For Maurice, on the byke matter

[Jim Burrows]

Hey Maurice!! Today, some lady wrote an article at "Sound Affects" entiled "Elvis was the female Wanda Jackson" (see below), so I send my comment.
Tell me what you think (LOL)

"Elvis was the female Wanda Jackson"

Okay, so the title is both an exaggeration and a reversal of proper chronology. Wanda Jackson is a huge Elvis fan, as evidenced by her one of her most recent releases, I Remember Elvis, but I couldn’t resist the quip since nearly all writing about Wanda Jackson contains the diminishing compliment,“the female Elvis”. Personally, I listen to her more and get much more enjoyment from her sound than I do Elvis’ oeuvre.(Also, please note that she could really play the guitar from the very beginning of her career.) The comparison also misses the deeper country and western influence, nowhere more evident than on the song,“I Gotta Know” which almost comically accents the twang on “thang” and “rang”(ring).
She’s still touring; I guess that’s one of the benefits of being a hard working musician over a worldwide icon. Try to sit still through the song’s bounce and her tight little jig around the stage. Granted, she doesn’t have the smoldering sexy that pre-Rx bloat Elvis had, but her pin-up beauty and spitfire confidence go a long way in cultivating a wholly different brand of star presence. She should have garnered bigger fame in her time, but has to instead settle for a devoted following and a belated critical resurrection.

My reply

"I respect the writer of the article’s preferances, namely that she gets much more enjoyment from listening to Wanda Jackson than she does when listining to Presley, but when it is said that she “could really play the guitar from the very beginning of her career”, what that actually must mean is that the mix in her songs allows us to better hear her playing the guitar, on record, than was the case in, say, the early stages of Presley’s career.

Otherwise, why would someone alike Johnny Cash, who could play the guitar quite well, and not just knew Presley from the early days, but toured with him as well, would say the following about Presley’s 1954 guitar playing, I repeat, about 1954’s guitar playing, and I quote

“ That night at the “Eagle’s Nest”, I remember, he was playing a D-18 Martin acoustic guitar and he was dressed in the latest teen fashion, but the thing I really noticed though, was his guitar playing. Elvis was a fabulous rhythm player. He’d start into “That’s All Right”, with his own guitar, alone, and you didn’t want to hear anything else” Johnny Cash, in “Cash, the autobiography”, recalling the first time he saw Presley perform, at the “Eagles Nest”, in Memphis, TN (1954)"
Comment by Jim Burrows — June 11, 2008 @ 2:37 pm

[Jim Burrows]

Sorry, the title of the article was "Elvis was the male Wanda Jackson", but that was my error when typing the above message, not the reason for writing it, which was the matter of her guitar playing, and the obvious pun directed at Elvis'...

[Jim Burrows]

Hey Maurice,let's put the last nail in the coffin of whoever wrote the article. Go to
http://www.popmatters.com/pm/blogs/post/59646...

and mention the fact that Elvis was as Country as Wanda was, only that in his case, he did not deem it necessary to use it, as a tool, especially whilst performing in prime time, nationally televised broadcasts!!!(LOL).

Anyways, you can also refer her to

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/The-Complete-...

inviting her, as well, to just play "I'm on the crowd, but so alone", from the "Complete Million Dollar Quartet", where Elvis, for all practical purposes, is as country as the person who recorded and had a hit with the song in the first place, Mr. Ernest Tubb

Warmest regards
Jim

[TCB-girl]

Jim Burrows wrote:

Thanks Katia and Maurice. I'll include them in the list, so please confirm, my dear Maurice, whether Marty, Terry and Billy belong in the 1956 list, as I belive is the case, or in the 1957 list. Also please give an estimate of where the other two you mentioned, belong.
Now, as to celebrities expressing their admiration, love, devotion, for Elvis, the list is too numerous, so in fact the research I made had only only musicians, or singers, in mind.
Let me explain: I find it fantastic when a fan of someone like, say, Jimi Hendrix, expresses his disdain for Elvis, only to be told that in fact, Jimi became a musician, and a fantastic live entertainer, precisely because of his love, and as a result of the experience he felt, through his bones, that night, at Sick's Stadium, when he saw what a real entertainer, at his actual peak, could do with an audience of thousands...

