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Rockabilly The Complete HistoryRockabilly remains rebel music, thrilling fans with stripped-down rocknroll hollerin and abounty of twanging guitar thrills. From the 50s to its ever-ongoing revival, MichaelStephens charts the music that could make the dead dance

3Published On: Wed, Nov 20th, 2013 9Like


We shook the devil loose! We bopped those blues! Its uptempo, its rhythm. You aint sitting thereworrying about car payments or house notes. Youre out there shakin dust loose on those honky-tonkfloors. The words of the late, great Carl Perkins remain as good a summary of rockabilly as any.

Rockabilly is hard to define exactly, but you know it when you hear it. An initial blend of country andblues, it emerged as a term alongside rocknroll. But rockabilly is more exuberant, wilder, less four-to-the floor. With slapped upright basses, snare-cracking drummers, frenetic guitar solos and lyrics oftencelebrating music and dancing (unlike a lot of blues or country), rockabilly is above all party music.

Add a sax or piano? The music swerves towards rocknroll or jump-jazz. Add a fiddle or a banjo, and itsback to country music. Play it with guitars and at a high-tempo thats real rockabilly. Part ofrockabillys greatness is that it doesnt really change. Why not? Because it doesnt need to.


Roots of RockabillyDefining the first rockabilly record, as for blues or heavy metal, remains a matter of debate. ElvisPresleys upbeat reworking of Thats All Right was important if only because it was very popular.Presley, Ricky Nelson, Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison andmore get called rockabilly, but real devotees prefer the rougher stuff.

There are numerous great rockabilly tracks of the mid-late 50s, some by legends, others by fleetingstars. To some, Elvis Presleys Mystery Train is outshone by Johnny Carrolls Hot Rock. JohnnyBurnettes Tear It Up vies with Dale Hawkins Suzie Q (starring James Burton) for guitar thrills. CarlPerkins Blue Suede Shoes was a landmark song and helped launch Elvis.Joe Clays Duck Tail is a cult classic with stinging guitar and lyrics about his haircut (and referencingblue suede shoes) it ticks all the rockabilly boxes.

But to many guitar fans, it was Gene Vincent who had the whole package partly because of geniusguitarist Cliff Gallup. Listen to Race With The Devil to hear why. Jeff Beck, a lifelong devotee of Vincentand his Blue Caps, once remembered: When I was learning guitar, Cliff Gallup was the biggestinfluence on my playing. The cut was pretty deep and the scar has never healed. It was just so radical it probably doesnt sound threatening now, but if you were back in June 56 and turned the recordright up boy!

The term rocknroll had hardly been bandied about and all the other rock records of the time werevery polished and audibly nice and round. Then you put on Gene Vincent and had this guy screamingand these raucous guitar solos it was unheard of, and no one has done anything like it since.

Becks Crazy Legs album (1993) was his homage to Vincent and Gallup, and hes kept that scar itching.Beck has played with rockabilly-influenced singer Imelda May, whose husband (and guitarist) DarrelHigham is one of the UKs finest rockabilly players of now. Higham is a mere 40-something but afterbeing intrigued by his parents few Elvis and Eddie Cochran albums in the 70s, he became smitten.

They blew me away. I still remember hearing that music as if it was yesterday I was four or five. Was Iout of step? Maybe, but at that age you are just influenced by what you like, not what everyone elselikes. If you hear something and it makes a huge impression on you, it stays with you forever. Highamsoon became a scholar of classic rocknroll and rockabilly, even co-writing an acclaimed EddieCochran biography in his adult years. My dad bought me a Spanish acoustic guitar when I was seven. Ispent ages drawing f-holes, Bigsby and a G-brand to make it look like a Gretsch. I stood in front of themirror pretending to be Eddie for about five or six years.

Of what defines rockabilly, Higham opines, Rocknroll meets in the middle of all sorts hillbilly, blues,


rhythm & blues. To me, rockabilly is the first offshoot of rocknroll. To me, it seems agreed that the firstrockabilly record was Thats Alright/Blue Moon Of Kentucky by Elvis. There wasnt anything thatsounded like that before then. But you can also hear elements of what I call rockabilly in Chuck BerrysMaybelline. Its a rewrite of a country tune. Chuck has admitted he was just trying to sell as manyrecords as he could, so he put a bit of country in there.

