PINK FLOYD: ‘The Wall’ Turns 35 – Roger Waters Revisits Pink Floyd’s Enduring Rock Opus | Billboard

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Cosmic Dwellings

Roger Waters: The Wall...
Billboard Touring Awards: Roger Waters, Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen Win Big

Pink Floyd’s The Wall — a dark and enduring rock masterpiece that deals with personal alienation juxtaposed against a backdrop of war and government corruption — has been presented in many formats over the years. First came the 1979 double album (co-produced by Bob Ezrin) that spent 15 weeks a top of the Billboard 200 album chart and became not only one of the most successful releases in Floyd’s catalog (second only to 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon), but also the last album to feature the band’s classic lineup of Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright.

Following a plagued 1980 tour where the album was presented in its entirety, the band released the 1982 film Pink Floyd: The Wall starring Sir Bob Geldof, which instantly became a cult classic. In 1990, Waters and several high-profile guests — including Cyndi Lauper,Bryan Adams, Sinead O’Connor, Joni Mitchelland many others — staged The Wall as a benefit concert in Berlin, commemorating the fall of the Berlin Wall eight months earlier. Most recently,The Wall was rebuilt as an ambitious, technically stunning stadium tour that began in September 2010 and rolled on for more than three years, eventually becoming the fourth highest-grossing tour in history. As we celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original album’s release on Nov. 30, we revisit an exclusive 2013 Billboard interview with Waters, the creative force behind each of The Wall’s captivating incarnations… (continues below)

The Wall PF

[spotify http://open.spotify.com/album/33p78EyTp6esCBodi24Pzx]

Billboard: Throughout your career you’ve been an artist who looks forward and explores. So what is it about The Wall that makes it worthy of such attention and reassessment?

Roger Waters: All those years ago when I wrote this piece, I thought it was about me, and about feelings that I had about my Dad being killed at Anzio [in Italy during World War II], how much I missed him, and the fact that I’d made some really poor choices in relationships with women — all of that crap. Which it was.

But in the intervening 33 years, I’ve realized that because of the theatrical construction of the “wall,” which was an idea that I had back in ’77 because of my disaffection with big audiences and stadiums and all that, the power of the metaphor lends the story a much more universal vision and appeal. So I’ve come to realize it’s not about me. It’s about anybody that has suffered the loss of a loved one in some kind of conflict, whether it be war or something else. It’s about the problems we all face with errant authority, or all the difficulties we all have in relationships with one another, whether they’re sexual relationships or political/international relationships…(continues below)


Video: Pink Floyd performs The Wall live at Nassau Coliseum, Long Island, NY – February, 1980

It’s well documented that you were unhappy with the overall experience of the first Wall tour. What went wrong?

I remember doing the shows [back in 1980]. They were a nightmare. Everybody would tell you exactly the same. I remember Earl’s Court, we had separate [trailers] as dressing rooms, the four of us, and they were all circled like the pioneers in covered wagons, and all the doors faced outward. Isn’t that great? There was so little community by then. And that’s not to knock any of us. David, Rick, Nick and I were no longer together, so we faced outwards. We did the work, and the work wasn’t bad. I still own all the film of those, which I’ve been editing a bit, and I might even release it at some point.

We’d finished as a group then, there was nothing going on at all. What we were doing on that tour was performing this thing that I’d largely written. Dave contributed to it a little bit, and so did Bob Ezrin, to “The Trial.” But mainly it was something I’d written that the four of us were performing because we hadn’t quite arrived at the point where we were brave enough to not be together any more. And we eventually arrived there. There’s no guilt or shame involved in any of it, it’s an organic thing. And we eventually, a few years later, arrived at a place where we realized, “Wow, this is not healthy any more, we shouldn’t be doing this.”

Pink Floyd’s 15 Albums, Ranked From Highest to Lowest Charting

What inspired you to rebuild The Wall for the elaborate 2010 stadium tour?

[What] excited me about revisiting the piece … was making a version that would work in stadiums and ballparks and football stadiums, which is ironic, because my starting point was my disaffection with that situation. But I’ve come to realize that not only does it work in big spaces, its appeal is such that people in big spaces feel intimately connected with the message.

