On my blog site recently there's been a discussion beginning about the " guidelines" of being a modern-day rockabilly band. In one of my posts I admitted that when I initially began playing in a rockabilly band years earlier, I didn't even understand adequate about rockabilly to understand that my bass guitar wasn't " genuine" rockabilly equipment. All I understood is that I loved the sound of the music and I desired to play it. Due to the fact that I wasn't playing slap bass on an upright bass fiddle, I quickly discovered out that there were a lot of fans who felt that we could not be a genuine rockabilly band. A reader in the UK relates a comparable experience since he doesn't play the "right" guitar for rockabilly. This all brings up an old sore spot with me and opens the discussion as soon as again about what's important: The music or the look ?
Opting for the look
Obviously, it's fun to dress like the original rockabilly cats and chicks from the mid to late 1950s when rockabilly was fresh and brand-new and Elvis was taking the world by storm in addition to all of the other musicians he influenced. And by and big, it doesn't cost a great deal of cash to achieve the rockabilly look. You can discover all kinds of great clothes at garage and rummage sales together with second-hand stores. Simply gunning through the far back of your moms and dads' (or grandparents'!) closets can enjoy terrific benefits for rockabilly clothing.
Things get more made complex 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 expensive to set yourself up with a classic instrument from the 50s era. And new instruments made to look like the old ones are not precisely cheap either. What's a brand-new ambitious rockabilly act to do? If they do not 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 genuine "rockabillies".
The original rockabilly club was not special
Nothing might be even more from the spirit of original rockabilly! Rockabilly was not an special club that was open just to those kids that originated from rich families that might manage the " best" instruments. No other way! By and big, our heroes were dirt poor. These people were dynamic, young players who took whatever they took place to have at hand and made music with it! And as contemporary rockabilly fans, we've all enjoyed the feast of fantastic music that these artists made on those instruments.
Now, it so takes place that hollow-body stand-up basses and electrical guitars are the instruments that a lot of these people owned back then. After all, those were the same instruments utilized by country musicians of the day and because rockabilly was so strongly rooted in nation, it made good sense that rockabilly musicians-- much of whom began playing country initially-- used those same instruments. Not all of them followed that mold.
As far as guitarists go, they utilized many various guitars to make their music And they weren't all hollow-body guitars. Nobody believes less of Carl Perkins since his smash hit "Blue Suede Shoes" was tape-recorded with a solid-body Les Paul guitar. Friend Holly played a solid-body Fender Stratocaster on his fantastic early rockabilly and no one at the time discounted him. Cliff Gallup, who bet Gene Vincent's Blue Caps used a strong Gretsch DuoJet guitar and most rockabilly fans consider his guitar work as some of the outright finest rockabilly playing of perpetuity.
It's not the look, it's the music.
To put it simply, it wasn't about the "look" back then. It had to do with the sound and it had to do with the energy. It's fun to have the "look" these days and a lot of bands attempt to put their own spin on the classic look. However eventually when I go to a rockabilly program, 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 smile the way and move rockabilly does, well then, that's great enough for me! The rockabilly community might actually utilize with less concern about the look and more issue about letting go and taking pleasure in the sounds. That's what it's truly all about anyhow.
If you're a group of kids and you don't have lots of dough, but you wish to start a rockabilly band, you'll most likely encounter the self-appointed "authentic-look" website cops sooner or later on. Do not let them stop you. Get the instruments you have and crash into those very first strains of a fantastic rockabilly tune. If they can't see past your aim to listen to and enjoy the music, it's their loss ... not yours!
In one of my posts I confessed that when I first began playing in a rockabilly band years ago, I didn't even understand adequate about rockabilly to realize 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 finest 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 heavily to form a brand-new "roots rock" sound.
These fans don't simply buy rockabilly records and go to rockabilly programs. The rockabillies utilize the trappings of 1950s fashion to express their love for rockabilly music and the excellent parts of the rockabilly lifestyle.