Clifton E. "Cliff" Gallup (June 17, 1930 - October 9, 1988) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 electric guitar

Electric guitar

An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...

ist, who played rock and roll

Rock and roll

Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 in the band Gene Vincent

Gene Vincent

Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...

 and his Blue Caps in the 1950s.

Biography

In February 1956, local radio

Local radio

Local radio can refer to:In the UK:*BBC Local Radio*Independent Local RadioIn Australia:*ABC Local Radio by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation...

 DJ

Disc jockey

A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...

 "Sheriff Tex Davis" (aka William Douchette, 1914-2007) heard Gene Vincent

Gene Vincent

Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...

 performing at a talent show in Norfolk

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, became his manager

Management

Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...

, and put together a band

Band (music)

In music, a musical ensemble or band is a group of musicians that works together to perform music. The following articles concern types of musical bands:* All-female band* Big band* Boy band* Christian band* Church band* Concert band* Cover band...

 of local musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

s to back him. These included Gallup, who had previously played in a local band called The Virginians, and who was older than Vincent and the other band members. In May 1956, the band recorded

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 in Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

, Tennessee

Tennessee

Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...

. Producer Ken Nelson

Ken Nelson (United States record producer)

Kenneth F. Nelson was a American record producer and A & R man for Capitol Records.-Early life:Born in Caledonia, Minnesota, at the age of 14, Nelson made his radio single debut as a singer in 1925...

 had session musician

Session musician

Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...

s standing by in case the band was not up to par, but as soon as Gallup played the solos

Solo (music)

In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...

 on "Race with the Devil" they knew they would not be needed.

Gallup played on 35 tracks with Vincent, including his biggest hit "Be-Bop-A-Lula

Be-Bop-A-Lula

"Be-Bop-A-Lula" is a rockabilly song first recorded in 1956 by Gene Vincent and His Blue Caps.-Origins of the song:The writing of the song is credited to Gene Vincent and his manager, Bill "Sheriff Tex" Davis. There is evidence that the song was started in 1955, when Vincent was recuperating from...

", and established a reputation as one of the most technically proficient guitarists in early rock and roll. .
As a married man, Gallup was reluctant to tour with Vincent, and left the band in late 1956, returning only for some more studio

Recording studio

A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...

 sessions that same year for the second Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps LP. In the mid 1960s Gallup made a solo album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 for the local Pussy Cat record label

Record label

In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

 in Norfolk, Straight Down the Middle, in a more mellow instrumental style akin to Chet Atkins

Chet Atkins

Chester Burton Atkins , known as Chet Atkins, was an American guitarist and record producer who, along with Owen Bradley, created the smoother country music style known as the Nashville sound, which expanded country's appeal to adult pop music fans as well.Atkins's picking style, inspired by Merle...

 and Les Paul

Les Paul

Lester William Polsfuss —known as Les Paul—was an American jazz and country guitarist, songwriter and inventor. He was a pioneer in the development of the solid-body electric guitar which made the sound of rock and roll possible. He is credited with many recording innovations...

. He occasionally played with local bands, while working in school maintenance. He played guitar up until the day he died. He last played in Norfolk with a group called the H-Lo's 48 hours before he suffered a fatal heart attack.

At the time of his death from a heart attack

Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...

 in 1988, he was the Director of Maintenance and Transportation for the Chesapeake, Virginia

Chesapeake, Virginia

As of the census of 2000, there were 199,184 people, 69,900 households, and 54,172 families residing in the city. The population density was 584.6 people per square mile . There were 72,672 housing units at an average density of 213.3 per square mile...

 city school system, where he worked for almost 30 years. At the request of his widow, obituaries in local newspapers made no mention of his time with Gene Vincent and his Blue Caps. He is remembered principally for his influence on such guitarists as Eric Clapton

Eric Clapton

Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...

 and Jeff Beck

Jeff Beck

Geoffrey Arnold "Jeff" Beck is an English rock guitarist. He is one of three noted guitarists to have played with The Yardbirds...

. The latter recorded an album of Gene Vincent

Gene Vincent

Vincent Eugene Craddock , known as Gene Vincent, was an American musician who pioneered the styles of rock and roll and rockabilly. His 1956 top ten hit with his Blue Caps, "Be-Bop-A-Lula", is considered a significant early example of rockabilly...

 songs, Crazy Legs

Crazy Legs (album)

Crazy Legs is a studio album by Jeff Beck and the Big Town Playboys, released on June 29, 1993. The recording is an album of Gene Vincent songs...

, in 1993 considered by music critics to be a tribute to Gallup and Vincent.

Gallup was ranked 79th in Rolling Stone magazine list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"

Gallup is a Rockabilly Hall of Fame

Rockabilly Hall of Fame

The Rockabilly Hall of Fame was established on the internet on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relative to the artists and personalities involved in this pioneering American music genre....

 inductee.

