The
concept of rockabilly as a style distinct from mainstream rock and
roll simply didn't exist in the mid-1950s. Southern musicians
considered the term an insult or as Barbara Pittman of the Experience
Music Project points out: “It was their way of calling us
hillbillies”
As
long as there's been music, there have been genres. Slotting music
into categories made it easy for artists, record labels, radio
stations and music stores to market their products to a specific
audience or demographic. Sometimes it's easier said than done. When
rock & roll first broke, the style really didn't have a label.
Someone would have to invent a name for this raucous hybrid. D.J.
Alan Freed is generally given credit for coining the term “rock &
roll” though its true origins are unknown and the subject of much
debate. What is known however, is that once Freed took to calling the
music he played rock & roll, it stuck.
Jerry
Lee Lewis saw it a little different “I had created rock & roll
before they ever thought about having rock & roll, he said. “When
Elvis come out, he was rockabilly. When I come out with Whole Lotta
Shakin' Goin' On, that was rock & roll. That's when the name rock
& roll was put in front”
Take
all my troubles, take all my pain and load them on that mystery train
“Elvis
is where pop begins and ends. He's the great original and even now,
he's the image that makes all others seem shoddy, the boss, for once,
the fan club spiel is justified, Elvis is King.” Nik Cohn,
Awopbobaloobop Alopbamboom: The Golden Age of Rock
We
were all sucked in long ago by the cult of Elvis. While the King was
one of the early originators of rockabilly by 1958 his music was
anything but that. Presley built the template and in turn,
rockabilly's early pioneers followed it to the letter. They would
blast onto the scene, record raw original music and then sign with a
major label and morph into marketable country/pop singers. Cleaned up
and forced to conform with the norm, they were safe as mother's
milk. In fact, the original wave was rather short lived and one thing
for certain, by the time Buddy Holly's plane went down in that Iowa
cornfield, rockabilly was old school.
Just
four years after Crazy Man, Crazy marked the first time a rock and
roll song had hit the U.S. Charts, the genre was being written off.
That very point was brought to light during an interview conducted by
Red Robinson in Vancouver, B.C. Oct. 23rd. 1957 when Red asked Buddy
Holly “What do you think about rock and roll music, is it on the
wane or what?” to which Holly replies “I think it is going out
quite a bit in the states” Red then asked: “How long do you think
it will last... another six months, seven months? Buddy answers: “Oh,
possibly, yeah... it might pick up after Christmas but I really doubt
it.”
It
seems that once the Benzedrine buzz wore off, the music lost its
edge. Rockabilly was fueled by fast cars, fast women and bennies by
the handful. Years later, still holding out like it was 1955 instead
of 1965, "The Killer" Jerry Lee Lewis was busted in Grand
Prairie, Texas for having in his possession a prodigious amount of
prescription pills. The cops found 700 pills, which J.W. Whitten,
Jerry Lee's road manager explained as “Two hundred of 'em for the
boys and the rest were Jerry's.” Stoked on pharmaceuticals, these
hillbilly cats put out a dangerous vibe. They also crafted amazingly
innovative music that has held to the test of time. More so than the
so called “popular” music of the day.
The
subtle R&B played by black musicians was jacked up almost beyond
recognition. A raw force, powered by the slapping beat of the
stand-up bass. Vocals styles ranging from Elvis Presley's cool choir
boy approach, to the primal yelps of Johnny Burnette. Buddy Holly's
drawling twang stood in contrast to Roy Orbison, who's range went
from crooner to menacing, sometimes in the same verse. Charlie
Feather's squeals, groans and hiccups, that were at times bizarre but
never dull. Others such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins, made up
for their lack of vocals gymnastics with high energy and attitude.
Rockabilly
was thought to be, simple music played by simple men, but that was
never the case. The genre was full of innovators. The rolling
tom-toms of Jerry Allison (The Crickets) were often imitated but
never fully duplicated. Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore & Bill Black
practically improvised their way to stardom at the tail end of a long
evening session at Sun Records under the watchful eye of Sam
Phillips. The lead guitars were always upfront, precise picking
interspersed with looping or stuttering lead runs. Paul Burlison
loosened the tubes on his amp to invent the distorted guitar beat
that gave the Rock & Roll Trio their unique sound.
Buddy
Holly not only sang and composed his own songs, but he also played
lead guitar for the Crickets. It's also a little known fact that Roy
Orbison, better known for his operatic vocals, was a better than
average guitarist while fronting the Teen Kings (that's Roy
playing lead with Peanuts Wilson playing rhythm on such classics as Ooby Dooby, Rock House, Trying to
Get to You) Cliff Gallup, lead guitarist for Gene Vincent, developed
a sinuous style of playing that caught the ear of future British
guitar giants such as Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, George Harrison and
Jeff Beck, who recorded an entire album (Crazy Legs) of Gene Vincent
covers, duplicating Gallup's style note by note.
Rock
Around With Ollie Vee- Buddy Holly
That'll
be the Day- Buddy Holly
Rock
House- Roy Orbison w/ The Teen Kings
Party
Doll- Buddy Knox
I'm
Sticking With You- Jimmy Bowen
Reelin'
and Rockin'- Chuck Berry
Bang
Bang- Janis Martin
Bottle
to the Baby- Charlie Feathers
We
Wanna Boogie- Sonny Burgess
Breathless-
Jerry Lee Lewis
Bad
Bad Boy- Bobby Lollar
Love
Me- The Phantom (Jerry Lott)
Saturday
Midnight Bop- Jerry J. Nixon
Little
Sister- Elvis Presley
Woman
Love- Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps
Gone
Gone Gone- Carl Perkins
You
Can't Catch Me- Chuck Berry
Jailhouse
Rock- Elvis Presley
Ooh
My Soul!- Little Richard
Not
Fade Away- Buddy Holly
Mama
Don't You Think I Know- Jackie Lee Cochran “Jack the Cat”
Had
Enough- Jerry Reed
Lewis
Boogie- Jerry Lee Lewis
Rave
On- Buddy Holly
Ooby
Dooby- Roy Orbison & The Teen Kings
Bop-a-Lena
– Ronnie Self
Come
On Let's Go- Ritchie Valens
Back
in the USA- Chuck Berry
High
School Confidential- Jerry Lee Lewis
Good
Rockin' Tonight- Elvis Presley
My
Boy Elvis- Janis Martin
