Gene Vincent’s “Be-Bop-A-Lula” (1956) is a rockabilly classic. Vincent wrote it while recovering from a motorcycle accident in the Navy:. Originally the flip side of another song, DJs liked “Be-Bop-A-Lula” so much they flipped the record – it zoomed to #7 on the pop charts and sold two million copies in a year:. Its slinky guitar riff and Gene’s drawling vocal made it one of rock’s early anthems.