Jim...I never ever miss a post you make. You are an inspiration! Love reading your words on ELVIS.:)

[Jim Burrows]

Thanks, TCB, you are too.

And, by the way, we need to add another persopn to the list.

That person is Gordon Lightfoot, who in a recent interview mentioned that he belongs in the first group (LOL), just kidding, but what he actually said was that before Elvis, he was into classical jazz, piano, in Toronto. He adds that all of that radically changed when he heard Heartbreak Hotel.

Immediately after, he says, he went out og his house, bought a guitar, and made up his mind that he'd be THAT type of a musician.

One of the most exquisites voices I'd ever heard, I was his fan, the mom,ent he had his first hit, but since it was nort politically correct for young simgers to come out of the closet, in 1974, I never knew this guy was a huge Elvis fan, although I sensed that he owed something to Elvis, in the way he sang.

So, let us add him to the list, as follows

Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Johnny Rivers, Mac Davis, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Levon Helm, Buddy Knox, Waylon Jennings, all in 1954.

Eddie Cochrane, Gram Parsons, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Tillotson, Rick Nelson, Bob Dylan, Paul Mc Cartney, John Lennon, Roger Daltrey, Mick Jagger, Robert Plant, Mike Fleetwood, Cher, Elton john, Isaac Hayes, Paul Simon, Brian Wilson, Loretta Lynn, and Gordon Lightfoot, all in 1956.

Rod Stewart, Johnny Hallyday, Cliff Richard, Bobby Solo, Roberto Carlos, Cauby Peixoto, Eric Burdon, Jimi Hendrix, Jose Feliciano, Engelbert Humperdinck all in 1957.

Palito Ortega, Sandro, Freddy Fender, Tom Jones, Jimmy Buffet, Ian Gillan, Glenn Campbell, Billy Joel, all in 1959.

Al Green, Barry White, Otis Redding, Freddy Mercury, all in 1960,

Kenny Rogers, Huey Lewis, K. D. Lang, Tom Petty, Faith Hill, Brian Setzer, Greg Lake, Kiri Te Kanawa, Bryn Terfel, Tobias Sammet, Bono, Samuel Ramey and Robert Wallace from 1961 till now.

[Jim Burrows]

Correction

Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Johnny Rivers, Mac Davis, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly, Levon Helm, Buddy Knox, Waylon Jennings, all from July 5, 1954, to November 1955.

Eddie Cochrane, Gram Parsons, Bruce Springsteen, Johnny Tillotson, Rick Nelson, Bob Dylan, Paul Mc Cartney, John Lennon, Roger Daltrey, Mick Jagger, Robert Plant, Mike Fleetwood, Cher, Elton john, Isaac Hayes, Paul Simon, Brian Wilson, Loretta Lynn, and Gordon Lightfoot, all in 1956.

Rod Stewart, Johnny Hallyday, Cliff Richard, Bobby Solo, Roberto Carlos, Cauby Peixoto, Eric Burdon, Jimi Hendrix, Jose Feliciano, Engelbert Humperdinck, all in 1957.

Palito Ortega, Sandro, Freddy Fender, Tom Jones, Jimmy Buffet, Ian Gillan, Glenn Campbell, Billy Joel, all in 1959.

Al Green, Barry White, Otis Redding, Freddy Mercury, all in 1960,

Kenny Rogers, Huey Lewis, K. D. Lang, Tom Petty, Faith Hill, Brian Setzer, Greg Lake, Kiri Te Kanawa, Bryn Terfel, Tobias Sammet, Bono, Samuel Ramey and Robert Wallace, from 1961 till now.

[Jim Burrows]

A couple of additions to the list. No doubt about, as I have them on record, stating they became guitarrists as a direct result of seeing Elvis paying guitar on the Ed Sullivan Show, or hearing his SUN records. One is canadian rocker Randy Bachman, of the rock groups "The Guess Who" and "Bachman/Turner Overdrive". He loved also the fact that Elvis thought of the TCB logo, after hearing their song, "Taking Care of business" and wanted to meet him, but never could.

Incredibly, both he and Burton Cummings, the lead singer, and who is also a huge Elvis fan, but credits he and the Beatles as his greatest inspirations, never caught an Elvis show.
Bachman was 13 when Elvis played Canada, but was a bit far from either of the three cities where Elvis played, so his parents did not allow him to travel there.

