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Aug. 21st, 2013
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After several false starts, Sam Phillips had his doubts whether Elvis Presley would after all be the great white hope. But Phillips was a kind-hearted man. He decided to give Elvis a chance to wing it with two local boys who were making a name for themselves, pianist-guitarist Scotty Moore and his neighbor Bill Black, a bass player. They helped make up a local group called the Starlight Wranglers. After doing a few pick-up songs, both Scotty and Bill were only marginally impressed with the new Boy’s talent. Perhaps the problem at that time was that Elvis Presley was not singing in the way he wanted to sing; he was singing in the way he thought they wanted him to sing.
One afternoon, when Presley, Scotty and Bill were together at the studio just drinking cokes and making no particular headway, Elvis picked up his guitar and started to freestyle, wailing “That’s Alright, Mama,” by black songwriter Arthur Crudup. Scotty and Bill Started picking up the beat, jam-session style. Suddenly Sam Phillips rushed out of the recording booth as if he were being chased by an enraged bull. Presley recalls that those early numbers sounded like he was beating an empty bucket, but Sam Phillips screamed at them: Whatever they were doing, do more of it! He had found the lost chord. This was the sound he was looking for.
Sam Phillips pressed the record of “That’s Alright, Mama” and started to hustle it on the local disc-jockey shows. Many of the local experts had their doubts about the record - it was 1954, and the South was a long way from being integrated. Elvis sounded dangerously black.
-- “Elvis: What Happened?” by Steve Dunleavy
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( Read more... )
After several false starts, Sam Phillips had his doubts whether Elvis Presley would after all be the great white hope. But Phillips was a kind-hearted man. He decided to give Elvis a chance to wing it with two local boys who were making a name for themselves, pianist-guitarist Scotty Moore and his neighbor Bill Black, a bass player. They helped make up a local group called the Starlight Wranglers. After doing a few pick-up songs, both Scotty and Bill were only marginally impressed with the new Boy’s talent. Perhaps the problem at that time was that Elvis Presley was not singing in the way he wanted to sing; he was singing in the way he thought they wanted him to sing.
One afternoon, when Presley, Scotty and Bill were together at the studio just drinking cokes and making no particular headway, Elvis picked up his guitar and started to freestyle, wailing “That’s Alright, Mama,” by black songwriter Arthur Crudup. Scotty and Bill Started picking up the beat, jam-session style. Suddenly Sam Phillips rushed out of the recording booth as if he were being chased by an enraged bull. Presley recalls that those early numbers sounded like he was beating an empty bucket, but Sam Phillips screamed at them: Whatever they were doing, do more of it! He had found the lost chord. This was the sound he was looking for.
Sam Phillips pressed the record of “That’s Alright, Mama” and started to hustle it on the local disc-jockey shows. Many of the local experts had their doubts about the record - it was 1954, and the South was a long way from being integrated. Elvis sounded dangerously black.
-- “Elvis: What Happened?” by Steve Dunleavy
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
( Read more... )
Social Life
Aug. 21st, 2013 04:36 pmPop only now makes it back home. Sunny, the Asian widower, came by and picked him up this morning at about ten-thirty. He got him out of bed. I cannot imagine what they did together, nor am I greatly curious. I just kind of wish I was going out with friends.
Pi says, "Do you really, Monk? Are you sure you wouldn't have preferred spending your day working on your journal and reading 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'."
I admit it would have to be a pretty good time to make me feel indifferent about skipping out of my reading and writing. It's just that I feel so damn miserable not having any social life, like there is a sort of vital nutrient that we get in our social connections with others, which I just haven't really gotten since I was a teenager. I cannot even imagine being with others and having a nice time, and I do like what I do, but I also still feel so damn empty and needy.
Daimon says, "I am sure it cannot help to know that there is no one in the whole fucking world that really likes you."
Pi says, "Oh, Di, do you have to be such an ass!"
No, he's right. I think that is a key part of it. I suppose our sense of self-worth comes a lot from the way others esteem us. And it really doesn't get much lower than I. I imagine that's why it was pretty great to have some pretty serious e-friends. Although I still did not get that personal contact that comes from going out to eat dinner together, or have drinks and talk, or to take in a movie together, one does get that sense of appreciation and approval: people you liked also liked you. I dare say it meant a lot. And it really hurts to lose that as well.
Daimon says, "It was only a matter of time before they got to know the real you."
I guess I just always wanted to play in a higher league, and rather than play in my poor and ugly league, I'd rather play by myself. And although masturbation isn't great, it is better than trying to get excited with someone you find quite unexciting.
Pi says, "Do you really, Monk? Are you sure you wouldn't have preferred spending your day working on your journal and reading 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'."
I admit it would have to be a pretty good time to make me feel indifferent about skipping out of my reading and writing. It's just that I feel so damn miserable not having any social life, like there is a sort of vital nutrient that we get in our social connections with others, which I just haven't really gotten since I was a teenager. I cannot even imagine being with others and having a nice time, and I do like what I do, but I also still feel so damn empty and needy.
Daimon says, "I am sure it cannot help to know that there is no one in the whole fucking world that really likes you."
Pi says, "Oh, Di, do you have to be such an ass!"
No, he's right. I think that is a key part of it. I suppose our sense of self-worth comes a lot from the way others esteem us. And it really doesn't get much lower than I. I imagine that's why it was pretty great to have some pretty serious e-friends. Although I still did not get that personal contact that comes from going out to eat dinner together, or have drinks and talk, or to take in a movie together, one does get that sense of appreciation and approval: people you liked also liked you. I dare say it meant a lot. And it really hurts to lose that as well.
Daimon says, "It was only a matter of time before they got to know the real you."
I guess I just always wanted to play in a higher league, and rather than play in my poor and ugly league, I'd rather play by myself. And although masturbation isn't great, it is better than trying to get excited with someone you find quite unexciting.
Cats and Weather
Aug. 21st, 2013 05:51 pmI see Sammy wandering off now, away from the patio and out to the neighborhood, and this isn't the best time. The winds are kicking up and it has gotten heavily overcast, like a storm is fixing to break. But I would be willing to bet that it will only be another shower, at worst. Nevertheless, to love is to worry,