The Blue Caps

File:Woman Love - Be-Bop-a-Lula ad - Cash Box 1956.jpg

1956 Cashbox advertisement for "Be-Bop-a-Lula", Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps' biggest hit

The Blue Caps were a pioneering American rock and roll band of the 1950s, the backing band for early rockabilly icon Gene Vincent. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012, as part of a class of overlooked backing bands selected by a special committee.<ref name=Hall/><ref name=RollingStone/>

Robert Burke Warren, writing for the Hall of Fame, called them "One of the first self-contained rock & roll bands",<ref name=Hall/> while Rolling Stone has called them "The first rock & roll band in the world".<ref name=UnleashedLinerNotes/>Template:Better source needed

Members inducted into the Hall of Fame were guitarists Cliff Gallup, Tommy "Bubba" Facenda, Paul Peek, Willie Williams, and Johnny Meeks; bassists Bobby Jones and Jack Neal; and drummer Dickie Harrell, who died in 2023.<ref name=Hall/> Drummers Juvy Gomez and Clyde Pennington, bassist Bill Mack, piano player Max Lipscomb, and guitarists Grady Owen and Jerry Merritt were also members at various times.

The Blue Caps appeared, backing Gene Vincent, in the movies The Girl Can't Help It (1956) and Hot Rod Gang (1958).

The Blue Caps wore flat light blue caps on stage.<ref name=Hall/>

The Blue Caps disbanded before the end of the 1950s, but reformed with original members Meeks, Peek, Harrell, Jones, and Facenda for a 1982 tour of England and a new record.<ref name=OnRoadLinerNotes/>

Discography

With Gene Vincent

• Bluejean Bop! (1956, Columbia)
• Gene Vincent and the Blue Caps (1957, Capitol T811, US & UK)
• Gene Vincent Rocks! And the Blue Caps Roll! (1958, Capitol – T-970, US & UK)

Solo

• Unleashed (1982, Magnum Force)
• On The Road Again (1984, Magnum Force, MFLP – 1020)
• The Blue Caps – Hep To The Beat With The Blue Caps & Friends (2004, Pollytone – PEPCD 119, UK)

References

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