WHAT DOES ROCKABILLY MEAN TO YOU??

HEY GANG!!
Just ta stir up a bit of trouble.....
What does Rockabilly mean to YOU??
I've left my death defying Pomp a long time ago, along with my vintage clothes, crockery. etc....BUT I still consider myself a Rockabilly!!
I believe that it is a state of mind that we all share.. if not, the Big Band stuff wouldn't definately be appreciated by the ' old skool ' Rockabillies that I know!!
C'mon...we all like the same stuff, but creature comforts ( just look at how we are communicating! ) gotta rule supreme for todays lifestyle.
Anyways , let me know whats ya think... Cheers Pete.
P.S. Don't be shy....I'm alot stronger than what ya think!!

I'll join in, and ignore what the "fashion" is. Since, thats is individual and secondary.

Rockabilly for me is the Blues but played happy. It is mostly the same changes and some scales, but it is not sad like saying "I've got the Blues". Instead it is jumping, saying "Hey I got me a Girl, Car, Guitar, and Bar and I'm gonna go real real far". ITs rebel in this day and age.

And, it is a combo of several types of music and people that add flavor to jangling on the guitar. TWANG!!!!!! One last thing, it is NOT AMERICAN SUIC-IDOL........................................

For me it's physical and emotional. It gets the heart rate going,
puts a big smile on my face and makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs.

If i had to choose one word, it'd be "visceral"......
the music just moves something deep from within my soul.

Pete,

To me rockabilly in its truest form is Guitar with slapback echo, A doghouse bass and a great train beat on the drums. With Great simple lyrics and melody about a Car, a Broken heart or a Hot Chick and when the guy sings you feel like hes singing about your Car, your Broken heart ,or your Hot chick,

Simply put, rockabilly is all about fast, dangerous, no-holds barred music I know of.

I think it doesn't care what clothes you wear, or what your hairstyle is like, the most important thing is that you can identify you with this music.

Other than Brian Setzer, Stray Cats, and Lee rocker I'm not familiar with other Rockabilly bands. The few bands I've tried to listen to through MySpace or other websites didn't sound as modern as the aforementioned. Maybe I'm just not looking right. Can anyone direct me to some really good ones?

I'm not sure about too many "modern" rockabilly bands. I'd recommend listening to the originals - Gene Vincent, early Elvis, etc. I've found a couple of good box sets of rockabilly stuff from the library (of all places - I suppose there's something decidedly un-rockabilly about getting rockabilly music from the library, but that's life). There's a box set of Sun Records stuff that is great.

For new stuff, make your own!

webelvis wrote:

I think it doesn't care what clothes you wear, or what your hairstyle is like, the most important thing is that you can identify you with this music.

Right on man.

Rockabilly is in my soul.I live and breath the music.I've explored and enjoy the early forms of Rockin' music of the '40's and '50's through to todays harder sounds,even some Psychobilly.Just put a Johnny Burnette Trio record on and I defy you to sit still.For me,that band are the epitomy of the original brand of this thing of ours called Rockabilly.
Then along came three guys from Long Island who dragged the sadly forgotten genre into the then freshly arrived '80's.What they ADDED not COPIED was the thing that grabbed hold of this 14 year old
and the love and appreciation of it hasn't and never will fade.Music has to evolve and this is what the purists fail to grasp.Where is the excitement factor in seeing a band replicate 1956 time and time again?The Stray Cats,to me,WERE and ARE the ultimate Rockin' experience.Sure they've drawn influence from the originals but when Brian,Lee & Slim Jim hit the stage those present are truly in the presence of greatness.
So for myself,the quiff and permanent Rockabilly style has been and gone though I still dress accordingly to go out and have the odd bop.But inside of me,where it counts,this fella is a total obsessive Rockabilly.Just ask the wife...who tires of it!!

Cheers
Steve
Really Rockabilly!

