Davie Allan is an instrumental rock guitarist who enjoyed popular success during the mid- to late-1960s, even as the demand for surf music and instrumentals by many other artists waned. As a teenager, Allan was inspired by instrumental rocker Duane Eddy’s distinctive tone and emphasis on the lower notes of the guitar. In the mid-1960s, Allan's high school friend Mike Curb was producing feature films and enlisted Allan to provide the music for his soundtracks. Allan’s revolutionary “Blues Theme” featured a “fuzz” distortion guitar effect and was used in the opening scene of Curb’s 1966 motorcycle film The Wild Angels and accompanying soundtrack by Allan. The hit song was developed into the Blues Theme album, which showcased a unique style created by Allan that mimicked motorcycle sounds with extensive fuzz distortion and tremolo-bar bending on the lower notes of his guitar. By the late 1960s, Davie Allan was widely recognized as “The King of The Fuzz Guitar.” The Joe Maphis double-neck guitar on display was given to Allan by Mosrite as an endorsement and was featured on the cover of Blues Theme. See more of “Surf’s Up! Instrumental Rock ‘n’ Roll,” online, where you can also find a link to the exhibition playlist on Spotify. Link in bio.
This video was posted on April 05, 2021.
