Rockabilly Popsters

Rockabilly stars absorb teen-idol pop elements, soften the sound, and helps open the path to surf music.

Earlier we covered rockabilly: Elvis as a major rockabilly artist (among other styles), plus Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent. I saved Ricky Nelson and the Everly Brothers for this lecture because they stay active into the early 1960s and bridge late 1950s into early 1960s. I call this branch Rockabilly Popsters: more teen-idol influence—cleaner rockabilly, danger washed off, a “safe Elvis.” Still Elvis in the bones, without the parental scare.

In this softer wave the standout act is the Everly Brothers. They are peers of Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis, rooted in southeastern country and Appalachian high harmony—source of their vocal stamp. They sign with Nashville’s Acuff-Rose (Roy Acuff and Fred Rose), a key publisher as Nashville becomes a country center. Wesley Rose (Fred’s son) signs them; Chet Atkins also champions them—Atkins produces some of Elvis’s RCA work after Sun. Wesley promises a recording deal if they join Acuff-Rose as writers; they have fought long for a contract. Atkins cannot land them at RCA, so Rose places them at Cadence in New York through the end of the 1950s. Dual harmony—Phil and Don—is their mark. John Lennon and Paul McCartney often echo them; whenever John and Paul sing together there is a Phil-and-Don feel. Simon & Garfunkel’s early chart single as Tom & Jerry in the late 1950s is Everly imitation (we return to them rising again in 1964–65). Key late-1950s sides: “Bye Bye Love,” “Wake Up Little Susie,” “All I Have to Do Is Dream”—harmony at its best. In the 1960s they switch labels; 1960’s No. 1 “Cathy’s Clown” and No. 8 “When Will I Be Loved” (later a Linda Ronstadt No. 2 in the 1970s). They are a bridge from late-1950s rockabilly to the pre-Beatles years, 1960–63.

Then Ricky Nelson. On TV Ozzie & Harriet he is the real son of married Ozzie and Harriet. When Elvis breaks in 1956–57, Ricky brags to a girlfriend he will cut records like Elvis; she says she cannot wait. He asks Dad for help. Ozzie—bandleader with L.A. music ties, star and shaper of a hit show—pulls top players and writers into the studio. Ricky delivers; unlike many teen idols I criticize, he has real talent. Hear 1958’s No. 4 “Believe What You Say.” Many songs come from rockabilly writers Johnny and Dorsey Burnette, whose own trio sells less than Ricky. He uses Nashville players who worked with Elvis, including James Burton—later years beside Elvis in Las Vegas; late-1960s/early-1970s posters often name both. Burton’s career starts on Ricky’s records.

Last rockabilly popster: Roy Orbison. Sun signs him early without much heat—“Ooby Dooby” and the like. At Monument he rises: 1960’s “Only the Lonely” to No. 2; 1964’s “Pretty Woman” to No. 1. As singer-writer his voice has an operatic cast. Near the end of “Only the Lonely” a cadenza-like moment: falsetto high, band drops out, a flourished a cappella line—unique then, and influential on the Stones, Beatles, and others.

That is the Rockabilly Popsters story: they ride the tail of the first rock wave and help hand it to a more adult-controlled phase. Adults soften rockabilly but still make strong records. Next: southern California and the birth of surf music.