Travel back in time with Rockabilly Legends
Wednesday, November 19, 2008 11:40 PM PST
By Tom Paulu
Printable version
E-mail this articleIn the 1950s, Jerry Naylor rubbed elbows with the likes of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and Roy Orbison. Naylor, 69, is still playing hits by these departed superstars of rock’s early days.
His “Rockabilly Legends” band will play Saturday at the Columbia Theatre. The group includes Stan Perkins, who for 22 years played with his father, Carl Perkins.
Naylor’s own performing career got going in 1960, when he was chosen to replace Buddy Holly in the Crickets a year after Holly died in a plane crash. The group had several hits in England before Naylor left for a solo career in pop and country. He became a regular on the ABC-TV show “Shindig” in the mid-60s and hosted the TV series “Music City USA.”
In recent years, Naylor has been center stage in the Rockabilly Legends project that commemorates that era with a book, movie and collection of CDs.
Naylor likes to point out how rockabilly heavily influenced musicians from Bob Dylan to Billy Ray Cyrus, and thus his teen idol daughter, Miley.
“It impacts how we dance, how we talk, the clothes we wear,” Naylor said.
The Saturday show will open with Tommy Overstreet, a country singer who had several hits in the 1970s and appeared frequently on the TV show “Heehaw.”
Then Naylor, Perkins and their eight band mates will take the stage. Their show is structured as a history of rock’s roots, incorporating videos of the original performers.
“The whole idea of this project is to preserve the music and pay tribute to these artists,” Naylor said.
It starts with African spirituals and moves on to Southern Gospel. For that, Naylor is bringing the choir from the Bethel Baptist church in McMinnville, Ore., where Naylor lives. “We’ll do four songs, including ‘I’ll Fly Away,’ ” Naylor said.
“We give the feeling we invite everybody into the Sun studio where all of this started,” Naylor said. That’s where Elvis did his early recordings such as “That’s All Right Mama.”
Naylor said that he, Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly were all in bands that played on the same stages with the then little-known Elvis.
Naylor was 16 when Elvis came to his home town of San Angelo, Texas. “I helped promote it and I took the tickets at the door. They introduced Elvis. He only knew six songs.”
Along with Elvis tunes, Naylor said “we do the Roy Orbison rockabilly opera from ‘Ooby Dooby’ to ‘Pretty Woman.’ ”
The show also traces through the music of Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Before Elvis had a hit with “Blue Suede Shoes,” it was recorded by its author, Carl Perkins. Naylor said one of the first people to ever hear the tune was baby Stan Perkins.
“He’s a man who knows it better than I do,” Naylor said. “Stan comes out and we do it together” during a tribute to Carl Perkins.
Naylor wraps up the show with a tribute to the man he followed in the Crickets.
The Longview show is a preview of a tour to come. Upcoming concerts will be part of PBS’s fund-raising efforts. He also plans concerts in Sweden next year.
IF YOU GO
What: Rockabilly concert featuring Jerry Naylor, who was lead singer of The Crickets after Buddy Holly died, and Stan Perkins, son of Carl Perkins. Also Tommy Overstreet & the Nashville Connection.
When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
Where: Columbia Theatre.
Tickets: $20-$40 in advance, $25-$45 day of show. 575-8499 or (888) 575-8499.
unbelieveable wrote on Nov 20, 2008 12:47 PM:
Hauskapoika wrote on Nov 20, 2008 3:59 PM:
I saw Naylor and some of the others at Rockabilly and Country Clubs in California. One guy missing from the article is a guy by the name of Ray Campi - also from Texas. Campi could play just about any instrument that exists, and he used his own 6-track Teac recorder to produce his records which were sold world-wide.
Rockabilly has a beat that will get you
off your seat and get you MOVING! Go see this show. "
Past Month's Most Commented Stories