Monday, January 4, 2010

Lee Rocker

Lee Rocker (born Leon Drucker, August 3, 1961 in Massapequa, New York) is an American rockabilly double bass player. He is the son of the classical clarinetists Stanley Drucker (the retired principal clarinetist of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra) and Naomi Drucker. His sister Roseanne is a country music singer and songwriter. As a child, he played the cello, and later learned to play the electric bass.

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. The Stray Cats performed regularly until their break-up in 1984. However, Rocker, Setzer and Slim Jim Phantom have since reunited occasionally for tours.

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 short-lived group Phantom, Rocker & Slick. For Black Top Records, Rocker released the albums Big Blue (1994) and Atomic Boogie Hour (1995). He has also recorded for Alligator Records. His other albums include Black Cat Bone, released in August 2007, an album featuring his Brophy Dale on guitar and Jimmy Sage on drums, while Buzz Campbell (Hot Rod Lincoln and Sha Na Na) joined the band three years ago and gave a Gretsch guitar sound to the band.

Rocker and his wife Deborah have two children. The family resides in Laguna Beach, California.

If you want to know more over Lee Rocker please visit his official website.

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