Rockabilly Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Influence on the Beatles and the British Invasion== The first wave of rockabilly fans in the United Kingdom were called [[Teddy Boy]]s because they wore long, [[Edwardian period|Edwardian]]-style [[frock coat]]s, along with tight black drainpipe [[trousers]] and [[brothel creeper]] shoes. Another group in the 1950s that were followers of rockabilly were the Ton-Up boys, who rode British motorcycles and would later be known as [[Rocker (subculture)|rockers]] in the early 1960s. The rockers had adopted the classic [[Greaser (subculture)|greaser]] look of [[T-shirt]]s, jeans, and leather jackets to go with their heavily slicked [[Pompadour (hairstyle)|pompadour]] haircuts. The rockers loved 1950s [[rock and roll]] artists such as Gene Vincent, and some British rockabilly fans formed bands and played their own version of the music. The most notable of these bands was [[The Beatles]]. When [[John Lennon]] first met [[Paul McCartney]], he was impressed that McCartney knew all the chords and the words to Eddie Cochran's "[[Twenty Flight Rock]]". As the band became more professional and began playing in Hamburg, they took on the "Beatle" name (inspired by Buddy Holly's band [[The Crickets]]<ref>Miles, Barry, ''Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now'', Henry Holt and Company, New York, 1997 p. 52</ref>) and they adopted the black leather look of Gene Vincent. Musically, they combined Holly's melodic songwriting sensibility with the rough rock and roll sound of Vincent and Carl Perkins. When The Beatles became worldwide stars, they released versions of three different Carl Perkins songs, more than any other songwriter outside the band, except [[Larry Williams]], who also added three songs to their discography.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/covers3.shtml |title=Alan W. Pollack's Notes on the cover songs on the "Beatles For Sale" album |publisher=Icce.rug.nl |access-date=May 22, 2014}}</ref> (Curiously, none of these three were sung by the Beatles' regular lead vocalists—"Honey Don't" (sung by Ringo) and "Everybody's Trying to be my Baby" (sung by George) from ''[[Beatles for Sale]]'' (1964) and "Matchbox" (sung by Ringo) on the ''Long Tall Sally'' EP (1964)). Long after the band broke up, the members continued to show their interest in rockabilly. In 1975, Lennon recorded an album called ''[[Rock 'n' Roll (John Lennon album)|Rock 'n' Roll]]'', featuring versions of rockabilly hits and a cover photo showing him in full Gene Vincent leather. About the same time, [[Ringo Starr]] had a hit with a version of Johnny Burnette's "[[You're Sixteen]]". In the 1980s, McCartney recorded a duet with Carl Perkins, and [[George Harrison]] collaborated with Roy Orbison in the [[Traveling Wilburys]]. In 1999, McCartney released ''[[Run Devil Run (album)|Run Devil Run]]'', his own record of rockabilly covers.<ref>''Shout!: The Beatles in Their Generation'' by Phillip Norman 1981 MJF Books</ref> The Beatles were not the only [[British Invasion]] artists influenced by rockabilly. The Rolling Stones recorded Buddy Holly's "[[Not Fade Away (song)|Not Fade Away]]" on an early single and later a rockabilly-style song, "[[Rip This Joint]]", on ''[[Exile on Main St.]]'' [[The Who]], despite being [[Mod (subculture)|mod]] favorites, covered Eddie Cochran's "[[Summertime Blues]]" and [[Johnny Kidd and The Pirates]]' [[Shakin' All Over]] on their ''[[Live at Leeds]]'' album. Even heavy guitar heroes such as [[Jeff Beck]] and [[Jimmy Page]] were influenced by rockabilly musicians. Beck recorded his own tribute album to Gene Vincent's guitarist [[Cliff Gallup]]—''[[Crazy Legs (album)|Crazy Legs]]''—and Page's band, [[Led Zeppelin]], offered to work as Elvis Presley's backing band in the 1970s. However, Presley never took them up on that offer.<ref>''Elvis: The Illustrated Record'' by Roy Carr and Mick Farren 1982 Harmony Books p. 160</ref> Years later, Led Zeppelin's Page and [[Robert Plant]] recorded a tribute to the music of the 1950s called ''[[The Honeydrippers: Volume One]].''{{citation needed|date=July 2010}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page