FAME AND SUCH THINGS…

SO HOW BIG IS TOO BIG ? JUST READING THE SHORT TEASER ARTICLE IN ROLLING STONE ABOUT “GEORGE HARRISON, THE PRIVATE LIFE OF THE QUIET BEATLE”…FROM MUCH I’VE READ, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT GEORGE DIDN’T MUCH CARE FOR BEING IN THE BEATLES FROM ABOUT LATE 1965 ONWARD. FRIAR PARK WAS LARGELY AN ESCAPE, IF ONE IS TO PUT MUCH STOCK IN WHAT ONE READS.
SEEMS IN MANY CASES THAT “TOO MUCH FAME” ENDS IS TRAGEDY…
ELVIS, MICHAEL JACKSON, JIM MORRISON…THESE THREE WERE INCREDIBLY SUCCESSFUL AND FAMOUS…AND MARILYN MONROE…THERE’S FAME AND THEN THERE’S “FAME”…MUCH OF THE TIME IN ’08 WHEN WE WERE DOING ABOVE THE GROUND, WE’D HEAR SWARMS OF HELICOPTERS ON CERTAIN DAYS. WE’D ALL JUST SURMISE “OH WELL, I GUESS SOMEBODY TIPPED OFF THE PRESS WHERE BRITNEY’S HAVING LUNCH”…AND THAT WAS THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT…PERIOD. BRITNEY HAVING LUNCH AT SOME L.A. BISTRO WAS REASON ENOUGH FOR PERHAPS FIVE OR SIX HELICOPTERS TO BE OUT “COVERING THE EVENT”…
TOM PETTY TALKED ABOUT “ELVIS / BEATLE” FAME…MEANING THE KIND OF FAME WHEREIN YOU CAN’T EVER GO TO THE SEVEN-ELEVEN AGAIN…
THERE ARE CERTAIN HUMAN FACES THAT HAVE BEEN INGRAINED INTO THE MASS CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE FREE WORLD. THE PEOPLE WITH THESE FACES ARE “ON DISPLAY” THE MINUTE THEY LEAVE THEIR HOME”…
THAT WAS WHAT GEORGE SEEMINGLY COULDN’T DEAL WITH. AND THEN THAT TERRIBLE EVENT WHERE SOME LOON ACTUALLY GOT RIGHT INTO FRIAR PARK AND STABBED GEORGE, INJURING HIS LUNG. DHANI HAS SAID THAT IT WAS THAT CONFLICT AND WOUND THAT GREATLY CONTRIBUTED TO GEORGE’S EARLY DEMISE. THIS IS ONLY WHAT I’VE READ, FOLKS…THESE ARE NOT MY OPINIONS…
SO NOW, THIS FILM OR TV DOCUMENTARY OR WHATEVER IT IS ABOUT GEORGE IS COMING FROM SCORSESE…THE MYTH OF THE BEATLES WILL NEVER BE OVER. THE FACT THAT TWO OF THEM LEFT US SO YOUNG HAS ONLY CONTRIBUTED TO THE LEGEND…THE HUGENESS OF IT ALL…YEARS AGO, I MEAN DECADES AGO, I READ SOME ARTICLE WHEREIN THE WRITER SAID HE “JUST COULDN’T IMAGINE THE FOUR OF THEM AS OLD MEN, ALL TOGETHER”…WELL THAT CERTAINLY CAME TRUE…
RECALLING ’64 AND ’65, IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE NOW JUST HOW BIG THE BEATLES WERE. THEY HIT THE WORLD LIKE A HUGE ASTEROID HURTLING IN FROM SPACE. BY THE THE TIME THEY DID “ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE” (BROADCAST WORLD WIDE LIVE, JUNE 25,1967) THEY WERE A HUGE PART OF THE GLOBAL AWARENESS…I REMEMBER WATCHING THAT TV BROADCAST THAT SUNDAY MORNING, ALMOST DIZZY FROM WHAT IT MEANT FOR A BAND TO BE THAT BIG…THE GW WERE DOING WEEKLY TELEVISION AT THAT TIME, AND WE WERE SEEN EVERY THURSDAY ACROSS CANADA AND SOME NEIGHBOURING NORTHERN AMERICAN STATES FROM FIVE THIRTY TO SIX PM…WE THOUGHT THAT WAS PRETTY GOOD, YES…BUT THAT “OUR WORLD” BROADCAST WITH THE BEATLES SEEN BY OVER 400 MILLION PEOPLE…
REMEMBER, THAT WAS 1967…THE WORLD POPULATION AT THAT TIME WAS ONLY 3.4 BILLION…ROUGHLY ONE OUT OF EVERY EIGHT HUMANS ON EARTH WATCHED THE BEATLES THAT SUNDAY…ASTOUNDING…
THAT’S THE LEVEL OF FAME THAT ONLY A VERY FEW HUMANS REACH. NOT SURE IF IT’S ALL IT’S CRACKED UP TO BE. CERTAINLY FOR GEORGE HARRISON IT PROVED TO BE A BIT MUCH.
