Ruth Brown - "This Little Girl's Gone Rockin'" - Atlantic, 1958

Ruth Brown was born in 1928 in Portsmouth, Virginia.  Her father directed a local church choir, giving her an early taste of song.  Inspired to pursue a career in music by then-popular artists Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington, Ruth ran away from home with trumpeter Jimmy Brown in 1945.  Oh to be 17 and ready to rock!  After an introduction to the folks at Atlantic Records in 1948, Ruth had her first hit in '49 with "So Long". She had a string of hits after that, spending plenty of time on the charts.

From Wikipedia:

In all, she was on the R&B charts for 149 weeks from 1949 to 1955, with 16 top 10 blues records including 5 number ones, and became Atlantic's most popular artist, earning Atlantic records the proper name of "The House that Ruth Built".

Today's single dropped in 1958, and made it to #24 on Billboard's pop chart. Written by Bobby Darin and Mann Curtis, it seems like an attempt to get a piece of the exploding Rock market.  Ruth's pop sensibilities keep the song from rocking out too hard, but the result is defintely a fun tune.  How to define the genre is tough - Rockabilly from the Pop R&B perspective? Give it a listen and tell me what you think.

Carl Perkins - "Boppin' The Blues" - Sun Records, 1956

Carl Perkins was born in 1932 in rural Tennesee. The son of sharecroppers, he was exposed to hillbilly, blues and gospel music growing up. His interest in the guitar started early, but since his family couldn't afford one he started with a "guitar" his father fashioned from a cigar box and a broomstick. Later he was able to purchase a proper, but used and abused, guitar from a neighbor. He also picked up a thing or two from fellow field worker John Westbrook. Some advice from 'Uncle John' on playing the guitar:
"Get down close to it. You can feel it travel down the strangs, come through your head and down to your soul where you live. You can feel it. Let it vib-a-rate."

Feel the Vibrations, Carl!

After years of solid playing, first part-time in local taverns and slowing moving to full-time regional hitmaker on Sun Records, Carl's big break was with "Blue Suede Shoes" in 1956. From Wikipedia: "Released on January 1, 1956, "Blue Suede Shoes" was a massive chart success. In the United States, it scored No. 1 on Billboard magazine's country music charts (the only No. 1 success he would have) and No. 2 on Billboard's Best Sellers popular music chart. On March 17, Perkins became the first country artist to score No. 3 on the rhythm & blues charts." - Rockabilly had arrived!
"Boppin' the Blues", released later that year, reached no. 47 on the Cash Box pop singles chart, no. 9 on the Billboard country and western chart, and no. 70 on the Billboard Top 100 chart.
After a very long and succssful career, Perkins died on January 19, 1998 at the age of 65 at Jackson-Madison County Hospital in Jackson, Tennessee from throat cancer after suffering several strokes.
Started by Sam Phillips in Memphis in 1952, Sun Records' important place in the history of Rock 'N' Roll music is undisputed. Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash - just a few of the folks who got their start at Sun.

Sam working on his latest phat beat

The evolving Rockabilly sound with it's fusion of Hillbilly/Country music and blues influences was certainly cemented at the Sun studio. Did you know Sun mostly put out RnB music early on? Wish I had some of those singles! Sun Records is still around, but it's just a vehicle for merchandising options on material from the glory days of the 50's - all your Sun Records golf balls and coffee mug needs are covered. I don't think they've released any new music since the early/mid 60s, but perhaps I'm mistaken.
And now, the clip!

The Cramps - "The Way I Walk" - Vengence, 1978

I thought I'd mix it up this week with something more current (only 30 years old!).  This is The Cramps' very first release, b/w "Surfin Bird".  In my eyes that makes it a pretty epic 45, I just wish mine was in better shape!
What can be said about the Cramps that hasn't already been said? Some record collector art geek from the Midwest picked up a fellow record-nerd hitchhiker in California sometime in 1972 - and those two went on to become Lux Interior and Poison Ivy, the core of The Cramps.

Their fusion of Garage, Rockabilly and Punk sounds took NYC by storm and inspired too many musicians to count.   The Cramps are REQUIRED listening, people.

