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119-587: Born in Towanda, Illinois , Kath's parents were Arthur and Eva Kath. "I was named after my grandmother Mary, and my grandfather Joe; and my mother added the -an onto the end of it. In spite of the spelling the family pronounced it as Jo Ann," Bonnie Lou noted in a 2007 interview. When the family home in Towanda burned down, they moved to Carlock , Illinois, where her father became a tenant farmer. Kath grew up listening to Patsy Montana and her band "The Prairie Ramblers", and

238-548: A 2008 CD, Greatest Country Hits of 1953 . Bonnie Lou's "Tennessee Wig Walk"' recording was featured in the 2010 film The Infidel . On March 8, 2015, The Pantagraph newspaper of Bloomington, Illinois published an extended feature about Bonnie Lou's career, and a companion article about the longevity of her fan club. Bonnie Lou died in her sleep on the morning of December 8, 2015 at Hillebrand Nursing And Rehabilitation Center in Cincinnati , Ohio, aged 91. She had dementia and

357-552: A Teenage Werewolf". Lead singer Lux Interior 's energetic and unpredictable live shows attracted a fervent cult audience. Their " psychobilly " music influenced The Meteors and Reverend Horton Heat . In the early '80s, the Latin genre was born in Colombia by Marco T (Marco Tulio Sanchez), with The Gatos Montañeros. The Polecats , from North London, were originally called The Cult Heroes; they could not get any gigs at rockabilly clubs with

476-537: A WLW live music radio show transmitted nationwide by the Mutual Broadcasting System . When Dixon's show ended not long after his death in 1974, Bonnie Lou semi-retired from show business to Monfort Heights , Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, with her second husband, Milton J. Okum (b. 1926), a furniture store owner and magician. They wed in Las Vegas , Nevada on January 2, 1966. Capitalizing on her public appeal,

595-456: A blues song on one side and a country song on the other, both sung in the same genre-blending style. Presley's Sun recordings feature his vocals and rhythm guitar, Bill Black's percussive slapped bass, and Scotty Moore on an amplified guitar. Slap bass had been a staple of both western swing and hillbilly boogie since the 1940s. Scotty Moore described his playing style as an amalgamation of techniques he had picked up from other guitarists over

714-464: A break on July 5, 1954, Elvis started playing " That's All Right Mama ", a 1946 blues song by Arthur Crudup, and Moore and Black joined in. After several takes, Phillips had a satisfactory recording. "That's All Right" was released on July 19, 1954. Presley's version of "That's All Right Mama" melded country, a genre associated with European-American culture, and rhythm & blues, a genre associated with African-American culture . The resulting track

833-633: A breakthrough hit for Shakin' Stevens . Also in 1980, Queen scored a number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 with the rockabilly-inspired single " Crazy Little Thing Called Love ". The Stray Cats were the most commercially successful of the new rockabilly artists. The band formed on Long Island in 1979 when Brian Setzer teamed up with two school chums calling themselves Lee Rocker and Slim Jim Phantom . Attracting little attention in New York, they flew to London in 1980, where they had heard that there

952-399: A central square. In contrast, most towns of the 1850s, like Towanda, were oriented toward the railroad tracks. In the case of Towanda a diagonal main street was established parallel to the railroad, with the main building lots on only one side; the effect was to have the commercial establishments look across the street toward the tracks. This was a common design in newly established towns along

1071-550: A compilation of 32 of her King and Fraternity recordings, was released by the Great Voices of the Century label. Another compilation of 38 songs, Bonnie Lou: Rock-A-Billy Essentials , was released as a digital album in 2013 by Rockabilly Records. Most of her recordings, then, are available as commercial digital downloads or through popular streaming services. Some of her individual songs are included on multi-artist compilations, including

1190-703: A duet with Rusty York called "La Dee Dah". They soon recorded a Teen Pop song together called "I Let the School Bell Ding-a-Ling". When her contract with King expired, Bonnie Lou could have signed with a major label, but declined since it would have required her moving to New York. "I was supposed to sign with RCA Victor, but instead I went with Fraternity Records just because it was local. I should have had more sense. I've always wanted to stay in Cincinnati, though, because of my family and profession." She released several different singles for Fraternity, but none

1309-996: A duet with Carl Perkins, and George Harrison collaborated with Roy Orbison in the Traveling Wilburys . In 1999, McCartney released Run Devil Run , his own record of rockabilly covers. The Beatles were not the only British Invasion artists influenced by rockabilly. The Rolling Stones recorded Buddy Holly's " Not Fade Away " on an early single and later a rockabilly-style song, " Rip This Joint ", on Exile on Main St. The Who , despite being mod favorites, covered Eddie Cochran's " Summertime Blues " and Johnny Kidd and The Pirates ' Shakin' All Over on their Live at Leeds album. Even heavy guitar heroes such as Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page were influenced by rockabilly musicians. Beck recorded his own tribute album to Gene Vincent's guitarist Cliff Gallup — Crazy Legs —and Page's band, Led Zeppelin , offered to work as Elvis Presley's backing band in

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1428-546: A grain silo complex, local library, and Towanda Elementary School of McLean County Unit District Number 5. Each July 3, Towanda has a spaghetti supper in the evening and a street dance at night. People from Towanda and surrounding areas come out for the festivities. On July 4, a parade goes through Towanda and is considered a big event in McLean County. Individuals and families from around Bloomington, Normal, Hudson, Lexington and elsewhere come out for it. Additionally, there

1547-437: A household in the village was $ 41,705, and the median income for a family was $ 51,875. Males had a median income of $ 33,750 versus $ 30,078 for females. The per capita income for the village was $ 18,702, and 5.3% of the population and only 2.6% of families had an annual income below the federal poverty line. Of the total number of people living in poverty, 8.1% were under the age of 18, and 3.4% were age 65 or older. Towanda has

1666-501: A kitchen closet, and demanded to know where her husband was, saying they wanted him to open the bank safe for them. She told them the safe was on a timer and couldn't be opened at night. They absconded leaving Bonnie Lou unharmed. In 1952 the Ewins family returned to Cincinnati and Bonnie Lou resumed work on Midwestern Hayride . On January 24, 1964, her husband died in a car accident in Cincinnati. Bonnie Lou continued radio performances until

