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Rockabilly pianists made a great contribution to rockabilly music

When most modern rockabilly fans think of the genre, the image that comes to mind is probably a three-piece band consisting of a drummer, a stand-up bassist, and a singer who also plays electric guitar. That’s the typical rockabilly lineup in modern times. But the piano played a pivotal role in rockabilly music from very early on. Let’s take a look at some rockabilly acts that made the piano an important aspect of their sound.

  1. jerry lee lewis: This one is obvious! Jerry Lee, “The Killer”, is famous for his crazy style and piano antics. Lewis started out as a session man at Sam Phillips’ Memphis Recording Service studios and played piano on many early releases on Sun Records (which Phillips also owned). Before long, Phillips gave Lewis a shot at his own recordings and made the most of them. . Lewis played and acted like a savage and really set the piano on fire, literally in at least one case! In his style and playing, he was the consumer’s showman. Lewis set the standard for rock and roll pianists to follow for years to come.
  2. great to the collapse: Big Al was a bit weird in his early years. He was a simple country boy from Oklahoma who taught himself to play the piano on an old, half-functional upright piano that someone gave to his parents. He started out playing country music, which isn’t that unusual for a white musician, but for a black man (really just a kid about 14 when he started getting attention) country music was really unusual. He also learned a lot from R&B pianists and it was his R&B playing that eventually landed him a gig playing with Bobby Poe and the Poe Cats. Eventually, the Poe Cats became the band of the queen of rockabilly Wanda Jackson and toured extensively with her, as well as playing on some of her rockiest recordings like “Let’s Have a Party.” Downing’s piano playing became a big part of Wanda’s sound. Downing continued to play music and played with countless artists until his death in 2005.
  3. Sonny Burgess and the Pacers: Sonny Burgess and his band The Pacers were one of rockabilly’s wildest acts. In addition to a piano, his lineup included a trumpet; As far as I know, they were the only rockabilly band to feature that instrument! The Pacers’ pianist was Kern Kennedy, who became Phillips’ go-to pianist once Jerry Lee rose to fame. Eventually, Kennedy sat down for a session with Burgess, and the two became lifelong friends. Kennedy’s style was very similar to Lewis’s and perfectly matched the savagery of Burgess’s act.
  4. Jerry Lee “Smoochy” Smith: Yes; another pianist named Jerry Lee. Smith became another of Sam Phillips’ session pianists and appeared on many Sun recordings from 1957 to 1959. His style was similar to that of the other Jerry Lee and the two have become known as innovators in the “single piano” sound. pumping” of the day. He played on records by Billy Lee Riley, Warren Smith, Ace Cannon and others, although he is often not credited on his recordings because he was young and naive and not in the musicians’ union. He was sometimes credited to Lewis and other times the name Jimmy Wilson was used.
  5. rich charlie: Rich is another big name who got his start at Sun Records. He brought a much more melodic, country-sounding piano to his rockabilly recordings and, of course, would become a country music star in later years.

The music these men made with their pianos is as rockabilly as the records that were made without a piano. The piano brought a different dimension to rockabilly music and these piano players brought a lot of crazy antics to the rockabilly stage!

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