Tag Archives: Elvis Presley

Today: Elvis Presley recorded Heartbreak Hotel in 1956 – 57 years ago

heartbreak_hotel_cover

From Wikipedia:

Heartbreak Hotel” is a song recorded by Elvis Presley. It was released as a single on January 27, 1956, Presley’s first on his new record label RCA Victor. His first number-one pop record, “Heartbreak Hotel” topped Billboard‘s Top 100 chart, became his first million-seller, and was the best-selling single of 1956. It was written by Tommy Durden and Mae Boren Axton.

Well, Since my baby left me

These opening words set the tone, this is not a happy-song…

I got this record from my aunt when I was about 7 or 8 years old (1973/1974), I couldn’t  comprehend the heartache and suffering in the lyrics. I just thought it was the coolest thing I had ever heard. I still got that record. It is worn and scratched and it’s still the coolest record in the world.

Heartbreak Hotel (audio):

Heartbreak Hotel credits

Heartbreak Hotel is written by Thomas Durden and Mae Axton in 1955. It was written after Durden read about a suicide in the Miami Herald. A man, who had jumped out the window,  had destroyed his identity papers and left a note saying: “I walk a lonely street.”
It was written very quickly, varying sources states that it was done from a few hours down to 22 minutes.
heartbreak-hotel-a-side

From Wikipedia:

“Axton and Durden give different accounts of how the song was written. Durden’s account is that he had already written the song and performed it with his band the Swing Billys before he presented it to Axton. Axton’s account is that Durden had only penned a few lines of the song, and asked her to help him finish it.  She says that the report of the suicide “stunned” her, and she told Durden, “Everybody in the world has someone who cares. Let’s put a Heartbreak Hotel at the end of this lonely street”. They were interrupted by the arrival of Glen Reeves, a local performer who had previously worked with Axton. The duo asked Reeves to help with the song, but after hearing the title he remarked that it was “the silliest thing I’ve ever heard”, and left them to finish it themselves.The song was written within an hour, and Durden recorded it onto Axton’s tape recorder.”

The song was offered to several artists before Elvis, many of them declined and described the song as strange and morbid . Durden and Axton offered Presley a third of the writers’ credits if he would make it a single, Elvis agreed. Presley recorded the song Jan. 10, 1956. It was his second song recorded on his new label RCA, following “I Got A Woman”. It was released 27th of January 1956.

Heartbreak Hotel, Milton Berle Show:

From the british newspaper The Independent:

“Heartbreak Hotel” started with Elvis, accompanied by a walking bass from Bill Black, reminiscent of Willie Dixon’s work with Muddy Waters. Scotty Moore played assertively and Cramer’s piano pattered like rain. Elvis broke down in each verse, effectively method acting like James Dean. The song was nailed on take seven, but sadly, most of the tapes were wiped. The influence of Johnnie Ray’s “Cry” is self-evident and the song could be a parody. Presley’s dirt-seeking bio-grapher, Albert Goldman, opined, “‘Heartbreak Hotel’, which is an extravagant and highly-exaggerated account of the blues, was more a psychodrama than a musical performance. As such, however, it was an extraordinary novelty and it moved rock music into another imaginative space.”

“Heartbreak Hotel” became Elvis’ first gold record, staying the top of the pop charts for seven weeks in the spring of 1956.

Continue reading Today: Elvis Presley recorded Heartbreak Hotel in 1956 – 57 years ago

Today the late Elvis Presely was born in 1935 – 78 years ago

elvis 1969

When I first heard Elvis’ voice I just knew that I wasn’t going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss. He is the deity supreme of rock & roll religion as it exists in today’s form. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail.
~Bob Dylan (1987)

His music and his personality, fusing the styles of white country and black rhythm and blues, permanently changed the face of American popular culture. His following was immense, and he was a symbol to people the world over of the vitality, rebelliousness, and good humor of his country.
~President Jimmy Carter
August 17, 1977

Elvis Presley is a supreme figure in American life, one whose presence, no matter how banal or predictable, brooks no real comparisons. … The cultural range of his music has expanded to the point where it includes not only the hits of the day, but also patriotic recitals, pure country gospel, and really dirty blues. … Elvis has emerged as a great artist, a great rocker, a great purveyor of schlock, a great heart throb, a great bore, a great symbol of potency, a great ham, a great nice person, and, yes, a great American.
~Greil Marcus (The Village Voice – Apr 7, 1975)

My Way:

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Elvis Aaron Presley
Born January 8, 1935
Tupelo, Mississippi, U.S.
Died August 16, 1977 (aged 42)
Memphis, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres Rock and roll, pop, rockabilly, country, blues, gospel, R&B
Occupations Musician, actor
Instruments Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active 1953–77
Labels Sun, RCA Victor
Associated acts The Blue Moon Boys, The Jordanaires, The Imperials
Website elvis.com

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is commonly known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll” or simply “the King“.

