Picture the 1950s: black and white television shows, root beer stands, Elvis Presley beginning to sway his hips, sweet southern ladies on the radio, greased-back hair, sock hops, knee-length skirts, pony tails and rolled-up jeans. Now fast forward that image to long after the birth of rock 'n' roll. It's 2004. The '50s, its music and style have given way not to Hank Williams but to the Reverend Horton Heat, not to Gene Vincent but to Deke Dickerson and the Ecco-fonics, not to broken curfews in the back of your dad's Cady, but to sleeves of tattoos, piercings, cherry print short dresses, pin-up posters of a classic Betty Page, hot rods and loud, hard country songs with a rock and blues beat -- rockabilly.\nFrom the flames of an underground revolution, rockabilly has merged many musical genres -- punk, rock and country -- to form a flashback to the '50s with an urban edge and bohemian flare. Now folks all over the globe are dressing up, paying tribute to their favorite decade and going to music festivals throughout the summer celebrating the rockabilly theme. After Nashville, Indiana's Livin' in the '50s festival, held in May, the closest festival of the sort to hit Indiana this summer will be the 12th Annual Rockabilly Rebel Weekend, which will be held June 24 through June 26 at Radio Radio and its surrounding areas in Indianapolis. The event will feature performances by the Queen of Rockabilly Wanda Jackson, Deke Dickerson and a hot rod show to boot. Now let's learn a bit more about what it means to truly be livin' in the '50s.
THE ARTISTS:
\nQUEEN OF ROCKABILLY \nThe 1950s found her side-by-side with country and rock legends Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash. A lone woman touring with a pool of male musicians, she pioneered the field of rockabilly as the genre erupted and let her hair down while still remaining a lady. \nGuitarist and vocalist Wanda Jackson pushed the envelope of style when she introduced to female country singers the attitude of an early rock-country hybrid by transforming cowboy hats and oversized boots to high heels and lace. And after more than 15 years since recording her last album, Jackson has released Heart Trouble, a 16-song album featuring guests Elvis Costello and the Cramps. Her album tour will bring her through Indianapolis during the last night of this year's Rockabilly Rebel Weekend.\nPerforming such well-loved songs as "Funnel of Love," which Mike Ness of Social Distortion often covers live, "Cash on the Barrelhead," "Woman Walk Out That Door" and "Mean Mean Man," Jackson says she began writing country ballads and later rockabilly during the ninth grade. Her first attempts at songwriting caught the eyes of those in the music business with ease, and she became the only female artist on package tours.\n"I never really minded being the only girl in the room," she says. "My dad traveled with me, and my reputation was very good. He saw to it that it stayed that way. I was always treated like a lady and respected."\n"Working with Elvis was exciting," she continues. "He was blowing everyone away and turned the whole music industry upside down. I worked with him during the years he was on 'The Ed Sullivan Show' and also starting on his movie career. It was a great time to know him."\nAfter meeting Elvis in 1955 and touring with Cash, Jackson decided the styles of the female singers of the era weren't flattering. So, she and her seamstress mother took a "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" spin on the era's garb and created what country stars like Dolly Parton have been wearing ever since.\n"They were wearing the boots and dinky fringe …, but I never felt good in that. I thought, 'I need to show some leg,'" she says. "My mother could make better clothes than we could afford. So, she and I began designing things. It evolved into a form-fitting dress with fringe, spaghetti straps, high heels, long earrings and a low-cut neckline. It was after my admiration of Marilyn Monroe. Before I knew it, everyone started to change."\nNot many years thereafter, Jackson was dubbed the Queen of Rockabilly -- known across the globe for her rockin' country twang and her sassy, respectable attitude.\n"If I can stay alive and on this merry-go-round that I'm on, keep traveling and meeting new fans, it'll thrill my heart," Jackson says. \nWanda Jackson will perform at Radio Radio in Indianapolis on Saturday, June 26.DEKE DOWN UNDER\nDeke Dickerson is an unbelievably fabulous guitar player, singer and songwriter," says fan and rockabilly guitarist/vocalist "Crazy Joe" Tritschler of Ohio-based Crazy Joe and the Mad River Outlaws. "He's a phenomenon that I don't understand." \n "I think he's probably in the best rockabilly band today," says fan Ron Tinkham of the now defunct punk-rock band The Jackalopes, who previously performed at Radio Radio. "He does a little bit of everything -- rock, country and rockabilly -- and blends different styles together."