ROBERT REDFORD USED TO SAY HE MISSED JUST BEING ABLE TO GO FOR A DRINK IN SOME SMALL DINGY BAR…AT LEAST I THINK IT WAS REDFORD…BIT BLURRY…OF COURSE, THE ULTIMATE WOULD BE TO HAVE THE ABILITY TO TURN IT ON AND TURN IT OFF AT WILL…BUT THAT’S NOT WHAT FAME IS…THAT’S JUST NOT HOW IT WORKS.
EVEN DURING OUR EARLIEST BRUSHES WITH “FAME” IN THE EARLY DEVERON DAYS, I THINK WE REALIZED THAT IT WAS “SPECIAL” SOMEHOW…AND BY THAT I DON’T MEAN “ALWAYS ALL GREAT”…
MAYBE ONE OF THE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO OUR SUCCESS AS THE DEVERONS WAS THE FACT THAT WE WERE ALL SO YOUNG…I HAD A WHOLE “CAREER FULL OF EVENTS, PEOPLE, AND PLACES” WITH THE DEVERONS, ALL BEFORE I EVER TURNED 18…
FAME AT DIFFERENT STAGES…DIFFERENT LEVELS…I REMEMBER VIVIDLY AN INCIDENT INVOLVING FAME AT SOME LEVEL OR ANOTHER IN 1966…I HAD BEEN OUT OF SCHOOL FOR ABOUT SIX OR SEVEN MONTHS, HAVING JOINED THE GUESS WHO RIGHT AFTER MY 18TH BIRTHDAY. “BELIEVE ME” WAS OUR FIRST SINGLE WITH ME ON IT, TAKEN FROM THE “IT’S TIME” ALBUM WHICH WE RECORDED IN FEB / MARCH. OF 1966 IN MINNEAPOLIS. CHAD WAS STILL THE LEAD VOCAL ON “BELIEVE ME”. BUT THE NEXT SINGLE WAS “CLOCK ON THE WALL” A SONG OF RANDY’S, AND IT WAS MY FIRST LEAD VOCAL AS THE GUESS WHO’S SINGER…BY THE TIME “CLOCK ON THE WALL” CAME OUT, CHAD HAD LEFT THE BAND AND GONE BACK TO SCHOOL… AND THE GUYS (MAINLY RANDY AND BOB BURNS, OUR MANAGER AT THE TIME) ENCOURAGED ME TO “DO IT KINDA LIKE ERIC BURDON”…IT WAS A FAIRLY HEAVY SONG, BUT AT 18 I JUST DIDN’T HAVE THE “ROUGHNESS” REQUIRED TO MAKE MY PERFORMANCE OF IT CREDIBLE. NONETHELESS, THE SINGLE CAME OUT WITH MY 18-YEAR-OLD LEAD VOCAL ON IT, AND THEY PLAYED THE HELL OUT OF IT IN WINNIPEG…I MEAN, A LOT OF AIRPLAY. “CLOCK ON THE WALL” WAS INDEED A SUCCESSFUL RECORD IN WINNIPEG…ONE AFTERNOON DURING THIS TIME I DROVE MY OLD CHEVY UP TO ST. JOHN’S HIGH, THE SCHOOL I’D DROPPED OUT OF IN NOV. OF ’65, THE PREVIOUS YEAR. I PARKED AND WATCHED THE KIDS, WHO WERE