Rockabilly
In the 1980s, McCartney recorded a duet with Carl Perkins, and collaborated with in the. While not true rockabilly, many contemporary , , and groups from the US, like , , , and the , were heavily influenced by rockabilly. Rockabilly recorded by artists prior to Presley can be described as being in the long-standing country style of Rockabilly.
For the 1957 popular song, see. Presley's second and third records were not as successful as the first. Retrieved May 22, 2010.
Rockabilly - I can use your help.
This article is about the genre of music. For wrestler formerly known as Rockabilly, see. For the 1957 popular song, see. Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of music, dating back to the early 1950s in the , especially the. Some have also described it as a blend of with rock and roll. Other important influences on rockabilly include , , , and. Initially popularized by artists such as , , , , , , , and , the influence and success of the style waned in the 1960s; nonetheless, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, rockabilly enjoyed a major revival. An interest in the genre endures even in the 21st century, often within a. Rockabilly has left a legacy, spawning a variety of sub-styles and influencing other genres such as. See also: There was a close relationship between blues and country music from the very earliest country recordings in the 1920s. During the 1930s and 1940s, two new sounds emerged. Why, man, that's the same kind of music we've been playin' since 1928!... But it's just basic rhythm and has gone by a lot of different names in my time. It's the same, whether you just follow a drum beat like in Africa or surround it with a lot of instruments. The rhythm's what's important. They played real loud for that time, too... I mean it just wasn't us up there pickin' and singing. There was something going on all the time. Problems playing this file? Along with country, swing and boogie influences, artists such as and , and acts such as , , and , influenced the development of rockabilly. Many of his songs were in blues form, while others took the form of folk ballads, parlor songs, or waltzes. Bluegrass was a staple of country music in the early 1950s, and is often mentioned as an influence in the development of rockabilly. Some of the better known musicians who recorded and performed these songs are: the Delmore Brothers, the Maddox Brothers and Rose, , , , and Tennessee Ernie Ford. Most of the requests for songs were for hillbilly songs that were delivered as jived up versions—classic standards infused with a faster rhythm. It was here that Carl started composing his first songs with an eye toward the future. Watching the dance floor at all times for a reaction, working out a more rhythmically driving style of music that was neither country nor blues, but had elements of both, Perkins kept reshaping these loosely structured songs until he had a completed composition, which would then be finally put to paper. Carl was already sending demos to New York record companies, who kept rejecting him, sometimes explaining that this strange new style of country with a pronounced rhythm fit no current commercial trend. Later made more famous by , Perkins' original version was an early rock 'n' roll standard. Memphis In the early 1950s there was heavy competition among area bands playing an audience-savvy mix of covers, original songs, and hillbilly flavored blues. One source mentions both local disc jockey Dewey Phillips and as being influential. They didn't care what instruments you had, as long as people could dance. But of more historical significance were the then-unknown artists who came to perform at the Jamboree. They include: Elvis Presley, Johnny and Dorsey Burnette, Eddie Bond, Charlie Feathers, Jim Cannon, Reggie Young, Barbara Pittman, the Lazenby Twins, Bud Deckleman, Harmonica Frank Floyd, Marcus Van Story, Lloyd Arnold, and more. The shows were sometimes broadcast on KWEM Radio Station in West Memphis, Arkansas by Joe Manuel, who fronted the Jamboree and was a KWEM personality. Every Saturday night in 1953, the dressing rooms backstage were a gathering place where musicians would come together and experiment with new sounds—mixing fast country, gospel, blues and boogie woogie. Soon these new sounds began to make their way out onto the stage of the Jamboree where they found a very receptive audience. The Burnettes and Burlison Younger musicians around Memphis were beginning to play a mix of musical styles. One of these early groups secured a fifteen-minute show on radio station in. The time slot was adjacent to 's and the music quickly became a curious blend of blues, country and what would become known as rockabilly music. In 1951 and 1952 the Burnettes and and Burlison played around Memphis and established a reputation for wild music. Unfortunately for the Burnettes and Burlison, they did not record the song until 1957. Many consider this 1956 recording to