Your favorite ROCKABILLY artists/records/engineers...

[geeek]

I was recently listening to "Raining in my heart" by Buddy Holly..

The sonic quality of that record is so impressive.. It seems to have been recorded and mixed so well..

I'd imagine that a U47 of something glossier and bigger than a DX77 was used for the vox.

Anyone else shed any light on this?

[Jay Dee]

Originally Posted by Taproot

I engineered a couple of records for Dale Hawkins (O-Suzy-Q, etc.). He's quite a pioneer and character to boot! I thought "Wildcat Tamer" was a quick demo w/ everyone in a circle in a 12' x 12' room playing at once. Thought nothing of it. 6 months later, it had a 5 star review in Rolling Stone. DOH!!!

Not a sonic masterpiece by any stretch, but it rocks!

Always been a fan of Dale's. I'm sure he told you that then 15-year old James Burton played lead gee-tar on the "Suzy Q" recordings. Who-ya!

What ever became of Dale... is he still kickin'?

[Jay Dee]

Originally Posted by doorknocker

So what excatly IS Rockabilly?

Hillbilly rock-and-roll.

[mmf1978]

Reverend Horton Heat.

[sashbash]

Originally Posted by Taproot

I engineered a couple of records for Dale Hawkins (O-Suzy-Q, etc.). He's quite a pioneer and character to boot! I thought "Wildcat Tamer" was a quick demo w/ everyone in a circle in a 12' x 12' room playing at once. Thought nothing of it. 6 months later, it had a 5 star review in Rolling Stone. DOH!!!

Not a sonic masterpiece by any stretch, but it rocks!

you're my hero love that record.......

does Link Wray count as rockabilly??? love his stuff.

[mercurydime]

Cigar Store Indians

[emdub123]

I bought the Setzer Sun Records tribute album a couple years back and must admit I was a bit disappointed. They went to such great pains to be true to the originals with the arrangements and instrumentation, but then they recorded it in a totally contemporary way. Doesn't make any sense.

I also agree with the person who commented that the Danny Gatton clip was not a Rockabilly number. I don't understand why so many people have trouble grasping what Rockabilly is/isn't.

[doncaparker]

In terms of the "from the period" folks, you can't go wrong listening to Elvis, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Johnny Burnette Trio, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins . . . there are lots of lesser knowns, too.

Currently (or from the recent past), there are a number of folks who keep things hoppin': Brian Setzer, Chris Isaak, some of the others mentioned above. Marshall Crenshaw and the Blasters (back in the 80's) were always favorites of mine. A lot of these guys are still playing.

A great current band that no one has mentioned yet is Big Sandy and the Fly-Rite Boys.

[maxpidge]

check these guys out!!!

The Orbitsuns on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos

[Bob Olhsson]

Jerry Lee Lewis: 'Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On' : NPR Music

Whole Lotta Shakin' | A Documentary Series on Rockabilly Music

[jmikeperkins]

See The Official Rockabilly Hall of Fame¨ I would also mention Joe Clay. Billy Lee Riley's "Flying Saucers Rock and Roll." There is an excellent compilation series put out by the German label Bear Family called "That'll Flat Get It" which is up to something like 20 CD's and these pretty much define the style.

Most classic Rock A Billy was recorded in the South on smaller regional labels in the 1950's - early 60's. Houston had a record label named Starday which is well represented in the Bear Family series mentioned.

Rock a Billy is usually defined as an upbeat, kind of primitative cross between rock and roll and country made by Southern hicks often under the influence of alcohol and/or amphetamines. Typically a trio or 4 piece band and the bass player normally plays a stand up acoustic bass that is plucked hard (slapped) so that it becomes part of the rhythm track.

Although modern country music often has a mix of pop and rock, it is a world away from Rock A Billy. I think Brian Setzer and some of the modern people mentioned do have some of the spirit of Rock A Billy but to hear the real thing you have to go back in time and listen to a volume of That'll Flat Get It to really understand what it was about.

J. Mike Perkins

[rico52]

Originally Posted by jmikeperkins

Rock a Billy is usually defined as an upbeat, kind of primitative cross between rock and roll and country made by Southern hicks often under the influence of alcohol and/or amphetamines.



J. Mike Perkins

Allright then!!!!!!!

[chessparov]

Great posts!

Chris

[Empty Planet]

Originally Posted by mmf1978

Reverend Horton Heat.