MOSTLY ABOUT MY AGE, JUST SLIGHTLY YOUNGER…TWO YOUNG GIRLS CAME OVER TO MY CAR, PERHAPS WANTING TO GO FOR A DRIVE OR SOMETHING…IT WAS 1966, FOLKS, IT WAS A FAR MORE INNOCENT WORLD THEN…WE DIDN’T GO FOR A DRIVE, BUT WE BEGAN TO TALK…IT CAME UP THAT I WAS A SINGER, AND THAT I WAS IN THE GW, AND THAT I WAS THE GUY WHO SANG “CLOCK ON THE WALL”…
BOTH GIRLS SCREAMED…THE TALLER ONE SAID “YOU SING CLOCK ON THE WALL…?” I SAID “YEAH, THAT’S ME…”
THEY BOTH LET OUT A SCREAM…
HERE I WAS AN 18 YEAR OLD KID IN WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, WHO HAD DROPPED OUT OF HIGH SCHOOL WITH A COMPLETE GRADE TEN AND NO MORE, AND TWO GIRLS OUTSIDE ST. JOHN’S WERE LETTING OUT A SCREAM BECAUSE IT WAS YOURS TRULY WHO SANG “CLOCK ON THE WALL”…
FAME…
AT WHATEVER LEVEL YOU’D LIKE TO CATEGORIZE IT, THAT WAS FAME…LITTLE DID I KNOW WHAT WAS TO COME IN THE ENSUING YEARS.
SEEMS TO ME THAT IT NEVER ESCAPED ME JUST HOW SPECIAL IT ALL WAS, THIS “UNFOLDING OF A STORY” THAT WAS INDEED MY LIFE. OUR FIRST REAL TRIP TO EUROPE IN 1970, WE WERE FLYING THROUGH AN HORRENDOUS THUNDERSTORM ON OUR WAY TO BERLIN. LIGHTNING OUTSIDE THE PLANE IN THE DISTANCE, AND BLINDING RAIN…OUT CAME THE NOTEBOOK AND THE SCHAEFFER’S CARTRIDGE PEN WITH THE WASHABLE BLUE INK (SAME ONE I’D HAD ALL THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL). I SCRIBBLED DOWN “GERMAN RAIN…FLYING…DEFYING…TRYING…” (all the time “hearing” that 1 and 5 drone in my head, being held a long time on the word “Rain”…)
NOTHING MUCH SPECIAL ABOUT IT AT ALL, EXCEPT THAT IT LATER TURNED INTO “PAIN TRAIN”…I SERIOUSLY WONDER HOW MANY GW SONGS WOULD NEVER HAVE COME INTO EXISTENCE HAD I NOT ALWAYS KEPT THOSE NOTEBOOKS AND THAT CARTRIDGE PEN WITH ME.
THE MYSTERY OF THE FAME AND RECOGNIZABILITY THING HAS BECOME SLIGHTLY CLEARER TO ME AT THIS AGE (APPROACHING 64). THERE’S A GREAT STANZA IN “THE SAD CAFE” THAT HENLEY WROTE…

“Now I look at the years gone by,
And wonder at the powers that be.
