{"id":1889,"date":"2017-06-03T17:03:29","date_gmt":"2017-06-03T17:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/?p=1889"},"modified":"2017-06-30T14:45:45","modified_gmt":"2017-06-30T14:45:45","slug":"as-rockabilly-fell-musicians-adapted-in-delta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/?p=1889","title":{"rendered":"As Rockabilly Fell, Musicians Adapted in Delta"},"content":{"rendered":"

Third in A Series<\/em><\/p>\n

By Matt Chaney, ChaneysBlog.com<\/p>\n

Posted Saturday, June 3, 2017<\/p>\n

Copyright\u00a0\u00a92017 for historical arrangement by Matthew L. Chaney<\/p>\n

Buddy Holly wanted clean clothes. Richie Valens planned a haircut. And J.P. \u201cBig Bopper\u201d Richardson felt ill enough for a flu shot.<\/p>\n

Foremost, the young musicians sought a break from bus-riding on their hellish winter tour through Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota.<\/p>\n

After 11 days and nights on snowy highways, the players felt like grungy, chilled meat. All had faced hypothermia on a bus, stalled hours in Wisconsin darkness with minus-30 degrees and howling winds. A drummer had to be hospitalized for frostbite, midway through tour dates.<\/p>\n

So, following an Iowa show the night of Feb. 2, 1959, the three pop stars\u2014Holly, Richardson and Valens\u2014crammed into a four-seat prop plane at Mason City.<\/p>\n

Their pilot was young but gaining experience, and the weather qualified as safe for flight. Local 1 a.m. conditions registered 18 degrees with light snowfall, winds of 35 mph, visibility at six miles. The little plane took off down the runway and rose airborne, northbound for Fargo, North Dakota.<\/p>\n

Flight service owner Jerry Dwyer watched the aircraft ascend in the night, reaching about one thousand feet where it banked left, northwesterly. Then, farther distant, the lights seemed to dip toward earth. Dwyer brushed that off as optical illusion, but eight hours later he discovered crash wreckage\u2014and the four dead\u2014in a farm field five miles from the airport.<\/p>\n

The Holly tragedy would symbolize downfall of early rock n\u2019 roll, rockabilly<\/em>, although other\u00a0factors weighed heavier. Primarily it was Fifth Avenue commercialization, New York City\u2019s influence as pop-music capital, this time for rock<\/em>, and any pristine sound was snuffed.<\/p>\n

Even Holly\u2019s music was softening at his death. The Texan had met his wife in New York and moved to Manhattan, collaborating on song<\/a> with the likes of crooner Paul Anka and orchestra musicians. \u201cHe was moving away from rockabilly\u2026,\u201d historian Craig Robert Morrison later observed of Holly, \u201chad he lived, it is unlikely that he would have added to his rockabilly works.\u201d<\/p>\n

In spring 1959, Memphis record producer Sam Phillips declared rockabilly was finished, the music his studio had unleashed. \u201cIt\u2019s all over but the mushroom cloud,\u201d Phillips told a reporter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids just got tired of the ruckus and we are moving into a period of greater variety in taste. More people are going to have big records, but we\u2019ll have fewer fantastic ones,\u201d explained Phillips, whose Sun Records had first released Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore, Bill Black, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis, among innovators.<\/p>\n

Six decades later, retired musician Al Jordan echoes Phillips. \u201cThe rockabilly thing actually only lasted about five years,\u201d Jordan says in the Missouri Bootheel.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuddy Holly was kind of like Carl Perkins; he was a stylist. Johnny Cash had a style completely different from everybody, you know, and Elvis had his style. There was a boy from over at Senath, Missouri, Jimmy Edwards, who was a rockabilly artist. He had two chart records then he just kindly fell out of the scene.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause music was changing,\u201d continues Jordan, former drummer in rock and country. \u201cRockabilly was being changed because of Nashville and New York. In other words, that style of music didn\u2019t go to town anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven country music was changing about then, to more of a pop sound than actual grassroots country.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Music percolated in southeast Missouri a century ago\u2014jazz, blues, gospel and \u201chillbilly\u201d<\/a>\u2014amidst raw landscape.<\/p>\n

This was an American frontier, still, with 10 delta counties subject to swamping by the Mississippi at flood stage. During catastrophic events the great river went everywhere, spilling south at a hundred miles wide, sparing only ridges of high sand and jutting limestone.<\/p>\n