The second addition is, wow, Jimmy Page, of the Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin...

So, here's the list ( with Bachman already added)

Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Johnny Rivers, Mac Davis, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly (The Crickets), Levon Helm (The Band), Buddy Knox, Waylon Jennings, all from July 5, 1954, to November 1955.

Eddie Cochrane, Gram Parsons (Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers), Bruce Springsteen *E Steet Band), Johnny Tillotson, Rick Nelson, Bob Dylan, Paul Mc Cartney and John Lennon (Beatles), Randy Bachman (Guess Who), Roger Daltrey (The Who), Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones), Robert Plant and Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Mike Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac), Cher, Elton John, Isaac Hayes, Paul Simon (Simon and Garfunkel), Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), Loretta Lynn, and Gordon Lightfoot, all in 1956.

Rod Stewart (Samall Faces), Johnny Hallyday, Cliff Richard (The Shadows), Bobby Solo, Roberto Carlos, Cauby Peixoto, Eric Burdon (The Animals), Jimi Hendrix, Jose Feliciano, Engelbert Humperdinck, all in 1957.

Palito Ortega, Sandro, Freddy Fender, Tom Jones, Jimmy Buffet, Ian Gillan (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath), Glenn Campbell, Billy Joel, all in 1959.

Al Green, Barry White, Otis Redding, Freddy Mercury (Queen), all in 1960,

Kenny Rogers (First Edition), Huey Lewis (The News), K. D. Lang, Tom Petty (Heartbreakers), Faith Hill, Brian Setzer (Stray Cats), Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake and Palmer), Kiri Te Kanawa, Bryn Terfel, Tobias Sammet, Bono (U2), Samuel Ramey and Robert Wallace, from 1961 till now.

[MauricePColgan]

Great stuff Jim.

Sorry I could not participate recently, we have been out of town and then involved in a marvellous Kate Bush/Bloomsday event at a hotel here in Dublin just last night.

Still recovering from the mad music and refreshments that went on till early this morning.

We may be more in focus later. ;-)

[Jim Burrows]

OK buddy

[Jim Burrows]

The list keeps of musicians whose lives were either drastically changed by Elvis or who consider him the best singer ever keeps growing(Dan Felder, of the Eagles, is added)

Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Johnny Rivers, Mac Davis, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly (The Crickets), Levon Helm (The Band), Buddy Knox, Waylon Jennings, all from July 5, 1954, to November 1955.

Eddie Cochrane, Gram Parsons (Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers), Bruce Springsteen *E Steet Band), Johnny Tillotson, Rick Nelson, Bob Dylan, Paul Mc Cartney and John Lennon (Beatles), Randy Bachman (Guess Who), Roger Daltrey (The Who), Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones), Robert Plant and Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Mike Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac), Cher, Elton John, Isaac Hayes, Paul Simon (Simon and Garfunkel), Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), Loretta Lynn, and Gordon Lightfoot, all in 1956.

Rod Stewart (Samall Faces), Johnny Hallyday, Cliff Richard (The Shadows), Bobby Solo, Roberto Carlos, Cauby Peixoto, Eric Burdon (The Animals), Jimi Hendrix, Dam Felder (Eagles), Jose Feliciano, Engelbert Humperdinck, all in 1957.

Palito Ortega, Sandro, Freddy Fender, Tom Jones, Jimmy Buffet, Ian Gillan (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath), Glenn Campbell, Billy Joel, all in 1959.

Al Green, Barry White, Otis Redding, Freddy Mercury (Queen), all in 1960,

Kenny Rogers (First Edition), Huey Lewis (The News), K. D. Lang, Tom Petty (Heartbreakers), Faith Hill, Brian Setzer (Stray Cats), Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake and Palmer), Kiri Te Kanawa, Bryn Terfel, Tobias Sammet, Bono (U2), Samuel Ramey and Robert Wallace, from 1961 till now.