Guitar Technique and Equipment

His right hand playing technique is based on a flat pick in conjunction with fingerpicks on his middle and ring fingers, using his little finger to work the vibrato bar.
In his short time as lead guitarist in Blue Caps he played a 1955 or 1956 Gretsch 6128

Gretsch 6128

The Gretsch 6128 is a semi-hollow body electric guitar manufactured by Gretsch since the mid 1950s.-Construction:Made of a chambered mahogany body, the Duo Jet model 6128 is one of Gretsch's most sought after guitars. One of the most notable differences between the Duo Jet and comparable guitars...

 (Duo-Jet) probably fitted up with two De Armond single coil pick-ups, a Melita bridge and a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece. About his amplifiers he used a Standel

Standel

The Standel Company is an American company specialized in the manufacture of electric guitar amplifiers. It was founded in 1953 by Robert "Bob" Crooks in Temple City, California...

 25L15 (26-Watts tube amp with a single 15-inch speaker) for studio works and a Fender tweed for the remainder.
According to one source, Gallup's trademark sound was produced by echo units he constructed himself from old tape recorder parts, but according to another source it was created in the studio by Nelson.

Discography

Tracks recorded with Gene Vincent in chronological order of the recording sessions

The recording sessions were all done in three series at "Bradley Film & Recording Studio", 804 16th Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee and produced by Ken Nelson :

A) One session on 4th May of 1956;

B) Four sessions from 24th to 27th June of 1956;

C) Four sessions from 15th to 18th October of 1956.

Session 1: May 4, 1956

1. Race With The Devil (Gene Vincent - Bill Davis) - 2:02
2. Be-Bop-A-Lula (Gene Vincent - Bill Davis) - 2:35
3. Woman Love (Jack Rhodes) - 2:31
4. I Sure Miss You (Bill Davis - Eddie Bryan) - 2:38

Session 2: June 24, 1956

1. Jezebel (Wayne Shanklin) - 2:23
2. Crazy Legs (Jerry Reed) - 2:09
3. Peg O' My Heart (Fred Fisher - Alfred Bryan) - 2:35
4. Wedding Bells (Are Breaking Up that Old Gang Of Mine) (Sammy Fain - Irving Kahal - Willie Raskin) - 2:30

Session 3: June 25, 1956

1. Waltz Of The Wind (Fred Rose) - 2:42
2. Up A Lazy River (Hoagy Carmichael - Sidney Arodin) - 2:20
3. Ain't She Sweet (Milton Ager - Jack Yellin) - 2:29
4. Gonna Back Up Baby (Danny Wolfe) - 2:24
5. Race With The Devil (Gene Vincent - Bill Davis) (unissued / lost track)

Session 4: June 26, 1956

1. Who Slapped John (Gene Vincent - Bill Davis) - 1:56
2. Jumps Giggles And Shout (Gene Vincent - Bill Davis) - 2:50
3. Bluejean Bop (Gene Vincent - Hal Levy) - 2:21
4. I Flipped (Bobbie Carrol - Bill Hicks) - 2:24

Session 5: June 27, 1956

1. Bop Street (Cliff Gallup - Bill Davis) - 2:24
2. Well,I Knocked Bim Bam (Bobbie Carrol) - 2:14
3. You Told A Fib (Cliff Gallup - Gene Vincent) - 2:20
4. Jump Back,Honey,Jump Back (Hadda Brooks) - 2:00

Session 6: October 15, 1956

1. Teenage Partner (version 1) (Gene Vincent - Bill Davis) - 2:13
2. Blues Stay Away From Me (Alton & Rabon Delmore - Wayne Raney - P. Henry Glover) - 2:16
3. Five Feet Of Lovin (version 1) (Buck Peddy - Mel Tillis) - 2:07
4. Cat Man (Gene Vincent - Bill Davis) - 2:18

Session 7: October 16, 1956

1. Double Talkin' Baby (Danny Wolfe) - 2:12
2. Hold Me, Hug Me, Rock Me (Gene Vincent - Bill Davis) - 2:14
3. Unchained Melody (Alex North - Hy Zaret) - 2:37

Session 8: October 17, 1956

1. B-I-Bickey-Bi Bo Bo Go (Don Carter - Dub Nalls - Jack Rhodes) - 2:15
2. Pink Thunderbird (Paul Peek - Bill Davis) - 2:32
3. Pretty, Pretty Baby (Danny Wolfe) - 2:27
4. Cruisin (Gene Vincent - Bill Davis) - 2:11

Session 9: October 18, 1956

1. Important Words (version 1) (Gene Vincent - Bill Davis) - 2:21
2. You Better Believe (Cliff Gallup) - 1:59
3. Red Bluejeans And A Pony Tail (Jack Rhodes - Bill Davis) - 2:14
4. Five Days, Five Days (Jack Rhodes - Billy Willey - Freddie Franks) - 2:36

Solo Album

Straight Down The Middle (mid-1960s, Pussy Cat label; recorded as "The Four C's featuring Gallopin' Cliff Gallup"[]).