WORDS BY RIK FLYNN
Start searching for the crème de la crème of rockabilly tracks from the 50s and early 60s and the further down you dig the harder it gets. Such was the intense difficulty of the task that the Vintage Rock team set themselves with this definitive list of 100 rockabilly classics, that on a different day this list could have looked very different indeed. There are just so many exemplary examples of the rockabilly sound – from chart-topping mainstays to deeply-buried treasures, emanating from right across the length and breadth of the United States during that period – and a fair few good ‘uns from the UK.
For starters, in this list you will find a plenitude of recordings to have come out of Sam Phillips’ celebrated Sun Records studio in Memphis, from the well-known Sun standards made by artists like Carl Perkins, Billy Riley and Elvis through to lesserknown morsels from those that sunk below the radar such as Ray Smith, Jimmy Wages and Dick Penner, much of it unissued at the time and brought to fruition by the revival of the late 70s and 80s – but all of it priceless listening for the devout rockabilly fan. Of course, there’s plenty from the wider realm beyond Sun too, including pioneers such as Sid King, Gene Vincent and Buddy Holly, plus the ultimate purveyors of raw primal greaser rock: Johnny Burnette and the Rock’n’Roll Trio.