[MauricePColgan]

"The list keeps of musicians whose lives were either drastically changed by Elvis or who consider him the best singer ever keeps growing(Dan Felder, of the Eagles, is added)"

Hi Jim, the list grows apace :-) I'm a little tied up with other Forums at the moment.
Nevertheless we can still address good Elvis news as it arrives :-)

[Jim Burrows]

The list keeps of musicians whose lives were either drastically changed by Elvis or who consider him the best singer ever keeps growing(Billy Idol and Shaking Stevens are added)

Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins, Johnny Rivers, Mac Davis, Gene Vincent, Buddy Holly (The Crickets), Levon Helm (The Band), Buddy Knox, Waylon Jennings, all from July 5, 1954, to November 1955.

Eddie Cochrane, Gram Parsons (Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers), Bruce Springsteen *E Steet Band), Johnny Tillotson, Rick Nelson, Bob Dylan, Paul Mc Cartney and John Lennon (Beatles), Randy Bachman (Guess Who), Roger Daltrey (The Who), Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones), Robert Plant and Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin), Mike Fleetwood (Fleetwood Mac), Cher, Elton John, Isaac Hayes, Paul Simon (Simon and Garfunkel), Brian Wilson (Beach Boys), Loretta Lynn, and Gordon Lightfoot, all in 1956.

Rod Stewart (Samall Faces), Johnny Hallyday, Cliff Richard (The Shadows), Bobby Solo, Roberto Carlos, Cauby Peixoto, Eric Burdon (The Animals), Jimi Hendrix, Dam Felder (Eagles), Jose Feliciano, Engelbert Humperdinck, all in 1957.

Palito Ortega, Sandro, Freddy Fender, Tom Jones, Jimmy Buffet, Ian Gillan (Deep Purple, Black Sabbath), Glenn Campbell, Billy Joel, all in 1959.

Al Green, Barry White, Otis Redding, Freddy Mercury (Queen), all in 1960,

Kenny Rogers (First Edition), Huey Lewis (The News), K. D. Lang, Tom Petty (Heartbreakers), Faith Hill, Brian Setzer (Stray Cats), Greg Lake (Emerson, Lake and Palmer), Billy Idol, Shaking Stevens, Kiri Te Kanawa, Bryn Terfel, Tobias Sammet, Bono (U2), Samuel Ramey and Robert Wallace, from 1961 till now.

[Jim Burrows]

Hi Maurice!! That's 'merely" 70 people whose combined input into the music industry, worldwide, exceeds the sale of about 8 billion units, and that's without counting the US$ 200 billion, plus, that all these artists, combined, have grossed in concerts in the last 50 years.

Elvis' influence is incalculable, and that's not even factoring the output of other musicians who were influenced by him, but whose lives were not necessarily changed by him.

[TCB-girl]

Jim Burrows wrote:

Hi Maurice!! That's 'merely" 70 people whose combined input into the music industry, worldwide, exceeds the sale of about 8 billion units, and that's without counting the US$ 200 billion, plus, that all these artists, combined, have grossed in concerts in the last 50 years.
Elvis' influence is incalculable, and that's not even factoring the output of other musicians who were influenced by him, but whose lives were not necessarily changed by him.

Bless ELVIS...he was amazing while living and still amazing gone almost 31 years.

[Jim Burrows]

Once we reach the magic number (100), it would be nice for someone to write a book about the 100 artists in the music business whose were radically changed by Elvis.

You know, the book would be composed, in chronological order, of a page for each musician/group. His/Her/Their picture could be on top of the page, next to his/her/their name, date of birth, or death, if that is the case, then followed by a srory with no more than two paragraphs, as well as a little table, to include the artist's main achievents, sales, etc, Grammys, Billboard Top Tens, number ones, gross net, movies, etc, all of it, accompanied by a picture of Elvis, taken at the venue the event that changed the life of the person in question took place, as well as a second, and why not, a third photograph, showing the artist with Elvis, backstage, or anywhere, for that matter, in one, two or three periods of Elvis career.

Here, below, in my next message, is just one example. Tell what you think of the idea. Of course, the last artist to be highlighted would be Elvis himself.

