Music/Film: Elvis In Vegas on CMT
I got hitched in Vegas. I got hitched in Vegas by the King. I'm pretty sure it was him. He was real tall though, like 6'8.
I asked him if he ever played any ball. "No man, I always been the king".
Good enough for me.
Elvis and Vegas is real close to maybe the best match for performer and venue ever. The ironic thing is that Elvis was so obviously not a dapper Vegas cat - he was a hillbilly badass who could split your lip with a Karate chop and got buried in the backyard. Anyone wonderin' about the King's countrified-ness would do well to watch Elvis '56 which, just through photos and interviews - no videos - tells the story of the King's breakout year in 1956. It's him stealin' a kiss with a high school sweetheart, roughhousin in a half full swimming pool with his buddies, buying his first ring (the horseshoe, for good luck). Narrated by another great Southern wildcat - Levon Helm of The Band - it's a portrait of a real sweet country boy about to go poof like those fireworks Kerouac wrote about.
Frank Sinatra seemed at home in Vegas, swingin' with a deck of songs about heartache, booze and the good life but New York was really his town. The King, on the other hand, was just trying to find a place big enough to contain him. He was bigger than that ol' out-of-luck cowboy hitchin' a ride in all those postcards. Now Elvis in Vegas is like Santa at the North Pole. But there was a time when it wasn't so. Those jump suits everybody finds so damn funny were a brand new thang. He looked kinda like a crazy hillbilly super hero, like he'd just piloted a home-made spaceship that carried him and David Bowie back to earth. That suit was so fly that Evel Kenievel even co-opted it, jumping sharks and school buses in (a version of) it. And after all, if yer gonna do athletics, a high collar white polyester jumpsuit covered in rhinestones is just what you wanna wear. Remember Kurt Russell in the John Carpenter-directed Elvis TV Movie, telling his costume guy - I'm playin' Vegas man, can you make me somethin' you know.. .like a karate Gi?"
Now CMT will air a special all about Elvis in Vegas on Monday Aug 11th at 8pm (and the Blue Ray DVD will go on sale at Walmart for $10 bucks the same day). The take on it is how Elvis Presley reinvented Vegas and how it reinvented him. This thing oughta be pretty interestin' with everyone from 50 cent to The Rock to Tom Jones and Nancy Sinatra - you even got 'ol crazy-ass but very artful David Lynch - waxin' poetic on the king. I wonder if they're gonna have those flyin' Elvis's there? They got performers too. Everyone from rappers Three 6 Mafia doin' In the Ghetto to Toby Keith and Joe Perry doin' Mystery Train. And you got Chris Isaak and Brandi Carlile doin' love me tender, and you even got 'ol Celine Dion doin' Can't Help Falling In Love, which is when I'll be takin a peanut butter and banana break. But hey man, you can't have it all. I might even watch Celine, I just won't tell no one. What happens in Viva Las Vegas, stays in Viva Las Vegas. Check out the trailers for the show here.
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Music: God Bless You Bo Diddley
Rock pioneer Bo Diddley dies at age 79
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Bo Diddley, a founding father of rock 'n' roll whose distinctive rhythm and innovative guitar effects inspired legions of other musicians, died Monday after months of ill health. He was 79. Diddley died of heart failure at his home in Archer, Fla., spokeswoman Susan Clary said. He had suffered a heart attack in August, three months after suffering a stroke while touring in Iowa. Doctors said the stroke affected his ability to speak, and he had returned to Florida to continue rehabilitation.
Wikipedia says:
Bo Diddley (December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008) was an influential American rock and roll singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Often cited as a key figure in the transition from blues to rock and roll, he introduced more insistent, driving rhythms and a hard-edged guitar sound. He was also known for his characteristic rectangular guitar.
Born in McComb, Mississippi as Ellas Otha Bates, he was adopted and raised by his mother's cousin, Gussie McDaniel, whose surname he assumed, becoming Ellas McDaniel. The family moved to Chicago when he was seven. He took violin lessons as a youth, but was inspired to become a guitarist after seeing John Lee Hooker. He worked as a carpenter and mechanic, but also began a musical career playing on street corners with friends as a band called the Hipsters (later the Langley Avenue Jive Cats). In 1951, he landed a regular spot at the 708 Club on Chicago's South Side, with a repertoire influenced by Louis Jordan, John Lee Hooker, and Muddy Waters. He adopted the stage name, Bo Diddley, which is probably a southern black slang phrase meaning "nothing at all," as in "he ain't bo diddley." Another source says it was his nickname as a teenage Golden Gloves boxer. The nickname is also linked to the diddley bow, a two-stringed instrument that was used in the south by black musicians working in the fields.
In late 1954, he teamed up with harmonica player Billy Boy Arnold, drummer Clifton James and bass player Roosevelt Jackson, and recorded demos of "I'm A Man" and "Bo Diddley". They re-recorded the songs at Chess Studios with a backing ensemble comprising Otis Spann (piano), Lester Davenport (harmonica), Frank Kirkland (drums) and Jerome Green (maracas). The record was released in March 1955, and the A-side, "Bo Diddley", became a #1 R&B hit.
Bo Diddley is well known for the "Bo Diddley beat," a rumba-like beat, similar to "hambone", a style used by street performers who play out the beat by slapping and patting their arms, legs, chest, and cheeks while chanting rhymes. Occasionally (but incorrectly) referred to as a "shave and a haircut" beat, Diddley came across it while trying to play Gene Autry's "(I've Got Spurs That) Jingle, Jangle, Jingle". Three years before Bo's "Bo Diddley," a song that closely resembles it, "Hambone," was cut by Red Saunders' Orchestra with The Hambone Kids.
