The Rockabilly Legends: They Called It Rockabilly Long Before They Called It Rock and Roll
Labors of love come no handsomer than this oblong album of full-page photos and sparse, typographically varied text mounted on variously black, white, colored, and patterned backdrops (performance-clips DVD included, yet). You could browse it for hours, probably will if you're a fan of the blend of electric Delta blues, honky-tonk country, and sanctified gospel called rockabilly. Naylor, who replaced Buddy Holly in the Crickets, is a survivor of the music's roughly 1954–63 heyday. His perspective on it begins with Elvis, especially the King's January 5–7, 1955, swing through west Texas, during which, on successive nights, Naylor, Holly, and Roy Orbison saw him—and were forever changed. After the obligatory long return to Memphis for Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis, Naylor covers smaller, unluckier headliners including Gene Vincent, Charlie Rich, and Johnny Horton (yep, the "Ballad of New Orleans" guy, though that biggest hit is ignored). Naylor spouts fan cant ("genius," "legendary," "immortal") profusely, but since he concludes with the extremely hard-rockin' guys who probably coined rockabilly—Johnny and Dorsey Burnette—live with it. Olson, Ray