“TITAN OF TWANG”
∗ Born April 26, 1938 in Corning, New York; began playing guitar at age 5
∗ Moved with his family to Tucson at age 13, then to Coolidge, and to Phoenix at age 15; played local gigs as part of Buddy Long’s Western Melody Boys
∗ Performed on Lee Hazlewood‘s weekly Saturday night radio program on KCKY in Coolidge; Hazlewood also produced his early records; performed regularly in Ray Odom’s Arizona Hayride shows at Madison Square Garden in Phoenix and on the Hillbilly Hitparade TV show on Channel 3
∗ Originated with Hazlewood the “twangy” sound of early rock & roll, using the guitar’s bass strings, tape delay and an empty 2500-gallon water tank; recorded at Ramsey Studios (later Audio Recorders), 7th Street south of Indian School Road in Phoenix
∗ Charted 15 top 40 singles between 1958 and 1963 – including guitar classics “Rebel Rouser,” “Ramrod,” “Cannonball” and “Forty Miles of Bad Road”
∗Recorded theme songs for TV shows including Peter Gunn and Have Gun Will Travel, and for movies including Because They’re Young (1960), Pepe (1960) and Savage Seven (1968); his music also used in the 1994 movies Forrest Gump and Natural Born Killers
∗ Married to local singer Jessi Colter 1962 to 1968
∗ Recorded 1986 hit with British band The Art of Noise – a remake of “Peter Gunn” theme, which won Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental
∗ Played on Paul McCartney’s “Rockestra Theme” in 1987; George Harrison, Jeff Lynne and John Fogerty, among others, played on Eddy’s 1987 self-titled album
∗ Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1994); received Guitar Player magazine’s second Legend Award (2004) – the first was guitar innovator Les Paul; inducted into the Musicians Hall of Fame (2008); earned Mojo magazine’s Icon Award (2010); named #1 rock instrumentalist of all time by Billboard magazine
∗ Lives in Nashville, where the mayor proclaimed him the “Titan of Twang”
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