My own personal Cramps experience is pretty limited. I remember seeing a "punk" in the goofy 80's movie "Back To The Beach" wearing a "Bad Music for Bad People" t-shirt and I thought "this sounds like music I should check out". Luckily, my uncle Marcos and my cousin Maria were huge Cramps fans and were happy to sort out a few tunes.  They actually took me to my only Cramps show: March 7, 1991 with the Reverend Horton Heat at Chicago's Riviera Theatre.  I had just turned 15 and I didn't really know what to expect, I just knew these guys had a really crazy and weird rocking vibe.  I think the "wildest" shirt I had was a very hippy tunic kinda thing I got in Jr. High for a costume so I wore that.  Obviously I was pretty clueless and probably looked like a huge asshole.  But the show was amazing, of course.  It was defintely a turning point in the creation of the music-geek degenerate you see before you today.
Back to the song.  If you're a hardcore Cramps fan or record nerd, then you're aware that many of The Cramps best songs were either covers of older tunes or borrowed liberally from them.  "The Way I Walk" is a great example.

The original is a belter of a tune from Detroit-rocker Jack Scott released in 1959. Check out the original in this YouTube clip:

Note the difference between the Scott and Cramps versions. The Cramps take the original version, strip it to its raw rock essence, then drag it through a dirty alley and soak it with booze until it's a lean, mean, attitute machine.  Crampsified!
I strongly feel that The Cramps' deep knowledge of great old music is what enabled them to make great new music.  That's one of my main motivators in DJing these days - trying to educate folks on gems from the past so they can make the gems of tomorrow! It makes me crazy when I hear new music sampling other music that was only produced only a few years prior. Really, is that as far back as most these days are willing to look for inspiration?
As far as the "Venegence" label, I believe this was an imprint started by The Cramps for releasing their own material.  This first issue was cheekily numbered "666".  There were a few more issues on this label before it disappeared, but I believe it was resurrected later for some reissues and one new album.
And finally, the clip!

The Virtues - "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" - Hunt Records, 1959

Today we've got a great slab of early instro rock from Philadelphia's the Virtues!
Frank Virtue put this band together in 1947 after being discharged from the Navy in '46 to look after his family. Starting a band was the natural thing to do after his stint as bandleader of the Regular Navy Dance Band while enlisted.

Ralph Frederico on the piano and Steve Rossi on the guitar filled out the trio. After touring for the better part of a decade doing smaller gigs, the boys decided to try to get a piece of that Rock N' Roll craze in the late 50's. Here's the low-down from Wikipedia:
"By this time, the group's lineup had expanded, with Virtue on the bass, John Renner on the saxophone, Jimmy Bruno on the guitar, Joe Vespe on the drums, and Dave Kaplin as an occasional vocalist. Under the name The Virtues, they released a rock reworking of Arthur "Guitar Boogie" Smith's country hit "Guitar Boogie" in 1958 under the title "Guitar Boogie Shuffle". The instrumental became a major hit in the U.S., peaking at #27 on the Black Singles chart and #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959. The single also became a sheet music smash, selling well worldwide. Several singles followed – "Flippin", "Boogie Woogie", "Vaya con Dios" – but none of them succeeded; the group was signed by ABC/Paramount, but their only return to the charts was with the 1962 release "Guitar Boogie Shuffle Twist" (U.S. #95).

Towards the end of 1962, Virtue disbanded the group and pursued a career as a record producer and recording engineer. His studio, Virtue Recording Studios, located at 1618 N. Broad St., was one of the top studios in Philadelphia for a number of years until closing in the early 1980s. His original studio, in the basement of his house on Fayette Street, was where "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" was originally recorded."

If you'd like to read more about the Virtues, I'd recommend this page: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-virtues-p24947/biography
Note, I believe Virtues studios is where some of my favorite music was recorded for the Phil-L.A. of Soul label - "The Horse" and "Boogaloo Down Broadway" (covered here!)
Hunt seems to have been owned by Globe Record Corp and dispributed via Am-Par Records. Perhaps they were Philly based? I can find no other info on this label - please share if ya have some.
And now, the clip:

Gene Vincent - "Be-Bop-A-Lula" - Capital, 1956

Gene Vincent! You can't start talking about Rockabilly without mentioning Gene Vincent.  A true legend, and one of the pioneers of the Rockabilly movement.  Vincent Eugene Craddock was born in Norfolk, Virginia, in 1935.  Gene showed an interest in music early and got his first guitar at age 12.  He decided to pursue a career in the Navy instead, but luckily for music lovers, his miltary career was cut short and he never saw combat.  One thing Gene and I have in common - we both got into accidents on our Triumph motorcycles.  But his accident in 1955 was quite serious, and his leg was damaged so much that doctors wanted to amputate it.  He kept the leg, but walked with a limp and suffered chronic pain after that.

