Exploring American Folk Music

by Kip Lornell

  ROCKABILLY

  Rockabilly, a dynamic biracial musical hybrid, began in Memphis with Sam Phillips and Elvis Presley as its primary entrepreneurial and musical progenitors. While recording musicians for out-of-town companies (mostly the Chess Brothers in Chicago and the Bahari Brothers in Los Angeles), Phillips decided to strike out on his own. He launched Sun Records in 1951 with a roster of artists from Memphis or the mid-South: “Dr.” (Isaiah) Ross (“The Harmonica Boss”), Rufus Thomas, the Ripley Cotton Choppers, and Hot Shot Love. His roster included many black musicians because Phillips not only understood there was a void in the marketplace but he had also been recording blues and gospel artists as an independent producer. The fact that he loved their fierce, hot, energetic music was of great importance because his quest was driven not only by a commercial but also by a personal interest. A southern upbringing also helped Phillips to understand that he needed a white interpreter of African American music to sell lots and lots of records—a goal he could reach only by breaking free from the straightjacket of race. But who could span this gulf, which in the South in the early 1950s must have seemed immense?

  Elvis Presley literally walked into his studio in July 1954, and although he was raw, Presley possessed all of the fundamental musical ingredients for which Phillips was searching. Growing up in Tupelo, Mississippi, and then migrating to Memphis before he was a teenager, Presley admired hillbilly music, particularly the talents of Roy Acuff, Ernest Tubb, and Hank Williams. His family was also immersed in the emotionally expressive Pentecostal Assembly of God. Presley and his backup duo had infused these influences with a 4/4 shuffle beat and the syncopated feeling of race music. Phillips quickly understood the importance of these facts as soon as he heard Presley dig into his version of Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup’s “That’s Alright, Mama,” which had been a hit among African Americans several years beforehand.

  Despite the fact that he was white and living in an overtly racist society, the spirit of black music was at Presley’s core: a slightly accented backbeat, the vocal shading and slides, an energetic defiance, extensive use of the twelve-bar blues form, guitar licks that echoed B. B. King and Lonnie Johnson, and the repertoire. Like his friends, Presley had been exposed to blues through phonograph records and, more importantly, by what he heard over the black-orientated WDIA. The young Presley was also a regular listener to a radio show on WHBQ, which featured one of the first “shock jocks.” Dewey Phillips (no relation to Sam) and his “Red, Hot, and Blue” program were wildly unpredictable and very popular; his show was characterized by zany antics and the fact that he would play records by black artists.

  The music that Presley performed wasn’t quite country and it wasn’t really “black.” Sam Phillips was struck by this synthesis, but who would consume this music? Radio was still basically segregated and most record companies continued to maintain separate race and country series. Still, there had to be a marketplace for this music somewhere. Figuring that somebody would purchase this music, Phillips released Presley’s initial effort as Sun 209, “That’s All Right,” and “Blue Moon of Kentucky” (a Bill Monroe number) by “Elvis Presley—Scotty and Bill.” The other musicians referred to were Scotty Moore (guitar) and Bill Black (bass) who made up the rest of Presley’s spare trio. The revolution began quietly in Memphis in 1954 but by 1956 Elvis (along with early rock ’n’ roll) was everywhere!

  Jerry Lee Lewis Sun label. Courtesy of Kip Lornell.

  Rockabilly is, and remains, aggressive and uncomplicated. Classic rockabilly is performed by a small ensemble (usually a trio or quartet) using an insistent duple meter to accompany an often frenzied vocal. The structure of rockabilly is most often built upon the blues form, propelled by an upright string bass at a moderate to fast tempo. Nearly all of its pioneers came from a rural, southern background. The entire sound is frequently characterized by an echo created in the studio and through the use of inexpensive amplifiers. In some respects rockabilly complements the sound achieved by Chicago blues artists such as Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf.

  Rockabilly’s secular black folk roots are augmented by a strong dose of religion. Presley openly admired African American gospel singers and sometimes went to hear the Spirit of Memphis quartet perform in local churches in the middle 1950s. His vocal techniques, especially the strained growls, would seem to come from equal doses of church and state.