In the second act, I sing “Vera” walking down steps at the bottom of the stage, and in the last verse, I’m just behind the curtain of the stage, and I actually step out and sing the last verse — “Vera, Vera, what has become of you?” — and nobody’s looking at me, they’re all looking at the screen: a young girl in a classroom meeting her father who’s just come back from Iraq or Afghanistan or somewhere. And as I sing the words, “Does anybody else feel the way I do?” I see lots of lips in the audience moving, and I know that it’s not just anybody else that feels the way I do. They all feel the way I do. It’s just the reality of living a life where those feelings get expression and can affect governments and foreign policy. There is a wall between us and the realizing of our dream of peace…(continues below)


Video: Roger Waters’ Keynote Q&A at the 2013 Billboard Touring Conference

Pink isn’t a character that’s ever particularly happy, and I presume you were struggling with certain things when you wrote that character.

Yes.

But now you seem like a happy guy. So do you still relate to Pink?

I feel much less of a victim now. I’ve taken control of my life. I’m capable now, 30 years older and a little bit wiser, of resolving a lot of the issues that I wasn’t capable of resolving at the time.

After Endless River: More Floyd Music on the Way?

You’ve said that the loss of a father is the “central prop” on which The Wall stands. That angle of it, as I know, doesn’t go away. You live with it.

You live with it. But if it’s in any sense a gift — and I may get a bit wobbly here, because it means a lot to me — the gift is it encourages us to empathize with others. I don’t know if you know or not, but we have 20 vets we give tickets to every night, and they come backstage at halftime, so I spend most of my 25-minute break with them. I sign photographs, and we talk a bit, but we never talk politics, because that would be entirely counterproductive. But somehow they get that, whatever our politics might be, that I empathize with their situation. I don’t invite them backstage because I applaud American foreign policy or because I’m jingoistic. I invite them backstage because I feel that to some extent I understand not only their plight — a lot of them have been wounded physically, very badly, but also been mentally scarred — but also that their families suffer, and they suffer in the same way that I suffered as a kid.

There was one guy about 70 or 80 shows ago — he was an older guy, a Vietnam guy — he stood back and he didn’t want a photograph or an autograph, but I noticed him and he just watched me. And when I was leaving the room, he just sort of stopped me, so I paused for a minute. I was just about to go back onstage. He looked me in the eye and he said to me, “Your father would be proud of you.” And I was fucked. I couldn’t speak. It was such a weird, emotional moment. I kind of swallowed a couple of times, and then I went on and we did “Hey You” and we carried on with the second half. Because, as you know, the show must go on. But it was deeply moving.

via ‘The Wall’ Turns 35: Roger Waters Revisits Pink Floyd’s Enduring Rock Opus | Billboard.

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DEEP PURPLE: Rock & Classical Married – uDiscover

Posted on December 12, 2014 by Cosmic Dwellings

Deep Purple...

These days we’re very used to the worlds of rock and classical music coming together. In 1969, for the most part, they lived at very different addresses, until the composing genius of Jon Lord brought them together in the groundbreaking ‘Concerto For Group And Orchestra,’ performed exactly 45 years ago today by the powerful combination of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and Deep Purple.

Here’s the third movement (‘Vivace-Presto’) of the piece, which shows both the majesty of the orchestra, conducted by the revered Sir Malcolm Arnold, and the commanding presence of Deep Purple as they were emerging as one of Britain’s finest new rock forces. Watch in particular for brilliant solos by Lord, drummer Ian Paice and the potent playing of lead guitarist Ritchie Blackmore.

Purple performed the ‘Concerto’ once more, in California in 1970, this time with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, after which Lord’s score was, rather improbably and upsettingly, lost. After Dutch composer Marco de Goeij restored the score by annotating it from the video and audio recordings of the 1969 performance, the band were able to stage it again, this time with the London Symphony Orchestra but again at the Royal Albert Hall, 30 years almost to the day since the first concert, on September 25 and 26, 1999. There was a guest vocal appearance alongside Purple by Blackmore’s former Rainbow colleague Ronnie James Dio, as a triumphant night was reenacted.

Here’s the album of the full 1969 show, which became Purple’s first UK chart album, peaking at No. 26 early the following year. In the US, where the band’s three early albums had all charted in 1968 and 1969, it reached No. 149 in an eight-week run.

As we reported in July, ‘Celebrating Jon Lord,’ the concert held in Jon’s honour at the Royal Albert Hall in April, is released on DVD, Blu-Ray and CD by earMUSIC next Monday (September 29).

[spotify http://open.spotify.com/album/2MDlquYiN2cUsTh5kt2mPE]

Rock & Classical Married By Deep Purple – uDiscover.

