It had been a pretty depressing day all around, and I was feeling gloomy. I was trying to think of something that would cheer me up, and suddenly the answer popped into my head:
Call Duane Eddy on the telephone.
Now, there were a couple of immediate obstacles. First of all, I had never met Duane Eddy.
Duane Eddy, as I hope you will recall, was ”king of the twangy guitar”
in the late `50s and early `60s. Back in those days there was still room on the record charts for rock-and-roll instrumentals, and more often than not the hit instrumentals were recorded by Duane Eddy. His biggest-selling records were ”Rebel Rouser,” ”Twenty Miles of Bad Road” and ”Because They`re Young.”
So I had never met Duane Eddy. Obstacle No. 2 was that I had no idea where he was.
But these things can be overcome. It turns out that there is a Duane Eddy fan club–it is called the Duane Eddy Circle, and its official publication is called Twangsville. The president of the Duane Eddy Circle is Rich Gallagher, of Littleton, Colo. I called him, and–presto!–he gave me Duane Eddy`s home phone number.
Duane Eddy, I was told, is now 47 years old, and lives in Zephyr Cove, Nev. I dialed his number. A woman answered. I cleared my throat and said:
”Could I please speak to Duane Eddy?”
”Just a minute,” she said, and in a few moments Duane Eddy picked up the phone and said, ”Hello?”
My day was getting brighter already. I told Duane Eddy that I just wanted to talk with him for a few minutes to change the dismal course of my day. He didn`t seem that surprised. He started telling me what he has been up to lately.
”I`m still working from time to time,” he said. ”Not as much as I`d like to, but I`m working. On Oct. 19 there`s a show at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, and I`ll be appearing with Fats Domino, Jerry Lee Lewis and Chuck Berry. I`d also like to get back into the studio and record again. I feel I still have something to offer.”
I asked him if, this time around, he planned to sing. One thing about Duane Eddy records–you could always count on not hearing Duane Eddy`s voice on them.
He laughed. ”No, no,” he said. ”I`m not about to start singing. I`ll leave that to people who are better qualified. I sing through my guitar.
”When I was first starting out, I was pretty shy on stage. Not only did I not sing–I didn`t even like introducing the next song. I felt much more comfortable just playing my guitar.”
He said that his days and nights are pretty quiet. ”I`ll hang around the house–read, watch television, play records. I`m married, and I have three grown children. Once a day I`ll go out and pick up the mail. I live in the Lake Tahoe area, so there`s some pretty good night life around here. The other week my old friends the Everly Brothers were performing in Lake Tahoe. We go back 27 years, so I went to see them.
”And I play the guitar nearly every day. I have different guitars set up in just about every room of the house–the family room and all the rest. Some acoustic, some electric. So if I`m walking around the house and I get the urge to play a little bit, I can just pick up a guitar in whatever room I`m in.”
I asked him how he first developed the sound of the twangy guitar.
”I wanted something that would record well,” he said. ”Back then, everybody was playing on the high strings, and I thought I could get a better sound if I played on the bass strings–the thick strings. So that`s what I did –I started playing on those three thick strings. It sounded unique and unusual, and I guess it caught on.”
I asked him how people reacted when they encountered him. Did he have a credit card that said ”Duane Eddy” on it?
”Of course I do,” he said. ”That`s my name.”
I asked him what it`s like when he goes into a restaurant, pays for the meal with his credit card, and the cashier sees that he`s Duane Eddy.
”It differs,” he said. ”Some people say something nice. Some people flip out. Some people don`t notice at all–my name doesn`t mean anything to them.”
I told him that speaking with him had made my day.
”Well, that`s nice of you to say,” he said. ”A lot of young musicians tell me that my guitar-playing got them into the business, and that always makes me feel good, too.”
We hung up. For the first time since morning, I was smiling. Onward.
