazine Legend Award (2004)
• Musicians Hall of Fame Member (2008)
• Mojo Icon Award (UK: 2010)

Discography[link]

Chart singles[link]

Albums[link]

• Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel (#5) – Jamie JLP-3000 (Mono)/JLPS-3000 (Stereo) -- 1958 ^[13]

Original album covers are white with Duane Eddy sitting on guitar case and LP title in white. 2nd pressings show the same cover with LP title in green and red; 3rd pressings are red album covers with Duane Eddy standing Note: It is very likely that so called "original" version white letter covers do not exist.

• Especially for You (#24) – Jamie JLPM-3006/JLPS-3006—1959
• The "Twangs" the "Thang" (#18) – Jamie JLPM-3009/JLPS-3009—1959
• Songs of Our Heritage – Jamie JLPM-3011/JLPS-3011—1960

Original copies feature gatefold covers, later replaced with regular covers. Also pressed in limited quantities of red vinyl and blue vinyl

• $1,000,000.00 Worth of Twang (#10) -- Jamie JLPM-3014/JLPS-3014—1960
• Girls! Girls! Girls! (#93) -- Jamie JLPM-3019/JLPS-3019—1961

Front cover features photos of Duane with Brenda Lee and Annette Funicello

• $1,000,000.00 Worth of Twang, Volume 2 -- Jamie JLPM-3021/JLPS-3021—1962
• Twistin' With Duane Eddy -- Jamie JLPM-3022/JLPS-3022—1962
• Twistin' 'N' Twangin (#82) -- RCA LPM-2525 (Mono)/LSP-2525 (Stereo) -- 1962
• Twangy Guitar - Silky Strings (#72) -- RCA LPM-2576/LSP-2576—1962
• Surfin' -- Jamie JLPM-3024/JLPS-3024—1963
• Duane Eddy & The Rebels—In Person -- Jamie JLPM-3025/JLPS-3025—1963
• Dance with the Guitar Man (#47) -- RCA LPM-2648/LSP-2648—1963
• "Twang" a Country Song -- RCA LPM-2681/LSP-2681—1963
• "Twangin'" Up a Storm! (#93) -- RCA LPM-2700/LSP-2700—1963
• 16 Greatest Hits -- Jamie JLPM-3026/JLPS-3026—1964
• Lonely Guitar (#144) -- RCA LPM-2798/LSP-2798—1964
• Water Skiing -- RCA LPM-2918/LSP-2918—1965
• Twangin' The Golden Hits -- RCA LPM-2993/LSP-2993—1965
• Twangsville -- RCA LPM-3432/LSP-3432—1965
• The Best of Duane Eddy -- RCA LPM-3477/LSP-3477—1965
• Duane-A-Go-Go -- Colpix CP-490 (Mono)/CPS-490 (Stereo) -- 1965
• Duane Eddy Does Bob Dylan -- Colpix CPL-494/CPS-494—1965
• The Biggest Twang Of All -- Reprise R-6218 (Mono)/RS-6218 (Stereo) -- 1966
• The Roaring Twangies -- Reprise R-6240/RS-6240—1967
• Tokyo Hits -- Reprise (Japan only)
• The Vintage Years -- Sire SASH-3707-2—1975
• Pure Gold -- RCA ANL1-2671—1978
• Twenty Terrific Twangies RCA
• Duane Eddy -- Capitol ST-12567—1987
• Twangy Peaks -- EMI CDP 7965572 - 1991
• Ghostrider -- Curb D2-77801 1996
• Road Trip -- Mad Monkey Records/EMI MAD1 2011 -- UK #116

Film appearances[link]

• Because They're Young (1960)
• A Thunder of Drums (1961)
• The Wild Westerners (1962)
• The Savage Seven (1968)
• Kona Coast (1968)

Plus Two Episodes of the "Have Gun - Will Travel" TV series

References[link]

Further reading[link]

Books[link]

• Hardy, Phil and Dave Laing, Encyclopedia of Rock, Schrimner Books, 1987.
• Rees, Dafydd,and Luke Crampton, Rock Movers & Shakers, ABC-CLIO, 1991.
• The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock and Roll edited by Jon Pareles and Patr Romanowski, Rolling StonePress/Summit Books, 1993.
• Stambler, Irwin, The Encyclopedia of Pop, Rock and Soul, St.
• Martin's, 1989.
• Furek,Maxim, "The Jordan Brothers: A Musical Biography of Rock's Fortunate Sons." Kimberley Press, 1986.

Periodicals[link]

• "Twangsville" produced by the Duane Eddy Circle (Appreciation Society) since 1975
• Detroit Free Press, August28. 1970.
• Detroit News, June 4, 1961.
• Musician, November 1991.
• New Gandy Dancer Quarterly since 1975 (UK)
• Pipeline" Quarterly (UK)

External links[link]

Biography portal

• The Duane Eddy website
• twitter
• Duane Eddy at the Internet Movie Database
• Discography at Duane Eddy tribute page