WHOS ROCKABILLY?

[Barry]

In addition to many of those listed I also enjoy listening to The Hi-Q's and Buck Stevens. I definitely play them a lot on my iPod when I'm driving around.

Barry

 

[Babydoll]

The Dusty 45s

My local boys! Love them to pieces!! Their CD Shackin' Up is awesome.

 

[Babydoll]

The Donnettes

Another favorite local band!

Also, check out the Black Crabs, and the Roy Kay Trio - both from Seattle.

 

[Prairie Dog]

My local boys! Love them to pieces!! Their CD Shackin' Up is awesome.

Was Kitty referring to the B-52's?
I would say their music is more 'post punk' than rockabilly.

 

[Mark from Plano]

A square's perspective

I'm definitely not a "rockabilly" but I do like the music. I went to see the Stray Cats last Saturday night, in fact. Great show. They can definitely still bring it. They were on a bill here with the Pretenders and Don Henley (quite a variety).

Again, I'm no expert, but what about the Reverend Horton Heat? I have three or four of the Rev's albums and have enjoyed them for years.

 

[RIOT]

I'm definitely not a "rockabilly" but I do like the music. I went to see the Stray Cats last Saturday night, in fact. Great show. They can definitely still bring it. They were on a bill here with the Pretenders and Don Henley (quite a variety).

Again, I'm no expert, but what about the Reverend Horton Heat? I have three or four of the Rev's albums and have enjoyed them for years.

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.

If you don't see a mad man slapping that doghouse bass, then call it something else.

 

[KittyT]

My local boys! Love them to pieces!! Their CD Shackin' Up is awesome.

Yes, I saw them at the Tractor when I was in Seattle over New Year's. Absolutely loved them, and the guys were so nice! Shackin' Up is a fantastic album.

 

[KittyT]

Was Kitty referring to the B-52's?
I would say their music is more 'post punk' than rockabilly.

No, I was referring to the Dusty 45s, a great Seattle rockabilly band.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Dig www.sonicaces.com

Also check out the first album from a crazy Swedish cat called Sonny Rogers (and the Kingpins), Riley McOwen and His Sleazy Rustic Boys and, of course, the mighty Wildfire Willie and the Ramblers. All recorded on vintage valve equipment, raw and nasty.

 

[Babydoll]

Was Kitty referring to the B-52's?
I would say their music is more 'post punk' than rockabilly.

Nope, she was talking about The Dusty 45s, http://www.dusty45s.com/, a local-to-Seattle rockabilly band.

 

[Babydoll]

Yes, I saw them at the Tractor when I was in Seattle over New Year's. Absolutely loved them, and the guys were so nice! Shackin' Up is a fantastic album.

You were at the Tractor? What year was that? I was probably there, too. (Was just there last week for Dale Watson.)

 

[RedHotRidinHood]

Hey Nick? Nick, over here (waving)....as you can see, we are in the same stomping ground, and I can tell you that if you want to see some good old rockabilly music LOCALLY, go see my friends, the Heymakers. Pat Roberts is the lead singer and guitarist, and he writes great originals and does some great covers. They play every Saturday night at the 26th Street Blues on Indian School and 26th Street. Jimmy Pines is the drummer and he is the real deal-he's been around the local music scene for a LONG time. Or you could try Flathead-they are FANTASTIC and play at the Yucca Tap Room quite a lot. Both bands have websites you could check out-google them and it shouldn't hard to find them. They are both worth checking out.

Or stick with the originals, Gene, Eddie, the Burnettes, etc. There is a wealth of music out there. If we ever get to meet up, we can talk rockabilly! Go get yourself some Royal Crown pomade and make a D.A. with your hair, slither into your Levis, and knock back a PBR. Or just enjoy the music because as far as I am concerned, to h*ll with the whole "scene", no matter where it is. It's about the music, not the "style". I was listening to rockabilly at 5 years old in the 70s wearing my groovy plaid pants and nobody said boo about it.

 

[RIOT]

Dig www.sonicaces.com

Also check out the first album from a crazy Swedish cat called Sonny Rogers (and the Kingpins), Riley McOwen and His Sleazy Rustic Boys and, of course, the mighty Wildfire Willie and the Ramblers. All recorded on vintage valve equipment, raw and nasty.

Ah Sonny Rogers.. did a review of their album back some 8 years ago when I still used to do the Rockabilly NYC site. Are these cats still around?

Wildfire Willie, another great one, good call!

 

[Benny Holiday]

I heard Sonny Rogers was doing a gig or a tour a few months back in Europe. I glommed his second album but he'd gone real country. Not that I have anything against country, but I find that a lot of local bands have done that too over the years and I find it disppointing. That sound Sonny had on that first Enviken release - that was something else!

