Always on our minds - Elvis Presley, 40 years on

Elvis remembered - on the road to Aberystwyth, Wales -

Elvis still rocks, on a rock

This year will mark the 40th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, perhaps the most famous popular music star of all time.

At the end, but still popular despite his demise

I was only young when Elvis died, I had only seen him and his music through odd glimpses of his films that were put on television during the school holidays. This was the post 'Sun' Elvis, but even so, when his death was announced on the television news, it did have meaning to me, even at that age. I was yet to discover the 'Sun' records era and when I did, this was a game changer.

Elvis in 1954 at the Sun Studios

The real Elvis to most people isn't the singer of saccharine material that was foisted on him in the course of the films he made or the latter Vegas years, no the real deal to most was the material recorded at the Sun Studios with Scotty Moore, Bill Black and DJ Fontana.

The Elvis that was Hound dog, That's all right, My Baby left me and Mystery train, to name but a few of his landmark early records.

The raw energy of this music was so different from anything else at the time and everything changed overnight. It eclipsed Bill Haley, one of the founding fathers of Rock and Roll. Although I am a great fan of Bill, Elvis and his group were raw firepower.

Bill Haley was an important artist and catalyst, he came along at the time through Western Swing and from a jazz background and was part of the evolvement of music that came to be Rock and Roll. Rock around the Clock was catchy and it was musical 'Pop Art.'

Roy Lichtenstein's 'Pop Art' was simple, impact heavy and immediate -

Just like 'Hound Dog,' if it had been done on paper

The music fulfilled the 'Pop Art' ethos that would come along with Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol around the same era. It had dynamic, but simple impact.

Tracks like Hound Dog with the explosive drum phrasing and the Scotty Moore sharp and echo laden guitar sound even today sound fresh, over 60 years later. 

Elvis - the 68 comeback

It was like he never went away

The syrupy early 60's allowed Elvis to star in the films and produce more middle of the road appealing material which kept him popular, but to many, Elvis was that stripped down hard edge of roots music from 1954.

Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones often references the sound of Scotty Moore in his musical education, but also the 'stripped down' nature of the Sun Studio set up.

Often all the Sun studio performers were in one studio with the inevitable overspill of sound into other performer's own microphones, helping to create that unique sound.

These players were all mixed onto a one track recording in the main, although Sam Phillips of Sun was a technical innovator in those early days of 'modern' music recording.

Keith Richards still performing and enjoying it

Keith Richards said in an interview how these days the Rolling Stones had the luxury of a studio with the capacity of almost infinite amount of tracks for each song. He lamented that in the Sun days how they achieved so much with so few tracks and that helped with the immediacy of the music.

No years in the studio making an album, likely it would be concluded in a day or two, with little if any possibility for adding on to existing tracks. It was then a case of play, record, press out the record for sale.

Scotty Moore with Elvis, on stage in the Sun days

Even on some of those early records that made the record shops, they are often not the 'best cut,' but Sam Phillips instinctively knew that some takes, mistakes included were superior to others. But it was just 'that sound' that Sam Phillips got.

The sum of the parts, unrelated as they were just came together. Elvis, the band, the acoustics of the room. Today we are spoilt with modern technology to play and record music with.

Back in the day, many musicians often used what was available -

Not everyone could afford top of the line Gretsch, Gibson or Fender guitars

A whole industry caters for 'vintage' equipment but is that actually the way to find that sound? Cheque book musicianship is not the way to get a good sound, you need the ability and talent in the first place.

The other factors required are talent and the artist's individuality. Elvis, Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran, Gene Vincent and hundreds of others did it their way. And that was what made them unique. 

Elvis in the Vegas years - some wrote him off as a rhinestone parody

He however produced some landmark records in this era

The 68 'Comeback Special' that Elvis appeared in, was a situation that showed that Elvis was still lean and could do the music. This led onto the Vegas circuit, Elvis managed to get material like 'Suspicious minds' and make it his own during this era.

The important thing was he was still performing, even if others from the 50's were largely now no longer performing or even alive.

Vegas topped off a wealth of music, Vegas also proved that Elvis was not stuck in a time warp, reissuing old hits, no, he was carving a new path and the Vegas type material also showed his breadth of talent, tackling material and arrangements that showed how good he was as a performer. 

However you remember Elvis, he was good.