1785-663: A million copies. These same musicians would have two more releases in 1956, followed by another in January 1957. "Queen of Rockabilly" Wanda Jackson's first record came out in July, "I Gotta Know" on the Capitol label; followed by "Hot Dog That Made Him Mad" in November. Capitol would release nine more records by Jackson, some with songs she had written herself, before the 1950s were over. The first record by Jerry Lee Lewis , who would later be known as

1904-498: A mix of blues, country and early rockabilly. The Saturday Night Jamboree was a Memphis stage show held every Saturday night at the Goodwyn Institute Auditorium in downtown Memphis, Tennessee from 1953–1954. The Jamboree shows were sometimes broadcast live on KWEM. A number of future notables performed there, including Elvis Presley. The performers often experimented with new sounds in their dressing rooms, incorporating

2023-640: A name that sounded "punk", so the original drummer Chris Hawkes came up with the name "Polecats". Tim Polecat and Boz Boorer started playing together in 1976, then hooked up with Phil Bloomberg and Chris Hawkes at the end of 1977. The Polecats played rockabilly with a punk sense of anarchy and helped revive the genre for a new generation in the early 1980s. The Blasters , who emerged from the Los Angeles punk scene, included rockabilly among their roots rock influences. The song " Marie Marie ", first appearing on their 1980 debut album American Music , would later become

2142-553: A nationwide boogie craze starting in 1938, country artists like Moon Mullican , the Delmore Brothers , Tennessee Ernie Ford , Speedy West , Jimmy Bryant , and the Maddox Brothers and Rose began recording what was then known as "hillbilly boogie", which consisted of "hillbilly" vocals and instrumentation with a boogie bass line. After World War II , The Maddox Brothers and Rose were at "the leading edge of rockabilly with

2261-740: A new century and renewed interest in early country and rockabilly music came an upsurge of interest in Bonnie Lou's recordings. In 2000, the CD Bonnie Lou - Doin' the Tennessee Walk: The Best of the King Years was released by British Westside Records , featuring all of her King hits. It is rated 4.5 (of 5) stars by AllMusic which calls it "an excellent anthology of an artist whose genre-straddling recordings will appeal to '50s country, rock, and pop music lovers". In 2009, Friction Heat (1953–58) ,

2380-815: A pioneer of rockabilly and rock and roll, came out on December 22, 1956, and featured his version of " Crazy Arms " and "End of the Road". Lewis would have big hits in 1957 with his version of " Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On ", issued in May, and " Great Balls Of Fire " on Sun. There were thousands of musicians who recorded songs in the rockabilly style, and many record companies released rockabilly records. Some enjoyed major chart success and were important influences on future rock musicians. Sun also hosted performers, such as Billy Lee Riley , Sonny Burgess , Charlie Feathers , and Warren Smith . There were also several female performers like Wanda Jackson who recorded rockabilly music long after

2499-420: A point at the southern tip of town just past an unnamed pond off Historic Route 66 (at 40.557656, -88.908876), where there is a rest stop and parking area for catfish and bass fishing in the pond. The stretch of the parkway where the exhibit was erected is a subset of the overall Towanda Trail, which includes a three-flagpole garden on the northeast corner of Jefferson Street and Route 66, several picnic areas along

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2618-691: A punk-influenced style of rockabilly, often labeled as alt-country or cowpunk . They achieved critical acclaim and a following in America but never managed a major hit. The revival was related to the " roots rock " movement, which continued through the 1980s, led by artists like James Intveld , who later toured as lead guitar for The Blasters, High Noon , the Beat Farmers , The Paladins , Forbidden Pigs , Del-Lords, Long Ryders, The Last Wild Sons, The Fabulous Thunderbirds , Los Lobos , The Fleshtones , Del Fuegos , Reverend Horton Heat and Barrence Whitfield and

2737-476: A rock and roll star in his own right), although they did not record the song until 1957. The Burnettes disliked the popular music McQueen played, so they began playing smaller shows on their own, focusing on their budding rockabilly sound. The trio released " Train Kept A-Rollin' " in 1956, listed by Rolling Stone magazine as one of the top 500 rock songs of all time . Many consider this 1956 recording to be

2856-518: A rockabilly album titled Everybody's Rockin' . The album was not a commercial success and Young was involved in a widely publicized legal fight with Geffen Records who sued him for making a record that did not sound "like a Neil Young record". Young made no further albums in the rockabilly style. During the 1980s, a number of country music stars scored hits recording in a rockabilly style. Marty Stuart 's " Hillbilly Rock " and Hank Williams, Jr. 's " All My Rowdy Friends Are Coming Over Tonight " were

2975-503: A salesman he met on a train who "proceeded to rave about a young teenage country and western singer named Sally Carson who in his opinion was the best in the business..." McCluskey had the girl send a transcription of her singing to WLW. Impressed, he then requested a recording of her singing and yodeling "Train Whistle Blues." He hired her, however because KMBC owned the rights to "Sally Carson" had to change her name. She said "My real name

3094-525: A style later called rockabilly . In 1954, she recorded the song "Two-Step Side-Step", written by Murry Wilson , father of the Beach Boys Brian , Dennis , and Carl Wilson . In 1955, she released her first rock and roll record called "Daddy-O". The song rose to 14 on the Billboard chart and turned Bonnie Lou into a rock and roll star overnight. It wasn't until 1958 though that Bonnie Lou had another hit,

3213-426: A town crisscrossed with fences and looking rather like the set for a western movie. Cattle and hogs were driven into town at night and penned before shipping on the railroad. Houses are carefully fenced to protect gardens from stray livestock. The majority of the homes are wooden I-cottages: single story, or story-and-a-half, wood frame dwellings with a symmetrical façade. There are some modest two-story structures. Along

3332-502: Is 104. On average, there are 190 sunny days per year in Towanda. The July high is around 87 degrees. The January low is 16. Towanda-area historical tornado activity is slightly above Illinois state average. It is 114% greater than the overall U.S. average. On May 5, 1977, there was an F4 (max. wind speeds 207-260 mph) tornado 22.2 miles (35.7 km) away from the Towanda village center that injured 2 people and caused between $ 500,000 and $ 5,000,000 in damages. On July 7, 2004, there

