Rockabilly can trace some of its most important roots right here to Phoenix.
Twangy notes on a rockabilly guitar go all the way back to Duane Eddy, who pioneered the genre with his 1958 smash hit “Rebel-’Rouser,” recorded at Clay and Floyd Ramsey’s Audio Recorders in Phoenix. The Phoenix Independent ranked the classic No. 1 on its list of The 100 Greatest Songs Recorded in Arizona.
“Duane Eddy was something unreal to us in the same way that Elvis was, that Buddy Holly was, Chuck Berry was. They brought something to us that was so special,” Mick Jones of Foreigner told the audience while inducting Eddy into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in a 1994. “That was the start of everything for us. We owe a tremendous amount to people like Duane Eddy.”
