Style Icon: Roy Brown (10 September 1925 — 25 May 1981)

My passion for music extends across many genres including rockabilly. In my teens I used to go to a ‘Rockin’ Club’ off Grafton Road in Camden Town. It was one of those places where everyone dressed up to the nines and at times could easily have resembled main street USA, 1956. There was one track I loved called Hip Shakin’ Baby, a genuine bopper, by Roy Brown. I remember at the time being both enthralled and amazed to discover Roy Brown was black because to me it sounded pure rockabilly. Of course, clubs like the one in Grafton Road played plenty of black artists, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, and Louis Jordon, but in my musical naivety I assumed rockabilly to be recorded only by white artists; after all wasn’t it white artists that copied black artists? From that point I very quickly learned my error and that the roots of great music are, excitingly, never straight forward. However, what Roy Brown and ‘Hip Shakin’ Baby’ did for me is light the long fuse of musical enlightenment, which continues to smoulder to this day.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wc0nZ7f4rQ

Style Innovator: Clarence White (7 June 1944 – 15 July 1973)

The more discerning music lover will already be familiar with Clarence White. As an innovator, his unique finger picking guitar style was honed from years of playing traditional acoustic country, bluegrass, and folk music with a number of bands, most notably The Kentucky Colonels, and working on high profile studio sessions during the mid to late 1960s. However, it was his move from acoustic to almost wholly electric guitar where Clarence White makes his greatest impact and the perceived wisdom is that he found his greatest creativity and freedom playing electric. So, in my humble opinion Clarence White did much more than introduce breath taking guitar playing to a rock audience, but he managed to influence and move forward two entire genres of music simultaneously.

Recording-wise Clarence White is probably best known for his work with The Byrds (Dr Byrd & Mr Hyde’, 1969 – and the aforementioned studio sessions), who he joined in 1967, and of course The Kentucky Colonels (1961-1965). However, for me any of his collaborations with Gib Guilbeau and Gene Parsons stand out; the Nashville West sessions (1967) remains on my list of desert island discs, and one record I recommend you listen to if you have not already done so.

                                    The Reasons (from left to right): Clarence White, Wayne Moore, Gene Parsons,Gib Guilbeau
                                                                  Photo courtesy of Alec Palao

CW - Grandma Funderbunk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3tl3APQtyo

Nashville West - Ode To Billie Joe

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLTMu6uaqHI

Gosdin Brothers - Tell Me (listen to CW guitar at end)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDUKKaRw9wE

Style Icon: Evie Sands (26 February 1946)

Evie Sands is one of my favourite female recording artists. Gifted with a unique and powerful voice she was signed to the Red Bird/Blue Cat label in New York in 1965. That year she had hits with ‘Run Home To Your Mama’, ‘Take Me for a Little While’, and ‘Can’t Let You Go’ – see youtube link. Less prolific perhaps than most of her soul contemporaries during the 1960s, Evie Sands was one of a new rare breed of female singer songwriters and she went on to become an accomplished artist. If you are unfamiliar with Evie Sands, I recommend you check out her LP ‘Any Way That You Want Me’ (1970).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzleOI8W4yQ&feature=related