Rockabilly

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Rockabilly is an early style of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre, it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" (from "rock 'n' roll") and "hillbilly"; the latter is a reference to country music (often called "hillbilly music" in the 1940s and 1950s) that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues.
Defining features of the rockabilly sound included strong rhythms, boogie woogie piano riffs, vocal twangs, doo-wop a cappella singing, and common use of the tape echo; and eventually came to incorporate different instruments and vocal harmonies. Initially popularized by artists such as Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Johnny Burnette, Jerry Lee Lewis, Conway Twitty, Johnny Cash and others, the rockabilly style waned in the late 1950s.
The 1968 Elvis "comeback" and acts such as Sha Na Na, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Don McLean, Linda Ronstadt and the Everly Brothers, the film American Graffiti, the television show Happy Days and the Teddy Boy revival created curiosity about the real music of the 1950s, particularly in England, where a rockabilly revival scene began to develop from the 1970s in record collecting and clubs. The most successful early product of the scene was Dave Edmunds, who joined up with songwriter Nick Lowe to form a band called Rockpile in 1975.
Festering at CBGB's punk environs were The Cramps, who combined primitive and wild rockabilly sounds with lyrics inspired by old drive-in horror movies in songs like "Human Fly" and "I Was a Teenage Werewolf". Lead singer Lux Interior's energetic and unpredictable live shows attracted a fervent cult audience. Their "psychobilly" music influenced The Meteors and Reverend Horton Heat.
(Read more at Wikipedia.)
== Links To Peel ==
"If obscure old rockabilly records ever come into vogue, I'm going to be right there in the vanguard."(John Peel, 08 November 1983, after starting show with 'Hot Rock' by Johnny Carroll.)
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One of the first four records Peel bought in America in 1960 was rockabilly band The Fendermen's 'Mule Skinner Blues', as he recalled on his 22 February 1989 show. Although pre-Beatles pop was out of fashion when the DJ started his UK radio career in 1967, he remained a fan of early rock and roll, the music of his youth. In Margrave Of The Marshes (hardback edition, pg99), he wrote with delight about buying Teddy Boy drainpipe trousers and lime-green socks in Liverpool’s Scotland Road (“symbols of wide-eyed rebellion I was anxious to keep from my family”). 
Sticking largely to the basic template established by Elvis Presley and other Sun Records pioneers who brought together black blues/r&b and white country music, rockabilly offered a rawness and energy often lacking in contemporary rock and pop. It was an influence on Peel-played artists from The Beatles to The Fall and beyond.For example, see Covered for pages on rockabilly pioneers such as Johnny Burnette, Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley and Gene Vincent, with listed Peel plays of Cover Versions by later artists.
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Over the decades from the 1970s, rockabilly came to feature regularly on Peel's radio shows in the form of plays for vintage material and artists, as well as airtime for later performers and musical developments such as "psychobilly" (fusing rockabilly with punk) in the wake of the Cramps. Most notably, huge JP favourite Gene Vincent recorded a late album for Peel's Dandelion label, as well as a Top Gear session, and later received a Peelenium 1956 spot for 'Race With The Devil'.
Many rockabilly performers subsequently returned to their musical roots, and Peel was happy to play country records by former rockabilly artists including Jerry Lee Lewis and Al Ferrier, as well as early rockabilly tracks by latter-day country luminaries such as Charlie Rich.
After the DJ's death, several singles by rockabilly star Charlie Feathers were found in John Peel's Record Box of his most treasured 45s.
== Sessions ==
(Peel sessions by rockabilly artists. Please add more information if known.)
*Cramps: (1 session, 1986)
*Ronnie Dawson: (2 sessions, 1993-94)
*Charlie Feathers & Buddy Knox & Warren Smith & Jack Scott: (1 session, 1977)
*Guana Batz: (4 sessions, 1984-84)
*Buddy Knox (& Bad River): (1 session, 1970)
*Meteors: (4 sessions, 1981-85)
*Pink Peg Slax: (2 sessions, 1984-85)
*Rockpile: (1 session, 1977)
*Shillelagh Sisters: (1 session, 1984)
*Vibes: (1 session, 1985)
*Gene Vincent: (1 session, 1971)
*Whirlwind: (1 session, 1980)
== John Peel's Record Box ==
(Rockabilly singles found in John Peel's Record Box of his most treasured 45s.)
