Arkansas Rockers / Various (CD)

Nicknamed the Natural State for it's largely un-spoiled tracts of dense forest and timberlands, the mountainous areas of the Ozarks and Ouachitas, lush river valleys and rich alluvial plains, Arkansas was named by the Quapaw tribe and, in the Algonquian tongue, translates to 'land of downriver people'. Smack dab in the center of the southern states, Arkansas is surrounded by Missouri, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma, and the mighty Mississippi River delineates most of the state's Eastern boundary, while Little Rock, the state capital and most populous city, sits squarely in the middle. Well placed for picking up the first rumblings of rockabilly from both Tennessee and Texas, Arkansas artists were responsible for some of the earliest examples of hillbilly rock 'n' roll, even though they usually needed to travel to Memphis, Nashville, Cincinnati or, even, Chicago to record at first. Our leading man on this trawl through Arkansas' finest rockers is Mr. Action - Roy Moss.