I don’t know why fortune smiles on some
And lets the rest go free…”

SAGE WORDS INDEED…SOMEWHAT ECHOES THAT TIME OLD ADAGE “BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR…”
I DO TRULY BELIEVE THAT ONE OF THE PARAMOUNT THINGS IN LIFE IS TO BE ABLE TO COME TO TERMS WITH WHAT YOU’VE LIVED, EXPERIENCED, LEARNED, AND ACCOMPLISHED. BY “COME TO TERMS WITH” I MEAN “BE OKAY WITH” IN A GENERAL IF NOT SPECIFIC SENSE. I USED TO THINK I (OR “WE”) GOT “SHORTCHANGED” OR “GYPPED” ALONG THE WAY, WISHING WE COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH MORE FAMOUS ON A GLOBAL LEVEL…NOW THAT I’M IN MY SIXTIES, I REALIZE THAT I’VE ACCOMPLISHED FAR MORE THAN MANY, AND BETTER THAN ALL OF THAT, I’M STILL AROUND TO SEE IT IN RETROSPECT. I’M GRATEFUL ON A DAILY BASIS TO HAVE LASTED THIS LONG, AND NOT ONLY GRATEFUL FOR STILL BEING ALIVE, BUT GRATEFUL FOR PRETTY GOOD HEALTH AND A PRETTY GOOD CAREER. NOT MANY IN THEIR SIXTIES STILL HAVE PEOPLE WANTING TO SEE THEM PERFORM…AND MANY IN THEIR SIXTIES JUST CAN’T PERFORM THE WAY THEY WANT TO ANYMORE.
ALL THIS HAS NOT ESCAPED ME. JUST BEING WITH STEVE MILLER A FEW WEEKS AGO REAFFIRMED FOR ME THAT LIFE ISN’T OVER BECAUSE OF AGE OR YEARS…STEVE’S GOT A FEW YEARS ON ME AND HE STILL WENT OUT THERE AND KNOCKED THE CROWD’S SOCKS OFF THAT NIGHT AT THE STATE FAIR…
THE RECORDS WILL LAST FOREVER. THOSE PIECES OF TIME HAVE BEEN FROZEN. AND SOME OF THEM ARE STANDING UP PRETTY WELL THROUGH THE DECADES…MY PRIDE CONCERNING THE REALLY GOOD RECORDS WILL NEVER WANE OR DIMINISH…I’M THANKFUL FOR THE BEST OF THE CAPTURED MOMENTS, AND I’M THANKFUL TO BE ABLE TO HEAR THEM AS A PERSON OF SIX DECADES PLUS. I HAVE AN IMMENSE MUSIC LIBRARY, FULL OF TREMENDOUS TRACKS…AND SOME OF THEM ARE EVEN MINE…IN THE TRUEST SENSE OF THE WORD…
THANKS FOR READING ALL OF THIS…
PEACE AND CALM TONIGHT…
BLC

A BREATH OF AIR…

AFTER ALL THAT TRAVELING AND ALL THOSE SHOWS, IT’S RATHER REFRESHING TONIGHT JUST TO HAVE AN HOUR OR TWO TO SIT AND THINK…AND TYPE…NO DEADLINES TOMORROW MORNING. IT’S A GRIND, I GOTTA TELL YOU…TOURING…ROBBIE ROBERTSON CALLED IT “A GODDAMNED IMPOSSIBLE WAY OF LIFE”…YOU NEED ROAD CHOPS. HAVE TO BE ABLE TO SLEEP IN A MOVING BUS. UNLES YOU’RE JETTING…IN WHICH CASE, YOU’RE NEVER TRAVELING FOR TOO LONG AT A TIME…MAYBE AN ALBUM OR TWO ON THE I POD…IT’S STILL SUITCASES OR TRUNKS, THOUGH…NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE ON THE MARQUEE TOTEM POLE…EVEN RINGO STARR WAS LIVING OUT OF TRUNKS…BIG TRUNKS…NICE TRUNKS…IT’S “LIVE PORTABLE, OR DIE”, BASICALLY. NOW THAT YOUR ROOM NUMBER IS NO LONGER ON YOUR HOTEL KEY, IT’S HARDER AND HARDER TO GO BACK TO THE RIGHT ROOM ONCE YOU’VE BEEN IN FIVE CITIES OR SO A WEEK…I’M GUESSING HALF THE TIME…MANY, MANY TIMES I’VE SWIPED THE PLASTIC NUMBERLESS CARD INTO “YESTERDAY’S” ROOM NUMBER ONLY TO SEE THE DREADED LITTLE RED LIGHT APPEAR, SIGNALING THAT YOU’RE NOT GETTIN’ INTO THAT PARTICULAR ROOM NO HOW…OH BROTHER.
