Artist description As a band, the Chop Tops thrive on the 'up-beat' Rockabilly sound. They have been working with that sound over the past five years and have established themselves as a modern day, punk-influenced rockabilly band. Their songs vary from jumpin' Hillbilly Rock, through old-school punk with a Rockabilly twist. Their material ranges from obscure Rockabilly covers to Red Hot Rockin' originals. Either way you're bound to get up and dance!!!

Music Style Rockabilly, Psychobilly, Punk, Hillbilly, Western Swing, Jump Blues

Musical Influences Stray Cats, Misfits, Eddie Cochran, MC5, Chet Atkins, Blasters, Crazy Cavan and The Rhythm Rockers, Jerry Lee Lewis

Similar Artists Stray Cats, Crazy Cavan and The Rhythm Rockers

Artist History Gary Marsh, formerly of "Sinner and the V-8's", has played Rockabilly music for the past 5 years. Gary has tried a range of other musical styles, only to return to what came naturally...Rockabilly music! He teamed up with Shelby Legnon, former guitarist of "Lloyd Tripp and the Zip Guns" who was seeking a "revved up" Rockabilly band. Shelby shared the same passion for a frantic beat, and became the band's lead guitarist. Finally, newcomer Dusty Sheehan joined as the Chop Tops new stand-up bassist. Dusty has been friends with the band for many years and recently stepped in to complete the group.

Group Members Gary Marsh - Lead Vocals / Standing DrumsGary formed the band five years ago after playing several other styles of music from Punk throughBlues. Since he began writing rockabilly music Gary found himself playing every instrument fromguitar to piano (not to mention bass and drums), fully allowing him to enjoy the style.Shelby Legnon - Lead GuitarShelby played guitar with Lloyd Tripp & the Zippguns before being recruited to play for the ChopTops. He has shared his songwriting skills along side Gary, and will only play Gretsch guitars(what a snob!). He has been known to hold a se'ance while wearing a straitjacket before everyshow...BELIEVE IT OR NOT!!!Dusty Sheehan - Dog House BassDusty is the newest member of The Chop Tops. He has been friends with the boys for years, andhas written a few songs for the band. Now he's slappin bass and writing new material for nextalbum.

Instruments Gretsch Guitars, Upright Bass and stand-up drums

Albums "Tales of Hot Rods, Hot Broads and Lucky Odds" 1999, "Always Wild" 2000 Rollin' Rock Rcords