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*Charlie Feathers: Nobody's Darling / Deep Elm Blues (Holiday Inn Records) 1962
*Charlie Feathers: Nobody's Woman / When You Decide (King Records) 1957 (two copies)
*Charlie Feathers: Wild Wild Party / Today And Tomorrow (Memphis Recordings) 1961
*Charlie Feathers: Tongue-Tied Jill / Get With It (Meteor Records) 1956
*Charlie Feathers: Too Much Alike / When You Come Around (King Records) 1957
*Roy Head: Treat Her Right / So Long, My Love (Vocalion) 1965
*Jody Reynolds / Olympics: Endless Sleep / Western Movies (Liberty) 1958
*Bobby Lee Trammell: If You Ever Get It Once / Don't You Know I Love You (Alley Records) 1964
== 77 All Time Favourite Records ==
(Rockabilly songs that appeared in Peel's 77 All Time Favourite Records List for Disc & Music Echo in 1972.)
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*Bill Black's Combo: Don't Be Cruel
*Eddie Cochran: Somethin' Else
*Charlie Feathers: Tongue Tied Jill
*Eddie Fontaine: Nothin' Shakin
*Elvis Presley: That's Alright
*Bobby Lee Trammell: If You Ever Get It Once You Gonna Want It Again
*Conway Twitty: The Story Of My Love
== Compilations ==
(Peel plays of various artist (v/a) compilations focused on rockabilly. See also Cramps page for plays of the related "Born Bad" series. Please add more information if known.)
	
	
(LP - Rare Rockabilly Volume II) MCA
*19 April 1977: Billy Lee Riley: Is That All To The Ball, Mr. Hall
(LP - Hollywood Rock 'n' Roll) Chiswick CH 1
*19 April 1977: (John says he played a Glenn Glen track from a Chiswick LP at the beginning of the programme. Probably this one.)
(LP – Best Of Chess/Checker/Cadet Rockabillies) Chess
*12 April 1978: Eddie Fontaine: Nothin' Shakin'
*17 October 1984: Billy Barrix: Cool Off Baby (JP: "really awful, but I mean in a kind of wonderful way.")
*03 July 2003 (Radio Eins): Eddie Fontaine: Nothing Shaking 
(LP - Bandera Rockabillies) JSP
*27 November 1979: Merle Ray and the Southern Rockets: Save The Last Dance 
*26 August 1984 (BFBS): Little Ben & The Cheers: Roll That Rig 
(LP - Imperial Rockabillies - Volume Three) United Artists
*27 August 1980: Dick Banks: Dirty Dog 
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(LP - Rare Rockabilly) MCA
*30 November 1983: Don Woody: Make Like A Rock And Roll
(LP - Rockabilly Psychosis And The Garage Disease) Big Beat 
*02 July 1984: Guana Batz: Just Love Me
*03 July 1984: Novas: The Crusher
*04 July 1984 (BFBS): Sonics: Psycho
*04 July 1984 (BFBS): Tav Falco's Panther Burns: Dateless Night
*04 July 1984 (BFBS): Phantom: Love Me
*04 July 1984 (BFBS): Meteors: Radioactive Kid
*07 July 1984 (BFBS): Guana Batz: Just Love Me
*09 July 1984 (BBC World Service): Guana Batz: Just Love Me
*09 July 1984 (BBC World Service): Geezers: Folsom Prison Blues
*10 July 1984: Guana Batz: Just Love Me
*28 June 1984: Geezers: Folsom Prison Blues
*31 March 1985 (BFBS): Phantom: Love Me
(LP - Stomping At The Klub Foot) ABC ABCLP 3
*24 December 1984 (BBC World Service): Guana Batz: Train Kept A'Rollin'
*24 December 1984 (BBC World Service): Guana Batz: Please Gimme Something
*24 December 1984 (BBC World Service): Guana Batz: Devil's Guitar
*09 January 1985: Guana Batz: Train Kept A Rollin’
*09 January 1985: Guana Batz: Please Gimme Something 
*09 January 1985: Guana Batz: Devil’s Guitar 
(LP - Stomping At The Klub Foot - Volume 2) ABC ABC LP 6
*16 December 1985: Styng Rites: Real Cool Chick
*16 December 1985: Styng Rites: Reptile (Man)
*28 December 1985 (BFBS): Styng Rites: Real Cool Chick 
