Oliver: Duane Eddy - Hard Times (7 December 1991)

A slavishly faithful cover of an R&B tune by Noble "Thin Man" Watts, Hard Times is a more engaging tune than the previous Eddy selection to turn up on this blog, Forty Miles of Bad Road.

As the leading guitar hero of the time, what strikes me when listening to Eddy is the economy of the recording and his generosity to his fellow players.  A decade later, Hendrix, Clapton et al would have strung something like this into half of the side of an album, more's the pity.  Perhaps such gargantuan sonic excess was necessary to remind us of how great these tracks were.  Peel's desire to return to such material frequently over the years, certainly from the early 70s onwards, gives an indication over where his sympathies lay.



Noble Watts's original minus the twang.