Personnel: Link Wray (guitar); Marty Feier (drums); Keith Lentin (background vocals).
Recording information: America (01/1985-02/1985).
Photographers: Nick Garrard; Olive Wray; Ted Carroll.
Arranger: Link Wray.
One of Ace Records' superlative double-disc reissues of previously rare vinyl by the guitar god Link Wray, GROWLING GUITAR/LIVE IN 85 combines a pair of albums covering a more than two-decade span of Wray's career. LIVE IN 85 is just what the title suggests, an all-killer, no-filler live set that once and for all shows why instrumental acts are more fun to see on nostalgia tours: vocal chops can be lost pretty easily, but nobody suddenly starts sucking at playing guitar, especially not a master like the distortion-loving, feedback-mangling Wray. This is a fiery set, every bit as good as the 1961 live tracks on Norton's BIG CITY AFTER DARK archival release. The compilation GROWLING GUITAR is a more scattershot affair, gathering rare singles and previously unreleased tracks from the '60s to the '80s, including a surprising array of covers from the pens of Ray Charles, Bruce Springsteen, Leiber and Stoller and even Bob Dylan. Terrific stuff.
