Missing Link
Link Wray links, a new playlist and five things that might restore an iota of your faith in humanity.
Happy November, and welcome to the debut issue of Switchblade!
I’m Dana. I am a music writer in Minneapolis and have a book coming out in 2021 from Bazillion Points Books called Link Wray: The First Man In Black.
Link, who died in 2005 after a prolific career, was most known for his dangerous-sounding 1958 hit “Rumble,” which graces the “$5 Milkshake” scene in Pulp Fiction. A musical genius who inspired everyone from Pete Townshend to Poison Ivy to pick up guitars, he remains largely ignored in popular music, relegated to eternal “nominee” status at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. This article I wrote a couple years ago for Indy Week is a good primer on Link, his Native American heritage, accomplishments and exclusion from the rock ‘n’ roll canon.
I’ve been working on this biography for six years and procrastinating this newsletter for almost as long. With the 15th anniversary of Link’s death coming up on November 5, I figured today’s as good a time as any.
Link fans probably picked up on the name “Switchblade” right away. It comes from one of his many sinister songs, as well as the switchblade that he kept on him. (Over the years it was reportedly pulled on on Sid Vicious, Lou Reed and John Cale.) Despite being a kind and sensitive soul, Link did not suffer fools—and the blade was one of the ways he made his opinion known.
I’ve been writing about music for a long time. Spending the past six years researching this larger-than-life Indigenous musician—who never attained the fame he so clearly deserved—has been incredibly eye-opening. I can’t wait to share what I’ve learned with you all, here and in the book.
BOOK UPDATE
Here’s a thing no one tells you: writing a book is only about 25 percent of the process. I spent my pandemic summer going through intense edits with my editor (we’re talking four-hour phone calls), diving into extra fact checking, finishing up one last interview and making sure I have plenty of great photos. Then it’ll be off to the races in 2021. This newsletter, plus Bazillion Points’ Instagram, is the best way to find out about pre-orders, pub date, events and everything else book-related when the time comes.
LINK LINKS
An Australian, all-female Link Wray tribute band? Could there be anything more up my alley? The Wraylettes put on a Missing Link festival in Melbourne each November to honor Link on the anniversary of his death. This year, for the 15th anniversary, they’re taking it to Facebook for obvious reasons. I wrote a post for them spotlighting 15 songs (his own and others’) that help illustrate Link’s life; get it in Spotify playlist form here.
Central New Mexico Community College’s Humanities department is hosting a virtual screening of the fantastic documentary Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World, Friday, November 13 as part of Indigenous Futurisms Month. I’m planning to join the panel; I’ll send out an update once I know more details!
Rob’s Boots, a Dutch music blog, just posted a very cool article on Link.
HOLD ON HOPE
It’s almost Election Day in the United States, we’re in the middle of an unmanaged pandemic that’s getting worse by the day, and I’d be lying if I said my brain doesn’t feel like it might spontaneously combust at least 95 percent of the time. Being a good citizen, parent, partner, friend, employee and person seems basically impossible lately.
We don’t know what’s going to happen in the next few days, weeks or months, and that’s pretty scary. Like many people, I’m desperately latching on to any crumb of certainty that I can find. I try to do what’s right, knowing that it will never be enough, but also knowing that isn’t an excuse to stop trying.
I keep craving understanding. But there’s so much right now that cannot be understood: Why half my fellow Americans can’t even feign empathy for another human being. When legitimate science became something you can simply choose not to “believe” in. How Mitch McConnell can still show his face in public. Music can be an escape from all of this, of course, but it shouldn’t just be that. If we can learn more about how music challenges society, maybe it can help us cope with the unrest we’re all experiencing now. And hopefully that’s something.
5 THINGS I RECOMMEND THIS MONTH
Here are five music-related things that are helping me have a little faith in humanity.
Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography, by Andrea Warner (Greystone Books)
I’ll keep this blurb short because I’m planning to interview Andrea later on. If you want to learn about Buffy Sainte-Marie’s woefully overlooked role in the ‘60s folk scene, as well as Indigenous activists’ woefully overlooked roles in civil rights movements, this is your book. It would also make a great gift for the folk music lover in your life. (Joni Mitchell wrote the foreword, BTW.) Buy it here.
Eugene McDaniels, Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse (1970) and Outlaw (1971)
I’ve been reading everything I can find about Eugene McDaniels, a.k.a. Gene Daniels. I’ve spent so many years concentrating on guitar work with the Link Wray book that I don’t remember the last time an actual human voice knocked me over like this. His website bio and Guardian obit sum up his numerous accomplishments, including writing 18 songs that Roberta Flack recorded (he penned both “Feel Like Making Love” and “Compared to What”). Outlaw and Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse are full of avant-garde arrangements and raw social justice commentary that is painfully relevant today. Headless Heroes, which McDaniels’ website rightly claims is “rife with missives railing against colonialism in history” supposedly irked Nixon so much that he tried to get Atlantic Records to pull it. For me, it’s all about McDaniels’ voice on “Sagittarius Red,” from Outlaw; it hits the same sweet spot gospel music does: chills, catharsis and joy.
Country Queer
This is another topic I want to dive into deeper in a later newsletter. But for now, I’ll simply recommend Country Queer as a great place to discover LGBTQ+ country and Americana artists and to read some really great music journalism that prioritizes race, sexuality and gender. They just launched a podcast and have some pretty impressive merch, too.
WEEDRAT
While speaking to Central New Mexico Community College about their upcoming Rumble screening, I was introduced to this Diné (the way Navajo communities refer to themselves) punk band from Albuquerque. Ten seconds into the first song and I was HOOKED. Buy their latest EP for $6.66.
RIP TO A REAL ONE
Eddie Van Halen may be a household name, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t cut through the status quo. Beyond his self-taught guitar innovations, EVH was insightful and genuine. The son of an Indonesian mother and Dutch father, he was open about the racism his family experienced. He always seemed like he was having such a blast when he played—something that reminds me a lot of Link. There’s just something so life-affirming about watching a musician who’s not be afraid to look like they’re thrilled to be doing what they love. And it happens a lot less than you’d think in rock music.
I’ve really been enjoying journalist Denise Quam’s in-depth 2017 interview with him on the theme of “what it means to be American.”
Side note: I was sitting in a Target parking lot eating a soft pretzel when I heard the news that EVH passed. I used to think there was no way you could be sad while eating a soft pretzel, but apparently that’s not true!
Wishing you all a November filled with hopeful thoughts, great music and plenty of self-care, no matter how things shake out. Talk to you next month,
Dana