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Duane Eddy obituary
Guitarist whose string of hit records in the late 1950s and early 60s were noted for their twangy sound
For many reaching the state of teenagehood during the late 1950s, in the temporal space between Elvis and the Beatles, the throb of Duane Eddy’s electric guitar – deep, dark and, above all, twangy – represented the wordless evocation of American dreams, the expression of a yearning for blue jeans, neon lights, candyfloss, and cars with chrome tailfins. Unlike most guitar heroes, particularly those of subsequent eras, Eddy never indulged in exhibitions of speed or technical dexterity, yet the influence of his sound extended to Ennio Morricone ’s soundtracks for Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns and Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run. Photograph: Richard Young/Rex/ShutterstockIn the summer of 1959, Eddy’s version of the theme to Peter Gunn, a popular TV detective show, transformed Henry Mancini’s slinky melody into something distinctly menacing, its insistent riff topped by the trenchant saxophone of Steve Douglas, overdubbed at the Gold Star studio in Hollywood.
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