Southeast Missouri was typically wet with muddy roads, whether in hills or bottoms. But musicians carried on, like jazz leader Raymond F. \u201cPeg\u201d Meyer at Cape Girardeau, where delta flatland met high ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cManaging a jazz band in the 1920s was an enlightening experience due to all of the predicaments that could suddenly pop up,\u201d Meyer recalled in his 1989 book, Backwoods Jazz In The Twenties<\/em>. \u201cIf we booked a job five miles from home, and it rained, we never knew if we could get there or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Heading for a wedding dance in the hills, Meyer\u2019s \u201cMelody Kings\u201d sank their Model T in a bog. The four jazzmen got out in tuxedos and pushed, wallowing in mud like hogs. One fell into ditch water, to his neck.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is easy to imagine the expression on the faces of the wedding party when we entered the hall,\u201d Meyer noted.<\/p>\n

The band trekked to gigs down in the delta, including at Portageville, 70 miles from Cape Girardeau. In rainfall the flats \u201chad no bottom,\u201d Meyer wrote. \u201cRoads through the sandy sections of the area were soft and produced no mud or chuck holes, but were marked by two ruts which the wheels of the car followed as closely as wheels on a railroad track.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe only difference was that railroad tracks were straight, and the sand ruts were like a snake\u2019s trail. You could just turn the steering wheel loose, and the car would follow the ruts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Returning home one night in the 1921 Ford, from deep in the Missouri Bootheel, the Melody Kings heard talk of a graded section on new federal Highway 61. The stretch remained under construction but did lead due north, a tantalizing prospect for the Cape boys. Police barred traffic at daytime but locals cruised over the grade by night, they heard.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe started up the new roadbed and it was fine, straight as a ruler,\u201d Meyer wrote. \u201cWith nothing in sight we were sailing along at a good clip when all at once I saw a telephone pole lying across the road, obviously to prevent vehicles from entering\u2026 Fortunately both front and rear wheels hit the pole at the same angle, and we just took a flying leap and landed on all fours. What elevation we reached I do not know.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meyer decided to accompany the Kings\u2019 wunderkind pianist, Jess Stacy, into riverboat entertainment for smoother travel and better pay. They had a blast.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wild Twenties brought everyone to life,\u201d Meyer recalled. \u201cMusicians in the Twenties practically became contortionists playing their musical instruments in any unconventional manner, standing on chairs, swaying in unison to the rhythms, wearing crazy hats and clowning in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMany times I saw Jess Stacy standing on the piano stool, squatting down just enough to reach the piano keys. Much of the popularity of bands in the Twenties came from their actions as much as their musical production.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the evolution toward rock music, jazz or \u201cbig band\u201d swing is often overlooked as factor.<\/p>\n

Jerry Lee Lewis was wearing diapers when Jess Stacy moved up to Benny Goodman\u2019s orchestra in New York City. Stacy, native of Bird\u2019s Point, Missouri, in the delta<\/a>, contributed memorably to Goodman\u2019s revolutionary “swing” of the latter Depression Era. Stacy was spotlighted during Goodman\u2019s landmark concert<\/a> of 1938, soloing on the keys to applause in Carnegie Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cJess Stacy was my first piano player, and he became one of the best jazz pianists<\/a> in the world,\u201d wrote Meyer.<\/p>\n

During the 1940s critics decried swing bands and \u201cjitterbug antics\u201d for supplanting the popularity of symphony orchestra and staid ballroom dance. Rudi Blesh of The New York Herald Tribune<\/em> ripped \u201cbanal music of the large swing bands playing an arranged product.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has been virtually impossible to escape hearing swing, so thoroughly has our atmosphere been saturated with it by a determined effort to sell it,\u201d the reviewer complained.<\/p>\n

But an English music historian qualified free movement to beat music as ancient, declaring jitterbugging enthralled humans since the Romans at least. \u201cPeople want to dance together and have lots of fun in groups,\u201d said Douglas Kenney, London. \u201cThey are beginning to tire of just moving around the floor with a member of the opposite sex.\u201d<\/p>\n

Few would\u2019ve disagreed around southeast Missouri, where hep<\/a> jazz music filled roadhouses, dance halls and armories, especially along Highway 61. A 1940 show in Sikeston for Cab Calloway, famed \u201cKing of Swing\u201d from Harlem, sold out immediately at a whopping $3 per ticket.<\/p>\n

In 1945 Jess Stacy\u2014\u201cAmerica\u2019s famous piano stylist\u201d\u2014returned home to perform at the Colony Club, swank establishment located across the river bridge from Cape Girardeau.<\/p>\n