3451-481: Is Mary Jo". He said "Not Country enough" and redubbed her as Bonnie Lou. She was promptly featured on Boone County Jamboree , which became Midwestern Hayride Country & Western Radio Program broadcasts and live tours. Her contract with KMBC was voided because she was a minor when she signed it. Once known as Mary Jo, the Yodeling Sweetheart, Bonnie Lou now earned the devotion of listeners which would last

3570-461: Is a flea market and the two parks where vendors come from all around the United States to sell their antiques and other items. The most famous person from Towanda was singer-musician-TV personality Bonnie Lou (born Mary Joan Kath), who gained international popularity in the 1950s with rock and roll and country hits. She became a popular TV host and performer in Cincinnati until her retirement in

3689-733: Is a village in McLean County , Illinois , United States . The population was 431 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Bloomington–Normal Metropolitan Statistical Area . The village was named for Towanda in Bradford County, Pennsylvania . The name means "burial ground" in Nanticoke , an Algonquian language. The land on which Towanda stands was first entered by Charles Badeau who had graduated from Wesleyan University , Middletown, Connecticut , in 1840, and

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3808-742: Is another example of the mixing of musical genres in the first half of the 1950s. Bill Monroe is known as the Father of Bluegrass , a specific style of country music. Many of his songs were in blues form, while others took the form of folk ballads, parlor songs, or waltzes. Bluegrass was a staple of country music in the early 1950s and is often mentioned as an influence in the development of rockabilly, in part owing to its favoring of fast tempos. The Honky Tonk sound, which "tended to focus on working-class life, with frequently tragic themes of lost love, adultery, loneliness, alcoholism, and self-pity", also included songs of energetic, uptempo Hillbilly Boogie. Some of

3927-499: Is considered "classic" rock and roll. Some have also described it as a blend of bluegrass with rock and roll. The term "rockabilly" itself is a portmanteau of "rock" (from "rock 'n' roll") and " hillbilly ", the latter a reference to the country music (often called " hillbilly music " in the 1940s and 1950s) that contributed strongly to the style. Other important influences on rockabilly include western swing , boogie-woogie , jump blues , and electric blues . Defining features of

4046-452: Is quoted as saying "Rock and Roll? Why, man, that's the same kind of music we've been playin' since 1928!... But it's just basic rhythm and has gone by a lot of different names in my time. It's the same, whether you just follow a drum beat like in Africa or surround it with a lot of instruments. The rhythm's what's important." After blues artists like Meade Lux Lewis and Pete Johnson launched

4165-750: The Jordanaires . In 1951 a western swing bandleader named Bill Haley recorded a version of " Rocket 88 " with his group, the Saddlemen . It is considered one of the earliest recognized rockabilly recordings. It was followed by versions of " Rock the Joint " in 1952, and original works such as "Real Rock Drive" and " Crazy Man, Crazy ", the latter of which reached number 12 on the American Billboard chart in 1953. On April 12, 1954, Haley, performing with his band as Bill Haley and His Comets , recorded " Rock Around

4284-477: The Long Tall Sally EP (1964)). Long after the band broke up, the members continued to show their interest in rockabilly. In 1975, Lennon recorded an album called Rock 'n' Roll , featuring versions of rockabilly hits and a cover photo showing him in full Gene Vincent leather. About the same time, Ringo Starr had a hit with a version of Johnny Burnette's " You're Sixteen ". In the 1980s, McCartney recorded

4403-450: The 1930s and 1940s, two new sounds emerged. Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys were the leading proponents of Western Swing , which combined country singing and steel guitar with big band jazz influences and horn sections ; Wills's music found massive popularity. Recordings of Wills's from the mid 1940s to the early 1950s include "two beat jazz" rhythms, "jazz choruses", and guitar work that preceded early rockabilly recordings. Wills

4522-581: The 1940s. Most travel had long since been replaced by automobile and truck traffic along the roads that paralleled the Chicago and Alton rail line: State Bond Route 4 during the 1910s, U.S. Route 66 from 1926 through the early 1970s, and Interstate 55 from the 1970s onward. In 1955, U.S. Route 66 was locally widened to four lanes, as a partially divided highway with a grass median between the northbound and southbound lanes along much of its stretch. The former southbound lanes of Route 66 are now long disused, whereas

4641-452: The 1970s. Wilbur Cash (1887–1956), farmer, businessman, and politician, lived in Towanda. Rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South . As a genre, it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and blues , leading to what

4760-478: The 1970s. However, Presley never took them up on that offer. Years later, Led Zeppelin's Page and Robert Plant recorded a tribute to the music of the 1950s called The Honeydrippers: Volume One . The 1968 Elvis "comeback" and acts such as Sha Na Na , Creedence Clearwater Revival , Don McLean , Linda Ronstadt and the Everly Brothers , the film American Graffiti , the television show Happy Days and

4879-550: The 1980s in the UK (with four number ones in the singles chart) and number two across Europe, outstripping Michael Jackson , Prince , and Bruce Springsteen . Unlike The Stray Cats, who became successful due in part to MTV, Shakin' Stevens' success was initially due to him appearing on various children's television shows in Britain. Despite his popularity in Europe, he never became a big success in

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4998-581: The Big Bopper ), the induction of Elvis Presley into the army in 1958, and a general change in American musical tastes. The style remained popular longer in England, where it attracted a fanatical following right up through the mid-1960s. Rockabilly music cultivated an attitude that assured its enduring appeal to teenagers. This was a combination of rebellion, sexuality, and freedom—a sneering expression of disdain for

5117-890: The Bride (When She Used to Rock 'n' Roll) ". The group became a popular touring act in the UK and the US, leading to respectable album sales. Edmunds also nurtured and produced many younger artists who shared his love of rockabilly, most notably the Stray Cats . Robert Gordon emerged from late 1970s CBGB punk act Tuff Darts to reinvent himself as a rockabilly revival solo artist. He recorded first with 1950s guitar legend Link Wray and later with UK studio guitar veteran Chris Spedding and found borderline mainstream success. Also festering at CBGB's punk environs were The Cramps , who combined primitive and wild rockabilly sounds with lyrics inspired by old drive-in horror movies in songs like "Human Fly" and "I Was

