1. Johnny Carroll - Hot Rock (2:19)
2. Elvis Presley - Good Rockin' Tonight (2:14)
3. Werly Fairburn - Everybody's Rockin' (1:56)
4. Bobby Lord - Everybody's Rockin' But Me (2:11)
5. Warren Smith - Rock 'n' Roll Ruby (2:52)
6. Eddie Bond - Rockin' Daddy (2:02)
7. Jeff Daniels - Daddy-O Rock (2:18)
8. Mac Curtis - Grandaddy's Rockin' (2:03)
9. Skeets McDonald - You Oughta See Grandma Rock (2:03)
10. Glenn Reeves - Rockin' Country Style (2:11)
11. Sid King - Good Rockin' Baby (2:31)
12. Billy Lee Riley - Rock With Me Baby (2:14)
13. Roy Orbison - Rockhouse (2:06)
14. Janis Martin - Drugstore Rock 'n' Roll (2:07)
15. Andy Starr - Rockin' Rollin' Stone (2:49)
16. Wayne McGinnis - Rock, Roll And Rhythm (2:10)
17. Hodges Brothers - I'm Gonna Rock Some Too (2:52)
18. Denver Duke And Jeffrey Null - Rock And Roll Blues (2:42)
19. Jean Chapel - I Won't Be Rockin' Tonight (2:10)
20. Sonee West - Rock-Ola Baby (2:19)
21. Rhythm Jesters - Rock To The Music (2:13)
22. Ruckus Tyler - Rollin' And A-Rockin' (2:30)
23. Red Foley - Rockin' And Reelin' (2:36)
24. Thumper Jones - Rock It (2:14)
25. Sammy Masters - 2 Rock-A-4 (2:00)
26. Hoyt Scoggins - Tennessee Rock (2:04)
27. Eddie Jackson - Rock And Roll Baby (2:29)
28. Joe Maphis - Guitar Rock 'n' Roll (2:25)
29. Sonee West - Sweet Rockin' Baby (2:21)
30. Maddox Bros And Rose - The Death Of Rock 'n' Roll (2:10)

Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.

The term "rockabilly" is a portmanteau of "rock" (from "rock 'n' roll") and "hillbilly", the latter a reference to the country music (often called "hillbilly music" in the 1940s and 1950s) that contributed strongly to the style's development. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing, boogie woogie, and rhythm and blues. While there are notable exceptions, its origins lie primarily in the Southern United States.

The influence and popularity of the style waned in the 1960s, but during the late 1970s and early 1980s, rockabilly enjoyed a major revival of popularity that has endured to the present, often within a rockabilly subculture.

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1. Joe Montgomery - Cool Cat (1:52)
2. Lew Williams - Cat Talk (2:13)
3. Tommy Scott - Cat Music (2:10)
4. Sonny Burns - Real Cool Cat (2:02)
5. Bill Mack - Cat Just Got Into Town (1:46)
6. Jimmy Murphy - Granpaw's A Cat (2:29)
7. Jimmy Johnson - Cat Daddy (2:17)
8. Jimmy Swan - Country Cattin' (2:22)
9. Jimmy Selph - Tom Cattin' Around (2:18)
10. Bill Flagg - Go Cat Go (2:00)
11. Pee Wee King vocal Dick Lory - Catty Town (2:10)
12. Lynn Pratt - Tom Cat Boogie (2:45)
13. Joe Clay - Ducktail (2:32)
14. Bill Beach - Peg Pants (2:04)
15. Carl Perkins - Blue Suede Shoes (2:15)
16. Lucky Wray - What'cha Say Honey? (2:27)
17. Tommy Spurlin - One Eyed Sam (2:32)
18. Sonny Fisher - Pink And Black (1:59)
19. Sammy Masters - Pink Cadillac (2:21)
20. Hal Willis - My Pink Cadillac (1:55)
21. Baker Knight - Bring My Cadillac Back (2:26)
22. Hoyt Stevens - 55 Chevy (3:28)
23. Joe Clay - Sixteen Chicks (1:59)
24. Tommy Spurlin - Hang Loose (2:15)
25. Johnny Carroll - Wild Wild Women (2:02)
26. James Gallagher - Crazy Chicken (2:38)
27. Farmer Boys - Cool Down Mame (2:35)
28. Jimmy Murphy - My Gal Dottie (2:03)
29. Charlie Feathers - Tongue Tied Jill (1:57)
30. Lonnie Barron - Teenage Queen (2:10)

If rock & roll can be called the child of rhythm and blues and country & western music, no style is a purer blend than rockabilly. The first form of rock & roll performed by white musicians, its duration of mass popularity was brief, but the best of it remains among the most exciting and frenetic rock & roll ever waxed.