  Within a year of Presley’s initial release, Memphis (and the Sun Studio in particular) became a mecca for aspiring rockabilly and other artists whose music was on the edge of commercial viability. They came from throughout the mid-South and were as steeped in black music as their hero. Billy Lee Riley drove across the Mississippi River from northern Arkansas, while Carl Perkins dropped down almost due south one hundred miles from Tipton, Tennessee. They were soon followed by Jerry Lee Lewis of Ferriday, Louisiana, who helped to popularize the boogie woogie and honky-tonk style of piano. Lewis picked up his wild piano style from listening to local blacks and from his experiences in the Pentecostal church. From Memphis itself Johnny Burnette, his brother Dorsey, and Paul Burlison stepped forward to form the Rock ’n’ Roll Trio. Their classic 1956 recordings for the New York City–based Coral label mark the diffusion of this music from its birthplace to a distribution network outside of the mid-South.

  These early rockabilly artists were wild-acting, often eccentric, characters. They not only sang and played like black men, but they sometimes adopted the Afro-American aesthetic of clowning. Like their black counterparts in contemporary rhythm and blues, singers such as Roy Brown and Wynonie Harris, they put on a good show. Jerry Lee Lewis, for example, played the piano with his feet. Red suits, a red Cadillac, and matching dyed red hair became Sonny Burgess’s trademark. Billy Lee Riley and His Little Green Men were famous for “Flyin’ Saucer Rock & Roll,” a rockabilly song about Mars and music. These young men liked to take chances and Sam Phillips gave them the room to create. Fast cars and alcohol were two facts of life for most of the rockabilly pioneers. They also liked bawdy songs by black artists. In addition to Presley’s borrowings, the early covers by white artists included Malcolm Yelvington and the Star Rhythm Boys’ “Drinkin’ Wine Spodee-O-Dee” (Sun 211) and several other songs inspired by Roy Brown’s “Good Rockin’ Tonight.”

  Inevitably, the message, spirit, and influence of rockabilly spread beyond the mid-South. By 1955 Gene Vincent, Wanda Jackson, and Eddie Cochran were boppin’ in the Midwest and on the West Coast. The music slowly became safer and more generic as Buddy Holly, Ricky Nelson, and the Everly Brothers instilled pop sensibility into their music and lifestyle. Rockabilly became more smooth, less raw, and gained acceptance across the country. By 1960 it had been virtually subsumed by more mainstream rock ’n’ roll. Despite this subsumation, rockabilly remains a subset of rock and popular music, one that undergoes occasional revivals. Most recently rockabilly has been rediscovered by punk rockers in the late 1970s and, to a lesser degree, by the neoswing devotees of the late 1990s.

  EARLY ROCK ’N’ ROLL AND ROCK

  Ten months after Elvis Presley first stepped into the Sun studio, Billboard certified “Rock Around the Clock” as a hit. Bill Haley and the Comets (earlier known as the Saddle Men, in deference to their background in country music) appealed mostly to white teenagers, providing an alternative to the even more rebellious image of rockabilly. Both genres shared many of the same musical characteristics: heavily accented backbeats on the second and fourth beat, a solo lead singer who was occasionally joined by a vocal chorus, the vocal alternating with an instrumental chorus, and the extensive use of electric guitar as a lead instrument. Unlike in rockabilly, it was not uncommon for rock ’n’ roll musicians to employ a small horn section, usually featuring an alto or tenor saxophone.

  Even Elvis Presley was moving toward rock ’n’ roll as a safer alternative to rockabilly or, one might argue, as the next evolutionary step. Late in 1955 he became an RCA Victor artist and within a year was reaching an increasingly larg
e and interracial audience. Records such as “Hound Dog,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” and “Jailhouse Rock” sold well and he was emerging as a megastar. Once again at the heart of his music was the blues in a rapidly paced, energetic style. Presley was selling records to black, white, and Hispanic audiences in every corner of the United States within two years of singing with this major label.

  This crossover appeal helped to open the door for Little Richard and Chuck Berry. Their style of highly charged rock ’n’ roll with lyrics aimed at a teenage audience brought them to the attention of white listeners. Even New Orleans’s Fats Domino was able to sell his souped-up rhythm and blues to a white audience. New Orleans R&B proved to be particularly appealing to white audiences toward the close of legal segregation. This music usually employed the same instruments as rock ’n’ roll, but it was saturated with polyrhythms derived from its Afro-Caribbean background. Electric guitars were less prominent and the music was often played at a more leisurely tempo. New Orleans R&B had plenty of energy, but it lacked rockabilly’s frenetic edge.

