Top 10 Rockabilly Songs That Are Classics

Do you like the oldies? This list of songs represents the biggest and most popular rockabilly songs of all time, as determined by modern radio play, sales, and original Billboard chart rankings. Do you know all the songs on this list?

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"Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Haley and His Comets

It took a full year and an appearance in the hit movie The Blackboard Jungle to become a hit, but this country-swing version of Sonny Dae and the Knights' 1953 flop eventually kicked off the nationwide rock and roll craze (though it's not the first rock song or even the first national rock hit). Haley doesn't get his due often enough as a rock pioneer, but the song speaks for itself.

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"Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin On" by Jerry Lee Lewis

Cut in one take as an afterthought, this pounding number announced The Killer's arrival on the rock and roll scene. This hillbilly stomp had roots that stretched back to the birth of the blues, but as with everything else, Jerry Lee put his own individual stamp all over it.

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"Blue Suede Shoes" by Carl Perkins

Elvis stole the thunder on this one, but Carl Perkins' original recording is the one prized by rockabilly purists, and it was commercial enough for Sam Phillips to mark Carl as his next breakout star. In fact, Phillips himself suggested that the "go, man, go" of the immortal intro be changed to "go, cat, go." It was a hit with hillbilly cats first and then with the R&B crowd, proving rock's influence flowed both ways.

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"Be-Bop-A-Lula" by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps

"Woman Love" was actually the A-side, but "suggestive" lyrics caused DJs to flip it over, not realizing they were now promoting a song originally written about a stripper in Portsmouth, Virginia. Vincent bought the song from a patient at the hospital, and the rest is history. Obviously calculated to play off the success of Elvis' "Heartbreak Hotel," this classic rockabilly slow-burner is actually the tighter song.

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"Hello Mary Lou" by Ricky Nelson

The best two-sided bargain found this teen idol hitting his early stride with help from the Jordanaires and the guitar of James Burton. The 1961 song is about giving your heart to lots of women, while the other about losing it to just one.

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"Baby, Let's Play House" by Elvis Presley

Featuring his most accomplished vocal to that time, this cover of an Arthur Gunter blues song may have been the most professional rockabilly Elvis ever recorded. That doesn't make it dull—this is hot, with smoking guitar licks, and raunchy enough to mention a "pink Cadillac"—but it's also got that rockabilly spirit, which means the King can deliver a line like "I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to see you with another man," and have it come out both loose and non-threatening.

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"Twenty Flight Rock" by Eddie Cochran

A strange little novelty which wasn't even Cochran's biggest hit, this song was featured in one of the greatest rock films of its time, The Girl Can't Help It. Since then, it has since become enshrined in pop history. Paul McCartney auditioned for The Beatles with it, the Rolling Stones covered it often, and its rhythmic floor countdown has inspired countless rockabilly revivalists. Not bad for a song whose main backbeat comes from banging a soup carton.

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"Ooby Dooby" by Roy Orbison

Forever destined to live in the shadow of his later, more stunning achievements, "Ooby Dooby" was nevertheless an important hit for the Big O. Written by some of Roy's college classmates, this silly but rocking little number has the Sun sound down. Which is odd, since Orbison bounced all around Texas and New Mexico before Sam Phillips finally decided to release this already-recorded single. While not featuring the impressive guitar work of other Sun artists, the rhythm's thicker and tighter.

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"Fujiyama Mama" by Wanda Jackson

Someone once called the vocal on this classic the best female rock vocal of all time. That's debatable, though the one they called "The Sweet Girl With the Nasty Voice" does push an amazing amount of force from her 18-year-old body, sort of like Brenda Lee's naughty older sister. She'd already been practicing the song to herself for two years before she ever got signed, and her boyfriend—a singer by the name of Elvis Presley—knew she had it in her.

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"Train Kept A-Rollin" by Johnny Burnette and the Rock and Roll Trio

The world's first rock band earned the title on this single, a flop at the time but later a rite of passage for every rock band in the 60s and 70s. The crazy guitar distortion, wild vocals. and torrid rhythms all point to the direction rock was headed. In fact, these guys were a little too hard-rocking for even rockabilly, which is why they never had a hit. But Aerosmith did, with this song. And Led Zeppelin rehearsed their very first time with it.