Transcript 2023 TV Interview
Welcome back to Frankly Speaking here on WYDC-TV Big Fox and this is the MA Neal Financial Services section of our program and we are joined by the legendary Duane Eddy.
00:14
Duane, it's so good to see you.
00:17
Well it's nice to be seen.
00:18
At my age it's nicer to be seen than you.
00:23
Well thanks so much for being on the show.
00:25
I know the show's relatively new but we're broadcasting in the the same area that you were born in.
00:30
Tell us about your time in our area and specifically being born in Corning, New York.
00:35
Corning, New York.
00:36
I was always very proud of that because everywhere I'd go and whenever they'd interview me and ask where I was born I'd say Corning and they'd say where's that?
00:44
I said you knowCorning, New York.
00:46
Corning, Glass.
00:48
And wherever in the world is famous all over the world.
00:52
I can't find any further.
00:54
Yep.
00:55
And you spent not as much time in Corning, but you grew up in the surrounding areas to a point, right?
01:01
Yeah, we lived in Corning for the first several years and then we moved up to Bath for a few more years and then on up to north of Branchport and Keoka Lake.
01:11
OhhWest Branch.
01:14
Yeah.
01:14
And Guyanoga.
01:16
Little crossroads.
01:17
Yeah.
01:18
When you look back at your time in our area, what do you think of?
01:21
What are the fond memories?
01:23
Was it a place that you loved?
01:25
Oh yeah.
01:25
I loved it because my dad was a bread man for a company called COBAKCO Branch.
01:31
Okay.
01:32
And he used to go leave the house at four in the morning or something and sometimes he'd take me with him as I was getting older.
01:40
AndI'd ride with him.
01:42
He drove almost 100 miles a day and serviced the bread to all the little shops and stores out in the country and crossroads and places like that within an area around Corning.
01:58
And I loved walking in that bakery and it brings on a mix of gasoline and baked food.
02:06
I know it sounds silly, but it was a pleasant combination.
02:11
chains every once in a while and of course once I got in the truck all I could smell was the, hopefully what I would get later, a cupcake.
02:20
So with that much traveling you actually saw a lot of the area in a short period of time.
02:24
Hundreds of odd?
02:25
Yeah, he went up along the, and then when he went to Bath he worked for NBC there, in their bakery, and we'd goAll up and down the Finger Lakes and cross over the mountains there and do the mountains between them and the hills, whatever you want to call them.
02:48
And then when I lived in Guyanoga, it was seven miles over to Penn Yan where I went to junior high school, seventh and eighth grade.
02:58
Then we moved to Arizona.
03:00
Ohh But speaking specifically of your time in Penn Yan, people may not know this, but you were responsible for their their mascot.
03:08
Yes, they had a contest.
03:10
I think I was in well one of the two grades, seventh or eighth.
03:14
And I used to love to draw horses.
03:17
Yeah.
03:18
And I loved horses.
03:21
And so they wanted somebody to name the team and everything.
03:26
So I put in, drew a horse and called it the Mustangs.
03:32
Yeah, still called the Mustangs today.
03:35
It's still there today.
03:39
When did you pick up guitar?
03:41
Was it while you were in the area, or is that when you moved to Arizona?
03:44
No, that was when we moved from Corning to Bath.
03:49
I didn't know it, but my dad had an acoustic guitar, and we were loading some coal into the new house with the furnace, and I looked over and I said, What's that, Dad?
04:03
He said, Oh, he looks and he says, That's a guitar.
04:07
What's it for?
04:09
He says, well you play it like a musical instrument.
04:12
And he says, I used to court your mother.
04:16
Did you know right away that you were going to take to it?
04:19
I mean, was it one of those things you just couldn't put down?
04:22
Well, I asked him to show me how it worked and he played three or four chords, which was about the limit of his knowledge on it, maybe five chords, something like that.
04:33
And so I could, he taught them to me and I just,I kept playing, kept trying, and hurt my fingers.
04:44
They had to grow calluses.
04:46
Never really did, but they did get tough.
04:48
Ohh Anyway, I could play for several chords.
04:52
I didn't know you could play up to the neck for the longest time.
04:59
Well, I used to sing, play, and sing Happy Birthday for the neighbor kids.
05:06
Things like that.
05:06
And then I, in the seventh grade, I think I sang a couple of songs in an assembly.
05:12
Oh, wow.
05:12
Let's see, what else?
05:17
Oh, went to Hornell.
05:19
Oh, yeah.
05:20
And did a radio show.
05:23
I took two or three lessons on the lap steel.
