Rockabilly Roots

Time out. Before you begin the saga of a country boy in the big world, take a moment to go into these links and bookmark them for a daily routine.
Send them to your friends and share this free feel-good fix: Clicking on each of these each and every day can bring wonderful changes to people's
(and critter's) lives. I suggest putting them in your favorites file and together we can nickle and dime poverty and pain off of our planet.

"Buy you a guitar and put it in tune, and you'll be a-rockin' and a-rollin' soon." From All American Boy - Bill Parsons (Bobby Bare).

My first guitar was from Montgomery Wards and it was a brutal thing with a neck like a fence post and the strings about a quarter of an inch from the fret board. The tips of my fingers turned green and the side of my first finger was sliced from making an A7. I was sixteen and didn't know any better, so I practised about a year, wrote a bunch of songs, got a cheap tape recorder, sent tapes (not cassettes) off to the major record labels - they even wrote me back, but declined - so then I went to Hollywood to get on records. Too easy.

I took the opportunity of assistant driver to California and we hit the Hollywood Freeway at 9 a.m. on July 2, 1958. Driver's Ed in Winfield, KS had not prepared me for this. The rule was one car-length for every ten miles an hour, but everytime I would try to adjust, as soon as there was any room a car would fill that space. So there we are, bumper-to-bumper at 80 mph and scared to death. I was dropped off at the Hollywood bus station and so began my:

There I am in the Hollywood bus station, and my plan is to get a dishwashing job at night and go to record companies in the day. I called my Uncle in Stockton and he had a much better plan, so I bought a ticket to Stockton.

I noticed a woman sitting there with a guitar beside her, and since I had not yet been told that people in California did not talk to each other I asked her if she played guitar and she said, "No, my son Jackie Walker. Have you heard of him?" And I told her yes, and named the song (Oh, Lonesome Me). Jackie was also on Dot Records, and here is another page with info on a mixed album

Jackie Walker said he had just come from a session as a background singer, and it went: "Dinky doo Wah" and I forget the rest. That was How The Time Flies (and sonuvagun, the intro is on this lyrics page) by Jerry Wallace. Here is a Jerry Wallace Discography. Here is more info from Oldies.com

I later met Rita Bronstein, a record promoter, in San Francisco and she showed me one of the lapel watches she had used as promotion for this record. Inscribed inside was "How The Time Flies." A very small world.

Jackie Walker called me later on in Stockton and he did indeed get me booked on the talent show portion of Town Hall Party in Compton, CA, which was hosted by Johnny Bond. Tab, with links, to a Johnny Bond song, Hot Rod Lincoln. I was beginning to see just how small the music world was/is, and how things worked. On the show I sang an original "Blue" and came in fourth in a field of three awards. Everybody lost out to a blind piano player who actually rocked the piano - almost tipped that upright over.

Here is an example of a Town Hall Party Show from June 6, 1959. It reminds me that Merle Travis was on the show I was on, but I missed so many of the other greats of the time: Johnny Cash, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran.

The pages indexed in the box below show many connections among the musicians, writers, and producers of the era. Some of these people I met and all of them are in some way part of my rockabilly roots.

Just five days after the Fourth of July in 1955 a new form of independence peaked on the charts. On July 9, Bill Haley and His Saddlemen (Comets that is) had hit number one and stayed there for 8 weeks. Their total time on the charts was 38 weeks, with a stay of 25 weeks in the top 40 and 19 weeks in the top ten. "Rock Around The Clock" was to become number 11 on the all-time rock and roll charts, with rumors of sales of over 35 million.

Bill had been playing a back-beat on his archtop and it was what we needed. Early pictures of the group show a steel guitar player, but we never heard him on the records. The info on Bill Haley at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame is a true tribute to an amazing man.

Another strange thing was happening with country music. A hairdresser took an old standby called "Ida Red" and named it after a brand of makeup. The drums sounded like a flat tire and the guitar sounded like a diesel horn, and we went crazy boppin' to "Maybellene." The rain water blowin' all under the hood. "Maybellene" peaked at number five nationally on September 10, 1955, and Chuck Berry put his own brand on the electric guitar.

As fast as new records were coming out by Black singers, a generic (I don't care - I liked him!) clean-cut, rosy-cheeked, soft-spoken, easy-going mellow-voiced young man was doing cover versions. In 1955 Pat Boone outsold the original version of Ain't That A Shame ( Fats Domino ).

