The Smiley Smile Message Board

okay, I searched, and found no topic dedicated to this genre..... however a lot of references...

I just purchased a new box called 'nasty rockabilly'......... what an incredible set!!

I happened to buy the limited 200 edition on vinyl edition..  ::)

it's basically a 20 Lp boxset of rare and undiscovered 'rockabilly' tunes mainly from the mid 50's til the early 60's....

artists I have never heard of, mostly independent releases, at times only 100 singles released at the time...

it is available mainly as a Cd boxset ..........

I must say, the artwork is something else! full of full on pornographic images....... wooow!

I think it's a great collection...... so for those into the vintage and original sounds of 'Rockabilly' and 'Porno' hehe........ check it out! 

RickB

I love 1950's era Rockabilly, Scotty Moore, Johnny Burnette, Gene Vincent, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley & The Comets/Saddlemen, and just about everything Sun Records put out during the 50s. I thought the Stray Cats were a great band in their prime, too. A few years ago I picked up a couple of CDs by The Head Cat (which is a 3 piece rockabilly band with Slim Jim Phantom on drums, Lemmy Kilmister on acoustic rhythm guitar and harmonica, and Danny Harvey on lead guitar...check 'em out, pretty cool stuff!). And on another note regarding rockabilly, one of the best concerts I ever watched was the Carl Perkins and Friends concert with Ringo, George, Jeff Lynne, Brian Setzer and many others).

I was a huge fan. In fact it was through rockabilly that I somehow ended up getting into The Beach Boys. Followed Eddie Cochran,Stray Cats,Elvis, Gene Vincent, then morphed into Los Lobos and then some instrumental artists klike Link Wray and Dick Dale. I'm still a big fan of Brian Setzer, especially his guitar work....he even duetted with Brian Wilson on Little Deuce Coupe!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mpcKEag3bg

I'm a huge fan as well. There was a time when I listened to hardly anthing else. As a teenager I discovered piles of awesome Sun artists in my uncle's collection (same uncle/musician/dude whose Good Vibrations and Pet Sounds Sessions boxes I found later and made my very first BBs mix tape from - the following summer I irrevocably fell in love with Brian Wilson's music). Original 50s rockabilly is probably my favourite music genre next to 'classic rock' and 'punk' (if those two can be considered genres..).


(http://37.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcxocc1fCi1qio9b0o1_400.gif)

I love good Rockabilly and I hate the terrible stuff. Unfortunately there is a lot of the latter, has been since the beginning. I also can't stand the neo-Rockabilly stuff like the Stray Cats. Brian Setzer for example is just a very bad singer to me. I also do not have much respect for any imitation which is what you get with all those nostalgia-novelty-neo bands and also every time you get to see a "Rockabilly"-band in a club.
The real thing is great though!

I just heard for the first time a recording of "Good rockin' tonight" by Jackie Lee Cochran that I just think is great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Za_kkTkUkkU





I guess you mean the Carl Perkins & friends special. Jeff Lynne and Brian Setzer weren't part of that. But Carl and Setzer played together on stage for MTV's New Year's Eve in the late 80s IIRC and on a Buddy Holly tribute from around the same time. Yeah, nothing's as great as good Ol' Perkins when it comes to Rockabilly.,,,



BTW here's a documentary about the women of Rockabilly:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGXfC5hpK3w

Scotty Moore was Elvis Presley's right hand man on stage and in the studio.

As part of the most amazing musical adventure of modern times Scotty pioneered the role of guitar in pop music with searing solos that inspired and influenced generations of guitar heroes.

To mark the 60th anniversary of the first time that Scotty recorded with Elvis at the legendary Sun Studios in Memphis, Chris Isaak - who has been a fan of Elvis's singing and Scotty's playing since he bought his first Sun Records single - journeyed to Memphis to meet Scotty and find out more about the man who has played on more hits than any other guitarist.

