Your fav' 50's artist

I'd like to talk about great Rn'R legends from the fifties.
Not easy to give one favorite. Eddie Cochran, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent, Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison, Little Richard and so many others more or less famous.
If I really must give just one name, it probably would be Carl Perkins . He's my favorite. His tracks, his guitar solos and sound, his voice, his wild side, his words like in Put Your Cat Clothes On.

jerry lee lewis !

a " real wild child "

Probably Gene Vincent... But Carl, Eddie and Jerry Lee are not far behind...
Gene Vincent two first albums are really, in my opinion, the personification of Rock N' Roll. Voice, sound, mood... All is perfect here. And a little word about the guitarist Cliff Gallup, probably the best I've ever heard on this years (and the most under estimated)

ELVIS!

It is the only artist ( with Brian now) where I really like all all all that he makes in its totality. I like all his periods, all his looks...

His only defect: he makes no more gigs! (I make party of the persons who believe that Elvis is alive always, really)

While Brian is always there. He thus has this advantage on Elvis.

for sure Elvis. and first all songs with Scotty Moore

but also Gene Vincent, Carl Perkins, Johnny Burnette Trio, Eddie Cochran, Collins Kids, i also like some Bill Haley Songs, Little Richard, CHUCK BERRY!!!!
Johnny Cash...etc..

i don´t have one favorite alone. There was so much good music at this time...

to me, there are three-Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis and Brenda Lee!

God bless Johnny Cash.

I was raised with the music of Chuck Berry, so he is clearly one of my all time favourites. My other favourites are Eddie Cochran, Elvis (mostly the Sun years), Buddy Holly, Warren Smith, Dion, Ronnie Self.

Number one has got to be Elvis for so many reasons , his voice ,his live act, his looks, his style, his band, the Sun records and many of those from 1956 are just unbeatable as were so many songs he recorded in later years. Watch any live clip of other 50's rockers and they look so lame in comparison to Elvis. And no one even came close to having a voice like his. None had the blues side of the music down like he did, the ballads ,the rockers.......unreal.

And Number two place, in no particular order because it's impossible

Buddy Holly ..was I think the most imaginative and he could rock
Eddie Cochran ..was the coolest after Elvis
Carl Perkins .. he rocked and still remained true to his country roots,he was witty,he could play ,he wrote really good songs
Chuck Berry.. for all the obvious reasons
Johnny Burnette trio ... small output but pure raw rockabilly
Gene Vincent ... Be bop alula alone would put him in the number 2 spot
Johnny Cash... dont know were to start

All the rest of the guys who produced classics come in at number 3
Warren Smith, Jerry Lee, Charlie Feathers, Bill Haley, Roy Orbison etc etc

Vincent Blackshadow wrote:

Number one has got to be Elvis for so many reasons , his voice ,his live act, his looks, his style, his band, the Sun records and many of those from 1956 are just unbeatable as were so many songs he recorded in later years. Watch any live clip of other 50's rockers and they look so lame in comparison to Elvis. And no one even came close to having a voice like his. None had the blues side of the music down like he did, the ballads ,the rockers.......unreal.

And Number two place, in no particular order because it's impossible

Buddy Holly ..was I think the most imaginative and he could rock
Eddie Cochran ..was the coolest after Elvis
Carl Perkins .. he rocked and still remained true to his country roots,he was witty,he could play ,he wrote really good songs
Chuck Berry.. for all the obvious reasons
Johnny Burnette trio ... small output but pure raw rockabilly
Gene Vincent ... Be bop alula alone would put him in the number 2 spot
Johnny Cash... dont know were to start

All the rest of the guys who produced classics come in at number 3
Warren Smith, Jerry Lee, Charlie Feathers, Bill Haley, Roy Orbison etc etc

I will second that viewpoint I could'nt have put
it better myself

I am not very much into rockabilly music apart from what Setzer/Cats do but out of all the artist mentioned here (and I can swear that I've listened to all of them quite eagerly), EDDIE COCHRAN is undoubtfully the best one.

I never got to like Elvis very much, just a bunch of songs/hits but I find him way to cheesy.

Eddie had the voice, the style, the looks, the guitar playing.... pity he left us so early.

Oh Jelly Bean, Jelly Bean!

Eddie Cochran had a few cheesy numbers too. But I like cheese. I dont think he was a great singer ,certainly not on his ballads or slower numbers. But he was still brilliant and original.

Elvis!

Elvis gets a bad rap from a lot of the rockin crowd these days, too popular, commercial, cheesey, image etc etc

But it all comes down to the voice, and for me, he had the best voice ever.

I almost prefer Eddie's cheesy songs to Elvis' ballad stuff.
3 Steps to heaven is a great song for example!

One night with you
A fool such as I
Love me
So glad you're mine
Anyplace is paradise
How's the world treating you........And on and on ad finetum

The prosecution rests m'lud

At least this thread is properly titled - "favorites" rather than the highly subjective "greatest" or "best".

We had a thread on here a few months ago about best vocalist - narrowing it down to that degree, I think it would be Elvis, with everyone else a distant second. But when you incorporate other elements, like songwriting and instrumental prowess, then the field opens up quite a bit.

My favorites for the "complete package" - singing, songwriting, mastery of their instrument: Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Carl Perkins - none of these cats had the most versatile voice, but man, could they write a song.

Eddie Cochran for singing and guitar work - most of his best songs were written by others

My favorite vocalists: Elvis Presley, Sam Cooke, Bobby Darin

Favorite bands - Blue Caps (w/ Cliff Gallup) - without them, I would not like Gene Vincent nearly as much. The Johnny Burnette Rock-n-Roll Trio - the whole was greater than the sum of their parts.

Favoite female vocalists - Keely Smith, Julie London, Lavern Baker, Julia Lee, Etta James (her stuff pre-"At Last" was fantastic - thanks to Jools Holland, I finally found that out last year). As a huge Billie Holiday fan, I find her 50s recordings weary, rough, and incredibly moving. Most people under the age of 60 will probably consider "50s" to mean rock-n-roll, but you're really only covering about half the decade there.

Outside these categories, Johnny Cash, Hank Williams, Little Richard, Ray Charles, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Everly Brothers, the Coasters, Jackie Wilson... and the list goes on and on. Factoring in more r&b, country, jazz, and pop could blow this list wide open.

American Music-billy

1. ELVIS
2. JERRY LEE LEWIS
3. JOHNNY BURNETTE
4. CARL PERKINS
5. JOHNNY CASH
6. BILLY LEE RILEY

Not rock n roll or rockabilly per se, but Patsy Cline was Heavenly

Eddie Cochran
Elvis
Billy Fury
Jackie Wilson
Roy Orbison
Johnny Burnette Trio
Johnny Cash
Gene Vincent

Vincent Blackshadow wrote:

Not rock n roll or rockabilly per se, but Patsy Cline was Heavenly

Oh yes she is the best!

After Elvis I shall put Adriano Celentano
I am so in love for him!
He's very rock and roll!

Esquerita (the man that influenced Little Richard)

Screamin' Jay Hawkins

Jerry Lott AKA THE PHANTOM

Joe Clay

Screamin' Jay Hawkins-wasn't that the guy with all those kids?

Jay's kids

kelleyM wrote:

Screamin' Jay Hawkins-wasn't that the guy with all those kids?

Jay's kids

The one and only.

A legend.

I saw Screamin Jay in Nîmes (south of France) in 91 or 92 and it ate his children on stage!