Duane Eddy was born on April 26,1938 and is an American rock and roll guitarist.
23 Facts About Duane Eddy
2.
Duane Eddy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2008.
3.
Duane Eddy began playing the guitar at the age of five.
4.
Duane Eddy devised a technique of playing lead on his guitar's bass strings to produce a low, reverberant "twangy" sound.
5.
When he was 19 he had obtained a 1957 Chet Atkins model Gretsch 6120 guitar at Ziggie's Music in Phoenix, Arizona and in November 1957, Duane Eddy recorded an instrumental, "Movin' n' Groovin'", co-written by Duane Eddy and Hazlewood.
6.
In 1958, Duane Eddy signed a recording contract with Lester Sill and Lee Hazlewood to record in Phoenix at the Audio Recorders studio.
7.
The tune became Duane Eddy's breakthrough hit, reaching number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
8.
Duane 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 went on to work as part of Phil Spector's Wrecking Crew.
9.
Duane Eddy's biggest hit came with the theme of the movie Because They're Young in 1960, which featured a string arrangement, and reached a chart peak of number four in America and number two in the UK in September 1960.
10.
Duane Eddy's records were consistently even more successful in the UK than they were in his native United States, and in 1960, readers of the UK's NME voted him World's Number One Musical Personality, ousting Elvis Presley.
11.
In 1960, Duane Eddy signed a contract directly with Jamie Records, bypassing Sill and Hazlewood.
12.
The result was that for the duration of his contract with Jamie, Duane Eddy produced his own singles and albums.
13.
Duane Eddy married singer Jessi Colter in 1961, the same year he signed a three-year contract with Paul Anka's production company, Camy, whose recordings were issued by RCA Victor.
14.
In 1986, Duane Eddy recorded with Art of Noise, remaking his 1960 version of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn".
15.
In 1982, Duane Eddy's "Rebel Walk" was heard in the musical comedy, Grease 2, featured as background music at the bowling alley, when the T-Birds rushed to face rival Leo Balmudo.
16.
In 1992, Duane Eddy recorded a duet with Hank Marvin on Marvin's album Into the Light, with a cover version of The Chantays' 1963 hit "Pipeline".
17.
Also in 1994, Duane 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.
18.
Duane Eddy was the lead guitarist on Foreigner's 1995 hit "Until the end of Time", which reached the top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.
19.
In 1996, Duane Eddy played guitar on Hans Zimmer's soundtrack for the film Broken Arrow.
20.
In October 2010, Duane Eddy returned to the UK at a sold-out Royal Festival Hall in London.
21.
In 2004, Duane Eddy was presented with the Guitar Player Magazine "Legend Award".
22.
Duane Eddy was the second recipient of the award, the first being presented to Les Paul.
23.
Duane Eddy's favored guitar was a 1957 Chet Atkins Gretsch 6120 guitar that he bought at Ziggie's Music in Phoenix, Arizona in 1957.