Many of his songs were in blues form, while others took the form of folk ballads, parlor songs, or waltzes. Zeb Turner's February 1953 recording of "Jersey Rock" with its mix of musical styles, lyrics about music and dancing, and guitar solo, is another example of the mixing of musical genres in the first half of the 1950s.īill Monroe is known as the Father of Bluegrass, a specific style of country music. The Memphis blues musician Junior Parker and his electric blues band, Little Junior's Blue Flames, featuring Pat Hare on the guitar, were a major influence on the rockabilly style, particularly with their songs " Love My Baby" and " Mystery Train" in 1953. Īlong with country, swing and boogie influences, jump blues artists such as Wynonie Harris and Roy Brown, and electric blues acts such as Howlin' Wolf, Junior Parker, and Arthur Crudup, influenced the development of rockabilly. The Maddoxes were known for their lively, antic-filled shows, which were an influential novelty for white listeners and musicians alike. They had shifted into higher gear leaning toward a whimsical honky-tonk feel, with a heavy, manic bottom end and high volume. Īfter World War II, The Maddox Brothers and Rose were at "the leading edge of rockabilly with the slapped bass that Fred Maddox had developed". The rhythm's what's important." Īfter blues artists like Meade Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson launched a nationwide boogie craze starting in 1938, country artists like Moon Mullican, the Delmore Brothers, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Speedy West, Jimmy Bryant, and the Maddox Brothers and Rose began recording what was then known as "hillbilly boogie", which consisted of "hillbilly" vocals and instrumentation with a boogie bass line. It's the same, whether you just follow a drum beat like in Africa or surround it with a lot of instruments. But it's just basic rhythm and has gone by a lot of different names in my time. Wills is quoted as saying "Rock and Roll? Why, man, that's the same kind of music we've been playin' since 1928!. Recordings of Wills's from the mid 1940s to the early 1950s include "two beat jazz" rhythms, "jazz choruses", and guitar work that preceded early rockabilly recordings. Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were the leading proponents of Western Swing, which combined country singing and steel guitar with big band jazz influences and horn sections Wills's music found massive popularity. ĭuring the 1930s and 1940s, two new sounds emerged. Jimmie Rodgers, the "first true country star", was known as the "Blue Yodeler", and most of his songs used blues-based chord progressions, although with very different instrumentation and sound from the recordings of his black contemporaries like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Bessie Smith. The first nationwide country hit was " Wreck of the Old 97", backed with "The Prisoner's Song", which also became quite popular. There was a close relationship between blues and country music from the very earliest country recordings in the 1920s. Rockabilly has spawned a variety of sub-styles and has influenced the development of other genres such as punk rock. An interest in the genre endures even in the 21st century, often within musical subcultures. Initially popularized by artists such as Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley, Johnny Burnette, Jerry Lee Lewis and others, the rockabilly style waned in the late 1950s nonetheless, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, rockabilly enjoyed a revival. ĭefining features of the rockabilly sound included strong rhythms, boogie woogie piano riffs, vocal twangs, doo-wop acapella singing, and common use of the tape echo but progressive addition of different instruments and vocal harmonies led to its "dilution". Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie-woogie, jump blues, and electric blues.
The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" (from "rock 'n' roll") and " hillbilly", the latter a reference to the country music (often called " hillbilly music" in the 1940s and 1950s) that contributed strongly to the style.
Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues, leading to what is considered "classic" rock and roll. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music.
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