John & Ed Strickland – Rebel Beat
John & Ed Strickland seem to have been something of a none to one almost hit wonder group, it’s actually been pretty tough to find any information on these guys or this 45. The actual A side is a nice mid/slow version of Wilbert Harrison’s “Kansas City Blues” that draws equally from country & R&B (I guess lite-rockabilly would describe it well). I’m more partial to the instrumental flip “Rebel Beat” though, a very cool guitar led piece. As you can see, the label is not particularly helpful & I am speculating that the record could be one of the early releases on the predominantly bluegrass specialist Rebel label out of Virginia. Alternatively it could just be a budget label whose story is lost to the mists of time. I don’t even have a year for this, late 50s would be a good guess, so if anyone knows more please speak up.
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4 Comments
These guys were from Nebraska. This 45 was also released as by the “Rebels” (some of this press was with a picture sleeve). It’s from 1965 and no relation to that other Rebel label. There’s another record on this label that I think is country. Recorded at Sears Studio.
Cool, thanks Mike.
The Rebels (Stricklands) were either from Omaha or Western Iowa. Recorded at Don Sears Recording Studio in Omaha, mid to early 1950s. There are 3 variations of this record (The Rebels, Jim and Ed Strickland, and possibly Rockin Rebels, all on their own Rebel records. And, I’ve seen photos of a picture sleeve of the two Stricklands on this record. But, we’re still trying to locate them and find more info about this likely rockabilly-country-fied rock band…for our website. Mike Semrad
Thanks for more info on this record.