What do you know about rockabilly legend Billy Adams? Do you know he is from Greenup, Kentucky? Adams was a real force in American popular music – a rock-and-roll pioneer known as "Kentucky's Own Native Rockabilly Son" – who continued to wow crowds all over the world until his passing at the age of 79 in 2019.
Let me whet your appetite about the Rockabilly Son with a sterling review of one of his performances in 2004 …
“Billy
Adams and his band, the New Rock-A-Teers, returned to England
recently for two successful shows at the Americana International
Festival in Newark, Nottinghamshire, on July 10 and 11, 2004. The
festival, billed as an 'American lifestyle' event, is one of the
largest in Europe, and attracts people from all across the continent.
Adams was one of the headliners in a stellar concert lineup that
included Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings (former bass player from the
Rolling Stones), Albert Lee, Narvel Felts, and Dave Edmunds, among
dozens of groups performing mostly American music.
“For
Saturday's show (7/10), Adams and crew were in top form and he wowed
the crowd with a program that he calls 'Roots 2 Rockabilly and
Beyond,' a powerful musical mix of his own songs and some early
influences that shaped his style. He opened with a rousing 'Mystery
Train,' from the original 'Hillbilly Cat' Elvis, followed by his own
late 50's rockers "That's My Baby," and "You Heard Me
Knocking." Adams then took the gathered fans down memory lane
with short bits of real Americana music from Jimmie Rodgers and the
Carter Family.
“Then it was time to kick it into high gear with a powerful combo of 'That's All Right' and 'Mama Don't Allow' where he produced what has now become his trademark showstopper, an amplified lard bucket lid, which he banged on with joy, raining the notes down in time with the music, which produced an effect somewhere between skiffle and the latest sample from a cool hip-hop artist. The crowed roared their approval.
“Next came a segment of American country classics, 'Oh, Lonesome Me,' 'Pick Me Up on Your Way Down,' and 'The Smoke Comes Out My Chimney (Just the Same),' from the hillbilly master, Skeets McDonald. Adams proceeded with his own 'You Gotta Have a Duck Tail,' from 1959, which has become a cult classic in Europe, and it brought knowing cheers from the fans.
“These
tunes were the perfect foil to what followed next, Adams' European
debut of his world-class piano skills. Wasting no time, he fired up
the ivories on Big Joe Turner's 'Shake Rattle and Roll,' and segued
into the universal favorite, 'Great Balls of Fire.' While Adams
pounded the piano, Dave Moore burned notes on the guitar, and drummer
Clif Doyal and upright bassman Wayne Hopkins held fast like a
well-oiled Cummins diesel engine roaring down the road. When the song
spiked to an end, the whole audience erupted in applause.
“Switching
back to guitar, Adams performed 'Hey Jesus,' an original gospel
guitar-driven shuffle, then it was straight into Carl Perkin's
'Matchbox,' followed by Adams latest rock 'n' roll composition, 'Hey
Little Connie,' which ended the set.
“As the announcer called Billy Adams' name to the masses, the entire gathering rose to their feet, and showed their desire for an encore. Adams and the band obliged, and gave the crowd what they wanted, the song that most of them came to hear, Adams' evergreen song from 1957, 'Rock, Pretty Mama,' which has been featured on dozens of record compilations released in Europe over the years. The bouncy hillbilly tune from the dawn of rock 'n' roll capped a perfect set.
“After the show, Adams signed many autographs, visited with fans from many countries, and interviewed with a radio station from Liverpool.”
(“Billy
Adams Makes a Triumphant Return to England.
http://www.rockabillyhall.com. July 17, 2004.)
Today, let me share the story of Billy Adams with you. His great musical legacy lives on. It is a local tale about international influence and fame. Share the facts with your loved ones – a true success story is such a blessing. Read and rock on, you seminal rock music aficionados.
Biography
This biography is largely taken from the Rockabilly Hall of Fame website and the information about “Billy Adams.” Access all articles by clicking here: http://www.rockabillyhall.com/billyadams1.html.
