5/16/08: 'That's Alright Mama' and Other Rockabilly Gems

[Guest Gibson Lifestyle]

Lesson of the Day: 'That's Alright Mama' and Other Rockabilly Gems

 

05.16.2008

 

 

All week we've been focusing our lessons on the blues. Well, Friday is a good day to shake things up a bit, and there's no better way to do this than by throwing a little classic rockabilly into the mix.

 

Carl Perkins and Scotty Moore are widely considered two of the first rockabilly guitarists to blast onto the scene in the early 1950s, when rock and roll and country music—or hillbilly music, as it was called—were fused together to form this new style and genre of music. Legends like Elvis Presley helped catapult rockabilly and its emerging artists into the mainstream in the mid to late 1950s, though its influence and popularity waned in the 1960s. Rockabilly made a strong comeback in the late 1970s and early 1980s with bands like the Stray Cats and players like Brian Setzer, and has endured to the present.

 

Today's lesson is given by one of rockabilly's most talented players, Jim Weider, former guitarist with Levon Helm in the Band who has performed and recorded with the likes of Bob Dylan, Los Lobos, Dr. John, Taj Mahal, Keith Richards, and Bob Weir and Ratdog. This lesson is taken from the Homespun DVD titled Licks and Techniques of the Rock Pioneers—a 90-minute instruction manual for all things rockabilly, including scales, solos, rhythm patterns, picking techniques, and jammin' rockabilly licks.

 

The lesson is centered around Elvis' first hit single and all-time rockabilly classic, "That's Alright Mama." Weider shows you Scotty Moore's original guitar arrangement using the original instruments and amps to demonstrate the chords and technique, while also providing technical tips on the use of the whammy bar, amp tremelo, Echoplex, and other important tricks of the trade.

 

Click here for today's killer rockabilly lesson >>

 

And please don't forget to check back on Monday for yet another great lesson from Gibson Lifestyle!