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BILL HALEY – “Rock Around The Clock” | This Day In Music

Posted on November 20, 2014 by Cosmic Dwellings

The first Rock ‘n’ Roll star.

Haley was one of the earliest acts to bring rock and roll to the attention of white America and the rest of the world. He sold over 60 million records during his career.

As a rule, people don’t like new things. Or is it the media who don’t like change? With any new craze, we – the public are always warned about the hidden dangers of the ‘new fad’.

This happened at the birth of Rock & Roll.

Fans of rock ‘n’ roll music were warned that tuning into music on the car radio could cost you more money. Researchers from the Esso gas company said the rhythm of rock & roll could cause the driver to be foot heavy on the pedal, making them waste fuel.

Rock ‘n’ Roll fans in Cleveland aged under 18 were banned from dancing in public (unless accompanied by an adult), after Ohio Police introduced a law dating back to 1931.

In 1955, after complaints from his neighbours, Rock ‘n’ Roll fan Sidney Adams was fined £3 and 10 shillings, ($9.80) by a London Court after playing Bill Haley’s “Shake Rattle and Roll” all day at full volume.

Haley was always an unlikely pop star. Blinded in his left eye as a child due to a botched operation, he later adopted his distinctive spit-curl hairstyle to distract attention from his blind eye. He wasn’t sexy, he looked more like a bandleader or your uncle than a rock ‘n’ roll star.

William John Clifton Haley was born at Highland Park, Michigan. His father, William Albert Haley was from Firebrick, Kentucky. His mother, Maude Green was English, she came from Ulverston in Lancashire and had emigrated to the States during her teens.

At home, Bill was surrounded by music, his father played Banjo, his mother who had been classically trained, taught piano. Little did Bill know that later in life he would be responsible for bringing a new dangerous beat to popular music. Haley paid his dues. In his late teens, Bill found work playing the local amusement parks, his first break came when he signed on with ‘Cousin Lee’s Band’ who had a popular radio show. Haley sang, played his guitar and yodelled. He also worked with a traveling medicine show. At the age of 22 Haley was hosting a local radio programme on the newly formed station WPWA. When “Rock Around the Clock” appeared behind the opening credits of the 1955 film Blackboard Jungle it soared to the top of the American Billboard chart for eight weeks. After the record rose to #1, Haley was quickly given the title “Father of Rock and Roll,” by the media.

Bill and his Comets

A self-admitted alcoholic, Haley fought a battle with alcohol into the 1970s. Nonetheless, he and his band continued to be a popular touring act. In 1980 it was reported that Haley had a brain tumor, a doctor at the clinic where Haley had been taken said, “The tumor can’t be operated on anymore.” 

On 9th Feb 1981 Haley was found dead – fully clothed on his bed at his home in Harlingen, Texas from a heart attack. 

So there we have it. The final twist in the tale is all of this almost didn’t happen. The recording session in 1954 was about to be cancelled because the band were traveling on a ferry that got stuck on a sandbar en route to New York from Philadelphia. 

Once at the studio, the producer insisted the band work on a song entitled “Thirteen Women (and Only One Man in Town)” – which was going to be Haley’s first single for his new label Decca. Near the end of the session, the band finally recorded a take of “Rock Around the Clock,” but Haley’s vocals were drowned out by the band. A second take was quickly made with minimal accompaniment. Decca engineers later combined the two versions together into one version. And that is the song as we know and love. 

The same year, newer stars came and took over the charts – Elvis, Jerry Lee, Little Richard – but William John Clifton Haley did change the face of popular music as we know it – for ever. Haley died on 9th February 1981. 

via Rock Around The Clock.

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FABULOUS FENDERS | uDiscover

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Cosmic Dwellings

 

Fender Stratocaster

Fender guitars are iconic, they have a look, a look of sleek refinement that says play me and play me loud, ply me subtly and play me well. For many people of a certain age their first awareness of the Fender Stratocaster was on the cover of the 1957 Chirping Crickets album on which Buddy is clutching his guitar. Two years earlier Buddy walked into Adair Music in Lubbock and traded his first electric guitar for a brand-new Fender Stratocaster – back then they cost a shade over $300

The Chirping Crickets

Four years later on the cover of the first Shadows album Hank Marvin is holding, admittedly not as visibly, his Stratocaster that he had bought because of seeing Holly’s on the Cricket’s album. Ask just about any British guitarist that came after the Shadows and most every one will admit to having been impressed with Hank’s red and white Stratocaster.

