"Rebel-'Rouser" is a

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

song written by

Duane Eddy Duane Eddy (born April 26, 1938) is an American rock and roll guitarist. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he had a string of hit records produced by Lee Hazlewood, which were noted for their characteristically "twangy" sound, including " Rebel ...

and

Lee Hazlewood Barton Lee Hazlewood (July 9, 1929 – August 4, 2007) was an American country and pop singer, songwriter, and record producer, most widely known for his work with guitarist Duane Eddy during the late 1950s and singer Nancy Sinatra in the 1960 ...

and originally released on Jamie Records in 1958 by "Duane Eddy and his 'twangy' guitar" as a single (Jamie 1104) with "Stalkin'" on its B-side. Both tracks were produced by Lester Sill and Lee Hazlewood. It was Eddy's third single as a solo artist, following the 1957 release of the single "Ramrod"/"Caravan" on the Ford record label (a release that was credited to "Duane Eddy and His Rock-A-Billies", although Al Casey (who wrote "Ramrod") actually played lead guitar on both tracks) and which was followed in 1958 by the release of the "Moovin' n' Groovin'"/"Up And Down" single on Jamie (Jamie 1101), which was also released as "Duane Eddy and his 'twangy' guitar". "Rebel-'Rouser" also appeared on Duane Eddy's debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

, ''

Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel ''Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel'' is the debut album by the guitarist Duane Eddy. It was released in 1958 on Jamie Records, as JLP-3000. There were five charting singles and a B-side of an additional charting single taken from this album. Jam ...

''. The song was originally called "Rabble Rouser" by Duane Eddy when it was recorded at Clay Ramsey and his son Floyd's "Audio Recorders" recording studio in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

, but the song's title was later changed by Lee Hazlewood to "Rebel-'Rouser" and the song charted at number 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. On ''Billboard'''s R&B Best Sellers chart, "Rebel-'Rouser" went to number 8.

Background

The tune, Eddy has noted, was not based on " When the Saints Go Marching In" as many assumed, but was loosely inspired by "Who’s Gonna Shoe Your Pretty Little Feet", an old folk song Eddy knew from a

Tennessee Ernie Ford Ernest Jennings Ford (February 13, 1919 – October 17, 1991), known professionally as Tennessee Ernie Ford, was an American singer and television host who enjoyed success in the country and western, pop, and gospel musical genres. Noted for h ...

record. Eddy has spoken of listening to Ford's recording for inspiration on the morning of the recording session for "Rabble Rouser" (the song's title was later changed by producer Lee Hazlewood to "Rebel-'Rouser"). The track was recorded at Clay Ramsey and his son Floyd's Audio Recorders recording studio at 3830 North 7th Street in

and featured Eddy playing lead guitar on his Gretsch 6120 guitar that he played through a modified 100 watt

Magnatone Magnatone was a brand of electric guitars and amplifiers produced between 1937 and the mid-1970s. The company was based in California. The brand name was revived in the 2010s by Ted Kornblum. History Beginning in the late 1930s, Magna Electroni ...

amplifier. Hazlewood then took the recording tape to the

Gold Star Studios Gold Star Studios was an independent recording studio located in Los Angeles, California, United States. For more than thirty years, from 1950 to 1984, Gold Star was one of the most successful commercial recording studios in the world. Founded ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

, where he had

Gil Bernal Gil Bernal (1931–2011) was a singer and a session musician. His saxophone can be heard on recordings such as "Searchin'" by The Coasters. In the 1950s he played on Duane Eddy's 1958 album '' Have 'Twangy' Guitar Will Travel''. In later years, ...

overdub his

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of Single-reed instrument, single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed (mouthpi ...

lines and added singing and handclaps performed by the Sharps, a vocal group that would later change its name to

The Rivingtons The Rivingtons were a 1960s doo-wop band, known for their 1962 novelty hit " Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow". The members were lead vocalist Carl White (June 21, 1932 - January 7, 1980), tenor Al Frazier (d. November 13, 2005), baritone Sonny Harris, and ba ...

and that would have hits of its own in the early 1960s, " Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow" in 1962 and "The Bird's the Word" in 1963. The tune changes keys three times, the introduction starts in

E major E major (or the key of E) is a major scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has four sharps. Its relative minor is C-sharp minor and its parallel minor is E minor. Its enharmonic equiva ...

and transposes to

F major F major (or the key of F) is a major scale based on F, with the pitches F, G, A, B, C, D, and E. Its key signature has one flat. Its relative minor is D minor and its parallel minor is F minor. The F major scale is: : F major is ...

, then F-sharp major, and finally to

G major G major (or the key of G) is a major scale based on G, with the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative minor is E minor and its parallel minor is G minor. The G major scale is: Notable com ...

Personnel

, electric lead guitar. * Buddy Wheeler, electric "click" bass * Jimmy Simmons, acoustic bass * Bob Taylor, drums * Al Casey, piano *

Donnie Owens Donnie Owens (aka Donald Lee Owens) (October 30, 1932 – October 27, 1994) was an American singer, guitarist, producer, and composer. His hit song “Need You” peaked at #25 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1958. Owens worked extensively with ...

, Corki Casey O’Dell, rhythm guitars *

, saxophone * The Sharps, background vocals, rebel yells, handclaps * Lester Sill,

, producers * Jack Miller, recording engineer (Audio Recorders studio, Phoenix, Arizona)

Song in popular culture

*Featured in 1993 movie '' The Sandlot''. *Featured in the 1994 movie ''

Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis and written by Eric Roth. It is based on the 1986 novel of the same name by Winston Groom and stars Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Gary Sinise, Mykelti Williamson ...

'' and on the film's

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrac ...

. *Heard in the 2010 video game '' Mafia II.'' *Appears in 2018 video game '' Far Cry 5''.

References

External links

Interview with GuitarPlayer magazine, 2020: "Duane Eddy: How I Wrote "Rebel-'Rouser"
Original issue on Jamie, 1958

Allmusic song review
Duane Eddy songs Songs written by Duane Eddy Songs written by Lee Hazlewood 1958 singles Rock instrumentals 1958 songs Jamie Records singles 1950s instrumentals {{1950s-single-stub