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in: Genres, Compilations

Rockabilly

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Johnny_Burnette_Trio-Train_Kept_A_Rollin'

Johnny Burnette Trio-Train Kept A Rollin'

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.)

Mule_Skinner_Blues

Mule Skinner Blues

- Fendermen

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.[1]

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.[2]

GENE_VINCENT_-_RACE_WITH_THE_DEVIL

GENE VINCENT - RACE WITH THE DEVIL

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.)

John Peel's Record Box[]

(Rockabilly singles found in John Peel's Record Box of his most treasured 45s.)

Charlie_feathers_-_nobody's_woman.

Charlie feathers - nobody's woman.

77 All Time Favourite Records[]

(Rockabilly songs that appeared in Peel's 77 All Time Favourite Records List for Disc & Music Echo in 1972.)

Elvis_Presley_-_That's_All_Right_(Official_Audio)

Elvis Presley - That's All Right (Official Audio)

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.)

Billy1
Billy2
Billy3
Billy4

(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 - Imperial Rockabillies) United Artists UAS 30101

(LP – Best Of Chess/Checker/Cadet Rockabillies) Chess

(LP - Bandera Rockabillies) JSP

(LP - Imperial Rockabillies - Volume Three) United Artists

Make_Like_a_Rock_'n'_Roll

Make Like a Rock 'n' Roll

- Don Woody

(LP - Rare Rockabilly) MCA

(LP - Rockabilly Psychosis And The Garage Disease) Big Beat

(LP - Stomping At The Klub Foot) ABC ABCLP 3

(LP - Stomping At The Klub Foot - Volume 2) ABC ABC LP 6

(LP - I Dreamt I Was Elvis) NME PRO 5

(LP - Memphis Rock Capital Of The World Vol. 6) White Label Records

(CD - Capitol Country Music Classics (Rockabilly)) Capitol Classics

(CD - Get With The Beat: The Mar-Vel Masters: A Lost Decade of American Rock 'n' Roll) Rykodisc

Flyin'_Saucers_Rock_&_Roll

Flyin' Saucers Rock & Roll

- Billy Lee Riley

(LP - Rockabilly Dynamite!) Warwick

(CD – Bayou Rockabilly Cats) Ace

Red_Headed_Woman

Red Headed Woman

- Morty Shann & The Morticians

(CD - Kicksville! Raw Rockabilly Acetates Volume Two) Norton

(CD - King Rockabilly) Ace

(2xCD - The Complete Meteor Rockabilly & Hillbilly Recordings) Ace

(LP - Rockabilly Vol. 4) Peerless

(CD - Gene Vincent Cut Our Songs: Primitive Texas Rockabilly & Honky Tonk) Ace

See Also[]

Links[]

References[]

  1. ↑ 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”).
  2. ↑ 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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