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!
Posts: 8456 | Location: State of Insanity | Registered: 22 September 2005
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.
