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Back in 1996 a six-hour six-part documentary taking a look at one of America's quintessential music genres - country - went to air.
"America's Music: the Roots of Country" delved headlong into what is a rich subject matter, telling its story through live footage and interviews with the stars themselves.
To a new generation of music fans, it offered an eye-opening introduction to some of the great figures from country's past, such as Jimmie Rodger, Hank Williams, Kitty Wells, Johnny Cash, George Jones, Loretta Jones and so many more who paved the way for today's big stars.
Writer Robert K. Oerman told the Chicago Sun-Times that the the idea from the beginning was to take the viewer back and forth and in and out of history. He teamed up for this series with producer Tom Neff, a filmaker known for his documentaries of visual artists including Red Grooms and Beatrice Wood.
"One reason country lends itself to this kind of treatment is that, unlike other styles of music, all its historical elements are still living, breathing styles today," Oermann said.
"People still play bluegrass, people still sing folk songs, play rockabilly, Cajun, Western swing - these are not dead things."
Each of the six hours has a theme - including Rockabilly.
"The Roots of Country" was not only made with entertaining viewers in mind, but with the hope of sending a message about the importance of maintaining a living connection to country's past.
The Reverend Horton Heat kicked off psychobilly in the United States. The Dallas based trio formed in 1985 and built a strong cult following during the ’90s thanks to their constant touring.
While the world of psychobilly is known for its showmanship and twisted sense of humor, Reverend Horton Heat managed to update the psychobilly sound, rocking it as hard as any punk band. Most of their lyrics were a celebration of sex, drugs, booze and cars. And true to their name, their concerts often featured mock sermons in the rural revivalist preacher style.
Their music though is really a mixture of country, punk, big band, swing and rockabilly, all played loud and with a huge amount of energy. Over their 20-odd year music career they’ve achieved notable success within not just the genre, but across mainstream America with many of their songs being featured in video games and commercials.
The current members are founding member, Jim “Reverend Horton” Heath on guitar, Jimbo Wallace on the double bass and Paul Simmons on drums.
Reverend Horton Heat – the man – was born James C. Heath in Corpus Christi, TX. In his early days he played in local rock cover bands around the area. He eventually moved to Dallas and married a former band mate from Sweetbriar and together they had a child. They gave up the rock and roll life and decided to get “real jobs”. However Heath was still using the PA system from Sweetbriar to earn some extra money, doing the sound for a number of local bands. It wasn’t long though that one of the bands talked him into getting up and playing. Heath decided then and there to form his own band and came up with Reverend Horton Heat as an ode to Johnny Horton and using the shortened version of his last name, Heath.
It didn’t take long before Heath started revamping his sound and moved into rock and punk venues. By the fall of 1990 a bidding war ensued between Hollywood’s XXX Records and Seattle’s Sub Pop Records. His good friend at the time, Charlie Ray managed to secure a two record deal with an option for three more, with Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman from Sub Pop.
During those days Reverend Horton Heat managed to amass a significant underground following and ended up signing a major label deal with Interscope in 1994. With extra money thanks to extra big label bucks, Heath started ratcheting up his hell-raising lifestyle that he often sang about along with the temporary worsening of a drinking problem.
Horton Heat came back in 1996 with It’s Martini Time, an album that featured several nods to the swing and lounge revival scenes emerging at that time. That lead to the title track becoming a minor hit and the album became their first to make it into the Top 200. It was at this time that Heath also made his small-screen acting debut thanks to his on-stage preacher act, earning him a guest spot on the dramaHomicide: Life on the Street. The following year he appeared on the Drew Carey Show.
The band’s final major label album, Space Heater was released in 1998. After being dropped from Interscrope, Sub Pop released a 24-song best of compilation, Holy Roller, in 1999 featuring the band’s entire output until that point.
Heath continued to tour and recorded a number of albums for smaller labels, eventually signing his last big deal with Yep Roc in 2003.
These days Jim Heath says he’s had something of an epiphany. He’s taken his music back to what he calls some of his funnier, country-tinged crowd pleasers – “a trip back to a time before slick, over-produced country became the norm – a time when outlaws wrote songs about being without a pot to piss in-or at least about psycho exboyfriends and deadbeat girlfriends that spend your paycheck faster than you can say Lone Star.”
Heath says his latest album Laughin’ and Cryin’ is a record full of country-heavy tunes about bad habits, well meaning but clueless husbands, ever expanding beer-guts and, well, Texas.
“I really wanted to capture the feelings of recordings of the late ’50s, early ’60s,” Heath said of the songs on the new record.
Heath, who personally loves good old, mid-20th century country music, cautions that the record was not born out of a desire to introduce his audience to a new set of influences-it’s just meant to have a little fun. Besides, he warns, his next record may just be a set of “avant-garde versions of Swahili folk songs done on homemade instruments.”
Rockabilly is music that came out of the south of the US, mixed with elements of rock, blues, country, hillbilly booggie and bluegrass.
It emerged in the early '50’s…waned in the '60’s …and was revived in the late '70’s and early '80’s. Its popularity has managed to endure to the present.
Some of the great rockabilly artists included Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Wanda Jackson and Roy Orbison.
While Rockabilly may not have lasted all that long as a mainstream rock subcategory, its influence is still felt today. Several bands such as the Stray Cats have continued to perform in the Rockabilly tradition, while other artists have borrowed from the genre to create their own flavour.
The Rockabilly Revival
Over the past 50 years there's been a legion of bands dedicated to replicating the style and sound of classic '50s rock 'n'roll. While there have always been bands playing Rockabilly, the revival really hit its stride in the post-punk era, when a number of new bands picked up the sounds. Not only did they play the music, but they celebrated and embraced the pop culture that surrounds Rockabilly. The first revival culminated in the success of the Stray Cats in the early '80s. Following their success, a number of Rockabilly bands appeared in the underground scene during the late '80s. The Rockabilly Revival continued to thrive into the '90s with the most notable band to emerge being the Reverend Horton Heat.
Please feel free to tell us what you love about Rockabilly - the old stuff, the new stuff, the rockabilly clothes, the hair, the cars, the rockabilly lifestyle - where you shop - what you wear - who you listen to - if you know of an event coming up - a band we should catch - anything at all.
The '50s are seen as a time of innocence - and of innocence corrupted. It was a period of intense conservatism and the rise of suburbia on the one hand and rock and roll and a new rebellious spirit among the young, on the other.
For Rockabillies it’s an era that’s worth preserving - even if it was way before they were even born.
This site is dedicated to full skirts, big quiffs, red lipstick, peroxide hair, vintage cars, rock’n'roll and tattoos.
Check out these Rockabilly Rebels in 2004. They still burn the place down and are hotter than ever. “Rumble in Brixton" is the Stray Cats’ first ‘official’ live album. This is a fine retrospective on their career as well as one of the finest live presentations you’ll ever see.
