Girls, Cars and Nautical Stars

While looking at some of the more modern Rockabilly pictures, I noticed that a lot of the people in them have amazing tattoos. So i decided to see why so many Rockabilly followers had such beautiful tattoos...

It turns out that most of the tattoos seen on Rockabilly fans are a more modern take on the traditional tattoos that were popular during the early Rockabilly era.

Designs such as pin-up girls, swallows, cars, anchors, nautical stars and cherries are especially popular.



Rockabilly tattoos were and still are a sign of rebellion. Body art was not the popular trend that it is today when Rockabilly began back in the 1950's. Rockabilly tattoos were some of the first in a trend that would explode through the decades.

One of the most mentioned names regarding Rockabilly tattoos has to be Sailor Jerry. He is considered to be one of the foremost American tattoo artists of his time and many of the modern Rockabilly tattoos are based on his artwork.

Hello...I'm Johnny Cash

After watching Walk the Line yesterday, I can't get Johnny Cash's songs out of my head. So this week's song is "Cocaine Blues" by the man himself, Johnny Cash!

Now Johnny Cash not only had great hair, but was also a Grammy Award-winning American singer and songwriter.

Who would have thought that the young boy who worked on the cotton fields with his family in Kingsland, Arkansas, would later have an almost fifty year long music career, sell over 90 million albums and become one of the greatest men in music history!

Johnny Cash and his band, the Tennessee Three, had many hits including "Folsom Prison Blues", "Ring of Fire", "I Walk the Line", "A Boy Named Sue" and many more!

Here they are performing "Ring of Fire":

Because You're Mine, I Walk the Line

I just watched "Walk the Line" and it was amazing!

It's a film based on the life of Johnny Cash through the highs and lows of his music career. With great music, great actors and a great story, everything was perfect!

I've never been much of a fan of Joaquin Pheonix (who plays Johnny Cash) or Reese Witherspoon (who plays June Carter), but both of them blew me away in this film!

If you're interested in anything Rockabilly, then you'll love this film too - the music, the hairstyles, the clothes! I don't know why I never thought of watching it before now!

Slap That Bass!

This post is all about the music!

Rockabilly music has its own unmistakeable sound, with a mixture of Rock 'n' Roll, Hillbilly music, Swing, Boogie-Woogie and Blues.

That sound is of course created by the instruments!

One of the most important instruments to Rockabilly music is the upright bass.
But not just anybody with an upright bass can achieve the true Rockabilly sound!

Rockabilly slap bass is a style of playing an upright bass that provides the right kind of beat for the music, like this guy here:



The other important instrument is of course the guitar!

While the upright bass maintains the strong beat, it is left up to the Rockabilly guitar to provide the melody to support the vocals.

It needs a sultry sound like Blues as well as a peppy beat like the swinging Country sound of the day!

Even today, elements of Rockabilly guitar can still be heard in modern Country, Rock 'n' Roll, and even in Punk music!

Check this guy out:

Beautiful Girls

While searching for pictures of traditional pin-up girls for this blog I kept coming across pictures of modern girls who had given Rockabilly and the pin-up style their own little twist and done some amazing and beautiful pictures.

So I thought I would share some of the pictures with you!



If you want to find out more about Sabina Kelley, Missy Malone, Heidi Van Horne and Dayna Delux, just click on their names!

One, Two, Three O'Clock, Four O'Clock Rock!

There's a new song up and it's by the godfather of Rock 'n' Roll, Bill Haley!

Bill Haley and his band The Comets had many hits during the 1950's including "Crazy Man, Crazy" which was the first Rock 'n' Roll record to make the pop charts.

Not only was Bill Haley such a big presence in the record charts in the 1950's, but he also appeared in several Rock 'n' Roll movies.

Bill Haley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987. He also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and an asteroid named after him! And rightly so! I mean, who doesn't love the song "Rock Around the Clock"?!

Ooh La La!

In my post about women's Rockabilly hairstyles I mentioned the famous and beautiful cult pin-up model, Bettie Page.

As one of the most famous models of the 1940's and 50's, she became a style icon for Rockabilly girls all over the world with her trademark short black bangs, blue eyes, sweet smile and killer curves.

She was a combination of girl-next-door freshness and dangerous sensuality and it's easy to see why girls aspire to be her - an intelligent woman, who is proud of her beautiful womanly curves and who knows how to use them to her advantage.

If you want to find out more about Bettie Page and see some of her fantastically sexy modelling photographs, check out her official homepage here.