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Biography
Lee Rocker (born Leon Drucker , August 3, 1961, Massapequa , New York ) is an United States|American rockabilly double bass player. He is the son of the classical music|classical clarinet ists Stanley Drucker (the retired principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra) and Naomi Drucker. His sister Roseanne is a country music singer-songwriter .cite news | url= http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/05/arts/music/05druc.html? pagewanted=all | title=Ending a 60-Year Gig at the N.Y. Philharmonic | work=New York Times | author=Daniel J. Wakin | date=4 June 2009 | accessdate=2009-11-22 As a child, he played the cello , and later learned to play the electric bass .
Biography
Drucker's school friends included James McDonnell and Brian Setzer . The three of them played together regularly and widened their musical interests to include the blues and rockabilly. Drucker also learned to play the double bass to incorporate the sounds of blues and rockabilly on the acoustic instrument. The three of them formed the group The Stray Cats in 1979. McDonnell took on the stage name of " Slim Jim Phantom ", and Drucker devised his own stage name of "Lee Rocker". Rocker evolved his own style of slap-bass playing with the group. Rocker and the Stray Cats sold nearly 10 million album s and garnered twenty three Music recording sales certification|gold and platinum certified records worldwide, and made them a mainstay on MTV .Citation needed|date=May 2010 In addition to Stray Cats, Lee Rocker and Phantom Rocker and Slick albums, Rocker has recorded or performed with Carl Perkins , George Harrison , Ringo Starr , Willie Nelson , Leon Russell , Keith Richards , John Fogerty , and Scotty Moore . Rocker was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1982, as was his father, they are the second father-son duo to be nominated for a Grammy in the same year. He considered by many to be the greatest upright Bassist in Rock n' Roll
Since the break-up of The Stray Cats, Rocker has had a solo career and produced recordings independently. In 1985, Rocker, Phantom and Earl Slick formed the group Phantom, Rocker & Slick and recorded two albums for EMI Records titled Phantom, Rocker and Slick and Cover Girl . The song "Men Without Shame" landed Rocker back on MTV and in the record chart|charts . For Black Top Records , Rocker released the albums Big Blue (1994) and Atomic Boogie Hour (1995). He has also recorded for Alligator Records . He released the album, Bulletproof, in 2003. His other albums included Black Cat Bone , released in August 2007, which featured Brophy Dale on guitar and Jimmy Sage on drums. Buzz Campbell (Hot Rod Lincoln and Sha Na Na ) joined the band three years ago, and gave a Gretsch guitar sound to the band. In 2011 Lee released an EP called "The Cover Sessions" which features cover versions of songs such as the John Lennon / Paul McCartney song " Come Together ", Elton John 's, " Honkey Cat ' and The Allman Brothers song " Ramblin' Man (The Allman Brothers Band song)|Ramblin Man " In addition to recording and touring, Rocker hosted a radio show on XM Radio , called 'Rumble and Twang with Lee Rocker'. He also works in concert promotion with his Texas-based roots music festival , 'Revival Festival'. As of 2011, 'Revival Festival' is now in its fourth year and has proven to be successful. Lee Rocker joined the cast of the Broadway hit “ Million Dollar Quartet ” as bassist Clayton Perkins , the brother of Sun Records recording artist Carl Perkins in a twelve-show run from January 21st through 31st, 2011. He topped off the show with a special encore performance with the cast and an appearance on New York Today . cite news|url= http://broadwayworld.com/article/MILLION_DOLLAR_QUARTET_To_Celebrate_Lee_Rocker_With_Stage_Jam_Session_20110129
Rocker and his wife Deborah have two children. Daughter Sadie attends Parsons School of Design in NYC. His son, Justin, attends Chapman University and is vice president of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity The family resides in Laguna, California .cite news | url= http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html? res=9C02E2DA1030F93AA35757C0A9609C8B63& sec=& spon=& pagewanted=all | title=Set This Idea to Music: A Stray Cat Has 9 Lives | work=New York Times | author=Thomas Staudter | date=09-04-2006 | accessdate=2009-11-22
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.leerocker.com/ Official Lee Rocker website
Allmusic|class=artist|id=p119555|label=Lee Rocker
Stray Cats Persondata | NAME = Rocker, Lee | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1961-08-03 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Rocker, Lee Category:1961 births Category:Living people Category:American expatriates in the United Kingdom Category:People from Long Island Category:Stray Cats members Category:Rockabilly musicians Category:American double-bassists Category:Double-bassists Category:Black Top Records artists