TRIED SOME OF THE NEW “PUNCH” THAT’S AVAILABLE NOW IN CALIFORNIA. WOW…TO SAY THE LEAST. THIS STUFF COULD PUT A SERIOUS DENT INTO THE LIQUOR INDUSTRY. AND NO FIGHTS WOULD BREAK OUT. NOT LIKELY, ANYHOW. NOW YOU CAN GET KUSH KOLA, TROPICAL PUNCH, GRAPE, ORANGE, AND ABOUT SEVEN OTHER FLAVOURS OR VARIETIES. THIS IS A BRAVE NEW WORLD TO ME AND I’M AN OLD HIPPIE…WELL, PERHAPS THAT’S PART OF THE STRANGENESS OF IT ALL TO ME. MY GOOD FRIEND WOODY DID SIX MONTHS BACK IN THE DARK AGES, SHOWERING AND EATING AND SLEEPING WITH MURDERERS, ARSONISTS, AND WHO KNOWS WHAT ELSE FOR A PIECE OF MRS. BLACK THAT YOU’D BARELY MISS NOWADAYS IF YOU DROPPED IT. BARBARIC. I HEARD THE OTHER NIGHT THAT ADULTERY GETS THE WOMAN LIFE OVER IN SOME OF THE MIDDLE EASTERN COUNTRIES. WE HERE IN NORTH AMERICA TEND TO FORGET HOW INCREDIBLY “FREE” WE REALLY ARE, TO AN EXTENT. WE GRIPE ABOUT BEING “WATCHED”…NEWS FLASH, SWEETHEART…WE’VE BEEN “WATCHED”, ALL OF US, FOR DECADES ALREADY, IT’S JUST THAT WE DIDN’T HAVE “LITTLE BROTHER” WATCHING BACK AND CONFUSING THINGS EVEN MORESO THAN EVER. AT LEAST HERE IN LOS ANGELES, IF I WERE TO STEAL FOOD, CHANCES ARE THEY WOULDN’T CHOP MY RIGHT HAND OFF…HEAD-SHAKE TIME…FOR REAL.
MY FIRST EXTENDED “STAY” IN LOS ANGELES WAS IN JANUARY OF 1970. IT WAS FREEZING IN WINNIPEG AND I WANTED TO BE IN WARMTH IN JANUARY SO OFF I WENT. PHONED BACK TO OSBORNE VILLAGE ALMOST EVERY NIGHT TO EXPRESS MY “WONDER” AT BEING ABLE TO SHOP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT IN HUGE SUPERMARKETS. THIS WAS LONG, LONG, BEFORE 7-ELEVEN, AND BACK IN WINNIPEG, THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT WAS JUST THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. I USED TO GO TO THE TOLUCA MART ON PICO, IT’S LONG GONE NOW, BUT I WAS SO IMPRESSED WITH HOW ONE COULD LIVE THE NIGHT HOURS AND FUNCTION AS THOUGH IT WERE NOON. AND THE TELEVISION WENT ON ALL NIGHT. BACK IN WINNIPEG, IT STILL WENT OFF AT 1:30…GEEZ, I AM GETTIN’ ON, BEIN’ ABLE TO REMEMBER THAT.
THE ADVENT OF ALL THESE PRODUCTS IS AMAZING TO ME, WHO, AT 63 CAN STILL REMEMBER THE ABSOLUTE TERROR WE HARBORED OF GETTING CAUGHT. RECENTLY, HERE IN CALIFORNIA, TWO OR THREE BLOCKS OF A MAJOR STREET WERE SHUT DOWN FOR A “HEMP CON”, AND THOUSANDS OF PEACEFUL LOONS SHOWED UP WITH THEIR BONGS AND JUICY JAYS AND VAPORIZERS AND THEIR “DOCUMENTS” MAKING IT ALL OKAY…WE’RE SEEING THE EXACT EQUIVALENT OF THE BEGINNINGS OF THE END OF PROHIBITION IN THE TWENTIES…THIS IS HISTORY REPEATING ITSELF. REMARKABLE CHANGE IN THE WIND.ONE “BELIEF” OR “OPINION” IS THAT AN ALL OUT BAN WAS INITIALLY PUT ON HEMP PURELY FOR FINANCIAL REASONS. PERHAPS SOMETHING VAGUELY CONNECTED TO WILLIAM RANDOLPH HEARST’S NEWSPAPER EMPIRE BEING THREATENED BY HEMP…WHO KNOWS…BUT AS I’VE SAID PREVIOUSLY, I THINK WE ALL SEE THAT THE GENIE IS OUT OF THE BOTTLE. THIS ISN’T GOING BACK AGAIN…THERE ARE NUMEROUS “ESTABLISHMENTS” THAT DEAL WITH GOVERNMENT BARCODED MRS. GREEN…ALL LEGAL, ALL COMPLETELY OVERT. THE BUSINESS OF IT ALL, THE INCREDIBLE AMOUNTS OF $$$$$$$$ ARE SHOWING THAT IT WILL NEVER GO BACK THE OTHER WAY.