The Colony Club was operated by gamblers<\/a> in the wild Illinois bottoms. Stacy was among major names to appear on the stage, such as bandleaders Lawrence Welk, Guy Lombardo, Harry James and Woody Herman. Nearby, the Purple Crackle club hosted Count Basie and his orchestra. Louis Armstrong played dates along this strip of Highway 146.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Colony Club was a great one,\u201d says Matt Lucas, hit recording artist<\/a> from southeast Missouri who worked regionally in the latter 1950s and early \u201960s. \u201cI played the Colony Club with the Ray Chilton Band, the Bill Bradley Trio and Narvel Felts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember how shocked I was to see [jazzman] Al Morgan<\/a> playing in the lounge. He was big stuff and had a big hit of \u2018Jealous Heart.\u2019 I had a drink with him and he said he played there a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThose were some great days and nights\u2026,\u201d Lucas recalls, \u201cas the music was changing from the big bands to rockabilly\u2014rock n\u2019 roll.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Country music headlined in New York City following World War II, and practically everywhere else in America.<\/p>\n

\u201cGrand Ole Opry\u2019s current invasion of one of New York\u2019s fancy nightspots is a milestone inevitable for this booming entertainment fad,\u201d reported The Associated Press, June 1952. \u201cEddie Hill and his troupe of 15 will play folk type music for dancing at the Hotel Astor roof in New York [Times Square] all summer long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGroups of Opry headliners, with all their players, will appear two weeks each. Meanwhile, Nashville\u2019s Grand Ole Opry will go on as before, minus the ones missing in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Nashville, reserved seating was sold-out for the summer of Opry performances at Ryman Auditorium. Scrambles ensued over weekly allotments for general admission. \u201c3,600 people pack into the barnlike building for the first hours of the [Saturday] show,\u201d The AP reported. \u201cAt 10 p.m. there\u2019s a block-long line outside waiting to grab the 1,400 or so seats vacated at that hour.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Opry mainstreamed a distinct music known by various terms. \u201cSome call it folk music,\u201d The AP noted. \u201cOthers refer to it as country, hillbilly, mountain or western music.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was called pickin\u2019<\/em> in the southeast Missouri delta and foothills. This was home region of legendary Opry fiddler Dale Potter and guitarist Onie Wheeler, up-and-comer. The area also claimed a native in Ferlin Husky, star of the Nashville sound in California.<\/p>\n

Country music\u2019s mystique was infectious for youngsters like Fred Horrell at Cape Girardeau. \u201cI started playing harmonica at 7 years old\u2026 I just loved the sound of that dang stuff,\u201d Horrell says, speaking in a recent interview.<\/p>\n

In the 1940s Fred would cock ear to a box radio, concentrating to hear lyrics and notes. He tried to memorize because hearing a song was ephemeral, momentary, since the youngster was without means to record. \u201cShoot, I\u2019d sit around when I was a boy, and ol\u2019 Hank Williams would come on, moaning them songs, all that stuff. And Roy Rogers, Gene Autry\u2019s singing cowboy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fred idolized his uncle Lawrence Horrell, a champion fiddler who\u2019d joined Eddy Arnold on stage and radio in St. Louis, during the latter\u2019s rise in country music. \u201cI had uncles, fiddlers\u2026 and Lawrence, he was excellent.\u201d The boy was bound to play music on stage himself. \u201cThat\u2019s what led me,\u201d Fred says.<\/p>\n

Fiddle players were a regional hallmark and Dale Potter stood peerless in his time, for anywhere, says Steve Sharp, former drummer and retired judge in Kennett, Missouri. In the 1960s Sharp played on stage with Potter and budding songwriters Jerry Foster and Bill Rice. \u201cWe were playing rock n\u2019 roll basically but had the world\u2019s greatest fiddler, Dale Potter, in the band,\u201d Sharp says.<\/p>\n

Potter was a native of Puxico, a little community on Crowley\u2019s Ridge at Mingo Swamp<\/a>. \u201cHe grew up listening to Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys, and taught himself to play fiddle listening to them,\u201d Sharp says. \u201cDale thought there was one fiddle playing, but they were dual fiddles. And he developed a style of playing\u2014called Potter Style of fiddling\u2014where he emulated two fiddles.\u201d<\/p>\n

Potter was among country stars and bands appearing at the Sikeston Armory and fairs of southeast Missouri in the \u201940s and \u201950s. Most were on Opry tours from Nashville.<\/p>\n

