Burnin_Daylight - Posted - 11/05/2017:  10:23:57

Was listening to Flatt & Scruggs' version of "Big Black Train" the other day and it occurred to me that Earl's banjo sounds fantastic in a Rockabilly setting. Started wondering whether there were ever any Rockabilly bands that featured banjos? Anybody know of any?

Tractor1 - Posted - 11/05/2017:  12:23:51

Depends on how you define rockabilly I suppose,That has been used for years here and there,basially a rhthym section,that brings to mind 50s and early 60s rock and fast blues (boogie woogie) before that imo.Anyway about all the greats have their versions of a good stab at this but not their mainstay.also imo.

Interesting coincidence your chosen name is half of the name of my you tube channel      youtube.com/channel/UCmcArs37U...bV4hgqZRw

Edited by - Tractor1 on 11/05/2017 12:30:17

kirbonite - Posted - 11/05/2017:  12:31:04

I'm a long time Rockabilly enthusiast. The banjo has not been embraced as a Rockabilly instrument but there is a strong connection with Bluegrass and Rockabilly. Some of the Osbourne Brothers tunes come to mind. They attempted having drums and things at the time to compete with the emerging Rock and Roll popularity. Rockabilly is a term that came along later.
Brian Setzer often toys with banjo stuff. In case you were born yesterday.. Brian Setzer is the frontman of The Stray Cats. (the most successful "rockabilly" band of the modern era.

youtu.be/tpdfWD5BO1A

Tractor1 - Posted - 11/05/2017:  12:31:38

phb - Posted - 11/06/2017:  11:27:07

Um, this thread seems to be a black hole for comments. Mine never appeared although six replies were indicated in the overview...

Anyway, what I wrote is this: if "Foggy Mountain Rock" doesn't qualify as rockabilly, I don't know what rockabilly is... :)

Texasbanjo - Posted - 11/06/2017:  13:37:09

Philipp:  there was  a glitch of some sort in posting a video and it, in effect, kept anyone else from posting until it was fixed. Eric fixed it this morning so now people can post again. 

The Old Timer - Posted - 11/06/2017:  13:37:10

Bill Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys helped CREATE rockabilly recordings from 1945 on. Listen to Blue Grass Special and here how Stringbean lays in some jumpin' two finger picking on his break. Put driving walking bass fiddle behind banjo, fiddle and mandolin and you're in that rockabilly-inspiring area. See also Rocky Road Blues, Heavy Traffic Ahead, Blue Grass Stomp. Monroe said they used to play for a lot of dances, and the folks liked that "stomp" rhythm. He didn't call it rockabilly. I call it Jitterbug music.

Carl Perkins and Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis even Chuck Berry all have made it plain Bill Monroe was among their influences in the 1940s. Interesting that Monroe himself more or less laid off of this sound until he came back with "Blue Grass Part 1/Blue Grass Twist" over a decade later in 1960.

Tractor1 - Posted - 11/06/2017:  14:54:11

kirbonite - Posted - 11/07/2017:  01:58:59

what is the correct method for posting video ? that may have been me

kirbonite - Posted - 11/07/2017:  15:18:23

Tractor1 - Posted - 11/07/2017:  17:04:14

Cool he does Earl's Breakdown here ,flatpick style,he also plays a mean Black Mountain Rag in a you tube vid .But he also does the whole big band thing.What a worker