Most everyone who knows anything about rockabilly will agree that the musical genre came about as musicians of the 1950s mixed country music and blues music together. In actuality, you really have to throw rhythm and blues music into the mix and also sprinkle in a healthy dose of gospel music. I'd argue that there was a pinch of jazz music thrown into the original mix too, but you don't often hear people supporting that argument. But the Stray Cats guitarist and front man, Brian Setzer, made it perfectly clear that jazz has a place in the rockabilly genre.
When the Stray Cats hit the top of the charts back in the early 80s with "Rock This Town", "Stray Cat Strut", and "Sexy and 17", Setzer exploded upon the scene as an unexpected member of rock and roll guitar superstar elite. Setzer brought a new twist to rockabilly guitar.
Setzer played very much in the style of the early guitarists that he idolized. Listening to his playing you can hear the licks of Eddie Cochran, Cliff Gallup (who played for Gene Vincent's Blue Caps), Grady Martin (ace session guitarist who played on countless country and rockabilly records), and of course, the king of them all, Carl Perkins. In fact, Setzer was not shy about playing some of the very same licks that these players made famous 25 or 30 years earlier.
But he didn't just mindlessly mimic these guitarists. He took what they did and spiced it up with his own unique style. That style is heavily influenced by jazz. Setzer is a master of the fretboard and understands structure, harmony, and chording like few other rock and roll guitarists do.
Setzer was born in and grew up around New York city and as a kid saw a lot of jazz performers in the city. These jazz cats had an obvious influence on his playing. When it came time to form his own rockabilly band (which eventually became the Stray Cats), he took all of the early rockabilly influence, mixed it with his jazz influence, and came up with a new twist on rockabilly music. In sound and looks the Stray Cats were familiar enough to be loved by rockabilly fanatics, but different enough to excite the general population of pop fans.
Said Setzer, "We weren't afraid to mix some crazy styles into the standard rockabilly look. We also took a lot of different musical influences that were part of that era."
Setzer also once said something that sums up his approach to playing rockabilly and why he became a later-day pioneer of the modern rockabilly style.
He said, "Don't be afraid to take liberties with this music. Try and put some of yourself into it."
That's a great quote because it really sums up what rockabilly was all about in the first place. Guys like Elvis, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins, and Eddie Cochran did the same thing. They took the influences that they'd grown up with and they tried something different with them. They mashed them all together and came up with a completely new musical style: rockabilly. While Setzer may not have come up with a new genre of music, he did use his influences and immense talent to put a new spin on the old rockabilly. And in the process he revitalized an almost-forgotten musical art form.
When the Stray Cats hit the top of the charts back in the early 80s with "Rock This Town", "Stray Cat Strut", and "Sexy and 17", Setzer exploded upon the scene as an unexpected member of rock and roll guitar superstar elite. Setzer brought a new twist to rockabilly guitar.
Setzer played very much in the style of the early guitarists that he idolized. Listening to his playing you can hear the licks of Eddie Cochran, Cliff Gallup (who played for Gene Vincent's Blue Caps), Grady Martin (ace session guitarist who played on countless country and rockabilly records), and of course, the king of them all, Carl Perkins. In fact, Setzer was not shy about playing some of the very same licks that these players made famous 25 or 30 years earlier.
But he didn't just mindlessly mimic these guitarists. He took what they did and spiced it up with his own unique style. That style is heavily influenced by jazz. Setzer is a master of the fretboard and understands structure, harmony, and chording like few other rock and roll guitarists do.
Setzer was born in and grew up around New York city and as a kid saw a lot of jazz performers in the city. These jazz cats had an obvious influence on his playing. When it came time to form his own rockabilly band (which eventually became the Stray Cats), he took all of the early rockabilly influence, mixed it with his jazz influence, and came up with a new twist on rockabilly music. In sound and looks the Stray Cats were familiar enough to be loved by rockabilly fanatics, but different enough to excite the general population of pop fans.
Said Setzer, "We weren't afraid to mix some crazy styles into the standard rockabilly look. We also took a lot of different musical influences that were part of that era."
Setzer also once said something that sums up his approach to playing rockabilly and why he became a later-day pioneer of the modern rockabilly style.
He said, "Don't be afraid to take liberties with this music. Try and put some of yourself into it."
That's a great quote because it really sums up what rockabilly was all about in the first place. Guys like Elvis, Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins, and Eddie Cochran did the same thing. They took the influences that they'd grown up with and they tried something different with them. They mashed them all together and came up with a completely new musical style: rockabilly. While Setzer may not have come up with a new genre of music, he did use his influences and immense talent to put a new spin on the old rockabilly. And in the process he revitalized an almost-forgotten musical art form.
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