IN AN ERA WHEN AMERICA was tuning into Patti Page and Mitch Miller, rockabilly was a bold, young upstart, like Hollywood star James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. On this program, we’ll examine how music reflected the restless youth culture of the Fifties that was portrayed in films and literature, and profile several rockabilly artists for whom rebellion was part of their personas. The Burnette Brothers, Johnny and Dorsey, pursued careers in the boxing ring in Memphis before taking up music. We’ll meet guitarist Link Wray, the pioneer of the power chord who had a leather-clad look of a motorcycle gang that was every parent’s nightmare. Gene Vincent, perhaps the best known of the rockabilly rebels, had a big hit song with Be-Bop-A-Lula.

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