05:26
Oh, really?
05:27
Yeah, and I wanted guitar, but my folks like the Hawaiian guitar show.
05:32
That's what I get lessons on.
05:35
Well, I only took about three of them, and then I just .
05:39
I did not want to call.
05:40
But during that time, because everything he taught me, I could play instantly.
05:46
It was just natural for me.
05:49
And so he took me with him to his little 15-minute radio show, and we played Missouri Waltz, and I played the lead on that.
05:59
Yeah, quite nice.
06:02
Did you know that that's what you wanted to do as a career at a young age or was it just a hobby at that point?
06:09
It was just a hobby, yeah I didn't know that even after I started working at 15 in Arizona.
06:15
Yeah.
06:16
We moved to Arizona in 1951 and in Tucson and then my dad went to work for Safeway there and worked his way up toassistant manager, and a year or so later, we moved to Coolidge, which was a small town halfway between Tucson and Phoenix.
06:38
And they had a radio station, and this guy, my dad, of course, being a dad, said my son plays guitar to the disc jockey when he came in to go shopping.
06:48
And the disc jockey, Jim Doyle, said, We'll bring him out to the transmitter, we'll record something, and if it turns out okay, we'll put it on the air.
06:59
He did, and that started a whole thing.
07:03
So your parents were supportive of going into the music?
07:07
Well, in those days, nobody, they don't think they expected me to learn anything.
07:13
But after they played that on the radio, a friend called, Jimmy Dell, and he called up and we said, Come to my house, play music.
07:22
And he played piano and I played guitar and we sang together country songs.
07:29
So we did that around the area and just had fun, parties and stuff, school dances, whatever.
07:37
And then, let's see, I'm trying to think where I was at.
07:48
Well, then after that, this local country group called and wanted me to play with them at the VFW and they said, It pays $15,I couldn't believe that in 1953 or 4.
08:03
Yeah.
08:06
To get $15 for playing the guitar just seemed ridiculous.
08:10
But I threw all their songs and stuff and solos on the record, so I I rehearsed it and then we did the gig and that started me working.
08:24
Was country your biggest influence?
08:25
Is that who you listened to, country music?
08:28
Yes, Sank Williams was my man, a guy, my mentor, so, and from here I learned just by observing and listening I realized he was doing his own style, his own sound, and he did it with authority.
08:47
Is that when you realized you had to come up with your own sound, you had to be different than everyone else?
08:51
Well, all the country artists did.
08:53
You know, I could hear the first two bars of any new song by country artists and know what it was just by the sound of the intro, the steel guitar.
09:03
They had different tones, or the guitar.
09:09
And whatever it was, they had their all had their own sound.
09:12
Hank Snow did the Lefty Fabel.
09:16
And you could just tell them just a couple of longers who it was going to be before I heard the voice.
09:22
We have to take a short break, but Dwayne Eddie's promised he's going to stay with us through the break.
09:26
So stay with us.
09:26
We'll be right back with Frankly Speaking here on WYDC TV Big 5.
09:38
Welcome back to Frankie speaking here on WYDC-TV Big Fox.
09:42
This is the MA Neal Financial Services interview and we're broadcasting from the Hesselson Studio.
09:46
Duane Eddy is our guest, Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, Musician Hall of Famer, and recent Steuben County Hall of Famer.
09:52
Congratulations.
09:54
That's the one I'm proud of.
09:55
I don't know, there's something about your hometown recognizing you.
10:03
better than all the rest.
10:04
I'm sure.
10:05
Do you still have connections to our area?
10:08
Ah Yes, I do.
10:11
I I have some friends in Scottsdale, Arizona that their family's over there.
10:19
But other than that, of course my relatives are all in Tolanda and Alba, Pennsylvania, just 20 miles below the border.
10:27
And my cousins and nephews and nieces.
10:33
What was it that brought your family to Corning in the first place?
10:36
Was it the the bakery job?
10:37
Pardon?
10:39
What was it that brought your family to this area in the first place?
10:42
Was it the bakery job that your father had?
10:45
No No no noHe had three brothers and they they grew up in Towanda and Lakeland.
10:52
They were born in Lakeland which no longer exists.
10:55
South of Towanda it was a lumber town.
10:58
They clear cut it and then theypicked everything up, all the buildings and the railroad tracks and left the meadow, which it is now.
11:09
So before we went to break we were talking about kind of the beginnings of getting into the guitar.
11:14
When did you feel that your career had taken off?
11:21
Well I didn't know, never know from record to record whether it's going to last.
