Pat Cupp

Pat Cupp (born January 21, 1938 in Nashville , Arkansas ) is an American rockabilly musician.

Life

Childhood and youth

Pat Cupp grew up in a musical family. His mother Ruth played the piano , his father drums and his siblings also learned instruments. Less influenced by country music , Cupp's interest was in pop music . He and his family performed publicly from the late 1940s. Cupp won a talent competition at KVMA in Magnolia . In the summer of 1954, the Cupp family moved to Texarkana . There Cupp graduated from high school.

Career

In Texarkana, Cupp met Cheesie Nelson, who loved country music. Influenced by his friend, Cupp also devoted himself to country. Nelson was also a big fan of the young Elvis Presley and began to imitate him at local events. One day Presley and his band were scheduled to perform in Texarkana, but they were late. By the time Elvis arrived, the promoter sent Cupp and Nelson onto the stage. Presley was very grateful to the two boys and invited them to his cabin. Even with later appearances in Texarkana, Presley remained connected to the two. After this event, Cupp switched to rockabilly. He decided to perform alone without a band. Cupp opened for a show by Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash . Perkins saw Cupp singing his songs on stage alone, took his guitar, went on stage and accompanied Cupp.

Shortly afterwards, Cupp founded the Flying Saucers . In the spring of 1956 they were allowed to perform in the Louisiana Hayride . Joe Bihari then offered Cupp a record deal. On May 13, 1956 Cupp played together with his band, consisting of Johnny Gatlin ( guitar ), Pete Waller ( bass ), his mother Ruth (piano) and JO Livsey (drums), the two tracks Baby Come Back and Do Me No Wrong a. In September 1956, two more tracks were recorded in New Orleans , which were kept more in the rock'n'roll style. Cupp didn't like that his manager wanted to push him towards rock and roll, so Cupp joined the US Air Force in 1957 , where he stayed for four years. In 1958 he married his childhood sweetheart Loretta Gaye Mitchell. Music was now a pastime for Cupp, although he also had a band, The Variables , with whom he recorded a single on Chance in 1967.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Cupp appeared again increasingly; In 1995 he gave his last big concert at the Hemsby Rock'n'Roll Weekend in England . Since then, Cupp has not performed again due to hearing loss. In 2004 he released the album Pat Cupp on Wild Hare.

Discography

year	title	Record company
1956	Baby Come Back / Do Me No Wrong	RPM records
1956	Long Gone Daddy / To Be The One	RPM records
1967	After All / New World	Chance Records
	I Guess It's Meant That Way That girl of mine I won't remember to cry	not published

Albums

• 1963: Ray Smith and Pat Cupp
• 1981: Modern Rockabilly
• 2004: Pat Cupp

Web links

• Entry into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame
• Discography with audio samples