be the first intentional use of a distortion guitar on a rock song, which was played by lead guitarist Paul Burlison. In all likelihood both Paul Burlison and Grady Martin played on some of the Nashville recordings, with who played what lost in the mists of time. The recordings done in the in are undoubtedly all the work of Paul Burlison. The legend of how the sound came about says that guitarist Willy Kizart's amplifier was damaged on when the band was driving from Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee. An attempt was made to hold the cone in place by stuffing the amplifier with wadded newspapers, which unintentionally created a distorted sound; Phillips liked the sound and used it. However, in a recorded interview at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington, stated that the amplifier was in the trunk of the car and that rain may have caused the damage; he is certain that it did not fall from the roof of the car. It was a cover of 's 1947 song of the same name. Problems playing this file? When the song was finally played by one rogue deejay, , Presley's recording created so much excitement it was described as having waged war on segregated radio stations. Whether you like it or not, there will always be an Elvis Presley. One young man who came to record himself as a surprise for his mother, he claimed, was. Elvis fit right in. He was born and raised in poverty. He was around people that had very little in the way of worldly goods. Scotty and Bill began playing along. Presley's Sun recordings feature his vocals and rhythm guitar, Bill Black's percussive slapped bass, and Scotty Moore on an amplified guitar. Put it in my data bank. An' when I played that's just what come out. Then Bill Black picked up his bass and began acting the fool too, and I started playing with them. Sam had the door to the control room open, and stuck his head out and said, 'What are you doing? He said, 'Well, back up. Try to find a place to start, and do it again'. So we kinda talked it over and figured out a little bit what we were doin'. We ran it again, and of course Sam is listenin'. It was basically a rhythm record. It wasn't any great thing. It wasn't Sam tellin' him what to do. Elvis was joking around, just doing what come naturally, what he felt. Not because Elvis had expressed something new, but he expressed something they had all been trying to express. The time just stood still. It knocked my socks off. Rockabilly recorded by artists prior to Presley can be described as being in the long-standing country style of Rockabilly. In the 1955 sessions shortly after Presley's move from Sun Records to RCA, Presley was backed by a band that included Moore, Black, Fontana, and pianist. In 1956 Elvis acquired vocal backup via the Jordanaires. Problems playing this file? It is considered one of the earliest recognized rockabilly recordings. Haley and his bandmates crafted a rockabilly sound during this period as the Saddlemen. A year later it was featured in the film , and soon afterwards it was topping charts all over the world and opening up a new genre of entertainment. Rock 'n' roll, an expansive term coined a couple years earlier by , had now been to the pop mountaintop, a position it would never quite relinquish. Bill Flagg Maine native and Connecticut resident began using the term rockabilly for his combination of rock 'n' roll and hillbilly music as early as 1953 He cut several songs for Tetra Records in 1956 and 1957. Janis Martin on The Old Dominion Barn Dance Show In 1953 at the age of 13 was developing her own proto-rockabilly style on 's Old Dominion Barn Dance, which broadcast out of Richmond, VA. Although Martin performed mostly country songs for the show, she also did songs by singers and , as well as a few songs. Cash hoped to record gospel music, but Phillips immediately nixed that idea. Cash did not return until 1955. Phillips recorded Perkins's original song Movie Magg, which was released early March 1955 on Phillips's Flip label, which was all country. Presley's second and third records were not as successful as the first. The fourth release in May 1955 Baby, Let's Play House peaked at number five on the national Billboard Country Chart. This song and another Cash original, were released in July. Through most of 1955, Cash, Perkins, Presley, and other Louisiana Hayride performers toured through Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi. Elvis was more like an. But as a rockabilly, Carl was the king of that. Rock 'n' Roll in general, and rockabilly in particular, was at and the next year, Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel and Don't Be Cruel would top the Billboard Charts as well. Both songs topped the Billboard charts. From 1955 to 1960, the live national radio and TV show from featured and and guests included and other rockabilly artists. Sun and RCA weren't the only record companies releasing rockabilly music. Carl Perkins, meanwhile, was