WHOS ROCKABILLY?

[Nick Charles]

this album and his 13 album are the ones I'm currently listening to

 

[reetpleat]

Actually, it seems like a lot of the European folks just "get it" more than the Americans do. They know the history better and tend to get into the style much more than a lot of Americans... at least this is what I've heard from both vintage dealers and musician friends of mine. Of course, us Americans are very lucky in that a lot of the coveted rockabilly clothing items (bowling shirts, rock n roll shirts, vintage Levis, etc) are from here, so they're easier for us to find and we don't have to pay $1000 for a pair of vintage jeans like some of the crazy Japanese guys will!

Are you kidding. It is all we can do to buy back some of it from the Japanese dealers. And at prices that are not that much for a Japanese kid due to economic differences, but a lot for an american.

 

[reetpleat]

Yeah, I can't remember his name...... he wrote "I fought the Law", though.

fftopic: The Crickets were way, way more influential than they get credit for nowadays - AFAIK they were the first act to really make it big with that two guitars, bass and drums lineup - a format which the Beatles copied (BIG Buddy Holly fans, right down to the insectoid name...), and look what happened from there.... They must also have been one of the first bands to have a guitar as the "lead" instrument, that period where it took over from the tenor sax...

Yes, interesting shift in instrumentation. I am not sure if the folks here consider Bill Haley to be real rockabilly, but I watched Rock Around the Clock last week and was intrigued to notice that not only do they feature their sax man quite prominantly, but they also have an accordianist.

 

[MudInYerEye]

Rockabillies are greaser scum who should burn their rags and wear madras and khaki. I like Ike.

 

[Fletch]

Rockabillies only need a little understanding. And the boys could looka little less like hoods. All the way with Adlai. :cool2:

 

[Mocheman]

Yes, interesting shift in instrumentation. I am not sure if the folks here consider Bill Haley to be real rockabilly, but I watched Rock Around the Clock last week and was intrigued to notice that not only do they feature their sax man quite prominantly, but they also have an accordianist.

Bill Haley definitely was rockabilly and he was also jazz, R&B, rock and roll...etc. He was just like many other artists. Buddy Holly was rockabilly. Listen to Blue Days, Black Nights and tell me that isn't rockabilly. Chuck Berry was rockabilly as well as doing other forms of music. Maybeline is a one hundred percent rockabilly song, but because he's black some will call it R&B or rock and roll. Rockabilly has never been just one thing. It isn't just a stand up bass and a two guitars, it never has. If that's true then Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent weren't rockabilly. I think a lot of people today view rockabilly not for what it was, but for what it has become within the modern scene. I think the Stray Cats had a lot to do with that, good or bad.

 

[Fletch]

All music scenes are alike in one important way: Fans either find them too restrictive, or too broadly defined. You have your purists, whose dislikes sometimes outnumber their likes, and your catholics (small 'c'), some of whom forgive all kindsa messin' round with the righteous.

 

[Mocheman]

I think that sometimes the "purists" see a music scene as something other than what it really is or what they want it to be. The full potential of the music ends up being pushed into the background.

 

[Fletch]

Yes - it becomes set, formalized, ritual, if you will, Japanese.

 

[Edward]

Yeah, I can't remember his name...... he wrote "I fought the Law", though.

Bobby Fuller?

That sounds right.

I think this was the case all around for rockabilly. Musicians like Buddy Holly used electric bass, but he wasn't playing rockabilly music either. When you play without a drummer, an upright bass acts as your rhythm section because of the percussive uses the instrument has (slapping, mostly). Also, upright bass has a more raw sound to it (and in many ways, raw and primitive are what rockabilly is about) and electric bass often sounds muddy.

I don't really agree that rockabilly bands didn't have drummers. Some didn't, but there were plenty who were... Gene Vincent, Johnny Burnette, Janis Martin and many others used drums.