Before the Stratocaster there was the Telecaster, the first solid-body electric guitar; the initial single-pickup production model appeared in 1950 and was called the Esquire. It’s known for its bright, rich, cutting tone, referred to as the telecaster twang as well as its mellow, warm, bluesy tone. It all depends on which pickup, is used – “bridge” pickup for the twang and “neck” for the mellow tone.

In the early days it was country musicians that favoured the Telecaster. James Burton who played with Elvis and Rick Nelson was one of its early stars. Eric Clapton played a Tele while he was with the Yardbirds and Blind Faith. King of the Chicago Blues, Muddy Waters was another who favoured the Telecaster as did Stax man Booker T and the MG’s guitarists, Steve Cropper and Albert Collins. At the Beatles last ever live appearance, on the roof of the Apple building, George Harrison played a custom made Telecaster. Jimmy Page played one on the solo on ‘Stairway to Heaven’.

The Stratocaster came along in 1954 and so sixty years later it has been a mainstay of rock bands and just about every other kind of band ever since. Today you can buy an Eric Clapton signature Stat, along with ones endorsed by Jeff Beck, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer, Buddy Guy, Robert Cray, Ritchie Blackmore and Kenny Wayne Shepherd. If you want one like Buddy Holly is holding on the cover of the Chirping crickets album there’s a 60th anniversary commemorative Stratocaster that is retailing on the Fender website at $1500.

Dire Straits/Mark Knopfler

As soon as you hear the opening notes of Dire Straits’ ‘Sultans of Swing’ played of course by Mark Knopfler you know it’s a Strat, the tone gives it away, but you need to be a guitarist of Mark’s stature to make it sing so well.

Eric Clapton used his Stratocaster he called ‘Brownie’ on the Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs album. Eric had bought Brownie at London’s Sound City while touring with Cream in May 1967 for $400. It has an alder body, two-tone sunburst finish, a maple neck, skunk-stripe routing and black dot inlays and was manufactured in 1956 and the serial number is 12073 and can be seen on the cover of his solo album Eric Clapton. In June 1999 Clapton sold the guitar at Christie’s in New York City to help raise funds for his Crossroads Centre. Brownie sold for $497,500 becoming the most expensive guitar ever sold at the time only to be eclipsed by Clapton’s other favourite guitar Blackie on that sold for $959,500 in 2004. Brownie can be seen at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, Washington.

Another iconic Fender track is the Rolling Stones’ ‘Satisfaction’, it’s Keith Richards the riff-master at his very best. In 1981 when the band played Hampton Coliseum ‘Satisfaction’ was the encore. Mick draped in his Union Jack/Stars and Stripes cape and with with Keith riffing and hundreds of coloured balloons showering down from the roof, a fan charges on stage. Keith swerves, the fan comes back for a second pass and in an instant Keith whips off his Fender and smacks the guy round the head with it. The fan stumbles, security escort him from the stage and Keith carries on as though nothing untoward has happened. Despite the attack the Telecaster stays in tune. According to Keith, “The damn thing stayed in tune, and this is the greatest advertisement for Fender that I can give you.”

We have put together a 60 track playlist in celebration of Fender and aside from what we’ve already mentioned there’s music from Pink Floyd with Dave Gilmour’s memorable soloing on ‘Comfortably Numb’, Joe Walsh in his James Gang days, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, The Beach Boys, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and Cream along with many other tracks, some well known, some not so well known. What do you think we’ve left out?

[spotify http://open.spotify.com/user/udiscover/playlist/4llQq4HySENzqxF6HyFBA8]

 

via Fabulous Fenders | uDiscover.

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BRYAN ADAMS Remembers The Fifth Of November – uDiscover

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Cosmic Dwellings

 

Reckless

November 5 is a significant date in the life of Bryan Adams. On this day in 1984, the Canadian rock star and acclaimed photographer released his multi-million-selling ‘Reckless’ album, on his 25th birthday. So congratulations are in order, as the album hits 30, Bryan turns 55, and Universal prepare to unveil a brand new 30th anniversary edition, in double vinyl, Super Deluxe and Blu-ray versions that you can pre-order.

The four-disc CD set, released like the other editions on November 17, is housed in a book that includes the 2014 remastered audio and seven bonus tracks in both standard cd and Blu-Ray formats; the ‘BBC in Concert’ Hammersmith Odeon show of April 1985; and a DVD of ‘Reckless – The Movie.’

