When Elvis Presley lit the blue touch paper, the exciting fusion of white Country music and black Rhythm & Blues which erupted across the US in the mid-50s made household names of many, producing a wealth of recordings rarely equalled for their unbridled energy and wild rebellion. The Rockabilly revival of the 1970s found a new audience for this music which endures to this day, creating stars of its more obscure exponents twenty years after the event. Raw, rough and ready, Rockabilly paved the way for Pop music as we know it.
At a time when music was not only divided along racial lines but also by age and locality, Rockabilly represented pure menace, the anthem of denim-clad juvenile delinquents. When it did manage to break out of its regional confines, its lascivious lyrics and dangerous rhythms, driven by a chunking, percussive bass and pared down, primitive sound was deemed by some to be a threat to the fabric of society. Even so, there was no shortage of eager beavers willing to try their hand, often with varying degrees of success.
Drawn from across the rockin’ spectrum, Rockin’ Bones serves up a sizzling selection of some of the finest Rockabilly from the years 1956–61. Compiled and annotated by Lucky Parker, Rockin’ Bones is the long-awaited sequel to Fantastic Voyage’s best-selling 2009 compilation Good Rockin’ Tonight. Alongside the well-known sit the more obscure whose recordings are now regarded as classics. Comprising lesser-heard gems and genre-defining cuts from the Johnny Burnette Trio, Pat Cupp, the Louvin Brothers, Jesse James, Johnny Powers, Hank Mizell and Ronnie Dawson, this is even more Rockabilly at its red hot rockin’est best.
The soundtrack to good times spent dancing and drinking in dimly-lit dives with sticky floors, dog-house bass thumpin’, guitars twangin’, beer spilling, this is music to lose your blues to, to forget your workaday cares, the precursor to a thousand sore-head Sunday mornings spent wondering where all your money went and just who slapped John. From the also-rans to those who hit the big time, Rockin’ Bones serves up 75 good reasons why Rockabilly is here to stay.