Bill Haley His
When rockabilly hit the scene in the early to mid 1950s, it seemed fresh and new. And it was. But rockabilly didn't just spring up from nothing. If you've done any reading about the genre at all then you've heard that rockabilly is the result of melding country music (often called hillbilly music at the time) and blues music. Certainly there's a lot of truth to that idea, but it really simplifies things far too much. Several forms of music evolved and met in the rockabilly confluence, not the least of these--though often not mentioned--was the rhythm and blues, or R&B music of the 1940s and early 1950s. If the blues and country gave rockabilly a starting base, it was R&B in particular that infused the genre with "rock". R&B primed the rockabilly pump and really gave it its energy.
When people discuss the first rock and roll song, you invariably hear the names of white musicians as the guys who started it all. Bill Haley and His Comets and Elvis Presley, among others are often credited by various people with releasing the first rock and roll recordings. But if you start digging back into the R&B music of black musicians who preceded these acts--and if you're honest with yourself--you have to concede that these black artists were playing music that sounded an awful lot like rock and roll years before their white counterparts took up the style or Cleveland DJ Alan Freed started telling people he'd coined the new phrase "rock and roll" in 1952.
And rockabilly in particular owes a huge dept to this R&B music as well as Blues Bop music. These genres made heavy use of strong, simple snare drum patterns, string bass played in the slapping style that added to the rhythm section, and distinctive electric guitar playing and solo work. All of these things are hallmarks of authentic rockabilly music. In fact, many R&B songs are virtually indistinguishable style wise from much of the rockabilly that came after it.
So, why does history credit these white artists instead of the black R&B players with the invention of rock and roll? Simply and bluntly, racism probably accounts for this more than anything. What rockabilly and rock and roll did was simply to make this type of music accessible to white audiences that generally had little exposure to the music of black musicians. White-owned radio stations wouldn't play music by black artists (labeled "race music" at the time). So when Elvis broke through he represented the magical combination of a white artist who sounded like a black artist. In fact, in very early radio interviews with Elvis in Memphis, the DJ interviewers would ask questions like, "what high school did you attend?" The answer to that question would tip the audience off to the fact that this was a white boy and thus "safe" for the DJ to play and the people to listen to.
But be all that as it may, there's no denying the credit that blues, blues bop, and R&B--along with the black musicians who made that music--deserve for the development of rock and roll. Rockabilly did differ from this music in that it was often not quite as urban. The country influence gives rockabilly a different edge. Although many of the country-bred rockabilly cats grew up every bit as financially poor as their black brethren, at least they didn't have to live with the smothering moral poverty of racism that shaped black musicians. Those differences came out in the attitude of the music, not to mention different styles of guitar playing, singing, and so on. In the end though, if you love rockabilly, you'll probably also love the R&B music that primed the rockabilly pump!
Buster Fayte is an author and rockabilly musician. Visit his Rockabilly Romp blog at http://rockabillyromp.info, download free rockabilly computer background artwork as Buster's way of welcoming you to the blog, and join the rockabilly discussion.
Whats On My YouTube Today?
Bill Haley & His Comets - Medley, 1969
Here Are A Few Items From Amazon You Might Be Interested In.
 The Best Of Bill Haley & His Comets: 20th Century Masters-(Millennium Collection) List Price: Sale Price: $4.79 You save: $0.04 (1%)  Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days  |
 Rock Around the Clock List Price: Sale Price: $4.70 You save: $5.28 (53%) Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days |
 Strictly Instrumental List Price: Sale Price: $2.31 You save: $0.04 (2%) Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days |
 Best Of Bill Haley & His Comets: 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection Sale Price: $9.49 Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days |
 Bill Haley And His Comets: From The Original Master Tapes Sale Price: $16.95 Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days |
 The Decca Years & More List Price: Sale Price: $75.95 You save: $68.04 (47%) Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days |
 Bill Haley List Price: Sale Price: $7.98 You save: $2.34 (23%) Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days |
 Rock Around the Clock / Thirteen Women 45 rpm single Sale Price: $6.99 Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours |
 Best of Bill Haley 1951-1954 List Price: Sale Price: $9.49 You save: $4.49 (32%) Eligible for free shipping!Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days |
Items recently purchased on this site:
Thanks for visiting!
Tags: moce, bill haley's comets, bill haley's comets rock around clock