The Stray Cats Biography

The Stray Cats are a rockabilly band first formed in 1979 by guitarist/vocalist Brian Setzer with school friends Lee Rocker (born Leon Drucker) and Slim Jim Phantom (born James McDonnell) in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group, whose style was based upon the sounds of Sun Records artists from the 50s, had little initial success in the New York music scene, and had to move to England before they saw any success at all within the nascent rockabilly revival there. The group had several hit singles in the U.K. and the U.S. during the early 1980s.

After a gig in London, the Stray Cats met producer Dave Edmunds, well known as a roots rock enthusiast for his work with Rockpile and as a solo artist. Edmunds offered to work with the group, and they entered the studio to record their self-titled debut album, Stray Cats, released in England in 1981 on Arista Records. They were popular immediately, scoring three straight hits that year with Runaway Boys, Rock This Town and Stray Cat Strut.

The follow-up, Gonna Ball, wasn’t as well received, and stung by the negative reviews, the Stray Cats decided to return to the States and make a go of it. They signed with EMI America and in 1982 released their U.S. debut, Built for Speed, which compiled the highlights from their two British LPs. Helped by extensive airplay on MTV at the height of the anything-goes new wave era, “Rock This Town” and “Stray Cat Strut” both hit the American Top Ten, over a year after their British chart peaks. As a result, Built for Speed was a left-field smash, and the Stray Cats were seen as avatars of retro style. Their second American album, Rant n’ Rave With the Stray Cats, appeared in 1983 and produced another Top Ten hit in “(She’s) Sexy + 17,” as well as a minor Top 40 entry in the doo wop-styled ballad “I Won’t Stand in Your Way.”

Carl Mann - Bio

One of the last discoveries on Sam Phillips' legendary Sun label, piano player Carl Mann was best known for his rockabilly reworking of the Nat "King" Cole pop standard "Mona Lisa." That million-selling hit positioned him as something of a softer, smoother Jerry Lee Lewis, possessed of a crooner's instincts and a velvety vibrato. Unfortunately, Mann was never able to land another hit on the level of "Mona Lisa," despite waxing a fair amount of high-quality rock & roll. Like many early rock vets, he eventually moved into country music when the rockabilly market dried up, but never successfully established himself in that arena, and gradually drifted out of music.

Eddie Cochran - Bio

Somehow, time has not accorded Eddie Cochran quite the same respect as other early rockabilly pioneers like Buddy Holly, or even Ricky Nelson or Gene Vincent. This is partially attributable to his very brief lifespan as a star: he only had a couple of big hits before dying in a car crash during a British tour in 1960. He was in the

Billy Lee Riley - Bio

BORN: October 5, 1933, Pocohontas, AR Billy Lee Riley is a rockabilly singer and multi-instrumentalist. An alumni of Sun Records, he was one of the most crazed, unabashed rockers
that label had to offer -- in the company of Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Sonny Burgess, that's saying a lot. Proficient at harmonica,

Scotty Moore - Bio

Scotty Moore is one of the great pioneers of rock guitar. As the guitarist on Elvis Presley's Sun Recordings, he may have done more than anyone else to establish the basic vocabulary of rockabilly guitar licks, as heard on classic singles like "That's All Right," "Good Rockin' Tonight," "Baby Let's Play House," and "Mystery Train." Moore took the stinging licks common to both country music and blues, and not only combined elements of country & western and R&B, but added a rich tone through heavier amplification. His concise, sharp phrasing, and knack for knowing both what to play and when not to overplay were perfect accents to Presley's vocals. Although his Sun riffs may be his most famous, Moore in fact continued to play on Presley records until the late '60s and laid down some of his best

The Sun Records Label Story

Sam C. Phillips was from Florence, Alabama. He had ambitions to be a lawyer, but had to drop out of high school to support his aunt and widowed mother. He became a disc jockey in 1942 at WLAY in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. After a series of jobs on other radio stations, he ended up on WREC in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1946. He was also promoting events at the Hotel Peabody in Memphis, and by 1950 had enough money to start a company to record local events and do custom recording. The company he formed was called Memphis Recording Service, with a small recording studio at 706 Union Avenue in Memphis. He developed contacts with Saul and Jules Bihari who owned Modern Records in Los Angeles and Sam's first recording was of Phineas Newborn, a jazz pianist, for them in June 1950.

A disc jockey on WHBQ named Dewey Phillips (no relation to Sam) came to Sam with the proposal to form a record label to record the many blues singers in and around Memphis. Dewey Phillips would run the label and Sam Phillips would record the music. The name of the record label was "It's The Phillips" The first and only record issued was It's The Phillips 9001/2, "Boogie in the Park"/"Gotta Let You Go" by Joe Hill Louis in August 1950. The record was unsuccessful, and Sam Phillips subsequently negotiated a contract with Modern Records for Joe Hill Louis recordings.

Phillips continued working for Modern Records, cutting sessions for B.B. King, Rosco Gordon and Walter Horton. In 1951, he also started an association with the Chess Brothers in Chicago. After recording Howlin' Wolf and Jackie Brenston, he offered to lease the masters to Chess. Modern Records was upset that Phillips had given Chess the first option on Brenston and Wolf recordings and after that used virtually nothing from the Memphis Recording service.

Jackie Brenston was a saxophone player in Ike Turner's Kings of Rhythm band. Ike Turner had come to the Memphis Recording Service to record an automobile song he and the band had developed called "Rocket 88". Sam Phillips leased the song

johnny burnette

Johnny Burnette was a Rockabilly pioneer born on March 25, 1934 in Memphis, Tennessee. Along with his brother Dorsey Burnette and a friend, Paul Burlison, in the early 1950s he formed the Johnny Burnette Rock and Roll Trio. They are considered to be the ones who originally coined the phrase "Rockabilly". Although they managed to get a recording contract, in 1957 the group split up due to a lack of commercial success but while living in California in 1960 Burnette had a back-to-back major hits with songs he wrote titled Dreamin and You're Sixteen followed by Little Boy Sad a year later.

Johnny Burnette's career was cut short at the age of 30 when he drowned in a boating accident on August 14, 1964. He was interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

His name and song-writing abilities gained prominence again when Ringo Starr released a cover of You're Sixteen in 1973.

Rockabilly Rod Reunion returns in 2010 on May 29-30 with NHRA Heritage Series

Rockabilly Rod Reunion returns to The Strip at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
May 28-30 for three days and two nights at two venues

Featuring: NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Drag Racing Series, Bo Huff's Ultimate Garage Party & Car Show, pin-up superstar Sabina Kelly, Jason Beam's pinstriper showdown, tattoo showcase and the ultimate burn-out contest. It's more show and more go for less dough!