268 Goodbye Duane Eddy* - Play Me Like You Play Your Guitar

( * and  the  Rebelettes )

Chart  entered : 15  March  1975

Chart  peak  : 9

Although  he  fell  a  few  months  short  of  breaking  Paul  Anka's  record , Duane's  was  the  more  surprising  comeback. Anka  had  rekindled  his  US  chart  career   back  in  1969  so  it  was  always  likely  that  one  might  cross  over  but  Duane  hadn't  troubled  the  US  Hot  100  since  1964  and  had  latterly  been  working  as  a  producer.

In  1975  Duane, now  shaggy-haired  and  hirsute , teamed  up  with  hit  producer  Tony  Macaulay  who  wrote  this  song  with  ex-Seeker  Keith  Potger. It's  about   a  50/50  split  between  vocal  and  instrumental  passages. The  Rebelettes  were  three  black  girls  but  I've  no  idea  what  they  were  called  or  whether  they  were  the  same ones  that  had  backed  Duane  on  some  of  his  early  60s  hits. Sounding  surprisingly  like  the  Abba  girls they  trill  a  song  about  being  in  thrall  to  a guitar  player  ( lyrically  very  similar  to  Killing  Me  Softly )  although  it's  also  in  part  a  complaint  about  his  neglect  of  her. When  they  shut  up  Duane  then  plays  the  same   catchy   melody  on  his  bass  strings  in  his  usual  fashion. Macaulay  adds  strings, and  then  oboe  in  the  coda  to  give  the  song  a  lushly  romantic  feel. It's  a  nostalgic  treat  that  deserved  its  success  although  as  far  as  radio  is  concerned  it  never  existed.

Duane  went  on  to  do  the album  "Guitar Man"  with  Macaulay  but  was  unable  to  score  with  the  follow-up  singles. "The  Man  With  The  Gold  Guitar" in  June  1975 is  very  much  in  the  same  mould  with  another  attractive  tune  by  Macaulay  and  Barry  Mason  but  perhaps  another  dose  of  self-mythologising  was  too  much. "Love  Confusion " from  October  avoids  this  trap  and  is  a  great  girl  group  pastiche  but  Duane's  role  is  reduced  and  the drummer  ( Clem  Cattini ? )  is  equally  prominent  on  the  record.

I  don't  think  any  of  these  records  were  released  in  the  US  but  Duane  headed  back  there   and  in  November  1976  released  a  version  of  "You  Are  My  Sunshine  credited  to  "Duane  Eddy  featuring  Deed  ( his  wife ) and  some  very  good  friends"  ( actually  Ry  Cooder, Willie  Nelson  and  Waylon  Jennings ). They  do  the  song  in  a  slowed-down  country  vein; Duane  plays  one  note  at  a  time  and  it's  a  surprise  it  hasn't  cropped  up  on  some  David  Lynch  project.

Since  then  Duane  has  only  recorded  sporadically, In  1986  he  re-emerged  to  guest  on  Art  of  Noise's  re-working  of  his  1959  hit  "Peter  Gunn"  , a  profitable  liaison  for  both  parties  since  it  reached  number  8  in  the  UK ( equalling  their  highest  placing at  the  time ) and  number  50  in  the  US  ( his  first  hit  there  for  22  years ) .  It  also  won  the  Grammy  for  Best  Rock  Instrumental  of  1986.  

Encouraged  to  return  to  the  studio  he  recorded  the  album  "Duane  Eddy"  in  1987  helped  out  by  a  huge  cast  of  celebrity  admirers  including  George  Harrison  and  Paul  McCartney.  The  single  "Rockestra  Theme"  was  written  (  it  originally  appeared  on  Back  To  The  Egg  ) and  produced  by  McCartney. He  also  plays  bass  on  the  track.  With  the  eighties  production  Duane's  low  twang  is  almost  indistinguishable  from  a  Peter  Hook  bassline  and  it's  the  best  thing  on  the  track  which  would  have  benefitted  from  the  absence  of  the   "Why  haven't  I  had  any  dinner ? "  interjections  - Macca's  wacky  humour  at  its  worst. "Spies"  was  another  collaboration  with  the  Art  of  Noise  , an  original  tune  by  Anne  Dudley  and  J J  Jeczalik   but  a  homage  to  Bond  and  other  sixties  spy  thrillers  with  a  couple  of  nice  sax  breaks. Despite  all  the  endorsements  the  album  didn't  sell  and  is  largely  forgotten.

Duane  didn't  release  anything  under  his  own  name  in  the  nineties  but  occasionally  popped  up as  a  guest  on  records  by  Hank  Marvin  , Hans  Zimmer  and  Foreigner. His  profile  in  the  noughties  was  even  lower  but  he  returned  to  the  UK  in  2010 to  play  a  sold  out  show  at  the  Royal  Festival  Hall, This  led  on  to  the  album  "Road  Trip"  , a  collaboration  with  Richard  Hawley  in  2011  which  contains  the  marvellously  incongruous  "Bleaklow  Air",  Duane's  Arizona   twang   decorating  a   lovely  mournful  tune  inspired  by   Derbyshire's  most  godforsaken  stretch  of  peat  moorland. Apart  from  that  one  and  the  hard  rocking  "Primeval"  with its  bracing  sax, the  album's  a  bit  musak-y,  a   dignified  swansong  ( probably- Duane's  77  in  April )  but  nothing  very  exciting.