Hello Mary Lou!

This week's song is "Hello Mary Lou" by Ricky Nelson!

I heard it today on the radio for the first time in ages and it made me smile. To be honest though, it always makes me smile! There's just something about it!

Sadly I don't have any friends named Mary Lou, but then again they'd probably hate me anyway if I started singing "Hello Mary Lou..." every time I saw them!

With lots of hits, such as "Travelin' Man", "Poor Little Fool" and "I'm Walkin'", Ricky Nelson was second only to Elvis Presley as the most popular Rock 'n' Roll artist of the late 1950's!

Because of his huge success, Ricky Nelson was inducted into the Rock and Rocll Hall of Fame in 1987.

Psychobilly Freak-Out

Now although this is a Rockabilly blog, I thought that today I would talk a bit about Psychobilly.

I kept seeing the word Psychobilly while researching things for this blog, so decided to find out what Psychobilly actually was.

It turns out that it is a mixture of fast Rockabilly and Punk-Rock!

Now being a proud mohawk wearer and being into Punk-Rock myself, I really couldn't picture how this would work. After listening to a few bands though, such as the Cramps, the Koffin Kats and the Meteors, it turns out that the mixture of the two genres is actually the perfect blend! I love it!

The songs are often about horror, violence, lurid sexuality and other topics generally considered to be taboo. The good thing though is that songs are not all doom and gloom, but instead fast and often presented in a comedic or tongue-in-cheek fashion.

If you want to find out more about Pyschobilly, then check out this site here! It gives you lots of info on Psychobilly bands and gigs all over the world!

Hot Rod Gang!

No Rockabilly guy's look would be complete without a Hot Rod to go with it!

Hot Rods are typically American Cars with large modified engines for speed!



And they obviously have to look good as well if the Rockabilly guys want a hot pin-up girl to model next to them!



If you ever hear about a Hot Rod event, you can be sure to find it filled with Rockabilly followers! They flock to them like flies to light!

Why you ask? Well to them it's all about showcasing the return to traditional Hot Rods and the greaser lifestyle!

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: