The 500 - #190 - Elvis - From Elvis In Memphis - Elvis Presley

 I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #190
Album Title: From Elvis In Memphis
Artist: Elvis Presley

Genre: Multiple genres: Rock, Soul, Country, Blues
Recorded: American Sound Studios, Memphis, Tennessee

Released: June, 1969
My age at release: 3
How familiar was I with it before this week: Somewhat

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at position #322 - dropping 132 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Suspicious Minds

When I was about ten years old I goaded my mother into buying the compilation album Elvis' Gold Records during a trip to a department store. My music fandom had started and I'd already "claimed" a number of records in my parents vinyl collection as my own -- moving them from the stereo cabinet in the family room to the shelves of my room. It was the first record I had a role in purchasing. Consequently, when asked: "What was the first record you bought as a kid?" I sometimes want to say Elvis' Gold Records - but that isn't entirely true, as my wallet never opened.

I listened to it hundreds of times, often while doing homework in the family room. That winter of 1975, I visited England for two weeks and learned that my uncle was also a huge Elvis fan. He was even a member of the U.K. Elvis Presley Fan Club and had dozens of issues of The King's monthly magazine, which he generously gave me to take home to Canada.

Each issue was smaller than a standard magazine -- a little larger than a paperback novel. In the middle was a centerfold  picture of Elvis doing something incredibly cool (sitting on a motorcycle or on stage, wowing  a crowd with his guitar). Oblivious to the fact that these magazines would become  collectors’ items, I dissected every one for wall decoration, hanging pictures of The King alongside posters of superheroes and hockey players. It would be another year before my hormones kicked in and wall space was reclaimed for the now famous Farrah Fawcett-Majors red swimsuit poster. Such are the priorities that come with growing up.

The famous Farrah Red Swimsuit 

poster which sold 12 million copies.

I wanted the Farrah poster so much that I walked 30 kilometers (round trip) to the nearest drug store (in Leamington, Ontario) that sold it. Foolishly, I bounced the tightly rolled and shrink-wrapped poster against the side of my leg for much of the trek home. Consequently, my swimsuit poster had thousands of tiny, uniformly placed distress marks covering it. This really didn't matter -- it was nearly impossible to suppress Ms. Fawcett's beauty, or my star- struck adulation.

Another pic from the 1976, Bruce
McBroom photo shoot of Farrah.

From Elvis in Memphis was released during a turning point in Presley's career. After returning from military service in 1960, Presley was convinced by his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, that he should shift his focus from live performances and albums to film roles and soundtracks. Despite some early success, the commercial fortunes of these movies and their accompanying soundtracks steadily diminished. From 1964 to 1968, Presley had only one Top Ten Hit, Crying In The Chapel, a gospel song released in 1965, but recorded five years earlier.

Album cover for the single Crying In The Chapel. 

Additionally, music was changing. The British Invasion was in full swing and, at the age of 35, Elvis seemed like a dinosaur in the changing pop culture landscape. Then, on December 3, 1968, everything shifted anew. Presley, along with producer Bob Finkel and director Steve Binder, presented a television special that reflected the musical trends of the time in order to appeal to a younger audience. The concert, Singer Presents...Elvis was a massive success and is now commonly called, The '68 Comeback Special.

Poster for the Elvis Television Special.

The next year, Presley continued on his new path by aligning with  another studio, American Sound in Memphis. He also opted to work with the studio’s house band, informally known as The Memphis Boys.

The Memphis Boys with Elvis in 1969.

From Elvis in Memphis was well received, reaching #13 on the Billboard Chart and #2 on the Country Chart. The only single, In The Ghetto, reached #3 and the album was certified gold the same year. It has continued to grow in popularity among fans and critics. Reporter Christel Loar even said "it rivaled Presley's early recordings in terms of historical importance and innovation...a downright essential for any Elvis fan or music fan."

Label for In The Ghetto single.

