Need Suggestions For Rockabilly Songs

[journeybear]

I'm thinking of putting together a rockabilly duo, just me (mandolin, mandola, steel tenor guitar) and a stand-up bass, and need to come up with some thirty more songs than I already know. I have no idea if this will work, but I've got to come up with an act, and it's got to be lively to suit this one particular club owner. Here's a list of songs I already pretty much know:

Cut Across Shorty
Mystery Train
Train Kept A-Rollin'
Folsom Prison Blues
Honey Don't
Blue Suede Shoes
Act Naturally

As you can see, I've got a way to go! I've got no problem doing songs that veer close to or are in the overdone zone - they won't be anywhere near as overdone as the Jimmy Buffett tunes so common here. Nor am I opposed to doing songs that are pretty obscure, as long as they are easy for listeners to "get" on first hearing. Nor am I concerned about purism. I will surely be doing interpretations of songs reworked to fit this style, say the way Elvis did "Blue Moon Of Kentucky." For instance, I suppose any number of Chuck Berry songs will work.

Any useful suggestions will be most welcome. Thanks!

[Dan Margolis]

Check out Carl Smith, a country singer with a lot of rockabilly flavor in his tunes. "Go Boy Go" and "Baby I'm Ready" are great tunes that I like to sing.

[Dan Margolis]

Also look at Johnny Horton, best known for "Battle of New Orleans" but a singer of very cool rockabilly-influenced songs. If fact, 50's honky-tonk style country is a good source for this type of song. On a lot of them, if you lose the fiddle and steel guitar and do them with rockabilly instrumentation, they are rockabilly.

[Nelson Peddycoart]

The Burnett Brothers are a good source, too.

[journeybear]

Cool! Good ideas. Like the honky-tonk suggestion - Buck Owens was one artist I was going to check out, and the Burnettes/Rockabilly Trio another. Even thinking of skiffle - Lonnie Donegan and others.

And I guess I'll be looking at youtube, often an amazing resource. Though using "rockabilly" as my search parameter turns up over 80,000 videos!

[Ed Goist]

I think that THIS is a very good list.

BTW - Gene Vincent is THE MAN!

-Ed

[Steve Ostrander]

How about the Stray Cats? They covered a lot of Rockabilly tunes and wrote some good ones. (Stray Cat Strut, Jean Jean Jeanie, Sexy and Seventeen, Race with the Devil, Rock this Town, etc.)

And how about Ricky Nelson with James Burton playing those marvelous rockabilly licks. (It's Late, Hello Mary Lou, I Believe, Stood Up, etc.)

[journeybear]

No, no, Fast Eddie - YOU'RE THE MAN!!! That list is great! All I'd have to do is cover half of those songs and there's my repertoire.

And thanks, Steve - hadn't thought of Ricky Nelson, trying to stay away from pop, but some of his songs would indeed work well. I was trying to avoid the Stray Cats and stick to the original swingin' cats, but they do have a recognizability factor that could be very useful.

Great suggestions, all!

PS: And sorry, Nelson - I meant Rock 'N' Roll Trio.

[Dan Hoover]

don't forget Duane Eddy..."Shazam"...Bill Flagg.."Go Cat Go"...anything Eddie Cochran...Buddy Holly...sound's cool...

[allenhopkins]

Summertime Blues
Transfusion
Peggy Sue and a bunch of other Buddy Holly stuff -- did you know Holly was very influenced by Bill Monroe?
Hot Rod Lincoln
Maybelline and some of the other solid Chuck Berry songs
(He's A) Bird Dog
Wake Up, Little Susie
Bye Bye Love

Some of the Hank Williams Sr. songs work well in rockabilly arrangements, like Jambalaya, Hey Good Lookin', Kaw-Liga etc.

[journeybear]

Thanks for the suggestions, Perfesser. "Summertime Blues," most definitely, don't know "Transfusion," Chuck Berry will work, but Buddy Holly and The Everly Brothers are gonna be a bit too pop for me. Fast Eddie's list really got me going, but the challenge now is finding audio/video of some of the songs I don't know.

BTW, has anyone seen the TV appearances by the cast of "Million Dollar Quartet" (or for that matter, the Broadway show)? In one I saw, a medley of each (Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins) doing a different song, one of them did "Who Do You Love." Never thought of Bo Diddley's song in a rockabilly context before, and I've got to wonder if one of them actually covered it back in the day. Anyone know?

[roscoestring]

http://www.nutsie.com/top100sradio/T...0Songs/2546845

[allenhopkins]

don't know "Transfusion,"

Here 'tis:

[journeybear]

Wow, Roscoe! That is one great resource! And I see now it's been staring me in the face ever since Fast Eddie posted the link to nutsie - just didn't see the "Click Now to hear rockabilly songs" button. Excellent! Thank you so much!!!

Now, as to "Transfusion" ... ummm ... think I'll pass. I might just as well do "Please Mr. Custer" if I wanted go the funny route. "Throw a gallon in me, Allen?" Yikes!

[Dan Johnson]

how about Electrified Donkey, by Johnny Horton... that's a good 'un but not for the PETA folks...

[journeybear]

Not really looking for humorous songs. Not sure if that's what that is, though the title leads me to believe so. But I'll check it out anyway.

[Dan Johnson]

Not because it's funny... because it's funky!!

[journeybear]

Truth be told, it's a bit of both! Hee Haw!!!

[Ivan Kelsall]

I've heard quite a few Buddy Holly songs done in Bluegrass style & IMHO he's the greatest Rockabilly singer of all time.
You could try out "Blue Days, Black Nights" / "Brown Eyed handsome Man" / "Rock Around With Ollie Vee" / "I'm Gonna Love You Too" / "Midnight Shift" / "Rip It Up" / "Rock Me My Baby" & many others.
"Shake Rattle & Roll" (a Bill Haley song that Buddy covered). There's a good Dire Straits song that would go down well also "Walk of Life". You could try their song "Money for Nothing" as well - not exactly Rockabilly,but it's got the right 'feel'.
You could go back further & explore some of the songs that Buddy Holly did with Bob Montgomery ie. "I Wanna Play House With You" / "Queen of the Ballroom" / "Gotta Get You Near Me Blues",
Cheers - Ivan