Even more excitingly for Adams’ millions of fans, the set also includes the previously unissued track, ‘Reckless’ which debuts on Vevo today. We have it right here for you to access: “RECKLESS”.

Worldwide sales of ‘Reckless’ are now estimated at 12 million worldwide, approaching half of those in the US alone, and a million in Canada, qualifying for a Diamond Award there. That’s an extraordinary result for an album that was a real slow burner, spending two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 fully nine months after release, in the summer of 1985.

Adams’ ‘Summer Of ‘69’ was well on its way to becoming an anthem when the album hit that US chart summit. Indeed, the LP became almost a greatest hits collection in its own right, starting from the moment that ‘Run To You’ entered the charts in the week of the album’s release, on its way to No. 6 in the US. In the new year of 1985, the single became Adams’ first to make the British charts, peaking at No. 11.

The subsequent singles from ‘Reckless’ weren’t big UK hits — almost unbelievably, for such a rock staple, ‘Summer Of ‘69’ peaked at No. 42 there — but they were major successes for Adams in the US, establishing him as one of the biggest new rock stars of the 1980s. After ‘Somebody’ had reached No. 11, the power ballad ‘Heaven’ went all the way to No. 1, quite a result for a song recorded two years earlier for the film ‘A Night In Heaven,’ starring Christopher Atkins.

And still the hits from ‘Reckless’ kept coming, making Adams a mainstay of top 40 radio all through 1985 and into ’86. After ‘Summer Of ‘69’ reached No. 5 on the Hot 100, there were two more top 20 singles to come in ‘One Night Love Affair’ and the memorable duet with a resurgent Tina Turner, ‘It’s Only Love.’

Adams begins his UK tour in support of his new album ‘Tracks Of My Years’ on November 13 in Nottingham.

Get your copy of ‘Reckless’ now:

Pre-order the Super Deluxe edition from the official uDiscover store

Buy from Amazon

Download from iTunes

For more from Bryan Adams, explore our dedicated uDiscover artist page

[spotify https://play.spotify.com/album/0dLBZmYzmQRZOz4cJG05DA]

via Bryan Adams Remembers The Fifth Of November – uDiscover.

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T.REX’s ‘Get It On’ (‘Bang A Gong’)…For A Second Time | uDiscover

Posted on November 6, 2014 by Cosmic Dwellings

t-rex-get-it-on-2007-e1406217262140

by uDiscover

It was March 1971 when record producer Tony Visconti arrived in Los Angeles, he was there with Marc Bolan and T.Rex to work on some new tracks, including ‘Get It On’ that became the band’s next single. Tony takes up the story…

“I was walking down Sunset Boulevard, wearing shades and sweating in my t-shirt. I went to Tower Records; at the time it was the largest record shop in the world, where I heard Bowie’s ‘The Man Who Sold The World’ blaring out from the loudspeakers. In the middle of the almost empty store a sales clerk was playing ‘air bass’ to my bass part on ‘She Shook Me Cold’. I couldn’t resist it: ‘I’m Tony Visconti, the producer and bass player of that song.’ ‘No way!’ I had to show him my driver’s licence before he would believe me.”

Visconti and Marc Bolan were in LA to record with Howard Kaylan and Mark Volman who had been the singers in the Turtles, the band that had a world wide hit with ‘Happy Together’ in 1967. After leaving the Turtles they had to change their names to Flo and Eddie as contracturally their former record label owned their names!

According to Mark Volman, “Actually we first met Marc when he was on Fly Records with Tyrannosaurus Rex. He came to the US as an opening act for Flo and Eddie. So we hung out with him. When we toured the UK with Zappa we looked him up. He was doing things like ‘Seagull Woman’ I think and then he had ‘Hot Love’. We ended up recording a lot with Marc, we contributed the high voices, and T Rex became all that high voiced harmonies. We did ‘Electric Warrior’, ‘Jeepster’ etc and appeared on 10 or 12 of his records. Including ‘Bang A Gong’.”

‘Bang A Gong’ was what T.Rex’s single ‘Get it On’ was called in America as there was already an R&B single of that name and it was felt it would avoid confusion. Tony Visconti recalling the story of recording ‘Get It On’.

