Over the last few years Rockabilly has made a big comeback. Just about every generation since the early 1950s this music has surfaced to become a bit of a boom, it's like I've always said most people don't like rockabilly, till they hear the music.To this end, I must say, We love Rockabilly music, although some people tell me there is no such music genre as rockabilly, on the flip side to this, others tell me that rockabilly is all too fast and can't be danced to, I figure this last statment is not true.
I did a little research not sure if the WWW is fact or fiction, so you can make your own mind up about this, I reckon somebody out there in fantastic oz rock land will have something to add.
The Aces & Eights piece seems to be historically accurate but:
a) The writer does not seem to have a clear idea of what characterises Rockabilly music to set it apart from other manifestations of Rock'n'Roll.
b) Not many black performers get named. Bill Haley gets the credit for Rocket 88 and Jackie Brenston (Ike Turner band) does not even rate a mention.
In Melbourne Rockabilly tends to be a general term for any roots rock music.
And unfortunately it is negatively viewed by the Top 40 Songs Only crowd. These dancers are scared of venues and bands where the music might be "too fast & too loud" .
Interesting article on rockabilly. I don't think too many would argue with its references to the early years of rockabilly, its influences, icons and the revival from the 1970's. Music evolves over time and new genres are created most certainly having being influenced by other genres. All musicians including the Beatles having grown up during a certain period in time no doubt would be familiar with the prevailing "popular" music including rockabilly, rock 'n' roll, blues and R&B. Personally, I just thought trying to link rockabilly to the Mersey Sound and some of the popular 1970's and 1980's music seems a bit cute especially without referencing it or giving credits to the other music genres at the time.
Interesting too that I also noticed some dancers are put off by the term "rockabilly" band or music with the assumption made that it's all too fast to dance. But one only has to go to the Workers Club on any given Sunday to see that dancers are just as happy dancing to a few rockabilly tracks, without even realising it.
Rockabillys only as fast as the bands playing it at the time. Its not a tempo its an attitude, its rebellious and wild. Its also about the drums and bass feel. Done properly it can be danced at any tempo.
I just stole a snip-it from WWW.Wikipedia some rockers out there who, like I and everybody else on this thread has mentioned that rockabilly is fast, may be a little shocked, after all, lots of this music is very blues, Shaun yeh, I like the Attitude bit.
1956: Rockabilly goes national
In January 1956 three new classic songs by Cash, Perkins, and Presley were released: "Folsom Prison Blues" by Cash, and "Blue Suede Shoes" by Perkins, both on Sun; and "Heartbreak Hotel" by Presley on RCA. Other rockabilly tunes released this month included See You Later Alligator by Roy Hall and Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On by the Commodores. The Perkins boys sold 20,000 Blue suede shoes records a month also they were the first to sell 1millon records.
Recording techniques
Slapback, slapback echo, flutter echo, tape delay echo, echo, and reverb are some of the terms used to describe one particular aspect of rockabilly recordings.
The distinctive reverberation on the early hit records such as "Rock Around The Clock" (April 12, 1954, released May 15) by Bill Haley & His Comets was created by recording the band under the domed ceiling of Decca's studio in New York, located in a former ballroom called The Pythian Temple. It was a big, barn-like building with great echo. This same facility would also be used to record other rockabilly musicians such as Buddy Holly and The Rock and Roll Trio.[31][112]
In Memphis Sam Phillips used various techniques to create similar acoustics at his Memphis Recording Services Studio. The shape of the ceiling, corrugated tiles, and the setup of the studio were augmented by "slap-back" tape echo which involved feeding the original signal from one tape machine through a second machine. The echo effect had been used, less subtly, on Wilf Carter Victor records of the 1930s, and in Eddy Arnold's 1945 "Cattle Call".[113]
According to Cowboy Jack Clement, who took over production duties from Sam Phillips, "There's two heads; one records, and one plays back. The sound comes along and it's recorded on this head, and a split second later, it goes to the playback head. But you can take that and loop it to where it plays a split second after it was recorded and it flips right back into the record head. Or, you can have a separate machine and do that. if you do it on one machine, you have to echo everything."[114] In more technical terms a tape delay and a 71⁄2-ips, instead of the more advanced 15-ips.[113] The recordings were thus an idealized representation of the customary live sound.[115]
When Elvis Presley left Phillips' Sun Records and recorded Heartbreak Hotel for RCA, the RCA producers placed microphones at the end of a hallway to achieve a similar effect.
A comparison of rockabilly versions of country songs shows that while form, lyrics, chord progressions and arrangements are simplified and with sparser instrumentation, a fuller sound was achieved by more percussive playing i.e. subdivisions of the beat receive more emphasis. Tempos were increased, texts are altered with deletions, additions, more intense, flamboyant loose singing, along with variation in melody from verse to verse.
Interesting article, not sure if the Brit stuff hits the mark. Maybe for some but you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would say they were rockabillys back in the 50s and 60s. Certainly was an influence for some -Billy Fury for example- but most would say they were listening to rock n roll. Rockabilly as a distict faction was more 70s and onwards. Round my neck of the woods Cavan was mainly followed by Rockers and Teds tended towards the 50s rock n roll. We had two local hops - one looked deeper into the more obscure stuff and played a lot of rockabilly, the other was more 50s chart stuff and rockabilly was a dirty word. The beatles stuff is pretty spot on but neglects the skiffle influence and the role the Quarrymen played in the evolution of the Beatles. Good to see Levi Dexter get a mention. Often left out as he went over there when the stray cats came over here.
Bookmarks