His songs (for example, "Hey Bo Diddley" and "Who Do You Love?") often have no chord changes; that is, the musicians play the same chord throughout the piece, so that excitement is created by the rhythm, rather than by harmonic tension and release. In his own recordings, Bo Diddley used a variety of rhythms, from straight back beat to pop ballad style, frequently with maracas by Jerome Green.
He also was an influential guitar player, with many special effects and other innovations in tone and attack. Bo Diddley's trademark instrument is the rectangular-bodied Gretsch, nicknamed "The Twang Machine" (although he had other similar-shaped guitars custom-made for him by other manufacturers), a guitar that he developed himself around 1958 and wielded in thousands of concerts over the years. In a 2005 interview on JJJ radio in Australia, Bo implied that the design was born from embarrassment. In an early gig, while jumping around on stage with a Gibson L5 guitar, he landed awkwardly hurting his groin. He then went about designing a smaller, less restrictive guitar so he could keep jumping around. He also played the violin, which is featured on his mournful instrumental "The Clock Strikes Twelve".
His lyrics were often witty and humorous adaptations of folk music themes. The song "Bo Diddley" was based on the lullaby "Hush Little Baby." Likewise, "Hey Bo Diddley" is based on the folk song "Old MacDonald". The rap-style boasting of "Who Do You Love", a wordplay on hoodoo, used many striking lyrics from the African-American tradition of toasts and boasts. His "Say Man" and "Say Man, Back Again" both share a strong connection to the insult game known as the dozens. For example: "You got the nerve to call somebody ugly, why you so ugly the stork that brought you into the world ought to be arrested".
On November 20, 1955, he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show only to infuriate the host. "I did two songs and he got mad," Bo Diddley later recalled. "Ed Sullivan said that I was one of the first colored boys to ever double-cross him. Said that I wouldn't last six months". Bo Diddley was asked to sing Tennessee Ernie Ford's hit "Sixteen Tons", but when he appeared on stage, he sang "Bo Diddley." He was banned from further appearances. Continue Reading...
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Music/Film: The Weight - The Band
From The Last Waltz, The Band doin' The Weight with The Staple Singers. The lead-in's a hoot with Richard Manuel and Robbie Robertson talkin' about The Band's name.
Check this out:
The Best of the Staple Singers [ CD - Amazon ]
The Last Waltz (1978) [ DVD - Amazon ]
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Music: Live at Stubb’s BBQ - Alejandro Escovedo
Alejandro Escovedo smokin' at Stubb's during SXSW '08. His new album "Real Animal" is due out June 24. Check out his myspace page.
Here's what wiki's got to say:
Alejandro Escovedo is an American musician. His parents emigrated to Texas from Mexico. Escovedo is from a very musical family that has generated several professional musicians, including his brothers Coke Escovedo and Pete Escovedo, both percussionists, and longtime Prince collaborator Sheila E (who is Pete's daughter and Alejandro's niece). Escovedo began performing in the first-wave punk rock group The Nuns, with Delphine Neid, Jennifer Miro, and Jeff Olener, in San Francisco, California. After Escovedo's departure, The Nuns recorded an album on Posh Boy Records, but had little commercial success.
In the 1980s Escovedo moved to Austin, Texas, where he adapted a roots rock/alternative country style in the bands Rank and File (with Chip and Tony Kinman) and the True Believers (with his brother Javier and Jon Dee Graham). However, it was with the release of his first solo albums, "Gravity" in 1992 and "Thirteen Years" in 1994, and on through his sixth album, A Man Under the Influence (produced in 2001), that he found his true voice. Although he has yet to crossover to any type of mainstream audience, he has a huge underground following, and many popular artists cite Escovedo as a strong influence. In 1998 No Depression magazine named him Artist of the Decade. Alejandro was also involved in a side project that represents his hard rocking tastes. Buick MacKane released an album in 1997 "The Pawn Shop Years", hearkening back to his musical roots from the 70's.
In 2003, after having lived with Hepatitis-C for many years, Alejandro fell critically ill and nearly died. In his long road to recovery, he faced increasing medical bills. Without medical insurance, Escovedo could not pay the substantial medical bills. Friends and admirers around the country organized benefit shows to help the songwriter. This effort grew into the album Por Vida: A Tribute to the Songs of Alejandro Escovedo, a two-disc set whose proceeds benefit the Alejandro Escovedo Medical and Living Expense Fund. Contributing musicians included Steve Earle, Jon Dee Graham, Lucinda Williams, John Cale, Jennifer Warnes, Ian Hunter, The Jayhawks, and Son Volt, as well as family members Pete Escovedo, Javier Escovedo and niece Sheila E.
In 2005, Escovedo's song "Castanets" appeared on the iPod playlist of George W. Bush, prompting a self-imposed (temporary) ban on live performances of the song.
Read more about Alejandro on his site.
Check this out:
A Man Under the Influence [ CD - Amazon ]
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Music/Film: The Shape I’m In - The Band
From the best concert film of all time, Martin Scorsese's The Last Waltz. The Band doin' "The Shape I'm In." In the lead-in they talk about playing in Jack Ruby's club in Dallas. Caught a great doc the other night on VH1 called "Classic Albums: The Band - The Band." Check out the New York Times review. Enjoy.
Check this out:
The Last Waltz (Remastered / Expanded) (4CD) [BOX SET]
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