Andre Williams

WELCOME…

When Stray Cats first made their indelible mark, they

STRUTTIN’ AGAIN

Four decades after their formation, Stray Cats are back live and on our turntables. Brian Setzer tells of the band’s beginnings and that fateful trip to cold but rockin’ London…

Rockabilly Summer

The UK summer has begun… Here’s our quick round-up of what rockin’ treats to expect from top-down car cruises by the sea to the best of rock’n’roll and rockabilly weekenders

Billy Adams

Rock, Pretty Mama writer and singer has died at the age of 79

The DeadShots

The Birmingham-based rockabilly four-piece are fast making a name for themselves as ‘wild and deadly’

Marty Wilde

WithaBest Ofin the charts, aboxset in the shops and new material on the way, it’s a bnsy year for the British legend

Singles & EP Reviews

From fresh new sounds to rare vintage demos, from dripping reverb to the wildest twang, this month’s singles and EPs round-up aims to obliterate your record-buying budget. Naturally, we apologise…

Vinyl LP Reviews

Stray Cats’ first new music in 26 years, plus underground country, Elvis in Paris, brutal psychobilly, rare Buddy Holly and much more…

CD Album Reviews

Included on your rock’n’roll platter this month are new releases from Kim Lenz, Pete Pritchard and Steve Hooker, retrospectives from The Everly Brothers, Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers and Guitar Smith – and even an album of Finnish bluegrass. Oh yes…

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS…

Now in its 22nd year, the Viva Las Vegas festival welcomes over 20,000 music fans annually to Sin City. John Howard reports from the front line of 2019’s event…

HUMDINGER GOES GLOBAL!

Rockabilly fans descended on the seaside town of Westonsuper- Mare in April for the annual Humdinger weekender…

A LIFE IN ROCK’N’ROLL

In this issue, Vince remembers dealing with an inebriated Danny Rivers and the pressure of working alongside the notoriously difficult Jerry Lee Lewis…

Rockabilly soundtrack of my life

Homegrown rockabilly hero Darrel Higham, 49, formed his band Darrel Higham & The Enforcers in the mid- 1990s. As a soloist he has collaborated with such artists as Rocky Burnette, Chrissie Hynde, Jeff Beck, Billy Lee Riley and Shakin’ Stevens. He’s also a member of transatlantic rockabilly outfit Kat Men, alongside Stray Cats’ Slim Jim Phantom

A BIG HUNK O’ ELVIS

Elvis made only one trip to the studio during his US

CLASSIC ALBUM

Its title was a light-hearted pun on the image of a strawberrysprinkled sundae, but the double meaning was clear – and when Chuck Berry Is On Top hit the racks 60 years ago its creator was soaring high after the most successful 18 months of his career

COVER STORIES

Not all cover versions of R&B classics suffer in comparison. Sometimes they fare even better than the originals…

THE REAL DEAL RETURNS

Vintage Rock enjoys a rare encounter with the red-hot neo-rocker Robert Gordon who, with the late great guitar legend Link Wray, shook up the 70s with two iconic albums. Marking this 40th anniversary comes a collector’s dream – two live CDs, with new and unreleased material…

JOHNNY ON THE SPOT

Vintage Rock talks to the man whom BBC DJ Tom Robinson once described as like “a rockabilly hybrid of Captain Beefh eart, Carl Perkins and Tom Waits”

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TOP 20 DOC POMUS & MORT SHUMAN

Elvis Presley, The Drifters, Dion, Ray Charles and many other stars beat a path to their Brill Building door for melody, humour and a special brand of heartbreak

ROCKET SCIENCE

A new Bear Family compilation, Narvel Felts Rocks, explores the country/rockabilly singer’s musical roots. Vintage Rock learns of a remarkable and varied career – from the man himself…

PLAYING WITH FIRE!

40 years after Matchbox took slap-bass rock’n’roll back into the UK Top 20, Vintage Rock meets Graham Fenton, Steve Bloomfield and Gordon Scott from the original rockabilly rebels…