WHOS ROCKABILLY?

[MaryDeluxe]

Here you go, doing our thing right in the middle of the road. lol

Great picture! Poor little shoebox

 

[reetpleat]

I was totally into 'Rockabilly' back in the good ole Stray Cat 80's.

The Stray Cats brought with them a bad boy image which made them more acceptable in an era which was still in the clutches of punk and bands like the Stranglers and the Clash. A lot of the purists have little good to say about them but I'm sure they'd be happy to see a band of their ilk in the charts now! Listening to 'The Stray Cat Strut' and 'Rock This Town' brings back many awesome memories.

It's funny how my musical tastes have followed the course of this band. Stray Cat leader Brian Setzer had a rebirth so to speak in the late 90's and transformed from 'Rockabilly' to 'Swing'. His Brian Setzer Orchestra inspired many retro-Swing bands (including the Cherry Poppong Daddies, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy). I always say that Setzer's 'Jump Jive an' Wail' and 'This House Is Rockin' is retro-Swing with a Rockabilly 'flava'!

There's one kinda new Rockabilly purist that I currently enjoy, Lee Rocker.

Nothing against the stray cats. I dig em. ANd nothing against setzer, but he was a bit of a late comer. Voodoo Daddy and Cherry Poppin Daddies and the SNZ? were all around before his swing stuff. He was rather influenced by them. I also never considered it swing. Just a large ensemble doing jump blues. Good stuff though.

No big surprise that you would see Jump Jive and Wail as having a rockabily flavor. THese wre jump blues music that was influential on rockabilly. Great song by a very interesting artist. Louis Prima.

 

[reetpleat]

[

Who's Rockabilly? Um . . . er . . . guilty as charged!

Now if you want to talk rockabilly as in dressing authenticlly like the original rockabillies did, there is a look. Flashy, non business suits, gaberdine, two tone shoies, blue suede shoes etc.

there is a drummer in SF name ricky that collects the serious fifties stuff, rarely seen anywhere else. Silver Lamee shirts, whip belts, tiger stirpes etc.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

I am suddenly reminded of...

“Six Blind Men and An Elephant”: A Fable

A long time ago in the valley of the Brahmaputra River in India there lived six men who were much inclined to boast of their wit and lore. Though they were no longer young and had all been blind since birth, they would compete with each other to see who could tell the tallest story.

One day, however, they fell to arguing. The object of their dispute was the elephant. Now, since each was blind, none had ever seen that mighty beast of whom so many tales are told. So, to satisfy their minds and settle the dispute, they decided to go and seek out an elephant.

Having hired a young guide, Dookiram by name, they set out early one morning in single file along the forest track, each placing his hands on the back of the man in front. It was not long before they came to a forest clearing where a huge bull elephant, quite tame, was standing contemplating his menu for the day.

The six blind men became quite excited; at last they would satisfy their minds. Thus it was that the men took turns to investigate the elephant's shape and form.

As all six men were blind, neither of them could see the whole elephant and approached the elephant from different directions. After encountering the elephant, each man proclaimed in turn:

'O my brothers,' the first man at once cried out, 'it is as sure as I am wise that this elephant is like a great mud wall baked hard in the sun.'

'Now, my brothers,' the second man exclaimed with a cry of dawning recognition, 'I can tell you what shape this elephant is - he is exactly like a spear.'

The others smiled in disbelief.

'Why, dear brothers, do you not see,' said the third man -- 'this elephant is very much like a rope,' he shouted.

'Ha, I thought as much,' the fourth man declared excitedly, 'This elephant much resembles a serpent.'

The others snorted their contempt.

'Good gracious, brothers,' the fifth man called out, 'even a blind man can see what shape the elephant resembles most. Why he's mightily like a fan.'

At last, it was the turn of the sixth old fellow and he proclaimed,

'This sturdy pillar, brothers' mine, feels exactly like the trunk of a great areca palm tree.'

Of course, no one believed him.

Their curiosity satisfied, they all linked hands and followed the guide, Dookiram, back to the village. Once there, seated beneath a waving palm, the six blind men began disputing loud and long. Each now had his own opinion, firmly based on his own experience, of what an elephant is really like. For after all, each had felt the elephant for himself and knew that he was right!

And so indeed he was. For depending on how the elephant is seen, each blind man was partly right, though all were in the wrong.

