“Vermont  Rockabilly Country Music”

The Burke Mountain

(802) 274-0687

During the early 1950s, rural Southerners began fusing acoustic blues and country songs with the electrified jump-blues craze to create rockabilly, an inspiration to contemporary rock 'n' roll. With its rhythmic electric-guitar lines and a percussive slap-bass technique on the upright, rockabilly was essentially the blues and R&B played by hillbillies.

 

We've all heard about Elvis' early "Memphis Sound" on the Sun records. This sound captured teen hearts of the fifties and is still recognizable today. Do any of these other names sound familiar?  Buck Owens, Ricky Nelson, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Bill Haley & The Comets, Roy Orbison, The Everly Brothers, Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly and Gene Vincent. These are just some of the names of rockabilly artists most people have heard. These talents have been admired for over two generations.

 

Early strains of the soon-to-be-classic sound can be heard in the music of Bill Haley, whose national hit "Rock Around the Clock" boasted a rockabilly-like rhythm. Sun Studios in Memphis, Tenn., however, was ground zero for the rockabilly explosion. Elvis Presley's first ten sides in 1954 and '55 defined the genre with their sparse arrangements (guitar, bass, drums), yelping vocals, and quick rhythms. Presley's success spawned legions of followers, from the instrumental virtuosity of Carl Perkins and the piano-smashing mania of Jerry Lee Lewis to the coy pop stylings of Buddy Holly. Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran held true to the form and inspired legions of rowdy young men on both sides of the Atlantic to grow their hair longer and grease it back into a perfect pompadour.

 

By the early 60’s, though, rockabilly had been effectively commodified by the recording industry, and glossy studio production tamed the music's country edge. Even the once-wild Johnny Burnette eventually morphed into a pop crooner. Decades later, however, the classic rockabilly sound found new audiences thanks to such artists as the Blasters, Big Sandy, the Cramps, and the Stray Cats.

 

The writer of "Rock Around the Clock" was quoted as saying, "It amazes me to this day, when I'm at a dance or party and 'Rock Around the Clock' is played, six-year-old kids are jumping up and down and 85-year-old grandmas are tappin' their feet. I don't believe they even realize why they're doing it. This sound and music has to be timeless"

Without saying "it's just a feeling," rockabilly is a hard term to pin down. The simplest way may be to describe it as picturing an exciting blend of the blues, country and gospel sounds of American music that were prevalent, up to the mid 1950's. Mix that in with the heavier beat that was becoming more and more a part of pop music of the day and the result was "rock 'n' roll."

So what then is rockabilly?   Let's call it a window. Many young musicians found a sound that appealed to the ears and dancing feet of their generation. The older generation stepped back in amazement. During the time frame of 1955 thru 1960 a unique musical historical window was created. All the musical ingredients that came through that window shined into the souls of American teenagers. "Rockabilly music" was that window.

 

Rockabilly is one of the purist forms of American roots music. It was never a watered-down, homogenized sound designed by corporate record companies to build profits. You can't change something musical that is pure and simple without ruining the result.

This unique music is far from a "thing from the past." It is alive today more than ever. In the small venues throughout the world you will find legendary performers and younger musicians in their 20's and 30's playing strictly rockabilly. The same driving guitar licks, frantic vocals, standup bass slap and heavy snare drum backbeat still sound great!

 

Rockabilly was the "launching pad of rock 'n' roll," and has become a major part of the current music scene as it often resurfaces in movies and in bits and pieces of today's songs. Just listen carefully, you'll hear it and love it.

 

 

What is Rockabilly?

Rockabilly music has recently been revived by a new generation of young musicians who love the rough-edged, countrified rock sounds that were last heard in 1954, primarily on Sun Records in Memphis. The fact that radio won't play the music and record companies won't sign the artists doesn't seem to dissuade the 18-year olds who are picking up a guitar today.” 

 

(Route 66 Rockabilly)