involved in a major automobile accident on his way to appear on national television. Holly's big hits would not be released until 1957. Twenty more sides were issued by various labels including 4 Star, Blue Hen, Dot, Cold Bond, Mercury, Reject, Republic, Rodeo, and Starday. In April and May 1956, played on 's in New York City. They won all three times and guaranteed them a finalist position in the September supershow. These same musicians would have two more releases in 1956, followed by another in January 1957. Capitol would release nine more records by Jackson, some with songs she had written herself, before the 1950s were over. Additional performers and information There were thousands of musicians who recorded songs in the rockabilly style. And many record companies released rockabilly records. Some enjoyed major chart success and were important influences on future rock musicians. Sun also hosted performers, such as , , , and. There were also several female performers like who recorded rockabilly music long after the other ladies, Janis Martin, the female Elvis , and , who also sang in the rockabilly style. Tommy LaBeff recorded rockabilly tunes on a number of labels from 1957 through 1963. Rockabilly pioneers the , both as a group, and with Rose as a solo act, added onto their two decades of performing by making records that were even more rocking. Then in April 1960, while touring with in the UK, their taxi crashed into a concrete lamp post, killing Eddie at the young age of 21. Rockabilly music enjoyed great popularity in the United States during 1956 and 1957, but radio play declined after 1960. Factors contributing to this decline are usually cited as the 1959 death of in an airplane crash along with and , the induction of into the in 1958, and a general change in American musical tastes. The style remained popular longer in England, where it attracted a fanatical following right up through the mid-1960s. Rockabilly music cultivated an attitude that assured its enduring appeal to teenagers. This was a combination of rebellion, sexuality, and freedom—a sneering expression of disdain for the workaday world of parents and authority figures. It was a three chord change. Over the years it has picked up a little dignity. It was their way of calling us 'hillbillies'. The song had been written and performed much earlier, and refer to the birth of Johnny's son Rocky and Dorsey's son Billy, who were born around the same time in 1953, and were firstborns for each of the brothers. The song was part of their repertoire in 1956 when they were living in New York City and performing with Gene Vincent. Slapback, , , , , and are some of the terms used to describe one particular aspect of rockabilly recordings. It was a big, barn-like building with great echo. This same facility would also be used to record other rockabilly musicians such as and. In Memphis used various techniques to create similar acoustics at his Memphis Recording Services Studio. The sound comes along and it's recorded on this head, and a split second later, it goes to the playback head. But you can take that and loop it to where it plays a split second after it was recorded and it flips right back into the record head. Or, you can have a separate machine and do that. The recordings were thus an idealized representation of the customary live sound. A comparison of rockabilly versions of country songs shows that while form, lyrics, chord progressions and arrangements are simplified and with sparser instrumentation, a fuller sound was achieved by more percussive playing—i. Tempos were increased, texts are altered with deletions, additions, more intense, flamboyant loose singing, along with variation in melody from verse to verse. The first wave of rockabilly fans in the were called because they wore long, -style , along with tight black drainpipe and shoes. Another group in the 1950s that were followers of rockabilly were the Ton-Up boys, who rode British motorcycles and would later be known as in the early 1960s. The rockers had adopted the classic look of , jeans, and leather jackets to go with their heavily slicked haircuts. The rockers loved 1950s artists such as , and some British rockabilly fans formed bands and played their own version of the music. The most notable of these bands was. Musically, they combined Holly's melodic songwriting sensibility with the rough rock and roll sound of Vincent and. When The Beatles became worldwide stars, they released versions of three different Carl Perkins songs, more than any other songwriter outside the band, except , who also added three songs to their discography. Long after the band broke up, the members continued to show their interest in rockabilly. In 1975, Lennon recorded an album called , featuring versions of rockabilly hits and a cover photo showing him in full Gene Vincent leather. In the 1980s, McCartney recorded a duet with Carl Perkins, and collaborated with in the. In 1999, McCartney