Press Reviews Rock & Blues News - Lee Cotten, December '00 - Jan '01 Is editor@rocknbluesnews.com From California, the land of surfers, one might rightfully expect the Chop Tops (which is slang for a convertible, if you didn't know) to sound like any number of Del-Fi's cookie-cutter surfing bands. Not so. The band has got their act together in a big way. Opening with the rock 'n rollin' instrumental "Shelby's Shuffle" (when was the last time any new act released a shuffle song?), the boys rip into a series of straight ahead rockers, "My Last Ride", "Blues Blues Blues". There are a few side trips, with the humorous "Get Outta the Car," the ballads "Too Late", and "Vegas Nights," and one final instrumental, "The Sicilian," but mostly the music is one fine rocker after another and everything is newly composed by the group. A great performance by a very talented quartet. Very listenable. Santa Cruz Metro - By David Espinoza, Wednesday, May 17, 2000 msc@metcruz.com They say good things come to those who wait, but don't tell that to rockabilly meister Gary Marsh--he's been waiting for years. Longtime leader of local "swill-billy" boys the Chop Tops, Marsh has seen more lineup changes than the staff of that other Santa Cruz weekly. With a new permanent roster that boasts Brian Berman on lead guitar, Shelby Legnon on rhythm guitar and Austin, Texas, émigré Dylan Cavaliere on stand-up bass, things are looking up. Last year, on the first day of an eight-state, 10,000-mile road tour, the Chop Tops did what most groups only dream of by winning a battle-of-the-bands contest that earned the band a year's contract with a major rockabilly record label. At the end of this month, the foursome heads to the Rolling Rock Records recording studio in Vegas (same place that's hosted Bill Haley's Comets, among others) to begin work on the band's second full-length album, tenatively titled The Chop Tops Always Wild. Marsh fancies the new effort as anything but "cookie-cutter rockabilly," with 22 all-original tunes aiming to inspire listeners to grease their hair back, cuff dem' jeans and holler. In the meantime, the Chop Tops play the Aptos Club Saturday with buddies the Del Royals and begin a weekly spot at Servino's starting in mid-June. San Jose Mercury News - By Candace Murphy, Wednesday, August 23, 200 cmurphy@sjmercury.com Techno? Dead. Grunge? Dead. Disco? Died a second death. But rockabilly? It just keeps going and going and going and going. And the Chop Tops are taking advantage of the Energizer of all musical genres as they throw a CD-release party tonight at Moe's Alley in Santa Cruz (1535 Commercial Way). Together for two years now, the Chop Tops -- Gary Marsh, Brian Berman, Haywoods' drummer Drew Pinney and slap bassist Dylan Cavliere -- combine roots, hillbilly beat and surf for a peculiar brand of rockabilly. As peculiar as it is though, you'll still hear the influence of old-school folks like Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. Santa Cruz, which has pretty much always had a thriving rockabilly scene, is a natural place for the Chop Tops to celebrate. Join them at 9:30 p.m. Cover is only $4. That's so cheap you can afford to buy a copy of their CD, 'Always Wild'. Slugwire - By Kimberly Viernes, Thursday, November 18, 19 kviernes@cats.ucsc.edu Oil spill-slicked hair has never radiated such sexy vibes before. Well, perhaps it has, but when the Chop Tops and Royal Crown Revue played at Palookaville last Saturday, "Go Grease Lightning" would have served as a more appropriate theme song than any of the swing and rockabilly music blaring from the stage. Not to badmouth the gel and pomade laden men (and maybe women) at the show, but there was enough hair grease in Palookaville to lube up a Boeing bomber. Maybe the audience wanted to emulate Gary Marsh, Brian Berman, Drew Pinney, and Dylan Cavaliere, the men in the Chop Tops. With their carefully sculpted coifs, bowling shirts, and long wallet chains, the guys in this Santa Cruz band personify rockabilly. And what exactly is rockabilly, one might ask. It could be punk rock by a small stretch of the audio imagination, but with a beat allowing for more controlled movement than slamming into guys with mohawks and burly bouncers. It could be the sort of swing music you might have heard at a 1950's sock hop. In any case, as the couples tearing up the dance floor could attest, the Chop Tops do rockabilly with a bit of surf guitar well. Given the fairly recent onslaught of retro swing bands attacking the radio airwaves, it's amazing Royal Crown Revue (RCR) has been around since 1989. The band, a seven-man team, concocted its unique blend of swing and punk deep in the heart of Southern California, and played at the Derby in Hollywood - the location of the dance between Jon Favreau and Heather Graham in the movie, Swingers - for two years. RCR has their own guest spot in The Mask, rocking out in their zoot suits when Jim Carrey's character met Cameron Diaz's. With the release of the new album, Walk on Fire, RCR made the Palookaville crowd roar with their set of new material (including "She Walks on Fire," a romantic number that prompted lead singer Eddie Nichols to encourage dancers to find "their sweethearts" and sway to the beat), old favorites (but no "Barflies at the Beach," the 1997 token swing song many DJ's and even MTV latched onto), and covers. A little before their encore, RCR alternately revved up and halted dancers with a long, slightly self-indulgent medley of fun songs, including "Fever" by Peggy Lee and Bobby Darin's "Beyond the Sea." Both the Chop Tops and Royal Crown Revue pleased the antsy crowd of seasoned swing dancers and simple stand-and-listeners alike. Nothing brings people together like swing shows, where greasers (or greaser look-alikes) lead girls in flowy dresses into spins and shuffles and it's OK when you bump into innocent onlookers while getting your swing/groove thang on because you know how hot you looked in the process. Santa Cruz Good Times - Janet Blaser, May 18, 2000 jblaser@gdtimes.com The Chop Tops have been together going on five years now and they are on the crest of making it big. They are the proud first-place winners of the Battle of the Bands in Las Vegas, which means they have earned the privilege of working in the studio with Ronny Wieser of Rollin' Rock Records. Wieser has recorded countless rock 'n' roll greats, including Gene Vincent and Bill Haley's Comets. When I spoke with Gary Marsh, leader of the Chop Tops, on Saturday, he also told me that Joe D'brosio (Bill Haley's