*28 December 1985 (BFBS): Styng Rites: Reptile (Man)
(LP - I Dreamt I Was Elvis) NME PRO 5
* 29 April 1987: Truitt Forse: Chicken Bop
(LP - Memphis Rock Capital Of The World Vol. 6) White Label Records
*08 September 1987: Travis Wammack: Fire Fly 
*18 September 1987 (BFBS): Travis Wammack: Fire Fly 
(CD - Capitol Country Music Classics (Rockabilly)) Capitol Classics 
*09 January 1993: Gene Vincent: Woman Love
*23 January 1993 (BFBS): Gene Vincent: Woman Love
(CD - Get With The Beat: The Mar-Vel Masters: A Lost Decade of American Rock 'n' Roll) Rykodisc
*12 March 1993: Bobby Sisco: Honky-Tonkin' Rhythm 
*13 March 1993: Harry Carter: Jump Baby Jump 
*19 March 1993: Harold Allen & J.T. Watts: 'I'm Settin' You Free 
*20 March 1993: Ginny Carter: Seven Lonely Days 
*05 April 1993 (John Peel Is Jakki Brambles): Harry Carter: Jump, Baby, Jump 
*24 April 1993: Shorty Ashford: A-Sleepin' At The Foot Of The Bed 
*19 August 1999: Bob Burton: Forty Acres Of My Heart 
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(LP - Rockabilly Dynamite!) Warwick
*Beam Me Up, Scotty (1996-02-02): Billy Lee Riley: Flying Saucer Rock'N'Roll 
(CD – 	Bayou Rockabilly Cats) Ace
*03 February 2000: Al Ferrier & His Boppin' Billies: It's Too Late Now
*08 February 2000: Al Ferrier & His Boppin' Billies: I'll Never Do Any Wrong
*10 February 2000 (Radio Eins):	Al Ferrier & His Boppin' Billies: I'll Never Do Any Wrong
*13 February 2000 (BFBS): Al Ferrier & His Boppin' Billies: I'll Never Do Anything Wrong
*17 February 2000: Eddie Shuler’s All Star Reveliers: Jambalaya Boogie
*22 February 2000: Al Ferrier & His Boppin' Billies: It‘s Too Late Now
*16 March 2000: Hopeless Homer: The Girl In The Red Blue Jeans
thumb|right|250px|- Morty Shann & The Morticians
(CD -		Kicksville!	Raw Rockabilly Acetates Volume Two) Norton
*January 2001 (FSK): Morty Shann & The Morticians: Red Headed Woman
(CD - King Rockabilly) Ace
*27 March 2001: Blue Tones: Shake Shake
*28 March 2001: Boyd Bennett: Move
*29 March 2001: Cecil McNabb: Clock Tickin' Rhythm
*10 April 2001: Joe Penny: Bip A Little, Bop A Lot
*11 April 2001: Joe Penny: Mercy, Mercy, Percy
*15 April 2001 (BBC World Service): Boyd Bennett & His Rockets: Move
(2xCD - The Complete Meteor Rockabilly & Hillbilly Recordings) Ace
*20 May 2003: Red Hadley's Wranglers: Brother, That's All
*22 May 2003 (Radio Eins): Red Hadley's Wranglers: Brother, That's All
*03 June 2003: Bud Deckelman with the Daydreamers: Day Dreamin'
*24 June 2003: Buddy Bain, Kay Wayne, Merle Taylor with the Hayriders: Can We Live It Down?
(LP - Rockabilly Vol. 4) Peerless
*18 August 2004: Johnny Taylor with The Rhythm Blue Boys: Mixed Up Rhythm & Blues
*September 2004 (FSK): Johnny Taylor With The Rhythm Blue Boys: Mixed Up Rhythm & Blues
(CD - Gene Vincent Cut Our Songs: Primitive Texas Rockabilly & Honky Tonk) Ace
*14 September 2004: Don Carter: Bi Bickey Bi Bo Bo Boo
== See Also ==
*Band: Came together as they joined rockabilly singer Ronnie Hawkins' backing group The Hawks one by one between 1958 and 1963.
*Shakin’ Stevens: Almost signed to Peel's Dandelion label.
*09 July 1981 (BBC World Service): Peel says at the moment, music is overrun by average rockabilly bands such as the Stray Cats, which he doesn't mention the name, and plays at the beginning of the show a rockabilly band from the Shakin' Pyramids that he likes. 
*Rock 'N' Roll Compilations
== Links ==
*Wikipedia: Rockabilly
*Wikipedia: List of rockabilly musicians
*Rockabilly Hall Of Fame: Inductees (archived)
== References ==
Category:Genres
Category:Compilations