released , his own record of rockabilly covers. The Beatles were not the only artists influenced by rockabilly. Even heavy guitar heroes such as and were influenced by rockabilly musicians. Beck recorded his own tribute album to Gene Vincent's guitarist — —and Page's band, , offered to work as 's backing band in the 1970s. However, Presley never took them up on that offer. Years later, Led Zeppelin's Page and recorded a tribute to the music of the 1950s called. The most successful early product of the scene was , who joined up with songwriter to form a band called in 1975. The group became a popular touring act in the UK and the US, leading to respectable album sales. Edmunds also nurtured and produced many younger artists who shared his love of rockabilly, most notably the. He recorded first with 1950s guitar legend and later with UK studio guitar veteran and found borderline mainstream success. Lead singer 's energetic and unpredictable live shows attracted a fervent cult audience. In the early '80s, the Latin genre was born in Colombia by Marco Tulio Sanchez , with The Gatos Montañeros. Tim Polecat and started playing together in 1976, then hooked up with Phil Bloomberg and Chris Hawkes at the end of 1977. The Polecats played rockabilly with a punk sense of anarchy and helped revive the genre for a new generation in the early 1980s. The band formed on Long Island in 1979 when teamed up with two school chums calling themselves and. Attracting little attention in New York, they flew to London in 1980, where they had heard that there was an active rockabilly scene. Early shows were attended by and Dave Edmunds, who quickly ushered the boys into a recording studio. The Stray Cats had three UK Top Ten singles to their credit and two best-selling albums. They returned to the USA, performing on the TV show with a message flashing across the screen that they had no record deal in the States. Soon picked them up, their first videos appeared on MTV, and they stormed up the charts stateside. Their third LP, Rant 'N' Rave with the Stray Cats, topped charts across the US and Europe as they sold out shows everywhere during 1983. However, personal conflicts led the band to break up at the height of their popularity. Brian Setzer went on to solo success working in both rockabilly and swing styles, while Rocker and Phantom continued to record in bands both together and singly. The group has reconvened several times to make new records or tours and continue to attract large audiences live, although record sales have never again approached their early '80s success. Shakin' Stevens was the biggest selling singles artist of the 1980s in the UK and number two across Europe, outstripping , , and. Despite his popularity in Europe, he never became popular in the US. In 2005, his greatest hits album topped the charts in England. Other notable British rockabilly bands of the 1980s included , , , and. They achieved critical acclaim and a following in America but never managed a major hit. They held a strong appeal for listeners who were tired of the commercially oriented MTV-style and bands that dominated radio play during this time period, but none of these musicians became major stars. In 1983, recorded a rockabilly album titled. During the 1980s, a number of country music stars scored hits recording in a rockabilly style. While not true rockabilly, many contemporary , , and groups from the US, like , , , and the , were heavily influenced by rockabilly. Irish rockabilly artist has been partly responsible for a resurgence of European interest in the genre, scoring three successive number one albums in Ireland, with two of those also reaching the top ten in the UK charts. The album peaked at 182 on the and sold over 2,000 copies in its first week of release. The album received positive reviews from critics. UK band , played neo-rockabilly from the early 80s. The style was to mix any popular music to a rockabilly set up, drums, slap bass and guitar. This was followed by many other artists at the time in London including, , and. Today, bands like Lower The Tone are more aligned to that suits popular music venues instead of the dedicated rockabilly clubs that expect only original rockabilly. Retrieved 22 August 2015. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. Archived from on 2014-07-06. 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You guessed it: black. A file dress may have a very 1950s feel and be cut long while keeping a slimming fit rencontre rockabilly a high waist, but it can also be shorter and show a little skin. Archived from on 2012-07-14. Retrieved 8 January 2018. Haley and his bandmates crafted a rockabilly social during this period as the Saddlemen. Sam had the door to the control room open, and stuck his head out and said, 'What are you doing. Archived from on 2012-08-04. During the 1980s, a number of country music stars scored hits recording in a ring style. Sun also hosted performers, such as,and.