early March 2007
- Songwriter Otis Blackwell Left Music All Shook Up
By Brian Deagon
(Yahoo! News / Investor's Business Daily, March 15, 2007)
Two days before Christmas 1955, Otis Blackwell wrote seven songs and sold them to a music broker for an advance fee of $25 each. He needed the money for presents. That grew to a much bigger gift three weeks later. Elvis Presley said he would record one of those songs, titled "Don't Be Cruel." Blackwell, when told of the news, responded, "Who is Elvis Presley?" It didn't take him long to find out. "Don't Be Cruel" shot to the top of the pop charts and stayed there for 11 weeks. Blackwell received $80,000 in first-year royalties. He no longer had to work as a floor sweeper and clothes presser or sing the blues in tiny New York City bars for $5 a night to make ends meet.
Over time, Blackwell's songs became signature hits for top entertainers. He wrote "Great Balls of Fire" and "Breathless" for Jerry Lee Lewis. Peggy Lee popularized his song "Fever." James Taylor recorded "Handyman." Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Billy Joel and the Who also recorded his songs. He wrote 965 songs, becoming one of the most influential and prolific writers of his time. About 185 million copies of his songs were sold.
Blackwell died May 6, 2002, of a heart attack in a hospital in Nashville, Tenn. He was 70. He lived in relative obscurity after suffering a paralyzing stroke in 1991, the same year he was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. "In terms of songs published, Otis Blackwell ranks right up there with Paul Anka, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter," said Dan Del Fiorentino, curator of the Museum of Making Music in Carlsbad, Calif. "One of the most powerful things he could do was take the image of a strong, virile man and turn him into a bowl of Jell-O when it came to being around a pretty woman."
In the early 1950s, the big bands were fading and single artists such as Frank Sinatra, Pat Boone and Bing Crosby cornered the charts. Other musicians looked for songs that could break that mold. They especially wanted songs that appealed to American teenagers, who were becoming an independent force. "Don't Be Cruel" did the trick, though not even Presley realized its potential. The song was issued as the B side to "Hound Dog," which topped the charts for four weeks. "Don't Be Cruel" stayed No. 1 for more than twice that length and remained on the charts for 18 months.
It was a milestone not passed until Presley recorded another song by Blackwell, called "All Shook Up." It also became a No. 1 hit. Another Blackwell hit recorded by Presley was "Return to Sender." Some say Blackwell was instrumental in helping develop Presley's style, even though they never met. Blackwell often sang and recorded his songs before they were presented for sale. He also noted that Presley sounded like him, right down to each quiver and inflection. "I didn't mind that he copied the demos so closely," Blackwell said. "I figured making good demos was a surer way of getting him to record my stuff." ...
- Horrors smash Elvis bust
(uk.news.launch.yahoo.com, March 15, 2007)
A US show by The Horrors ended in drama this week after Faris Badwan smashed a bust of Elvis Presley on the stage floor. The hotly-tipped UK newcomers were thrown-out of the Great Scott venue in Allston, Boston on Monday evening, following Fadwin's provocative gesture.
The Southend band had played around three quarters of their set, according to local reports, when the gig ended abruptly. The group's singer is understood to have scaled a ledge and grabbed the two ft tall porcelain bust of The King, which was sitting towards the ceiling of the venue. He then crashed the ornament onto the stage floor, causing it to shatter into pieces all over the front rows of the crowd.
According to an eye-witness account on a Boston Herald blog, Badwin, who is renowned for his confrontational live antics, and the band were then ordered to leave. The report explains: "No one was seemingly hurt, but this action caused the set to be instantly aborted and the UK neo-goths were told to evacuate the venue immediately. "Badwan left Great Scott in a huff, claiming he was spit on by one of venue's staff. I wouldn't doubt it happened, as there was a brief scuffle once the bust was destroyed, though I didn't see it occur. ...
- Festival is ready to rock
(Ararat News, March 13, 2007)
Ararat's 13th Jailhouse Rock Festival will offer more attractions than ever before according to festival committee member David Lowing. This year's festival, titled `Elvis The King', will have something for everyone. From hot rods to rock n' roll dancing, to tattoos and motorbikes, the festivities will highlight all the things people have grown to love about the Jailhouse Rock Festival. It all begins with a free lunchtime concert at Ararat Performing Arts Centre tomorrow featuring the Everly Brothers Tribute Show.
The festival will be officially launched tomorrow night with the opening of the `A Brush with the King' airbrush art competition at 6pm in the Ararat Town Hall foyer. Mr Lowing said the extra entertainment for this year's festival will see Barkly Street blocked off from the Post Office to the Astor Theatre this year during the Giant Highway Eight Festival. The main street will be packed with many of the attractions that make the festival great including live bands, classic cars, dancers and plenty of children's entertainment.
One event which is expected to generate plenty of interest from young and old is the `night with the King' at the Astor Theatre this Friday. A hotdog stall and jukebox will set the atmosphere from 6.30pm before Elvis Presley graces the screen in his classic film Jailhouse Rock.
Another new initiative which should spark plenty of interest is a rock mass at the Anglican Church at 9.30am Sunday morning. The event will see Mark from the Fenderbenders leading a gospel singing session for all to enjoy. ...
