A.B. Priestly

Discovery links rockabilly to Canto POP

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A.B. Priestly

Missionary, scientist, Rock & Roll and Canto POP pioneer

New find may shed new light on Rock and Roll and Canto POP. Rock & Roll may have been introduced into USA by early Chinese migrants....Cantopop goes full circle.

A missionary of American\Chinese parentage, born in the southern Chinese province of Fukien in the last years of the 19th century, A.B. Priestly was also a scientist whose field was electrochemistry and bioelectricity and post-mortem reflex reaction. His interest in the (then) novelty of electricity led him to pioneer research in its' utilization in daily life including music.

Being a religious man his musical interest was naturally mainly hymnal. His contribution to Rock and Roll and Canto R&B has been totally unrecognised until recently when some journals, and diaries filled with schematics and music sheets were found in an old trunk in the store-room of an old mansion in Penang, MAlaysia.

Initial studies show the style of music pioneered by A.B. had gathered a huge following, at that time among southern Chinese, which made up most of the numbers of early migrants to America.

One of the songs being studied is a classic example of the American rock-and-roll style called rockabilly, This combines American country and western music with rhythm and blues. Twangy guitars, strong backbeats, and vocal inflections such as yelps and stuttering are part of this style.

Mr Tan K. H. , one of the four present owners of the house where the papers were discovered said initial studies indicate that A.B. Priestly was a friend of his great grand-father, an early migrant who came to Penang in the late 18th century to seek his fortune in the nutmeg trade. Mr Tan who counts musicology and electronics among his many interests instantly recognised the significance of the contents of the documents when they were brought to his attention. He is still studying the voluminous collection, with the assistance of a historian from a local university.

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Last revised 5:06PM 15/6/1997 SGT (UTC + 08)