Booklet includes list of tracks and points of interest.
- “Whole Lotta’ Shakin’ Goin’ On:” Tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis: When Jerry Lee Lewis sat down at the piano at the old Sun Recording Studio in Memphis, thus began a whole new evolution of music called Rockabilly. Jerry Lee and I toured many times together over the years, but I wish I had been in the studio when Cowboy Jack Clement turned on that microphone and heard this young man from Ferriday, Louisiana, rip through “Whole Lotta Shakin’Goin’On.” History was made in that instant. Jerry Lee Lewis’ pumping piano and caustic vocal performance literally swamped the Sun Studio and the world. We have taken great pains to pay proper tribute to my old friend’s best work. The “Killer” is the greatest!
- “Blue Moon of Kentucky:” Tribute to Elvis: Recording Elvis Presley’s early Sun creations is a major artistic challenge, but a challenge I was very excited to finally undertake. These classic ‘three piece’ supported tracks – Bill Black slap bass, Scotty Moore guitar, and Elvis acoustic rhythm guitar — clearly defined the term, Rockabilly. “Blue Moon of Kentucky” didn’t come easy, but again, frustration was the motivator. In an overheated late night session struggling for a B-side for “That’s All Right Mama,” Bill Black re-wrote music history when he nervously belted out a high pitched almost comic version of Bill Monroe’s classic composition, “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” Elvis joined in and the result was historic. This recorded “accident” exemplifies the strong Bluegrass influence on Rockabilly Elvis, Scotty and Bill clearly defined.
- “Be Bop A Lula:” Tribute to Gene Vincent: When I first met Gene, and experienced his explosive stage performance, I knew there was still another dimension to this music called Rockabilly. Our first meeting was in 1956 at the San Angelo, Texas, Gwen Field Baseball Stadium where “Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps” were headlining the show. My group was the opening act. In that amazing performance Gene took the “Elvis Virus” to new horizons with his evocative musical gyrations. “Be Bop A Lula” will forever remind us that Gene Vincent was a master performer. Vincent’s vocal performances and wild stage gestures would never be equaled.
- “Folsom Prison:” Tribute to Johnny Cash: One of my favorite personal photos is a “Louisiana Hayride” ‘after-show’ gathering in 1958 of Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton, Bob Luman, Gordon Terry, and myself — along with the legendary musicians; Luther Perkins, Marshall Grant, Tommy Tomlinson and Tillman Franks. The memories of that great night and so many more are still very much alive. Johnny Cash set the mold for the pure honesty and simplicity of Rockabilly music. A lesson we all had to remember throughout our careers. “Folsom Prison” epitomizes this Johnny Cash pure, honest, simple greatness.
- “Honky Tonk Man:” Tribute to Johnny Horton: This Rockabilly classic was almost not recorded. Johnny Horton and Tillman Franks, Horton’s manager and bass player, borrowed a car from David Houston’s dad and ten dollars from Elvis Presley to make the trip from Shreveport, Louisiana to Nashville to do the recording session. By the way, Elvis also loaned Johnny and Tillman his bass player, Bill Black. Tillman Franks was too nervous to play slap bass on the recording.
- “Everyday: “Tribute to Buddy Holly: Buddy Holly and I began our careers singing gospel, country and Bluegrass music. Buddy performed live radio shows on the local Lubbock, Texas country radio station, KDAV — the sister station to KPEP radio in San Angelo, Texas, where my career began. When Buddy experienced the revelation of Elvis’ first live performance, his whole life changed, and his unique contribution to Rockabilly was born. Buddy Holly’s classic songwriting — much of the time with Jerry Allison and Norman Petty — contributed legendary creations. “Everyday” is uniquely Buddy Holly. On the 1958 original recording, “JI” (Jerry Allison) is slapping his leg for the drum sound, and Norman Petty’s wife, Vi Petty, is playing the classic Celeste instrumental; a magical moment in music history.