HEY rockabilly guy,
G'day mate, I think ya hit the nail on the head for that's the way I feel about it. It don't matter if it's the great original artists, neo rockabilly, psychobilly, commercial or obscure, the main point is that it's ALL Rockabilly!!
Man I own 3 Fords, but I love my Hemis and Caddies! It's ALL gooD!!
Cheers Pete.

As far as "modern" rockabilly bands are concerned, the only one (other than Brian and the Cats) that inspires me enough to actually pay for their CDs and shows is Reverend Horton Heat.

This would be a great NEW topic for this forum is Rockabilly influences. The ones that influenced Brian Setzer/ Stray Cats and even Big Band. Tommy is this something to consider? Maybe? We could discuss all the covers that Brian did and the originals and the folks that influenced these guys we love. It would help some folks get in touch with the originals while still complimenting the great playing of Brian. Maybe he'd get on and vomment from time to time about his influences.

For some examples of early music, Elvis/ Scotty Moore, Carl Perkins (one of my favorites), Billy Lee Riley, Gene Vincent, Johnny Cash, Eddie Cochran, and so on would get you started. Check Sun Records site out for the real deal.

Well, howdy all. I've been lurkin for a couple of days, but this thread got my attention. So, let's see how many people I can piss off. ha ha ha

First of all I take this whole topic very personally. I spent 3 years in a very well known honkytonk band, toured constantly and heard one side of the argument. Inevetibly at the end of a show, some drunk moron in a sun records shirt and some XX LEvi's would give me crap about how we played too much country and western swing, and we should be more rockabilly.....

Nowadays I play in an up and coming Rockabilly influenced rock and roll band. We play alot of rockabilly, we'll do corporate events and do nothing but traditional rockabilly all night. But, we also do old honkytonk tunes, some straight up rock and roll songs, punk songs. Hell, we even do a motorhead tune. And, inevitably, some drunk moron in a sun records shirt and some XX LEvi's will give me crap about how we aren't traditional enough. or that we played some johnny burnette gene vincent song too fast, or didn't do the proper arrangement.

I say ENOUGH already.

In my opinion (and it is fairly well informed) Defining pure rockabilly is damn near impossible. One guy says its hollow body guitar, doghouse bass and a trainbeat. Another guy says, no thats hillbilly bop. That same guy says its gotta swing and have walking bass, A third guy says no, thats country blues. You get my point. Rockabilly is a MUTT. Its a crossbreeding of hillbilly music (bluegrass, country blues, honkytonk, texas twostep, western swing etc.) and "Race" Music (Rhythm and Blues, Jazz, Delta Blues, Gospel etc.) Since it's inception (which is a whole other argument) rockabilly has always absorbed other types of music. And now 50+ years later, it's still doing that. With Traditional bands, Neo bands, old psycho bands, new psycho bands, etc. hell you can put 'billy' at the end of anything nowadays and there is probably a band somewhere that claims that is what the do. Sure there are some great traditional bands out there, but you cannot claim that just because another band uses overdrive, or has modern production on their record, that doesn't make them rockabilly.

I am so over all the 'really rockabilly' types. The nose in the air 'inch belt mafia' guys in their gabardine from head to toe. The guys who go to viva las vegas, and wanna measure your cuffs and check to see you have big 'E' levi's on. I call them the 'Charlie Feathers fashion police'.

My original point was, (by way of a bit of a rant) you can call it whatever you want, but its all rock and roll. it all came from the same place and its all good. there is no room in this subculture for people to crappy to one another. People that hate on the stray cats because they have had success, need to remember that if the Cats hadnt broken in the 80's. that there wouldnt be a big rockabilly scene with tons of festivals and weekenders to go to. Of course if the Cats hadnt gotten big in the 80's Gretsch guitars would still be affordable. (lol)

Just my .38 cents worth.
-geoff


ps. there are plenty of great modern bands besides BS, the Stray cats and RHH:

