Link Wray

The creator of a feedback experiment called "Rumble" that beat the Yardbirds to it by six or seven years must have turned hippie on his own as well, though his headband reflects birth loyalties to the Shawnee nation. These days he runs a three-track recording shack in rural Maryland where he and some fellow spirits put together this blues- and country-rooted document. The playing (not much feedback) is better than the vocals is better than the songs, and on the whole it's pretty dumb. But I have to grant that the man sings about getting crucified by the Establishment as unselfconsciously as a back-porch bluesman sings about trains, which must be worth something. Right? (Grade - C+)