Talk:Lee Rocker

Early years
Born Leon Drucker in Massapequa, Long Island on August 3 1961, to world-renowned classical musician parents, Rocker grew up in a musical family, with his father, Stanley, is a Grammy-nominated clarinetist with the New York Philharmonic. His mother, Naomi, teaches music at Hofstra University. So coming to a career in music was an easy choice for Rocker, whose family listened to jazz, blues, and rock while he was growing up.

Rocker began taking classical cello lessons at age eight, and initially hated them, but ultimately grew to enjoy playing. As his ears widened into rock ‘n’ roll, he picked up the electric bass, and quickly mastered the instrument. During grade school, his close friends included Jimmy McDonnell (later to become Slim Jim Phantom) and Brian Setzer. The three jammed together often, playing a wide variety of rock ‘n’ roll, before discovering classic blues musicians like Muddy Waters and rockabilly giants like Carl Perkins. Rocker picked up the acoustic bass to emulate the sounds he heard on those records, and the band began playing more and more roots music. By 1979, this trio, now known as Stray Cats, began to single-handedly revive rockabilly music in the U.S. and, eventually, around the world.

The Stray Cats
Adding a contemporary punk attitude to traditional slap-bass, twangy guitar and drums, The Stray Cats headlined famous New York haunts like CBGB and Max's Kansas City, drawing overflow crowds every time they played. They moved to London in 1980 and became an even bigger success, even attracting The Rolling Stones to their shows. The fever-pitch excitement caused a major bidding war between record labels. The group’s first American album, 1982’s Built For Speed, became a huge hit, and held the #2 spot on the Billboard chart for 26 weeks, right behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

Non-stop touring took its toll on the band. By 1984 the group was exhausted and decided to call it quits, at least for a while. But the furious touring of the early 1980s turned Rocker into one of the best showmen working in any genre, which left his career options wide open. According to the Orange County Weekly, "there has never been a rock & roll bass player more fun to watch in concert than Lee Rocker."

Lee's slapping style has been the reason to many other musicians to start playing upright bass, being a great influence to them.

Post Stray Cats
In 1985, Rocker and Phantom hooked up with ex-David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick to form Phantom, Rocker & Slick. They had a minor hit with Men Without Shame. The Stray Cats reformed in 1986, but didn’t stay together very long. Rocker, though, kept on playing, as he befriended and collaborated with his idol Carl Perkins as well as with Dave Edmunds, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton, George Harrison, Jeff Beck and Willie Nelson.

Rocker’s solo career took off in 1994 with the release of Big Blue and in 1995 with Atomic Boogie Hour, both on Black Top Records. Four more releases followed, and Rocker toured relentlessly, becoming one of the premiere Americana/rockabilly/roots artists in the U.S. and Europe. In 2002, Rocker toured the U.S. with ex-Elvis Presley guitarist Scotty Moore. His 2003 CD Bulletproof found a large and appreciative audience, as he continued to perform all around the country. That same year, The Stray Cats reunited for an 18-city tour of Europe, culminating in a filmed show at London’s Brixton Academy.


 * Good stuff, which I've thoroughly copyedited, but needs rewriting. Katr67 17:44, 22 September 2007 (UTC)