A fine man and a really good songwriter.

I took guitar lessons from him back in my Texas days.

He's a wild one.

There's some classic stuff out of Sun Studios...Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins. The Elvis Sun sessions have this amazing, otherworldly, almost haunting kind of sound. A close friend of mine worked for Paul Simon for years, and Paul once said that all his music, he was just to recreate what he got out of "Mystery Train."

Love that sound. Great stuff!





Cheers.

[davedarling]

Originally Posted by emdub123

I bought the Setzer Sun Records tribute album a couple years back and must admit I was a bit disappointed. They went to such great pains to be true to the originals with the arrangements and instrumentation, but then they recorded it in a totally contemporary way. Doesn't make any sense.

sorry to hear that you didn't dig the Sun Tribute ...I liked it !
as far as "recorded in a totally contemporary way" it was 4 or 5 guys
in one smallish room - Castle Studio in Nashville, a few 50 year old mics, two 1/2 inch machines for slap-back, and a dry water cistern out back for a chamber verb,
recorded through an old Neve, into Radar (ok , no tape - you got me there) in complete takes. Not all that contemporary...

maybe you'll like the next one better.

best Dave Darling

[Bob Olhsson]

The development of rock traces to the father of swing, Chick Webb. Louis Jordan, a sax player in Webb's band created the basic style and beat in the mid 1940s.

In many ways rockabilly is a reunion of southern black and white music. Originally all country and blues traces back to descendent's of slave musicians who taught music to poor people all over the American South. The music got divided racially by marketing folks but the performers had all taken music and jammed together when they were young.

Rockabilly grew out of a bunch of Memphis teen-agers who used to hang out at the black clubs and churches during the early '50s. They put Jordan's beat, Gospel and country music together. This soon became the roots of rock and roll as we know it.

[d. gauss]

somebody looking for rockabilly? gets going about 3:30 in... worth it.

YouTube - The Tielman Brothers Indorock Live 1960 In Holland (Complete & Uncut Video) Indo Rock

[Teddy Ray]

Originally Posted by chessparov

Any other fans out there?

Thinking about eventually starting a duo (most likely) or band and also been re-listening to a lot of 'ol great stuff ala Sun Records et al.

Interested in your thoughts though...

Thanks,
Chris

Jason and the Scorchers

Link Ray and Robert Gordon(one of my favorite albums!!)

Gene Vincent

Glenn Barber

Doug Amerson

[theom]

I like Robert Gordon.

YouTube - Robert Gordon with Link Wray - Lonesone Train


He still tours.

With Chris Spedding on guitar!

Thats a good thing.

[dbbubba]

Danny Gatton was great, Albert Lee is great, Deke keeps the tradition alive, but you gotta' go WAYYYYYYYYYY back to the west coast BEFORE 1955.

Jimmy Bryant YouTube - Flyin' High
Joe Maphis YouTube - Joe Maphis - Pickin' And Singin'
MERLE TRAVIS YouTube - Merle Travis

then back further
Les Paul
GOD at work
YouTube - Les Paul & Mary Ford How High the Moon

and this because it is so F' ing cool!
Take note of Joe Maphis playing the solo on the Gibson EB1!
Then how cool Lorrie Collins fixes the bass when it starts banging into something.
LIVE TV! LIVE hillbilly ass ELECTRIC GUITAR music!
YouTube - Larry Collins & Joe Maphis - Ramrod

[Admiral James T.]

The old days:
The Johnny Burnette R'n'R Trio became something of a blueprint for many billy bands today. Paul Burlison's guitarplayin' was great, but the sound he had was even better.
Cliff Gallup & later Johnny Meeks (Gene Vincent & his blue caps) where great as well.
Eddie Cochran was very rockabilly in his early days, let's say from 1955 till 57, but he later changed his style into that unique R'n'R sound (think of C'mon Everybody, Summertime Blues, Somethin' Else). He was more like a session guitarist in his early days, and most of his recordings he did at the famous Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. These recordings (which he mostly co-produced with Jerry Capeheart) ar very great, and they were mainly using RCA & Altec/Western Electric ribbons for most of it. All those Sun recordings are very lo-fi against it - but still they're great, mainly cuz of the great material. By the way, Hendrix once said that Eddie Cochran was the best guitar player ever...
Other rockabilly fav's: Ronnie Self, Carl Perkins (of course), Jack Scott, Sonny Fisher, Mac Curtis, Link Davis, Sleepy LaBeef, Glen Glenn, Jimmy & Johnny, Thumper Jones, etc.
Well today there are many guitarists who CAN play, but I don't think there are many real great ones around. Darrel Higham is good, Marco DiMaggio, Deke Dickerson, Danny Gatton... Setzer is great for sure, but I don't really like all the stuff he did after the first Stray Cats record.
Oh, if you don't mind, there's a band called the Drainpipes, and little me is playin' & singin' there...
The Drainpipes on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos

