Duane Eddy – Rebel Rouser

There is something about the 1950s and 60s with great instrumentals. This one has that great echo swimming all around the guitar lines by the great guitarist Duane Eddy.

Speaking of swimming…this was recorded in a Phoenix studio that had an echo chamber that was originally a large water tank. A single speaker was placed at one end of the tank, the microphone at the other, and the guitar was piped in there.

Who said that the 70s and 80s were the two decades of albums with multiple singles? The 1958 album this song came off of was named…Have Twangy Guitar Will Travel.

Now that title demands respect. The title is not the only reason it demanded respect…FIVE charting singles came off of it. Ramrod #27, Cannonball #15, The Lonely One #23, Moovin’ N’ Groovin’ #72, and last but not least…our song for today…Rebel Rouser peaked at #6 in 1958.

The album was released in 1958 and it peaked at #5 in the Billboard Album Charts and #6 in the UK.

Lee Hazlewood produced this track and helped Eddy get his distinctive guitar sound. Hazlewood went on record duets with Nancy Sinatra and also her hit “These Boots Are Made For Walking.”

The hand claps and shouts were provided by The Sharps, who later changed their name to the Rivingtons and had hits with Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow and The Bird’s the Word. As any Family Guy fan will tell you…The Trashmen later covered The Bird’s The Word in 1963.

Duane Eddy: “We were recording in Phoenix, starting my first album, and one of the guys said, ‘Man, that guitar sounds twangy.’ And (Hazlewood’s business partner) Lester Sill fell down laughing. He’d never heard that word and it became a running joke. ‘Is that twangy enough?’ So we finished the album and called it Have Twangy Guitar Will Travel. To be honest I never really liked the word. I thought it was kind of corny and rather undignified, but at the same time so many people liked it I just shut up and went with it.”

Rebel Rouser

No need for lyrics…just cool twangy guitar

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

30 thoughts on “Duane Eddy – Rebel Rouser”

  2. My only complaint about this song is that it’s too short. 🙂 I could keep listening for awhile longer. I didn’t know the name of the album, and didn’t realize there were several hits from it. He had a great album with a great name, when hit singles rather than albums were the thing, I guess. I didn’t know Lee Hazlewood went that far back either.

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    1. I was shocked that many singles came off of that album.
      He is still playing sessions which is amazing. My cousin commented that he lives in Nashville…I didn’t know that.

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  3. Another artist I’ve had the pleasure of seeing live; he put on a fine show, and teased the audience about their fondness for the handsome young sax player in the band (who, of course, was heavily featured in “Rebel Rouser”).

    Duane Eddy was the reason my mother took up guitar, much as Doug Kershaw was the reason I took up fiddle.

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    1. Wow Sharon…you should make a list of all the people you have seen…you have seen some classic artists.
      I can’t imagine learning the fiddle….I play guitar and bass…and I have made noise from a fiddle…that is all…. a bad noise.

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      1. You know, I probably should make such a list just on general principle.

        I have made a point, over the years, of seeing as many early influencers as I could. It hasn’t always worked out; I had plans to go see Buck Owens in Bakersfield a few years back, and something came up. My husband asked that I not go so that we could use the funds on whatever it was (I no longer remember), saying “There’ll be plenty of time to see Buck later.”

        Two weeks later, Buck passed away.

        I no longer hesitate when opportunities present, needless to say.

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      2. Oh that stinks that you didn’t get to see him and yea…I could see not missing an opportunity again.

        I saw Tom Petty once in the 90s and my son and I wanted to see him on his last tour. Something came up and we said…we will catch him next time…of course there was no next time.

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  6. A great instrumental… always brings to mind ‘Run Forrest, run!” . I’m very glad Art of Noise introduced his sound to a younger generation in 80s with them joining him for a remake of ‘Peter Gunn’s Theme’.

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      1. that is unusual, but did the album come out first or was it 5 singles previously released then packaged up in an LP? Either way, he sure did well for an instrumental artist.

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      2. I thought the same thing… here it is… There were five charting singles and a B-side of an additional charting single taken from this album.

        So evidently this was an album first…not a bunch of singles.

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  7. That’s a great-sounding instrumental. I really love good vocals, as you know, so my tolerance for instrumentals oftentimes tends to be limited. But when the music and the sound are so great, frankly, who needs vocals! Well, at least I can do without them` for some time! 🙂

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  9. That’s quite a conveyance they were riding on in the Dick Clark video. Looks dangerous as heck. Good music. That sax is almost bigger than the guy is! So neat to know Duane Eddy is playing on the new Robert Plant Alison Krauss album.

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