11:27
ButI cut, late '57, there was a record called Launchy that was a top 10 record by two different artists and a guitar instrumental.
11:38
And so by then I met my producer.
11:42
He came to Coolidge as a DJ and then wanted to be a producer, so he became one.
11:50
And he got one hit in '56, 1956, Santa Clark, and we wrote produced.
11:57
And then in '57, he wanted to try an instrumentals, so he said go home and write one.
12:05
And so I did.
12:05
It was called Moving and Grooving.
12:08
Yeah.
12:08
They released that in January and got the billboard charts of 70-something, which encouraged him to say, go back and do some more, which we did in March and just past March 16th, not long ago, which is the day we cut rubberized it.
12:27
was released in April or so, and somewhere around there at the end of April I think.
12:32
And it became a big hit of the summer.
12:34
Yeah.
12:36
It's amazing to me, I don't think there's any movie that takes place in that time that doesn't include Rebel Rouser.
12:44
Yeah.
12:44
It's so synonymous with that time.
12:47
Fine with me.
12:49
Keep 'em coming.
12:52
Forrest Gump was the biggest when theyThey sold over 14 Megan albums on the soundtrack.
12:59
Wow.
13:00
We had a little help from Elvis.
13:03
Oakley and Elvis.
13:06
Well, and you mentioned Elvis.
13:08
You've had an opportunity, I'm sure, to meet just about everybody in the business.
13:12
Just about, yes.
13:13
I had a very nice experience with Elvis.
13:17
We tried to get in the shell, but we couldn't.
13:19
It was sold out, but we went in afterwards anda friend.
13:25
And so we got backstage afterward and ohh he invited me and I met him and that was nice.
13:34
And he said, Come on up to the penthouse, we're having a go away.
13:38
This was his last night.
13:39
Oh, okay.
13:40
He was going to the party for all the people that worked on the show and all that sort of thing at the hotel.
13:47
So I did 'em up and of course I knew all those musicians who'd worked with him for years, sat and talked to him for a while.
13:53
And then here he came, and he came right over and started talking to me.
13:57
And uh we had a great conversation.
14:02
And it continued off and on, because he would interrupt it to go greet people and talk to them.
14:10
His manners were impeccable.
14:12
Yeah, isn't it.
14:13
Southern gentleman is a Southern gentleman, and you can't duplicate it.
14:18
He was treating these people so nice, and they just were loving it.
14:23
And then he'd work his way back to me, and and so we talked, we talked, he and Priscilla was in too.
14:32
He and I and Priscilla talked to about seven in the morning, and finally he had come down from the show.
14:40
Yeah He asked me, he said, Did you see the show?
14:43
I said, No, we couldn't get in.
14:45
It was all me, because I got some influence around here.
14:51
I said well I would never presume.
14:53
No.
14:54
What is it like now when someone comes up to you and talks about how big of an influence you were in their career?
15:02
That's the reward I never could get.
15:04
Yeah.
15:04
That's about all I can say about it.
15:07
This is a wonderful feeling.
15:09
Yeah.
15:10
Especially somebody like John Fogarty.
15:14
Yeah, yeahYou know 16% of ourplaybook was Dwayne Eddie Son's.
15:21
And And he tells in interviews that you know he was the guy, well I was his guy, you know learning off of, and there's been several you know like that.
15:35
So I started playing guitar because of the ones that blew my mind, kind of, were two jazz players, bass and guitar player, out at Big Potato in California.
15:49
Don Randy's place and I went in one night and he said, You got to hear these guys.
15:54
They're really good.
15:55
And so I listened to them.
15:57
They just play jazz.
15:58
Yeah.
15:59
I like, I don't play it, to speak of, but I I like it, listen to it now and then.
16:06
And anyway, they both came up to me afterward and they said, they'd come from the San Fernando Valley and they'd heard my records and one guy said,because of those records, he says, I play bass and the other one says yeah, because of those records I play guitar.
16:23
Wow.
16:24
He said we learned all your stuff and then we progressed from there, went on and and became jazz.
16:31
We had some training and musical training and learned about theory and all that and then we became jazz fans.
16:39
We got to take another short break, but we'll be right back with Dwayne, a lot more to get to, so stay with us, we'll be right back with Frankly Speaking.
16:51
Welcome back to Frankly Speaking here on WYDC-TV Big Fox.
16:55
We're being joined by Duane Eddy.
16:57
Duane, you've had such an amazing career.
16:59
Are there moments that really stick out to you that are very memorable?
17:03
Oh yes, yesFirst time I played the Hollywood Ball in California, that was one.
