Rock-a-billy artist Hasil Adkins dies
April 27, 2005 11:47 AM

MADISON, W.Va.
Rock-a-billy artist Hasil Adkins, a one-man band whose screaming vocals and freestyle approach to rhythm landed a cult following, has died.

He was 67.

Adkins’ body was found yesterday at his Madison home, where he lived alone. The cause of death has not been determined but it does not appear suspicious.

Guitar, harmonica, drums, foot-rhythm instruments — Adkins played them all.

Known to his fans as The Haze, Adkins struggled for decades to get noticed. In a 2002 interview, he said he mailed out thousands of tapes and records over a 30-year period while fishing for a record deal.

Adkins was the original star of Norton Records, a label built around the primal recordings he produced beginning in the Eisenhower era.

Adkins claimed to have written more than seven-thousand songs. He first emerged in the 1950s, only to disappear again. European fans kept the rock-a-billy rage alive, and when the Cramps did an early 1980s remake of “She Said,” Adkins’ records suddenly became hot again.

His other hits included “Poultry in Motion,” “Chicken Walk,” “The Hunch,” “Chocolate Milk Honeymoon,” and “Boo Boo The Cat.”