  Domino was a leading exponent of this music and led the way to commercial success with hits such as “Blueberry Hill” and “I’m Walking (to New Orleans).” He was joined by lesser-known New Orleans–based artists such as Lloyd Price and Huey “Piano” Smith. They were best known in the African American community but each of them enjoyed a bit of success in rock ’n’ roll circles. Price, for example, is perhaps best known for his version of “Stagger Lee,” while Smith is usually identified with the “Rockin’ Pneumonia and Boogie Woogie Flu.” It is worth noting that Price’s hit can be traced back to a song from the 1890s, and the theme of Smith’s song (illness) was used by earlier black artists such as Blind Willie Johnson and Memphis Minnie.

  There was a cultural backlash and parental outcry (mostly among white parents) against rock ’n’ roll, which was disparaged as antimusic, destructive, antisocial, and crude. It was further argued that rock ’n’ roll championed promiscuity, juvenile delinquence, a rebellious nature, and racial unrest. A film such as Black Board Jungle, which featured “Rock Around the Clock,” became one of the pioneering cinematic promoters of rock ’n’ roll.

  The infusion of African American musical culture into white music not only underlined the entire debate, it was a core (though often unspoken and implied) issue. Atlantic Records was at the vanguard of this movement; it was one of the important commercial forces in selling black American culture to white youths beginning with its jazz series in the late 1940s and then through its popular R&B recordings of the early to middle 1950s. Such small, independent companies as DeLuxe and King helped to promote similar musical tastes among black and white youths, who bought many of the same records and who wanted to attend integrated concerts! These social changes proved to be very problematic for a legally segregated society and helped to promote a social climate that made the civil rights movement possible.

  Fortunately for America’s parents and our cultural stability, the impact of rock ’n’ roll diminished within a few years. Just as the folk revival was gaining steam in the late 1950s, rock ’n’ roll began taking a more innocuous stance. Electric guitars, emotional vocals, energy, and the defiance characterized by rockabilly in particular was slowly giving way to slicker musicians. The blues and its musical compatriots were moving aside (at least temporarily) to accommodate the Tin Pan Alley school of songwriting. Bobby Darrin, Paul Anka, and Pat Boone made romantic love hip again, once again looking back toward the era of the quintessential bobby-soxer, Frank Sinatra. Meanwhile, the Crew-Cuts’ and other white doo-wop groups’ sentimentalized and overproduced versions of the black vocal group style sold in large numbers. They were followed in short order by the California surf music of the Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, the Ventures, and others. By the early 1960s rock ’n’ roll had ceased to be a viable vehicle for rebellious expression.

  This is not to say that the white popular music—mostly rock—moved entirely away from these blues-orientated roots. At the height of the interest in fun in the California sun, late in 1963, the British “invaded” our shores. The invasion was led by the Beatles, who led the way for the Rolling Stones, the Who, Cream, and others. By 1965 it was chic to be an English popular musician and the cliché is that record companies were signing anyone with a British accent.

  Ironically, these British artists helped to reintroduce blues back into American popular music. Assisted by the folk revival, which clearly recognized the importance of blues, the blues-influenced British rockers infused our airwaves and their own long-play records with their versions of songs by Howlin’ Wolf, Sonny Boy Williamson, Slim Harpo, Robert Johnson, and many others. These blues-inspired recordings, along with groups like the Big Brother and the Holding Company, Grateful Dead, the Jefferson Airplane, and the Lovin’ Spoonful, which had strong roots in the folk revival, reinstilled the blues form and repertoire into rock music. At the 1965 Newport Folk Festival the Chicago-based (and racially integrated) Paul Butterfield Blues Band conspired with Bob Dylan to go electric and quickly became an important force in the blues revival.