They included bluegrass maestros Bill Monroe and Art Wooten; Eddy Arnold and The Tennessee Plowboys; Tex Ritter, the \u201cWestern Movie Star\u201d; Minnie Pearl, \u201cComedy Sensation of The Nation\u201d; Ernest Tubb and The Texas Troubadours; \u201cLittle Jimmy\u201d Dickens; Lloyd \u201cCowboy\u201d Copas and wife Kathy Copas; and Ray Price, famed baritone.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, an alternative pickin\u2019 gained popularity in delta honky-tonks and roadhouses, an up-tempo beat of \u201chillbilly\u201d and rhythm-and-blues that dancers loved. Many musicians would identify this postwar\u00a0trend as genesis of rockabilly.<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

As Elvis Presley\u2019s fame rocketed in 1956, he told a Nebraska reporter \u201crock n\u2019 roll\u201d had really begun about five years earlier. At that time in Memphis, Presley was a schoolboy trying to learn from local musicians like Paul Burlison, maverick guitarist, and his band mates the Burnette brothers, Johnny and Dorsey.<\/p>\n

Burlison recalled their trio \u201ccombined country and blues\u201d for dance music in bars. Rocky Burnette, Johnny\u2019s son, said the three solidified rockabilly genre in 1953 by \u201ctaking Hank Williams tunes, old Joe Turner tunes, and putting a beat to them.\u201d<\/p>\n

There were more pioneers, apparently. Mississippi singer Charlie Feathers said he crafted rockabilly early as 1949, declaring the pure\u00a0sound was limited to vocals, guitar and bass.<\/p>\n

Billy Lee Riley, an Arkansas native, believed his delta band made rockabilly. \u201cWe\u2019ve never gotten credit for that, but it\u2019s a fact,\u201d Riley said in 1984. \u201cI was doing what Elvis was doing before Elvis did it: mixing blues and hillbilly, putting a laidback, funky beat to hillbilly music.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Perkins Brothers Band savored up-tempo picking at Jackson, Tennessee, before Elvis was known. The Perkins boys came up amid the flatland and ridges north of Memphis, influenced by Opry picking but also blues and gospel. As young men they played a sharp beat that melded styles. \u201cIt didn\u2019t have a name; we called it feel-good music,\u201d Carl Perkins said later.<\/p>\n

Perkins hired a drummer in early 1954, Tony Austin, notes historian Craig Robert Morrison. The addition was unlike country bands, along with other differences. \u201cCarl\u2019s band was popular in Jackson, Tennessee, and was unusual for not having a fiddle or steel guitar,\u201d Morrison observed in 1984, for his interviews with regional musicians.<\/p>\n

\u201cTony [Austin] states that they were playing country music with a black influence, and he feels that Perkins was \u2018the original rockabilly.\u2019 This was also expressed by Smoochie Smith, who played piano with Perkins in 1954. Perkins has stated that he realized he had a chance in the music business when he heard Presley\u2019s record [that summer] because: \u2018It was exactly what I was doing.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

To the southwest, change was afoot in Texas music by early 1954, when record distributors said the R&B of black musicians was gaining on \u201chillbilly\u201d and pop tunes. \u201cFor the uninitiated, [R&B] can be identified by its strong swaying rhythm and wailing saxophones,\u201d The AP reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut rhythm and blues, from the beginning, was an extremely limited sound,\u201d analyst Robert Hilburn, a delta native, intoned for The Los Angeles Times<\/em> in 1970. \u201cAlone it could not have reshaped pop music. It needed help. Fortunately, country-western provided that help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enter Scotty Moore, his cutting-edge electric guitar. \u201cAs a musician, I consider him one of the co-founders of rock n\u2019 roll because of the guitar licks that he invented,\u201d remarked James L. Dickenson, biographer.<\/p>\n

Moore grew up listening to jazz players and Opry pickers on radio at Gadsden in western Tennessee. He learned guitar, modeling greats like Les Paul. After his Navy discharge in 1952, Moore joined bass player Bill Black in a country band at Memphis.<\/p>\n

\u201cAround the same time, Scotty began working on the thumb-and-finger style associated with Merle Travis and Chet Atkins, in which the thumb plays the rhythm on the bass strings while the other fingers pick out a melody on the higher strings,\u201d Jay Orr reported for The Nashville Banner<\/em> in 1997.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounded like two guitar players,\u201d Moore said. \u201cI finally went and bought two or three of Chet’s records, 78s. I was listening and listening and began to get it a little bit. I couldn’t pick out the notes, but I could do it with the rhythm.”<\/p>\n