 

[Kentucky Blues]

I was totally into 'Rockabilly' back in the good ole Stray Cat 80's.

The Stray Cats brought with them a bad boy image which made them more acceptable in an era which was still in the clutches of punk and bands like the Stranglers and the Clash. A lot of the purists have little good to say about them but I'm sure they'd be happy to see a band of their ilk in the charts now! Listening to 'The Stray Cat Strut' and 'Rock This Town' brings back many awesome memories.

It's funny how my musical tastes have followed the course of this band. Stray Cat leader Brian Setzer had a rebirth so to speak in the late 90's and transformed from 'Rockabilly' to 'Swing'. His Brian Setzer Orchestra inspired many retro-Swing bands (including the Cherry Poppong Daddies, Squirrel Nut Zippers, and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy). I always say that Setzer's 'Jump Jive an' Wail' and 'This House Is Rockin' is retro-Swing with a Rockabilly 'flava'!

There's one kinda new Rockabilly purist that I currently enjoy, Lee Rocker.

I too, am a Stray Cats fan, have almost all their albums on Vinyl And I'm not sure if you're aware of it or not, but good 'ole Lee Rocker was the bass player for the stray cats

 

[Benny Holiday]

Now if you want to talk rockabilly as in dressing authenticlly like the original rockabillies did, there is a look. Flashy, non business suits, gaberdine, two tone shoies, blue suede shoes etc.

there is a drummer in SF name ricky that collects the serious fifties stuff, rarely seen anywhere else. Silver Lamee shirts, whip belts, tiger stirpes etc.

Yeah, the whip belts . . . I'm lucky enough to have some in red, sky blue, white, black, burgundy/brown, leopard print suede, lemon yellow and baby pink. Every cat in the scene here wants them. Badly. It's getting so I'm going to start needing bodyguards when I leave the gigs before long, or i'm gonna get mugged for a half-inch wide piece of leather . . . lol

I dress mostly 40's-style these days, but when you've been playing Rockabilly for 17 years you can't escape the demand from an often fanatical audience to play that wild, energetic beat, and the exuberant threads naturally go with that music.

The wildest threads I ever saw was a mid-50's red sportscoat a friend of mine's got. Years ago, when Rockabilly was really big here in the mid 80's, one of his best buddies used to go to the USA and bring back huge amounts of cool vintage clothing. He had a shop called Retro in Paddington. Anyway, he sold, real cheap, this crazy jacket to my pal. It's a one-buttoned number with white and black flecks in the fabric on a blood red background, and its a lightweight, floppy sort of construction, like a Hollywood jacket. I've never seen one before it before or since.

I did see a baby pink sportscoat on Ebay once, with black flecks running through it - solid! But it was way too big for me. Not so solid . . .

 

[Dr Doran]

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

 

[TheKitschGoth]

Miss Neecerie > Very appropriate.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Miss Neecerie > Very appropriate.

I disagree. That little fable seems to be saying HEY YOU GUYS ARE BEING STUPID FOR TALKING ABOUT THIS AND YOU ARE ALL WRONG. I find it neither helpful nor appropriate in a thread where people aren't arguing. Further, most people in this thread are contributing in a way that suggest they DO know what they're talking about.

Rockabilly is part of American heritage which, if I'm not wrong, is not out of place on this board. It's nasty to suggest the people in this thread have their heads in the sand and refuse to listen to the opinions of others, when the evidence is to the contrary.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

on the contrary.

My point was more that for any 6 people offering opinions, each of them will pick a different aspect as most important to emphasize.

No more. No less.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

on the contrary.

My point was more that for any 6 people offering opinions, each of them will pick a different aspect as most important to emphasize.

No more. No less.

Sure it was. Anyhow, people do tend to discuss aspects with which they are most familiar. It doesn't mean they do this to the exclusion of other's ideas.

So Neec, what do you wish to discuss about rockabilly?

 

[TheKitschGoth]

I disagree.
It's nasty to suggest the people in this thread have their heads in the sand and refuse to listen to the opinions of others, when the evidence is to the contrary.

But the point is everyone's approaching it from different directions, not that they are wrong, just that their experience of it is going to be different.

