Dorsey and his younger brother, Johnny, learned to play guitar early in life, as did many of the other rockabilly artists, and developed a love for music when they were young. Music was a daily expression in their lives, since their family was totally involved in the music scene. 

Dorsey originally considered a career as a professional fighter, but soon realized that there had to be a better life than bloodshed. He worked as an electricians helper to earn money between engagements in his career of singer, entertainer. Johnny had become successful as a fighter, reigning for a time as Golden Gloves champion of Memphis. However, at 22 he decided that show business might be better than boxing In the early 50's, the brothers had their own country music band playing in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. They even went to audition for Sam Phillips at Sun Records.

Unfortunately, for Sam, he turned them down. So to prove their value, the band went to New York City, to enter the "Ted Mack Amateur Hour" and won four weeks in a row. Afterward they went on tour with the show. 

The year 1954 found them working at the Crown Electric Company, where they joined with Paul Burlison to form the Johnny Burnette Trio. Their music was basically country, but they eventually mixed in a blues sound to go with it. Paul Burlison had previously played with Howlin' Wolf, and there was a hard-driving sound to his guitar. It was this driving sound that would eventually become the band's trademark. They appeared on radio broadcasts with Howlin Wolf, and their popularity began to grow. Because of their southern roots and their obvious longing for the black sound, they were referred to as "white niggers" and "white trash." The similarities between the Burnette brothers lives and experiences and those of Elvis are extraordinary. 

Recording for Decca's Coral Records division was their big start in the business. They recorded some great driving sounds, including "The Train Kept a-Rollin'," "RockBilly Boogie," "Tear It Up," "I Just Found Out," and many more great recordings. These songs represented the full rockabilly sound as we know it. The driving guitars, the screams, and the heavy base sounds all attest to the driving force of the music itself. The band caused riots wherever it went because of its sound, which would influence an enormous amount of artists for years to come. 
 

In 1957 they moved to California, and their luck began to change. While pushing their writing ability, rather than their musical sound, they got involved with Rick Nelson and wrote many of his hits, 

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In only 21 years, Buddy Holly accomplished more than most artists do in a complete lifetime. At the time of his death, he was approaching the acceptance and popularity of Elvis Presley, and there would have probably been a fight for top honors between them. Like Elvis, he had a tremendous impact not only on up-and-coming artists in the United States but, more importantly, on a number of up-and-comers in the United Kingdom, including the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and the Who. 

Buddy learned to play the violin and piano at age four and took up the guitar when he was seven. He was influenced by Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family, among others, in the country and western field. 

Buddy started singing in country groups in the early 50's, while he was attending high school. By 1954 he was gaining a reputation as a good, solid, popular artist, playing in small clubs in Texas and around the Southwest. The Buddy, Bob, and Larry trio, comprised of Buddy Holly, Bob Montgomery, and Larry Welborn, would travel upward of 200 miles to a recording studio, as well as to local radio stations, to record their music. The songs would consist of Buddy and Bob harmonizing, with Bob and Buddy on guitar and Larry on bass, sometimes replaced by Don Guess or Sonny Curtis (who was regarded as the best in the area). 

In October of 1955, 19-year old Buddy Holly, Larry Wilborn, and Bob Montgomery were the opening act for both Bill Haley and His Comets and  Elvis Presley, when each of them played Lubbock. The impact of these  performances would greatly change the young singer, and would increase his ambition to become a great performer. 

Buddy approached Columbia and RCA recording companies, but was turned down by both of them. In 1956, he convinced Sonny Curtis and Don Guess to drive the 100 miles or so with him to Nashville, to find a record company willing to accept him. 

In January 1956, he signed a contract with Decca Records to record a few songs, basically as a country artist. At Decca, he was put under the forceful leadership of one of the best producers the company had, Owen Bradley. Unfortunately, the band was not allowed to back up, and Buddy was not allowed any say in what was happening. They recorded "Don't Come Back Knockin'," "Love Me," "That'll Be the Day," and "Blue Days-Black Nights," as Buddy Holly and the Three Tunes -- none of which went anywhere. To add insult to injury, his name was misspelled on the record label,  as Holly, instead of Holley.

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the Crickets, on Brunswick: "That'll Be the Day" (actually the second version of the song), which broke into the charts and sold over a million copies. The song was co-written by Buddy, Jerry Allison, and Norman Petty. It had previously been recorded under a different style on Decca, and several different versions are still in existence. 