5236-516: The British music charts in 1953. According to The Daily Telegraph , the song's "catchy rhythm and pause before the final two notes caught [football] fans' imagination, and within a few weeks it reverberated with new sets of lyrics – some of them repeatable – round every ground in the country." At the time of her death, the paper reported, the song was still "one of the most often heard of the 8,307 football anthems listed on one specialist website." With

5355-503: The Chicago and Alton Railroad and may be found, with slight variations, in places like Dwight, Gardner, Odell and McLean; Fell's town of Normal, established at the same time as Towanda, was to have had exactly the same arrangement; except that in Normal, the original street paralleling the railroad quickly lost its importance to the reverse side of the block. This standard town plan often left town designers with odd triangular pieces of land, where

5474-526: The Clock " for Decca Records of New York City. When first released in May 1954, "Rock Around the Clock" made the charts for one week at number 23, and sold 75,000 copies. In 1955, it was featured in the film Blackboard Jungle , resulting in a resurgence of sales. The song hit No. 1, held that position for eight weeks, and was the number two song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 1955. The recording was, until

5593-866: The Decca label, and, as a member of the Teen Kings, Roy Orbison with "Ooby Dooby" on the New Mexico/Texas based Je-wel label. Holly's big hits would not be released until 1957. Janis Martin was only fifteen years old when RCA issued a record with "Will You, Willyum" and the Martin-composed "Drugstore Rock 'n' Roll", which sold over 750,000 copies. King records issued a new disk by forty-seven-year-old Moon Mullican: " Seven Nights to Rock " and "Rock 'N' Roll Mr. Bullfrog". Twenty more sides were issued by various labels including 4 Star, Blue Hen, Dot, Cold Bond, Mercury, Reject, Republic, Rodeo, and Starday. In April and May 1956,

5712-496: The Jime ended with the death of Vince Gordon in 2016. Shakin' Stevens was a Welsh singer who gained fame in the UK portraying Elvis in a stage play. In 1980, he took a cover of The Blasters ' "Marie Marie" into the UK Top 20. His hopped-up versions of songs like " This Ole House " and " Green Door " were giant sellers across Europe. Shakin' Stevens was the biggest selling singles artist of

5831-521: The Jukebox Keep on Playing". Perkins and Presley in particular competed as the premier rockabilly artists. In March 1956, Columbia released " Honky Tonk Man " by Johnny Horton , King put out "Seven Nights to Rock" by Moon Mullican, Mercury issued "Rockin' Daddy" by Eddie Bond , and Starday released Bill Mack 's "Fat Woman". Two young men from Texas made their record debuts in April 1956: Buddy Holly on

5950-456: The McLean county seat . Interstate 55 crosses the northwest corner of the village, with access from Exit 171. I-55 leads northeast 124 miles (200 km) to Chicago and southwest past Normal and Bloomington 75 miles (121 km) to Springfield . According to the U.S. Census Bureau , Towanda has a total area of 0.74 square miles (1.92 km ), all land. A tributary of Money Creek flows to

6069-513: The McLean County town of Holder is named in his honor. Fell's association with the railroad goes back to the time when it was surveyed. On at least two occasions he was able to alter the path of the railroad to suit his own interests: organizing a bend in the road so it would pass through his town of Normal and making a slight change in the survey so it would pass through the Livingston County town of Pontiac, where he had interests, rather than

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6188-516: The Money Creek Bridge north of town on Route 66 and begins about 750 feet (230 m) northeast of the bridge, also includes an outdoor educational exhibit on the history of Route 66 called "Historic Route 66: A Geographic Journey" that details the path of Route 66 through all eight states. This exhibit extends from the intersection of Historic Route 66 and Jefferson Street near the I-55 interchange to

6307-610: The National Billboard charts in 1956, and his "Guitar Rock" is cited as classic rockabilly. In 1953, 13-year-old Janis Martin was performing at the Old Dominion Barn Dance on WRVA out of Richmond, Virginia. Martin performed a mix of country songs for the show peppered with rhythm and blues hits in a style that has been described as "proto-rockabilly". She later stated, "the audience didn't know what to make of it. They didn't hardly allow electric instruments, and I

6426-565: The Okums appeared together in TV commercials for the store. For a couple of years in the mid-1980s, she hosted a weekend country music show on WPFB in Middletown , Ohio. A 2013 look back at the station's history deemed Bonnie Lou "[p]erhaps the most beloved DJ that blessed the [station's] airwaves..." Due to her many years on radio and TV and performing in public, she was a household name in Cincinnati and across

6545-603: The Rock and Roll Trio played on Ted Mack 's TV talent show in New York City. They won all three times and guaranteed them a finalist position in the September supershow. Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps' recording of " Be-Bop-A-Lula " was released on June 2, 1956, backed by "Woman Love". Within twenty-one days it sold over two hundred thousand records, stayed at the top of national pop and country charts for twenty weeks, and sold more than

6664-524: The Savages . These bands, like the Blasters, were inspired by a full range of historic American styles: blues, country, rockabilly, R&B and New Orleans jazz. They held a strong appeal for listeners who were tired of the commercially oriented MTV-style synthpop and glam metal bands that dominated radio play during this time period, but none of these musicians became major stars. In 1983, Neil Young recorded

6783-465: The Teddy Boy revival created curiosity about the real music of the 1950s, particularly in England, where a rockabilly revival scene began to develop from the 1970s in record collecting and clubs. The most successful early product of the scene was Dave Edmunds , who joined up with songwriter Nick Lowe to form a band called Rockpile in 1975. They had a string of minor rockabilly-style hits like " I Knew

6902-456: The Tennessee Two, consisting of Marshall Grant on bass, and Luther Perkins (no relation to Carl Perkins) on lead guitar. This song and another Cash original, " Cry! Cry! Cry! " were released in July. "Cry! Cry! Cry!" managed to crack Billboard's Top 20, peaking at No. 14. Presley's second and third singles were not as successful as his first. His fourth release, "Baby, Let's Play House",

