In the 1950s, there were dozens of weekly radio broadcasts on stations around the country that followed the pattern of Nashville's venerable country music showcase the Grand Ol' Opry, including the Louisiana Hayride, Chicago's National Barn Dance, and West Virginia's Wheeling Hayride, all of which featured popular country hitmakers of the day alongside promising local talent. In 1954, disc jockey Charles Bolton launched one such show on WBIP in Booneville, MS, called the Dixieland Jamboree, but as the first wave of rock & roll fever began sweeping the South, the Jamboree began booking seminal rockabilly acts alongside the country stars, with
Elvis Presley,
Johnny Burnette,
Charlie Feathers,
Warren Smith, and many more gracing the stage of Booneville's Von Theater for the Saturday night broadcasts. In 1956, the Jamboree moved to the roomier confines of the Coliseum Theater in Corinth, MS (broadcast over WCMA), and this album has been compiled from rare airchecks of Dixieland Jamboree broadcasts from their days in Corinth. Sadly, no recordings appear to have survived of appearances by
Presley,
Burnette,
Feathers, or any of the other major rockabilly artists who played the show, and even Jamboree regulars
Hayden Thompson and Lloyd McCullough were otherwise occupied on the nights these tapes rolled. But there are some good rockin' performances from local heroes Lloyd Arnold, Billy Wayne, and Curtis Hobock, all of whom sound fiery and committed on these recordings as they play rockabilly hits and make them their own. Just as importantly, the audibly enthusiastic audiences (complete with screaming girls) offer a rare opportunity to hear first-generation rockabillies interacting with their fans instead of a studio microphone, and it's a kick to hear kids getting wild with the rock & roll on both sides of the proscenium arch. Musically,
Wildcat Jamboree! offers some rough-and-ready rockabilly fun, and as a historical document of the early years of rock, it's all but invaluable. ~ Mark Deming