SOME OF US, IF WE’RE PAST A CERTAIN AGE, WATCH ALL THIS WITH A SMIRK, AND STILL A HINT OF DISBELIEF. I GUESS THE LONGER ONE LASTS IN THIS DAY AND AGE, THE QUICKER AND MORE EXTREME THE CHANGES BECOME.
I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO CATCH ABOUT HALF OF “MAD DOGS AND ENGLISHMEN” THE OTHER NIGHT ON ONE OF THE HBO STATIONS. MY OH MY…ANOTHER WORLD. ANOTHER TIME. ANOTHER GALAXY. GREAT BAND. I ENDED UP WORKING WITH BOTH THOSE DRUMMERS, JIM GORDON AND JIM KELTNER ON MANY OF MY RECORDS, AND ACTUALLY HAD JIM GORDON ON THE ROAD WITH ME FOR OVER A YEAR. SO AS I CAUGHT PART OF THIS MOVIE THE OTHER NIGHT, I THOUGHT OF MYSELF AS “FROM THE SAME ERA” BECAUSE JOE HAD OPENED FOR US ON THE REAL REUNION IN 2001, AND I’D WORKED WITH BOTH DRUMMERS…AND THEN I SAW THE WAY OF LIFE…THE ROAD AT THAT TIME IN HISTORY…WOW…
IT’S ABOUT TIME FOR “AMERICAN DAD” AND IT’S ONE I HAVEN’T SEEN SO I’M STOPPING THIS FOR NOW…NOT SAYIN’ A DAMNED THING ANYWAY…
LATER…
BLC

AND HE CONTINUED JUST A LITTLE FURTHER AFTER A LAPSE AND A REST…AMERICAN DAD IS ALMOST MY FAVOURITE OVER FAMILY GUY SOMETIMES. ROGER THE ALIEN IS THE BEST…HE’S ALWAYS IN A BAD DISGUISE, BUT HE’S ALWAYS ROGER. IT’S LIKE ELVIS IMPERSONATORS…THEY ALL LOOK LIKE EACH OTHER, BUT NONE OF THEM LOOKS LIKE ELVIS…
WE WERE PLAYING SOME ARENA IN LAS VEGAS THE SAME TIME AS ELVIS PLAYED THE HILTON IN AROUND 1972…WE STAYED IN THE HILTON AND IT WAS LITERALLY WALLPAPERED WITH ELVIS…THE NAME, THE FACE, EVERY WALL AND PILLAR PLASTERED WITH ELVIS. UNCANNY. I’D QUITE FRANKLY NEVER SEEN ANYTHING LIKE IT. DURING THAT STAY I PLAYED ROULETTE WITH COLONEL TOM PARKER ONCE FOR ABOUT 45 MINUTES. TOM SAT BEHIND THE ROPE, WHERE ONLY DEALERS AND PIT BOSSES GO…TOM WAS SPECIAL. THERE ARE 36 NUMBERS AND TWO DOUBLE ZEROES ON A NORTH AMERICAN ROULETTE WHEEL. I’VE PLAYED A LOT OF ROULETTE, I KNOW THE WHEEL WELL…TOM WAS BETTING AN INORDINATE NUMBER OF NUMBERS STRAIGHT UP EVERY SPIN. COVERING AT LEAST HALF THE BOARD, SOMETIMES CONSIDERABLY MORE. I DON’T THINK I EVER SAW HIM WIN. HE WENT THROUGH A FORTUNE JUST IN THE TIME I WAS PLAYING AT THE SAME TABLE. I SPOKE TO HIM. I SAID “WELL, TOM, HOW’S THE WHEEL TREATING YOU TODAY…?”