7021-534: The Towanda District Library to obtain a digital imaging grant from the Illinois State Library for a project entitled "Capturing Towanda's Past for Eternity." An exceptional collection of scanned documents and images were added to the project's website as a result. Towanda is in central McLean County, 6 miles (10 km) northeast of Normal and 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Bloomington ,

7140-576: The US. In 2005, his greatest hits album The Collection reached number four in the British albums chart, and was released as a tie-in to his appearance on ITV entertainment show Hit Me, Baby, One More Time , going on to become the winner of the series. Other notable British rockabilly bands of the 1980s included The Jets , Crazy Cavan , Matchbox , and the Rockats . Jason & the Scorchers combined heavy metal , Chuck Berry and Hank Williams to create

7259-745: The United Kingdom were called Teddy Boys because they wore long, Edwardian -style frock coats , along with tight black drainpipe trousers and brothel creeper shoes. Another group in the 1950s that were followers of rockabilly were the Ton-Up boys, who rode British motorcycles and would later be known as rockers in the early 1960s. The rockers had adopted the classic greaser look of T-shirts , jeans, and leather jackets to go with their heavily slicked pompadour haircuts. The rockers loved 1950s rock and roll artists such as Gene Vincent, and some British rockabilly fans formed bands and played their own version of

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7378-469: The amount of money their menfolk were spending on whiskey. They assembled at the hardware store where they were issued hatchets. They then marched into the Buena Vista smashing bottles, threatening the barman, and hurling whatever they could find through the tavern windows. Each of the women was fined one dollar. A series of photographs taken in the 1870s give a striking view of early Towanda town. They show

7497-607: The best ones into their shows. In 1951 and 1952, brothers Johnny and Dorsey Burnette , as well as Paul Burlison , played a blend of blues, country, and rockabilly at live shows in and around the Memphis area. in 1953, they played with Doc McQueen's swing band at the Hideaway Club for a time. While there, they wrote a song called "Rock Billy Boogie", named after the Burnette brothers' sons Rocky and Billy ( Rocky Burnette later became

7616-434: The better known musicians who recorded and performed these songs are: the Delmore Brothers , the Maddox Brothers and Rose , Merle Travis , Hank Williams , Hank Snow , and Tennessee Ernie Ford. White sharecroppers' sons Carl Perkins and his brothers Jay and Clayton, along with drummer W. S. Holland , had established themselves as one of the hottest bands on the honky-tonk circuit around Jackson, Tennessee . Most of

7735-621: The charts stateside. Their third LP, Rant 'N' Rave with the Stray Cats , topped charts across the US and Europe as they sold-out shows everywhere during 1983. However, personal conflicts led the band to break up at the height of their popularity. Brian Setzer went on to solo success working in both rockabilly and swing styles, while Rocker and Phantom continued to record in bands both together and singly. The group has reconvened several times to make new records or tours and continue to attract large audiences live, although record sales have never again approached their early '80s success. The Jime entered

7854-467: The country among viewers of the programs on which she was a regular performer. In her 80s, she still performed in public occasionally. For decades Bonnie Lou was an indefatigable entertainer. Until her retirement she performed not just on radio and television, but at taverns, county fairs, conventions, trade shows, and countless other venues. Her accessibility, vivacity, and talent made her a headline favorite wherever she appeared. Even at 17, when her career

7973-435: The development of rockabilly. The Memphis blues musician Junior Parker and his electric blues band, Little Junior's Blue Flames, featuring Pat Hare on the guitar, were a major influence on the rockabilly style, particularly with their songs " Love My Baby " and " Mystery Train " in 1953. Zeb Turner 's February 1953 recording of "Jersey Rock" with its mix of musical styles, lyrics about music and dancing, and guitar solo,

8092-426: The diagonal street met with other streets which were aligned north–south or east–west. These triangles are often still in public hands. In the case of Towanda, Fell gave each of two triangular areas, one on either side of the tracks, to the town. On the original deed they were given the name "plaza", and both have always served the city as parks. Alex Warren built the first residence in the new town and James Alexander

8211-437: The drummer for the Louisiana Hayride , to join him for future dates. By that time, many rockabilly bands were incorporating drums, which distinguished the sound from country music, where they were then uncommon. In the 1956 sessions shortly after Presley's move from Sun Records to RCA Victor, Presley was backed by a band that included Moore, Black, Fontana, and pianist Floyd Cramer . In 1956, Elvis also acquired vocal backup via

8330-515: The end of the 1940s. Some of her radio performances were cut to acetate and released to the public, but she didn't gain prominence as a recording artist until the 1950s. In 1953, Bonnie Lou signed with her first record company, King Records in Cincinnati , Ohio. Early in her recording career, she performed country music songs. She soon had top-10 country hits with " Tennessee Wig Walk " and "Seven Lonely Days", each of which sold about 750,000 copies. Bonnie Lou started recording rock and roll in

8449-438: The first intentional use of a distortion effect on a rock song, which was played by lead guitarist Paul Burlison. Elvis Presley 's first recordings took place at Sun Records, a small independent label run by record producer Sam Phillips in Memphis, Tennessee. For several years, Phillips had been recording and releasing performances by blues and country musicians in the area. He also ran a service allowing anyone to come in off

8568-449: The first warehouse. These were soon followed by Wesley Bishop's grocery and Frank Henderson's dry goods store. The largest building was a two-story structure built by Charles Roadnight, which was 50 by 100 feet (15 by 30 m); the first floor was used for stores and the second as a meeting room. It burned about 1900. In 1873–1874, wooden sidewalks were being built, followed by brick sidewalks in 1891 and concrete walkways in 1916. The town

8687-434: The late 1970s and early 1980s, rockabilly enjoyed a revival. An interest in the genre endures even in the 21st century, often within musical subcultures . Rockabilly has spawned a variety of sub-styles and has influenced the development of other genres such as punk rock . There was a close relationship between blues and country music from the very earliest country recordings in the 1920s. The first nationwide country hit

