Sleepy LaBeef: Sleepy Rocks

Astounding—38 songs on one CD and nobody playing has the last name of Ramone. Released by Bear Family Records, a sort of German version of Rhino specializing in high quality reissues of vintage recordings, Sleepy Rocks surveys Sleepy LaBeef’s career through 1980. Sleepy—the name comes from his droopy eyelids—was part of that first wave of Rockabilly artists in the 50s, but unlike most of his peers, he’s alive and still kicking—and still kicking it the Rockabilly way, which he has been doing for more than half a century.

Relegated to small labels and small venues, Sleepy never made the big time. In parts of the Southeast as well as Canada, where Rockabilly still garners significant contigents of devotees, he’s revered, and he has a following in Europe, where according to his website, he tours frequently. He has been and remains a hard working Rock & Roll outsider.

An enormous man—6’7”—his voice is just as big and plays guitar as well as Scotty Moore, James Bourton, Cliff Gallup or even Chuck Berry. His repertoire consists mainly of early Rock & Roll songs, both classic and obscure, heavily laden with selections from the songbooks of Sun Studio and Chess Studio, and he spices up the set-list with highly idiosyncratic Rockabilly makeovers of country and folk tunes. The only contemporary performer he resembles is George Thorogood. But Sleepy’s attitude is not as macho. He is jollier and more fun loving with less posing or ham-fisted guitar riffs; the good time he encourages the listener to participate in is more pure. And, since he started when the whole music and sound started, he’s more authentic than Mr. Thorogood.

There’s a blurry line between Rockabilly and Rock & Roll, especially early Rock and Roll. If you want to hear the difference between Rockabilly and Rock & Roll, compare the RCA recordings by Elvis to his Sun Sessions. Not all Rock & Roll is Rockabilly, but all Rockabilly is Rock & Roll and Rockabilly is at the heart of the music. Besides the faster tempos, hiccup-like phrasing in the vocals and instrumentation and a subject matter that rarely strays from Love & Lust (the occasional train or automobile not withstanding), Rockabilly is the more countrified of the two. In fact, Sleepy CDs are usually in the Country sections of the record store (that is, the stores that are left and among the ones that are left you’re lucky if you find a selection that includes Sleepy La Beef!)

When Elvis first hit, like all commercial successes, dozens of imitators were spawned, as evidenced by the stunning 2007 Rockin’ Bones by Rhino, a four disc box set with 101 Rockabilly songs. Sadly, Sleepy was neglected on this otherwise incredible box.

Sleepy may have begun his career as another early Elvis impersonator. but he is now the last one standing from this first wave of rockers. Dozens of musicians at the time worked in the Rockabilly genre—Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent to name some of the most well known—and no one was above copying something or another from The King. Others, like Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley or Jerry Lee Lewis may not fit so comfortably into Rockabilly (a debatable point), but they too were kindred artists uplifted by the tide Elvis left in his wake. The peanut butter in my chocolate moment of country and blues music merging to birth something new was inevitable and likely happening in clubs and street corners and basements before Sam Phillips pressed the record button at Sun Studios in Memphis. Elvis, one of the greatest singers in the history of voice, popularized the genre to such a degree it transcended billboard charts and transformed forever culture and civilization worldwide.

Enter Sleepy. “All The Time”, his first single apparently, sets the stage, a rocking tune about what else—love & lust—starts asking ‘how much I love this woman of mine... I want her with me, all the time,” then evolves into the real truth, uncontrollable passion—‘I can’t stop my crazy heart, it feels just like, it will break apart.” Rockabilly, at least its popularity, may have been a fad at the time but Sleepy’s distinctive trademark of loopy bass lines, country guitar leads with palatable blues inflections and his drawling baritone puts him above the fray. His vocal register resides somewhere between Elvis and Johnny Cash and he shares their versatile phrasing by stretching syllables, rolling them around, adding them to words.

Rockabilly songs often work like Sudden Fiction—short-short stories consisting of only a few paragraphs conveying a significant or revelatory moment in which a truth about a life—or sometimes an entire life—is “suddenly” seen. Rockabilly songs speak of intense, even overwhelming desire, which can revitalize, take possession, cause trouble or linger long after the relationship has ended. In “I ain’t Gonna Take It,” for example, the narrator deals with his lingering love by saying is he going to “put on my best suit,” then go out on the town, refusing to suffer his broken heart or the neglect from his object of desire any more. A clear picture of this fool for love is drawn. We never find out exactly what happens before or after, nor do we need to. Our imagination fills in the rest. This sliver of a slice of life tells all we need to recognize the universality of the conflicting emotions depicted.

An unabashed horn dog, Sleepy finds sexual innuendo everywhere. His lascivious “Too Much Monkey Business” (which he pronounces as bidness) implies sexual activity even Chuck Berry might not have been aware of when he wrote it. Sleepy’s persona is as over-sized as his physical appearance, his sense of humor immense, his persistent blue attitude infectious. Sleepy constantly issues hilarious asides between the lyrics that either relate to the subject of the song or are motivational prompts to his fellow musicians. He calls to mind the Big Bopper, exuding showmanship and a compulsion to entertain, always enhancing and never at the expense of the music. It is in this context of humor Sleepy best captures those instances when the heart and the libido overlap and neither can be tamed.

There are two versions of “Ride on Josephine” here, and again the arrangement is near identical to Bo’s and Sleepy rocks at the helm of the Diddley beat, a little more fire on the latter version (1960), along with witty asides and screeching tires and roaring engines sound effects. “Tore Up”, the Hank Ballard classic—Garcia had a pretty nifty version of this song on a solo record—is a powerful performance and has a fake ending—a long pause in the middle and then the band just starts it up again. Other strange moments are in “Hush, Hush”, with that deep voice—sounds like a mix of Bourbon and Sorghum— commanding, “Hi Ho Silver!,” or "Shot-Gun Boogie", where the boy promises the girl to return when her daddy “runs out of shells.”

Sleepy, especially in the earlier recordings here, channels Elvis or Johnny Cash to such a degree you may want to cry identity theft. “Ballad of a Teen Age Queen”, is down right eerie. Even the most devoted Cash aficionados will need a few bars before realizing they are not hearing the Man In Black. Back in the 50s and well into the 60s, many artists would cover another artist’s hit song in a style that was basically a reproduction of the original. Listen to the Fats Domino, Ray Charles and Chuck Berry covers Elvis is known for—the arrangement is exactly the same and the only difference is Elvis is singing them For someone whose natural voice and phrasing resembles so closely the original, Sleepy is almost his own tribute band, especially with the Cash numbers. The originals may be better—I suspect even Sleepy would agree with this statement—but Sleepy's version are still a terrific blend of homage and unique style. If you love the songs and love the genre, you will find the similarity of the two versions fascinating, even endearing, and indicative of that era of popular records.

Most of the songs are two minutes or under, a handful get close to or go just over three minutes and even the slower songs contain the same unstoppable energy. However close to or distant from the original version, Sleepy provides a relentless pulse, biting guitar licks and a robust, powerful voice. Every cut (and the other cuts on the other releases I’ve picked up) draws you in and you stay entranced and you will likely find yourself involuntarily bobbing your head, tapping your feet and snapping your fingers.

Sleepy’s playing tonight. There will be songs you know and love. When he plays, you will feel better than you do now. Even your beer will taste better. The women will look prettier and act friendlier. Within a minute the whole joint is rocking and in two minutes there will be another song that makes you feel good all over again.

This record is a great bargain—did I mention, 38 songs! Be careful though, too much is never enough and you may soon find yourself seeking more Sleepy. I did.