Buddy followed up these hits with several songs in 1958, including "Rave On" and "Maybe Baby," along with "Early in the Morning" which was a revenge release by Decca. It seems that after trying for hits on several releases, a young artist named Bobby Darin, on Atco Records, was not doing well. He decided to change his luck by forming a rock group called the Ding Dongs and later the Rinky Dinks and set up to record for Brunswick Records. Just as he recorded two sides, and the company released them, "Early in the Morning," backed with "Now We're One," he hit it big on Atco with his quickly written "Splish Splash." Atlantic Records, the parent of Atco, found out that Darin had taken part in the recordings on Brunswick and threatened to sue the company unless it turned over the masters and pulled the records off the market.  

Brunswick's reaction was to have Decca's most popular singer, Buddy Holly, do a cover, not only of one, but of both sides of the record. Both versions hit the charts. Atco released the record under the name "Bobby  Darin and the Rinky Dinks."

The Picks(vocals) 
 

The Crickets

Other hits followed for Buddy: "Oh Boy," by the Crickets, in 1957, and "Think It Over" and "Fools's Paradise" in 1958. In January 1959, Buddy hit with "Heartbeat." He appeared on national TV constantly, on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and "The Arthur Murray Show." 

Although Buddy Holly was a rockabilly artist, he was very different from the rockabilly mainstream. His was a softer music, and his records sounded less neurotic, effervescent instead of turbulent .... In Holly's records, rockabilly deflects from country music toward a more refined, apollonian form, perhaps best exemplified by the music of the Everly Brothers, who thrived from 1957 to 1960. [Tosches, 1985, p. 96-97] 

The Crickets continued to argue with Buddy about working as hard as they were, and eventually the band returned to Texas, while Buddy stayed in New York, got married, and started working for the future. He soon began to develop the new sound-on-sound technique of recording one voice over and over until a multiple group of voices is heard. He also started using violins in his songs, which had never been done in rock before.

In January 1956, in New York City, on his own tape recorder, Buddy Holly recorded his last songs: "Peggy Sue Got Married," "Crying, Waiting, Hoping," "That's What They Say," and "Learning the Game." 

The hectic schedule he had to follow was partly to blame for his death. He was on tour with Richie Valens, J. P. Richardson, and others, all of whom were tired and sick from the cold. Someone suggested that they charter a plane to fly to their next destination, so Buddy could rest before the next show. Richie and J. P. also thought it a good idea and convinced two members of Buddy's group, one of who was a young bass player by the name of Waylon Jennings, to let them have their seats. The rest is history: on February 3rd, 1959, the plane crashed in a field near Fargo, North Dakota, and they all died. 

Buddy did much for Decca and for rockabilly. He created a style of playing guitar that would be copied for decades. He combined country music, blues, Texas swing, and Mexican sounds to form a new style of rockabilly music. His records continued to sell in the '60's and '70's, and well into the '80's with the advent of CD's. Today's teenagers still listen to his songs songs that are as fresh and timely today as they were then. 

More than any other singer of that era, he brings back a time when music was fun, when rock was fun, was trying to push it as an art form and when sheer animal exuberance was what counted. [Roxon, 1969, p. 236] 

Ronnie Hawkins 

Ronnie Hawkins was born in Huntsville, Arkansas, on January 10, 1935. Early in his life, the family moved to Fayetteville, and Ronnie grew up singing in the church choir and excelling in physical sciences in high school and later at the University of Arkansas. 

He formed his first group, the Hawks, in 1952, but unfortunately the band saw little success because all its members, except Ronnie, were black, and the prejudice of the time forced the group to disband. 

Ronnie continued to sing, and after the emergence of Elvis, he formed his second version of the Hawks in 1958. He boldly be- gan to spread his sound throughout the Memphis area. Success in recording, however, was not forthcoming, and after many demos and a stint in the U. S. Army, Ronnie and the group decided to head to Canada. 

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In Canada, they recorded a wild version of "Hey Bo Diddley" for Quality Records, which led them to record "Forty Days" for Roulette, in the United States. In June 1959, just four months after the death of Buddy Holly, Ronnie entered the Top-100 with his hit "Forty Days." He Later followed up with another hit, "Mary Lou." Once again, he reorganized the band, and continued to be successful, especially in Canada and in the South. The group quickly began to drift apart, even with regard to the clothing they wore -- Ronnie, in his $600 black suede suit, and the band in their all white suits, with long lapels. 
 

