Well, bust my britches, here it is January 8, Elvis Presley's birthday! Now, a mere 20 days after the young rock crooner had celebrated his 21st, back in 1956, he stepped onto the stage at CBS Studio in New York City and made his
US national television debut, on the Dorsey Brothers show. Seems he was hot property from the get-go, cause he was back on that stage, straightaway, for five more appearances, on February
4th,
11th and
18th, then again on March
17th and
24th. And, yeah, heck, he was pretty good.
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Jan 8, 2012 -
42 comments
Jerry Leiber, one of the greatest rock and roll songwriters to ever ply the trade,
has died aged 78. Along with songwriting partner Mike Stoller, he was responsible for so many hits, including but not limited to:
Love Potion No. 9 by The Coasters,
Stand By Me by Ben E. King,
Hound Dog by Big Mama Thornton, later
popularised by Elvis Presley, and, solo, in conjunction with Phil Spector,
Spanish Harlem, as sung by Aretha Franklin.
posted by Len
on Aug 22, 2011 -
63 comments
Surely one of the most memorable musician photos ever is this one:
Johnny Cash, making his feelings known with customary aplomb. But did you ever notice he was wearing a jumpsuit in that photo, and not his more standard black shirt/trousers ensemble? Well,
that very jumpsuit just went for a handsome $120,000 at auction. Someone else just paid $300,000 for one of Elvis'
peacock-emblazoned jumpsuits. And remember that little
necklace John Lennon wore on the cover of
Two Virgins? Yep, the
only thing he wore. Fetched a cool $528,000. Meanwhile, in Japan, a
bunch of grapes just went for $910. What a bargain!
[more inside]
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Aug 11, 2008 -
21 comments
"The most brutal, ugly, degenerate, vicious form of expression it has been my displeasure to hear," Frank Sinatra wrote of rock 'n' roll during the time of Elvis Presley. But Frank wasn't stupid... he knew his relevance was fading and if you can't beat 'em, you have to join 'em. So in
1960, Elvis Presley was welcomed home from his two year
military tour by the
Frank Sinatra Timex Show "Welcome Home Elvis" special. Later Sinatra said,
"I'm just a singer. Elvis was the embodiment of the whole American culture."
posted by miss lynnster
on Feb 26, 2008 -
17 comments
Fifty years ago today
Elvis Presley recorded what would prove to be one of the iconic standards of the rock'n'roll canon,
Leiber and Stoller's
Jailhouse Rock. The song's sly allusions
("number 47 said to number three, you're the cutest jailbird I ever did see") to same-sex prison liaisons went unnoticed (or at least uncommented on) at the time, and it stayed a US #1 radio hit for 7 weeks straight. The unisex
production number [youtube] from the
movie of the same name has come to be recognized as one of the grandfathers of the pop/rock video. A black-leather-clad, still-svelte Presley performed the song on his
1968 [youtube] "comeback" TV special, and was singing it (slurred delivery, sequins and all) right up into
1977 [youtube], the year of his death. In 1980 John Belushi and company turned in a fine
version [youtube] as the closer to the Blues Brothers movie, and the song was a regular feature of their
live [youtube] shows as well. Happy 50th birthday,
Jailhouse Rock!
posted by flapjax at midnite
on May 2, 2007 -
52 comments
The Afghan Elvis (with
YouTube clip),
the Soviet Elvis (
played by Tom Hanks),
the French Elvis (now seeking
Belgian citizenship),
the Mexican Elvis,
the Swedish Elvis,
the Filipino Elvis,
the Chinese Elvis,
the Sikh Elvis,
the Japanese Elvis who became a Prime Minister, and other
foreign Elvii.
posted by jonp72
on Aug 21, 2006 -
20 comments
Elvis was a hero to most but he never meant shit to me … "Media arrogance and dishonesty means we are eternally bound to live in a skewed world where Elvis is king of rock'n'roll, Clapton is the guitar god, Sinatra is the voice and Astaire is the greatest dancer."
Is it right to celebrate an artist who’s fame derived from appropriating and diluting the
original music of black America?
posted by niceness
on Aug 16, 2002 -
111 comments
Is The King Finally Dead, After 25 Years? Elvis Presley died on 16 August 1977 and, silly season or not,
The Observer, kicking off with
Nik Cohn's above-linked essay, has assembled a cracking collection of articles, interviews and humorous pieces about the controversial crooner, mainly directed (I'd say) at
non-fans. To my mind, the most enjoyable are
Nigel Slater's brave attempt to make the famous
Presley sandwich; the weird interview with
Larry Geller, his
hairdresser and spiritual advisor; the account of Elvis's only (secret)
visit to Britain;
Michael Odell's funny set of instructions on
how not to behave at an Elvis party; an
interview with George Nichopoulos, the doctor who wrote out more than 10,000 prescriptions for him; a round-up of ludicrous
ex-girlfriends' memories and, as an after-thought, a collector's report on locating that legendary first
"Uh-huh" of his. It's all good stuff but one has to ask whether, in this day and age, it isn't, er,
overkill. Is Elvis Presley still that relevant or is he slowly becoming a figure of fun? Whether or not he's actually dead, of course, is entirely another matter...
posted by MiguelCardoso
on Aug 11, 2002 -
22 comments
The best CD I've purchased so far this year is the
latest from the
Blind Boys of Alabama. this record features superb vocalizing, great bluesy guitar, and a Sones(!) and Tom Waits(!!) cover. In an age where "gospel music" has sunk into the quagmire of
"Contemporary Christian", its easy to forget that
old-school gospel both
black and
white were
huge influences on rock and roll. Little Richard, for one, took his trademark "Whoo!" from Marion Williams and countless rockers from Aretha to Elvis learned to sing in church.
Now, can I get an Amen?!
posted by jonmc
on Apr 2, 2002 -
25 comments
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