Posted on 04/30/2017 5:08:04 AM PDT by Kaslin
I used to have quite the collection of 45 singles and 33 LPs but I stupidly got rid of most of them when the compact disc came along.
My Ding-a-Ling --Dave Bartholomew (1952)
Promised Land got lots of airplay on KRLA, Southern California's top rock blaster, in the spring of 1965, but it hasn't made the "oldies" playlists in subsequent years.
It feels like the greats are dropping like flies, here lately.
Thought you might enjoy this thread, my FRiend.
The allegation came up after Elvis was dead and I don’t think they indict dead people. Maybe it was not even illegal to have such a mirror in a private home. I recall thinking that the story about the pool house made Elvis seem more normal after some of the other descriptions in this biography. The biography I read is not online but there are multiple other references to Elvis’s use of “one-way mirrors”, including confirmation from some of the “Memphis Mafia”, supposedly his friends.
bump
Uh, that was the anti-rock establishment. They poo-pooed the careers of Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, Billy Lee Riley, and a whole lot of non-poster boy white rock and rollers too. Thank the likes of Prick Clark.
A number of US acts had even played tours with the Beatles in the early 1960s and the US labels and management companies didn't want to hear about the guitar group sound. Poster boys (often gay) were the rule of the day. Hello 50 years later we still have prancing poster boys topping the charts and you can't find new release rock and roll on commercial radio.
I didn’t care for the headline of this article but the rest of it is a good and remembrance:
Marshall Chess on Chuck Berry’s Funeral: The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton Should Have Been There
http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/features/7760376/marshall-chess-chuck-berry-funeral-interview
Music producer and Rolling Stones Records founding president Marshall Chess first met Chuck Berry in the 1950s. The son of Leonard Chess, one of two brothers who ran Berry’s label, Chess Records, Marshall toured with Berry in early 1960s, which led to a longstanding friendship with the rock-and-roll pioneer. When Berry died from natural causes on March 17, at the age of 90, Chess, 75, spoke at his funeral and shared his recollections of the ceremony with Billboard. An edited transcript of his account follows:
There’s so much more to Chuck Berry than most people know. Here’s a story I didn’t tell at the funeral. Chuck came to the office one summer, and my dad said, “Take him across the street and have lunch with him. By then I had a relationship with Chuck from being on the road. So, we sit down in the booth, and when the waitress asked what we wanted, Chuck said, “Strawberry shortcake and bacon and eggs.” She said, “You mean strawberry shortcake for dessert?” And he said, “No, I want it to start.”
Later that day, I told to my Dad, “Wasn’t that weird?” And he said, “That’s one of the things that makes Chuck great. He does things his way, and he doesn’t care what other people think. That’s why his music is so original.”
After Chuck died, his wife Themetta asked if I would speak at the funeral. My son Jamar and I flew into St. Louis on Saturday and took a taxi to the Moonrise Hotel. It’s next to a beautifully restored concert hall called The Pageant, where the service was held on Sunday. Those two places are at the end of a strip on Delmar Boulevard that’s called The Loop. Chuck was very influential in reviving that area. It used to be a ghetto-y neighborhood, and now it’s like you’re in New Orleans for three blocks. There are restaurants and live-music clubs, the biggest of which is Blueberry Hill, where Chuck played once a month until 2014.
When our taxi got to the beginning of The Loop, every building had sign or banner on it, that said, “Hail, Chuck Berry” or some other tribute to him. There was a bronze statue of him covered in leis. It gave me the chills. Chuck Berry is royalty in St. Louis. That night, there was a city-wide toast to him at 10:00 p.m. because that’s the time he always started his shows when he played Blueberry Hill.
On Sunday morning, we went to pick up our tickets to the funeral, and the line of people who were waiting to view Chuck’s body stretched around the corner to the next block. I asked a cop who was there, and he said it had been that way since 6:00 in the morning. Chuck was in a beautiful custom-built casket, wearing his white captain’s hat, and his red Gibson was bolted to the lid.
Then 800 people filed into the funeral service. The seating had all been done by his wife Themetta. She sat everyone. I was impressed at how well-orchestrated it was. Man, 200 members of Chuck’s family were there — Chuck’s four kids and their kids and multiple generations of great grandchildren. When they talked about him, they called him “Charles,” and what blew me away is that he took care of all of them. Until the funeral, I hadn’t really spent time with his family.
