The group, whose style was based upon the sounds of Sun Records artists and other artists from the 1950s, were heavily influenced by Eddie Cochran, Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent and Bill Haley & His Comets. The Stray Cats quickly developed a large following in the New York music scene playing at CBGB and Max's Kansas City as well as venues on Long Island. When the Cats heard a rumor that there was a revival of the 1950s Teddy Boy youth subculture in England, the band moved to the UK. They then spearheaded the nascent rockabilly revival, by blending the 1950s Sun Studio sound with modern punk musical elements. In terms of visual style the Stray Cats also blended elements of 1950 rockabilly clothes such as wearing drape jackets, brothel creepers and western shirts with punk clothes such as tight black zipper trousers and modern versions of 1950s hair styles.
In the summer of 1980 the Cats found themselves being courted by the elite of the music world including Virgin Records, Stiff Records and Arista Records. Word quickly spread and soon members of The Rolling Stones, The Who and Led Zeppelin were at their shows. After a gig in London, Stray Cats met producer Dave Edmunds, well known as a roots rock enthusiast for his work with Rockpile and as a solo artist. Edmunds offered to work with the group, and they entered the studio to record their self-titled debut album, Stray Cats, released in England in 1981 on Arista Records. They had three hits that year with "Runaway Boys", "Rock This Town", and "Stray Cat Strut". The UK follow-up to Stray Cats, Gonna Ball, was not as well-received, providing no hits. Yet the combined sales of their first two albums was enough to convince EMI America to compile the best tracks from the two UK albums and issue an album (Built for Speed) in the U.S. in 1982. The record went on to sell double platinum in the US and Canada and was the #2 record on the Billboard album charts for 26 weeks
Musical and personal conflicts began to emerge in the ways that the individual members handled their new-found success; Phantom married actress Britt Ekland, while Setzer made guest appearances with stars like Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks and became the concert guitarist for Robert Plant's Honeydrippers side project. In late 1984, the band added former BMT's guitarist and Long Island native Tommy Byrnes on second guitar and harmony vocals, and after a European and US tour which ended at the New Orleans World's Fair, parted ways.
Rocker and Phantom formed a trio called Phantom Rocker & Slick (the "Slick" being former David Bowie guitarist Earl Slick) which contained the single "Men Without Shame", guest musicians on this record included both Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones and Nicky Hopkins on the piano. Setzer went on to a solo career, retaining Byrnes and exchanging his rockabilly focus for a more wide-ranging roots rock/Americana sound on albums such as 1986's The Knife Feels Like Justice. In 1986, the Stray Cats reunited in Los Angeles, and recorded the covers-heavy Rock Therapy. In 1989, they reunited once again for the album Blast Off!, which was accompanied by a tour with US blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. No longer with EMI America, they entered the studio with Nile Rodgers for the record titled Let's Go Faster, issued by Liberation in 1990. After 1992's Dave Edmunds-produced Choo Choo Hot Fish, and after another covers album, 1993's Original Cool, the group called it quits again.
In 2004, the Stray Cats reunited for a month-long tour of Europe. A live album culled from those concerts, Rumble In Brixton, included one new studio track, "Mystery Train Kept A Rollin'." In 2007, they reunited once again for a successful and long awaited US tour with ZZ Top and The Pretenders. This was their first North American tour in over 15 years. In the 2000s, the band toured Europe as part of their Farewell Tour, although the band has performed concerts intermittently in the ensuing years.
In 2008, for the first time in 18 years, the Stray Cats visited Australia and New Zealand which included several consecutive sold out shows of their Farewell (Australia) Tour.
In April 2009 the band reunited for a single show to celebrate Brian’s 50th birthday at the Fine Line Music Café in Minneapolis, MN.
Let It Rock
Stray Cats Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Working on the railroad with a steel driving hammer
I gotta make some money buy some brand new shoes
Gotta find somebody to take away these blues
She don't love me, hear me singing in the sun
Pay day's coming, when the work is all done
Early in the evening when the sun is sinking lowAll day I've been waiting for the whistle to blow
Sitting in a teepee building right on the tracks
Rolling them bones till the foreman comes back
Pick up your belongings boys scattered around
We gotta all set the train coming two miles out
Yeah everybody's scampering and jumping around
Picking up the money tearing the teepee down
A foreman was in panic about to go insane
Trying to get the workers outa the way of the train
The engineer's blowing his whistle loud and long
You can't stop the train you gotta let it roll on
Roll on
Roll on
Roll on
Let it rock
Let it rock
Roll on
Roll on
Roll on boy
The lyrics to the Stray Cats' song, Let It Rock, describe a scene in Mobile, Alabama where a group of railroad workers are waiting for their payday after a long day's work. The song starts with the singer expressing his need for some cash to buy new shoes and find someone to take away his blues. He then goes on to describe his job as a railroad worker with a steel driving hammer. As the day progresses and payday nears, the workers start to roll dice in a teepee right on the tracks, waiting for the train to arrive.
Once the train arrives, chaos ensues as the workers scramble to gather their belongings and pick up their winnings from the dice game. The foreman is trying to get everyone out of the way of the incoming train while the engineer is blowing his whistle loud and long. The singer encourages everyone to let the train roll on and let it rock.
Overall, the lyrics paint a vivid picture of a hard day's work in the south with a sense of urgency and anticipation for the arrival of payday and the train.
Line by Line Meaning
In the heat of the day, down in Mobile, Alabama
It is a hot day in Mobile, Alabama.
Working on the railroad with a steel driving hammer
He is working on the railroad using a steel driving hammer.
I gotta make some money buy some brand new shoes
He needs to earn some money to buy new shoes.
Gotta find somebody to take away these blues
He is feeling down and needs someone to cheer him up.
She don't love me, hear me singing in the sun
He is singing despite being heartbroken that the woman he loves does not love him back.
Pay day's coming, when the work is all done
He is looking forward to payday once his work is finished.
Early in the evening when the sun is sinking low
It is early evening and the sun is setting.
All day I've been waiting for the whistle to blow
He has been waiting all day for the whistle to signal the end of his work day.
Sitting in a teepee building right on the tracks
He is sitting in a teepee building that is located right next to the railroad tracks.
Rolling them bones till the foreman comes back
He is playing dice with his coworkers while waiting for the foreman to return.
Pick up your belongings boys scattered around
He and his coworkers need to gather their things that are scattered around the work site.
We gotta all set the train coming two miles out
They need to prepare for the train that is coming their way in two miles.
Yeah everybody's scampering and jumping around
Everyone is frantically moving around to avoid getting hit by the oncoming train.
Picking up the money tearing the teepee down
He and his coworkers are quickly collecting their pay and dismantling the teepee.
A foreman was in panic about to go insane
The foreman is in a state of panic and close to losing his mind.
Trying to get the workers outa the way of the train
The foreman is trying to get the workers to safety and out of the way of the train.
The engineer's blowing his whistle loud and long
The train's engineer is sounding the whistle loudly and for a long time.
You can't stop the train you gotta let it roll on
The train cannot be stopped and must continue moving forward.
Roll on
The train continues on its journey.
Let it rock
He is singing about letting things happen as they will.
Roll on
The train continues on its journey.
Roll on boy
He encourages the train to keep moving forward.
Lyrics © OBO APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@nangray56
Loved seeing 1st time in Memphis at Solomon & Alfred's ♡
@sartono6619
rockabilly..... Man.....