I am not a guitar player but I know what guitar players I like to listen to and Duane Eddy is right up there close to the top of my list. His distinctive twangy sound defined his career and led to him becoming one of the best known players in the world. In the late 1950s when rock music was still seen as something “outside” of mainstream culture and a bit of a menace that needed taming, Eddy’s style kept things raw and edgy (for the time). His tunes like Rebel-rouser, 40 Miles of Bad Road, and Cannonball were all big hits. 40 Miles of Bad Road climbed to #9 on the US charts in 1959 and has been in lots of movies and television shows. You’ve probably heard it blaring from the speakers at a car show 1-200 times in your life as well.
This video rules because it seems to sum up the late 1950s in a perfectly weird nutshell. The band is “playing” the song while sitting atop some tractors and farm equipment. Makes no sense, right? Not until you see it, then it just strikes you as a completely awesome little moment in time.
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO HEAR DUANE EDDY AND HIS BAND PERFORM 40-MILES OF BAD ROAD ON TOP OF AN ELEPHANT!