17:10
I call them moments, you know, thatFirst time I worked with James Brown on the Northwest, he didn't have any hints then, but his show was so good.
17:21
Yeah When I could, I'd ask the promoter to let him close the show.
17:27
Because I felt I like to do that anyway because instrumentals didn't seem as strong as vocals in some of those live shows.
17:37
They were powerful and strong, but they'd been singing, they'd been hearing vocals the whole show.
17:43
play instrumentals, nice to have a a vocal actor, so I always encouraged that.
17:50
And But James was knocked out with it.
17:53
That was the nicest thing that could have happened to him, and he knew he should have been there anyway, but the shows matched him up.
18:04
So that was a moment, and playing the Grand Ole Opry in 1996, which was 17th, that was a childhood dream.
18:14
do it.
18:15
Yeah.
18:16
That was a a dream for me and one of those moments.
18:21
And I got to play with Chet Atkins.
18:24
Wow.
18:24
And we played a Hank Williams song together.
18:28
Perfect.
18:29
When When you play the Grand Ole Opry, I know you've played all over the country and all over the world, is it still a little intimidating to play at the Grand Ole Opry?
18:38
No, it's oddly enough,It was before I played it, and once I got on the stage, I found it was the most comfortable stage I'd ever been on.
18:47
Really?
18:48
No kidding.
18:49
The acoustics are wonderful in there, and and everything sounds great, and it just has a more friendly feeling from the audience and just the walls.
19:03
Ohh Well, it's such a legendary venue.
19:06
Is there a place that you've played outside of those but that became a favorite spot maybe because of memory or just because you look at some of the bills that you played on, you played with everybody and they used to have the package bills.
19:17
So are there certain ones that stick out for you on that?
19:20
Oh yeah, I remember we did the Clark shows, TV shows in Binghamton.
19:26
Wow.
19:27
Far from you.
19:28
Yeah.
19:29
And I used to ride, they put me on these farm equipment things.
19:35
I was in asome kind of loader at one time and another time on a wagon being pulled by a tractor and things like that.
19:47
They were like the first music videos.
19:49
Isn't it amazing to think of how many legends were on each of those bills and now you know you look at the news and one star gets you know fifteen hundred dollars a ticket?
20:02
I know, I can't imagine.
20:05
No.
20:05
I know I don't I don't think I've ever owned a car that's worth quite that much, but the talent back then and also the value you got for your money, it just speaks I guess volumes for the time that that was taking place.
20:25
Yes.
20:25
Yeah.
20:29
Well just that I mean you look at the the talent and the value at that time it goes to show you that maybe the difference in the music video maybe that or the music industry maybe that's a better way for me to put it.
20:39
Yeah, Yeah I think you're right.
20:43
It is a, well it's like a pickup truck used to sell for 1800.
20:48
Right.
20:50
And then they became 18,000 and now they're 80,000.
20:55
Yeah.
20:58
It's just amazing.
20:59
If you look back at the beginning of your career, if you could tell yourself something now, back then, what would it be?
21:10
Get a better manager.
21:13
No, I, uh I don't know.
21:17
I probably would have, there's several things I would have done different, not too many.
21:22
And because I, you know, I just didn't know.
21:28
it was going on in those days but uh and I was losing a lot of money I knew that but uh that's not the story for another time sure and uh well I can't think of anything you know I got to meet Richard Boone play uh act in two Afghan will travels I love it plus the thunder drones with him and Charles Johnson yeahAnyway, Arcelor yeah so I became friends with Charlie and Dick and Dick I stayed friends with for 20 years 61 until he passed away in 81 yeah so those are all moments amazing I'm trying to think Eberly Brothers I worked with him and produced Phil's first song for RCA anotherhighlight another moment and just, it's just been, I went to Nancy Sinatra's birthday party one time and Frank and all these people were there and it was just amazing.
22:43
I think sometimes I just, you know, knock on wood or whatever and wonder, you know,Well, my my current producer calls me the Forrest Gump of rock and roll.
23:01
And the irony of your song being in Forrest Gump is pretty amazing too.
23:05
Yeah, but I kind of like that because I I just fell into these situations and met these people.
23:12
Yeah.
23:13
I met all of Rat Pack.
23:16
Oh, wow.
23:17
Sammy Davis, Dean Martin, and got to hang with all of them.
23:25
So it's been exciting and fun.
23:30
Then there's some music I got to play with the best musicians in the world.
23:36
Everybody from Paul Schaffer to Paul McCartney.