8806-412: The late 1990s, recognized by Guinness World Records as having the highest sales claim for a pop vinyl recording, with an "unaudited" claim of 25 million copies sold. Maine native and Connecticut resident Bill Flagg began using the term rockabilly for his combination of rock 'n' roll and hillbilly music as early as 1953. He cut several songs for Tetra Records in 1956 and 1957. "Go Cat Go" went into

8925-487: The length of the trail, scattered birdhouses, and intermittent landscaped areas extending from the Money Creek Bridge to the south end of the pond. The trail and parkway exhibit, now a popular local tourist stop on Historic Route 66, continue to be improved on an irregular basis, and the progress of improvements is detailed on the project website. In 2006, the Towanda Area Historical Society partnered with

9044-543: The music. The most notable of these bands was The Beatles . When John Lennon first met Paul McCartney , he was impressed that McCartney knew all the chords and the words to Eddie Cochran's " Twenty Flight Rock ". As the band became more professional and began playing in Hamburg, they took on the "Beatle" name (inspired by Buddy Holly's band The Crickets ) and they adopted the black leather look of Gene Vincent. Musically, they combined Holly's melodic songwriting sensibility with

9163-511: The northbound roadbed is still in use as a two-lane local highway and the current path of Historic U.S. Route 66 in Illinois, now known as the Illinois Route 66 Scenic Byway, a designated National Scenic Byway . When in 1977 the construction of Interstate 55 detoured U.S. Route 66 in a gradual curve around the northwest side of Towanda, a 3 + 1 ⁄ 4 -mile section of southbound Route 66

9282-515: The northeast through the village. Money Creek is a northwest-flowing tributary of the Mackinaw River , part of the Illinois River watershed. The village gets 37 inches (940 mm) of rain per year. The U.S. average is 37. Snowfall is 24 inches (610 mm). The average U.S. city gets 25 inches (640 mm) of snow per year. The number of days with any measurable precipitation in the village

9401-560: The other ladies, Janis Martin, the female Elvis Jo Ann Campbell , and Alis Lesley , who also sang in the rockabilly style. Mel Kimbrough -"Slim", recorded "I Get Lonesome Too" and "Ha Ha, Hey Hey" for Glenn Records along with "Love in West Virginia" and "Country Rock Sound" for Checkmate a division of Caprice Records. Gene Summers , a Dallas native and Rockabilly Hall of Fame inductee, released his classic Jan/Jane 45s in 1958–59. He continued to record rockabilly music well into 1964 with

9520-571: The plat on December 7, 1854. Fell, a native of Chester County in southeastern Pennsylvania , was a widely known land dealer in central Illinois who played a major role in founding many towns in the region, including Clinton , Dwight , Normal , and Pontiac , and who was the driving force behind the establishment of the school that would become Illinois State University . Holder was linked with Fell in many of his town founding schemes including Normal, Illinois, and Larchwood in Lyon County, Iowa ;

9639-488: The railroad, long rail corn crib may be seen. The simple board-and-batten railroad station is clearly visible. Perhaps the most striking structure is a stone tank house topped with a windmill. Towanda has been plagued with fires. In 1905, a large part of the downtown area burned, and in 1917 the original railroad station went up in flames. However, there was also progress. In 1901, telephone service began, and in 1937 Main Street

9758-627: The record or myself." Some of her records were also released by labels in Germany and the Netherlands . Reflecting on her recording career in the 1980s, she concluded that "the sound on my records was too mixed, part country, part R&B. It got the artists and the public confused, I believe. You to do one thing or the other. People won't accept it unless you focus. You can't have a mixed bag." As television eclipsed radio in popularity, Bonnie Lou's engaging personality and beauty allowed her to easily adapt to

9877-577: The release of "Alabama Shake". In 2005, Summers's most popular recording, School of Rock 'n Roll , was selected by Bob Solly and Record Collector Magazine as one of the "100 Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Records". Tommy " Sleepy LaBeef " LaBeff recorded rockabilly tunes on a number of labels from 1957 through 1963. Rockabilly pioneers the Maddox Brothers and Rose continued to record for decades. However, none of these artists had any major hits and their influence would not be felt until decades later. In

9996-702: The rest of her career. She performed regularly with the sister duo she had listened to as a child, the Girls of the Golden West , one of whom was McCluskey's wife. During her years with WLW, Bonnie Lou often performed at country music hub Nashville , Tennessee on weekends, including several times at the Grand Ole Opry . On August 26, 1945, she married Glenn Ewins. She returned to Illinois with Ewins in 1947 and had her only child, Constance, September of that year. In 1950, two masked men entered her home at one a.m., shoved her into

10115-576: The rival town of Richmond. Shortly after Towanda was laid out, most of the land was back in the hands of the railroad's land agent, English-born Charles Roadnight (1814-?). Roadnight built the first warehouse in Towanda; he settled in Bloomington , had a farm in Dwight, and in 1858 later became treasurer of what was then the Chicago and Alton Railroad. Central Illinois towns of the 1830s, such as Bloomington, Lexington, Leroy and Pontiac, were usually built around

10234-626: The rockabilly scene in 1983, when Vince Gordon formed his band. The Jime was a Danish Band. The Jime was the band of Vince Gordon, rockabilly guitarist. Not only was he the nerve of the band, Vince Gordon was the band. He composed nearly all its songs and hits.  Vince Gordon also left his mark on the rockabilly scene in many ways. Expert Fred Sokolow talks about the Vince Gordon style in Rockabilly due to his composing.  Vince Gordon had many different musicians in his band. The lifetime of

10353-422: The rockabilly sound included strong rhythms, boogie woogie piano riffs, vocal twangs , doo-wop acapella singing, and common use of the tape echo ; and eventually came to incorporate different instruments and vocal harmonies. Initially popularized by artists such as Carl Perkins , Elvis Presley , Johnny Burnette , Jerry Lee Lewis and others, the rockabilly style waned in the late 1950s; nonetheless, during

