bettie page blog

The COLUMBUS DISPATCH printed a funny article positing what tattoos would "toughen up" cubicle dwellers:

If young women with vague tribal designs on their lower backs and guys with the image of Chief Wahoo's face on their calves prove anything, it's this: Tattoos are no longer just for prisoners, the Russian Mafia, outlaw bikers, pro basketball players, rockabilly bassists and millionaire rappers.

But one subculture has yet to fully embrace illustrated skin: the gang of the white-collar office workers...

READ THE REST -- IT'S FUNNY!

I found a thoughtful blog post about how Confederate iconography is a slap in the face to everything Rockabilly stands for -- the mixing of black and white musical concepts in a time and place when "race mixing" was violently opposed. As we reflect on our first black President, it's time to better honor Rockabilly's role in changing racial attitudes at a crucial time in our nation's history.

The racially-segregated world longed for by the Stars and Bars Confederacy would inhibit the multi-racial development of rock'n'roll. Real rockabillies were the enemies of that order. They acted in rebellion against then-prevailing strictures.

The phenomenon of the individual daring to think for her or himself and rebelling against imposed values undergirds today's authentic rockabilly community, just as it fired the original.

Read the rest of the article by DC LARSON, a freelance writer and current CD Review Editor for Rockabilly Magazine.

Read a great article/appreciation/timeline of the Queen of Rockabilly from TULSA WORLD.

The TENNESSEAN has a positive review of Billy Bob Thornton's rockabilly outfit, THE BOXMASTERS' new holiday offering, CHRISTMAS CHEER. As a bonus, they offer a free download of their cover of John Prine's wry, off-kilter tune, CHRISTMAS IN PRISON.

News from multiple sources that MERLE HAGGARD is recovering from an operation removing a malignant tumor from his lung.

HUSHABYE has a lullaby version of JOHNNY CASH classics! Get your kids started off with good taste in music from the cradle! When are they tackling THE CRAMPS???

Jack’s Vintage Clothing, tel: (81-3) 3470 1499, sells poodle skirts, bowling shirts and vintage Levi’s out of a closet-like shop on a backstreet in Harajuku — the district known for its weekend gatherings of rockabilly buffs. Store owner Jack (Elvis) Sato, a sometime actor and Elvis fan (he honors the King’s birthday each year by throwing a street party), attracts a mix of stylists, tourists and members of Tokyo’s rockabilly scene. The clingy Hawaiian-print dresses are especially popular, but in fact Jack’s is good for almost anything ’50s. Pick up a couple of items and chances are you’ll blend right into Harajuku’s passing parade.

Read more about "Tokyo's Vintage Scene" in TIME MAGAZINE.

"ORIGNIALITY IS VERY IMPORTANT," said James "the Reverend Horton Heat" Heath. "At the same time, it's important to be accessible. You can be really original, and be playing a chain saw, a harp and a doghouse, and people are like, 'That's really original. Please stop.'"

Read the rest of a short but fun interview HERE

Them Tornados (South Africa) - bone dry and cracklin' neo-rockabilly that sits nicely between the Stray Cats and Tiger Army.

The Idle Americans (Baltimore, MD) - If The Georgia Satellites listened to Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Two CD compilations are always compelling, as they normally collapse an entire career into a basketful of tracks… not an exhaustive box set for purists, but not a “best of” with just the road-tested standards. These collections give casual fans a real chance to see how an artist rises above (or knuckles under to) passing fads and hones and develops his or her craft. For Tom Russel, this extended collection, VETERAN'S DAY: THE TOM RUSSELL ANTHOLOGY, shows how he has adorned the basic truth of his art in various ways. Russell is a storyteller, a “cowboy poet”. For those unfamiliar, cowboy poetry is an enduring artform in which the stoic American icon of masculinity is given voice through the work of writers attracted to the Western motif. In film, Clint Eastwood is a cowboy poet. In song, we have talents like Russell.

However, the market isn’t always kind to cowboy poets, so Russell infuses his consistent point-of-view into fresh musical “clothes”. Early tracks betray a 70’s era singer-songwriter sound, almost an “AM Gold” vibe. Later tracks on the first CD have the sound of a solid roots-rock road band -- think Lords of the New Church or The Del Fuegos. By the second CD, Russell’s voice takes on a deeper timbre – and a new prominence – in tracks that blur the line between classic standard-bearers of country, such as Merle Haggard, and alt.country. Russell different tones and textures all serve rather languid narrative songs. There’s not much here that’ll help you shake your ass, but if you have the patience, a number of tracks paint a narrative that will engage your imagination.