Elvis banned by today's Rockabilly festivals?

Some two decades ago, several international Rockabilly festival promoters issued a statement that was not a shred of 1% reflective of the healthy rebellious instinct at the heart of genuine Rockabilly.

I've been given to understand their stated proscription yet stands.

The terrible letter bore the names of signatories Tom Ingram (VLV), Jerry Chatterbox (Rockabilly Rave), Guille and Vivi (Rockabilly Race), Robin and Collette (Rhythm Riot), Atomic Vintage Festival (UK), and Mark McDonagh (Viva East).

"We understand that the Confederate flag has, for many years, been adopted by some as a signal of the Rockabilly and roots music we all love," it began.

"However, we also recognize that this same flag can cause offence, as it is also used by race hate groups and is on the FBI's hate symbols list.

"In view of this, we feel everyone will agree that there is no need for it to be displayed at our rockin' festivals and weekenders, which bring people together from all around the world, to celebrate our shared passion for music and lifestyle.

(Some bands and attendees had long sported Confederate flag symbols on gear. So it was false and nonsensical to claim that "everyone" would agree with the clampdown edict.)

"Therefore, we ask you that at the following events, you do not display the Confederate flag or any other flags/symbols that people may understandably find offensive."

(A matter now in headlines is a San Diego HOA ordering homeowners to refrain from flying the U.S. flag. National stories in recent years told of efforts to ban our nation's banner from university offices. Will the Stars and Stripes one day also be slagged as "offensive" by festival heads and draped over the woke chopping block?)

Yes, Elvis would have been turned away at Viva's gate, as would iconic Southern boys like Jerry Lee, Johnny Burnette, Carl Perkins, and Billy Lee Riley. And Sam Philips. And Sleepy LaBeef. And Gene. Not to mention a whole slew of jim dandy contemporary tear-it-uppers.

(And let's dispense posthaste with the woke canard that race hate -- despised by all good people -- is the exclusive and necessitous implication of the Stars and Bars. That banner represented a geographic region with unique cultural history, one that defied imposition of outside authority. Pretty much the individualist instinct later embodied by Rockabilly.)

Festival bands surely reap considerable rewards. Between enviable visibility before diehard genre adherants and label representatives -- plus potential sales benefits -- appearances have considerable value.

But - barring a symbol of upstart defiance? This is 'rebellion' manufactured by Fisher-Price. I'm reminded of the early 1980s, when record companies force-domesticated Punk and refashioned it as innocuous New Wave. In a green-eyeshade twinkling, "Sonic Reducer" was plastered over by "Girls Just Want to Have Fun," and mass-produced, pre-ripped jeans and t-shirts popped up in Macy store windows.

Attempts to groom rough-grained Rockabilly for mainstream favor recall a 1970s quote from NYC Punk magazine slouched figure Legs McNeil: "Mass movements are never cool."

Festival promoters who take pains to avoid disturbing delicate sensibilities hardly reflect the swaggering irreverence for which genuine Rockabilly music has always been the crazywild soundtrack. Rather, at least in this regard, they are finger-wagging hectors of don't-care individualism.

To be fair:

Organizers are businessmen. And as much as they may well love the music, they understandably seek profit. That's why they set up shop in the first place.

If they've considered market preferences and found many potential attendees want certain regulations, promoters probably reason a commodity attractive to buyers sells more than do ones that may alienate.

Without at least some profit, festivals like Viva would cease. And that would serve no one.

"Heckler's veto" refers to when an anticipated theoretical listener's dislike of a potential message is allowed to prevent its being uttered.

There is a simple solution. 

If someone doesn't agree with a message, they need not listen. They are free to walk away, turn the channel, or not buy the record. But they do not have the right to define the world in which we all live, to decide what others may say or listen to.

Probably at least one reason Viva Las Vegas, etc, stifle speech is legitimate fear that sponsors might be besieged by online bluenose petition protests. Companies could, as a result, pull their sponsorships of events. 

And that trepidation is certainly understandable. Too, theirs being privately administered events, organizers absolutely have the right to enforce what amounts to a child-safety cap.

But make no mistake: Organizers are granting the upper hand to trembly advertisers and clucking moralists whose philosophical antecedents tried to shut down Rockabilly music, back in days when the sound kicked over polite-society traces.

For some of us, Rockabilly and its variants are more than simply musics. They are the blood surge of our existences. The proud lifestyle cares not for status quo sensibilities. In fact, many of us get kicks out of upsetting straitjacketing mores.

Real rebel music doesn't care if it rankles timid rule makers. It should never be emasculated.