“Before going into the studio we rehearsed the new material at Howard Kaylan (Eddie)’s Laurel Canyon house. All his windows and doors were open and we could smell the orange trees that surround his pool. I’d never ever met anyone with a swimming pool in his back yard. Mickey Finn and Steve Currie staged a fake slow motion gunfight by the pool, which I filmed on my Super 8 cine camera, before we retired inside to routine the back-up vocals for a new song called, ‘Get It On’.
Rehearsing in such a lush house, close to a private swimming pool was a surreal experience. Marc was a prolific songwriter. He had a lined schoolbook chock-full of lyrics and chord symbols. He would open the book at the beginning of an album, and then when we had enough tracks recorded – say about 17 – he’d close the book. ‘Get It On’ was just one of about 50 or 60 he had in the book at the time.
When I first heard it, only the day before we recorded it, it sounded like a hit to me. The next day we drove what seemed like miles and miles (typical of distances in LA) to Wally Heider Studios and recorded ‘Get It On’ – the sunshine seemed unbearable to us, with our maggot-like complexions from grey London. Our engineer was a very helpful, and eager, Rik Pekkonin; I’d seen his name on many record covers. We did it in one evening, complete with overdubbed backing vocals from Flo and Eddie – we knew we had our next single.”

Back in London we were adding my string arrangement to ‘Cosmic Dancer’ in Trident Studios when a thought occurred to me. ‘Marc, you do realize that both the last two singles have strings on them and there are none on ‘Get It On’?’

He went pale on the spot. ‘Tony we must have them, can you write something?’ With the string players patiently sitting in their seats I quickly dictated the three notes the strings were to play on the chorus. Without a score to read from I simply pointed to them when they were meant to play the three notes and repeat them when necessary. They had to watch me carefully to stop playing the three notes because the repetition was different each chorus

The counterpoint to working on T. Rex was brought into even sharper focus in July with the release of ‘Get It On’; it was the beginning of T. Rextasy. Although the two big hits had catapulted Marc and the band up several rungs on the ladder, ‘Get It On’ took them to an altogether different place; it become universally the most popular T. Rex song. “

‘Get It On’ became T.Rex’s second UK number 1 on 24 July 1971

Finally a couple of pieces of trivia. The last line of ‘Get it On’, “Meanwhile, I’m still thinking…” was a nod to Chuck Berry’s song “Little Queenie,” which includes the same lyric and inflection. The saxophonist on the record is King Crimson’s Ian McDonald. We would also like to dispel a myth surrounding Rick Wakeman playing piano on this record. The pianist was in fact Blue Weaver who had been in Amen Corner and Fairweather and was soon to join the Strawbs; Blue was later in the Bee Gees band for many years. He told us this week. “Yes it’s true although, it’s been quoted that Rick played, but Tony Visconti said it was me and I also did the piano gliss on ‘Telegram Sam’. The greatest kick was watching Elton mime to my part on TOTP.”

The extracts by Tony Visconti come from his book, Tony Visconti: The Autobiography: Bowie, Bolan and the Brooklyn Boy

[spotify http://open.spotify.com/user/udiscover/playlist/7q7XSfHsdonUASWROz9H51]

19710731-Get-It-On-No.1-Disc

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ELVIS PRESLEY: Inside His Record Collection | Official Graceland Blog

Posted on November 2, 2014 by Cosmic Dwellings

BLOG HOME » Inside Elvis’ Record Collection

103014-otisandcarlaInside Elvis’ Record Collection
Posted by Elvis Presley’s Graceland on Oct 30, 2014 | 0 comments

Fans have enjoyed Elvis’ music for decades, whether it was on vinyl, 8-track, cassettes, CDs or on their iPhones.

But what music did Elvis listen to?

Elvis’ personal record collection, which includes more than 2,000 singles and albums, is diverse: There’s rock ‘n’ roll, gospel, doo wop, country, soul, classical, Christmas tunes, jazz and much more. The following photos are from Elvis’ collection here at Graceland.

A great portion of Elvis’ collection is made up of gospel records. Elvis loved the Blackwood Brothers. Some of the group’s albums he enjoyed include “Paradise Island,” “Oh Happy Day,” “Roll on Jordan,” “His Hands,” “Just a Closer Walk with Thee” and “Hymn Sing,” from 1956.

103014-blackwood

“Hymn Sing” is one of the many Blackwood Brothers albums that Elvis owned.

His expansive collection of gospel albums includes records by Mahalia Jackson, The Stamps Quartet, The Mormon Tabernacle Choir, The Statesmen Quartet and Jimmy Dean, to name just a few.

