Sweet Nothings: Women in Rockabilly Music

Janis Martin, 1956, Age 15

Image courtesy of the WRVA Collection, Library of Virginia

After 6 1/2 years of graduate school and much blood, sweat and tears, my Master's thesis "Sweet nothings: women in rockabilly music: LaVern Baker and Janis Martin" has been published and is available for download (free!) online through my university. It is 99 pages of rockabilly goodness, focusing on LaVern Baker and Janis Martin, of course.

Lewin-Lane, Stephanie P., "Sweet nothings: women in rockabilly music: LaVern Baker and Janis Martin" (2012). Theses and Dissertations. Paper 11. http://dc.uwm.edu/etd/11

The most exciting part is that I was granted permission to include transcripts of several interviews with Janis Martin, and her mother Jewel, that have never been available for scholarship. This was through the generosity of documentary filmmakers Beth Harrington (Welcome to the Club) and Elizabeth Blozan (Rebel Beat: The Story of L.A. Rockabilly).

Do yourself a favor and check it out. It's an easy read, if I do say so myself!

Rebel Beat: The Story of LA Rockabilly DVD Review

 

I picked up Rebel Beat: The Story of LA Rockabilly to use as a source for my Master's thesis and quickly fell in love with it! Chock full of interviews and archival material, this documentary not only covers LA rockabilly, but also a history of rockabilly overall, especially after the revival in the 1970s & 80s. The music selection is great and if I wasn't already in love with Big Sandy I would be after watching this film! I also love the inclusion of rockabilly culture and how it has affected new generations, even if just for fashion.

What's on the DVD you may ask? Here's a short blurb from the website that pretty much sums it up:

"Rebel Beat" interviews over 30 promoters (including legendary Rockin' Ronny Weiser of Rollin' Rock Records), musicians (including Glen Glenn, Ray Campi, Big Sandy, Dave Gonzales and Janis Martin), car customizers, DJs and dancers, plus features rare archival photos, vintage TV clips and music montages that highlight the fashion, cars, pomps, ink and dance moves of the pussycats and hound dogs of LA Rockabilly, a strange family who share the distinctly American bent to define reality on their own terms and an LA creativity for casting the past with the hand-picked heroes, making for one hell of a party.

You can go to the website for more in-depth coverage of what is on the DVD and to buy it. At $12 (including shipping) the DVD is a steal. The filmmaker Elizabeth Blozan (Betty B) is passionate about the material and an all-around great gal, so please support her efforts!

As an extra bonus, Betty B has made some outtakes available online. Here is my favorite:

Women in Rockabilly

Long time, no post! Sorry for the absence but Grad school and internship are in full swing. It can be hard to set aside time to blog, but I had an idea to try and tie in thesis research by blogging about various women in Rockabilly music, which is my thesis topic. I've touched on a few performers previously (Wanda Jackson, Janis Martin and Lorrie Collins). I am hoping to expand on some of those posts, introduce more singers and talk about some of the social issues they have had to deal with. I also plan to talk about more contemporary singers and who inspired them. Of course, I am going to include sound examples and ways to get your hands on their music.

To start this off, I thought I would include some of my favorite resources about these amazing ladies and Rockabilly music. Most of these sources I have used in my own research. Some are more complete than others, but all have a place in the history of Women in Rockabilly music and I would love to see them circulate more to inspire others to write more about this overlooked topic.

The Women of Rockabilly: Welcome to the Club DVD
Blue Rhythms: Six Lives in Rhythm and Blues
Sexing the Groove: Popular Music and Gender
Girls Rock!: Fifty Years of Women Making Music
Go Cat Go!: ROCKABILLY MUSIC AND ITS MAKERS
Little Miss Dynamite: The Life and Times of Brenda Lee
Memphis Belles - The Women Of Sun Records CD
Rockabilly a Bibliographic Resource Guide
Rockabilly queens: The careers and recordings of Wanda Jackson, Janis Martin, Brenda Lee
She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock and Roll
Welcome to the Club-Early Female Rockabilly CD

There are also two theses that are available through interlibrary loan:
Della Rosa, J. L. (2005). Hard rockin' mamas : female rockabilly artists of Rock'n'roll's first generation, 1953-1960.
    This Masters thesis discusses how early female performers in rockabilly music, specifically Janis Martin, Lorrie Collins and Wanda Jackson, were able to defy traditional social roles, yet were not given the ability to stand on equal footing with their male counterparts. The author uses Billboard charts analyses to demonstrate how underrepresented women were in the business at the time and how the media played into social fears of gender roles.

Conor, E. (2006). Women take the stage : Janis Martin, Brenda Lee, and Wanda Jackson.
    This book starts to ask questions of why some female performers could transcend stereotype, yet never achieve the same success their male counterparts did. Includes references in notes for further research beyond the bibliography sources and analyzes lyrics and performances to explore the difference in gender perceptions.


This may be a bit scholarly, however I think it is good to get an overview of some of the more helpful sources out there. If you notice, the list is fairly short. There are more from popular magazines and newspapers, but in general you can see that this topic is sorely lacking in research. Hopefully I can change that!