Link Wray's longtime backing band, formed in 1958 around Wray (guitar, b. 1929, d. 2005), brother Vernon Wray (vocals/rhythm guitar), brother Doug Wray (drums), and Shorty Horton (bass). Wray's distorted, power-chord-driven instrumental "Rumble" (1958) was famously banned by some radio stations for allegedly inciting juvenile delinquency despite having no lyrics.
The Raymen backed Wray throughout the late 1950s and 1960s on Cadence, Epic, and Swan Records. Subsequent classics include "Rawhide" (1959), "Jack the Ripper" (1960), and the title-track instrumental from Big City After Dark (1959). Wray's power-chord approach is widely credited as foundational to heavy rock, garage rock, and punk.