Elvis had plenty of Christmas and holiday music, too. His collection includes secular and sacred seasonal music; he owned Christmas albums by the likes of the Jackson 5, Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, Gene Autry and The Temptations.

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The Jackson 5′s Christmas album includes songs like “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “Up on the Housetop.”

Elvis loved the twang of country music. He had several records by his pal Johnny Cash, as well as records by Merle Haggard, Patsy Cline and Hank Williams. His collection includes a 45 of “Ode to Billie Joe” by fellow native Mississippian, Bobbie Gentry.

103014-cash

Elvis owned a lot of Johnny Cash’s albums and singles, including the classic “I Walk the Line.”

The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll had plenty of rock records, too. He had records such as a Dave Clark Five greatest hits album, “Magical Mystery Tour” by The Beatles and “Eat a Peach” by the Allman Brothers, and his 45s included “Whole Lot of Shakin’ Going On” by Jerry Lee Lewis, “All I Have to Do is Dream” by the Everly Brothers and B.J. Thomas’ “Hooked on a Feeling.” He also had a copy of Mott the Hoople’s 1972 album, “All the Young Dudes,” and “Piece of My Heart” by Big Brother and the Holding Company.

Elvis enjoyed plenty of popular artists as well, like the Bee Gees, Tom Jones, Neil Sedaka and Peter, Paul & Mary.

Ray Charles is an artist whose music pops up repeatedly in his collection. Elvis had 45s of Charles’ “America the Beautiful,” “Hit the Road, Jack,” “Hardhearted Hannah” and “In the Heat of the Night,” as well as several albums.

Elvis loved his R&B, soul and blues records. He had albums and singles by the likes of John Lee Hooker, B.B. King, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, Sam & Dave, Chuck Berry, The Platters, Little Richard and Stevie Wonder. A few singles include Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” and Albert King’s “I’ll Play the Blues for You.” He also owned Big Mama Thornton’s version of “Hound Dog.”

The King definitely supported his fellow Memphis musicians. He owned many albums on the famous STAX label, including “King & Queen” by Otis Redding and Carla Thomas. He had 45s of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together” and “L-O-V-E,” as well as several albums and singles by The Box Tops and Big Star.

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Elvis owned albums and singles by both Carla Thomas and Otis Redding, as well as this STAX release.

Of course, Elvis’ collection is diverse in other ways. He owned a Cheech & Chong comedy album, several records of Martin Luther King Jr.’s speeches, a Bill Cosby comedy record, a few Partridge Family albums, music from “West Side Story,” and symphonies by Mozart and Brahms.

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Elvis loved to laugh, and there’s no doubt he found plenty to laugh about with this Cheech and Chong comedy album.

A unique piece in his collection includes legendary actor Charles Boyer’s only album, “Where Does Love Go?”

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Actor Charles Boyer is best known for his roles in films like “Gaslight, “All This, and Heaven Too” and “Love Affair,” but he also made one album.

A few other artists included in Elvis’ collection include Santana, The Staple Singers, The Drifters, Pat Boone, Frank Sinatra, Frankie Avalon, Peggy Lee, Roy Orbison, The Harmonizing Four, Nat “King” Cole, Bobby Bland, Gordon Lightfoot, Duke Ellington, The Harmoneers, Sammy Davis Jr., Tennessee Ernie Ford, The Hollies, Ben E. King, Eddie Boyd & the Chess Men, The Dell Vikings, The Golden Gate Quartet, Eddy Arnold, Gloria Gaynor, Sarah Vaughan, Sonny & Cher, Del Shannon, The Ink Spots, The Statler Brothers and Blood, Sweat & Tears.

Elvis’ collection includes many of his own albums, as well as a few tribute albums. He kept many records in the TV room, and you can see a portion of his collection here at Graceland.

What Elvis albums and singles do you have on vinyl?

via Inside Elvis’ Record Collection | Official Graceland Blog.

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‘THAT’LL BE THE STARDUST!’ – A Fiery Welcome…

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Cosmic Dwellings

stardust (1)

It’s fabulous to be in a position to finally welcome home my radio drama production of “That’ll be the Stardust!”.  It’s been 3 years since it temporarily jumped off its own domain on the worldwide web, and during this time a lot of contemplation and planning has gone into building a blog network of relevant context and one which will cater to its updating and promotional needs.

