Rockabilly Hall of Fame Trivia Quiz

Answer: Gene Vincent.

Vincent Eugene Craddock took the stage name Gene Vincent after being released from the Navy. He formed The Blue Caps, a reference to a nickname for sailors. After winning a talent contest in 1956, Gene wrote "Be Bop-A-Lula" and eventually recorded the song for Capitol Records. Due to an aggressive promotional campaign the song rose to the number seven spot on the charts. Later in 1957 the group performed "Be Bop-A-Lula" on "The Ed Sullivan Show" (1948).

They charted a few other hits, but failed to dent the Top Ten again. "Lotta Lovin'" reached number 13. Gene relocated to England in the early sixties and continued to tour and record with various artists until his death on October 12, 1971. Boyd Bennett was a Muscle Shoals, Alabama, native who had hits such as the number five "Seventeen" and "My Boy, Flat Top" in the fifties.

He later became a Deejay. Sonny Burgess was a Sun Records alumni who recorded "We Wanna Boogie" in 1956. Between 1956 and 1958 Mac Curtis recorded seven releases for King Records. Gene Summers had several Rockabilly hits.

His biggest was "Big Blue Diamonds".

Answer: Eddie Cochran

Cochran wrote "Summertime Blues" with Jerry Capehart. His first successful release was in 1957 with "Sittin' in the Balcony". "Twenty Flight Rock" was credited to Eddie and AMI staff writer Ned Fairchild. Cochran went on to chart other hits after "Summertime Blues" and was on tour in England when he and Gene Vincent were in a cab that stuck a lamp post. Vincent suffered leg injuries but Cochran died the following day.

His guitar was impounded for a while after the crash. A young police officer named David Harman learned to play on Cochran's impounded Gretsch guitar.

He later recorded UK hits on the Fontana label as a member of Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich. In the fifties Eddie Bond was a Sun Records artist who toured with Elvis Presley and other Sun Record acts. Buddy Knox recorded "Party Doll" in 1957. Bill Garland recorded the 1945 release "Got Nothing on Me" before his death in a car crash.

Answer: Scotty Moore

Moore was fronting a group called the Starlite Wranglers when Sam Phillips selected him to work with Bill Black and D. J. Fontana to back Elvis on records and during tour dates. Bill Black played the stand-up bass. Moore's innovative guitar work can be heard on "Hound Dog", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Mystery Train" and "Jailhouse Rock" along with many other Elvis classics.

In addition to being in The Rockabilly Hall of Fame he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. John "Ace" Cannon was a saxophonist who played for Bill Black's Combo. Al Casey was a guitar player with the legendary wrecking crew session musicians.

Answer: Sandy Nelson

Sandy Nelson went to high school with Jan and Dean and gained a reputation as a session drummer before releasing his own records. In 1959 "Teen Beat" was released on Original Sound Records. He moved to Imperial Records and followed with "Let There Be Drums" and "Drums Are My Beat".

Despite a 1963 accident that necessitated amputating his right foot, Nelson returned to recording into the seventies and has released over 25 albums. Stan Beaver's 1963 hit, "I Got a Rocket in my Pocket" is a collector's item. Jumpin' Gene Simmons was an opening act for Elvis Presley during his early tours and co-wrote the 1994 Tim McGraw hit "Indian Outlaw". W.S. "Fluke" Holland was the drummer in Johnny Cash's Tennessee Three band.

Answer: Lonnie Mack

"Suzie-Q" and "Wham" were follow-up Lonnie Mack instrumentals. Lonnie was a touring musician and session guitarist before "Memphis" was an instrumental hit. After a recording session he was on as a session player he was offered twenty minutes of tape time to record whatever he wanted.

He recorded "Memphis" and had forgotten all about it when he was informed that the single was burning up the charts while he was touring with Troy Seals. Although he later recorded some notable vocal efforts, he was best remembered for the influence he had on future guitarists. Link Wray had success in 1958 with his instrumental "Rumble". Tommy Allsup fronted his own band before working with Buddy Holly.

After the 1959 crash that took Holly's life he worked as a producer for Liberty Records.