23:40
And we're going to talk more about that on tomorrow's show because we're going to take another short break and then we're going to play the second part of this interview tomorrow.
23:47
So stay with us.
23:48
We'll be right back with Frankly Speaking here on WYDC-TV Big Fox.
23:58
Welcome back to Frankly Speaking here on WYDC-TV Big Fox.
24:02
This is the M.A.
24:02
Neal Financial Services interview and we're broadcasting from the Hesselson studio, our guest for day two.
24:08
Duane, Eddie, thanks again for being on the show, Duane.
24:10
It's so good to see you and talk with you.
24:12
Well, same here, Frank.
24:14
I really have enjoyed our conversation and it's great to speak to the people at Morning and Bath and everywhere around there.
24:22
And where studios are right on Market Street, the beautiful downtown district.
24:27
Oh man, when I saw that a couple years ago, I couldn't believe it.
24:31
It's a beautiful city.
24:33
It's a world-class Market Street.
24:36
fourth class main street whatever you call it.
24:38
Yeah We have a nice main street here in Franklin, Tennessee but I think that corn is just as good as any I've seen anywhere in the world boutique stores yeah for the shopping and just the the look of it it's beautiful.
25:01
It is and it's a beautiful barn in I guess theydid away with and they got a new one now.
25:07
I was too much for them.
25:12
Yeah Dwayne Eddy is our guest.
25:14
So we were talking about the kind of beginning of your career, milk career, but when you came up with the signature twangy sound, did you realize you had something special or was it something difficult to sell to people?
25:28
Well, I didn't know at first because that's just I knew I had to have something different and somethingdistinctive and something of my own, and as I said earlier, do it with authority and and with emotion, and let it all hang out, and that's what I did.
25:46
Whether I was rocking an uptempo song or or loving a slow ballad, you knowRight.
25:55
Just tried to put everything into it, and I guess people, well like a friend of mine said, Icommunicated with that sound.
26:04
That's why I had all those hits.
26:06
Yeah But no, that's just something I did naturally because all the country artists did that.
26:18
And I thought there's no point in recreating something that somebody else did.
26:22
A lot of people make that mistake.
26:25
A lot of people made it with me.
26:28
I mean they recreate, tried to play like me.
26:32
And I think there was one guy that had some hits with orchestra.
26:39
Yeah.
26:41
But other than that, most people just used it as a side instrument.
26:49
But everybody would say, well, that sounds-- when they used to write on the charts in the studio, the sessions, recording sessions, they'd-- because one of the musiciansI wasn't on or anything to do with me.
27:06
He brought me a sheet of music once and he said this is this is the sheet of music I had.
27:11
He was a guitar player too.
27:13
And he said the the arranger wrote this on the top.
27:18
He says, Solo, play Duane Eddie.
27:26
So they knew, you know, it became a staple.
27:31
You probably talked with a lot of guitarists.
27:33
I don't know if you worked with a lot of guitarists, but when you see a guitarist, do you, I don't want to say judge them, but do you study them?
27:41
Oh yeah.
27:42
I mean, I was a big fan of Chet Atkins and Jacob Burton and everybody that you can think of.
27:49
Howard Roberts, Barney Kessel, they were jazz players, but they worked on my sessions in the early days and especially in Hollywood they did.
28:02
But yeah, I I know practically every guitar player in the business.
28:09
Yeah.
28:11
And I've worked with most of them.
28:13
Everybody from Stray Cats.
28:17
Oh, ohh Brian Setzer?
28:23
Brian Setzer, thank you.
28:24
Yeah.
28:27
They had all these names escaping.
28:30
Brian, I worked with him.
28:31
I recorded with him.
28:35
Oh, let's see.
28:37
Chet Atkins, I worked with him.
28:38
Amazing.
28:40
I met John Travis.
28:41
I didn't work with him, but I read him.
28:44
And Mark Knopfer, I didn't work with him, but I met him.
28:49
And I'm trying to think.
28:53
Jeff Beck, I got to work with him.
28:55
Oh, wow.
28:59
rest his soul.
29:00
Yeah.
29:01
He came out, we were out in California, and he was doing one show, and I was doing my show.
29:08
He was doing a Cliff Gallop thing for all the musicians out there, and I was with my thing.
29:16
Yeah.
29:17
And then he came up with me and played the last song, and I said, I said to him, I said, Take as many solos as you want.
29:25
He says, No, I can only do two.
29:26
He says, I gotta catch a plane.
29:29
And sure enough, he did.
29:30
He gave me a big hug around the neck and then he was good one after the song was over and and I thought he was kidding me.
