If you’re like me (someone who didn’t have access to YouTube growing up), you’re probably familiar with this iconic photo of rockabilly singer, Ersel Hickey —
But maybe not his big 1958 hit, “Bluebirds Over the Mountain“:
Check out the loping guitar intro with the lead guitar and bass playing the melody line in harmony – sounds very much like rocksteady or early reggae … but a good eight years before it was even invented! Could this be the earliest (unintended) example of “pop reggae” in the American music marketplace?
EP – Australia
(1959)
I cannot take credit for coining the term “reggaebilly,” however, for that distinction goes to former Bill Monroe & the Bluegrass Boys sideman, Peter Rowan, who released an album in 2001 bearing a title of the same name.
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LINK to Pop +/- Strings Reggae