The Go Getters- Sweden
Marshall Scott Warner- Seattle
Three Blue Teardrops- Chicago
The Marauders- PA
Dibbs and the Detonators- PA
Roy Kay Trio- Seattle
Johnny Mercury- Portland Oregon
Cathouse Creepers- UK
The Mezcal Brothers- Lincoln NE
The Paladins- San Diego
The Guana Batz- Germany
High Noon- Austin TX
THe Bellfuries- Austin TX
The Twistin' Tarantulas- Detroit MI
Bones Maki and the Sun Dodgers- Detroit MI
Johnny and the Blades- CA
Deke Dickerson
Big Sandy and the Fly Rite Boys

There is tons of great music being made out there, you just gotta look around.

rockabilly means.... its all in the music.to me the fashions cool ,if thats your thing.the music pulled me in.i grew up hearing all the oldies blaring out of my sisters room on 45s. some ricky nelson dion etc.as i got older the more i would dig into ricky nelson,gene vincent,and then i heard a version of rockabilly boogie by robert gordon on the radio.im from around cleveland and that was rare to hear that song played.from there i learned about the burnette trio and others.Elvis included.that beat and upright bass pounding out is awesome.Then the cats came and i have followed them ever since.along with billy burnette,rocky burnett,bso and all brian setzer does.ive have a paul burlison cd were there is a version of train kept a rolling with billy and rocky burnette playing on it.wow.anyway its the music for me and the cool artists that play it.still brian setzer is the man..hes brought it all back again.peace brian hi Tommy

Endless "discussions" of what's rockabilly and what's not

Good topic. For me besides just loving the music, there is a retro aspect I've always been drawn to. I suppose most of us interested in such things long for more "simple" times. I doubt I'm not the only one who when flipping the channels on the TV, always stop and look when anything is in black and white. Vintage music, cars, clothes are all part of the draw but not imperative. Rockabilly is just plain fun, butt kickin, dance music.

Also there is the southern trailer trash aspect that I think most of us identifiy with even if we're not poor, from the south, or have ever lived in a single wide. There's a little WT in all of us.

One of the few really good things about the 21st century IMO is that its possible for a small group of people with an interest in a type of fringe music, from all over the planet, from various backgrounds, to form a community on the internet. We couldn't have done that 15 years ago.

[quote="Bigbassape"]Well, howdy all. I've been lurkin for a couple of days, but this thread got my attention. So, let's see how many people I can piss off. ha ha ha

First of all I take this whole topic very personally. I spent 3 years in a very well known honkytonk band, toured constantly and heard one side of the argument. Inevetibly at the end of a show, some drunk moron in a sun records shirt and some XX LEvi's would give me crap about how we played too much country and western swing, and we should be more rockabilly.....

Nowadays I play in an up and coming Rockabilly influenced rock and roll band. We play alot of rockabilly, we'll do corporate events and do nothing but traditional rockabilly all night. But, we also do old honkytonk tunes, some straight up rock and roll songs, punk songs. Hell, we even do a motorhead tune. And, inevitably, some drunk moron in a sun records shirt and some XX LEvi's will give me crap about how we aren't traditional enough. or that we played some johnny burnette gene vincent song too fast, or didn't do the proper arrangement.

I say ENOUGH already.

In my opinion (and it is fairly well informed) Defining pure rockabilly is damn near impossible. One guy says its hollow body guitar, doghouse bass and a trainbeat. Another guy says, no thats hillbilly bop. That same guy says its gotta swing and have walking bass, A third guy says no, thats country blues. You get my point. Rockabilly is a MUTT. Its a crossbreeding of hillbilly music (bluegrass, country blues, honkytonk, texas twostep, western swing etc.) and "Race" Music (Rhythm and Blues, Jazz, Delta Blues, Gospel etc.) Since it's inception (which is a whole other argument) rockabilly has always absorbed other types of music. And now 50+ years later, it's still doing that. With Traditional bands, Neo bands, old psycho bands, new psycho bands, etc. hell you can put 'billy' at the end of anything nowadays and there is probably a band somewhere that claims that is what the do. Sure there are some great traditional bands out there, but you cannot claim that just because another band uses overdrive, or has modern production on their record, that doesn't make them rockabilly.

