Rockabilly didn't spontaneously leap into being in 1954 when
Elvis Presley entered Sam Phillips' Sun Studios in Memphis, it only seemed that way to most of the world. A hybrid of blues, country, honky tonk, Western swing, and gospel that became rock & roll when the beat simplified and got heavier, rockabilly emerged from amped-up country hillbilly bands bent on energizing the neighborhood bars and dancehalls on a Saturday night. That said, little on Acrobat Records'
Roots of Rockabilly, Vol. 1 sounds much like early rock & roll, although all the combustible ingredients are present, including the attitude (
Jimmie Skinner's "You Don't Know My Mind"), the blues base ("Six White Horses" by Clyde Moody), the aggressive guitar ("Bryant's Boogie" by Jimmy Bryant), the love of motion and a certain impatience with staying put ("I'm Movin' On" by
Hank Snow), and a wry, goofy wisdom ("Dry Bread" by
Merle Travis). More honky tonk than anything, this first installment in a series of releases documenting the year-by-year build to rockabilly from 1950 to 1954 doesn't seem particularly revelatory at first listen, but there's a slow burn going on nonetheless, and when it bursts into full flame, the world would be unable to ignore it. ~ Steve Leggett