29:39
I'm making a joke, but I said emergency.
29:41
He says he jumped out of here, grabbed his guitar and ran into the car and he's at the airport right now.
29:48
Oh, ohh that's funny.
29:51
Someone that a lot of times I think you hear about most top rated guitarists and underrated guitarists, to me,I think someone was really underrated and I think because a lot of his music was kind of humorous was Jerry Reed.
30:04
Oh yeah, I I love Jerry Reed and told him so.
30:09
But I never got to, oh yes I did.
30:12
I got to play at a friend's house.
30:13
We sat there and I had my gut string and he had his.
30:18
And he started playing so I picked mine up and kind of played rhythm along with him and then we got into playingthis song together, and so then I took it, he took a solo, and I took a solo, and halfway through my soul, I'm really, you know, I'm thinking, boy, nobody's going to like this as well as his, as well as they like him.
30:42
And halfway through, I heard him say, Son, and I knew I'd made it.
30:49
That's when you knew you made it.
30:51
ohh Dwayne Eddie is our guest.
30:53
You mentioned that you were in some Have Guns Will Travel, did some acting, that you produced some albums.
30:58
Does it still at the end of the day boil down to you want to play music or do you like the behind the scenes stuff as well?
31:04
I didn't care for the behind the scenes so much.
31:07
I liked the music, the producing film and things like that, but the paperwork and stuff.
31:20
I need somebody to do.
31:21
I need a second writer.
31:24
Not too good at it.
31:26
I I got it done.
31:28
It's just a big waste of time to see me.
31:32
And uh..
31:35
But yeah, then it comes back to the music always.
31:38
Yeah.
31:40
I still like to do one more album.
31:42
And I may.
31:43
Yeah.
31:45
Well, you were recently on the album with Robert Plant, right?
31:50
Yeah.
31:50
YeahRobert and Allison.
31:52
Yeah, that's right, yeah.
31:53
I was on the album, I did a TV spot for England.
31:57
That's okay, that's okay.
32:00
I knew I saw a clip somewhere.
32:01
Oh, that's really neat.
32:03
You have, by the way, the most amazing group of fans with the Duane Eddy Circle.
32:08
Talk about great pictures, a great newsletter.
32:11
I can't tell you how much I look forward to getting the newsletter.
32:15
Oh, I know.
32:16
Arthur does a great job.
32:18
I've got Arthur and Jim Grant, Mike Richards, Philip Pell.
32:24
They have a great time with their convention every year.
32:27
Now they're doing it on Zoom because of the focus thing.
32:30
Yeah.
32:31
But they're just a great bunch.
32:34
It's kind of, we call it the inner circle.
32:37
Yeah, well, selfishly I'm glad they do it over Zoom because before it was in England, now I get to join and so many people in our area get to join on and and see our fellow fans.
32:48
Yes, yes, it is nice.
32:50
I'm really happy about that.
32:56
Are you ever surprised some of the stuff that they dig up, like some of the pictures?
32:59
It always seems like they have something new that hasn't been seen.
33:03
I know, and much of it.
33:05
Not terribly long, but quite a bit of it.
33:10
Stuff I hadn't seen.
33:13
It's amazing.
33:15
things that I remember recording but I haven't heard him since I recorded.
33:18
Right.
33:21
They find him that's for sure.
33:23
We have a few other things we got to get to.
33:25
Let me take, no no I'm good on time actually.
33:27
What did it mean to you to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
33:31
Was that ever on your radar?
33:34
Oh yeah, yeah I was nominated probably as much as anybody.
33:39
Well it was about 13 times, ohh eight times I guess.
33:45
I was nominated to be in it.
33:47
And finally, John Poverty went up and says, Look, you need to put Duane Eddie in here.
33:54
Yes.
33:55
The pioneers, and we hadn't put him in.
33:58
He should have been in several times years ago.
34:03
And they got all mad.
34:05
Don't tell us what to do.
34:07
Get out of here.
34:09
And they've already come into their offices for a while.
34:14
ButThey finally got it done.
34:16
He was going to induct me, but that's when they had the big earthquake.
34:19
Ohh And his house slid down the hills.
34:23
He was all right, Alan, his family was OK.
34:28
But they did have damage to their house.
34:31
Yeah.
34:33
So he couldn't make it, but he saw a guy from Corner, Mick Jones, their guitar player, did the job.
34:42
and did a nice job of it and I played Rubble Rouser and played Morrow's Beach and that was it yeah but it was nothing it was nice John F.
34:52
Kennedy Jr.