Wildfire Willie (Jan Svensson) organised some gigs for me in Sweden when I was touring Europe back in 2000. He's a great guy, we ended up drinking at his pad 'til 6am before we had to leave to catch the ferry to Finland!

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I'm rockabilly sometimes. I go through phases where I'll listen to nothing but rockabilly and my dress will lean more towards the 50s. I'm not majourly into the scene, but I have friends who are and I can hang with them and go to shows. Nothing sounds better than a live upright bass thumping throughout the whole place!

I like:
Amazing Royal Crowns
Cave Catt Sammy
Lee Rocker
Marti Brom
Polecats
Levi & The Rockats
Josie Kruezer
Restless
Matchbox

I'm sure there's others I can't think of right now. I like real 50s music, too. My dad grew up in the 50s so that's pretty much all he listened to when I was growing up. I've inherited most of his LPs and 45s.

When I go through my rockabilly phase I usually don't put on a "costume." Just a pair of rolled jeans (in pedal-pusher style), ballerina flats, and maybe a western-style shirt I bought at a local "cowboy outfitters" shop called Zane's. Sometimes maybe a bandana if I want to look more authentic -- a 1920s-style Louise Brooks bob doesn't really give it that authentic edge...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/Amy_Van_doren/oldschoolamy/L1000883.jpg
The shirt has little cowboy boots embroidered on it! Too cute. I also wear cat's eye glasses all the time. I've always loved them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/0903/Amy_Van_doren/oldschoolamy/eyebrowsupjoe.jpg
My husband is the same as me. Rockabilly is just one of the many musics and looks he'll adapt whenever he gets a hankering for it. Sometimes it's stronger than others. We try to give equal time to everything we love!

And that's how rockabilly I am!

 

[BeBopBaby]

Don't forget to add Carl Perkins to the list! Songs like Honey Don't and Matchbox are classics. Another favorite is Ronnie Self. His song Bop-a-lena is one of my all-time favorites. He had a real raw rockin' sound.

Two modern-era bands that I didn't see mentioned are Ray Condo (RIP) and another band that plays great live shows - The Star Devils.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Thanks for posting so many modern rockabilly bands - I have so much of the old stuff but know virtually nothing about new stuff.

As for "being" rockabilly, I sort of am (as much as a person from the UK can adopt a look from American history!), I take many elements of the style, it's a hell of a lot easier than full vintage! I go for a vintage/rockabilly mixture most days.

 

[Edward]

ISTM that the rockabilly look is more easily adopted in the UK than earlier vintage looks, simply because the clothes (or reasonable approximations thereof) are much more readily available. [huh] My first experiences of deliberately gonig retro were discovering a 70s-style, old school punk rock look (Pistols / clash bondage wear and Ramones style drainpipes and leather both). It's funny the comments about punks "retiring" to rockabilly / psychobilly.... ISTM that ther'es a lot of crossover in attitude there. I love retro scenes as long as they're about keeping something alive - not so keen on the idea of turning it into a museum piece, if you follow me on the difference (I don't think I'm articulating well, but I'm sure most will get me). Punk rock as so identified really came out with two philosophies. There was the hardcore "Year Zero" attitude of much of the London scene (one notable exception, of course, being old rockabilly Joe Strummer), both a reaction against their parents' generation, and later a reaction against the period-purism of the late 70s Teddy Boy revival. Healthy to a degree, but often a total rejection of the past is as narrow minded as untihnking fetishisation thereof. On the other hand, you have bands like the Ramones for whom it wasn't so much making something new, as setting rock and roll back on the right path, away from the pretension and tedium of prog rock and the dinosaurs, making it young and fun again. That strikes me as the element that is attracted into the rockabilly and psychobilly scenes. I like both equally.

I'm still working up my wardrobe. My goth / punk stuff is pretty much a decent little collection, enough for me to be gonig on with (I predict some more trad-Victorian gothic pieces in the future, though). My desire, thoug,h is really to end up with a nice bunch of 50s retro styles (and "50s inspired") for casual casual wear, Elements of thirties and forties for casual and tidy-casual; for formal and lounge suits, for me it's all about the thirties. I'd love to see more rockabilly stuff on this website, as otherwise it pretty much covers all the clothing bits I'm interested in learning about.

 

[KittyT]

T
As for "being" rockabilly, I sort of am (as much as a person from the UK can adopt a look from American history!),

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!

 

[Edward]

"Rockabilly is a lead guitar, a rhythm guitar and a upright bass.

Was this very much the case back in the day, or is it more of a modern classification? I know that a lot of the bands back then carried on with upright basses for years, but did the electric bass guitar not catch on much at all in the rockabilly scene? Leo Fender created that in 1951, predating rock and roll.... though it was intended in origin to be for country musicians....