Gene Vincent

Genres:	Music Magazines • Music Videos & Concerts • Musicals & The Arts • Pop / Rock
Descriptive "tags":	rockabilly • rock and roll • 50s • rock n roll • oldies
Decades Active:	1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Artist Compilations:	Gene Vincent & The Blue Caps
Links online:	BBC Music • Official Homepage • Wikipedia

Biography

Vincent Eugene Craddock, 11 February 1935, Norfolk, Virginia, USA, d. 12 October 1971, Newhall, California, USA. One of the original bad boys of rock ‘n’ roll, the self-destructive Vincent was involved in a motorcycle crash in July 1955 and his left leg was permanently damaged. Discharged from the US Navy, he began appearing on country music radio and came under the wing of disc jockey ‘Sheriff’ Tex Davis (b. William Douchette, Connecticut, USA, d. 29 August 2007, USA), who supervised his recording of a demo of ‘Be-Bop A-Lula’. In May 1956, the track was re-recorded at Capitol Records’ Nashville studio, with backing by the Blue Caps. The original line-up comprised Cliff Gallup (lead guitar), Jack Neal (upright bass), Willie Williams (b. 1936, d. 28 August 1999; acoustic guitar) and Dickie Harrell (drums). Weeks later, ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ stormed the charts, temporarily providing Capitol with their own version of Elvis...

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