Paul Burlison discussed Moore for Dan Griffin, co-author with Ken Burke of The Blue Moon Boys: Elvis Presley\u2019s Band<\/em>. \u201cScotty Moore had such an unusual style,\u201d Burlison said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could walk into a building somewhere and not even know he was there and tell it was him\u2026 He played with all his fingers\u2026 He\u2019d make those big old crab chords and we\u2019d say, \u2018What\u2019s he doing?\u2019 He had the sound that just knocked you out.\u201d<\/p>\n

On July 5, 1954, Moore and Black hooked up with unknown Memphis musician\u00a0Elvis Presley for a recording session at Sun Records. Presley thought himself a country singer and was unimpressive on initial takes, Moore would recall. But around midnight Elvis found his rockabilly voice, swinging into a cover of \u201cThat\u2019s All Right\u201d written by bluesman Arthur Crudup.<\/p>\n

Moore added his stylish riffs in solos and bursts<\/a>\u2014\u201cRather than just play a few notes, I was trying to fill up space,\u201d he recalled\u2014while Black picked strings and tapped on upright bass. Sun producer Sam Phillips recorded single takes on one track, no dubbing, and quickly declared a wrap.<\/p>\n

Within days the Elvis Presley<\/a> record was a smash in his hometown and the surrounding delta. Radio stations were buried in listener requests for \u201cThat\u2019s All Right.\u201d<\/p>\n

The term rock and roll<\/em> wasn\u2019t yet applicable to music, but the pioneers at Sun Records grasped it nonetheless, observes Joe Keene, retired producer, songwriter and rockabilly in Kennett, Missouri, north of Memphis.<\/p>\n

Keene says, \u201cThat moment when Elvis did \u2018That\u2019s All Right,\u2019 Sam said, \u2018That\u2019s what I\u2019ve been looking for, that raw, energy feeling.\u2019 Now when they did the next record, \u2018Good Rocking Tonight,\u2019 they knew<\/em> who they were.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keene recounts: \u201cHave you heard the news, there\u2019s good rockin\u2019<\/em>\u2026 And they said, \u2018Okay, that\u2019s us.\u2019 They knew exactly<\/em> who they were, then and from that point on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rockabilly had arrived certifiably at Memphis, in the delta, and for the planet.<\/p>\n

\u201dAll I wanted to do in the world was to be able to play and sound like that,” stated Keith Richards, Rolling Stones guitarist, in prologue for Moore’s 1997 biography. “Those early records were incredible. Everyone else wanted to be Elvis. I wanted to be Scotty.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

Meteoric rockabilly plummeted as The Fifties closed, flaming out for multiple reasons. The tragedy of Buddy Holly, Big Bopper and Richie Valens, killed in the Iowa plane crash, only punctuated rockabilly\u2019s downfall.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite its enormous popularity in the mid and late 1950s, rock appeared ready to be counted out in 1960 as a force in pop music,\u201d Hilburn observed. \u201cThose who had long predicted that rock was nothing more than a youthful, passing fad were ready to collect their bets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Talent flight from delta studios took a toll, an exodus that had begun early with Elvis Presley. He left Sun Records in late 1955, after some 15 months under contact, going for riches with RCA Victor and Hollywood filmmakers.<\/p>\n

Presley made millions but lost his edge under new music masters, singing their tunes like \u201cTeddy Bear<\/a>\u201d in forgettable movies. Then the military drafted him. \u201cMy heart just bled when Elvis was raped with those damn stupid songs and movies and stuff,\u201d Sam Phillips later complained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe early stars, for various reasons, had faded from the scene,\u201d Hilburn wrote. \u201cElvis Presley had been in the Army. Little Richard quit music to study religion. Jerry Lee Lewis\u2019 marriage to his teen-age cousin caused disc jockeys to stop playing his records and Buddy Holly was dead. And on and on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Major recording studios \u201chad no intrinsic interest or belief in the new sound,\u201d Hilburn noted. \u201cIn fact, they were probably more than a little uncomfortable being associated with what the adult world viewed largely as a primitive, talentless, almost sinful music.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fifth Avenue marketers wanted pop rock sung by cute crooners and warblers, faces for television. The breed proliferated around New York and Los Angeles, including former rockabillies.<\/p>\n

At Nashville, producers sought hot beat and instruments like saxophone for country music but little else, having always belittled delta rockers. And novelty songs were chart-toppers, such as \u201cPurple People Eater<\/a>\u201d at No.1 on Billboard, burying rockabilly recordings that persisted.<\/p>\n