I'd apply the same fable to the goth scene (and I'm hardly going to call all goths idiots, just look at me screen name), I just know that my experience is different to that of someone who experienced it firsthand, or someone in another country. Scenes change (especially where music and fashion gets involved) There isn't a definative answer to what the scene is, but there will always be people who want to argue it anyway.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Sure it was. Anyhow, people do tend to discuss aspects with which they are most familiar. It doesn't mean they do this to the exclusion of other's ideas.

So Neec, what do you wish to discuss about rockabilly?

Actually, I am much more into psychobilly then rockabilly.

Being a once and thus always Goth sort..the subject matters in Psycho are much more to my liking and I find them humorous and enjoyable.

However this doesn't mean I don't also listen to Rockabilly here and there, much like I listen to almost anything.

 

[TheKitschGoth]

.. but people seem to be perceiving nastiness where there is none.

I have to say I've seen no nastiness, doesn't stop Miss Neecerie's fable being amusing and appropriate though. In fact.. I'm sure there's a goth forum could do with reading it as well..

But to get back on topic, I'd actually liked to hear more rockabilly, especially some modern bands take on it, are there any you'd recommend?

 

[KittyT]

But the point is everyone's approaching it from different directions, not that they are wrong, just that their experience of it is going to be different.

Yes that's true, and no they're not wrong! This is a really vast and multi-faceted topic of American culture! I just don't understand why it has had to become such a big deal in this thread. It is obvious that everyone comes at this from different angles (which is the case with almost any "scene", as you noted), but there is nothing wrong with that - it makes for a more complex and interesting discussion. But people seem to be perceiving nastiness where there is none... I haven't seen anyone who's actually contributing to this discussion express any concerns about the nature of the exchanges herein.

 

[reetpleat]

on the contrary.

My point was more that for any 6 people offering opinions, each of them will pick a different aspect as most important to emphasize.

No more. No less.

I do think the danger is coming to the conclusion that there is no point to discussing anything because everyone will have a different opinion anyway.

 

[RIOT]

But to get back on topic, I'd actually liked to hear more rockabilly, especially some modern bands take on it, are there any you'd recommend?

Here are some modern yet traditional Rockabilly type bands I personally enjoy and I would recommend to folks in a heartbeat. Note though that some of these bands are not likely around anymore but albums are available out there.

Go Cat Go
The Flea Bops
The Bourbonaires
The Raging Teens
Rhythm Bound
The Racketeers
Kim Lenz and Her Jaguars
Josie Kruzer
Big Sandy and His FlyRite Boys
The GoGetters
Jack Baymoore and The Bandits
The Barnstompers
The BellFuries
Deke Dickerson & The Ecco-Fonics
Little Boy Arnold
Marti Brom and The Barnshakers
The Stumbleweeds
Cave Catt Sammy
The Donnettes

etc..

And of course you can't go wrong with legendary greats such as..

Joe Clay
Johnny Burnette and The Rockabilly Trio
Gene Vincent
Carl Perkins
Dale Hawkins
Mac Curtis
Eddie Bonds and His Stompers
Woodie Herman
Ken Parchman
Wanda Jackson
Janis Martin
Connie Dycus
Sonny Burgess
Rudy Grayzell
The McCoys
Narvel Felts
Mack Self
Roy Orbison
Lew "Cat Man" Williams
Jean Shepard
Charlie Feathers
Eddie Cochran
Gene Maltais
The Prisonaires
Billy Lee Riley

Plus a ton more I can't think of right now.

 

[KittyT]

Here are some modern yet traditional Rockabilly type bands I personally enjoy and I would recommend to folks in a heartbeat. Note though that some of these bands are not likely around anymore but albums are available out there.

Pretty much all folks I would've recommended. In particular, Marti Brom is fantastic - part Patsy Cline, part Janis Martin, she is one of the best on the scene at the current moment.

A couple more that spring to mind:

Levi Dexter
The Belmont Playboys
Sean Mencher
The Blasters
The Dusty 45s (not really authentic, but still great)
The Polecats (80s rockabilly revival)
The Slapbacks
The Straight 8s
The Two Timin' Three

And of course you can't go wrong with legendary greats such as..

Elvis (of course
Joe Bennett and the Sparkletones
Johnny Carroll
Benny Joy

 

[TheKitschGoth]

Oooh excellent, that list will keep me going for a while..

 

[KittyT]

Oooh excellent, that list will keep me going for a while..

Let me know if you're interested. I would be happy to make you a mix CD of some of my personal favorites.