Billy Adams was born March 6, 1940, to a family of fourteen children in Redbush, Johnson County, Kentucky. His father worked as a coal miner in the Van Lear coal mine (the same one mentioned in Loretta Lynn's "Coal Miner's Daughter"). His mother kept the house, and cared for 14 children.
Money was scarce for the family. In those hard times Billy's interest in music and writing began to surface, and he began to dream dreams that were far greater than the poverty that shackled his family to the Appalachian hills.
Billy was influenced by hillbilly artists such as Bill Monroe, the blue yodeler Jimmie Rodgers, the Carter Family, Merle Travis, and Moon Mullican, with songs and sounds that came into the house from an old battery operated radio. On Saturday nights, the broadcast from the Grand Ole Opry sparked images of strange and fanciful places in young Billy's mind.
He recalls, "I vividly remember many times looking up over the tall slender pine whose tiny green needles seemed to pierce the blue-green sky, and dreaming of the day when I would play my very own guitar – like the singers that I heard on the radio – and it would take me to places far over the hills."
"I've loved singing ever since I heard Jimmie Rodgers and The Carter Family on the radio. We had an old radio powered by batteries in our house. The reception wasn't always that great, but I was immediately drawn to the way Jimmie Rodgers phrased his lyrics. He was a big influence; and the Western swing pianist Moon Mullican, he used to pound those keys, he was another major influence. And, of course, when I heard Elvis in 1954, that was kind of like validating what I was doing, because his songs were using that great beat.”
– Billy Adams (Ron Wynn. “Return of the Rocker.” The Nashville Scene. February 2003.)
Sadly, the reality was that Billy's family could not afford to buy real musical instruments, so he and his older brother Charles found other ways to express their music – singing at the top of their voices to their own accompaniment of pounding on lard bucket lids. This improvisation would later prove to be a very prominent force in Billy's music.
The family moved many times in search of work after Billy's father developed lung trouble from working in the mines. After one move to Greenup County, Kentucky, his father was able to borrow a Harmony Monterey guitar from a kind neighbor, and he taught his sons to play the simple chords that he knew. Billy's dream was starting to take shape.
Billy's lonesome, rebellious voice was first heard on radio in 1952, at WCMI in Ashland, Kentucky. During that performance, it just came natural for the 12 year-old to pound out the same rhythm on the guitar that he had created on the lard bucket lid. The crowd loved it.
In early 1954, Billy heard Elvis Presley for the first time on the radio, and he heard in Elvis' music the same driving rhythm style. That was his cue. Billy organized his first band, and called them The Rock & Roll Boys. With Billy on the pounding acoustic rhythm guitar, his brother Charles, on the electric lead guitar, and Curtis May on the upright bass, it was a three-piece band, just like Elvis had. The die was cast.
Billy left school after the eighth grade and went on the road with his older brother Charles. Having learned the basic guitar techniques from their dad, the brothers practiced a lot and performed in bars and clubs. After adding a bass player to the line-up (Curtis May), they began to call themselves The Rock ’n’ Roll Boys.
The Quincy Record
Around this time, Billy wrote a song that he believed in strongly, and a local entertainer named Luke Gordon, who owned a record label – Quincy Records – encouraged Billy to record the song, “Rock, Pretty Mama.”
Billy traveled to Cincinnati to record "Rock, Pretty Mama." Gordon later released the single on his Quincy Records label in 1957. Only 500 copies were pressed, but today “Rock Pretty Mama” has achieved cult status as a rockabilly recording. Critics recognize the work as "a seminal rockabilly classic.”
(“Billy Adams.” All Music Biography. www.allmusic.com.)
The band soon found themselves in demand, and began touring throughout the Midwest. At one point, hoping to take the next step up the ladder of success, Billy stopped at a pay phone in Springfield, Missouri, and made a call to Sun Records in Memphis, Tennessee.