Listening to From Elvis in Memphis for this week’s blog was a pleasure and rekindled my fandom for The King more than 50 years ago. I eventually settled on the classic Suspicious Minds for my Spotify Playlist even though it didn't appear on the original album, but was added to the 2000 CD release which contained an additional six tracks.

The 500 - #311 - The Sun Records Collection - Various Artists

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 311

Album Title: The Sun Records Collection

Artist: Various Artists

Genre: Various - Blues, Country, Gospel, Rockabilly, Early Rock & Roll

Recorded: Sun Studios - Memphis, Tennessee

Released: 1994

My age at release: 28

How familiar was I with it before this week: Somewhat

Is it on the 2020 list? No

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Rocket 88

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am not a fan of greatest hits or compilation records being placed on The 500 list. However, much like the album Anthology by The Temptations (#400), The Sun Record Collection serves as a historical document, capturing an influential period in the evolution of music and, more specifically, the birth of Rock and Roll.

Sun Records was an independent record label established in February, 1952. It was housed within the Memphis Recording Service Studio, which was opened by producer Sam Phillips in January. 1950. Sun Records was the first studio to record Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis.

Memphis Recording Service Studios (1950s)

The second track on this anthology is Rocket 88, a song with an interesting history, having a reputation for being possibly the first Rock and Roll record produced.  It was recorded in March, 1951 by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats -- who were actually Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm. Yes, that Ike Turner, Tina's former, abusive husband.

Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm

The song was written to celebrate the production of the Oldsmobile Rocket 88. Some automobile enthusiasts claim it was the first "muscle car", boasting a powerful V8 engine that could reach 60 miles per hour in 13 seconds. It had a top speed of nearly 100 mph – a remarkable feat for an automobile built at that time.

Rocket 88 (the song, not the car) was the first successful track recorded at the Memphis Recording Studio and was produced by the aforementioned Sam Phillips. Sales hit #1 on the Billboard charts that June and helped finance the creation of Sun Records.

Rocket 88 is also the track I am putting on "The 500" Spotify Playlist that I have been building since this marathon blog series started in January, 2019. My partiality reaches back to a period when I began learning to play the song in order to perform with my friend Vince Braca's band, The Black Holes. Vince's group has played an up-tempo mix of 50s era Rockabilly, Rock and Roll and 60s Surf Rock around the London, Ontario, area for more than 20 years.

Vince (forefront) and The Black Holes (2007) 

One Friday in 2007 the band was booked to play at The Brass Door, a popular pub in Downtown London. A few weeks earlier, Vince invited me to join him on stage for a set. I had been playing the saxophone since Grade 6, but I was rusty and needed to prepare for a performance and have sheet musician on hand. How I envy players who can spontaneously join in a jam session.  A mutual friend, Cole Benjamin, who is also a talented guitarist, singer and saxophonist,  helped me chart the songs and practice. To top it off, he joined the performance with his tenor sax. 

Me, Marc Hodgkinson,clowning around with Cole Benjamin (foreground) pre-show

I was familiar with most of the songs on the setlist for the performance but one that stood out was Rocket 88. I told Cole and he popped with excitement. "It's a great song, it's just a 12-bar blues with this easy boogie-woogie shuffle we get to play -- it has a sax solo, too." Minutes later, we were practising and I was hooked. Cole was right, it is a delightful song and the shuffle is so much fun.

Sheet music for Rocket 88 - the shuffle circled in red

As you might have guessed, the more talented Cole took the solo, although later in the set I had a short one of my own. Since that time, Rocket 88 has been one of my favourite songs – a reminder of that terrific night.

Cole and me, playing with The Black Holes

Perhaps in retirement I will pull my sax out of its dusty case and recover my playing chops; maybe join an amateur band in town. Heck, I might even become a spontaneous jammer.

MORE

Check out this performance of Thirteen Women by The Black Holes from 2009.