Coming from Boston (as their name doesn’t indicate) The Memphis Rockabilly Band is one of the best band to appearin the late 70’s. A dynamite combo made of the great voice of Jeff Spencer, the sparkling guitar of Bill Coover, Terry Bingham on drums and various bass players (including Sarah Brown who later played with Bill Kirchen and Preston Hubbard who joined The Fabulous Thunderbirds and later Nick Curran). Talent knows talent. They soon made a deal with French label Big Beat and released “From Boston To Memphis” on 10" format. This 5 song ep was a good representation of the band : solid rockabilly with classic covers (Curtis Gordon,Rudy Grayzell and Elvis' Baby Let's Play House), one instrumental (Link Wray's Rumble) and “Lindy Rock” written by Jeff Spencer featuring an amazing guitar part by Coover (that's unbelievable the good things you can put into a 2'10" song).
A couple of years later they released a full length LP. And although it was an all covers album, the sound was unmistakably theirs. In their career they have played with legends like Carl Perkins (who said about them “The best Rockabilly band I’ve ever seen”), Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Link Wray and Jack Scott to name but a few.
1986 saw the release of a new record on Blind Pig records, this time with Spencer’s originals which are still favourites in the band’s live set.
But in the late 80’s the band took a break and each of them held a day job. During this period Big Beat record issued the cd “Back To Memphis”, a kind of best of with unreleased songs on it too.
Finally the band rejoined in 2005, toured Europe, released a DVD “In Vergèze” and they now have a new album out “Rock, Roll, and Rhythm” featuring five new Spencer’s originals. Both are on Big Beat and “Rock, Roll, and Rhythm” is also available on Itunes.
And be sure there’s still a lot of good things coming from The Memphis Rockabilly Band.

Fred "Virgil" Turgis

Your second one, “Betty Jean” on Blind Pig showed a slight change with self penned songs and new styles with a bit of country and Mexican flavour…
Blind Pig didn't pay for us to record; they mostly just took our demo tapes and some older stuff and made an album. I never cared much for it. We never recorded again.

In the late 80’s/early 90’s the band took a break. Why, and were you still playing music during this period?
I quit playing altogether in Jan. 1989. I sold my guitars and amplifiers. I did not sing or play a note, nor did I go into a bar for over 11 years. I got a job, had a child. Most people I knew never knew I played music. I never played a note until I got separated from my wife. I bought a Roland digital audio workstation and started fooling around. I wrote "1 Ain't Dead" in 2000. I started jamming with people and sitting in with bands I knew. Eventually, Bill and I got together because there was, according to Jacky Chalard, a market for us in Europe. Bass player Paul Justice had been in a Boston band "Fat City" for 25 years, but had left it, so I recruited him. When we went to play in Vergeze in 2005, we were very much a new band, and we didn't know how it would go. We were very warmly received, and I hope that was the start of much more play in Europe.

In your career you shared the stage with many legends, do you have special memories, a show that marked you…
There have been many special shows, but it was Carl Perkins who stands out. We did 3 or four shows with him and he was very gracious and complimentary. Unlike Jerry Lee, Carl watched our shows. He had us onto his bus and hung out with us. I was told he put my version of "Ducktails/Lindy Rock" on his home jukebox.

Have you heard of the new rockabilly acts like Big Sandy, High Noon etc. and what do you think of them?
I like them all, but I have never actually seen any of them live.

What is the difference between the late 70’s when you started and today?
What's different now from late 70's/early 80's. The big difference is that back then there was a healthy club scene. We would pack people into a club, and have lines down the street. Now most of the clubs are gone. If a club draws 100 people, that's considered pretty good. There are many reasons for this, but mostly it's that the younger people, 20's and 30's, and even 40 year-olds don't go out as much, and don't support live music, especially roots music.

Lee Rocker had to change the name of one of his album. In Europe it was issued under the name “The Curse Of Rockabilly” but in the USA they renamed it “Racin’ The Devil” because, according to the label the word “rockabilly” was a problem with the radios and wasn’t easy to sell. Did you ever face such a situation with the name “Memphis Rockabilly Band”?
I don't know if having "rockabilly" in the name will hurt us. The chances of getting airplay are nil anyway, now that radio is segmented into oldies, rap, country, and alternative. Roots music can only air on college radio and other very small stations. The internet may be a factor in killing CD sales, and keeping people at home, but it also offers the opportunity to all bands to be discovered by a world audience. Having "rockabilly" in our name may help people discover or find us more easily if they are trying to find rockabilly. I believe we could have appeal to a country audience, but I don't know how to make that happen. We do not have any agents or representation in the USA.

You just have a new album out, still on Big Beat, called “Roll, Rock and Rhythm”. A word about this one…
"Roll, Rock & Rhythm" is comprised mostly of tunes produced on my Roland. 3 tunes were done at Duke Robillard's studio. We have 3 or four more half done at Duke's. We'll record soon, hopefully. Our drummer Milt Sutton may produce one for us too.

It’s a bit of curiosity but the answer is always interesting : what’s in your record player right now?
My records and CDs: I have a large collection of blues and 50's r&b and 50's rock & roll. I didn't start collecting rockabilly as such until I started playing guitar when I was 25. I have tossed out most of my "rock" records, but I spared the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendrix. I listen to Patsy Cline alot.

Do you want to add a last word?
I believe that if we can survive as a band we will be able to produce better and better music.