‘Link Wray’: Jon Brewer Making Doc About Guitarist Who Influenced Jimmy Page, Pete Townshend, Others

AP

EXCLUSIVE: Production is underway on Cardinal Releasing the documentary Link Wray about the influential American musician.

Fred Lincoln “Link” Wray Jr, the guitarist, songwriter, and vocalist who became popular in the late 1950s, most notably with the hit 1958 instrumental “Rumble,” was an influence on artists including Jimmy Page, Pete Townsend, Neil Young and Bob Dylan. He began in country music but went on to be known for rock ‘n’ roll, rockabilly and instrumental rock. Growing up in North Carolina, he and his family experienced discrimination as a result of being Indigenous.

Dressed in black leather, Wray was viewed as a rebel and an early punk. Rolling Stone placed the late musician at No. 45 on its list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. He was a nominee for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013 and 2017.

Former music manager Jon Brewer is aboard to tell Wray’s story. Brit Brewer is known for making music docs about B.B. King, Chuck Berry, Nat King Cole, Guns N’ Roses and Jimi Hendrix. Cardinal Releasing is producing.

Brewer said: “I have spent my life with a great many artists that have the attention of the public the minute you say their name, but not so with this one. Link Wray’s chords were so spellbinding they were banned from the radio upon release, so as not to incite violence in the streets. This is a new one on me! We have spent much time in studying the background of Link Wray, and there is a film itself just in the disparity of his upbringing as a poverty-stricken Shawnee Indian and the life he came to lead. Once we started this research, we were seduced and completely absorbed in the story. Then comes the music which is where we specialize.”