Scotty Moore | Mark Twang Live

Posts Tagged ‘Scotty Moore’

Slow blues with Scotty Moore, Earl Palmer, Deke Dickerson

Author: Twang

Mark Twang loves Scotty Moore and is one of the best rockabilly guitar players to listen to and learn from if you are serious about rockabilly gutiar. Talk about a night! This was at the Ponderosa Stomp festival in New Orleans back in 2003. This particular clip comes from an all-star band set featuring Scotty Moore on guitar and legendary drummer Earl Palmer on drums (RIP Earl!). The clip starts off kinda slow but keep watching it for the amazing drum solo that Earl takes towards the end. Truly incredible. Imagine how hard it was to play a blues solo with Scotty Moore and Earl Palmer lookin’ at you! This is one of those nights that was so magical, it’s hard to believe it actually happened. The band features Jon Flynn on bass, Eddie Clendening on rhythm guitar (thanks for blocking the shot there Eddie) and Steve Shepherd on piano.

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Posted in Blues, Live Music, Rockabilly, Rockabilly Guitar |

Tags: "New, Blues, Deke, Dickerson, Earl, Elvis, Orleans, Palmer, Ponderosa Stomp, R&B, Rockabilly, Scotty, Scotty Moore |

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Rockabilly Lives On

Author: Twang

Rockabilly is music that came out of the south of the US, mixed with elements of rock, blues, country, hillbilly boogie and bluegrass. Its genre is strong rhythm, emotion and a wild vocal style. And whilst it shined most brightly in the 1950s it never really disappeared. Actually these days it’s joined the ranks of established musical subcultures about the world.

It is been argued the word rockabilly is synonymous with Elvis and that Presley invented the genre one night in Memphis in 1954.

The story goes that Elvis was recording at Sam Phillips’ Sun Studio with Scotty Moore and Bill Black. According to Moore they were taking a break when all of a sudden Elvis started singing a song, jumping about and acting the fool. Moore says Bill picked up the bass and before long all three were jumping about and playing.

Moore says Phillips had the door to the control room open and when he heard them playing asked them what they had been doing. Moore says they didn’t have a clue, but Phillips asked them to stop, find a place to begin and do it again. Legend has it that rockabilly was born that night.

Sam Phillips went on to record many small bands with their slapping string bass sound, acoustic rhythm guitar with plenty of echo and twanging lead guitar.

He also recorded what was to become a virtual ‘who’s who of bluesmen such as Junior Parker, Bobby Bland, Little Milton, Howlin’ Wolf, Walter Horton and most importantly Carl Perkins.

Some from the other great rockabilly artists from the time included Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Wanda Jackson and Roy Orbison.

For many, rockabilly remained the “purest” form of rock and roll. Even though it only lasted a few years it provided the template for the sound, image and spirit of rock for the next 50 years. Its influence is certainly nevertheless felt today and many bands continue to perform in the rockabilly tradition, with numerous more borrowing from the genre to produce their own flavour.

Whilst there have usually been bands playing rockabilly, the revival truly hit its stride within the post-punk era, when a number of new bands picked up the sounds. Not only did they play the music, but they celebrated and embraced the pop culture that surrounds Rockabilly. The most successful revival band was the Stray Cats in the 1980s.

While there hasn’t been a band to enjoy such a large-scale fame since the Stray Cats, rockabilly nevertheless has a life of its personal in the 2000s. Over the past decade there’s been a convergence from the rockabilly style using the swing music scene. Brian Setzer from the Stray Cats has once again played a big part in bringing the sound to new audiences. He formed the Brian Setzer Orchestra as both a rockabilly and swing musician. The Reverend Horton Heat, Rattled Roosters and Royal Crown Revue are also popular in both scenes.

These days there are nevertheless lively rockabilly scenes in many major US cities – particularly on the west coast. You will find a quantity of big festivals such as Viva Las Vegas and Hootenanny along using the Heavy Rebel Weekend Festival about the east coast.

The subculture also thrives in Europe where there is a large focus not just in contemporary musicians reviving the rockabilly traditions, but in artists from the ’50s.

So why has rockabilly survived in 1 kind or an additional for all these years?

Meg Appelton in her article “The Rockabilly within the New Millennium” argues the rockabilly culture is an antithesis to current trends as it embraces its roots in “old school” societal fringes.

She says the rockabilly phenomenon has survived down the generations thanks to a growing dissatisfaction with mainstream culture, music and stylistic icons.

“Rockabilly frequently becomes a way of life or lifestyle to those active, who see the larger scene to be like a family,” she explains.