  Even such acid-inspired groups as Country Joe and the Fish, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, and the Thirteenth Floor Elevator included extended “blues jams” as part of their live performances. It was not unusual for a venue as hip as the Fillmore West to have a double bill with, for example, the Quicksilver Messenger Service and the Muddy Waters Blues Band. So, the rock music of the mid- to late 1960s had come to embrace not only the blues form but also to publicly acknowledge their tremendous influence on their music both in interviews and on stage.

  Though its influence has ebbed and flowed, the impact of blues on rock music remains to the present day. Create this scene in the mind’s eye and ear: It is a hot sultry night with beer flowing and sweaty bodies (men and women) pumping and grinding as they dance together while mosquitoes seem to emulate their two-legged counterparts. The guitarist retunes his guitar to an open chord, slips a metal slide on the small finger of his left hand, and launches into a strident, repetitive figure high on the neck of his old blond stratocaster. The rhythm guitarist echoes the walkin’ boogie line of the bass guitar and the drummer sets up a quick shuffle beat. The singer’s wavering, grave, though high-pitched, voice begins a song about the Highway 61 that parallels the Mississippi River down through the Delta, familial violence, and the power of the Lord. The sonic qualities of this particular performance, especially the sound of the instruments blending and blurring together into a single voice, reminded me of the Bihari Brothers’ powerful live recordings of Elmore James in a Canton, Mississippi, juke joint in 1953, which were issued on their Flair label and are now considered classic sides.

  But this was not an African American blues band entertaining patrons in some backwater club. The performer was pop music icon Bob Dylan (on tour with Paul Simon in July 1999) once more revisiting his own roots. His set also included some folk/rock material, such as “Its All Over Baby Blues,” accompanied by pedal steel guitar and an all-acoustical version of “Like a Rolling Stone.” He and Simon performed three songs together—one Dylan tune and Simon’s “Sounds of Silence”—but the only song that worked well was an ebullient “That’ll Be the Day.” Ironically, this was another look back to the late 1950s when Buddy Holly was the king of pop-a-billy and both Dylan and Simon were cutting their teeth on folk-based and popular music.

  Major popular music stars are not the only ones who look toward their roots. Many punk rockers, for instance, maintain some of the defiant, snarling, and intense stage posturings of a blues musician like Howlin’ Wolf, or Bob Dylan for that matter. Aerosmith played many blues-based songs but made a great impact with their cover of Bull Moose Jackson’s salacious “Big Ten Inch,” which had initially tittilated black audiences in the early 1950s. In the early 2000s, blues (and soul) rockers Robert Cray and Kenny Wayne Shepard caught the ear of young white audiences. Simultaneously, the “swing revival” that peaked in 1999 is less a rebirth of swing artists
Benny Goodman or Tommy Dorsey than a rekindling of interest in the R&B of Louis Jordan and Big Joe Turner by groups such as Big Voodoo Daddy, Swing Six, or Brian Setzer’s Orchestra. As we have seen so often in this chapter, what goes around, comes around or, to state this aphorism another way, what’s old becomes new again . . . if you live long enough.

  MOTOWN AND SOUL

  Soul emerged as the next wave of urban popular black music, and Motown Records in Detroit served as its northern headquarters. Founded in 1960 by Barry Gordy, Jr., Motown (and its allied Tamala label) preceded the soul revolution by several years. However, by the end of the decade Motown had grown into one of the largest corporations owned and operated by blacks in the United States as well as a powerful force in popular music. Mary Wells, Diana Ross and the Supremes, the Four Tops, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson Five were among its top acts. Motown specialized in pop/soul and their music emphasized sophisticated, sometimes innovative, string arrangements played by studio orchestras. Motown records tended to have strong appeal throughout the black community with crossover appeal to a white audience, too. In fact, it used the color-blind slogan “the sound of young America” in an effort to reach white listeners. Their attempt largely succeeded.

  Elsewhere, especially in the Stax studio in Memphis and Atlantic Record’s Muscle Shoals, Alabama, studio, a different brand of soul music was being documented. This was the “deep” southern soul of Betty Wright, O. V. Wright, Wilson Pickett, Aretha Franklin, and Otis Redding, which was much closer to its black musical heritage than its Detroit counterpart. With more direct links to blues and gospel, southern soul tugged at the heart and emotions of its listeners. These often occurred in “soul ballads,” slow tempo songs with heart-wrenching lyrics about the problems between men and women.