Genres overlapped and gimmicks flourished, for which Chet Atkins later blamed the Elvis effect. \u201cEver since he came along, we\u2019ve been losing our musical identities,\u201d said Atkins in Nashville. \u201cThere used to be pop and gospel and country and so on.\u201d<\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

No one said music was dead around southeast Missouri in the early 1960s. Ambitious musicians kept hammering at their craft and enjoying multiple styles; they performed, wrote and composed.<\/p>\n

Missouri musicians played country, the music of blurring lines around rock, R&B and jazz. They played pristine rockabilly, broader rock n\u2019 roll, and the blues.<\/p>\n

Southeast Missouri music venues continued to thrive and draw names including Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Bill Black and Charlie Rich\u2014stars likewise ready with songs from across the spectrum.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe music from here, and Memphis, everything, it\u2019s like a combination of gospel, blues and country,\u201d Al Jordan says, former drummer for country stars, speaking at his home in Hayti, Missouri.<\/p>\n

Steve Sharp, former drummer for Rich, says, \u201cIt was very normal to do \u2018Whole Lotta Shaking Goin\u2019 On\u2019 followed by \u2018Together Again<\/a>,\u2019 followed by B.B. King\u2019s \u2018Sweet Sixteen.\u2019 You didn\u2019t think a thing about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buck Owens, B.B. King\u2014in one set.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sharp adds, \u201cDown here, if you were interested in music, you grew up listening simultaneously to WSM [radio] and Grand Ole Opry and XER from Del Rio, Texas, and WLAC, Nashville and Gallatin, Tennessee. You listened to R&B, gospel, country.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cJerry Foster wrote and recorded a song about a year ago called \u2018Sunrise In Memphis.\u2019 It talks about the delta and the fields, where the music was born.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foster was among players of southeast Missouri to emerge in the 1950s and \u201960s. Others included Bill Rice, Narvel Felts, Matt Lucas, Leon Barnett, J.W. Grubbs, Charlie Thurman, Fred Horrell, Billy Swan, Dennis Turner, Terry Cobb, Don Hinton, Joe Keene, Terry Ray Bradley, Ken Williams, Jimmy Null and Bill English. All became accomplished professionals with a few recognized as greats, particularly in songwriting.<\/p>\n

Sharp and Jordan hailed from Gideon, Missouri, as did Foster and wordsmith Jimmy Payne. The tiny town produced a cluster of music talents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe thing about it, there were lots of musicians in this part of the country\u2014fine musicians,\u201d Jordan attests.<\/p>\n

Series continues soon at ChaneysBlog.com<\/em><\/p>\n

Select References<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 New Dance Steps Shown. (1939, Aug. 3). Manitowoc Herald-Times WI, p.8.<\/p>\n

\u20183 Reasons\u2019 For Flight. (1959, Feb. 4). Mason City Globe-Gazette<\/em> IA, p.2.<\/p>\n

Anderson, P. (1975, Aug. 31). The real Nashville. New York Times<\/em>, p.171.<\/p>\n

Anticipatory Obituary. (1959, April 27). [Editorial.] Sedalia Democrat<\/em> MO, p.4.<\/p>\n

Appearing in Person, Guy Lombardo. (1961, Nov. 24). [Colony Club advertisement.] Sikeston Daily Standard<\/em> MO, p.6.<\/p>\n

Attend The Southeast Missouri District Fair. (1955, Sept. 9). [Advertisement.] Sikeston Daily Standard<\/em> MO, p.3.<\/p>\n

Billy Lee Riley, Rockabilly Singer. (1984, Jan. 4). Paris News<\/em> TX, p.19.<\/p>\n

Birl, J. (April, May, June 2002). Southern Illinois Illegal Clubs: McClure to Cairo. Casino Chip and Token News<\/em>, pp.79-80.<\/p>\n

Blesh, R. (1947, Feb. 23). The jazz audience. New York Herald Tribune<\/em>, p.C7.<\/p>\n

Boyle, H. (1952, Sept. 17). Angel Gabriel only rival of Armstrong as trumpeteer. Sedalia Democrat<\/em> MO, p.2.<\/p>\n

Burke, K., & Griffin, D. (2006). The Blue Moon Boys: The story of Elvis Presley\u2019s band<\/em>. Chicago Review Press: Chicago.<\/p>\n

Collison, J. (1959, Feb. 4). Open probe of accident here. Mason City Globe-Gazette<\/em> IA, p.1.<\/p>\n