10472-569: The rough rock and roll sound of Vincent and Carl Perkins. When The Beatles became worldwide stars, they released versions of three different Carl Perkins songs, more than any other songwriter outside the band, except Larry Williams , who also added three songs to their discography. (Curiously, none of these three were sung by the Beatles' regular lead vocalists—"Honey Don't" (sung by Ringo) and "Everybody's Trying to be my Baby" (sung by George) from Beatles for Sale (1964) and "Matchbox" (sung by Ringo) on

10591-422: The same president, Ruth Tatman. March 23, 2015, Bonnie Lou's home town, Towanda , Illinois, honored her with a joint resolution. The resolution invites "our local community and beyond to reflect on the talent and remarkable achievements of the hometown girl who grew up to be a star." In 1971, BBC disk jockey Jimmy Savile played for his listeners Bonnie Lou's "Tennessee Wig Walk", which had reached number 4 on

10710-530: The show as "Queenie") appeared on the program until it ceased production in 1972. She appeared regularly on the Ruth Lyons (broadcaster) 50-50 Club , an innovative live weekday talk and entertainment show that had 7 million viewers at its peak, though it was only aired regionally. In 1958, she and other WLWT luminaries recorded a Christmas album for Ruth Lyons's new record label that sold about 250,000 copies. As busy as her TV schedule was, she hosted Six Star Ranch ,

10829-530: The slapped bass that Fred Maddox had developed". They had shifted into higher gear leaning toward a whimsical honky-tonk feel, with a heavy, manic bottom end and high volume. The Maddoxes were known for their lively, antic-filled shows, which were an influential novelty for white listeners and musicians alike. Along with country, swing and boogie influences, jump blues artists such as Wynonie Harris and Roy Brown , and electric blues acts such as Howlin' Wolf , Junior Parker , and Arthur Crudup , influenced

10948-496: The songs they played were country standards with a faster rhythm. It was here that Carl started composing his first songs. While playing, he would watch the dance floor to see what the audience preferred and adjust his compositions to suit, writing them down only when he was sure they were finished. Carl sent numerous demos to New York record companies with no success; the producers believed the Perkins' style of rhythmically-driven country

11067-502: The spotlight and the crowds went ‘Ahhhh!'." A couple of minutes later she brought down the house! That's the history in brief of Sally Carson's first appearance as a regular songstress last Saturday on KMBC's Brush Creek Follies. You can close your eyes...and even her voice bubbles over with wim, wigor, and witality. Open up though, and the secret is no longer a secret — just look at them golden tresses!" In 1945, Bill McCluskey, executive at WLW in Cincinnati, first learned of Bonnie Lou from

11186-545: The street and for a modest fee, record themselves on a two-song vanity record. One young man who came to record himself as a surprise for his mother, he claimed, was Elvis Presley. Presley made enough of an impression that Phillips deputized guitarist Scotty Moore , who then enlisted bassist Bill Black , both from the Starlight Wranglers, a local western swing band, to work with the young man. The trio rehearsed dozens of songs, from traditional country to gospel. During

11305-514: The summer of 1958 Eddie Cochran had a chart-topping hit with " Summertime Blues ". Cochran's brief career included only a few more hits, such as "Sitting in the Balcony" released in early 1957, " C'mon Everybody " released in October 1958, and " Somethin' Else " released in July 1959. Then in April 1960, while touring with Gene Vincent in the UK, their taxi crashed into a concrete lamp post, killing Eddie at

11424-440: The true realization of the Rockabilly genre. In addition to the fusion of distinct genres, Presley's recordings contain some traditional as well as new traits: "nervously up tempo" (as Peter Guralnick describes it), with slap bass, fancy guitar picking, much echo, shouts of encouragement, and vocals full of histrionics such as hiccups, stutters, and swoops from falsetto to bass and back again. In 1955, Elvis asked D.J. Fontana ,

11543-506: The village was 98.58% White , 0.41% African American , 0.41% from other races , and 0.61% from two or more races. Also, 0.41% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 199 households, out of which 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.3% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a woman whose husband did not live with her, and 26.6% were non-families. 22.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.0% had someone living alone who

11662-465: The visual medium. WLW's TV affiliate, WLWT, featured her prominently in several roles. For two decades she co-hosted and performed on the popular weekday program, the Paul Dixon Show . Their pairing began when Dixon approached her and said, "I'd like to have you with me every day. We fit one another." The show was perfect for a quick-witted, multi-faceted performer like Bonnie Lou, who noted, "The show

11781-412: The workaday world of parents and authority figures. It was the first rock 'n' roll style to be performed primarily by white musicians, thus setting off a cultural revolution that is still reverberating today. "Rockabilly" deviance from social norms, however, was more symbolic than real; and eventual public professions of faith by aging rockabillies were not uncommon. The first wave of rockabilly fans in

11900-560: The years. Presley's unique musical style rocketed him into the spotlight, and drew masses of followers. Nobody was sure what to call Presley's music, so Elvis was described as "The Hillbilly Cat" and "King of Western Bop". Over the next year, Elvis would record four more singles for Sun. Rockabilly recorded by artists prior to Presley can be described as being in the long-standing country style of Rockabilly. Presley's recordings are described by some as quintessential rockabilly for their true union of country and R&B, which can be described as

12019-400: The young age of 21. The grim coincidence in this all was that his posthumous UK number-one hit was called " Three Steps to Heaven ". Rockabilly music enjoyed great popularity in the United States during 1956 and 1957, but radio play declined after 1960. Factors contributing to this decline are usually cited as the 1959 death of Buddy Holly in an airplane crash (along with Ritchie Valens and

12138-449: Was " Wreck of the Old 97 ", backed with "The Prisoner's Song", which also became quite popular. Jimmie Rodgers , the "first true country star", was known as the "Blue Yodeler", and most of his songs used blues-based chord progressions , although with very different instrumentation and sound from the recordings of his black contemporaries like Blind Lemon Jefferson and Bessie Smith . During

12257-466: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.48 and the average family size was 2.91. In the village, the age distribution of the population showed 24.1% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 33.7% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 12.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.8 males. The median income for