- “Red Cadillac and a Black Mustache:” Tribute to Bob Luman & James Burton: Bob Luman was a promising young singer and high school baseball star when he experienced the Elvis virus. Luman traded a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball contract for a performance slot on the Louisiana Hayride, at the urging of Tillman Franks, Johnny Horton and Johnny Cash. Bob and the 16-year old guitarist James Burton recorded “Red Cadillac and a Black Mustache” at the old Seller Studio in Dallas, Texas in 1956. This raw early Rockabilly standard launched Bob’s career which took him to the Grand Ole’ Opry and a memorable career. Bob was performers’ performer. He stole the show each time he took the stage. Red Cadillac is a true model of Rockabilly excellence and a special tribute to two good friends; Bob Luman and James Burton.
- “You’ll Lose A Good Thing:” Tribute to Barbara Lynn: Barbara Lynn wrote “You’ll Lose A Good Thing” as a poem, and recorded this blues classic with legendary Texas producer, Huey Meaux. Barbara is a “Texas Jewel.” This track is a tribute not only to Barbara, but to Janis Joplin and all the many other Texas singer/ performers who merged blues with Rockabilly music and pitched it to higher ground.
- “Not Fade Away:” How do you create classic Rockabilly magic playing drums on a cardboard box filled with cotton while sitting in the bathroom of the recording studio? Well, ask Jerry JI Allison this question and he’ll tell you, “I was taking direction from my good friend Buddy Holly.” A cardboard box or a slap on the thigh for the drum; JI was uniquely clever when he and Buddy turned up their creative juices and made history. “Not Fade Away” is classic 1950’s Rockabilly from the best of West Texas. Buddy Holly’s influence will NEVER FADE AWAY!
- “Honey Don’t:” Tribute to Carl Perkins: This Carl Perkins classic captured the world — and the Beatles — with its electrifying Rockabilly sound. Because of their love of Rockabilly – and Carl Perkins — the Beatles covered this track early in their career. It is one of my all-time favorite Rockabilly songs, and a well deserved tribute to the best of Carl Perkins.
- “Mystery Train:” Tribute to Elvis & Junior Parker: Would it be surprising to find that our new friend, George Hunt, — the extremely talented Memphis artist who created the commissioned painting for our CD covers and project logo was a close friend to Junior Parker? Parker played great harmonica, was a very successful bandleader, and wrote some extraordinary hit songs. “Mystery Train” is at the top of this list of classics. No tribute to Rockabilly would be complete without this Elvis Presley/ Junior Parker masterpiece. Thanks to some of the most talented musicians Texas has to offer, this in indeed one of the best Rockabilly tracks ever produced. Thanks guys!
- “Lead Me To The Rock:” (Tribute to: Wash Dennis and Charlie Sims — and African American Spirituals from the early 1800’s) The origin of this traditional African-American spiritual is unknown. However, God delivered this classic message to me in a very unusual way, while researching our Rockabilly Anthology/Tribute project. I had searched for several months for just the right spiritual which would exemplify the influence given to the foundation of Rockabilly, and none of the obvious seemed to fit the project. Around 2:00 AM one morning, as I sat at my computer searching song titles, suddenly there before me on Amazon.com was a CD from the United States Library of Congress compiled by Alan, John A., and Ruby T. Lomax. “Lead Me to The Rock” was recorded in 1936 on a wire recording device by John A. Lomax. This African-American spiritual was performed by Wash Dennis and Charlie Sims, both prisoners incarcerated at the State Penitentiary, Parchman, Mississippi. Instantly, even without hearing the song, I knew this was the perfect spiritual I would include in the Rockabilly project. I thank God for its discovery, and I sincerely thank Wash Dennis and Charlie Sims for performing this blessed spiritual for posterity. This is a special tribute to all of the thousands of Wash Dennis’ and Charlie Sims’ who transferred the spiritual message, voice-to-voice, from generation to generation.