34:53
was sitting right in front of me no kidding and uh I thought my gosh he sparkles he sucks so clean and dancing it's just he had that air yeah yeahWe got to take a short break, our first one.
35:11
Stay with us, we'll be right back with Frankly Speaking here on WYDC-TV Big Fox.
35:27
Welcome back to WYDC-TV Big Fox.
35:30
This is Frankly Speaking, I'm your host Frank Akam and this is the M.A.
35:33
Neal Financial Services interview and we're being joined by the legendary Duane Eddy.
35:37
Duane, thanks again.
35:40
You're welcome.
35:40
I'm very pleased to be with you.
35:42
Thank you.
35:42
Yes.
35:43
So we talked in the past about some of that you mentioned Elvis and some of the legends you worked with.
35:47
Is there anybody you wish you could have had an opportunity to work with?
35:52
Ray Charles.
35:53
Yeah.
35:54
George Jones.
35:56
Oh yeah.
35:57
Yeah I did.
35:59
I got to know George and I found a song for him called The Race is On which became a staple of his.
36:06
years, but I knew the songwriter in Phoenix and cut a demo.
36:10
I played it for George one morning.
36:13
He came by my office and he said, Can I take that with me?
36:18
I said, Sure.
36:19
I thought I had the publishing on it, but it turns out the singer, the writer had signed it with somebody else just before that.
36:27
Ohh So I didn't.
36:29
And then, anyway, it worked out great for him.
36:34
I was happy.
36:36
skyrocketed his career in a lot of ways, but in those days, because you were known for rock and roll, was it difficult for country to let you in the door, or was it mutual?
36:48
Well, there were a lot of people, not the main people, the guitar players and the musicians, they understood what I was doing, most of them.
36:58
But a lot of people around them would say, I don't understand it.
37:03
Chet Atkins plays all this green guitar, and Dwayne just goes, Dum, dum.
37:08
And he gets all these hits and shit and on gal.
37:12
And so I ran into that a lot.
37:17
Yeah.
37:18
Things like that.
37:19
When I know-- Mainly now, I've lived here 30 years.
37:23
Right.
37:24
55 years, and it's the most heartwarming community of musicians and people.
37:33
Musicians Hall of Fame, the Rock Hall Hall of Fame, of course, that's in Cleveland.
37:37
And I may get into the Country Hall of Fame, I don't know, but I've done several things for them.
37:42
Yeah.
37:43
And, you know, I played for, they had a sound on Marty Robbins' record, Don't Worry About Me, they're supposed to tell me anywhere.
37:55
And it was caused by a faulty,singing the board.
38:02
Okay.
38:03
And made the guitar sound like that, but they left it.
38:06
So it became such a hit, but then when Grady Martin died, who was the guitar player, and played it, one of the best ever.
38:13
He played on El Paso, and just, you can't imagine the stuff, different things he did that were so great.
38:20
Anyway, they wanted to honor him, so Vince Gill sang, I think it was Vince famous song from Marty Stewart andNo, it was Mandy Burnett.
38:36
Mandy Burnett.
38:39
She sang it, and I played the fuzz tone guitar, and that was just fun.
38:44
It was like we created the record.
38:48
Yeah.
38:48
And it was just just a wonderful night.
38:53
That was one thing I did.
38:57
Did a steel player, Buddy Emmons.
39:02
Was it an exciting, I guess, announcement when they said that you would be getting your own signature Gretsch?
39:08
Or was that a kind of, you should have one?
39:13
Well, I thought that I wanted to have one back when I was having hits.
39:19
Yeah, Yeah my managerwasn't too good at making deals.
39:25
I don't know how he presented it to him, but they turned it down, he said.
39:30
And Gibson turned it down, the Guild took it.
39:33
So I had the first one was a Guild signature guitar.
39:38
Then I met Shat with George Harrison, introduced me to him in London.
39:47
And so after that, he contacted me and said,Well I didn't have a signature right then and he asked if I'd like to have a Brett signature guitar so I went down to Savannah and we put it together and I had one for a long time.
40:06
Then he went with Fenders so I thought I'll just go with Gibson.
40:14
I had a Gibson who wanted to have been dying to make me a guitar, Mike McGuire, and heHe made me one, and I loved it.
40:25
But they weren't, Gibson was kind of wonky.
40:32
And they didn't advertise it at all.
40:35
So they sold a bunch, and then they stopped selling.
40:38
So I talked to somebody at Gretch, and they said, We can always come back to us, you knowAnd I said, Well, we might be interested.
40:46
So the next thing I got was .