Walking in Carl Perkins ShoesPerhaps theres too much terminology and sub-genres to make sense of it all. But one pioneer who isconsidered pure rockabilly from the outset is the legendary Carl Perkins. Perkins playing was a seed ofmuch rockabilly and rocknroll guitar that followed. The flip side of Blue Suede Shoes was HoneyDont, which had originally been intended as the A-side. Honey Dont was discovered by the Beatles,who covered it along with two more of Perkins songs, Everybodys Trying To Be My Baby andMatchbox. Other Perkins fans included Rick Nelson, John Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and manymore.

John Fogerty recalled in the 1990s, Of course I loved Elvis, but I actually had a greater affinity for CarlPerkins because he was a musician. He played guitar and wrote songs, and that spoke directly to me.He went right to the middle of my musical soul.

Perkins himself, who died in 1998, remained modest of his influence. Of the Beatles he said, Theyadvanced it [guitar playing] so much. That rockabilly sound wasnt as simple as I thought it was. Inanother interview, Perkins said the Beatles and Rolling Stones saved rockabilly in the mid-60s when itwas in danger of dying in the USA. They put a nice suit on rockabilly, he said. They never reallystrayed from the simplicity of it, they just beautified it.

Thats hardly true, as its a long and winding road from Matchbox or Boppin The Blues to A Day In TheLife, but Paul McCartney put Perkins contribution bluntly: If there were no Carl Perkins, there would beno Beatles. True enough, rockabilly was a strong influence on the Beatles: John Lennon askedMcCartney to join his Quarrymen because Paul knew all the words to Eddie Cochrans Twenty FlightRock.

For Darrel Higham, early rockabilly still embodies the true original spirit of teen rebellion. Its all tales ofteenage angst, he says, and teenagers will always hear that. Rockabillys still got that edge, thatnastiness. Even the lyrics there was nothing deep or meaningful on the surface, but there wassomething in there. Carl Perkins Her Love Rubbed Off is a very dark song. Eddie Cochrans DarkLonely Street is not truly a rockabilly track, but you do think: what was going through his head when hewrote that? Its very melancholy. We tend to forget that most of these guys were teenagers or early20s, yet writing amazing songs and playing to such a great standard


Yet despite rockabillys early explosion, it did fade in the charts. Elvis got less rockin as movie stardomblossomed, Perkins became more of a sideman (albeit a brilliant one), Gene Vincent had to change hissound soon after wild guitarist Cliff Gallup left in 1956, and scored his last USA hit as early as 1958.Eddie Cochran died in 1960 just a year after releasing his classic barnstormer Somethin Else. He wasjust 21 and, by 1971, Vincent had also died. Looking back, some might argue that 1956 was bothrockabillys high-point and the start of the end. But new rockabilly rebels would eventually whup it upagain

The Rockabilly RevivalIn the late 70s and early 80s, rockabilly enjoyed a major revival and it was just as strong in the UK asin the USA. Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowes Rockpile became a rockabilly-ish cult act. The Polecatsscored Top 40 hits with rockabilly-reworks of Bolan and Bowie songs and their own Rockabilly Guy.Matchboxs Rockabilly Rebel charted in eight countries a #1 in New Zealand, no less. And the StrayCats, attracting little in attention in their native New York, moved to London to forge a hit-packedcareer. And laugh if you will, but Shakin Stevens the

UKs biggest-selling singles artist of the 80s hit #1 with an authentic sounding (if mild) rockabillyversion of country lament This Ole House.But richer influences were now at work. Darrel Higham rightly points to a noticeable revival of 50simagery in late 70s mainstream culture. In the late 70s you could watch Grease and Happy Days, andmusic TV programmes like Let It Rock and the revived Oh Boy! Glam rock stars of the 1970s Mud,Showaddywaddy kind of made a laughing stock of Teddy Boys, so rockabilly was revived as a name.

The comeback sound was often harder, too. Brian Setzer recalls that punk was also a big part ofrockabillys rebirth. London seemed to be the happening place, he recalled. We were just a little barband in the States. We almost didnt make it. Wed been living in London for a month, we didnt haveany money. Then all of a sudden the whole thing exploded.

Setzer said he first saw the term rockabilly used again in a UK music paper article, illustrated by aKings Road Teddy boy-styled punk in crepe soles. Setzer was soon hanging out with Joe Strummerand other punk acolytes, but only those whose look and sound was as much 50s rocknroll as it wasmohicans, spitting and nihilism.