[Macky]

A mutant version came about in the early Seventies U.K.
"Tiger Feet" by MUD.
YouTube - Mud. Tiger Feet
The guitarist Rob Davis went on to co-write with Cathy Dennis, the big hit "Cant Get You Out Of My Head"....... for Kylie Mynogue.
nearly 30 years later...
Re, Eddie Cochran Love the Dub at the end of "Sittin in The Balcony"...
YouTube - Eddie Cochran - Sittin' in the Balcony

[DQA123]

dbubba - great videos!

[Bluelake]

Originally Posted by rico52

I can't help but reply to the different posts. Most of these are not Rockabilly at all!!! Gatton was a terrific guitar player but that is not Rockabilly by any stretch.
Asleep at the Wheel is Western Swing. Brian Setzer and the Stray Cats is good example of more modern rockabilly
Go back to the source............ Gene Vincent is a good place or the early Sun stuff

I second that...evrything is pretty much mixed nowadays....but the real thing is to be found in the original 50's recordings...incredible sound...specially the stuff coming out of The Barn Nashville (first Gene Vincent, Johnny Burnette, first Buddy Holly....)...

Most of the modern rockabilly bands just sound...modern...many are trying to emulate a vintage sound....but very few succeed in getting something approaching...

Juan

[Bluelake]

Originally Posted by doorknocker

I have a Sun compilation by Carl Perkins and that stuff is incredibly powerful!

Besides the elusive 'mojo factor' and the small detail of being the birthplace of rock and roll, I think that the sparseness of the Sun recording was a big reason why it sounds so incredible. There's a lot of room for the instruments to breathe and with Elvis and others there weren't even drums being used.

I've read that Sun Studio had a ceiling that compressed the sound in a great way when the volume got louder.

Are there any Slutz here that have actually visited or even recorded in Sun studios?

Many times these great recordings are now "detroyed" by many reissuers falling in the trap of the loudness war...
If you listen to Perkins on vinyl reissues form the 80's, it's incredible how sometimes teh guitar jumps out from the speakers into your face...that feeling is completly lost in modern reissues....

I'm gonna make some ennemies here, but even the recent reissues from the great Bear Family label suffer from that.... much better balanced sound the earlier reissues, but most of the dynamics lost because of overlimiting and sometimes the sound is much too bright...

Juan

[Bluelake]

Originally Posted by davedarling

sorry to hear that you didn't dig the Sun Tribute ...I liked it !
as far as "recorded in a totally contemporary way" it was 4 or 5 guys
in one smallish room - Castle Studio in Nashville, a few 50 year old mics, two 1/2 inch machines for slap-back, and a dry water cistern out back for a chamber verb,
recorded through an old Neve, into Radar (ok , no tape - you got me there) in complete takes. Not all that contemporary...

maybe you'll like the next one better.

best Dave Darling

It was a great idea to do this tribute...however people would have expected a more vintage sound....Brian's guitar sounds like...the Stray Cats...I mean it's his signature guitar sound...would have been great to try a different more vintage sound unusual to him....
Also it doesn't sound like a live recording, i'm pretty sure vocals and guitar have been overdubbed to the rhythm section....and of course it's damned stereo all the way....

Come to my studio next time... ....just a joke....

Juan
Blue Lake Records

[Bluelake]

Originally Posted by Admiral James T.