Rockabilly - the Frankenstein music - and why it refuses to die!

Rockabilly - the true Frankenstein of music

a right old lash up and mash up of styles and sounds!

Define Rockabilly - not an easy job.

Ask any non-specialist DJ to define the genre and the examples they'd probably state as being worth mentioning might be a revival group or two.

So what are the roots? Well, its a right old melange of musical styles. The structure is usually around a blues type of sequence of 3 chords. The music is hard to define, it sort of was like adding different bits into a cement mixer and eventually you got something you could say 'well there's a bit of that in it.'.... 

The real down home roots of it is the Hill Billy and Western swing style, plus an injection of black blues music, which had suggestive lyrics, sometime but not always, toned down for the white folks.

That's where Bill Haley came from, as one of the originators of Rock and Roll, he served up a slightly cleaned up version of the original meaty music styles. Shake, Rattle and Roll, is one such number, slightly amended so as not to shock the local Vicar.

Ike Turner came along with his Rhythm and Blues style in his song Rocket 88, which came from the opposite side of the screen and then when Elvis jigged up the country music songs like you'd hear on the Louisiana Hayride television program, you were starting to get the cocktail stirred and built.

The real Howdy Doody of the music though, was the new sound. The electric sound.

Gretsch, one of the new breed of guitar makers 'gone electric'

a 6118 Anniversary model guitar, based on the earlier Electromatics

Rockabilly came along bang on cue with the new developments in music technology, namely the practical and purpose made electrical guitar and amplifier situation. Developments such as the echo chamber, tape echo machine, reverb tank and multi track recording all had their exposure around the start of the 1950's.

Elvis Presley with his 1942 Martin guitar

at the famous Sun Studios c. 1954

The first commercially made 'electric' guitars had appeared in the 1930's and after the hiatus of WW2, production started up again, building on new technology developed in the war.

The dedicated electric guitar, not merely an existing acoustic with a pickup lashed on to the body was now a recognised tool for the working musician. More likely to be found in the conservative venues of jazz and swing dives, being be-bopped in a Charlie Christian style.  

A 2015 Fender Stratocaster, little changed from the 1954 original

one of those 'right first time' designs

In 1954, California radio engineer Leo Fender came up with the guitar that changed music forever, the Fender Stratocaster. Building on the success of the Precision Bass and the Telecaster, his bolt together guitars took the Henry Ford production line approach.

Over in Memphis, Scotty Moore and friends were asked to back a young singer called Elvis Presley. Sam Phillips, the Sun owner had been looking for a white man who could sing like a black man and when Elvis jived up an old Bill Monroe song Blue Moon of Kentucky between studio takes, Phillips had found valhalla.

Scotty Moore on guitar, Bill Black on bass and later DJ Fontana on drums, backed Elvis on guitar, in what would be some of the embryonic rockabilly into rock and roll music. It sounded alive and exciting, it still does over 60 years later.

Gretsch guitars in the 50's were rarer than they are today

Sam Phillips, Norman Petty and Les Paul were three movers in the music technology world of the 1950's. Sam and Norman, both record producers developed ways to get unique sounds from their artists, Les Paul, was a great innovator both on musical instrument technology and music recording fronts, besides his excellent playing ability and style.

Norman Petty did for Buddy Holly, what Sam did for Elvis. Gave him a great studio sound. This was a young man's music and both Buddy Holly and Elvis were young and vibrant, that's why the music sounds fresh, even today.

What Elvis and Buddy did, was to originally take old music and shake it up. Borrowing from the Western swing, giving it a harder edge and more pace.

But then it changed, Elvis was provided with songs and Buddy Holly started writing his own, the divergent paths away from the roots had started, the music was evolving. Inevitably, record labels wanted 'their' Elvis or 'their' Buddy and anyone young with a modicum of talent started to get into music, to be the 'next whoever.

It is interesting now to look back at the diverse plethora of artists from the 1954-57 era that had a go and put their efforts onto Shellac. Many were the classic 'one hit wonders' but some survived to move out into more 'acceptable' music styles in later years.

Rockabilly started to get the harder edge and a harder look. Gone were the check shirt ploughboy cowboy hicks of 1954 and in came black leather, greased pomps and loud motorcycles of the 'Wild One' era.

Oh, and public outrage. Much as would emerge 20 years later in the Punk Rock era.