To me, he was Chuck Berry, the rock and roll guy and a friend of my Dad. But at The Pageant in St. Louis, I got a glimpse of how he had lived his life and taken care of his family. His money had gone into homes and college educations for them.
I’d say that 90 percent of the audience at the memorial was black, and they were all dressed for Sunday morning service. The beginning of the funeral was like a Baptist church service. Psalms and Scriptures were read, and hymns were sung. Then Congressman William Lacy Clay got up and read a letter from Bill Clinton. Chuck had played at the President’s inauguration and reelection celebrations, and Clinton wrote that he and Hillary had been fans from the beginning. Paul McCartney and Little Richard also wrote letters. Gene Simmons of Kiss was there. He happened to be in St. Louis for a comics convention and asked to speak. He actually teared up a few times.
They were the only major musicians to play some role in the funeral. I was looking for Keith Richards or someone else from the Stones, but I didn’t see anyone. I found out later though that they had sent an extravagant floral guitar with a card that read just, “The Rolling Stones.”
Paul Shaffer from the Letterman show was there, and I met Nathaniel Rateliff, who drove all the way from Denver to be at the funeral. I have to say I was disappointed that the English guys didn’t show up to the funeral. They know who they are: Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton. They owe Chuck everything. They should have chartered a plane, and they should have played for his family. You could tell they were set up for it: they had amps and a drum kit on the stage. But Billy Peek’s performance of “Johnny B. Goode” was the only performance of Chuck’s music.
Themetta was front and center, so when I got up to speak, I mostly I spoke to her. I started with the story of how in 1955 I was riding around with my dad Leonard. Back then, car radios had buttons that you programmed to go to your favorite stations, and my dad was a maniac. He never listened to an entire song. He would just keep pushing buttons. That time, though, he pushed a button, on came a song, and my Dad said, “Oh my God,” and slapped the steering wheel. I said, “What’s going on?” And he said, “That’s the number-one white station in Chicago and they just played “Maybellene.”
I had no idea who Chuck Berry was then, but I met him about a year later when my father took me to Alan Freed’s Rock n’ Roll show at the Brooklyn Paramount. Then in 1963, when Chuck got out of prison he drove right to Chicago. I was 21 and working at Chess Records’ offices, and he came in with his guitar and a teeny overnight bag. He wanted to make music and get back to his career. We had tried everything to get him out of prison. It was a racist thing.
Chuck wasn’t dressed very well when he came in – his clothes looked a little raggedy – and my dad handed me a $100 bill and said, “Take him down to Max’s on 8th Street and buy him some new clothes. He’s going on the road soon.” In those days, that was like $500, and I got him a few outfits. That week, Chuck recorded “You Never Can Tell,” “No Particular Place to Go” and “Nadine.” We decided to rush out “Nadine.” Chuck wanted to get back to making money and getting out there, and my dad assigned me to go on the road with Chuck for a series of one-nighters.
That’s when I got to really know him. It was just Chuck and his guitar. We used pick-up bands. He would walk up to the band and say, “You know my songs. Do this while I do that.” If the promoter was a fan and got him the best musicians in town, the gig would be great, but, when the band wasn’t good, well, he was hurting the magic. We had an argument about it once, but Chuck did things his way.
The last story I told at the funeral was about the last time I saw Chuck. This was probably in the late ‘90s. He was touring with his kids Ingrid and Chuck Jr. and he played B.B. King’s in Times Square. Jamar wanted to meet him, so we went backstage. We were hugging and kissing, the whole thing. He introduced me to his kids, and I introduced him to Jamar. I told him, “You know, Chuck, I’ve never thanked you.” He said, “For what?” I said, “My family’s life changed because of you.” And he looked me in the eye and took my hands and said,” Don’t you know? It’s the same for me.”
At the end of the service, six pallbearers with white gloves carried Chuck’s casket out of The Pageant, where there must have been 500 people. The main street there was closed, and they had a New Orleans-style band playing a funeral march. It was so mournful. There were 13 white Cadillac stretch limousines and a police motorcade to take the family members to the cemetery. Chuck loved Cadillacs, and he went out in a white one with gold trim — like the king of rock and roll. As this long train of limousines pulled away, I waved to everyone. I was crying a little. I am now, actually.