Cowboy Copas: Star of Grand Ol\u2019 Opry to Be At The Armory Tonite. (1953, Nov. 6). Sikeston Daily Standard<\/em> MO, p.5.<\/p>\n

English, B. (1994, Dec. 21). Interview with author at Poplar Bluff MO.<\/p>\n

Ernest Tubb And Troubadours Will Appear Here Wed. (1946, March 12). Sikeston Standard<\/em> MO, p.4.<\/p>\n

Fabulous Al Morgan. (1962, Feb. 16). [Colony Club advertisement.] Sikeston Daily Standard<\/em> MO, p.8.<\/p>\n

Fallwell, M. (1974, Aug. 31). The unknown influence of Moore. Indiana Gazette<\/em> PA, p.32.<\/p>\n

Four Killed In Clear Lake Plane Crash. (1959, Feb. 3). Mason City Globe-Gazette<\/em> IA, p.1.<\/p>\n

Fox, M. (1980, Oct. 26). Elvis\u2014Memphis and timing created legend. San Bernardino County Sun<\/em> CA, p.58.<\/p>\n

Full House Expected To Hear Calloway. (1940, June 6). Sikeston Herald<\/em> MO, p.4.<\/p>\n

G.A.C. Presents: Jess Stacy And His Orchestra. (1945, Nov. 13). Sikeston Standard<\/em> MO, p.2.<\/p>\n

Ghianni, T. (2004, July 4). And they called it rock n\u2019 roll. Nashville Tennessean<\/em>, p.D10.<\/p>\n

Grand Ole Opry Group To Present Show Here. (1952, July 12). Sikeston Daily Standard<\/em> MO, p.1.<\/p>\n

Grand Ole Opry Presents In Person: Eddy Arnold. (1945, May 31). Sikeston Herald<\/em> MO, p.8.<\/p>\n

Gray, D. (1977, Aug. 17). Legend\u2019s death shocks fans. Lincoln Star<\/em> NE, p.6.<\/p>\n

Hance, B. (1978, Aug. 16). Elvis\u2014a year later, the legend lives on. San Bernardino County Sun<\/em> CA, pp.C1,C5 & C7.<\/p>\n

Henderson, B. (1954, Feb. 18). Hillbilly record demand continues heavy in Texas. Corsicana Daily Sun<\/em> TX, p.3.<\/p>\n

Hilburn, R. (1970, Jan. 4). Rock enters 70s as the music champ. Los Angeles Times<\/em>, p.P1.<\/p>\n

Hilburn, R. (1981, April 7). Rockabilly survivor looks back. Los Angeles Times<\/em>, p.G1.<\/p>\n

Horrell, F. (2017, April 19). Interview with author at Cape Girardeau MO.<\/p>\n

Huey, P. (2009, Feb. 3). Buddy Holly: The tour from hell. Minneapolis Star Tribune<\/em> [online].<\/p>\n

In Person, Tex Beneke. (1961, May 5). [Colony Club advertisement.] Southern Illinoisan<\/em>, p.17.<\/p>\n

\u201cJitterbug\u201d Dancing Is Old Custom, Says Scholar. [1939, Feb. 24]. McComb Daily Journal<\/em> MS, p.1.<\/p>\n

J.F.W. [Writer\u2019s byline.] (1955, Jan. 24). Like sad songs best. Kansas City Times<\/em> MO, p.4.<\/p>\n

Jordan, A. (2017, Jan. 11). Interview with author at Hayti MO.<\/p>\n

Keene, J. (2017, March 9). Interview with author at Kennett MO.<\/p>\n

Komorowski, A. (1979). Sun Special Issue. New Kommotion<\/em> 3(2).<\/p>\n

Laing, D. (2006, Sept. 5). Rockabilly singer helped up by Elvis. Guardian<\/em> [online].<\/p>\n

Lucas, M. (2017, May 17). Interview by telephone with author.<\/p>\n

Man Believes Pop Music Is Fading. (1959, May 22). Amarillo Globe-Times<\/em> TX, p.17.<\/p>\n

MCA Presents Ted Weems And His Celebrated Orchestra. (1945, July 24). [Colony Club advertisement.] Sikeston Standard<\/em> MO, p.9.<\/p>\n

Meyer, R.F. (1989). Backwoods jazz in the Twenties<\/em>. Center for Regional History and Cultural Heritage, Southeast Missouri State University: Cape Girardeau.<\/p>\n

