Rockabilly in a nutshell

 The History of Rockabilly

In the 1950’s a new style of music emerged in the south that combined both the sounds of rhythm and blues and country music. As we talked about with the blues, many white performers such as Jimmie Rodgers that were considered “hillbillies” started singing the blues and made country (or hillbilly) music popular. Sun studios was the first to begin recording these sounds; they started by recording blues singers such as Walter Horton, a harmonica player,  and Jack Kelly, an ex jug band member. They then took a chance on a young singer, Elvis Presley, as he sang “Hound Dog” by Big Mama Thornton. Elvis moved around a lot as a child and was raised in a Christian household. Both the music of his church and the music of the areas he lived in both influenced his musical taste as well as the music he would go on to perform and write. Even with the thought of backlash Elvis Presley provided the world with music not only inspired by African Americans but music for African Americans.

One thing to also note is how crazy all of the girls are for him. It is said that even though Elvis knew how to play guitar it actually ended up being a prop for him because he wanted to focus on his looks, his voice, and his movesssss ;).
Just as Elvis Presley brought this genre into the spotlight, many other artists were brought into the forefront. One big artist, Carl Perkins, loved the sound of Elvis; so much so that he would drop his current gigging career, as a country music artist, to travel to Sun Studios and begin recording rockabilly. In his early career he sang country blues music like “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” But once he got to Tennessee he recorded "Movie Magg" in 1954. It is a more country sounding song telling a story about a guy taking his girlfriend to the movies.

    

    The last rockabilly star I will cover is Jerry Lee Lewis. He also started his career much like Elvis, copying the African American blues musicians. Jerry Lee Lewis was a self taught pianist and his main inspirations were country blues singers like Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams. He then signed a record label with Sun Studios and recorded a cover of "Crazy Arms" in 1956. He is most known for "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and "Great Balls of Fire." Both of these songs really show his ability to be a performer and just how genuinely happy of a man he was. There is a story that goes around saying Jerry Lee lit his piano on fire and went to town on it but no one really knows for certain.

Since I can't talk about all the amazing stars of this era here are just a few of my favorites that you could check out in your free time!
- Chet Atkins
- Roy Buchanan
- Gene Vincent

    During this time period fashion also came out of rockabilly. Like we all saw during middle school, music is able to influence your fashion choices. (good or bad). With rockabilly having a massive expanse of influences the fashion differed from region to region but the style we know best is that from Grease and Hairspray.

The greaser look was extremely popular for both men and women but since rockabilly emerged from hillbillies we cannot forget about the bolo ties, daisy dukes, and cowboy boots. 

    The 50's and 60's were really the peak of rockabilly but its influence on music to come was massive. The Beatles took many of their influences from rockabilly. They took the clothing from Gene Vincent, wearing leather and the "Beatle" name was from Buddy Holly's band "The Crickets." Some scholars will even go on to say that without rockabilly, The Beatles would not even exist. Along with The Beatles, The Rolling Stones were also extremely influenced by rockabilly and even recorded Buddy Holly songs in their early career. 
Here is a list of some other musicians influenced by rockabilly
-Jeff Beck
-Jimmy Page
-The White Stripes

                                      (Buddy Holly who you might know from TikTok songs)

Lastly I would like to cover one of my favorite rockabilly artists, Roy Buchanan (one of the artists mentioned earlier). Born in 1939, Roy Buchanan was one of the greatest guitarists of his era, starting the growth of metal guitar playing and the use of changing the tone knobs on his guitar while playing. His big break was his solo on "You Gotta Let Me Know" he goes absolutely insane and uses pinch harmonics which were foreign to guitarists at the time. In order to make money as a guitarist you had to know how to play multiple genres of music and Roy was proud of his mesh of country, blues, and jazz. Although Roy could've had everything he wanted, he was unfortunately an alcoholic and it effected everything he did. He died of suicide although some say he was murdered due to having bruises around his neck and arms. Here is my favorite song by him...

Blare, Jack, et al. “Top 10 Carl Perkins Songs.” ClassicRockHistory.com, 12 Nov. 2020, www.classicrockhistory.com/top-10-carl-perkins-songs/. 

“Carl Perkins.” Carl Perkins | Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, www.rockhall.com/inductees/carl-perkins. 

“Carl Perkins.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Jan. 2022, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Perkins.  “Elvis Presley Biography: A Comprehensive History of Elvis Presley's Dynamic Life.” Elvis Presley, biography.elvis.com.au/. 

“Jerry Lee Lewis.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 27 Apr. 2021, www.biography.com/musician/jerry-lee-lewis#:~:text=Jerry%20Lee%20Lewis%20began.  Mitchell, Ed. “Roy Buchanan: The Life and Death of the Man Who Said No to the Stones.” Loudersound, Louder, 19 June 2019, www.loudersound.com/features/roy-buchanan-the-life-and-death-of-the-man-who-said-no-to-the-stones. 

Marketing-PR. “Roy Buchanan My Babe.” Blues Matters Magazine, 25 Sept. 2018, bluesmatters.com/roy-buchanan-my-babe/.  MasterClass. “Rockabilly Music: History of Rockabilly and Notable Artists - 2022.” MasterClass, MasterClass, 9 June 2021, www.masterclass.com/articles/rockabilly-music-guide#a-brief-history-of-rockabilly.

“Rockabilly Fashion: What Exactly Is It?” Atomic Jane Clothing | Rockabilly Fashion: What Exactly Is It?, atomicjaneclothing.com/blogs/news/rockabilly-fashion-what-exactly-is-it. 

“Rockabilly - Influence on the Beatles and the British Invasion.” Rockabilly - Influence On The Beatles and The British Invasion | Influence Beatles British Invasion,

“Sun Studio Entertainment Corp..” Sun Studio, www.rockabillyhall.com/sunstudios1.html. 

“What Is Rockabilly Fashion?” RebelsMarket, www.rebelsmarket.com/blog/posts/what-is-rockabilly-fashion.