By DAVID TELLER
Staff Reporter
Cheney will get a blast from the past when long-time rockabilly star, Bobby Wayne, plays in the Cheney summer concert series July 23.
Rockabilly style of music emerged in the mid-1950s breeding singers like Johnny Cash and the early days of Elvis Presley. According to the rockabilly hall of fame website when Wayne went to the studio to record “Sally Ann” in 1955, he joined Bill Haley, Elvis Presley and Rick Carty as the first known recording rockabilly artists.
Wayne was inducted into the Rockabilly hall of fame.
Wayne said his Cheney show will be a tribute to “The Man in Black,” Johnny Cash who Wayne has personal experience.
In 1963 Wayne signed a contract with Columbia Records, essentially replacing Cash, who had become a known drug user. Wayne's early recordings like “Big Train” and “Half Breed” sound similar to Cash, which caught the attention of Columbia executives.
The Rockabilly Hall of Fame website said it's only fitting Wayne does a tribute to Cash since Wayne's early recordings are frequently mistaken for Cash's.
Robert Wayne Snyder was born in Spokane in 1936. At 9 years old he started playing piano. He formed his first band when he was 16 years old, a trio called the Rocky Mountain Playboys. His first job was at Woodland Beach in Hauser Lake. What started out as a trial performance for a Friday and Saturday night turned out to be a regular job through Thanksgiving.
In a trip to Atlanta Georgia, he heard Elvis Presley's “Mystery Train” on a Jukebox. He learned as much about the style of music as he could. While in Atlanta, he played for a high school prom where he met, and eventually wrote a song about the prom queen, Sally Ann. Wayne added that an original 45 rpm record of “Sally Ann” sold on eBay for $1,200.
After his return to the northwest, Wayne recorded “Sally Ann,” which was released in December 1955, before Presley's “Heartbreak Hotel,” which appeared in January 1956.
From the mid-1950s to the mid-1960s, Wayne continued recording and playing honky-tonks and dance halls across the northwest.
Wayne has other credits. He is in the original recording “Hot Rod Lincoln.” He also recorded his own instrumental music. In 1966, “Tip Toes” appeared on Hit Parade top 50 list and reached #3 in Winnipeg, Canada. Cash Box Magazine named Wayne, along with Roy Clark and Glen Campbell the top guitarists in America.
He also has a soundtrack to his credit too. Wayne wrote the title track “Ballad of the Appaloosa” for the 1967 Disney movie “Run Appaloosa Run,” though Wayne did not sing it for the film.
Wayne said he has been featured in 24 magazines and has been on 10 different recording labels like Warner Brothers, Paramount, Epic, Columbia and A&M records.
In Cheney, Wayne said he'll play country music classics, along with his own music. Wayne's back-up band, the Snake River Outlaws are Joe Evans on the steel guitar, Burt Bickel on bass guitar and Russ-Ann Rodstrom on rhythm guitar.
Wayne said music has been 90 percent of what he's done in his life. Wayne has worked as barber, and done windshield repair, but he always comes back to what he loves, music.
David Teller can be reached at [email protected]
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