saxophone player) will be a featured guest during the recording session in Las Vegas. Sean Spurr of Red beans and Rice and Extra Large will be featured on piano as well. The Chop Tops will be promoting a new CD in mid-July by touring the Southwest. On Aug. 24, they will touch down at Moe's Alley for the offical local CD-release party. Mark your calendars. SLC Billy Central - By Handsome Herbie, September 2000 rockabillymadman@yahoo.com This is the second CD release from these rockin greasers from the sunny beach of Santa Cruz. The band if made up of Gary "Sinner" Marsh howlin out the vocals and playin the standin drums, Brian Berman on the guitar and supporting vocals, Shelby Legnon also on guitar and supporting vocals, and Dylan "The Man" Cavaliere slappin the doghouse and gruntin out the backup vocals. The CD starts off with a catchy instrumental "Shelby's Shuffle". "Won't be Long" has that western swing sound to it. Lots of tricky piano work in "Jokers always Wild" and my friends, any band who can add a piano to their music and make it work gets an A+ from me! Now the question is will they take the pianist on the road with em? How bout it guys…I know it is one more guy to pay but it sure makes a difference. "Get outta the Car" has some smooth horns but the lyrics leave me with bad taste in my mouth. Come on Gary, you're not a bad looking guy and I am sure you can get another kitten to give you some lovin. You can at least give the prissy one a ride home. "Someday Driver" had that skipping beat that just makes you wanna take up your girl and polka her around the dance floor. I was really impressed with "Too Late" and even though it is a ballad (and I generally don't like ballads) I have to vote it the best song on the CD for its content alone. Anyone with the balls to sing about facing St Peter has got to be respected. To wrap it up I would like to say that this CD is much better than the first release buy the Chop Tops. The songs on their first CD are great, but the amplitude is too low and me being a sound engineer made it tough for me to get past that. I had the privilege to see these guys last summer in Denver and they rocked the house so hard that I had forgotten the name of the band that played before them (which was the Belmont Playboys now that I do remember). They had these Denver boys hootin and hollerin so loud that it put the punk rockers, who usually frequent the joint, to shame! I highly recommend this new CD to all and go see them play when they come to your town, you won't be disappointed. BlackCat Rockabilly - By Marijn Raaijmakers, 2000 blackcat@rockabilly.nl Rockin' Ronny was pleasantly surprised when he saw The Chop Tops at Legend's Lounge for the Battle of the Bands show, organized by "Kats Like Us." Winning this contest ensured The Chop Tops a contract with Rollin' Rock and Ronny was happy sign such a great new band. Variety is what this CD is all albout, from New Orleans Big Beat to Blue Grass, from Rockabilly to Jump Blues, handled effortlessly, always delivering a stompin' beat. The above are excerpts from the linernotes of the Chop Tops' CD "Always Wild", written by Ronny, that I wanted to share with you. But more important is the music on this extraordinary release. The first track, titled "Shelby's Shuffle" is a big beat instrumental that lasts almost five minutes. Since us rockabilly fans are used to two-minute tracks, you might expect that a five-minute instrumental would most likely be boring, but believe me, nothing is less true than that. Rocking and swinging from start to end, great saxophone and guitar breaks to a steady slappin' beat. A hell of an opener. "My Last Ride" and "Blues, Blues, Blues" show another face of The Chop Tops, hard driving California Rockabilly. "It Won't Be Long" has more country influences, still with a rockabilly beat, that remind of the tell-tale stories of Marty Robbins. Again with great guitar breaks that sound very different on every track. "Joker's Always Wild" displays the vocal potential of Gary Marsh and has a refreshing piano break by guest musician Sean Spurr. So far all tracks were Chop Top originals, but here's a cover of The Clovers' "Get Outta The Car," and the saxophone's back, played by another guest Jim Hannibal. Next a few more rockabilly tracks (I'll skip some titles here, I don't wanna bore you with too many "great" and "beautiful" statements :)) "Too Late" is a ballad, a cool break in the middle of the show, with Gary showing off his vocal capabilities again. And then, let's slap it! "Let 'er Go" hits off with a fabulous upright bass intro that I'm sure you rockabilly folks will appreciate. "Someday Driver" has a bit of everything, big band, rockabilly, blues. Variety is the Chop Tops' keyword, and rocking is their business. More rockabilly in "Only One Woman", followed by a bit of Blue Grass in "Fire On The Water" and one more smooth ballad titled "Vegas Lights". Last but not least; "The Sicilian". An awesome mix of traditional surf, modern guitar instro and hot rockabilly, blended with something that sounds like Cossack folk music. A stange mix, but a good one, and very original. This Rollin' Rock release offers something for everyone and it's surely exciting from one to sixteen. Gary Marsh, Formerly of "Sinner and the V-8's" and Brian Berman have known each other since childhood. Together they have played Rockabilly music for the past 5 years. Gary and Brian both have tried a range of other musical styles, only to return to what came naturally; rockabilly music! The two of them teamed up next to Drew Pinney, former drummer of the "Haywoods," who was seeking a revved up rockabilly band. He shared the same passion for a frantic rockabilly beat and became the band's drummer. Finally, slap-bassist Dylan Cavaliere, of the Austin, Texas Rockabilly combo the "American Standards", heard The Chop Tops on their website. He contacted the band, moved to Santa Cruz, California, and was quickly welcomed (with his dynamic slapping style) as the band's bassist.

Additional Info The Chop Tops always have a supply of Men's T-Shirts, Baby-T's, stickers and buttons!

Location San Francisco, CA - USA

Copyright notice. All material on MP3.com is protected by copyright law and by international treaties. You may download this material and make reasonable number of copies of this material only for your own personal use. You may not otherwise reproduce, distribute, publicly perform, publicly display, or create derivative works of this material, unless authorized by the appropriate copyright owner(s).