From Wikipedia:
"Craddock became involved in the local music scene in Norfolk. He changed his name to Gene Vincent, and formed a rockabilly band called the Blue Caps (a term used in reference to enlisted sailors in the U.S. Navy). The band included Willie Williams on rhythm guitar, Jack Neal on upright bass, Dickie Harrell on drums, and the innovative and influential lead guitarist, Cliff Gallup. "

Cliff rockin' in the studio

Cliff Gallup (June 17, 1930 - October 9, 1988) was an incredible guitarist who was a huge influence on many guitarists after him.  When I started to learn to play guitar, one of the first things I did was sit down and try to figure out the solo to Vincent's "Race With The Devil".  Cliff never understood all the fuss about his playing, and when he died had worked a long career as a school janitor.  His wife even requested the obituary not mention his time with the Blue Caps! Gallup was ranked 79th in Rolling Stone magazine list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" and is a Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductee.
"Be-Bop-A-Lula" was Gene's first big hit and it launched his career. Oddly, Capital didn't immediately recognize it as such and released it as a B-side.  This song was No. 102 on Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Rock and Roll Songs of All Time" list.

An ad from Captial. Gene in the right-corner,  in the good company of Wanda Jackson and Ernie Ford.

After Gene's career began to slow in the States, he started to tour Europe and found an appreciative audience.  In 1959 while touring England, he was involved in a taxi accident which left him with a broken collarbone and ribs.  The same accident left legend Eddie Cochran dead, many years before his time.

Gene Vincent died on October 12, 1971 from a ruptured stomach ulcer while visiting his father in California. He was the first inductee into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame upon its formation in 1997. The following year he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Vincent also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
And now, the clip!

Buddy Knox and The Rhythm Orchids - Party Doll - Roulette, 1957

Today's record is a classic bit of Rockabilly from Texas legend Buddy Knox. From his website: "Buddy Wayne Knox, born July 20, 1933 in Happy Texas; was the first artist of the rock era to write and perform his own number one hit song, "Party Doll". The song earned Knox a gold record in 1957 as well as a BMI million performance award. Knox was the very first Texas rockabilly artist to be awarded a gold record and he was one of the innovators of the southwestern style of rockabilly that became known as "Tex-Mex" music."

Buddy got the Rhythm Orchids together in college with a couple of fellow students, and they got noticed early on by Roy Orbison.  Interesting tidbit on the recording of "Party Doll": the recording studio was in a high traffic area and lacked good sound-proofing, so all the recording was done after midnight to avoid the sounds of traffic. "Party Doll" was a big hit and launched the carreer of the Rythym Orchids. After signing to Roulette, they released a few more hits like "Hula Girl" and "Rock Your Little Baby To Sleep", but after 1957 it proved to difficult to continue this string of successes.

On February 14th, 1999, Rockabilly Hall of Fame member and Rock ‘n Roll legend Buddy Knox, 65, died in Bremerton, Washington, after a battle with cancer.
Check out www.buddyknox.com, a great site maintained by Buddy's family to honor his memory.  They have a more in-depth biography and audio samples of all of his big hits.

Roulette Records was founded in late 1956 by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Khals, and was based in New York City. Here's a juicy label story gleaned from Wikipedia: "Goldner subsequently bowed out of his partnership interest in Roulette, and sold his labels Tico, Rama, End, Gone and Gee record labels to Morris Levy to cover his gambling debts." Lots of great music on these other labels which were rolled into Roulette. In 1986, Morris was exposed and convicted for extorting money from an FBI informant. Levy was tried and convicted on charges of extortion but died in Ghent, New York before serving any time in prison. Sounds like the "Roulette" name was appropriate, these dudes were gamblin' gansters! In 1989, Roulette Records was sold to a consortium of EMI and Rhino Records, which later were acquired by The WEA Group (Warner/Elektra/Atlantic).


And here's the clip! If ya like it, grab it off Amazon for a whopping $.99. 45s of this aren't that hard to come but either, I've got one for sale at the moment but it is in pretty rough shape.

Wanda Jackson - Funnel Of Love - Capital, 1961

Wanda Jackson! A true legend. Her website dubs her "the First Lady of Rockabilly and America's first female Rock and Roll singer" - and it's true. Wanda, born October 20, 1937, has been rockin' since the 50's, and she's still going strong! In fact she's playing here in Williamsburg at the Knitting Factory soon (click here for details). I was lucky enough to catch her there this past winter and she was amazing, so I highly recommend you catch her if you can.

