Rockabilly has been described as ‘Black blues and rock played by young white country musicians’, and whilst that is not the whole story, consider the first ten tracks here : two are by Bill Haley, one by Jack Turner, five by Elvis Presley, one by Malcolm Yelvington and one by Johnny Cash, but the songs themselves were originally associated with Jackie Brenston, Jimmy Preston, Big Mama Thornton (this is Jack Turner’s cover of ‘Hound dog’ from 1953), Big Boy Crudup, Roy Brown, Stick McGhee, Arthur Gunter and Junior Parker. The two omissions are Elvis’s cover of the bluesy, hokum-ish vintage song, ‘Just Because’, and Cash’s original ‘Cry! Cry! Cry! – but then Cash never was a typical rockabilly artist anyway! Other songs included on these CDs are originally from Big Maybelle, Ivory Joe Hunter, Tiny Bradshaw, Big Joe Turner, Fats Domino, Billy ‘The Kid’ Emerson, Little Richard, Little Walter, and another from Crudup, with Carl Perkins copping the writer’s credit for ‘Matchbox’, a whole slew of common-stock blues verses. However, the impression from this collection is that as rockabilly became established and set its own criteria, the reliance on black material diminished. … And certainly the style crystallised quickly once Elvis came along. There are numerous performers imitating the Pelvis, but all the numbers on these three CDs are fine rocking performances, hiccoughing vocals, pumping piano, slapping bass, ringing guitars, and some of them really rocking like crazy! Big names like Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, Roy Orbison, Eddie Cochran, the Everly Brothers and Ricky Nelson are included, niche artists such as Johnny Burnette (wonderful performances), Charlie Feathers, Billy Lee Riley, Wanda Jackson, Dale Hawkins, Eddie Bond, Joe Clay (with Mickey Baker on guitar on ‘You Look That Good To Me’) and some unknowns, though Sonny Fisher, Junior Thompson and Sonny Burgess are more than that, despite the assertions in the notes, Jackie Gotroe’s ‘Lobo Jones’, recorded in San Francisco in 1958, apparently has Little Willie Littlefield prominent on piano (there is extant a photo of Willie with the band), and The Phantom’s raw ‘Love Me’ must have sounded almost satanic when it was released in 1958, though the artist himself apparently only got the number on record after following Pat Boone to church! Lovers of southern soul might – just might – be interested to note that Quinton Claunch wrote (or co-wrote) and plays guitar on two of Junior Thompson’s numbers. One of the considerations of inclusion in this set was the sound quality, and these sides are all top-notch in that respect. If you need an excellent introduction to this style, this fits the bill nicely. Oh, and the longest track of the 84 over these three CDs is Roy Hall’s ‘Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’On’, stretched out an epic two minutes 58 seconds. Those were the days!
Par Norman DARWEN – BLUES & RHYTHM
Par Norman DARWEN – BLUES & RHYTHM