After introducing himself on a call as "Billy Adams from Kentucky, a sixteen year-old boy with a record," he received an invitation by "Cowboy" Jack Clement to come to Memphis and audition for Sun. Adams and his band nearly got there. But, fate intervened, and right after the call, his '49 Ford broke down. With no money to repair it, he sold it for fifty dollars, and he the band beat a hasty retreat back home on a bus. Little did he know that the trip to Memphis would not happen for many years to come.
"It was an incredible time, a period when you could take all kinds of musical chances, and when no one really knew for sure what might or might not be a hit. I think if we could have made it at Sun back then, we'd have had a shot at really being big."
– Billy Adams (Ron Wynn. “Return of the Rocker.” The Nashville Scene. February 2003.)
Back at home, the band caught the attention of Glenn McKinney during their regular gigs in Portsmouth (including a stint at the 440 Club). McKinney of West Portsmouth had a studio and record label, Nau-Voo Records.
After hearing Billy sing several times at the club, McKinney offered him a record deal. On March 1, 1957, in a garage studio where the echo chamber was an outside fuel tank, and the studio itself was barely big enough to breathe in, Billy and the band recorded two of his original compositions, "You Heard Me Knocking" and "True Love Will Come Your Way."
McKinney then called on his long time friend, Frank Porter, and he arranged a deal with Randy Wood to release the songs on Dot Records, in January 1958.
By the end of the decade, Billy and his band, now named The Rock-A-Teers, recorded six more songs for the Nau-Voo label. Billy’s next three singles were released on Nau-Voo, credited to “Billy Adams and the Rock-A-Teers.”
“You Gotta Have A Ducktail” was a fine rocker, but the second Nau-Voo 45 was the one that made some genuine noise. “The Return Of the All-American Boy” was a sequel to the Bobby Bare/Bill Parsons smash hit “The All American Boy” and was picked out by Billboard as a Spotlight winner of the week in March 1959. But it failed to make the charts, probably due to a lack of promotion. The final Nau-Voo release came 16 months later, in July 1960, and coupled “The Fun House”, a novelty piece of rockabilly, with the bluesy “Blue-Eyed Ella.”
"I've always thought it was important that the singer believe in what he's singing, and communicate that to the audience. We really loved making those records. The only problem I ever had was having to be on the road so much, and not having songs that I thought were good become as successful as possible because of politics or distribution. Back then, though, I didn't know that much about the business end (of music)."
– Billy Adams (Ron Wynn. “Return of the Rocker.” The Nashville Scene. February 2003.)
Frustrated by the lack of widespread success, and tired by the rigors of the road, the Rock-A-Teers performed their last show together in 1959. Billy now recalls this as the lowest point in his musical career: "When the last song was finished, the show was over, the curtain fellŠthe band was gone. My heart ached for the part of me that was left behind – my brother, my buddies and my sound."
Although he eventually went on to record dozens of secular and gospel songs in later years, the Nau-Voo sessions brought to a close Billy's early rockabilly career. Today, his records are rare, and sought after by collectors around the world. ("Rock, Pretty Mama" is valued between $1,500-$2,000 in The Official Price Guide to Records: 2002.)
Living his call to the ministry in 1965, Billy Adams spent the next 30 years evangelizing across the country while accompanying himself on piano and writing numerous gospel and country songs.
"I was called by the Lord, and it was time for me to do something completely different with my life. I didn't even think about what it would mean to me commercially. I was concerned about what I could do to help others find the joy that I had discovered. I found that a lot of times, people who'd knoen me from rockabilly or rock 'n' roll, would be fascinated hearing me talk about the Lord. Also, I felt my inspiration to perform and my talent came from God, so it just made sense for me to use everything on his behalf."
– Billy Adams (Ron Wynn. “Return of the Rocker.” The Nashville Scene. February 2003.)
Meanwhile, Adams' recordings remained in circulation; thanks to reissues of his early work by Ace, Bear Family and MCA, Adams and his music continued to enjoy a certain vogue, particularly overseas, where collectors are enamored of Americana of all stripes, notably rockabilly. The trouble was, several other rock 'n' roll singers named Billy Adams had surfaced in the interim, making it difficult at first for Adams to reestablish his identity as a performer.
