And that’s not just CZBS but an actual day signed into effect by the governor of Maryland, home state still to both the Wray family farm (still there) and home of the Wray bros. during their signature musical era. And while the building where Link first played “Rumble” also still exists (car dealership in Virginia!) let’s talk here about Link’s neglected ’70s work, so confused in history that four (and more I think but I’ve only authoritatively messed with the four) Polydor full-lengths of rootsy Link-led rock ‘n’ roll don’t really rank in the post-”Rumble” roster. (I asked big Wray fans Vandelles and it was news to them.)

However: Link did two full-lengths with full-studio gloss (and top sessionmen) (and he sang on them, too, with a clipped vocals totally appropriate to his familiar scowl) and two more recorded on the in the Wray Bros.’ three-track shack, evidently sorted down from hundreds of unsupervised all-night sessions. Polydor got so many tracks out of those they made two albums and (legendarily) Vernon Wray buried piles of remaining reels when he moved to Tucson, Arizona, where he’d record the much-chased LP Wasted before he died.

I think someone described them as “country rock played by people who still remembered working in the fields.” I’ve also heard “Beatles plus the Band” (pounding piano, woodsheddin’ sentiment) and Beefheart should be in there, too, and CCR, too, who drew weakly if honorably from the same source Link swam in. These are uneven sessions (not into “Ice People” as much) but they’re untouchable for force of personality and (especially on the three-track sessions) for that weird visionary energy you get when somebody finally climbs back down from the mountain totally satisfied.

I picked up some of these in LB (Tape and Record Room, still hiding great LPs for like $2) and some were mailorder. This collection is a perfect place to start—it seems like it includes the 1971 self-titled, the sequel Beans and Fatback, and the Mordecai Jones LP, though not the following Be What You Want album with backing musicians from the Grateful Dead and the Lost Planet Airmen, which is also the one I’m still looking for. (As well as Wasted, which is $300+ the only times I’ve seen it, which were only online anyway…)

Some MP3s here of Late Link.

“I’m So Glad, I’m So Proud” (from Beans and Fatback, which originally came with a slice of bacon!)

And two from first self-titled LP—”Crowbar” and “Black River Swamp.”

UPDATE: Many thanks for the kind words from Greg @ WraysShack3Tracks, whose definitive Wray site I couldn’t help but reference several times. Let me make sure to direct all Link fans his way. And many thanks for the kind words from Beth Wray, below—I will be personally extending Link Wray Day into today thanks to these encouraging events!

Tags: dusty rhodes, link wray, mp3, vandelles