So what about the modern rockabilly scene? Well, its a varied bag of groceries, that's for sure.

After the deaths of Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and the call up of Elvis into the Army, Rock n Roll as a hard edge sound gave way to a pappy, preppy, bobby soxin' bubble gum music, where it was a Bobby this or Bobby that singing it. The sort of toned down pomp haired boy next door look, in a pastel sport coat and tie look that'd probably get you called a queer a few years earlier.

Yep, public outrage and corporate America cleaned it up... but not for long.

Brian Setzer of the Stray Cats, Gretschmaniac

In the 1970's, a movement started to gather ground to revive the corpse of the old music. At that time, many of the original 50's stars were still young enough to perform and made appearances on the circuit. They were probably amazed at the level of renewed interest.

The untimely death of Elvis Presley, likely sparked the interest in the music again and that brought the music back up. A number of bands who had been on the fringes of the pop world were now 'booked' to record and fill the new fashion.

The UK had a big following for the music, some of its late 50's stars such as Cliff Richard, Billy Fury and others were still making records and new 'revival' acts followed, bands like Matchbox, Darts and the 'Cod Rock' set of others 'sort of in the style of'. Many were performing their own material, some covered old hits.

The movie 'Grease' came out in 1978 and further ignited the interest, although it featured music written originally for the stage show version, which starred Shakin' Stevens for a while I beleive?

In 1980, a band called the Stray Cats hit the scene and they sounded more authentic than some of the revival offerings. Their debut hit 'Runaway Boys' sounded like a train coming past you, it was exciting, vibrant and they looked the part.

With this 70's revival, in the shadows, people started to buy up the old early 50's records, usually imported in from America by the bucket load. A scene started, reviving the clothes and bands started their own efforts at the music going.

These days it has all become rather 'serious.' People are adopting rockabilly as a 'lifestyle' not old geezers, but young people. Fitting out a house with old style furniture, dressing the part and prices for some of the artefacts and clothing from the era are getting out of reach.

A Gretsch 6120 Brian Setzer Hot Rod model

In the 1970's, the revivalists often never used the 'real' guitars the music was originally made on. The great fallacy was that everyone played a Gretsch or a Fender guitar on early recordings.

The reality was that in the 1950's, many couldn't afford one of these guitars at the time, a Gretsch 6120 being around $500USD.

The reality was that many used catalog bought guitars from the Kay range and others from Sears catalogs and the like. Often, they might not have a high fidelity amplifier and use an adapted unit someone with a bit of savvy had bodged up from what radio parts were around. Ironic that many are trying to emulate a crusty old sound with much better equipment!

So, some of our Roots Rockabilly fanciers of today adopt this 'down home' way and dig out the check shirts and strap on an old Sears guitar or something similar. That's what the hardcore does. Most others go for a Gretsch, because they give you the best sound I think.

A search on YouTube will get you any number of modern revival bands who are out there servicing a willing band of followers, not just in the UK and US but all over Europe and into Japan.

It is surprising to see how serious these people are about the music and the lifestyle.

Rockabilly, the original Frankenstein music.

And there's life in the old beast yet, just crank up the volts and bring the creation to life. Again.

But watch out for the angry villagers with their flaming torches....

Scotty Moore - Rock In Peace

Scotty Moore on guitar with Elvis Presley

It was sad to hear of the passing of Scotty Moore, guitarist with Elvis Presley during the early Sun Records recordings and career.

His guitar sound helped to define the genre that would become Rock n Roll and contributed along with the Bass of Bill Black and later the drums of DJ Fontana to the 'Elvis sound.'

We must not also leave out Sam Phillips, who was looking for a certain sound which Elvis provided.

Elvis had American Indian heritage from back on his grandmother's side of the family I recently found out.

Scotty Moore used one of the first Gold Top ES style guitars which he arranged for a very ill US Serviceman to own as a special order from Gibson, unfortunately the serviceman never got to make use of the guitar and as such the Gold colour became a staple colour, leading to the Les Paul Gold Top guitar.

One of Scotty's last interviews was in Vintage Rock magazine where he discussed his guitars. He had one of the first amplifiers that used a tape echo machine built in, which was essential to the 'slap back' sound of the early Elvis music, although this effect was created on the studio recordings by Sam Phillips using a tape machine..