12376-404: Was an F4 tornado 23.9 miles (38.5 km) away from the village center that injured 3 people. As of the census of 2000, there were 493 people, 199 households, and 146 families residing in the village. The population density was 709.0 inhabitants per square mile (273.7/km ). There were 207 housing units at an average density of 114.2 inhabitants/km (297.7 inhabitants/mi ). The racial makeup of

12495-581: Was an active rockabilly scene. Early shows were attended by the Rolling Stones and Dave Edmunds, who quickly ushered the boys into a recording studio. The Stray Cats had three UK Top Ten singles to their credit and two bestselling albums. They returned to the US, performing on the TV show Fridays with a message flashing across the screen that they had no record deal in the States. Soon EMI picked them up, their first videos appeared on MTV, and they stormed up

12614-456: Was as successful as her King singles. WLW hampered her career by refusing to allow her time off to tour in support of her early recordings, which had sold well overseas, especially in England where her label was Parlophone , which was also The Beatles ' label during most of the band's existence. "When the record hit the top twenty nationally, I asked the station if I could take some time off to tour. Management said no. That hurt: I couldn't promote

12733-460: Was building momentum, a columnist for the Atchison (KS) Daily Globe wrote of the young performer that "When Sally Carson looks at us with that twinkle in her eyes, we're ready to believe anything." On August 3, 2008, during a celebration of King Records and its musicians, Bonnie Lou was honored by Cincinnati with a key to the city. In 2014 her fan club celebrated 50 years of continued existence with

12852-658: Was closed off to motorized traffic and abandoned. Between 1998 and 2000, a not-for-profit student and community project created the Towanda Historic Route 66 Parkway, also known as the Historic Route 66 Trail (as seen on Google Maps), on a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) stretch of the old disused Route 66 roadway between the south end of Towanda and a point about 3 miles (5 km) northeast, where Interstate 55 swings east to meet up with and once again closely parallel Historic Route 66. The parkway, an ongoing project that preserved

12971-430: Was denied airplay on both country radio stations and R&B stations for being "too black" and "too white", respectively. Country deejays told Phillips they would be "run out of town" for playing it. When the song was finally played by one rogue deejay, Dewey Phillips, Presley's recording created so much excitement it was described as having waged war on segregated radio stations. All of Presley's early singles featured

13090-455: Was doing some songs by black artists." In 1954, both Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins auditioned for Sam Phillips . Cash hoped to record gospel music, but Phillips was not interested. In October 1954, Carl Perkins recorded his original song " Movie Magg ", which was released in March 1955 on Phillips's all-country label Flip. Cash returned to Sun in 1955 with his song " Hey, Porter ", and his group

13209-461: Was employed as the assistant to the chief engineer of what was then the Alton and Springfield Railroad. Because in Illinois at that time it was illegal for railroads or their officials to establish new towns, much of the land was then transferred to two McLean County real estate developers, Jesse W. Fell (1808 – 1887) and Charles W. Holder (1819 - 1900). These two men laid out the town of Towanda and filed

13328-524: Was greatly inspired by her. She learned how to yodel from her maternal grandmother Mary, who had emigrated from Switzerland . She started violin lessons when she was five, and her father bought her a "two dollar-and-a half pawnshop guitar " when she was 11. In 1941, aged 16, she was singing and performing on WJBC (AM) in Bloomington , Illinois. At 17, after she graduated from high school, she sent an audition record to KMBC in Kansas City , Missouri, and

13447-499: Was in hospice care. Posthumous tributes to Bonnie Lou were featured by media throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. On December 11, 2015, The New York Times published a featured obituary for her in its printed edition. Bonnie Lou is entombed in the Arlington Lakeside Chapel & Mausoleum at Arlington Memorial Gardens, Mount Healthy , Ohio. Towanda, Illinois Towanda

13566-687: Was not commercially viable. That would change in 1955 after recording the song " Blue Suede Shoes " (recorded December 19, 1955) on Sam Phillips ' Memphis-based Sun Records . Later made more famous by Elvis Presley , Perkins' original version was an early rock 'n' roll standard. In the early 1950s, there was heavy competition among Memphis area bands playing an audience-savvy mix of covers, original songs, and hillbilly flavored blues. One source mentions both local disc jockey Dewey Phillips and producer Sam Phillips as being influential. An early radio show on KWEM in West Memphis, Arkansas quickly became

13685-456: Was off the top of his head. You had to know how to ad lib." Faithful to her country music roots, she was also the "top name" on WLWT's televised version of Midwestern Hayride , which began as a regional program and was eventually the first country music program regularly broadcast on a national TV network, NBC. Bonnie Lou, dubbed "Queen of the Hayride", (and sometimes affectionately referred to on

13804-523: Was officially incorporated in 1870. The first jail was built in the North Park and replaced at least once; the structure can not have been very substantial because in 1901 the town fathers were forced to appoint a committee to inquire into what had happened to the jail. Perhaps the most exciting event in the town's history was the attack on the Buena Vista Tavern. A group of local women took exception to

13923-511: Was paved. Still, Towanda remained in the shadow of its larger neighbors to the south, Normal and Bloomington, and was always smaller than Lexington, the next town north on the stagecoach road and the Chicago and Alton Railroad line, which generally paralleled each other between Chicago and Springfield . Trains were essential to the development of the town, but traffic was never heavy; in 1887, only one southbound and one northbound freight stopped at Towanda. Passenger service stopped altogether in

14042-688: Was released in May 1955, and peaked at number five on the national Billboard Country Chart. In August, Sun released Elvis's versions of " I Forgot to Remember to Forget " and "Mystery Train". "Remember to Forget" spent a total of 39 weeks on the Billboard Country Chart, five at the number one spot. "Mystery Train", peaked at number 11. Through most of 1955, Cash, Perkins, Presley, and other Louisiana Hayride performers toured through Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Mississippi. Sun released two more Perkins songs in October: "Gone, Gone, Gone" and "Let

14161-586: Was signed to a five-year contract to perform on the Brush Creek Follies barn dance show as "Sally Carson," and with a group called The Rhythm Rangers. The show was broadcast nationwide on the Columbia Broadcasting Service , and has been described as "one of the biggest music programs in the country" at the time. A newspaper columnist described her opening in Kansas City: "She walked out into

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