After my
wife and I bought our new 2015 Nissan Altima a couple of years ago, we received
an initial complimentary subscription to Sirius Radio. At this writing, I
forget whether it ran a few months, (the offer, not the car) or as much as a
year. Of course, we realized ‘day one’ that the initial subscription was little
more than a ‘teaser;’ in order to interest prospective subscribers.
Ultimately,
I received an email offer to extend our access to Sirius Radio. And while, at
approximately $250.00 per year, the fee was steep, it was, and continues to be
worth it; at least, to me. (Don’t ask my wife). Oddly enough, though Sirius
offers upwards of 150 channels, I ‘was in it’ for one reason. Literally one
station. Elvis Radio.
Granted, I
spend a limited amount of time in my car, but I have derived so much pleasure
from the Elvis Channel during trips to the post office, church, and other local
destinations that I just can’t bear to ‘kick it to the curb.’
To be fair,
I don’t enjoy every song which Elvis sang. I mean, he sang selections from
virtually every genre of music. My preferences are the slow ones, such as,
“Can’t Help Falling in Love” and “Maybe I Didn’t Love You,” and Gospel
selections, such as, “How Great Thou Art,” and “Amazing Grace.”
However,
even more than Elvis’ songs, I love the stories George Klein, the King’s
childhood friend, and aged Elvis Channel DJ, as well as former band members
share about his all too short life.
Wink
Martindale, whose wife, Sandy, once dated Elvis Presley, has appeared on Elvis
Radio a couple of times, and he shared the following story.
Pt.
2
Elvis
recorded his first song at Sam Phillip’s Sun Studio in 1954.
On
the evening of July 5, 1954, Presley, Scotty
Moore, and Bill
Black were hard at it,
but couldn’t seem to find just the right song. In between their failed
recordings, Presley began fooling around with Arthur Crudup's song,
"That's All Right, Mama.” Black joined him on his upright bass, and they
were soon joined by Moore on guitar. Producer Sam
Phillips was surprised at
the change in tempo, and asked the three of them to begin again so he could run
a tape.
The
following evening, Elvis and his compatriots recorded, “Blue Moon of
Kentucky," and it was selected as the B-side to, "That's All Right;”
(a shortened version of the original title).
The
foregoing recording session had been Presley's fifth visit to Sun Studio. (His
first four visits had, apparently, been private recordings).
Sam
Phillips sent copies of the acetate to local disc jockeys, Dewey Phillips
of WHBQ, Uncle
Richard of WMPS, and John Lepley of WHHM. On July 7, 1954, the former of the
three played "That's All Right" on his popular radio show, "Red,
Hot & Blue.” When Elvis got the news that Dewey Phillips planned to play
his song, he headed to the local movie theater to calm his nerves. He just
couldn’t bear to listen, and wonder how it ‘was going over’ with the station’s
listeners.
However,
the song was so well received that the DJ reportedly played the recording 14
times, and answered over 40 telephone calls. In his interview with Elvis Radio,
Wink Martindale reported that, upon hearing the song, Vernon and Gladys, Elvis
parents, (perhaps as the result of a phone call from Phillips) hopped in their
pickup truck and set sail for the ‘picture show.’
They
found Elvis sitting alone in a far corner of the darkened theater, and managed
to persuade him to drive to the station for an on-air interview.
Completely
unaware that he was on live radio, Presley responded to Dewey's questions,
including one about his local high school; a roundabout way of making the
audience aware of Presley's ethnicity.
The
original release of "That's All Right" came out on July 19, 1954,
and sold about 20,000 copies. Not a platinum record, to be sure, but a
respectable, and some might say incredible initial effort.
And the rest, as they say, is history.
If Elvis was, at one time, an anxious,
self-reflective, introvert, I guess there’s hope for the rest of us.
by William McDonald, PhD. From "Elvis Stories." Copyright pending
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