- Oldies Polls
By Robert Fontenot
(Oldies Music., March 12, 2007)
Here are the current results of last week's poll, which is still in progress:
"Oh Boy!" (Buddy Holly) ... 74%
"Hard Headed Woman" (Elvis Presley) ... 25%
Battle of the Bands pits classic (and very similar) oldies tunes against each other.
- Good time Charlie [Album Review]
By Jeffrey Lee Puckett
(Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, March 10, 2007)
It seems as if Charlie Rich was always chasing Elvis, although the truth is that Rich's elusive demons were a bit more complicated. He retreated into alcoholism at the peak of his commercial success and then into a seclusion that lasted for much of his later years.
Rich debuted on Sun Records a few years after Presley, first scoring with the magnificent "Lonely Weekends," which rivals any of Sun's early records. He sang like Elvis, with that same church-fed vibrato, as supple and luxurious as crushed red velvet. Rich then wound up on RCA, just as Elvis did, but with far less tangible results. Like Presley, Rich was interested in a wide variety of music, but his eclecticism wasn't accepted as was Presley's and he languished until his full-time shift to country music. It was there, finally, that Rich could claim his kingdom. Elvis had some major country hits, but nothing bigger than the epic crossover success of "Behind Closed Doors" and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World." Rich ultimately rebelled against Nashville - at the 1975 Country Music Association awards show, he set fire to the envelope announcing John Denver as entertainer of the year - and disappeared for much of the 1980s.
It wasn't until 1992, years after Presley and his country career had died, that Rich recorded his most personal album. But "Pictures and Paintings," which finally allowed Rich to explore his love of jazz, blues and gospel, was unjustly ignored. He died three years after its release. ...
- Former Army officer accomplished much
By KIM SMITH
(Herald News, March 9, 2007)
Retired Lt. Col. Edgar W. Boggan had many claims to fame that he never talked much about. "He had Elvis Presley in his 4-H class when he and his first wife lived in Tupelo, Miss.," said his wife, Helen Francis Boggan. "He was extremely patriotic as well as a great father and writer." Edgar Boggan, 88, died of cardiac complications in his home Wednesday. His other claim to fame includes planning the funerals of President John F. Kennedy and Gen. Douglas MacArthur. "He wrote the protocol that is used for presidential funerals," Boggan said. "He worked at the Pentagon for many years. ..."
- Elvis still the King
By Anthony Barnes
(Tonight, March 9, 2007)
He remains, and perhaps always will, the King. This week, half a century after his recording debut, Elvis Presley was crowned the greatest voice of all time by Q magazine. But the poll also exposed some of the worst singers of all time. The hall of shame includes screechers such as Ozzy Osbourne, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion and Yoko Ono. ...
Returning to the greatest singers, the panel shows a bias towards singers from previous generations, with Aretha Franklin in second place and Frank Sinatra in third. Seven of the top 10 are dead, including Otis Redding, Kurt Cobain, Jeff Buckley and John Lennon . The other two living singers in the top 10 are Robert Plant and, controversially, Mick Jagger.
- Elvis Presley. From his debut release, That's All Right, onwards, Presley put sex into rock and roll. Country, gospel and blues, he took them all in his stride
- Aretha Franklin. Said to have a four-octave range, soul star Franklin showed her prowess and power on hits such as Respect and I Say a Little Prayer.
- Frank Sinatra. Renowned for his perfect delivery and phrasing on classics My Way and I've Got You Under My Skin.
- Otis Redding. Fine versions of songs like Satisfaction, but loved for (Sittin on) The Dock of the Bay.
- John Lennon. Not technically brilliant, but expressive. Imagine is regularly voted one of the all-time great songs.
- Marvin Gaye. Shot dead by his father in 1984, the Motown star was said to have "the voice of an angel trapped in a man".
- Kurt Cobain. Not exactly a beautiful voice, but his anguished cries on Nirvana hits, such as Smells Like Teen Spirit, launched a rock revolution in the early 1990s.
- Robert Plant. As singer with Led Zeppelin, Plant and his feminine high register touched millions with Stairway to Heaven and Immigrant Song.
- Mick Jagger. Jagger's wicked rasp introduced Britons to rhythm and blues and is still going strong after more than 40 years
- Jeff Buckley. Was barely known during his lifetime, but his only completed studio album is now a classic, especially his version of Hallelujah.
- Presley to sing in Sussex: ELVIS Presley's cousin will be performing in Lewes next week as a new opera begins a tour of the county
(Lewis Today, March 8, 2007)
He remains, and perhaps always will, the King. This week, half a century after his recording debut, Elvis Robert Presley will sing Ashmodeus - the demon - in Tobias and the Angel. Also taking part will be children from Priory School, Lewes, and Ringmer Community College. ...
- All shook up by Elvis ghost voters
(Yahoo! News / Reuters, March 5, 2007)
The late Elvis Presley plans to be a ghost voter at the 2007 national elections in the jungle-clad South Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea -- if you believe the nation's electoral rolls. In 2006 almost half of Papua New Guinea's 4.9 million registered voters were regarded by the electoral commission as ghost voters and did not exist. The commission has been trying for a year to update voter registration ahead of June 30 elections, but admits voter rolls in remote, rugged highland electorates remain vastly inaccurate.
Electoral Commissioner Andrew Trawen said ghost voters remained a problem with several Elvis Presleys, the U.S. rocker who died in 1977, registering to vote, alongside a handful of Tom Jones, and a couple of kings and queens. ...
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