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:

Feelin' Blue? Get a Sunny Disposish!

Hey everyone! I am SO excited to debut my band Bootless Betties' new music video. It is done in a silent film style and is sure put a smile on your face.




Be sure to like it and share it! The song is off our latest album "Good Time Whoopee" which is available online through reverbnation.

Whole Lotta Shakin'- Rockabilly Documentary Series

Rockabillyradio.org has a great documentary series online, which is hosted by Rosie Flores. The series is called Whole Lotta Shakin' and features one-hour streaming segments on various subjects in Rockabilly music. I find the topics of this series and how they incorporate the songs into a narrative to be a great way to get to know the evolution of Rockabilly, or to familiarize yourself with the genre if you are new to it.

Here is a break-down of the series' topics:

Good Rockin' Tonight
Elvis, Carl Perkins and the rise of Sun Records

Get Rhythm  
The story of Johnny Cash and The Tennessee Two  

Fujiyama Mamas  
The women of rockabilly stake their claim

Rebels with Guitars  
Borrowing from Brando: the music's most notorious rebels

The Cradle of the Stars
The rise and fall of radio's The Louisiana Hayride

Real Wild Child
Swamps, snakes, Whole Lotta Shakin' and the story of Jerry Lee Lewis

Shake This Shack
Cat Music from the Lone Star State: rockabilly in Texas

Rockin' Bones
Suzy Q and rockabilly's one hit wonders

Rave On
The life and music of Buddy Holly 

Summertime Blues
Sunglasses after dark, rockabilly California-style

You can view the song lists for each segment here. 

(cross-posted to Tart Deco-Vintage Glamour & Retro Style)

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!

MP3 Rockabilly

I just visited the Rockabilly Hall of Fame to see what is going on in Rockabilly music lately and discovered that they sponsor a webpage with tons of rockabilly songs that you can listen to for free. It's called MP3rockabilly.com. They also have it set up to buy albums online to help support the page. This is a great way to become familiar with the music if you are just getting into the scene, or to explore some older or more obscure tunes.

Here are some suggested tunes to listen to on the page:
Baby, Baby, Baby - Joe Allen & the Alley Cats
Dirty Dishes - Jeani Mack (make sure and see the video too!)
Move it on Over - Rose Maddox
Rock the Joint - Bill Haley & the Saddlemen (obviously they recycle their guitar solos)
Stranded in the Jungle - The Cadets
Twenty Flight Rock - Eddie Cochran

crossposted to http://tartdeco.blogspot.com

Long time, No post

Graduate school sure has a way of keeping one busy. I will be starting regular posting again in the summer. Until then, I wanted to hip you to Deke Dickerson's music blog Musings of a Muleskinner. Who is Deke Dickerson and why should you care? Deke is a musician, writer, collector and producer of Americana, rock n' roll and folk music and an all-around fountain of information. One of my favorite pages on his website is of bizarre LP covers from the 50s and 60s, like the gem to the left.

Viva Las Vegas 14 Band List

There is SO much music at VLV 14 and I managed to track down the websites of a lot of the bands, concentrating mostly on those on the side stages.

Hopefully this will help you to make the difficult decision on who to see when you are there. And if you aren't going, this will help you to familiarize yourself with some of the rockabilly bands that you might not know yet.

Aquasonics- http://www.aquasonics.net/about.htm
B-Stars- www.myspace.com/thebstars

Barrelhouse Boys- www.myspace.com/barrelhouseboys

Big Sandy- www.bigsandy.net 

Blue Denim- www.myspace.com/bluedenimbopblues
Buzzards- www.thebuzzards.com 

Cadillac Casanovas- www.cadillaccasanovas.com/
Caezars- www.myspace.com/thecaezars
Cash O'Riley- www.reverbnation.com/cashorileyandthedownrightdaddies
Chadd Thomas & the Crazy Kings- www.myspace.com/chaddthomasthecrazykings 

Crown City Bombers- www.myspace.com/crowncitybombers 

Delco nightingale- www.delconightingale.com

Don Juan y los Blancos- www.myspace.com/donjuanylosblancos

Ezra Lee- www.myspace.com/theezraleeshow

Gamblers Mark- www.gamblersmark.com 
Gizelle- www.myspace.com/lilgizzelle

Hillbilly Hellcats- www.myspace.com/hillbillyhellcats 

Hi Q's- www.myspace.com/thehiqs 

Jackpot Club- www.myspace.com/thejackpotclub

Jinx Jones- www.jinxjones.com
Karling Abbeygate- www.karlingabbeygate.net

Kim Lenz- www.kimlenz.com/

Lauren Marie- www.myspace.com/laurenmarie
Lil Mo & the Dynaflos- www.myspace.com/lilmoandthedynaflos

Los Benders- www.myspace.com/losbenders 

Los Straitjackets- www.straitjackets.com/ 

Lustre Kings- www.lustrekings.com
Midnight Trio- www.reverbnation.com/themidnighttrio

Miguel & the Atomic three- www.myspace.com/atomicthree 
Modern Don Juans- www.myspace.com/themoderndonjuans 

Morry Sochat & the Special 20s- www.special20s.com
Neon Swing X-perience- www.neonswing.com
Nick Curran & the Lowlifes- www.myspace.com/curranrock 
No Dice- www.myspace.com/1nodice

Psycho Devilles- www.psychodevilles.com

Redline rockets- www.myspace.com/redlinerockets
Rhythm Shakers- www.myspace.com/wildrhythmshakers
Rod & the Tonemasters- www.myspace.com/rodthetonemasters

Roy Kay Combo- www.roykaytrio.com 

Shakedown Combo- www.theshakedowncombo.com

Sin City Surfers- www.sincitysurfers.com
Slip & the Spinouts- www.slipandthespinouts.com
Still Creek Brothers- www.myspace.com/stillcreekbrothers

Stompy Jones- www.stompyjones.com/

Thee Merry Widows- www.merrywidowsmusic.com/

3-way Ricochet- www.myspace.com/3wayricochet

Twang Shifters- http://www.myspace.com/shauntoman

Twistin Tornados- http://www.myspace.com/thetwistintornados

Vicky Tafoya & the Big beat- www.myspace.com/vickytafoya

Will & the Hi-rollers- www.myspace.com/willandthehirollers