SUN REJECTS AND OTHER DELIGHTS

Time for a heads up. You might have noticed, one of the sites that's been linked to often here is Rocky-52.net. If you've followed a link from here, gone there and thought it dated because of the design, or passed because most of it's in French, let me fill you in on something. You need to dig deeper. If you like rockabilly, early rock 'n' roll, or country and western, it's probably the most comprehensive site you're going to find in terms of artists represented. It's the labor of love, by just one French guy, Gérard "Rocky" Lambert. He is to be applauded. Outside of short artist bios, cut and pasted from different sources, there is little written content. But, holy shit, does he have the goods.

I thought it time for a sort of "How to" guide, to make it easier to navigate his site. Believe me, it'll save you time. The lay of the land: Go there and take a look at it. The web layout that he uses used I believe is called "frames". Haven't seen them much of anywhere in years. This tells you that our man of the hour is a "fuck it, it works" kinda guy. Cool. Now, check his contact page. There's some shots of him looking like a regular guy. That is if you were a regular guy from Arkansas plopped down in the middle of France. (Not a fan of the presence of Confederate flags in some photos, but maybe over there it doesn't carry with it the same connotations). Regardless, I could see having a beer or six with him.

The goods: Click on "Discography". It'll open alphabetic selections. Now here's where you should deviate from what you'd probably instinctively do. Yes, there are many, many names there that you will know. But think differently. Once you make an alphabetic selection, to the right of the artists name, is the type of music. If you like rockabilly, look for that, but look for a name you don't recognize. Then check the thumbnail. Old photo, great (the odds are better). Check the icons next to the name, if there's a speaker gif, there's music. Just go to the artists page for the songs. (Some are just snippets, but most are full songs.).

Repeat that process and you'll soon realize that it's exactly what Rocky-52 is all about. Turning you on to artists you've never heard. Merci Rocky Lambert. You rule.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Three Rocky taught me:
Junior Thompson - Who's Knocking? mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Art Adams - Rock Crazy Baby mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Acorn Sisters - Real Gone mp3 at Rocky-52.net

"FADAMS"? THAT'S NOT FUNNY.

Rocky, of Rocky-52.net, is one piece of work, I'll tell you. Let's back up for a second. Tonight I was thinking about obscure rockabilly, and lamenting the fact that I hadn't bookmarked a certain crazy rockabilly song I'd heard at Rocky's site, because I'd forgotten the singer's name so I'll probably never hear the song again. This guy Rocky has that much stuff on his site. Rockabilly, country and western, hillbilly, doo wop, some early rock 'n' roll, and a few blues songs, and some surf instrumentals; it's all there. It's mind blowing once you figure out how to navigate his site. So, before going any further, you may want to remember these few simple steps. Step 1: Click on "Discography" in the left column. Step 2: Look for the artists with speaker icons by their names. These are the ones with music. Step 3: Once on the artist's page, look for the hyperlinked song titles. They will take you to a page with the lyrics and the mp3. The lyrics may seem superfluous, but, believe me, in some cases they come in handy.

Tonight I thought I'd experiment, and click on the first singer he had listed as "rockabilly" that had a speaker icon. Just to see what I came up with. Rocky did it again, three songs by one Art Adams, someone you might not know. (I didn't, and I consider myself semi-educated in rockabilly matters.) Going back to Rocky's posting of the lyrics. If he didn't do that, I wouldn't know that the first two lines of Adam's "Rock Crazy Baby" are "She's a rock crazy baby and she's rockin' every day, doesn't matter to her if the words of the song don't rhyme" (suck on that Alice Cooper). And I wouldn't know that the first two lines of "Indian Joe" are "Oh, Indian Joe come to town one day, standing on the corner heard the jukebox play." I'll tell you, this guy Art Adams sure has an imagination. Not only that, he shows he is multidimensional, yelping, in "Indian Joe," in an informed Legendary Stardust Cowboy style. It is exquisite. In poor taste perhaps, but exquisite nonetheless.

~ NOTE: ALL MEDIA IS HOSTED BY THE BLOGS & SITES NAMED BELOW ~

Listen:
Art Adams - Rock Crazy Baby mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Art Adams - Indian Joe mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Art Adams - Dancing Doll mp3 at Rocky-52.net
Bookmark it:
Rocky-52.net