[samdevos]

Hey,

We want to start a rockabilly band , but its hard to find some decent tabs of songs included bass.

anybody know a good place to start searching?
and give me some good songs to start with as well?
any tip , help is welcome

Thx

[coolbus18]

Might I suggest that you use google. There is a ton to be found, many for free.

[Jeff O]

Might I suggest using your ears ! ! !

That's like saying WHAT COLOR OF WHITE SHOULD I PAINT MY LIVING ROOM.

There are a hundred shades of white. There are just as many shades of Rockabilly.

F'rinstance:

Early Stray Cats
Early Elvis
Carl Perkins
RHH
Early Roy Orbison
(name your favorite psychobilly act)
Gene Vincent

All of them are Rockabilly, and very similar, but also very distinctly different.

YOU MUST CHOOSE, GLASSHOPPER

[Cadillac King]

I just started a rockabilly band and I would say the Jeff Beck Crazy Legs record for sure. Also any Brian Setzer is great stuff ,new or older.

[Synchro]

Originally Posted by Cadillac King

I just started a rockabilly band and I would say the Jeff Beck Crazy Legs record for sure. Also any Brian Setzer is great stuff ,new or older.

I agree. Crazy Legs has a very authentic rendition of early Rockabilly with the advantages and clarity of modern recording.

[Sarah93003]

I agree, you have to listen to the songs and decide what you like. Just pick a song and learn it.

Have a look at the Rockabilly Hall of Fame and see who the legends are/were.
http://www.rockabillyhall.com/RabHof.html

One of the things I did when I decided to learn Rockabilly was to pick a song that I wanted to learn, go to YouTube and type in "how to play.....", for example, one of my favorites is Mystery Train. There are other versions on YouTube, but I like this one because I can follow it and it sounds great.

YouTube- How to Play Mystery Train Rockabilly...

You can buy instructional DVD's that are also very helpful. I'd recommend, for starters,

Paul Pigat:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ROCKABILLY-ELECT...item5883cb2260

Steve Trovato:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Steve-Trovato-Ro...item5637ebe4dc

Damien Bacci:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Hot-Rod-Rockabil...item1c10528e3d



You can also find tabs, but for bass that is going to be difficult, I think. For bass players they're going to have to watch videos and listen to develop their style.

Some places for tabs:

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/

http://www.megachords.com/

[Viper]

I'd be tempted to say, "If you don't know, don't mess with it." That would be rude, however. Remember that half of Rockabilly music is Hillbilly music. Early Rock'n' Roll singers idolized Bill Monroe and Ernest Tubb. Listen to Rhythm & Blues and Country music from the 40's and 50's. That is the foundation.

Rather than learning Rockabilly songs from Setzer or Jeff Beck (of all people), go to the source. Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent are closer to the source than modern retro guys. You may be disappointed in the musical quality of the original Rockabilly music. Your job is to pick out the good songs in spite of the bad playing, singing, and production on a lot of the old records.

There are lots of good songs that aren't over done. Find those and make them your own. You won't sound like every other new Rockabilly band that way. The songs are mostly super-simple to learn. Most have only three or four chords, so the songs pretty much play themselves.

Dig deep for songs. Don't be afraid to reach outside of Rockabilly music for material. "Good Rockin' Tonight" was a hit for both Roy Brown and Wynonie Harris before Elvis got ahold of it. "Blue Moon of Kentucky" was a waltz written by Bill Monroe.

Good luck.

[Jeff O]

These jackweeds are all stating the obvious.

Get some compilations. ROCKIN' BONES is 4 disks of 100% good material. Or ebay ROCKABILLY CD. Get a cross reference with some off name bands. We try to play half originals, 1/4 well known songs, 1/4 not so well known songs.

As for bass lines, if your bass player is playing electric he can only play the standard rock and blues run. If he has an upright he can start doing some slappin', and that is primarily 5ths.

[ikaros_swede]

If you want to find some good music I think myspace is a good source. The unknown band I have found on Myspace and downloaded from Cd-baby or iTunes are many...

[chicago slim]

Welcome,

This forum is a good source, for all things rock-a-billy. Though you can copy some guitar licks, you may not find things mapped out in tabs. Rock-a-billy is more about feel and style, than the song.

Check out Elvis doing songs his way on the Million Dollar Session (not what the record studio had him record), or some modern songs like: The Baseballs doing Lady Gaga or Katy Perry. Here they are doing Hot n' Cold:

YouTube- The Baseballs Hot 'N' Cold