One of the things that made rockabilly music so great during its rise in the 1950s was the all-out, go-for-broke attitude that so many of the performers exhibited. The early performers were influenced by the two vastly different worlds of country music and rhythm and blues. While they may have taken many aspects of country music and utilized them in the look of rockabilly, they poured just as many aspects of rhythm and blues music into the attitude of their new music.
Rhythm and blues musicians had been pushing the boundaries of "polite" society for many years before rockabilly came along. The sassy attitudes of artists like T-bone Walker, Lowell Fulson, Amos Milburn, and Lavern Baker, was fine for "race" music, but not for polite white audiences. Rockabilly changed that. Early rockabilly performers--of course most noticeably Elvis Presley--took the raw sensuality of rhythm and blues music, combined it with the instrumentation of country music, and forged a new form of the newly emerging rock and roll that would shape music to come after it even up to modern times.
But Elvis wasn't the only rockabilly cat pushing those boundaries--he was just the most recognized. Watch old Carl Perkins videos and you can quickly see that although he lacked Elvis' moves, there's mischief in his eyes. You could see that he knew he was part of something that was pushing through the comfort zone of the adults even as it was energizing and exciting the teenagers.
Eddie Cochran was another performer who exuded sensuality without really even trying. Eddie was smooth, charming, and alarmingly talents in the most natural, easy-going way. He looked like a "nice" kid and didn't seem dangerous at all. But when Eddie hit the stage, he turned the girls in the crowd into a screaming horde. The whole scene shocked the establishment and Eddie, like the rest of his rockabilly contemporaries, was continually beaten up and chastised by the newspaper reviewers.
Gene Vincent showed an equally alarming persona, but in his case it was his brazen leather-clad bad-boy image that made waves. The permanently debilitating leg injury that he'd suffered in a motorcycle crash caused him endless pain, but also gave him a very distinctive stage presence. His stiff-legged stance at the microphone made him look mean and tough. He suffered with the leg, but he also used it to his advantage on stage.
The women of rockabilly were in on the act too. Wanda Jackson created a completely new image for "girl" singers with her high heels, tight-fitting pencil dresses, and bright red lipstick. She brought a sensuality to her performances that was similar to that which Elvis brought to his. Sparkle Moore was more akin to the "female Gene Vincent" than the "female Elvis" (Janis Martin laid official claim to that title) with her motorcycle-gang greaser image.
None of these performers were approved of by the adults in charge, but it didn't matter to them. Or, more accurately, it did matter to them. It mattered and they exploited the outrage. They hit the stage with reckless abandon and created music and a movement that has shaped rock and roll music for going on 60 years.
Rhythm and blues musicians had been pushing the boundaries of "polite" society for many years before rockabilly came along. The sassy attitudes of artists like T-bone Walker, Lowell Fulson, Amos Milburn, and Lavern Baker, was fine for "race" music, but not for polite white audiences. Rockabilly changed that. Early rockabilly performers--of course most noticeably Elvis Presley--took the raw sensuality of rhythm and blues music, combined it with the instrumentation of country music, and forged a new form of the newly emerging rock and roll that would shape music to come after it even up to modern times.
But Elvis wasn't the only rockabilly cat pushing those boundaries--he was just the most recognized. Watch old Carl Perkins videos and you can quickly see that although he lacked Elvis' moves, there's mischief in his eyes. You could see that he knew he was part of something that was pushing through the comfort zone of the adults even as it was energizing and exciting the teenagers.
Eddie Cochran was another performer who exuded sensuality without really even trying. Eddie was smooth, charming, and alarmingly talents in the most natural, easy-going way. He looked like a "nice" kid and didn't seem dangerous at all. But when Eddie hit the stage, he turned the girls in the crowd into a screaming horde. The whole scene shocked the establishment and Eddie, like the rest of his rockabilly contemporaries, was continually beaten up and chastised by the newspaper reviewers.
Gene Vincent showed an equally alarming persona, but in his case it was his brazen leather-clad bad-boy image that made waves. The permanently debilitating leg injury that he'd suffered in a motorcycle crash caused him endless pain, but also gave him a very distinctive stage presence. His stiff-legged stance at the microphone made him look mean and tough. He suffered with the leg, but he also used it to his advantage on stage.
The women of rockabilly were in on the act too. Wanda Jackson created a completely new image for "girl" singers with her high heels, tight-fitting pencil dresses, and bright red lipstick. She brought a sensuality to her performances that was similar to that which Elvis brought to his. Sparkle Moore was more akin to the "female Gene Vincent" than the "female Elvis" (Janis Martin laid official claim to that title) with her motorcycle-gang greaser image.
None of these performers were approved of by the adults in charge, but it didn't matter to them. Or, more accurately, it did matter to them. It mattered and they exploited the outrage. They hit the stage with reckless abandon and created music and a movement that has shaped rock and roll music for going on 60 years.
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