He has been inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame as well as The Rockabilly Hall of Fame. Tommy Facenda was a guitar player who toured with Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps.

Answer: Wanda Jackson

Between 1958 and 2003 Wanda Jackson released over twenty albums. Among her hits were "The Box it Came in," "Tears Will Be the Chaser for Your Wine," "Fancy Satin Pillows" and "My Big Iron Skillet". She dated Elvis while touring with him in the mid-fifties. In 1956 she signed with Capitol records and was a regular on ABC television's "Ozark Jubilee" between 1955 and 1960. She recorded and performed a blend of Rockabilly and Country styles. She eventually became a Las Vegas headliner for over a decade and was nominated for two Grammy Awards.
When she began headlining shows she had a band called the Party Timers that included a young Roy Clark.
Inductee Etta James had a breakthrough hit with "At Last" in 1961. Barbara Pittman was one of the few female singers who recorded at Sun Studios. Linda Gail Lewis was the sister of Jerry Lee Lewis and formed an act with her daughters called The Lewis 3.

Answer: Dale Hawkins

Dale Hawkins assembled some unique Louisiana musicians to play on the "Susie Q" sessions. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Rockabilly Hall of Fame member James Burton played the opening riff and the solo. Stan Lewis, Dale Hawkins and Burton share songwriting credits. Dale went on to enjoy a recording relationship with Chess Records and continued releasing occasional recordings into the nineties.

He is also a member of The Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame. Billy Strange was known for writing several songs used in Elvis Presley movies as well as being a session guitarist for The Beach Boys, Willie Nelson, Jan and Dean, Wanda Jackson, The Everly Brothers and many others. Dale's cousin, Ronnie Hawkins, has recorded over 25 albums. Among some of the members that have been in his band, The Hawks, were Pat Travers, Robbie Robertson and Garth Hudson. Lytle worked as a guitarist with Bill Haley & The Comets and The Jodimars.

Answer: Frankie Ford

Frankie Ford recorded his vocals for "Sea Cruise" over a track that had already been recorded by Huey "Piano" Smith's band. While he enjoyed immense popularity and has toured continually since the release of "Sea Cruise" he has never duplicated the song's success and was considered a one-hit wonder.
Bruce Channel had a 1962 number one hit titled "Hey! Baby". Robin Luke was in high school at Punahou School in Hawaii when he when he wrote and recorded the number five "Susie Darlin" in 1958. The same year Johnny Burnette had a big hit with "You're Sixteen".

Answer: Janis Martin

Janis Martin predated most pop singers. She starting her career around the same time as Elvis and Bill Haley. She won many talent contests singing Country music and appeared with some of the great Country artists, but tired of Country music and enjoyed performing Rockabilly Music.

She signed with RCA, who dubbed her The Female Elvis and released songs such as "Let's Elope Baby", "Love Me to Pieces" and "My Boy Elvis". She performed at a convention for RCA where she was exposed to a world-wide audience but her career came to a halt when it was discovered she was pregnant and had secretly married her high school sweetheart. "Sad Movies (Make Me Cry)" and "Norman" were big hits for Sue Thompson in the early sixties. Jo Ann Campbell was a dancer-turned-singer who released her first record, "Come On Baby", in 1957.

In 1953 Bonnie Lou signed with King Records and had hits with "Seven Lonely Days" and other songs.

Answer: Jerry Reed

After doing his stint in the service, Reed struggled as a songwriter and session player around Nashville. In 1967 he had his first country chart hit with "Guitar Man" which Elvis soon covered. Elvis ended up recording a total of four of Reed's compositions. Regular appearances on "The Glen Campbell Good Time Hour" (1968) gave Reed more exposure and by 1970 he charted "Amos Moses". Later in the seventies he played "Snowman" Cledus Snow in "Smokey and the Bandit" (1977). Franny Beecher was a guitarist for Bill Haley and the Comets between 1954 and 1962. Johnny Grande was a piano player for Haley and Danny Cedrone played the solo on Haley's "Rock Around the Clock" in 1954.