By Michael Swanger
michael@dmcityview.com
Nine lives
Ex-Stray Cat Lee Rocker
finds new swagger to rockabilly
strut
 The
modern rockabilly landscape might
have been different had Leon Drucker,
a.k.a. Lee Rocker, decided to
follow in his parents' footsteps
and pursue a career in classical
music. Singer-guitarist Brian
Setzer and drummer James McDonnell,
a.k.a. Slim Jim Phantom, might
not have found another upright-bass-playing
schoolmate in Massapequa, Long
Island; the Stray Cats - leading
purveyors of the early '80s rockabilly
revival with hits like "Rock
This Town" and "Stray
Cat Strut" - might not have
reached the same artistic and
commercial heights without the
expert slap-plucking notes from
Rocker's acoustic bass; and two
generations of aspiring rockabilly
bassists might not have known
the thrill of propelling a band
and an audience of dancers with
a cumbersome instrument made of
wood, steel and gut strings.
Rocker, who began taking classical
cello lessons at age 8, grew up
in a household full of trained
musicians. His father, a clarinetist,
has the distinction of being the
longest-serving member of the
New York Philharmonic. His mother
has taught at Hofstra University
for five decades and is director
of the American Chamber Ensemble.
And his older sister divides her
singing career between Nashville
and New York.
By the time Rocker hit puberty,
he was also coming of age musically,
absorbing the blues and early
rock n' roll.
"Classical music wasn't
the music that moved me,"
Rocker says. "When I discovered
rockabilly, it was really over.
I was struck by the realness,
the energy and the passion. It
felt like the real thing."
Authenticity was the impetus
for rehearsals Rocker hosted at
his parents' garage with classmates
Setzer and Slim Jim Phantom as
they learned songs by Carl Perkins
and Muddy Waters. They started
out as the Tom Cats in the fall
of 1979, quickly gaining a local
following before moving to London
in the summer of 1980 to soak
up the city's thriving rockabilly
and punk scenes and changing their
name to the Stray Cats.
"I knew we had something
special," the 44-year-old
Rocker says. "When we first
started, we connected with the
audience. They were crazed."
The band's meteoric rise, however,
was short-lived. The group's first
album, 1982's "Built For
Speed," held the No. 2 spot
on the Billboard chart for 26
weeks behind Michael Jackson's
"Thriller." Two years
later, the group called it quits,
though they've reunited for short
stints in 1986 and 2004.
"I don't think we ever
looked far enough ahead to plan
anything," says Rocker, who
doesn't rule out the possibility
of another Stray Cats reunion,
though it's not his top priority.
"We accomplished a hell of
a lot. But you never know what
would have happened if things
would have gone a different way."
When the Stray Cats disbanded,
Rocker began clawing his way through
the music industry again as a
solo artist, working with the
likes of Perkins, Scotty Moore,
Eric Clapton, George Harrison,
Jeff Beck, Ringo Starr and Willie
Nelson. In 1985, he and Phantom
hooked up with ex-David Bowie
guitarist Earl Slick to form Phantom,
Rocker & Slick. During the
mid-'90s, the bassist released
two blues-rock albums for Black
Top Records, and in 2003 he issued
the independent release "Bulletproof."
"It's been an amazing trip,"
Rocker says. "I've gotten
to work with a lot of my heroes
and people whose records I listened
to growing up."
The culmination of those collaborations,
not to mention his everlasting
love of rockabilly and American
roots music, can be found on his
2006 Alligator Records debut,
"Racin' The Devil."
Steeped equally in tradition and
progression, "Racin' The
Devil" is the best example
to date of Rocker's ability to
meld a variety of influences ranging
from classic rockabilly, to shades
of the Cramps and psychobilly.
"A lot of fun went into
making it," Rocker says.
"It's a matter of putting
your own stamp on things and trying
to do something new. As long as
there's a groove that works for
upright bass, a little twang on
the guitar and some echo on the
vocals, I feel like I can do anything
with it." CV
Clips
Rumblin' Bass 
Memphis Freeze
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