When a concept such as this is powered by an intensity which has a ‘motor’ driven by passion and belief along with a heavy dilution of integrity, it would appear to flame its own ‘fire’; ultimately becoming its own ‘creature’ – a force of nature. It may cause some people to act out of ‘character’, it may cause some people problems getting into ‘character’. ‘That’ll be the Stardust!’ has certainly created a little ‘fire’ here and there throughout its development. Why, it’s even been burnt itself a little – here and there. It’s been talked about in many rooms leading up to, and beyond, its making. It was actually recorded in two rooms (studios) – both being utilised for different facets of its ‘nature’. But no matter where it’s been talked about or recorded, it’s always presented people with a certain ‘magic’, if you will, the magic of instant communication – it’s got people talking. Whether fans of the original films it is ‘spun’ off from, or whether fans of its musical themes that have inspired them – people have communicated. It’s also provided further interaction between people who are fond of the acting profession, people who pride themselves on their art and the business of perfecting such art. It’s waved its own wand of magic – that magic of purpose, and that of which it has served.

As you may or may not be aware the ‘Cosmic Dwellings’ blog network has devised a very special ‘room’ for ‘That’ll be the Stardust!’ which is amidst the menus at the top of the site. Do you see it?? Yeah, there ya go! Therein, you can find out further insights into its 20-year development via a recent interview which was held with myself specially for the ‘homecoming’. PLUS, most importantly in there, you can let the drama unfold between your very ears via the link which will grant you FREE access!! However, I do need to bring your attention to the “PARENTAL ADVISORY” notice. There, you’ve been warned! Also, there’s a little info about the final chapter continuation which I’m sure you’ll find somewhat intriguing if you’re a fan of the concept, or even if you’re a fan of the original films. Anyway, without further ado, the room’s about to set aflame once more, crackling with the ‘magic’ of artistic communication – even if I do say so myself…

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LED ZEPPELIN: The Top 6 Bootlegs

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Cosmic Dwellings
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EASY RIDER Harley-Davidson sold at auction – Telegraph

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Cosmic Dwellings

The motorbike ridden by Peter Fonda in Easy Rider has been sold at auction

Easy RiderThe Harley-Davidson ridden by Peter Fonda (left) in Easy Rider has been sold at auction

The iconic Harley-Davidson chopper-style motorbike ridden by Peter Fonda in the 1969 classic Easy Rider was sold for $1.35 million (£840,000) at auction this weekend.

The Captain America bike, complete with authenticating documents including a letter from Fonda, was sold on Saturday (October 18) at entertainment industry auction house Profiles in History.

The red, white and blue stars-and-stripes panhead chopper was designed and built by two African-American bike builders, Cliff Vaughs and Ben Hardy, based on design suggestions from Fonda.

“After fierce bidding, we are so pleased that the buyer values this for the cultural icon that it is,” said the seller, Mike Eisenberg.

There were two Captain America bikes built for Easy Rider, so shooting the film would not be disrupted if one of them broke down. The bike sold on Saturday was used in the crash scene at the conclusion of the film.

It was sold as part of a sale of Hollywood memorabilia at Profiles in History’s auction rooms in Calabasas, northwest of Los Angeles. Bids were taken online and by phone, as well as in person.

Auctioneers’ boss Joseph Maddalena described the chopper before the sale as “one of the most iconic images in American film.” He added: “The bike evokes powerful emotions even in non-bikers.

“It personifies the Sixties, all of the good and the bad that decade brought.

“This is the only original Captain America bike in existence. This is without doubt the world’s most famous motorcycle. It influenced the entire motorcycle industry – after that movie came out thousands upon thousands of people went out and bought motorbikes.

“The film sparked the whole idea of riding motorcycles. The film marked the beginning of the rebellious anti-war era. Peter Fonda’s character was blazing a trail for freedom and this motorcycle was the vehicle on which he did that.”

The other Captain America bike and the two bikes ridden by Dennis Hopper in Easy Rider were stolen after filming had finished. “Legend has it that the bikes were cut up into pieces and that to this day, Hell’s Angels riders wear stars cut from the gas tanks on their leather vests,” explained Maddalena.

Easy Rider, which tells the story of two counterculture bikers who travel from Los Angeles to New Orleans in search of true freedom, grossed $60 million at the box office, making it the third most successful film to be released in 1969.

Easy Rider soundtrack

 

via Easy Rider Harley-Davidson sold at auction – Telegraph.

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