Back in the studio where the Elvis legend began, Scotty tells Chris how he and bass player Bill Black recorded the song 'That's All Right' with Elvis in 1954 and unwittingly sparked a revolution that changed music forever. As well as being Elvis's guitarist Scotty was also his first manager and was with Elvis every step of the way as his career flourished. While Elvis's vocal style was a combination of hillbilly howling laced with gospel, Scotty's guitar playing combined jazz, blues and country to create a prototype for all rock guitar that followed.

Scotty played guitar on all of Elvis's iconic hits including 'Heartbreak Hotel', 'Blue Suede Shoes', 'Don't Be Cruel', 'Hound Dog', 'Jailhouse Rock', 'All Shook Up' - and dozens of others.

Scotty's was highly influential both in his style of playing and the fact that he became the first rock 'n' roll lead guitarist. In the 50's artistes like Ike Turner, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and BB King played their own lead guitar parts, but Elvis left lead duties to Scotty, who became an inspiration to countless guitarists that followed.
As The Rolling Stone's Keith Richards explains to Chris in this programme, "Everyone else wanted to be Elvis, I wanted to be Scotty."


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04411rt

Awesome! Thanks so much, Rocker!

I'm not a rockabilly purist - like many people I've met that love this style of music - but I do love the classic stuff, early Elvis, Carl Perkins, Burnette Brothers, etc. Most of the retro rockabilly leaves me cold, in fact two bands that were great at this style weren't rockabilly per se, the Beatles and Creedence Clearwater Revival. CCR did great versions of "My Baby Left Me" and "Ooby Dooby" (can't really call their version of "Susie Q" rockabilly), and "Don't Look Now" and "Tearin Up the Country" might qualify, too. The Beatles do some great rockabilly in their BBC sessions, especially "Lonesome Tears", "Glad All Over" and "Nothin' Shakin".

This is fantastic example of rockabilly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXj6UcusFFU

Rare 50s rockabilly by Ramblin' Tommy Scott: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJOeNGFHhp0

Shameful to see Mr Horse's fine topic languishing...

Roy Orbison was not only a fantastic balladeer but could rip it up with the best of them, particularly in the early years. This is "Rockhouse":

https://youtu.be/0SXIl4_ZluI
 

Roy did record some fine Rock'n'Roll on Sun. This song btw was written by Harold Jenkins (aka Conway Twitty) and Sam Phillips. Conway Twitty was working on Sun but never had a breakthrough.

I only know Twitty from his big hit. And from a mention or two in Hoskyns' book about The Band. Seems Twitty gave Ronnie Hawkins & The Hawks their big break in 1958, via his agent, Harold Kudlets. 

I don't know about that. But Twitty of course was for a while one of the biggest acts in country music.
And I think it's interesting to note the talent that came to Sam Phillips' recording service and didn't make it on there. IIRC Charley Pride also recorded for Sam but it never went anywhere.


Here's the original "Rockhouse" before (noting the credits) Sam re-wrote it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYXwgzL0yoI

Nice! Thanks for that.

According to Charley Pride's wiki page there's only one surviving track from the stuff he recorded at Sun:

https://youtu.be/E9nu-Ofde1Q

Maybe this info is corroborated elsewhere...

Thanks man! I tried from time to time to find his recordings for Sam but never knew any title. Never heard this. And it sound good! Much better than some of the other "rockabilly"-acts that came through the door (and also never got a release until Shelby Singleton's archive releases starting in the 70s).
IIRC Jack Clement recorded Charley at Sun's studio but Sam didn't release the stuff for whatever reason. When Jack started to work for RCA (?) he more or less took Charley with him. And the rest is history....




EDIT:


Oh and btw you Rockabilly cats, be sure to check this out:

http://smileysmile.net/board/index.php/topic,22976.msg603366.html#msg603366

The great Johnny Burnette Trio, this is the classic stuff here.  Needs to play this LOUD!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtcVvWRvrIU

Played loud as instructed. Fantastic! That guitar solo is something else.

Can never get too much of the Rock and Roll Trio!

it's just one of the best rockabilly albums of all time, that original copies sell through the roof!
Glorious mono too! 1956 at it's rockin' best.  Those guitar tones, and the lead playing really sound like
the amp was hard driven, all of what maybe 10 watts haha. Funny how much Johnny changed direction
in 5 years.