Musician’s Notebook

When Elvis began to make headlines with his one-two punch of hungry vocals and hip gyrations, kids across the world began to copy anything and everything about him. But, of course, the biggest part of the pre-sequined, slim young Memphis musical maniac was his sound — part rock, part torch, heavy on rhythm and some serious reverb!

But it was a solo act, and not copied by a group, actually, until another country artist named Gene Vincent crossed the fence into the rockyard with his group, the Bluecaps (named after President Eisenhower’s golfing cap, of all things!). They hit with songs like Be-Bop-A-Lula (written by Gene for a hooker!), Blue Jean Bop and the serious “B” side rocker Who Slapped John? (I know Haley tried … but, compared to the rock-torch of the new guys, his was watered-down.)

But it took a young, bespectacled singer from Lubbock, Texas, to put the finishing touches on the “first draft” of today’s rock.

Buddy Holley (the “e” was dropped from his name on the first bills, and stuck) and his Crickets, while influenced by Elvis, included the famous “hiccuping” sound used by some of the British Invasion groups as well as the basic lineup: bass (first, upright; later becoming electric with Waylon Jennings playing), electric guitar, and drums. Buddy also played some tremendous rhythm attacks that were translated into the Invasion sounds. Tragically, on February 3, 1959, in a field near Mason City, Iowa, Buddy was killed in a deadly plane crash along with the “Big Bopper”, Richie Valens and the plane’s pilot. In an ironic twist, the new bass player for Buddy gave up his spot on the plane to JP Richardson (”Bopper”) because JP thought the others’ tour bus would’ve made his burgeoning cold worse. That bass player’s name (as I said earlier) was Waylon Jennings — who later became a country mega-superstar in his own right.

Now … with the new sound fully in place and played to fanatical teens across the nation, it began to seep into another culture across the Atlantic, in a place called “England.” And the effects would be nothing less than phenomenal …

Okay … that’s it for this session, but stay tuned; I’ll have more in just a little less than 24!  So, until next time,
keep yer eyes on the skies, yer feet on the ground, yer heart with the music …
and I’ll see ya on the flip side!