[Jim Burrows]

Example
Robert Plant, lead singer, Led Zeppelin
(b. August 20, 1948, West Bromwich, West Midlands, England-), Photo
In 1956, the then 12-year old Plant was introduced to Presley's music, as he was able to get a hold of his fourth SUN single, "Baby. let's play house", which he played incessantly along with records by his other idols, Willie Dixon and Robert Johnson.
In 1968, he and Jimmy Page, along John Paul Jones and John Bonham formed Led Zeppelin, which brought them to the attention of an increasingly greater audience, first in the UK, then the US, and the world.
On August 9, 1969, they took time out of their heavy US tour, their first, to attend Elvis show at the International Hotel, in Las Vegas. They did not meet him on that ocassion, but did so in 1974, when they attended Elvis show at the Los Angeles Forum, and spent about three hours with him after the show, at his hotel suite.
(Since there are no pictures of Plant and Elvis together, a photo of Page and Plant, with Elvis memorabilia, leaving the hotel, in a limosine, in 1974, will more than do justice)
Contents of Table, next to the aforementioned picture
RIAA album output 91 million (ranked 4)
RIAA single output 4 million
Billboard Number 1 albums: 7
Billboard Number 1 singles: NIL
Grammy Awards: etc
Movie: The song remains the same
Favourite Quote:
"Once upon a time, all we knew about Elvis was that he sang like no one else did then; and that was all that mattered; you know, when you gas up and you go to pay inside the gas station and you hear Elvis singing Surrender,you know that the mystery of that guy, was everything; the voice, and the mystery, and the not knowing
Robert explaining to critic Rub Trucks his debt to Elvis, whose music influenced him the most, of all musicians, as published on the Village Voice, on June 3, 2008

[MauricePColgan]

That's a great Idea Jim. The man ideally suited to do such an excellent book would be a certain Mr Burrows. His tremendous knowledge of popular musicians gives him the Edge.:-)

[Jim Burrows]

Thanks buddy!!

Here's another example, totally written out of memory, mind you, with the sole exception of the date of birth, and death, just like the first one), and this one, my friend, written especially for you!!

Jimi Hendrix

(b. November 27, 1942, Seattle, Washington, USA, d. September 18, 1970, London, England). Photo

On 1 September 1957, Jimi, together with 15,000 other teenagers, attended Elvis' concert at Sick`s Stadium, in his hometown of Seattle, an event that made the impressionable 15 year old decide, right there, and then, what his future life would be like. In his notebook, he wrote the entire set list of songs performed that night, as well as, two weeks later, proceeded to draw a painting of Presley, with a guitar, and wearing an oversized dark brown jacket similar to one he owned, instead of the Gold lame jacket actually woen by Presley.

In 1968, after having flopped in his first tour of England, Hendrix went to Paris to think about his future. Whilst there, he caught a midnight show screening of "King Creole" (which he`d missed when originally shown in Seattle), at a Parisian neighborhood theatre, later crediting his having watched the movie, as one of the events that, once again, changed his life for the good, giving him that added strenght he needed before his eventual return to, and triumph, in England, the United States, and soon, the world over.

Hendrix's last tribute to Elvis came in August of 1969, at the Woodstock Festival, in New York State, when he chose to play the "Star Spangled banner", a sure reminder of the last spoken words he`d heard from Elvis. As the concert drew to an end, Elvis requested those attending the Seattle concert to stand up, as we "are now going to sing the national anthem". As the audience rose, Presley delivered a manic version of "Hound Dog", ending up on his knees, before jumping off the side of the stage,in his Gold lame jacket, and into a waiting limosine.
Photos (2): Notebook, drawing of Presley, and picture of Hendrix with his brand new guitar, wearing the dark brown oversized jacket

Contents of table (next to photos)
RIAA album output:..million
RIAA single output ...million
Billboard Number 1 albums:....
Billboard Number 1 singles:...
Grammy Awards: etc
Movie: Monterrey, Woodstock,

Since Jimi was not recorded, or filmed, as saying something about Elvis (his tributes would always be drawn, or just musical), the quote reference will not be mentioned, in his page.

[Jim Burrows]

I forgot to mention, in Jimi hendrix`case, any photo of Elvis singing in Seattle would have to be included, if possible, the one with him on his knees, delivering "Hound Dog", of which many versions exist, from all angles.

[TCB-girl]

MauricePColgan wrote:

That's a great Idea Jim. The man ideally suited to do such an excellent book would be a certain Mr Burrows. His tremendous knowledge of popular musicians gives him the Edge.:-)

Agreed!:)