You will not find Pat Boone in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, though many notable rockers have said that he should be, and my friend (and third manager) Prewitt Rose - who discovered Ral Donner - was involved in efforts to have Pat inducted.

This chart was compiled by Joel Whitburn from Billboard charts and was computed starting with the onset of "Rock Around The Clock" as the beginning of the Rock and Roll era, so only six rock/rockabilly releases show on this chart on the Top 40 in 1955. Other links at the bottom of this page show each full year.

Still 1955

Source: Top 1000 Singles of the Rock Era (1955-1990)

 1 - Rock Around the Clock - Bill Haley and His Comets
 7 - Ain't That A Shame - Pat Boone
 9 - I Hear You Knockin' - Gale Storm
12 - Seventeen - The Fontane Sisters
21 - Maybellene - Chuck Berry
23 - Seventeen - Boyd Bennett & His Rockets
25 - Black Denim Trousers - The Cheers
32 - White Christmas - Bing Crosby. Just so you'd know.
38 - Burn That Candle - Bill Haley and His Comets

Because "Hearts of Stone" by The Fontane Sisters was before "Rock Around The Clock" it is not on these charts.
It went like this:
"Hearts made of stone, doo - dee - wah, doo - dee - wah, will never break."
But the part we all sang was this: "And they'll cry no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Everybody knows, I thought you knew, hearts made of stone."
Hey, what's not to like! And this was before the hook was invented.

Another hit pre "Rock" was "Dance With Me Henry" by Georgia Gibbs and it is still on a jukebox somewhere, and just maybe with the title "Roll With Me Henry."

1956

Though his early records made a relatively small showing on the charts, more back-beat delights called "Mystery Train" - "My Baby Left Me" - "That's Alright Mama" -
"Blue Moon of Kentucky" - and "I Wanna Play House" were warming us up for something we had never imagined and it went like this:

April 21 - Heartbreak Hotel - 1 for 8 weeks
July 28 - I Want You, I Need You, I Love You - 1 for 1 week
August 18 - Don't Be Cruel / Hound Dog - 1 for 11 weeks
November 3 - Love Me Tender - 1 for 5 Weeks
The King had been crowned.

The only rockabilly song sharing the top 40 list in Billboard charts with Elvis in 1956 was Carl Perkins with "Blue Suede Shoes" - unless you want to count
"See You Later, Alligator" by Bill Haley and His Comets, which at least had a back beat.

So the pop/rock chart looked like this:

 1 - Don't Be Cruel (time - 2:03)/ Hound Dog (time - 2:15) - Elvis Presley
 4 - Heartbreak Hotel - Elvis
 5 - Rock and Roll Waltz - Kay Starr. Gotcha! Nevertheless, this is number 31 on the all-time
      charts from 1955 to 1990.
 9 - My Prayer - The Platters
11 - I Almost Lost My Mind - Pat Boone (though the Ivory Joe Hunter version was very good.)
12 - The Green Door - Jim Lowe
14 - The Great Pretender - The Platters
15 - (Are you ready for this?) Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom) - Perry Como*
16 - I Want You, I Need You, I Love You - Elvis
18 - Blue Suede Shoes - Carl Perkins. He shoulda got royalties on the shoes, too.
      We didn't know we needed them until Carl told us.
19 - Honky Tonk (Parts 1 & 2) - Bill Doggett. I played this thing for 40 years!
     And never got it right. Arggghh!
26 - I'm In Love Again - Fats Domino "Baby, don't you let your dog bite me."
      Fats told us how to tell it.
30 - The Magic Touch - The Platters
40 - See You Later, Alligator - Bill Haley and His Comets. This was one of the big buzz
      phrases of the time. They tried us again with "(You Hit the Wrong Note) Billy Goat", but it just didn't work.

So, 14 out of 40, but in '57 it gets better, not only on the charts but for Fords and Chevys. On to . . .

1957

This is such a mix - with influences from all directions (Frank Sinatra did one, kinda.) - so I'm leaving out the "ballads" - "folk" - "Calypso" - Perry Como - Patti Page - Frankie Laine - Debbie Reynolds - and Jimmy Dorsey. These artists had great songs and I loved them all, Frankie Laine especially, but they were not in the the main rock scene.