The big difference in shift from upright bass to electric bass as standard was that suddenly the drummer could actually hear the bass, and they started locking in together, giving rise the the modern notion of the "rhythm section." Before that, they were playing different things - both in time, obviously (if they were any good, anyhow ), but doing different things with it. If you get a chance to see an interview with Keith Richards on this, check it out - he explains it really well.

 

[KittyT]

Buddy Holly was rockabilly. Listen to Blue Days, Black Nights and tell me that isn't rockabilly.

Well, he used upright bass on that track and and most of his early stuff. Still, what Buddy Holly was playing was 50s pop music. Covering a rockabilly tune doesn't necessarily make you a rockabilly artist.

 

[Benny Holiday]

"Rock Around With Ollie Vee," is still my favourite Rockabilly track, ever. Written by Sonny Curtis, then playing lead guitar with a 19-year-old Western-come-Rockabilly picker named Buddy Holly.

What defines Rockabilly most of all? Is it the stand-up bass, no drums, or alternatively, rimshots on the snare? Travis or Atkins-style guitar picking? Well, musically, there a lot of elements that go to make Rockabilly what it is. What's always there, though, is the feel, the energy, the attitude. It's a youthful exurberance, a frantic, echo-laden delivery, a sound that is at once made buoyant by a teenage and post-teenage innocence and yet inspired by an adult, R'n'B-fuelled sexuality.

As a 20-year-old friend of mine commented to me after one of my recent performances (the last song being a Johnny Burnett-styled rendition of Honey Hush), "The way you guys sound makes me want to either get into a fight or go out and race my car. Man, you're just bad!" That's when I know I'm doing my job right! lol

 

[resortes805]

Also, there was no real uniform of rebellion. Many of the singers, for example, wore flashy slacks and whip belts, two tone shirts etc. Elvis used to dress really flashy. the reason was, they were adopting black fashion. Pretty rebellious really.

As for the jeans and white t shirts, this ws just the standard dress of a lot of working class kids. It is right that it is the uniform of the modern rockabilly as it is representative.

This brings up an interesting theme. . .In LA you got your hepcats (the vintage enthusiasts) and then you got your greasers (white/black jeans and a t-shirt). In fact, there are a handful of promoters in the southland that cater exclusively to the vintage hepcats!

Good bands but traditional they are not. I wouldn't label them as Rockabilly. The Stray Cats sorta touches the boundary for me but I would rather play a Carl Perkins or an Ultra Kings track.

I believe they are calling the '80s stuff, neo-rockabilly nowadays.

Can we see a photo of a whip belt? I am not sure if it is what I think it is.

Ask and you shall receive:

By the way, it's always great to see good ol' Benny Holiday in any thread!

 

[Benny Holiday]

Thank you kindly, Resortes! Right back at ya, buddy!

 

[BJBAmerica]

Rockabillies are greaser scum who should burn their rags and wear madras and khaki. I like Ike.

Huh???? [huh]

 

[RIOT]

I believe they are calling the '80s stuff, neo-rockabilly nowadays.

They can call it whatever they want. It's still not traditional sounding to me. There are bands today that deserve to be called "neo-rockabilly" that still have that traditional sound. If you don't look at the cover of their album and just listen, you would swear it was recorded in the 50's because of that raw energy and music coming out of your speakers. However bands like the Stray Cats, Rev Horton Heat, etc. have a distinct modern feel to it. They could be categorized as "neo" however I still sub-catagorize between traditional and non-traditional sounding. I'm a snob that way.

 

[MaryDeluxe]

A question

Would any of you knowledgeable rockabilly music people like to mix me a CD? I will happily send you a care package full of "mystery" things in return for your troubles!

Please

 

[RIOT]

MaryDeluxe, I'll make you a CD of new and old trad rockabilly music. I'm making one for babydoll anyway. Just PM me where to send. No need for that care package. Cheers!

 

[KittyT]

We need to get an exchange going here! I'm making one for KitschGoth and for BabyDoll.

 

[Prairie Dog]

Just heard one of the Rockabilly pioneers, Eddie Cochran's Summertime Blues!