I am so over all the 'really rockabilly' types. The nose in the air 'inch belt mafia' guys in their gabardine from head to toe. The guys who go to viva las vegas, and wanna measure your cuffs and check to see you have big 'E' levi's on. I call them the 'Charlie Feathers fashion police'.

My original point was, (by way of a bit of a rant) you can call it whatever you want, but its all rock and roll. it all came from the same place and its all good. there is no room in this subculture for people to crappy to one another. People that hate on the stray cats because they have had success, need to remember that if the Cats hadnt broken in the 80's. that there wouldnt be a big rockabilly scene with tons of festivals and weekenders to go to. Of course if the Cats hadnt gotten big in the 80's Gretsch guitars would still be affordable. (lol)

Just my .38 cents worth.
-geoff

I agree, 100%, Geoff. Bang on and laugh out loud reading.

Ditto,
Brent

Also, forgot to mention. I first heard Elvis on a commercial in about 1974 advertising a 2 RECORD set of his hits. I didn't know what rockabilly was let alone a pompadour but I knew I liked it. I remember going to a Kmart and asking my dad to buy me said record set and he said he had some Elvis records at home I could listen to. So I did, constantly. Move along to 1981 and one of the local radio station's "battle of the bands" douhickey's where they play two songs and the listener's are expected to call in to say which one they liked best. Well, one was "Rock This Town" and oddly I don't recall the other but I do remember thinking, "I don't know who this is but it's fantastic". Didn't know who the Stray Cats were or what the term rockabilly was, but I knew this music like Elvis before them, spoke to me. I was 8 years old in 1974 and I think that says something about the purity of old rock 'n' roll and/or rockabilly. No preconcieved notions of what to expect or what to think, I just thought it was the best thing I'd ever heard. I still do and likely always will. From Elvis to Gene Vincent to Jerry Lee to the Cats and Brian, the sound and spirit of the music is the best.

Thanks for letting me remanice

Brent

Bigbassape wrote:

Well, howdy all. I've been lurkin for a couple of days, but this thread got my attention. So, let's see how many people I can piss off. ha ha ha

*rest of post snipped purely for brevity*

Geoff, that was absolutely brill.

--Debs

I think everyone has hit the nail on the head. It's something personal, and we live it our own ways since it effects us all differently.

I Love the fashion part of it. It's more flirty-not dirty; just like the pin-ups of yesteryear. Who doesnt get a big smile when listening to the music? I certainly do. The music is the same-more flirty, less dirty (although some psycho gets pretty graphic). To me its about a time of life when it was simpler, and simple things made you happy: a good song, a hot rod, and your girl next to you (or ur the girl next to the guy in my case : ) ). It wasn't about spending the winter in Aspen or Vail, but making a snowman in your front yard. It wasn't about the million-dollar mansion, but being happy with what you have, and taking life a little slower. You know, like the movie "Pleasantville", or the shows "Happy Days" (Yes - I was in love with Fonzie) & "Lavern & Shirley".

Anyway - as the Fonz would say "You get my drift?"

PPK

In The words of Duke Ellington-"there are two kinds of music good and bad" nuff said.

The BEAT the BEAT the BEAT.

Nuff said.

The BEAT..yes,the LOOK...yes,the ATTITUDE...Hell yes!

I must confess in my dark and distant past,I absolutely loved to look different.I had some pink peg pants made when I was 16.Walk in a regular pub dressed like that and ...well,plenty of you will know what I mean.Heads turning,conversations stopping and do you care?Nah,you love it 'cos you're a ROCKABILLY and cool doesn't get any cooler!
And if it's a disco,then even better...'cos you're gonna show these squares how to dance as well.

Just to clarify,
if God hadn't invented baldness the quiff would still be loud and proud
Cheers
Steve
Well,it's a Rock,Rock,Rockabilly Boogie.

I can tell you guys that the local Rockabillys and Rockabilly bands are totally into the look. Pomps, gaberdines, creepers. Its part of the Music and I dig it. seems like its going really retro too. Its mostly a late 50's kinda look.