Goodbye Phil Everly
When I think back on the first five days in 2014 music wise, I think immediately of Phil Everly. Since I was a kid, I’ve always been drawn to the big hits of the Everly Brothers: “All I Have To…
Elvis on The Frank Sinatra Show – March 1960
March of 1960 was a busy, eventful month for Elvis Presley. On March 1st, Elvis shipped off from Germany, returning home after a two-year stint in the U.S. Army. Colonel Parker scheduled a train ride from New Jersey to Tennessee,…
Elvis Presley’s first Ed Sullivan Appearance
I finished up Peter Guralnick’s “part one” bio of Elvis Presley last week, a book called Last Train To Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley. It’s a fascinating and exhilarating look at “50’s Elvis,” including his first TV appearances in…
Let There Be Drums
Thanks to Tom Petty’s Buried Treasure, his radio show on Sirius-XM’s Deep Tracks, I heard a gem this morning. An instrumental that reached #7 on the Billboard charts in 1961, featuring the drum work of Sandy Nelson. I’m not sure…
In Appreciation of: Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams”
Deep within me, in my register of perfectly constructed love songs, Roy Orbison’s “In Dreams” ranks right near the top. In my four decades on earth, very few songs have managed to so profoundly move me, to elicit such emotion,…
Elvis is Back!
Well, not exactly, but it is his birthday today. The King would have turned 73 today if he had managed to keep that ticker going. But he didn’t. Thankfully, we have the music (and the movies – can I get…
Warmth of the Sun Giveaway
This Tuesday, Epic will release ‘The Warmth of the Sun’, a retrospective of three decades of Beach Boys music chosen by the Boys themselves – yes, even Brian Wilson (along with Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, and Mike Love). To complement…
Start your week right: The Shirelles
Thanks again to David Johansen and his Mansion of Fun for continuing to introduce me to amazing new music, which in this case happens to be 44 years old. The Shirelles: Everybody Loves a Lover
’56 Dells – Oh, What a Night
It’s back to basics tonight as we go back before my time, when the doo-wop groups were arriving on the scene. The Dells came together in 1953 in the southern suburbs of Chicago. Two of the members, Johnny Funches and…
Be Saved, Elvis Style
Regardless of how religious you are, you can’t help but be a little moved by the power of the King in this outtake from ‘How Great Thou Art’. I picture a Southern Baptist church on a sunny Sunday morning (think…