How so, as a producer, distributor, and director like Snoop Dogg?
Or paying to watch people f--- as Little Richard did?
It is to laugh.
Elvis’ dalliance with rock and roll was brief.
The Col. and RCA shifted him away and then Uncle Sam gelded him.
He sang a ton of covers in his career, songs that had already been hits in previous generations.
Here’s a 4-CD set of songs Elvis covered (including recordings by the rocker Al Jolson). And plenty of people covered Elvis’ songs. It’s as ridiculous an assertion and no one ever covered the Beatles because they were too good.
1-1 –Al Jolson Are You Lonesome Tonight 3:09
1-2 –Bing Crosby Aloha 3:15
1-3 –David Hill (4) All Shook Up 2:11
1-4 –Gene Autry Blueberry Hill 2:35
1-5 –Russ Morgan (2) Blue Christmas 3:03
1-6 –Roy Acuff Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain 2:41
1-7 –Bing Crosby Blue Hawaii 3:04
1-8 –Frankie Trumbauer & Band* Blue Moon 3:07
1-9 –Bill Monroe Blue Moon Of Kentucky 3:05
1-10 –Carl Perkins Blue Suede Shoes 2:15
1-11 –The Golden Gate Quartet By And By 2:15
1-12 –Darell Glenn* Crying In The Chapel 2:57
1-13 –Bob Wills Faded Love 3:16
1-14 –Glenn Miller Fools Rush In 2:32
1-15 –Hank Snow A Fool Such As I 2:28
1-16 –Roy Brown Good Rockin’ Tonight 2:57
1-17 –Claude Thornhill Harbour Lights 2:41
1-18 –Lulu Belle & Scotty* Have I Told You Lately 2:28
1-19 –Gene Autry Here Comes Santa Claus 2:34
1-20 –Willie Mae “Big Mama” Thornton* Hound Dog 2:49
1-21 –Eddy Arnold How’s The World Treating You 2:57
1-22 –Frankie Laine I Believe 2:13
1-23 –Patti Page I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine 2:42
1-24 –Blackwood Brothers* If We Never Meet Again 2:35
1-25 –Bing Crosby I’ll Be Home For Christmas 2:53
2-1 –Eddy Arnold I’ll Hold You In My Heart 2:42
2-2 –Leon Payne I Love You Because 2:43
2-3 –Hank Snow I’m Movin’ On 2:48
2-4 –Hank Williams I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry 2:46
2-5 –Ivory Joe Hunter I Need You So 3:10
2-6 –Stuart Hamblen It Is No Secret 2:47
2-7 –Eddy Arnold It’s A Sin 2:26
2-8 –Emilio De Gogorza O Sole Mio 3:04
2-9 –The Shelton Brothers Just Because 3:00
2-10 –Bill Monroe Little Cabin On The Hill 3:10
2-11 –Dick Haymes Love Letters 2:45
2-12 –Ch. Brown* And J. Moore* Merry Christmas Baby 2:35
2-13 –Sleepy John Estes Sloppy Drunk Blues 3:02
2-14 –The Trumpeteers Milky White Way 2:32
2-15 –The Drifters Money Honey 2:57
2-16 –Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup My Baby Left Me 2:28
2-17 –The Delmore Brothers Blues Stay Away From Me 2:51
2-18 –Johnny & Sondra Steele* My Happiness 3:04
2-19 –Hank “Little Junior” Parker* Mystery Train 2:22
2-20 –Red Foley Old Shep 2:51
2-21 –Red Foley Peace In The Valley 2:54
2-22 –Tony Bennett Rags To Riches 2:49
2-23 –Lowell Fulson Reconsider Baby 3:09
2-24 –Big Bill Broonzy See See Rider 2:34
2-25 –The Ames Brothers Sentimental Me 3:14
3-1 –Faye Adams Shake A Hand 2:50
3-2 –J. Wakely* And M. Whiting* Silver Bells 2:54
3-3 –Thomas A. Dorsey Take My Hand Precious Lord 7:31
3-4 –Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup That’s All Right 2:53
3-5 –The Ink Spots That’s When Your Heartaches Begin 3:20
3-6 –Rufus Thomas Tiger Man 2:48
3-7 –Ernest Tubb Tomorrow Never Comes 2:54