Even in the segregated American South of the early 20th century, blacks and whites often had cause to interact with each other on a daily basis. The interaction carried over to music, and white hillbilly country performers have reflected the influence of the blues and other African-American music since they began recording, as a listen to Jimmie Rodgers will attest to. Just as blues became jazzier, faster, and more electric throughout the 1940s and early '50s, so did country, through swing bands like Bob Wills and the Maddox Brothers. The Delmore Brothers, starting as a more traditional hillbilly harmony act, anticipated much of rockabilly's mania when they added a thumping country boogie beat to the equation on their finest recordings in the late '40s. Nearly forgotten performers like Arthur Smith and Hardrock Gunter laid down country boogie sides that brought the guitar to the forefront.

Considering that most rockabilly musicians of importance came from the South, it's ironic that the first records that could be termed as honest-to-god rockabilly were issued by a Northerner, Bill Haley. The Philadelphian had been pursuing a hillbilly career with generally dismal results until 1951, when he covered Jackie Brenston's "Rocket 88" (which is itself often cited as one of the very first rock & roll records). Although they aren't nearly as well known as his huge rock & roll hits like "Rock Around the Clock," the sides he cut for the small Essex label between 1951 and 1954 are groundbreaking early rockabilly; the 1952 single "Rock the Joint," in fact, is almost identical in melody and arrangement to "Rock Around the Clock." Haley was no Elvis vocally, and the steel guitars and jump beats of his Comets betrayed lingering influences of hillbilly and swing music. But he was undoubtedly the first to bring together R&B and C&W with such force, although nobody knew quite what to call the music at the time. ---Richie Unterberger, AMG

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1. Be-Bop-A-Lula - Gene Vincent
2. Bop Man Bop - Doug Amerson
3. Bop-A-Dee Bop-A-Doo - Hal Willis
4. Be-Bop Baby - Autry Inman
5. Bop Crazy Baby - Vern Pullens
6. Boppin' The Blues - Carl Perkins
7. Onie's Bop - Onie Wheeler
8. Boppin' Bonnie - Eddie Bond
9. Bop Baby Bop - Brad Suggs
10. Rock-A-Bop - Sparkle Moore
11. Be-Boppin' Daddy - Mack Banks
12. Bop Bop Ba Doo Bop - Lew Williams
13. Fiddle Bop - Rhythm Rockers
14. Beetle Bug Bop - Collins Kids
15. Chicken Bop - Truitt Forse
16. Bop Cat Bop - Simon Crum
17. Be Bop Blues - Earl Epps
18. Bop - Bill Woods
19. Swing Bop Boogie - Alvis Wayne
20. Gonna Shake This Shack Tonight - Sid King
21. Whop-T-Bop - Sammy Masters
22. Blue Jean Bop - Gene Vincent
23. Tear It Up - Johnny Burnett Trio
24. Dig Boy Dig - Freddie Hart
25. Jitterbug Drag - Arkie Bittle
26. We Wanna Boogie - Sonny Burgess
27. Teenage Boogie - Webb Pierce
28. Romp Stompin' Boogie - J.C. Hill
29. Swinging Boogie - Ray Smith
30. Koolit - Tommy Blake

There were certainly numerous musicians in the South experimenting with primitive rockabilly-like sounds by mid-1954. Sam Phillips and his Memphis record label, Sun Records, were chiefly responsible for honing the sound and capturing it on vinyl.

Often quoted as having said that he could make a fortune with a white singer who sounded black (though he has denied saying this in such explicit terms), he found the perfect vehicle for doing so with Elvis Presley, who recorded five singles for Sun between mid-1954 and the end of 1955. Supported by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill black, this was rockabilly, if not rock & roll, at its best and purest; as great as his subsequent achievements were, by critical consensus this handful of 45s ranks as Elvis' finest work. Presley didn't set off a mass wave of imitators right away; he was primarily a regional sensation until his contract was bought by RCA. Sam Phillips used the money from the sale to develop his own formidable stable of rockabilly performers. Carl Perkins's "Blue Suede Shoes" almost beat Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel" to the top of the charts, and although Perkins was never able to duplicate the success, Sun generated a wealth of great rockabilly hits and misses over the next few years by Jerry Lee Lewis, Billy Lee Riley, Sonny Burgess, Carl Mann, and Roy Orbison. The Sun Sound -- echo-chamber vocals, crisp electric guitar leads, and slap-back bass -- became the standard of rockabilly excellence, often imitated, never recaptured. Presleymania overran the country in 1956, setting off a wave of rockabilly recordings, nationally and (more often) regionally distributed, that was similar in some respects to the garage band explosion of a decade later. Hundreds of performers found their way into studios in Tennessee, Texas, California, and other locales, embracing the new sound with a hepped-up enthusiasm that often bordered on mania. The singles were usually crudely recorded and extremely basic and derivative, their not inconsiderable saving grace being their infectious energy. ------Richie Unterberger, AMG

