Guitarist Duane Eddy, whose signature sound was known as twang, began playing guitar at age five and later became an early rock music influencer.

John Fogerty of Creedence Clearwater Revival referred to him as "the first rock and roll guitar god."

Eddy recorded "Rebel Rouser" in 1958. The song, which really shows off that signature twang, reached number six on Billboard's Hot 100. His highest charting song was "Because They're Young," which peaked at number four.

This episode's thumbnail photo is of Eddy performing in 2018. It's attributed to Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0. In the chapters, you'll see a Duane Eddy trading card from 1960. It was one of a series of recording artist cards issued by the gum manufacturer Frank C. Fleer Corporation. Both images are available on Wikimedia Commons.

To hear "Rebel Rouser," you can go to this video of Eddy performing with Paul Shaffer's band on "Late Night with David Letterman" in 1985. The comments are great. Here's one of them: "As soon as you hear that guitar you know who it is. An American legend. May he rest in peace."

To hear "These Boots Are Made For Walking," which Eddy recorded with his producer-songwriter Lee Hazlewood, you can go to this video.

This tribute is one of 41 stories that Sheldon Zoldan, a longtime journalist, has written and recorded in honor of the music notables who passed away in 2024. He's written tributes for other years as well. You can listen to the ones from 2023 on Everyday Creation. We'll have the 2022 tributes available later this year.
Sheldon also is the creator of Song of the Day, a story that he sends by email to a list of subscribers. To get on his subscriber list, email [email protected] with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.

This is Kate Jones. Thank you for listening to Everyday Creation, available on YouTube and in podcast directories including Apple, Audible, iHeart and Spotify.