Rockabilly Boy Keeps on Pluckin’ : Ronnie Dawson has grown up, though, and his sidetracked career has been revived with help of a dude in England and fans in Europe.

Ronnie Dawson is one of those could’ve been, should’ve been, almost was and still-is-because-they-never-went-away kind of rock ‘n’ rollers. He could’ve been a big rock star back when even Beaver Cleaver and Dobie Gillis were getting dates, but then the payola scandal broke in 1960, which sidetracked his plans. Still Dawson, now 55, kept plugging away, never had to get a real job, until his career got a jump start in the late ‘80s.

The dance floor ought to be jumping at Nicholby’s in Ventura Friday night when Dawson headlines a Brylcreem-and-leather convention, with Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys and the Planet Rockers rounding out this not-for-squares rockabilly rave-up.

Dawson began rockin’ out in Texas as a teen-ager in the late ‘50s and won a local talent contest in Dallas for 10 straight weeks. He then released a couple of 45s, including “Rockin’ Bones,” which was a regional hit.

According to Dawson during a recent phone conversation, next came The Call from Dick Clark and a trip to Philadelphia to go on television.

“Well, it was really a good thing to do at the time, of course. But the better situation was Alan Freed in New York, who was nicer and more personable, and also had a dance television show,” Dawson said. “All the talk is that Dick Clark was the only one, but he stole Freed’s thunder. For Freed, music was his livelihood, and he was in love with the music. When he couldn’t do it anymore, he just died.”

On the verge of the Next Big Thang, the payola scandal hit.

“Oh, man, payola had a whole lot to do with me,” the Texan said. “I had just signed with Swan, and Dick Clark was part owner. But when the records came out, Dick Clark could not push the records and couldn’t just put them on his show like he did before, which was the plan. Another guy from Texas, Scotty McKay, and I thought we were next in line to be the next blond-headed teen-age idols.

“I put out two 45s, and the first one was ‘Ain’t That a Kick in the Head.’ A DJ in Pittsburgh liked it and started playing it, and it almost broke, but it never quite made it.”

Not only did the payola scandal affect the laissez-faire attitude of the industry, but the music itself was changing.

“Everything before was pretty greasy rock, and all of a sudden they watered everything down,” he said. “From Jerry Lee Lewis, it became Frankie Avalon. The music just wasn’t as sweaty. Before that, Little Richard, Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley were driving people crazy. I know I’ve never been the same after seeing Little Richard.”

Dawson didn’t get a dreaded 9-to-5 gig or even change barbers. He just kept on keeping on.

“Well, I didn’t record for a while, and I got into a club situation,” he said. “Things started working out pretty good, into the ‘70s even. I did studio work, and I did OK in the jingle business. I never did have to go out and get a job.”

Then things got strange. A fan actually resurrected Dawson’s career by bringing him to England, where he recorded an album.

“This English dude, Barry Koumis, who was basically just a record collector and a fan of obscure things, the more obscure the better, used to call me, but I didn’t think much of it,” Dawson said.

“He thinks he found me, but I wasn’t undercover or anything--I was still playing. He wanted to know if I had more music. I told him I wanted to go to England, and I did in 1987.

“It was great; I made this new record of my old stuff, and it really got the ball rolling.”

Now Dawson is on the road about six months of the year and goes to Europe at least three times a year, where the folks keep close track of Americana, especially American roots music.

“If you have to call it something, I guess it’s rockabilly, but we never called it that back then,” the guitarist said. “I always called it rock ‘n’ roll. It’s rockabilly with blues influences and church input.

“Man, rockabilly is something that’s timeless, I guess. It’s a feeling, and it gives people a chance to dress up. They’re really into that overseas--they all wear old clothes, and the hair. They go down to the last detail.

“Over here, it’s mostly leather jackets and tattoos. I’m not sure about tattoos; that’s a lasting thing.”

Details

* WHAT: Ronnie Dawson, Big Sandy & the Fly-Rite Boys, Planet Rockers.

* WHERE: Nicholby’s Upstairs, 404 E. Main St., Ventura.

* WHEN: Friday, 9 p.m.

* COST: Five bucks.

* CALL: 653-2320.