Rockabilly Grease Monkey

It\’s no secret that I have a love affair with the 50s. It’s an era that I truly enjoy revisiting through the music and movies set during the 50s which is why the Back to the Future trilogy is one of my favorites of all time.

A style that emerged during this time was the rockabilly music which combined country with rhythm and blues. Per Wikipedia regarding the term rockabilly, it states “

In an interview that can be viewed at the Experience Music Project, Barbara Pittman states that, “It was so new and it was so easy. It was a three chord change. ‘Rockabilly’ was actually an insult to the southern rockers at that time. Over the years it has picked up a little dignity. It was their way of calling us ‘hillbillies’.”

One of the first written uses of the term “rockabilly” was in a June 23, 1956, Billboard review of Ruckus Tyler’s “Rock Town Rock”. Three weeks earlier, “rockabilly” was used in a press release describing Gene Vincent’s “Be-Bop-A-Lula”.

The first record to contain the word “rockabilly” in a song title was issued in November 1956 “Rock a Billy Gal”, although Johnny and Dorsey Burnette recorded “Rock Billy Boogie” for the Coral label on July 4, 1956. The song had been written and performed much earlier, and refer to the birth of Johnny’s son Rocky and Dorsey’s son Billy, who were born around the same time in 1953, and were firstborns for each of the brothers. The song was part of their repertoire in 1956 when they were living in New York City and performing with Gene Vincent. It’s easy to understand how the New York audience might have thought the Burnettes were singing “Rockabilly Boogie,” but they never would, because the term hillbilly was derogatory and would never have been used by the artists themselves. Rocky Burnette, who later would become a rockabilly artist himself, has stated on his website that the term rockabilly derives from that song. It\’s also interesting, that this song has been covered by hundreds of artists in the years since, and is always called “Rockabilly Boogie”.”

From there, it spilled over into fashion with women wearing pencil skirts and 1950s swing dresses. And over the years, rockabilly style has continued to evolve with some women preferring goth or punk looks to their rockabilly style. Some even go a step further and style their bodies with unique tattoo work truly making them stand out.

For this photo shoot, I was working with Emily once again at a location I had previously used with her before. Add in a camaro with her style, and we\’ve got that rockabilly grease monkey.