The “dirty” 1955 song that made Jimmy Page pick up a guitar: “I wanted to be part of it”
A 1955 hit by Link Wray, ‘Rumble’, is described as a formative influence on Jimmy Page, helping inspire him to pick up the guitar. The instrumental’s raw, distorted sound stood apart from the cleaner popular music of its era and became influential in the development of rock music.
Released in 1958 rather than 1955, ‘Rumble’ reached number 16 in the US charts despite some radio stations banning it over concerns that its title encouraged violence. Page reportedly admired its rebellious atmosphere and has cited the track as an example of the sound and attitude he wanted to join; its use of power chords and distortion also influenced later guitar-led rock.
- Link Wray’s ‘Rumble’ helped inspire Jimmy Page to play guitar.
- Its distorted sound challenged the musical norms of its era.
- The track became a major influence on rock guitar music.
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Jimmy Page is an English guitarist best known for founding Led Zeppelin, one of the biggest rock bands of the 1970s. Before that, he worked as a busy session musician and was a member of the Yardbirds, developing the guitar style that later became closely associated with hard rock.
Link Wray was an American guitarist whose instrumental track ‘Rumble’ was released in 1958. It had no lyrics, but its heavy guitar sound, created with distortion and simple forceful chords, was strikingly different from much mainstream music at the time.
The record became important to many later musicians because it showed that a guitar could produce a rougher, more aggressive sound. Its title was linked to street fighting in some listeners’ minds, leading some radio stations to avoid playing it, even though the song itself was instrumental.