I love me some good rockabilly.

Last year's favorite new-to-me artist were the Maddox Brothers and Rose, a hillbilly boogie band who for all purposes invented rockabilly. Check out their collections on Arhoolie Records for some amazing stuff recorded at the dawn of rock-n-roll.

Some of my favorite rockabilly artists from the '50s include the Burnette brothers (Johnny and Dorsey), Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent, Ronnie Hawkins, Jack Scott, Carl Perkins, Charlie Feathers, Wanda Jackson (the queen of rockabilly), Buddy Holly and Johnny Horton. Psychobilly godfather Hasil Adkins has his demented beginnings in the '50s as well. Perhaps the best rockabilly artists of this era- and into the early '60s- were lesser known.

Some worthwhile v/a comps of '50s-'60s rockabilly to check out: Rockin' Bones: 1950s Punk and Rockabilly on Rhino; Whistle Bait: 25 Rockabilly Rave-Ups on Sony; and, if you can find them, the entire That'll Flat Git It! series on the German Bear Family label. Also, Ace Records from the UK has issued some fine collections as well, such as Bayou Rockabilly Cats and the rare singles series off Columbia records. Ace has a Wanda Jackson comp which is absolutely essential.

The '80s brought some fine rockabilly revival acts. My favorites include the Stray Cats, Robert Gordon, the Cramps (kickin' off a psychobilly trend) and Shakin' Stevens.

The Cramps inspired some great bands- the Meteors, the Horror Pops, Th' Legendary Shack Shakers and one of my favorites, the Frantic Flintstones.

Some great modern rockabilly acts I dig are Kim Lenz, Blue Moon Boys (from my home state, and they are fantastic live), Rockin' Ryan (whose last two studio albums have been in my year end top twenty), Devil Doll (a mix of rockabilly & swing, also in '07's top 10) and Mandy Marie and The Cool Hand Lukes, another Indiana band who I caught live at a local rockabilly concert.

So if you like rockabilly, psychobilly and mixes of these genres with other styles, please post your likes and recommendations. Go, cats, go!

I've really been digging Thee Oh Sees - The Master's Bedroom is Worth Spending a Night in. Now I wouldn't be so nuts as to say it really fits in this genre, but I definitely hear some Cramps influence, along with other strains of rockabilly/garage/whatever on it. I will be back to this thread later when I have educated myself a bit more on this stuff.

Just the phrase Rockabilly makes my stomach turn.

Well if that's true, then the Cramps might make your stomach do backflips!!

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:
Rockin' Bones: 1950s Punk and Rockabilly on Rhino

My mom made me download this for her. I can't believe I never listened to it..

quote:

Originally posted by crazed:
Some great modern rockabilly acts I dig are ... Blue Moon Boys (from my home state, and they are fantastic live)

Looks like the Blue Moon Boys have gone separate ways but lead singer Nic Roulette has moved to Nashville and started a new rockabilly outfit, Hillbilly Casino. Their newest album is Three Step Windup and it's the best new rockabilly cd I've heard this year. A few tracks sway more towards cowpunk and honky-tonk but it's all good stuff.

A great looking rockabilly comp I'm hoping to pick up is Hotrodders Delight. A hotrod themed collection of tracks from new rockabilly bands in the US, Europe and Australia. Raucous Records is soon releasing a sampler of their rockabilly & psychobilly bands, which should include a track from one of their fine bands, the Blue Flames.

quote:

Originally posted by mymindsblank:
Just the phrase Rockabilly makes my stomach turn.

"once you muscle pass the gag reflex, all kinds of options open up for you" RATATOUIE

You wanna hear some good uptempoed modern rockabilly, check these guys out.

http://www.myspace.com/theacceleratii
the Acceleratii
guaranteed to make some people jump and shout.
guaranteed to make others crap their pants.
gauranteed to make the rest sick to their stomachs.

I don't really have much knowledge of rockabilly but I like these guys. Correct me if they're not rockabilly

The Atomic Men
https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/atomicmen

There's some great surf guitar in the Atomic Men music. For all CD Baby's many shortcomings, they do offer a good selection of modern, classic and obscure rockabilly.

Speaking of obscure rockabilly, I recently picked up a great collection from Benny Joy, Crash the Rockabilly Party. Benny Joy might have been more widely known and heard had he not turned down an offer by Sam Phillips to record on Sun. Norton records has reissued a lot of Joy's recordings, and they're definitely worth checking out.