NO RESPONSE WHATSOEVER. OH WELL. AT LEAST I HAD SPOKEN DIRECTLY TO ELVIS’ MANAGER. HAVING PLAYED ROULETTE FOR HUNDREDS OF HOURS THROUGH THE YEARS, I DON’T THINK I’VE EVER SEEN A MORE EXTENDED STREAK OF HORRID LUCK ANYWHERE…EVER…HE’D JUST PUT HIS ARM UPRIGHT, LEANING ON ITS ELBOW WITH HIS INDEX FINGER POINTING UPWARD, AND THEY’D IMMEDIATELY PUT A HUGE NEW STACK OF CHIPS IN FRONT OF HIM. OH YEAH…ELVIS WAS PLAYIN’ THERE…THE MANAGER GOT WHAT HE WANTED…
I THOUGHT THAT SINCE WE WERE ALL ON RCA IT WAS A SLAM DUNK THAT WE’D GET TO MEET ELVIS. NOW THAT I KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON AT THAT TIME, I SEE FULL WELL WHY WE NEVER GOT CLOSE TO HIM. BY THAT POINT, I WASN’T REALLY CRAZY ABOUT WHAT HE WAS DOING ANYHOW…WHEN YOU’VE GOT THAT MANY GREAT HIT RECORDS, YOU SHOULDN’T BE SINGING “SNOWBIRD” AND “EARLY MORNING RAIN” AND “CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN” AND “BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER”…IT ALL GOT DIFFERENT WHEN HE CAME BACK FROM THE ARMY. THAT FIRST SINGLE WAS DYNAMITE, “STUCK ON YOU”…STILL ROCKED GREAT AND HAD A STRONG DRUM BEAT…BUT IT GOT SOFT…HE ALWAYS SAID ONE OF HIS IDOLS WAS MARIO LANZA AND HE DID SOME OF THAT STUFF. IT’S NOW OR NEVER IS “O SOLE MIO”…AND THOUGH HE’S HAILED AS THE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL, HIS BIGGEST SINGLE OF ALL WAS “ARE YOU LONESOME TONIGHT”…PUH-LEAZE…
I DON’T KNOW. WHAT A STRANGE STORY. THE TRUCK DRIVER FROM MEMPHIS. UNBELIEVABLE. WE’LL ALWAYS HAVE THE RECORDS, ESPECIALLY ALL THE STUFF FROM BEFORE HE WENT INTO THE ARMY. THE ALBUM “FOR LP FANS ONLY” SHOWCASES WHY HE WAS ELVIS PRESLEY. LAWDY MISS CLAWDY IS THE COOLEST. SHAKE RATTLE AND ROLL IS PURE KING OF ROCK AND ROLL. AND “I WAS THE ONE”…WELL THE VOCAL IS REMARKABLE TO SAY THE LEAST, AND THEN YOU FACTOR IN THAT HE WAS 19 WHEN HE SANG THAT…EXCUSE ME, THAT’S A VERY MATURE, HIP VOCAL…THAT ALBUM WAS ONE OF THE FIRST VINYL ALBUMS I PLAYED OVER AND OVER TILL IT WAS GREY…WORE OUT THE VINYL.
HAD A FEW LIKE THAT…FIFTH AVENUE BAND, THEIR ONE ALBUM ON REPRISE…TRAFFIC, THE ONE WITH NO NAME, NO FACE, NO NUMBER…MISS THE BIG COVERS. BUT LOVE THE CD’S.
TIRED. NO BUS TOMORROW. NO SHOW TOMORROW. NO WAKE UP CALL. TIRED. SLEEP TIME NOW…
BE WELL, ALL HERE…
BLC