While on stage she shared some stories of touring with Elvis, who it is said encouraged her to take up the Rockabilly style. She also got to work with greats like pianist Big Al Downing and guitarists Roy Clark and Buck Owens. After going a more country route starting in the 60's, some European interest in Rockabilly got her touring the Rockabilly circuit again in the 80s.  (Side note: notice the Brits are way more into good older American music than Americans?) Wanda Jackson is a member of the Rock and Roll as well as the Rockabilly halls of fame.

Blurry iPhone pic of Wanda's Knitting Factory performance, Winter 2010

This is one of the first 45s I bought when I started getting 7" crazy. While it's not as upbeat as something like "Let's Have A Party" or "Fujiyama Mama" (a big hit in Japan despite concerns about it's references to the atomic bomb), Wanda's powerful voice and it's unique melancholy-weird vibe really makes this perhaps my favorite in her catalog. Maybe that's why it's been covered by Southern Culture on the Skids, Mike Ness, Demented Are Go, Meat Puppets and The Fall.
 Johnny Mercer first suggested the idea of starting Capital Records while he was golfing with Harold Arlen and Bobby Sherwood saying, "I think it would be fun." The rest is, as they say, history - Capital Records is now one of the big boys.
Here's a link to an MP3 download from the Amazon site.  Unfortunately, I think this might be an "album only" download: Funnel Of Love
And now, the clip!

Dale Hawkins - My Babe - Checker Records, 1958

Today I've got some good 'ol Rockabilly for ya! Delmar Allen "Dale" Hawkins is best known for his song "Susie Q", which was a huge hit for Creedence Clearwater Revival in '68. Dale is also known as one of the architects of "swamp rock boogie", which is basically Rockabilly with a heaping handful of southern-fried Blues thrown in.

 Mr. Hawkins was born in Gold Mine, Louisiana in 1936. What is it in the water in LA that makes such wonderful musicians? "My Babe" came out in '58, with Roy Buchanan on lead guitar duties for his recording debut (Roy went on to have a tremendous career and was later voted one of Rolling Stone's "100 Greatest Guitarists"). Interesting note: the original version of this tune was a blues number released by Little Walter and was heavily based on the gospel song "This Train (Is Bound For Glory)".

 The original burst onto the charts at the same time Ray Charles was mining similar Gospel terrain with "I Got a Woman".
Here's the link to download the original version at Amazon: My Babe
This song was also covered by cats like Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley, etc, etc.
Checker Records is a subsidary of Chicago's legendary Chess Records, which was started by the Chess brothers in the late 40s. Volumes can, and have been, written about Chess Records. Let's just say they released some of the best Blues, RnB, Jazz and Early Rock out there. Maybe you even saw one of the movies! Chess Records was the subject of two films released in 2008, "Cadillac Records" and "Who Do You Love". In addition to the Chess brothers, both films feature portrayals of or based on Willie Dixon, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Chuck Berry, and Etta James. Checker was started at a time when radio stations limited the number of releases from a particular label in thier playlists, so sublabels were a way to get around that (they also started a sublabel called Argo/Cadet). After years of releasing great matieral, things dried up in the late 60s and the label and catalog were sold (the first of many such sales for the label). I believe Universal now holds rights to the music.
You can download the Mp3 from Amazon for Dale's version here: My Babe
And now, the clip!

The 3 Honeydrops - "Rockin' Satellite" - Music City, 1957

1957 was the year the first successful satellite, Sputnik, was put into orbit. This was a huge egg on the face of the US who fancied themselves the leaders in space exploration over the Soviets, and was the event that kicked off the "Space Race" in ernest. Congresswoman Clare Boothe Luce referred to Sputnik's beeps as "an intercontinental outer-space raspberry to a decade of American pretensions that the American way of life was a gilt-edged guarantee of our national superiority". Hah! Throughout the early 60s one finds quite a few examples of songs inspired by this. I have a particular fondness for ditties about little green men, of which there are many.
The 3 Honeydrops put out two records for Music City, which was run by Ray Dobard in Berkeley, California from 1954-1975. "Honey Drop" / "In The Summer" and "Rockin Satellite" / "You're The One For Me", both in '57. This was the only information I was able to find, and all of it came from http://stanleyandbianca.com . Thanks! If you have more info, please share!
"Rockin' Satellite" tells a tale of going into space and landing on a planet only discover it full of rockin' and dancin' creatures. Actually all the similar songs of this era confirm the dancing prowess of aliens. Must be because of those extra legs.
And now, the clip!