\nGuitarist and vocalist Dickerson and his band, the Ecco-fonics, remain one of the most revered rockabilly bands of our day. Yet, they are virtually unknown to the mass public. "Hustling (their) CDs at shows," according to Dickerson, the band members follow the do-it-yourself promotion strategy while performing for headlining bands and playing gigs across the country.\n"I always enjoy playing the Rockabilly Weekend. It's our third time doing it," says Dickerson. "It's a mellow vibe. No one's trying to prove anything. … I enjoy whenever people get into the music like that."\n"It's interesting now to go to these conventions and festivals," says Tritschler. "It makes me wonder if there'll be a mid-'90s revival with the grunge guys and the plaid shirts." \nDefinitely not clad in plaid, Dickerson, who has opened for the Reverend Horton Heat previously, says he and his bandmates dig "little sweaty clubs," as well as when there are "1,000 people in the audience." \nWith little time for personal space, Dickerson lives his music -- rockabilly all the way. "I run my own record label and have a recording studio in my home, so I really don't have time for much else."\nHaving picked up a guitar at age 13 during the Stray Cats era, Dickerson evolved into what he is today because of that band's inspiration. "I wanted to be like them," he says. "But I've played lots of different kinds of music from Blind Melon to Weezer. I enjoy rockabilly, because there's such a diehard cult of fans. The people that get into it, get into it for life."\n"It's interesting to watch how young people get into it (rockabilly)," he continues. "Young punkers get into it through psychobilly, and alternative, dare I use that word, people get into rockabilly because of its roots/folk nature."\nThe rockabilly genre has spread across the world since its incepetion, however, according to Dickerson, "it's one of America's true original music forms."
WHERE COUNTRY MEETS CITY: THE CULTURE\nI always thought it was a total West coast thing," says Tritschler. "Due to the Reverend Horton Heat, it kind of got started out here (in the Midwest)."\n"First, it all came from Hank Williams," he continues. "If you listen to 'My Bucket Got a Hole in it,' circa 1947, it's so close to rockabilly. Then Carl Perkins, the early Elvis Presley and Gene Vincent really started it."\nListening to these early greats turned him on to the music -- fast.\n"Well, some things you just can't help," says Tritschler. "One day I found myself listening to Johnny Cash, and (I) started freaking out!" \nHaving performed at this year's largest rockabilly music festival, Viva Las Vegas, Tritschler and his Mad River Outlaws are beginning to break ground in the '50s rock circuit. However, they do not follow the typical style set for fans of the era. For them, it's more about the music. So what appeals to people about the rockabilly lifestyle anyway? \n"The whole culture around it -- the fashion, the music of course, the tattoo stuff, the greaser hair cuts, the way the girls look," says Tinkham.\nTritschler has a different opinion.\n"It's a uniform is what it is!" he says.\n"There's this whole phenomenon now," Tritschler adds. "The Rev.'s psychobilly genre is cool, but now people are ripping him off. These modern rockabilly guys pick up on the loudest, hardest aspects of the music and then turn it up a notch into psychobilly. Then there are the authentic guys who embrace all walks of life from that (1950s) era -- the total greasers, hoods, hipsters and nerdy types. … The posers who are only into the aesthetics bring the standards down in the genre." \nHowever, "Keep in mind," says Tritschler, "I wear casual slacks and Hawaiian shirts, so I don't really reflect the rockabilly revolution."\n"Rockabilly has been the same since the 1950s," says Tinkham. He and his girlfriend, who is running the Lucky Kat's Arts & Crafts vendor, will be attending the Rockabilly Rebel Weekend event in Indianapolis. According to him, the only difference between the origins of rockabilly and the music nowadays is its tendency to join genres.\n"It's mainly a crossover between country and rock 'n' roll," says Tinkham. "They share the same scene and style."\nOther than the fashion and music, modern rockabilly hipsters also focus on the classic cars of the era.\n"It's (the fashion's) gotten to be a sad cliché, whereas I'm more interested in songs and old, cool cars," says Tritschler. "I've got a '60 Cadillac Fleetwood. It's cool as hell and survived a Xenia (Ohio) tornado! It's got a busted windshield, and it's on the cover of our record, Chopped, Slammed & Twangin.'"\nSo the formula is complete. What it takes to create the perfect '50s flashback weekend comes from mixing a bit of retro style, a sweet ride, a swingin' live band and one of this summer's rockabilly- themed music festivals. What are you waiting for? Go out and get down!