Setzer: When I heard punk rock, that energy paralleled rockabilly music. Like it or not, we wereinfluenced by it. I remember when that first Sex Pistols record came out I went Wow, rocknroll is back!It might be heavier sounding, but that same energy was back again. The sound spanned generationstoo Led Zeppelins Robert Plant and the Rolling Stones were avowed Stray Cats fans.

Some of the rockabilly revival artists were flash-in-the-pan, but Setzers not one of them; hes built a


stellar career over 30-plus years, mixing rockabilly with jazz and orchestral/big band styles for a soundof his own. And The Polecats Boz Boorer went on to become co-writer and musical director forMorrissey in the early 90s, and is still at the ex-Smiths side. His rockabilly influence is clearest onMorrisseys 1993 album Your Arsenal.

Neo-rockabilly, if you want to call it that, is not for the purists but it kept the music growing. LondonsMeteors (of the early 80s) are generally regarded as the first psychobilly band, but the success of theCramps, the Reverend Horton Heat, Social Distortion, punkabilly Australians The Living End and manyothers have shown that rockabilly roots can grow a big musical tree.

It wasnt always appreciated. Neil Youngs neo-rockabilly Everybodys Rockin album of 83 was acommercial flop paymasters Geffen Records even sued Young for making a record that didnt soundlike a Neil Young recordRockabilly GuitaristsAs with any guitar style, rockabilly can encompass a wide range of sounds and techniques. The must-hears remain the legends Eddie Cochran, Sun-era Elvis with Scotty Moore, Carl Perkins, GeneVincent with Cliff Gallup, Johnny Burnette And The RocknRoll Trio, Ricky Nelson with James Burtonand numerous unsung heroes.

Yet each player brought something unique to the table. Cochran, for example, was best known as afrontman, but his dazzling playing on Skeets McDonalds 1956 single You Oughta See Grandma Rock recorded when he was just 18 remains testament that Eddie could also play killer lead guitar.

Rockabilly guitar can give you everything, there are so many different influences, argues Higham.Theres a fair bit of jazz about rockabilly Brian Setzer has taken that to a new level. Theres blueslicks in there. Theres country, with the likes of Merle Travis and Chet Atkins. And you look at thosesession players like Grady Martin his tone and technique were unbelievable, and he played on somany records.

Who? Thomas Grady Martin was typical of many 50s and 60s session men never the star, but a keyguitarist on numerous tracks. Martin played lead on Johnny Burnettes RocknRoll Trio album gracingtracks such as Train Kept A-Rollin and Rockabilly Boogie, and as part of the Nashville A-Team wenton to play on Roy Orbisons Oh, Pretty Woman, the pure rockabilly of Johnny Hortons Im ComingHome and hundreds more.

When it comes to technique, prime rockabilly requires precision. For starters, therell be only themildest distortion to cover any fluffed notes.

Working on a root/fifth note alternate pattern, then adding melodies to the top, is a learning curve. The


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country style of Travis picking named after Merle Travis is ultimately what many aim for. Banjo rolls,quickfire triplets, double-stop stabs, precise bends and melodic running-down bursts are all part of thestyle. And rockabilly is a fast mix, with 120 beats-per-minute a starting point, and 200bpm notuncommon.

Despite the difficulty of playing like an expert, one of rockabillys real appeals is that it can sound goodeven if you are not a great player. Its because the rhythm is king. Its not just 1-2-3-4. Go faster andcount 1-and-of-2 and-of-3 and-of 4 and many rockabilly rhythms make more sense.

Listen to Elviss Sun sessions, Darrel Higham advises novices. Scotty Moore could be a very intricateguitar player, but its easier relatively to come up with a basic interpretation of that music. Or listento Carl Perkins with Johnny Cash in the 60s thats another excellent place to start. And EddieCochran for the rhythm. Rockabilly guitar is so much about rhythm.Rockabilly NowPure rockabilly still exists, but like anything from the 1950s its now part of a mix. Brian Setzer is amust-listen for any guitarist. Matchbox still tour. Darrel Higham has his new band Kat Men, with theStray Cats Jim Phantom on drums. Imelda Mays huge success confirms the rockabilly revival neverreally went away. Most gigs may now be local and low-key see www.rnrgigguide.com for listings butthey are there.

Rockabilly is durable. It aint changing, cos it doesnt need to. As the late Carl Perkins remarked twodecades ago, Rockabillys looking healthy. They said it would go away in a year. Its fooled us all.

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