Rockabilly Music: History of Rockabilly and Notable Artists

Rockabilly is a subgenre of rock ‘n’ roll with roots in the American South during the 1950s. As its name suggests, rockabilly draws on two primary influences: country music and rock music, which at the time of rockabilly’s emergence, largely referred to rhythm and blues (or R&B) music made by Black musicians. The best-known examples of rockabilly music are the songs recorded for the Sun Records label; the label’s roster included Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis.

The success of those rockabilly recordings helped pave a path to national stardom for them, as well as other rockabilly artists. Those recordings also helped legitimize rock ‘n’ roll as a form of popular music among record buyers and the recording industry. Rockabilly also wielded enormous influence over many of the most important figures in rock ‘n’ roll history, such as Bob Dylan, The Beatles, and The White Stripes.

The history of rockabilly begins in the American South, where Black and white music had cross-pollinated for decades before its inception. Here is an overview of rockabilly’s evolution:

• Born from the blues: The various subgenres that fell under the rubric of “hillbilly music”—a regional but sometimes divisive term for bluegrass, honky-tonk, country boogie, and Western swing—were all built on the blues. Country was particularly inspired by the raw country blues of performers like Howlin’ Wolf, and jump blues by artists like Roy Brown, whose “Good Rockin’ Tonight” became a minor early hit for Elvis Presley.
• Beginnings: In Memphis, Tennessee, radio engineer turned record producer Sam Phillips began recording Black musicians in 1950. These R&B and blues recordings by Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Parker, and others drew hopeful white musicians to the Memphis Recording Service, which also served as home base for Phillip’s record label, the Sun Record Company. In 1953, he recorded a cover of Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s “That’s All Right” by a local teenager named Elvis Presley. The song was a major hit with listeners in Memphis before spreading to other parts of the South and the country at large.
• Hitting the mainstream: By the late 1950s, rockabilly made stars out of performers from all points on the globe and all demographics. Sun Records continued to produce big acts like Sonny Burgess, but they found competition from fellow Southern recording artists like Gene Vincent, as well as Midwesterners like Bill Haley and Eddie Cochran, and even Southwestern talent like Buddy Holly. Some Black artists, like Chuck Berry, also benefited from adopting the chugging rockabilly style for their work. Their time in the spotlight proved short-lived: Elvis Presley’s induction into the Army in 1960 and his subsequent move to RCA Records, as well as changes in listener tastes, sent many original rockabilly artists into country or gospel. But the undeniable swing of their recordings would have an enormous impact on generations to come.
• Subgenres are born: A host of bands in the 1970s and 1980s drew on rockabilly for their sound, such as Stray Cats, which scored three top 10 hits, including “Rock This Town” in the early ‘80s. Cleveland, Ohio’s the Cramps mixed rockabilly, garage rock, punk and blues into a macabre stew that gave rise to a high-energy subgenre called psychobilly. The 1990s saw bands like the Reverend Horton Heat and Southern Culture on the Skids deliver an amped-up brand of rockabilly that helped them stand out during the alt-rock scene.
• Rockabilly subculture: The success of rockabilly groups led to not only new punk-fueled rockabilly bands—including Nekromantix and Tiger Army—but also a whole subculture of listeners. Many people involved in rockabilly subculture mix retro greaser style with gothic gear, or incorporate pinup looks.

There are several distinct characteristics of rockabilly music, both from a performance and recording perspective, including:

1. 1. The band: A typical rockabilly band consisted of three to four members: two guitars— one electric, one acoustic—to handle lead and rhythm duties, respectively, as well as an upright bass player and a vocalist. However, many guitarists, like Carl Perkins, also doubled as singers. Drumming was often a secondary consideration, as the bass could serve as both rhythm and percussion.
2. 2. Echo, delay, and reverb: Echo, tape delay, and reverb were all part of early rockabilly recordings. The echo could be produced by room acoustics, like the domed ceiling of Decca Records’ studio in New York. It could also be created by an engineer, often by sending the signal from one recording device to another to create a split-second or “slap-back” echo.
3. 3. Upbeat blues chord progression: The sound of a rockabilly song was an upbeat, high-energy take on a blues chord progression. Lead guitars adopted the heavy twang of country boogie, while upright bass was often played with a slapping technique rather than plucked notes. When combined with the slap-back echo, the sound had the raw intensity of a live performance.
4. 4. Deep, heated vocals: Some rockabilly vocalists, like Elvis Presley and Gene Vincent, favored the deep, overheated sound of R&B and blues singers. Others, such as the eccentric Charlie Feathers, added vocal tricks and tics, from hiccups to croons. Many women vocalists, including Brenda Lee and Wanda Jackson, held their own against their male counterparts.

Rockabilly artists Elvis Presley and Buddy Holly had an influence on British Invasion bands, and were part of the first wave of American rock ‘n’ roll artists to reach British listeners. As a result, British Invasion bands favored a mixture of rockabilly, blues, and R&B. They also emphasized playing their own instruments and writing their own songs, as rockabilly artists did.

Many British Invasion bands were structured with a lineup similar to rockabilly acts, with lead and rhythm guitar, bass, drums, and a vocalist. Rockabilly songs were also staples of many bands’ live performances and recordings: The Beatles covered “Matchbox” and “Honey Don’t” by Carl Perkins, while the Rolling Stones recorded Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away.”

While some rockabilly artists faded into obscurity, others became part of the canon of popular American music.

1. 1. Elvis Presley: Though rockabilly composed a small portion of Elvis Presley’s recording career, the genre—and rock ‘n’ roll itself—might not have come to pass without his rockabilly sides for Sun Records. Elvis’s covers of “That’s All Right,” “Good Rockin’ Tonight,” and Bill Monroe’s bluegrass classic “Blue Moon of Kentucky” showed that Black and white music all sprang from similar sources.
2. 2. Carl Perkins: Though Tennessee-born singer and guitarist Carl Perkins recorded rockabilly tracks, his contribution to the genre came mostly as a songwriter. Among them was “Blue Suede Shoes,” which became a hit for Elvis Presley in 1956.
3. 3. Johnny Cash: With his band the Tennessee Three, Johnny Cash developed one of the signature sounds of rockabilly: a chugging “boom-chicka-boom” combination of slapped bass, drums, and guitar. Like Elvis, rockabilly was only a portion of Cash’s recorded career, but such hits as “I Walk the Line” and “Folsom Prison Blues” emerged from it.
4. 4. Jerry Lee Lewis: The “pumping piano” of Jerry Lee Lewis set him apart from most rockabilly acts, as did his delivery—which veered from lascivious to eruptive, often within a single song. Before moving to country, Lewis recorded numerous rockabilly hits, including “Great Balls of Fire, “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” and “Breathless.”

Become a better musician with the MasterClass Annual Membership. Gain access to exclusive video lessons taught by the world’s best, including Reba McEntire, Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, St. Vincent, Itzhak Perlman, Tom Morello, and more.