“Running with the Boss Sound” By Al Swacker

My new Roots program, “Running with the Boss Sound,” will premiere on The Roots FM on Thursday, October 2nd, at Noon. I previously hosted a rockabilly show on KDHX, where I spent 25 years curating the “Greaser’s Lunchbox.”  “Rockabilly is the original rock and roll.  It’s a combination of all that came before it, including swing, blues, gospel, folk, and country—stripped down to a small combo, usually featuring upright bass, drums, guitar, and occasionally piano and saxophone. It’s the story of the American South told by the sons and daughters of sharecroppers. It’s the rhythm of the blues with a more playful message.  It’s the original rebel rock. It’s the upbeat soundtrack for the postwar suburban teens. It rocks, it rolls, it shakes, it shimmies, it moves, and it grooves.

“Running with the Boss Sound” is where people can expect to hear rock and roll from its inception and its origins to its heyday and its near demise. There will be rockabilly and much more, including trivia facts, fun stories, music headlines, and biographical information. The music will range from ’50s novelty bubble gum pop through ’60s surf, soul, folk and British invasion, psychedelia, 70’s Glam, glitter, punk and power Pop, ’80s ska, metal, New Wave, synth pop and oi!, ’90s grunge, psychobilly and Britpop to this century’s underground rock and roll heroes constantly reminding you of its origins in rockabilly.  Don’t let the title fool you, though. It’s not a show about Bruce.

I was obsessed with the piano parts in this wild music. As I grew older, I found myself leaning towards more complex rock, including metal and punk. Still, I always retained a love for the leather-clad cool cats of the ’50s, like Gene Vincent, Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, and the killer himself, Jerry Lee Lewis.  In my late teens and early twenties, I taught myself to play the guitar and sing simultaneously. I was playing the songs of Buddy Holly and Hank Williams, but strumming them to a Ramones rhythm and usually with a bit of liquid courage,

Friends from local punk bands started joining me on bass and drums, and in the mid-90s, we became one of the house bands at the Way-Out Club. Club owners Bob and Sherry tapped me to host a rockabilly show on KDHX, where I spent 25 years curating the “Greaser’s Lunchbox.”  During that time, I sang in several rockabilly and punk bands and had the pleasure of backing up ’50s rockers like Billy Lee Riley and Narvel Felts while opening for other greats like Chuck Berry, Ronnie Dawson, and Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats. I had the pleasure of meeting some of my heroes, including Sam Phillips, Hasil Adkins, Paul Burleson (of the rock and roll trio), Lee Rocker, the Reverend Horton Heat, and the incredible Blasters. The show also featured blues and punk rock, as well as numerous local bands, many of which performed live on the show. Rockabilly wasn’t just the springboard for rock and roll; it was also the springboard for my musical career. No matter where I stray, I will always love the rockabilly.

Rockabilly is a traditional form of rock and roll. Or at least it was in the 1950s and early ’60s. It continues underground to this day and features a whole scene filled with lookalikes of James Dean and Betty Page. Rock and roll evolved in the 1960s and 1970s with the advent of the synthesizer and new recording techniques, but Rockabilly managed to retain its simple song structures and rebellious heart. Rockabilly itself always manages to make a comeback every few years. It gained popularity in the 1970s in England; subsequently, when combined with punk, it evolved into psychobilly—revived again in the ’90s by Americans like the Reverend Horton Heat.  In the early 21st century, rockabilly and psychobilly experienced widespread popularity worldwide. Currently, it’s very popular in Europe.  You can always tell a rockabilly fan or a rockabilly band because they will probably still have a double bass, and almost every band has an upright bass. The females of the genre typically have hairstyles with curls and bangs and often wear cowboy boots.  Musically, it stands out with short, heavy guitar-oriented songs with a drum shuffle and doghouse bass in a standard blues composition.  It’s easy to dance to and fun to listen to. It’s a genre that makes you want to drink rather than think. Leave the thinking to the folkies.