I just bought a Charlie Feathers CD (His Complete King Recordings) and I’m officially hooked on rockabilly. Since I’m already a punk fan (Ramones, The Clash, Minor Threat, NOFX, et cetera, et cetera) I’m also thinking of buying my first psychobilly CD. [brag]I already have a pretty good place to buy them: Ear Candy in Missoula has a whole section (OK, two racks) devoted to rockabilly and psychobilly. They also sell Oblio Joes CDs, and an Oblio Joes bandmember works there. (Yep, they’re a damn fine Missoula band.)[/brag]
So, which CDs should I buy? I’m very much aware that rockabilly came and went prior to the Era of the Album, and that I’m going to get a lot of compilations and ‘Best Of’ and so on. Psychobilly sounds interesting and more modern, and I would greatly appreciate some help there as well.
My suggestion would be Social Distortion. Their older stuff is more punkish while the new(er) stuff is more of a rockabilly style. I love their version of Ring of Fire and Story of My Life is one of my all time favorite songs.
If I had to choose only one album, I would probably pick their title album. The page I linked has some samples in Quicktime, including the two I mentioned.
Dead Rock West
(I think they expect to have the album available in August)
Maybe not “pure” Rockabilly, but if you’re only interested in “pure” Rockabilly you’ll just load up on albums that sound exactly like one another- such is the nature of the genre.
Definitely check out The Knitters, a Rockabilly / Blue Grass project featuring essentially the same line-up as Punk Rock stars X.
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if you’re only interested in “pure” Rockabilly you’ll just load up on albums that sound exactly like one another- such is the nature of the genre
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Such is the nature of all genres.
Johnny Burdett and the Rock n Roll Trio for authentic rockabilly.
Reverend Horton Heat should have something good in the Psychobilly range, but not sure what CD.
Cramps of course for what was probably the original Psychobilly. any of their early albumns. The one with The Crusher on it probably is as good as any to start with.
Link Wray is, of course, quite good. Though his style tends to be to just find a groove and stick with it rather than filling out a full song (but really nice grooves!)
For what it’s worth—and I’m not familiar enough with the genre to be able to say how much it is worth— here’s The All-Music Guide’s list of Rockabilly Revival albums (the “1st, 2nd, 3rd” refer to “1st tier” etc.)
Rhino has a box set coming out: Rockin’ Bones: 50’s Punk & Rockabilly. Looks awesome if you can afford it. I have a few of their other box sets, and they’re great.
I can’t recommend Reverend Horton Heat highly enough to a new rockabilly/psychobilly fan. You might as well start with their greatest hits album, Holy Roller:
(They are also possibly the best live band I’ve ever seen, alongside Less Than Jake and Ben Folds.)
Brian Setzer’s seminal '80s rockabilly revival trio, the Stray Cats, are a necessity. My favorite of the multiple compilations, if only for the amount of songs on a single CD, is Runaway Boys:
If you’re the least bit interested in the Brian Setzer Orchestra (as you should be, for he is awesome in all he does), my favorite album by them is their second, Guitar Slinger:
His vocals go back and forth between ultra-cool lounge crooner and snarling rockabilly badass, and his reverby Gretsch guitar sound melds perfectly with that tight, fat horn section.
I agree with the previous poster who cited Social Distortion, for their perfect rootsy punk/rockabilly hybrid sound. I should also recommend frontman Mike Ness’ solo album Cheating At Solitaire, one of my favorite albums of all time, which perfectly captures the rockabilly rebel/outlaw spirit and sound:
Luckily, Amazon.com allows you to listen to audio samples from most of the CDs they sell. In that case, I recommend you check out some tracks by the Hillbilly Hellcats to see if you like them ( Amazon.com : hillbilly hellcats ), and also the Cramps ( Amazon.com : cramps ) and the Horrorpops ( Amazon.com : horrorpops ), a Danish psychobilly band with a sexy female singer/bassist.
Wow. There is a lot of wonderful information in this thread so far. Thanks a lot. I’ll definitely make a special rockabilly/psychobilly trip to Ear Candy the next time I’m in Missoula, and I’ll have scribbled notes from this thread in hand.
Cramps of course for what was probably the original Psychobilly.
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Thank you! I can’t believe it took 7 posts to get to them. I remember the last time I saw Lux Interior…naked except for stockings and his high heeled shoes held over his genitals. God I love that man.
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