Elvis 1969

 I know he invented rock and roll, in a manner of speaking, but … that’s not why he’s worshiped as a god today. He’s worshiped as a god today because in addition to inventing rock and roll he was the greatest ballad singer this side of Frank Sinatra—because the spiritual translucence and reined-in gut sexuality of his slow weeper and torchy pop blues still activate the hormones and slavish devotion of millions of female human beings worldwide.
~Robert Christgau (December 24, 1985)

Elvis Presley may be the single most important figure in American 20th century popular music. Not necessarily the best, and certainly not the most consistent. But no one could argue with the fact that he was the musician most responsible for popularizing rock & roll on an international level. Viewed in cold sales figures, his impact was phenomenal….
More important from a music lover’s perspective, however, are his remarkable artistic achievements.
~Ricihe Unterberger (allmusic.com)

… and his 3 best songs:

Suspicious Minds (alternate take):

Mystery Train:

If I Can Dream:

Album of the day:

From Elvis In Memphis (1969):

ElvisinMemphis

Other January-08:

Continue reading Today the late Elvis Presely was born in 1935 – 78 years ago

Today: Stephen Stills is 68

SS

An artist cannot be responsible for what people make of their art. An audience loathe giving up preconceived images of an artist.
~Stephen Stills

One thing the blues ain’t, is funny.
~Stephen Stills

He’s a musical genius
~Neil Young

Buffalo Springfield – For What It’s Worth 1967:

From Wikipedia:

Birth name Stephen Arthur Stills
Born January 3, 1945 (age 68)
Dallas, Texas, United States
Genres Rock, folk rock, blues rock, latin
Occupations Musician, songwriter, producer, political activist
Instruments Vocals, guitar, bass, piano,organ, percussion, drums, viola
Years active 1962–present
Labels Columbia, Atlantic, Reprise, Vision, Raven, Titan/Pyramid
Associated acts Buffalo Springfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Stills-Young Band, Au Go Go Singers, The Continentals, Manassas
Website Official website

SS2

Manassas – Stephen Stills – it does’nt matter (1972):

Stephen Arthur Stills (born January 3, 1945) is an American multi-instrumentalist and singer/songwriter best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash (and Young). He has performed on a professional level in several other bands as well as maintaining a solo career at the same time. Stills was ranked #28 in Rolling Stone Magazine’s 2003 list of “The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time”. Stills became the first person to be inducted twice on the same night into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for his work with CSN and Buffalo Springfield. He is often considered one of the greatest musician/songwriters of the 20th century.

Album of the day:

Manassas (1972):

stills - manassas

A sprawling masterpiece, akin to the Beatles’ White Album, the Stones’ Exile on Main St., or Wilco’s Being There in its makeup, if not its sound. Rock, folk, blues, country, Latin, and bluegrass have all been styles touched on in Stephen Stills’ career, and the skilled, energetic musicians he had gathered in Manassas played them all on this album. What could have been a disorganized mess in other hands, though, here all gelled together and formed a cohesive musical statement.
~Rob Caldwell (allmusic.com)

Other January 03:

Continue reading Today: Stephen Stills is 68

Today: Elvis Presley released Elvis Country 2 Jan 1971

Elvis Country

“Elvis has come out with a record which gives us some of the very finest and most affecting music since he first recorded for Sun almost 17 years ago”
– Peter Guralnick (Rolling Stone Magazine 1971)

Elvis Country (I’m 10,000 Years Old) is the thirty-seventh studio album by Elvis Presley, released on RCA Records (LSP 44600 in January 1971. Recorded at RCA Studio B inNashville, it reached #12 on the Billboard 200. It was certified Gold on 12/1/1977 by the RIAA. It peaked at #6 in the United Kingdom, selling over one million copies worldwide.

The lead single for the album, “I Really Don’t Want to Know” b/w “There Goes My Everything” was released on December 8, 1970 and peaked at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Tomorrow Never Comes:

Elvis Presley started a great run with his 1968 Comeback Special, then went on to  the brilliant From Elvis in Memphis , and then the “bonus” album, Back in Memphis), the very good  live abum On Stage, and the studio/live That’s the Way It Is in 1970.

And then…

In January 1971 Elvis Presley returned with Elvis Country: I’m 10,000 Years Old, and again the artist was addressing his roots, though with some more modern sounds. This is Elvis at the top of his game and it is one of his best albums.

It is available in several editions, theoriginal single Album version, The FTD version with many outtakes and the Legacy edition that includes the album, Love Letters from Elvis. Love Letters was drawn from the same four days of Nashville sessions as Elvis Country. It also has a few bonus tracks and good liner notes on both the albums, written by Stuart Coleman in 2011.

This is The Legacy edition on Spotify

Allmusic:
by Bruce Eder

“…Elvis was at his peak when he cut Elvis Country. Actually, Elvis Presley was positively on a roll at the time. A decade after the end of what were thought to be his prime years, he was singing an ever-widening repertory of songs with more passion and involvement than he’d shown since the end of the 1950s…”

 

Other 2 January:
Continue reading Today: Elvis Presley released Elvis Country 2 Jan 1971

My 5 Best Christmas Songs….

Let’s roll…

1. John Lennon -Happy Christmas (War Is Over):

2. Elvis Presley – Blue Christmas:

3. The Pogues Featuring Kirsty MacColl – Fairytale Of New York:

4.Bing Crosby & David Bowie – The Little Drummer Boy / Peace On Earth:

5. Bruce Springsteen – Santa Clause is Coming to Town:

Anyways.. that’s my list…

-Egil