Rockabilly Hall of
Fame Grand Opening and Festival
Jackson, TN
June 29-July 1, 2001
(click on any photo
to enlarge)
Here's the interior of the Hall
of Fame as it looks today. The platform in the rear of the left
photo is the stage from the honkey tonk where the Carl Perkins
band played their first gigs. The gent on the right is Smoochy
Smith, a country boogie piano player who was part of the Sun Records
house band that backed up so many Rockabilly legends. To the right
of Smoochy is Henry Harrison, the fella in charge of the entire
Hall of Fame project.
Sam Phillips, the man who discovered
many of America's greatest roots artists - from Howlin' Wolf to
Elvis Presley - spoke at a special luncheon in his honor. To Sam's
right is Stan Perkins, son of "Mr. Blue Suede Shoes,"
Carl Perkins. Considered by many to be the founding father of
Rockabilly, Carl Perkins was born in Jackson, which is why the
Hall of Fame is based there.
.
Yours truly, with Sam Phillips,
founder of Sun Records, and Shelby Singleton, the current owner.
Rockabilly drumming legends (from
left): Buddy Harmon (Nashville "A-Team" studio great),
WS Holland (Carl Perkins/Johnny Cash), DJ Fontana (Elvis Presley),
JM van Eaton (Jerry Lee Lewis/Sun Records house band), Carl Griffin
(Ace Cannon), Bobby Crawford (Sonny Burgess and the Pacers). I
interviewed all of these players for my roots book and for an
upcoming Rockabilly drumming feature I'll be doing for Stick
It. This truly is a HALL OF FAME lineup!
DJ Fontana. Best known for being
Elvis Presley's first drummer, and creator of fantastic drum breaks
like the one in "Hound Dog." When I spoke to DJ a week
before the Rockabilly Fest, he swore that his body was too worn
out to do much playing. He said he thought he might sit in for
a song or two. Yeah, right. DJ ended up backing just about every
artist that played the entire weekend. He also very graciously
brought me some photos and gave me an extensive interview for
my book. Thanks, DJ!
WS Holland. He picked up the
drumsticks for the first time only weeks before recording "Blue
Suede Shoes" with Carl Perkins in 1955. WS was also the drummer
on Johnny Cash's epic Fulsom Prison album from 1968. Most
importantly, he's a lefty like me!
This cool couple showed up to
dance every day in completely matching outfits. And when I say
completely, I MEAN completely.
Bill Haley's Original Comets
rocked the house, and in my opinion, put on the best show of the
weekend. All true Haley veterans (most in their seventies and
eighties), these guys did not let age stop them from putting on
an AMAZINGLY energetic performance, complete with honking tenor
and drum breakdowns, and more bass theatrics than I've seen at
ANY rockabilly show. The only "new" member of the group
is Englishman Jacko Buddin, who's been with them for over a decade,
and provides the unbelievably spot-on Bill Haley vocals. Do not
miss your chance to see this wonderful band (they still constantly
tour). To learn more about the Comets, check out the following
link: http://www.rockabillyhall.com/Comets.html
Comets drummer Dick Richards.
Dick is a class act all the way. A great drummer with a great
attitude who's still killin' it up there while guys half his age
have retired to their easy chairs.
Yours truly with a few Rockabilly
legends: (from left) Rocky Burnette, whose father and uncle (Johnny
and Dorsey Burnette) made up two thirds of the Rock 'n' Roll trio,
an important early Rockabilly group that influenced everyone from
the Cramps to Rod Stewart to Aerosmith. To the right of Rocky
is Paul Burlison, the third member of the Rock 'n' Roll trio.
He's the guy that created the famous guitar lick on "Train
Kept A Rollin'." At the Rockabilly Fest, Rocky and Paul fronted
an all star band (which included DJ Fontana, to the right of me),
paying tribute to the R'n'R Trio.
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