40:48
Yeah.
40:50
And I left Gibson and went back to Gretch, and they made the perfect guitar, the imitation, what do you call that, a copy of my original.
41:06
Oh, like a replica?
41:07
A replica.
41:08
Yeah.
41:09
And the guy came, the master builder, Luthier, uh came here at the house and measured that guitar.
41:20
And that guitar, the original, was in Scottsdale in the musicians, in the musical instrument hall of fame.
41:28
Oh, okay.
41:29
Musical instrument museum.
41:31
Museum.
41:32
Gotcha.
41:33
Wow.
41:33
Yeah, sorry.
41:35
Oh, no, that's okay.
41:37
And you mentioned you were introduced in the whole process when it came to George Harrison.
41:40
The Beatles were huge fans of yours, weren't they?
41:43
Yes, they were, and I worked with both Paul and and Ringo.
41:49
and George, all three of them.
41:51
I didn't get to meet John.
41:53
And But I worked with Paul on an '85 in my capital home, and Duane Hayes is titled.
42:03
And And with George, and Jeff Mahon, Bry Cooter, James Burton, John.
42:12
All of us were on that very nextgreat piano player, and guitar player, and harmonica player, and bass player.
42:24
He's a genius.
42:25
And Jim Warren, of course, is the second player.
42:29
Anyway, it was a fun album.
42:31
Oh yeah?
42:32
YeahWe just had a great time.
42:36
Yeah.
42:37
Paul was great, and George, of course.
42:40
I went up to his house and stayed, andworked on it in his home studio, and he added a slide guitar.
42:56
Oh, okay.
42:57
And, oh, Ry Kruger was on this album too.
43:02
Yeah.
43:04
And he played slide.
43:07
And I love the difference between them.
43:11
He's very aggressive, and George is pure love.
43:16
when they play you can just hear the difference yeah oh I just had a great time oh sure sure just before we go cuz I know we're just about out of time on the program but do you find yourself maybe sitting home at night and you turn on a movie or you turn on the TV and you're surprised because there's your song playing on some TV show or some movie yeah that's true yeah I have done that the big surprise we took our grandson to see Forrest Gump yeahAnd he's about 12 at the time, and I didn't know, we just had no idea that they'd put Rubble Rouser into that movie.
43:55
Yeah.
43:56
So we're sitting there in the starts, and Forrest, run, Forrest, run, and da da da da da da.
44:02
And he starts, takes off, runs through the football field, and Rubble Rouser played the longest queue in the movie.
44:11
And they played all through that.
44:12
And But while I was playing, my grandson jumped up on his seat, stood on his seat, and yelled off, That's my grandpa!
44:22
And we heard people around the theater laughing.
44:25
Very cute.
44:26
Yeah well They didn't seem surprised in Nashville.
44:30
No, No probably a common occurrence.
44:32
Do you hear Rebel Rouser in your head when you're sleeping at night?
44:36
You've played it so often?
44:38
No.
44:40
Noand when I do it on stage I do it like it's the first time I yeah yeah some some people are hearing it for the first time and some people are I try to make it sound like the original as close as possible so they recognize every note oh yeah it's just fun to do yeah oh it's a great song it's so catchy that you'll have it stuck in your head the rest of the day as soon as you hear it which has got to be a good thing oh yeah yeahA friend of mine taught his kid this song, you knowYeah.
45:14
And then I went up to their office one day and the kid was there.
45:17
He was about 13 or so.
45:19
And his father had me play, he says, Wayne played rubble on the acoustic drift.
45:27
And so I did, I played a verse off it and he leaned over to his dad and he said, Dad, you didn't play it right.
45:37
Chris tickled his dad to death.
45:40
What a perfect way to end this interview.
45:42
Dwayne, I can't tell you enough how much it means that you gave me this much time today.
45:46
Well, thank you.
45:47
Thank you so much Frank and good luck with your new TV show.
45:50
Thank you.
45:51
Congratulations and congratulations again on your election I hope.
45:56
That's right.
45:57
Yeah, councilman.
45:58
Pretty fancy.
46:00
Did you take it or did you?
46:02
I won.
46:02
I won but I have I have to run for another term so I have umBecause it was just an expired term, so now I have a four more years.
46:10
Yep.
46:12
Yeah Good luck.
46:13
Thank you.
46:15
And everybody wrote for the card.
46:17
Oh, ohh I just found my new campaign ad.
46:18
Thank you.
46:20
Duane Eddy's been our guest.
46:22
We'll be right back with Frankly Speaking.
46:23
Stay with us.