I don't think there is a musician today that hasn't been affected by Elvis' music. His definitive years - 1954-57 - can only be described as rock's cornerstone. He was the original cool. Brian Setzer More Quotes by Brian Setzer More Quotes From Brian Setzer I put a metronome up to all the songs, and I tried to really keep it true to the original tempos. Brian Setzer metronomes tempo song With the Stray Cats at least, we really took the music somewhere else. First, we wrote our own songs. That's a real weak point in modern classics if you do rockabilly or blues. Brian Setzer cat real song The biggest challenge for me was Get Rhythm. I don't know why. Brian Setzer rhythm challenges knows ,,, all around it would have to be Eddie Cochran, because it wasn't just music with him; it was his guitar playing, his look, his singing, I'd say that, all things considered, he's probably my favorite "cat" of all time Brian Setzer guitar cat music To me, rockabilly music paralleled punk's energy and feeling, but the players were much better. Brian Setzer energy player feelings Veteran performers are dying off, and new acts simply aren't emerging on the national scene. Brian Setzer veteran scene dying I didn't want to take the guitar solos down note-for-note, but more or less use them as a map, and keep all the hooks from the guitar playing, and let myself come through. Brian Setzer hook guitar use ... so much of what we do now started in 1954 at Sun Records in Memphis Tennessee ... those guys were inventing that stuff (Rock & Roll) ... you can really tell on some tracks ... they were actually afraid at times of what they were playing. But Rock & Roll definitely didn't come before that time; it started right there Brian Setzer rocks track music There's a fine line between pleasure and pain. Love me like a ball and chain. Brian Setzer balls lines pain I basically sat down for a month, with all the Sun stuff I could find and just picked out my favorites. I didn't think that they were indicative of '54 to '57, although I tried to stay within that period. Brian Setzer months stuff thinking To keep creating something with this type of music, you have to take it out of the box. Brian Setzer boxes creating-something creating I can't tell you how many people have asked me to show them Stray Cat Strut and that little diminished run on the C. I guess my brain is wired backwards. I don't know what possessed me to do that, but I did. Brian Setzer cat running people It's not about how loud you turn the amp up. That's not what makes it sound big. What makes it sound big is fooling around with different delays and reverb settings. Brian Setzer delay different sound Don't be afraid to take liberties with this music. Try and put some of yourself into it. Brian Setzer liberty trying I'm not God's gift to rockabilly. There's great players out there, and some of them deserve a lot more than they've gotten. Brian Setzer rockabilly deserve player You had to pick something like Blue Suede Shoes because it's the flagship of the Sun label, but then I wanted to dig down and find something like Rakin' and Scrapin'. Brian Setzer shoes labels blue Mark Winchester has left the band. He's decided that he's tired of the road and just wants to concentrate on his career in Nashville. I don't blame him at all. He'll certainly be missed. Brian Setzer nashville tired careers I got cat class and I got cat style Brian Setzer style cat class Since the big band started I'm just always swamped with movies and things. It certainly pays the bills and it's very satisfying, because I get to write all these big charts and all this crazy music. Brian Setzer movie crazy writing For every rockabilly festival staged here, there are 10 held overseas. Brian Setzer rockabilly festivals