And we are left with:

 1 - All Shook Up (time - 1:58) - Elvis
 3 - Jailhouse Rock (time - 2:10) - Elvis
 4 - Teddy Bear (time - 1:43) - Elvis - the shortest song on these charts.
 8 - Honeycomb - Jimmy Rodgers
 9 - Wake Up Little Susie - Everly Brothers
12 - Too Much - Elvis
18 - Diana - Paul Anka
19 - Party Doll - Buddy Knox/Rhythm Orchids
20 - That'll Be The Day - The Crickets
21 - Little Darlin' - The Diamonds. Truth: I auditioned to join the Diamonds sometime in the 70's (I think).
      They were appearing at a club in Stockton, CA, and had an ad in the paper. Yep. I blew it.
      I was thinking old and gold and auditioned accordingly.
      They wanted a country singer to add variety to their lounge act. Go figure!
23: Bye, Bye Love -The Everly Brothers
24 - Blueberry Hill - Fats Domino. This is a song first released in 1921.
25 - Love Me - Elvis
26 - Teenage Crush - Tommy Sands
27 - A White Sport Coat - Marty Robbins
28 - Raunchy - Bill Justis
29 - A Teenager's Romance - Ricky Nelson
31 - Kisses Sweeter Than Wine - Jimmy Rodgers
32 - Peggy Sue - Buddy Holly
33 - School Day - Chuck Berry
34 - Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On - Jerry Lee Lewis. If Myra had only kept her mouth shut!
      She was a cutie, but Jerry Lee marrying his 13-year-old cousin was a bit much in the '50's.
35 - Silhouettes - The Rays
36 - Searchin' - The Coasters
39 - Hey, Jealous Lover - Frank Sinatra. I told ya!

And School Is Out. Another summer of bucking hay, a winter of cutting firewood and hedgerow - don't do it! - an attempt at a career of telegraph operator (this is a lo-o-o-o-ng time ago) and I'm gone to California to Get On Records! And I do! That deserves two!!

Probably what scared the Mommas the most was a Black dude wearing lipstick and a pompador hairdo. But Little Richard Penniman explained things further and we were there to learn. The folks who knew that rock and roll was sending us all to hell had no clue that we were just having a good time, and we didn't care about anything but the sound.

Conspicuously absent from these Billboard charts are: Little Richard, James Brown, who was still considered Rhythm and Blues, Larry Williams (Bony Moronie) - Link Wray - Rumble - and me - but we'll get to that.

We shipped this music all over the world. Then the Beatles came and sold it all back to us.

Footnote *: Concerning diggity, ziggity booms: The echoing notes of Tin Pan Alley were found all over the early rock charts and this will bode ill for our hero (me).

Clues will be found in the Timeline of Recording Sessions

Links to other charts:

The links in this section relate to the charts of 1955 - 56 - 57.
Here are more Rockabilly Links

BILL HALEY:

CHUCK BERRY:

PAT BOONE:

FATS DOMINO:

PREWITT ROSE:

RAL DONNER:

GALE STORM:

THE FONTANE SISTERS:

BOYD BENNETT and HIS ROCKETS:

THE CHEERS:

GEORGIA GIBBS:

CARL PERKINS:

ELVIS PRESLEY:

KAY STARR:

THE PLATTERS:

IVORY JOE HUNTER:

JIM LOWE:

BILL DOGGETT:

JIMMY RODGERS:

EVERLY BROTHERS:

PAUL ANKA:

BUDDY KNOX and the RHYTHM ORCHIDS:

THE CRICKETS:

THE DIAMONDS:

TOMMY SANDS:

MARTY ROBBINS:

BILL JUSTIS:

RICKY NELSON:

BUDDY HOLLY:

JERRY LEE LEWIS:

THE RAYS:

THE COASTERS:

LITTLE RICHARD PENNIMAN: "Elvis may have been the king of rock'n'roll, but I am the queen." Direct Quote.

JAMES BROWN:
True story: I was playing a single in a country bar in Arkansas City, KS. The local Black nightclub had recently burned down and some college students (Black) came in the bar and said "Play some of our music." All I had brought were my homemade back-up tapes of country rather than carry my whole library. But in the mix were a few rock songs that country folks liked including James Brown's I Got You (I Feel Good). So I told the youngsters that I could do some James Brown and they said, "Who?" I had to explain to them that James Brown was the man who changed the term Afro-American to "Say it loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud!" "Who?"

LARRY WILLIAMS:

LINK WRAY:
The Grandfather of the Power Chord. Many radio stations banned the playing of Rumble, but we sure heard it here in Kansas. What I really liked about Rumble was that it was easy to play and there was a feeling of power just doing it. Link Wray has passed on, but he had a great career resurgence after Rumble was played on a desert cafe jukebox in the movie Independence Day.

CHARTS - Number One Hits of: