Recommend some good 1950s rockabilly?

That's too great a track to leave at the bottom of a page

and it's Grady Martin on lead, not Paul Burlison

 

Here I have to disagree

In fact, if there's anybody who personifies the hillbilly cat, the country boy ready to spend his every last cent in the big city and damn the consequences, it's Jerry Lee

 

This really isn't that great a record, but I thought some people might be interested in hearing the best pop release from a singer who later became a very successful televangelist.

 

Check out Gene Vincent come out on stage with crutches, toss 'em down, perform like he's possessed, then limp off.

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that is Ritchie Blackmore playing guitar on the right. He toured with the Outlaws, 1963 in Europe backing Vincent, and this video is supposedly from Belgium that year, but the it's too fuzzy for me to sure. Looks quite like him though.

 

Maybe but I guess that I have a narrower definition than most. To me, Jerry Lee Lewis is pure rock and roll.

 

I'd like to think that rockabilly is just more than stuttering Elvis imitators.

As far as other black rockabillies (and I might get some arguments here, but), there's also:
Magic Sam - "21 Days In Jail"
Ray Sharpe (in general)
Grover Pruitt - "Mean Train"
Nat Couty - "Woodpecker Rock"

...and if the influence of Chuck Berry counts..."Hillbilly Blues" by Clear Waters (now known as Eddy Clearwater).

 

Copeland's vocal style is a little too croony, but the record still works in spite of itself. There were other versions by Jimmy Lloyd (Logsdon) and Carl Perkins, both of whom had the shot of rhythm & blues that Copeland somehow missed.

 

I think that a rockabilly singer has to have at least some "billy" in his voice.

 

Some artists who haven't yet been given examples and have at least one CD collecting their work. I'm leaving out the plethora of country singers who put out one or two amazing rockabilly records before reverting back to the old hillbilly style.

Joe Clay. He recorded eleven flawless tracks for RCA's Vic subsidiary in 1956.



CHARLIE FEATHERS!! Some call him the king of rockabilly. He's one of the few musicians who adhered to the style long after it had fallen out of fashion in the late 50's.

Charlie Feathers - One Hand Loose.wmv »

Lesser-known Louisiana rocker Johnny Jano. I highly recommend El-Toro's CD of his 50's recordings.

Johnny Jano Havin ' a whole lotta fun »

Sleepy LaBeef, who makes Johnny Cash sound like a castrato. It's worth noting that he recorded relatively little in the 50's, and most of his rockabilly was made in the mid/late 70's.

Sleepy La Beef - All The Time »

Florida's Benny Joy. While he only released a few singles during his career, he recorded enough material between 1957 and 1961 to fill three CDs (available on Norton). Also remarkable for a white rock 'n' roller is that he wrote practically all of his own material.

BENNY JOY. wild wild lover alt. »

Hayden Thompson. Not only did he have the sound, he had the look.

Hayden Thompson - Fairlane Rock »

Dwight "Whitey" Pullen is a legend for his "Sunglasses After Dark", but his complete output is excellent. Just keep in mind half of what he did was pure country.

Dwight (Whitey) Pullen - Sunglasses After Dark »

Lastly, unhinged one-man band Hasil Adkins. He once said his primary influences were Hank Williams, Jimmie Rodgers, Little Richard, and Colonel Sanders.

Hasil Adkins - No More Hot Dogs »

 

it was really the spirit of the 50'. in the same album, you had Cmon everybody and other "speedy" tracks
this one is just a marvel even if a ballad ...

 

I think I finally found a rockabilly more psycho than Hasil:

 

Rick's been menched already, this is a great clip, some nice JB guitar work too.

 

Strange stuff! The little laughs make him sound genuinely disturbed.

 

"Ol' Rockin' Ern" 1957 Tennessee Ernie Ford

sean

 

I was going to say Sleepy La Beef as well. I saw him a couple of times in the mid 80s when he came over to the UK for the filming of Hank Wangford's A to Z of C and W. Here he is on the first night of filming at the old Mean Fiddler club in Harlesden. Sadly, I wasn't there that particular night

 

And some more

 

I'm going to recommend some 21st century rockabilly for you now:

 

I saw Sleepy LaBeef in the mid 80s in Ann Arbor, MI at the Blind Pig. Beef is a good name for him; the man is huge. One interesting moment was that he swapped instruments with the drummer for one song and backed him up doing "Sweet Home Alabama."

 

it's a long shot, but can anyone recommend any foreign language 50's rockabilly music?
years ago I heard a Japanese rockabilly 78 on a community radio station and to this day I will
probably never know who it was but it was rockin' as hell!!!
it doesn't bother me whether I can understand it or not, I just love the sound and the vibe!
Thanks!

 

Check out Masaaki Hirao, AKA The Japanese Elvis. He was more straightforward rock 'n' roll than rockabilly, but fantastic nonetheless. Ace Records put together a collection of his 50's recordings a while back.



Masaaki Hirao And His All Stars Wagon - Nippon Rock'n'Roll - The Birth Of Japanese Rokabirii - Ace Records

I've been meaning to contact Ace to ask if they would consider releasing another volume of Japanese rock 'n' roll featuring Masaaki's contemporaries.

 

Japan's first country music group, Kazuya Kosaka & His Wagon Masters, also covered a handful of rock 'n' roll tunes. Pardon the incorrect release date:

 

BR5-49



BR549 - Too Lazy To Work, Too Nervous To Steal

 

Hillbilly Casino

 

Sonny George with Boz Boorer some years back...



..and the current version...

Planet Rockers

The Planet Rockers - Voodoo Woman