Duane Eddy

Duane Eddy (April 26, 1938 – April 30, 2024) was an 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" guitar sound, including "Rebel-'Rouser", "Peter Gunn", and "Because They're Young". He had sold 12 million records by 1963. His guitar style influenced the Ventures, the Shadows, the Beatles (particularly lead guitarist George Harrison), Bruce Springsteen, Steve Earle, and Marty Stuart.

Eddy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and the Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum in 2008.

Eddy was born in Corning, New York, on April 26, 1938. His parents were Lloyd and Alberta (née Granger) Eddy. Eddy's father drove a bread truck and later became the manager of a grocery store. He began playing the guitar at the age of five, after hearing the cowboy singer Gene Autry. In 1950, at the age of 12, Eddy made his first on-air radio appearance when he performed "The Missouri Waltz" on a station in Hornell, New York.

In 1951, his family moved to Tucson, and then to Coolidge, Arizona. He formed a duo, Jimmy and Duane, with his friend Jimmy Delbridge, who later recorded as Jimmy Dell. Eddy left school at 16 and played in local bars.

In 1957, Eddy had a weekly showcase on radio station KCKY and then a slot on a weekly hit parade television show in Phoenix, where he met Arizona-based disc jockey, songwriter and music publisher Lee Hazlewood. Hazlewood produced the duo's single, "Soda Fountain Girl", recorded and released in 1955 in Phoenix, Arizona. They performed and appeared on radio stations in Phoenix and joined Buddy Long's Western Melody Boys, playing country music in and around the city.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.