A Musician First, Rocker Second

What if Leonard Bernstein had stood before the New York Philharmonic, baton poised, and jumped into a performance with a jubilant cry of “One for the money, two for the show, three to get ready, now go, cat, go!”?

Now that would have been eclectic.

On Saturday, Orange County’s leading importer of classical music will let the rock ‘n’ roll cats have a go. As part of its genre-splicing Eclectic Orange Festival, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County will venture forth from its usual tony precincts at the Orange County Performing Arts Center and the Irvine Barclay Theatre to present “The American Roadhouse,” an evening of roots rock, blues and country music in the county’s smallest, scruffiest, most beloved rock ‘n’ roll dive: Linda’s Doll Hut in Anaheim.

The lineup, chosen by Doll Hut owner Linda Jemison, features two of the county’s most eclectic and accomplished rock acts, Lee Rocker and Chris Gaffney and the Cold Hard Facts, plus the Sinners, a young rockabilly band.

In Rocker, the former Stray Cats bassist who has lived in Laguna Beach the past 10 years, “The American Roadhouse” has a headliner with a truly eclectic musical background. He may be the only man on Earth who was friendly with both Bernstein, the great conductor and composer, and Carl Perkins, the Tennessee rockabilly hero whose epochal song from 1956, “Blue Suede Shoes,” made “go, cat, go!” a rallying cry of the nascent rock ‘n’ roll movement.

Rocker was raised on Long Island, the son of two classical clarinetists. His father, Stanley Drucker, has been a soloist with the New York Philharmonic for 51 years and is a retired professor from the Juilliard School. Rocker’s mother, Naomi, plays part time with the New York Philharmonic and has her own group, the American Chamber Ensemble.

As a boy, Lee Drucker studied cello from ages 7 to 15, then caught rock ‘n’ roll fever and switched to electric and upright bass. He formed the Stray Cats in 1979 with neighbors Brian Setzer and Slim Jim Phantom; the band had his parents’ blessing and would practice in the Drucker garage in Massapequa, N.Y.

The Rocker-to-be got to know Bernstein while attending performances of the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. The conductor was friendly with his parents, and they would hobnob before and after concerts.

“I remember just being amazed at the charisma the guy had,” Rocker said. “He was like a rock star, even beyond that, and as a kid you felt like you were in the presence of somebody really important.”

The Stray Cats had to roam to England in 1980 to find success. They came strutting back to the United States as stars in 1982; Rocker recalls meeting Bernstein backstage at a classical performance at New York’s Avery Fisher Hall around that time. “He knew about the Cats. He said, ‘You’ve made one mistake. You should never have changed your name.”

Perkins introduced himself to the Stray Cats in the most spontaneous way possible: the Cats were playing at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville during the early 1980s when the rockabilly and country-guitar master simply walked on stage with his guitar strapped on and asked if he could join in for the encore. With that gesture, Rocker said, Perkins became the first star of the original 1950s rockabilly generation to endorse the Stray Cats, who were leading a revival of the style nearly 30 years later.

Perkins and Rocker became friends. During the mid-1980s, Perkins recruited the bassist to play on “Carl Perkins and Friends,” a British television special with an all-star band that also included George Harrison, Ringo Starr, Eric Clapton and Dave Edmunds. In 1997, Rocker played on Perkins’ last album, “Go, Cat, Go!” and signed on as musical director for another televised Perkins tribute concert that never took place: Perkins suffered the first of several strokes that led to his death in 1998.

“Carl was a great man, incredibly supportive and very spiritual,” Rocker said.

Rocker launched his solo career six years ago. The newly released “Lee Rocker Live,” his fourth solo album, includes two Carl Perkins songs, a few Rocker originals and a medley of songs associated with Elvis Presley.

Rocker said he’s acquainted with, and is a fan of, another musical Carl: St.Clair, who is in his 10th season as conductor of the Pacific Symphony.

“I go to the Pacific Symphony when I’m in town and I can make it. I have run across Carl St.Clair [who also lives in Laguna Beach] quite a bit. He’s a great conductor and a nice guy.”

There’s still a cello around Rocker’s house--played by his 9-year-old son, Justin, who is following in his dad’s first musical footsteps.

Although his own performances tend to involve climbing atop his bass and riding it across the stage for some flash, rather than bowing it in classical style, Rocker said his early training still comes in handy while playing the simple blues, R&B; and rock ‘n’ roll tunes that make up his repertoire.

“In bass playing, if you don’t know the theory--chords and scales and arpeggios--you’re lost. To play any walking bass line, you’ve got to know where you’re coming from and going to. When I’m standing atop the bass, I’m just trying to be in tune. But when I’m standing still, I’m thinking, ‘The guitar player is playing a D9, why don’t I go to an F-sharp?”

Rocker hasn’t attempted any of Bernstein’s music--something from “West Side Story” might fit--but thinks it would be “a great idea.”

Jemison said she booked Rocker because he always has gone over well at the Doll Hut and plays a variety of styles that is, itself, eclectic within the realm of roots-rock. Only afterward did she remember his ties to classical music.

“He’s sort of the poster boy for Eclectic Orange,” said Craddock Stropes, the Philharmonic Society public relations coordinator who, having inhabited the Doll Hut during her student days at Cal State Fullerton, helped come up with the idea of approaching Jemison to take part in the festival.

Said Rocker: “To me, there’s good music and bad music, and you shouldn’t divide it further than that. I love American classical music. Copland and Bernstein are two of my favorites. Those composers were about making music for America, and I guess there’s a real connection between that and rock ‘n’ roll.”

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Lee Rocker, Chris Gaffney and the Cold Hard Facts and the Sinners play Saturday in “The American Roadhouse,” part of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County’s first Eclectic Orange Festival. Linda’s Doll Hut, 107 S. Adams St., Anaheim. Vintage car show and art show at 7 p.m.; music starts at 9 p.m. $10. Advance tickets available only from the Philharmonic Society, (714) 553-2422 or https://www.eclecticorange.org. Club phone: (714) 533-1286.