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1. How About Me Pretty Baby - Jimmy Johnson
2. Rockin' With My Baby - Malcolm Yelvington
3. Oh Baby Babe - Johnny Burnette Trio
4. Shadow My Baby - Glenn Barber
5. Let's Elope Baby - Janis Martin
6. Don't Cry Baby - Cal Veale
7. My Baby Left Me - Elvis Presley
8. You're My Big Baby Now - Roy Moss
9. Usta Be My Baby - Sanford Clark
10. You're My Baby - Roy Orbison
11. Barefoot Baby - Janis Martin
12. Don't Go Baby (Don't Go) - Al Coker
13. Ballroom Baby - Dick Lory
14. No No Baby - Al Ferrier
15. Mama's Little Baby - Junior Thompson
16. Come Back Baby - Pat Cup
17. Gone Baby Gone - Ray Smith
18. Lie To Me Baby - Johnny Tyler
19. Don't Shoot Me Baby - Bill Bowen
20. Everybody's Lovin' My Baby - Charlie Feathers
21. I Gotta Go Get My Baby - Justin Tubb
22. My Baby Is Gone - Cleve Warnock
23. My Baby Done Gone Away - Al Ferrier
24. My Baby Done Left Me - Farmer Boys
25. Bottle To The Baby - Charlie Feathers
26. Sleep Rock-A-Roll Rock-A-Baby - Alvis Wayne
27. Moo Mama - Ben Hall
28. Come On Little Mama - Ray Harris
29. Hip Shakin' Mama - Jackie Cochran
30. Hot Hot Mama - Jimmy Stayton

While the Sun Sound was the pinnacle of rockabilly, several performers established legends of their own outside of Sam Phillips's studio. Gene Vincent's 1956 sides, featuring his breathy vocals and the speed-of-light guitar of Cliff Gallup from his backing band the Blue Caps, were usually brilliant. Eddie Cochran brought a sophisticated brand of teenage rebellion to his rockabilly hits, which helped pioneer the use of overdubbed guitars and vocals. Ricky Nelson recorded first-class rockabilly pop in Hollywood with the help of ace guitarist James Burton. Johnny Burnette and his trio recorded some of the raunchiest Elvis-derived rock & roll of the time, including the first rock version of "The Train Kept A-Rollin'." Dale Hawkins cut a crackling classic with "Suzy Q," and Wanda Jackson's raspy rockabilly sides rank as the finest rock & roll recorded by a female singer in the 1950s.

Rockabilly began to fade as a commercial force around 1958, not just because of fickle popular taste, but because of the rapid evolution of rock & roll itself. One of the greatest rockabilly singers, Buddy Holly, displayed a facility for melodic invention that branched into all forms of pop/rock, and had a far-reaching influence on all of pop that extended to the British Invasion. Along with the Everly Brothers and Ricky Nelson, he began gravitating towards a more gentle, melodic sound that was not as structurally limited, if not as energetic, as pure rockabilly. Elvis himself was moving toward more straightforward rock material, and then toward pop after his hitch in the Army.

Those performers that stuck with the basic rockabilly sound faced diminishing returns. Some, like Gene Vincent, simply vanished from the charts, although they maintained loyal audiences, especially overseas. Roy Orbison, never comfortable as a rockabilly singer in the first place, reinvented himself as a masterful crooner of pop/rock ballads. Jerry Lee Lewis's career was crippled by scandal. Eventually he would find success in the country & western mainstream, a path followed by many other singers who had achieved limited success with rockabilly.

Rockabilly never returned to the charts in a significant way after the '50s, though several acts have scored big hits in the style, such as Billy Swan and the Stray Cats. A huge influence on the early Beatles, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and others, rockabilly was instrumental in establishing the focus of rock & roll on the electric guitar-bass-drums combination, with a simple joy and force that has helped inspire generations of musicians. --Richie Unterberger, AMG

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