The old days:
The Johnny Burnette R'n'R Trio became something of a blueprint for many billy bands today. Paul Burlison's guitarplayin' was great, but the sound he had was even better.
Cliff Gallup & later Johnny Meeks (Gene Vincent & his blue caps) where great as well.
Eddie Cochran was very rockabilly in his early days, let's say from 1955 till 57, but he later changed his style into that unique R'n'R sound (think of C'mon Everybody, Summertime Blues, Somethin' Else). He was more like a session guitarist in his early days, and most of his recordings he did at the famous Gold Star Studios in Hollywood. These recordings (which he mostly co-produced with Jerry Capeheart) ar very great, and they were mainly using RCA & Altec/Western Electric ribbons for most of it. All those Sun recordings are very lo-fi against it - but still they're great, mainly cuz of the great material. By the way, Hendrix once said that Eddie Cochran was the best guitar player ever...
Other rockabilly fav's: Ronnie Self, Carl Perkins (of course), Jack Scott, Sonny Fisher, Mac Curtis, Link Davis, Sleepy LaBeef, Glen Glenn, Jimmy & Johnny, Thumper Jones, etc.
Well today there are many guitarists who CAN play, but I don't think there are many real great ones around. Darrel Higham is good, Marco DiMaggio, Deke Dickerson, Danny Gatton... Setzer is great for sure, but I don't really like all the stuff he did after the first Stray Cats record.
Oh, if you don't mind, there's a band called the Drainpipes, and little me is playin' & singin' there...
The Drainpipes on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Videos

Yep...but Paul Burlison didn't play on the great Burnette stuff (Lonesome Train, Rockabilly Boogie, etc...) it's Grady Martin....Burlison played only the first session in New York (Tear It Up, etc....)

This has been covered a lot, but maybe the best summary is here:
Johnny Burnette & The Rock'n'Roll Trio. Who played lead guitar for the Johnny Burnette Trio?


If I remember we played at the same gig last summer in Zürich....? Me "John Guster"...ciao !

Juan
Blue Lake Records

[Admiral James T.]

Originally Posted by Bluelake

Yep...but Paul Burlison didn't play on the great Burnette stuff (Lonesome Train, Rockabilly Boogie, etc...) it's Grady Martin....Burlison played only the first session in New York (Tear It Up, etc....)

This has been covered a lot, but maybe the best summary is here:
Johnny Burnette & The Rock'n'Roll Trio. Who played lead guitar for the Johnny Burnette Trio?


If I remember we played at the same gig last summer in Zürich....? Me "John Guster"...ciao !

Juan
Blue Lake Records

You're right of course... and yeah, we played there as well, nice to meet you here.

May I mention that Eddie Cochran played on some Johnny Burnette recordings (Me and the Bear for example).

[emdub123]

Originally Posted by davedarling

sorry to hear that you didn't dig the Sun Tribute ...I liked it !
as far as "recorded in a totally contemporary way" it was 4 or 5 guys
in one smallish room - Castle Studio in Nashville, a few 50 year old mics, two 1/2 inch machines for slap-back, and a dry water cistern out back for a chamber verb,
recorded through an old Neve, into Radar (ok , no tape - you got me there) in complete takes. Not all that contemporary...

maybe you'll like the next one better.

best Dave Darling

Wow, Gearslutz is amazing. Never would I have imagined I'd have a conversation with the guy who produced the record. Incredible!

Maybe it's "armchair quarterbacking" on my part, since I'm not a professional producer (and you have EXTENSIVE experience), but I do stand by my comments. Based on the recording experience that I do have (and 25+ years listening to Rockabilly), I would say that you guys overdid the close mics and didn't use enough of the room mics. IMO, the best rockabilly records create the illusion of a live performance that's "teetering on the edge" and this recording sounds waaaaayyyy too professional. I suspect you know what I'm talking about and that Brian probably wanted it this way.

Anyway, good to "talk" to you, enjoyed listening to Plastic Parachute and Love Grenades. You get killer drum sounds!

[emdub123]

Originally Posted by Bluelake

I second that...evrything is pretty much mixed nowadays....but the real thing is to be found in the original 50's recordings...incredible sound...specially the stuff coming out of The Barn Nashville (first Gene Vincent, Johnny Burnette, first Buddy Holly....)...

Most of the modern rockabilly bands just sound...modern...many are trying to emulate a vintage sound....but very few succeed in getting something approaching...

Juan

I agree with this. I think it has to do with two things: First, not many people are willing to make a record (that sounds like) live takes and just a couple of room mics. Second, authenticity. The original rockabilly artists were doing something new and, for the most part, contemporary artists doing rockabilly aren't able to carve out something fresh and new from the limitations of I-IV-V7, etc. 99% of it sounds derivative. However, I do think that when contemporary artists hit the bulls-eye their songs can compete with the best of 'em. Setzer and Rev. Horton Heat have both proven that you CAN make Rockabilly records that are fresh and relevant.