"One of them died in 1984, and some people thought that was me, especially since I'd been in the ministry and wasn't doing rockabilly or rock 'n' roll tours. I even had a guy come up to me at a show and ask me to sign a record that had my obituary printed on the back."
– Billy Adams (Ron Wynn. “Return of the Rocker.” The Nashville Scene. February 2003.)
Rockabilly compilations containing Rock-A-Teers recordings showed up in the late '80s on labels such as Ace and Bear Family and when a different artist named Billy Adams who recorded for Sun Records passed away in 1984 many tributes confused the two.
Provoked by the swell of attention, Billy returned to the Sun Studios 41 years late to record Legacy, released by Screen Door Records in 2000. The Rockabilly Hall of Fame inducted him the same year. A new Rock-A-Teers was soon formed and started playing at rockabilly revival festivals at home and in England with Billy introducing his boss piano style to the pop world for the first time.
With his career revitalized, Billy began touring with a group of musicians that made up the new Rock-A-Teers band. In October of 2002, he played for the first time in Europe, at "The 29th Hemsby Rock 'N' Roll Show," in England, one of the continent's pre-eminent roots-rock festivals. That appearance coincided with the issue of a 27 track career retrospective, entitled Billy Adams-Rockin' Thru The Years 1955-2002, released on Sanctuary (Castle) Records. The project spans Billy's rockin' career from the '50s thru today.
As a testament to the staying power of a great song, Sanctuary/BMG Records included "Rock, Pretty Mama" on a compilation entitled Rockabilly Riot (released in September of 2003), along with tracks by Elvis, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and others.
2007 marked Billy's 50th anniversary as a recording artist. It is an exciting and busy time for him. He had two well-received shows at the 2007 Americana International Festival, in England. Fifty years on, Billy Adams was still "Rockin'!"
In October 2007, Adams was featured in the Public Radio International (PRI) series, Whole Lotta Shakin'. The series comprises ten one-hour documentaries that explore the artists and artistry of rockabilly – the foundation of rock and roll. Adams is the first voice heard in the "teaser" at the beginning of every show, along with Barbara Pittman, Carl Perkins, Janis Martin and Eddie Cochran. He is quoted in the series opener, "Good Rockin' Tonight," and his story is told in the fourth installment, "Rebels with Guitars."
More infor: https://www.rockabillyradio.org/programs.html
Musicologist Colin Escott summed up Billy Adams best in the liner notes of Rockabilly Riot: "He is now one of the great exponents of rockabilly from the golden era, in demand at clubs and festivals worldwide."
Adams died in
Westmoreland, Tennessee, March 30, 2019, twenty-four days after his
79th birthday.
(Clif Doyal Agency. CDA Promotions- Nashville..Rockabilly Hall of Fame)
ROCKABILLY ADAMS FACTS:
Billy's Birthday: March 6, 1940
Parents: Charles McKinley & Sarah Rachael Mullins Adams
Siblings: 8 sharing the same parents: Charlie, Dorothy, Lillian, Susie, Faye, Kaye, Elna, and Dianne Adams and 4 "step-siblings" : Wayne, Darcus, Opal, and Dixie Adams.
Wife: Freda Louise Riffe. Their wedding took place in a little church on Argillite Road, in Flatwoods, KY. The minister was E.L. Cyrus, the late grandfather of country music's Billy Ray Cyrus.
Anniversary: July 9, 1961
Children: Tina Maria, Teresa (Reesee), and Janetta Darlene. The girls formed a trio in the early 90's, "Mountain Harmony". For four years, Mountain Harmony performed and recorded Christian country music. They opened for many great country artists and enjoyed a two year stint at the world famous "Renfro Valley", Kentucky's own little Grand Ole Opry.
Favorite Pet: His Siberian Husky "Keeno The King" born Dec. '97.
Favorite Color: Blue
Favorite Sport: Boxing
Favorite Hairstyle: The Ducktail, of course.
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