Duane Eddy – Peter Gunn

I’ve always liked this song. It was originally by Henry Mancini for the Peter Gunn television show in 1958. I love instrumentals, and this is one of the best. I think the heyday of instrumentals was the fifties and sixties.

This (and many of his songs) was recorded in a Phoenix studio, which had an echo chamber that was originally a large water tank. A single speaker was placed at one end of the tank, the microphone at the other, and the guitar was piped in there. It’s hard to mimic that with a reverb stomp box.

Duane Eddy, the man who made a single twangy note sound like thunder rolling across the land. In 1959, he took Henry Mancini’s already cool Peter Gunn TV theme and turned it into something leaner and meaner. Backing him up was producer Lee Hazlewood, who knew how to turn an amplifier and that echo chamber into sonic gold. Together, they recorded this song in Phoenix, with a rhythm section that was tight and lean.

I like how Eddy arranged his songs. No big flashy solos or seeing how fast he could play, just that sound he had, never letting up. Duane Eddy laid the groundwork for surf music, spy soundtracks, and even hard rock. Everyone from The Ventures to George Harrison took notes from that tone.

The song peaked at #27 on the Billboard 100, #30 in Canada, and #6 in the UK in 1959 and 1960.

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Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

38 thoughts on “Duane Eddy – Peter Gunn”

  3. Pingback: Duane Eddy – Peter Gunn – MobsterTiger

  4. My hometown of Corning, NY is famous for two things: the glass industry, and being the birthplace of Duane Eddy. I can’t find any evidence that he ever lived here, but he was born here, and that’s good enough for me. His sound was so influential. I know John Entwistle cited him as a major influence. “Peter Gunn” is good by anybody. I remember my mother talking about the show, but I’ve never watched it. Should do that someday. Great stuff.

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      1. They don’t call it the Crystal City for nothing. Quite a few months ago all the stores downtown had signs up in the windows about Duane Eddy being born here, so they were going all out to let people (probably tourists to the Glass Museum) know about it.

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  5. A great track. His guitar sound was so distinctive and cool… Hazelwood having him in an empty tank probably contributed to that some.
    Running an hour or two behind on mine today

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