In 1963, he and the band split up, and Ronnie formed his own record label, Hawk. He released a number of successful records on Hawk, among them "Got My Mojo Working," "Bluebirds over the Mountain," and "Little Red Rooster." He was one of the true leaders of rockabilly music, and he constantly spread the word. He was also one of the few innovators who was never struck by tragedy and who is still alive. 
 

The Band 

Levon Helm, his drummer, and the Hawks went on to cut a record for
Apex entitled "Uh-Uh-Uh," under the name the Canadian Squires. They also recorded two songs for Atco under the name Levon & the Hawks, one of which was not released until 1968. Finally, the group settled on the name the Band and spent some time backing up the new folksinger, Bob Dylan, through his many hits. Later they became very successful themselves on Capitol Records with their releases "The Weight," "Up on Cripple Creek," "Rag Mama Rag," and other songs. They were so popular with the college crowd that they were invited to entertain at Woodstock, in 1969. The band split up forever in 1976, and one of its members, Richard Manuel, committed suicide in 1982. Levon Helm can be found acting in movies, from time to time. 

The Band was re-invited to play at the Woodstock revival program in 1994, and they performed successfully in front of a new and younger audience.
 

Rick Nelson

Rick  Nelson was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, on May 8, 1940. His career in music developed quite by accident, while he was performing in his parents' television show "The Ozzie and Harriet Show." The script had him dressed as Elvis Presley for a costume party. As a joke, he sang two lines from Presley's "Love Me Tender." The result was 10,000 letters in a week, almost all wanting to know when Rick was going to make a recording. 

With everyone jumping on the Elvis bandwagon, Ozzie got him a recording with Verve, and Rick sang the songs on the television show for the nation. Both of the songs, "A Teenager's Romance," and "I'm Walkin'," were hits. Rick was beginning to learn how to emanate sex appeal, so the teenage girls would swoon over him. His second release, "You're My One and Only Love," was also a hit, and it, too, was done in the sexy, drooling, teenage craving manner of the first song. 

The story goes that Lew Chudd, the head of Imperial Records, heard that Rick had only a verbal contract with Verve and persuaded Ozzie to sign Rick to Imperial Records. The combination of artist and record company was perfect and led to at least a dozen Top-10 records, including "Bee Bop Baby," "Stood Up," "Waitin' in School," and "Poor Little Fool." These songs were more in the rockabilly genre, and he matured in this musical form as the years progressed. 

From 1957 to 1963 he remained one of the top pop artists in the country, with sales of around 35 million records. Each song, in turn, showed more and more development, and the background, too, was expanding. All the years were not great, however. There was a slump in the middle, which was broken in 1961. 

"Travelin' Man," recorded in 1961, alone sold over 5 million copies worldwide. With the backing of rockabilly guitarist James Burton, Rick's songs began to have a definite country sound, and on several occasions he emulated country stars such as Jim Reeves, and Johnny Cash. 

In 1963, Rick signed a 20 year contract with Decca Records, but his hits became fewer and fewer, as he tried turning out pop-sounding records 

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However, in 1967, he formed his first country band and turned out the country music album Country Fever on which he had his first country hit: "You Just Can't Quit." Decca began pushing him toward country music, as that was their strength, at the time. 

In 1968, however, he began to form his own style, which would combine the hard sounds of rock with the simple sounds of country, and began to work with the Stone Canyon Band. Now he was getting away from the country sound of James Burton and going more into a smooth rock sound with the likes of Allen Kemp, Rand Meisner, Pat Shanahan, and Tom Bromley on steel guitar (formerly with Buck Owens). Supposedly, he was so impressed with Bob Dylan's Nashville Skyline album that he was dedicated to expanding on this new sound. 

Rick toured with the band, and began to be invited to entertain at colleges and universities around the country, as well as at rock revival shows and on TV. 

In October 1971, in one of the rock revival shows, held at Madison Square Garden, in New York City, he was booed by the audience for playing new material, having an unusual band, long hair and wild jump suit outfits, none of which were associated with his image. Totally frustrated with this response, he wrote the song that would change his life and his sound forever. "Garden Party" zoomed to the top of the pop and country char