On my blog just recently there's been a discussion starting about the "rules" of being a contemporary rockabilly band. In among my posts I confessed that when I initially started playing in a rockabilly band years ago, I didn't even know sufficient about rockabilly to understand that my bass guitar wasn't " genuine" rockabilly equipment. All I understood is that I enjoyed the sound of the music and I wished to play it. Because I wasn't playing slap bass on an upright bass fiddle, I soon found out that there were a lot of fans who felt that we couldn't be a real rockabilly band. A reader in the UK relates a similar experience because he doesn't play the "right" guitar for rockabilly. This all brings up an old aching area with me and opens the discussion as soon as again about what's crucial: The look or the music ?
Going for the look
Of course, it's enjoyable to dress like the initial rockabilly felines and chicks from the mid to late 1950s when rockabilly was new and fresh and Elvis was taking the world by storm along with all of the other musicians he inspired. And by and large, it doesn't cost a lot of money to attain the rockabilly look. You can discover all sort of excellent clothes at garage and rummage sales together with second-hand shops. Just rifling through the far back of your moms and dads' (or grandparents'!) closets can reap wonderful rewards for rockabilly clothing.
Things get more complicated when you're in the band. Now it's not just the clothes that make the rockabilly look. It's the instruments. And it's a lot more costly to set yourself up with a classic instrument from the 50s age. And brand-new instruments made to look like the old ones are not exactly cheap either. So what's a brand-new hopeful rockabilly act to do? If they don't include a standup bass and a Gretsch 6120 hollow-body guitar (like the one Eddie Cochran played), they're not taken seriously. They're considered as imposters, not real "rockabillies".
The initial rockabilly club was not special
Nothing might be further from the spirit of initial rockabilly! Rockabilly was not an special club that was open only to those kids that came from wealthy families that might pay for the " best" instruments. No way! By and large, our heroes were dirt bad. These men were lively, young gamers who took whatever they occurred to have at hand and made music with it! And as modern-day rockabilly fans, we've all reaped the banquet of amazing music that these artists made on those instruments.
Now, it so occurs that hollow-body stand-up basses and electric guitars are the instruments that a great deal of these guys owned at that time. Those were the same instruments used pin up clothing by nation artists of the day and considering that rockabilly was so firmly rooted in country, it made sense that rockabilly artists-- many of whom started out playing nation initially-- used those exact same instruments. However not all of them followed that mold.
For example, as far as guitar players go, they utilized various guitars to make their music And they weren't all hollow-body guitars. Nobody believes less of Carl Perkins due to the fact that his blockbuster "Blue Suede Shoes" was recorded with a solid-body Les Paul guitar. Buddy Holly played a solid-body Fender Stratocaster on his terrific early rockabilly and no one at the time discounted him. Cliff Gallup, who bet Gene Vincent's Blue Caps used a solid Gretsch DuoJet guitar and most rockabilly fans consider his guitar work as some of the outright finest rockabilly playing of all time.
It's not the look, it's the music.
Simply put, it wasn't about the "look" back then. It had to do with the noise and it was about the energy. It's enjoyable to have the "look" these days and many bands attempt to put their own spin on the classic look. However eventually when I go to a rockabilly show, I'm far less worried with what the band appears like as I am with what they seem like. If they rock and their music makes me move and smile the way rockabilly does, well then, that's great enough for me! The rockabilly neighborhood might actually use with less concern about the look and more concern about letting go and delighting in the sounds. That's what it's actually all about anyway.
If you're a group of kids and you don't have lots of dough, but you want to start a rockabilly band, you'll probably run into the self-appointed "authentic-look" authorities faster or later on. Do not let them stop you. Select up the instruments you have and crash into those first strains of a fantastic rockabilly tune. If they can't see previous your aim to listen to and enjoy the music, it's their loss ... not yours!
In one of my posts I admitted that when I initially started playing in a rockabilly band years ago, I didn't even know adequate about rockabilly to understand that my bass guitar wasn't "authentic" rockabilly gear. Cliff Gallup, who played for Gene Vincent's Blue Caps utilized a strong Gretsch DuoJet guitar and most rockabilly fans consider his guitar work as some of the absolute best rockabilly playing of all time.
Robert Gordon was doing straight-out rockabilly and having a bit of success while bands like The Blasters were utilizing rockabilly influence greatly to form a brand-new "roots rock" sound.
These fans do not just purchase rockabilly records and go to rockabilly shows. The rockabillies utilize the features of 1950s fashion to express their love for rockabilly music and the good parts of the rockabilly lifestyle.