3-8 –Horace Heidt & His Orchestra* Tomorrow Night 2:59
3-9 –Frankie Carle Barcarolle 3:48
3-10 –M. Sembrich* G’Schichten Aus Dem Wienerwald 1:46
3-11 –Sister Rosetta Tharpe Up Above My Head 2:29
3-12 –W. Walker & G. Sullivan* When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again 2:36
3-13 –Rudy Vallee The Whiffenpoof Song 3:08
3-14 –Bing Crosby White Christmas 3:03
3-15 –Guy Lombardo Winter Wonderland 3:04
3-16 –Blackwood Brothers* Working On The Building 1:27
3-17 –Carousel Broadway Cast* You’ll Never Walk Alone 2:39
3-18 –Hank Williams Your Cheatin’ Heart 2:42
3-19 –Juan Arvizu La Golondrina 3:19
3-20 –The Shelton Brothers Aura Lee 2:39
3-21 –Emilio De Gogorza La Paloma 2:09
3-22 –Emilio De Gogorza La Golondrina 2:57
3-23 –Monte Rey Santa Lucia 2:57
3-24 –Monte Rey Torna A Surriento 2:55
3-25 –Bill Kenny I Believe In The Man In The Sky 2:36
4-1 –Red Foley Mansion Over The Hilltop 2:44
4-2 –Nina Keieliwahana* Ke Kali Nei Au 3:04
4-3 –Billy Eckstine Blue Moon 3:10
4-4 –Bill Gaither Trio* He Touched Me 2:36
4-5 –John Hurt* Frankie And Johnny 3:21
4-6 –Andrea Crouch* I’ve Got Confidence 2:54
4-7 –Nat “King” Cole* Mona Lisa 3:25
4-8 –Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup So Glad You’re Mine 2:46
4-9 –Hank Williams Jambalaya 2:53
4-10 –Eddie Miller (3) Release Me 2:27
4-11 –Pee Wee King Tennessee Waltz 2:58
4-12 –Bob Wills San Antonio Rose 3:20
4-13 –The Sons Of The Pioneers Tumbling Tumbleweeds 2:50
4-14 –Cliff Carlisle You’ll Miss Me When I’m Gone 3:17
4-15 –Gene Autry I’ll Never Let You Go 2:43
4-16 –Wynonie Harris Good Rockin’ Tonight 2:46
4-17 –Bing Crosby Silver Bells 3:00
4-18 –Gene Autry Yellow Rose Of Texas 1:43
4-19 –Arthur Gunter Baby Let’s Play House 2:45
4-20 –The Eagles* Tryin’ To Get To You 2:36
4-21 –Billy Emerson When It Rains - It Pours 3:05
4-22 –Golden Gate Quartet* Working On The Building 3:35
4-23 –Golden Gate Quartet* Swing Low Sweet Chariot 2:41
4-24 –Gene Autry You’re The Only Star 1:57
4-25 –Guy Mitchell My Heart Cries For You 2:44
The Music Establishment wasn’t even white vs. black or young vs. old, it was ASCAP (anti-rock, anti-hillbilly, anti-r&b) vs. BMI (which would publish such recordings).
Supposedly some of the resentment dates back to a musician union strike of the 1940s when artists weren’t supposed to be making new recordings.
Dave’s still alive. I haven’t heard of him playing a gig in a few years but he did within the last decade.
Unions made Big Band music too expensive and difficult, leading to small-combo Bebop in jazz, and probably to small-combo rock-n-roll.
I haven’t the faintest idea what it is you’re trying to say, or prove.
Hope everyone that has accomplished anything in society or culture can live up to your standards.
You held up Elvis as an untouchable rock god.
He’s neither a god a life long rocker or without sin.
“You held up Elvis as an untouchable rock god.”
You’re wrong. The ONLY mention I made of Elvis was to point out: “...people rarely covered Elvis numbers because they KNEW they couldn’t compete with his performances.”
End of discussion.
Sounds “untouchable” to me.
>because they KNEW they couldn’t compete with his performances.”
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