Moody, N.M. (2004, July 2). Rock\u2019s birth debated. Salina Journal<\/em> KS, p.29.<\/p>\n

Morrison, C.R. (1984, June). Rockabilly music and musicians<\/em> [MA thesis in fine arts]. York University: Toronto, Ontario, Canada.<\/p>\n

Nationally Famous Lawrence Welk. (1945, Feb. 2). [Colony Club advertisement.] Sikeston Standard<\/em> MO, p.11.<\/p>\n

On The Stage In Person: Tex Ritter. (1945, Oct. 18). Sikeston Herald<\/em> MO, p.3.<\/p>\n

One Night Only: Count Basie. (1951, Nov. 30). [Purple Crackle advertisement.] Sikeston Daily Standard<\/em> MO, p.3.<\/p>\n

Orr, J. (1997, Aug. 15). Meet the guitar player who changed the world. Nashville Banner<\/em>, p.3.<\/p>\n

Palmer, R. (1977, Dec. 2). Southern rebels find a rock haven. Blytheville Courier News<\/em> AR, p.19.<\/p>\n

Palmer, R. (1978, April 23). The punks have only rediscovered rockabilly. New York Times<\/em>, p.D19.<\/p>\n

Palmer, R. (1981, March 4). Recapturing the magic of the early Elvis Presley. New York Times<\/em>, p.C19.<\/p>\n

Piazza, T. (1996, Nov. 13). Lost man of R&R rediscovered. Salina Journal<\/em> KS, p.27.<\/p>\n

Provencher, N. (1998, Jan. 20). Rockabilly artist avoided bitterness. Ottawa Citizen<\/em>, Canada, p.B8.<\/p>\n

Rock N\u2019 Roll Is Condemned At Music Meet. (1959, April 22). Paris News<\/em> TX, p.4.<\/p>\n

Rock N\u2019 Roll Troupe Go On With Show. (1959, Feb. 4). Canonsburg Daily Notes<\/em> PA, p.8.<\/p>\n

Rockabilly Special Features Ex-Beatles. (1986, Jan. 5). Salina Journal<\/em> KS, p.31.<\/p>\n

Rocky Burnette Is Rockabilly Product. (1980, Oct. 25). Kokomo Tribune<\/em> IN, p.9.<\/p>\n

Scotty Moore, Elvis\u2019 First Guitarist, Dies At 84. (2016, June 29). The Associated Press [online].<\/p>\n

Show Pilot Precautions Before Crash. (1959, Feb. 18). Mason City Globe-Gazette<\/em> IA, p.21.<\/p>\n

Shumaker, J. (1952, June 2). \u201cGrand Ole Opry,\u201d more solid than ever, puts hillbilly mark on N.Y. Mt. Vernon Register-News<\/em> IL, p.9.<\/p>\n

Snow, T. (1954). From Missouri<\/em>. Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston.<\/p>\n

Square Dance: The Grand Ole Opry Show. (1955, Nov. 5). [Advertisement.] Sikeston Daily Standard<\/em> MO, p.5.<\/p>\n

Tonight. (1959, Nov. 12). [Colony Club advertisement.] Sikeston Daily Standard<\/em> MO, p.8.<\/p>\n

Tucker, B. (2017, March 10). Interview with author at Marion AR.<\/p>\n

WSM Grand Ole Opry Tent Show. (1942, Sept. 25). [Advertisement.] Sikeston Standard<\/em> MO, p.9.<\/p>\n

Your Favorite Radio and Movie Stars In Person: Minnie Pearl. (1945, Nov. 6). Sikeston Standard<\/em> MO, p.23.<\/p>\n

Matt Chaney is a writer, editor, publisher and consultant in Missouri, USA. For more information visit\u00a0<\/em>www.fourwallspublishing.com.\u00a0Email:\u00a0<\/em>mattchaney@fourwallspublishing.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Third in A Series By Matt Chaney, ChaneysBlog.com Posted Saturday, June 3, 2017 Copyright\u00a0\u00a92017 for historical arrangement by Matthew L. Chaney Buddy Holly wanted clean clothes. Richie Valens planned a haircut. And J.P. \u201cBig Bopper\u201d Richardson felt ill enough for a flu shot. Foremost, the young musicians sought a break from bus-riding on their hellish … Continue reading As Rockabilly Fell, Musicians Adapted in Delta<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":""},"categories":[374],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4ywFp-ut","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1889"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1889"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1934,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1889\/revisions\/1934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/fourwallspublishing.com\/BlogMChaney\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}