That night that Elvis and his guys burst into the Wink Martindale's dance party show, Elvis drove us to Graceland in his new stretch limo. Riding next to Elvis as he drove was his girlfriend Anita Wood. Gladys Presley, Elvis' mother, thought Anita was the perfect girlfriend for him. She ran her own radio show, (Anita Wood was one of the early women in radio broadcasting), and she had recorded songs herself. Perhaps more than all that, Anita Wood was all for Elvis' success. She was familiar with the music business and touring, and she knew the lifestyle he lead. Anita Wood, as a recording artist, was known as one of the "Memphis Belles."
Cliff Gleaves, a once hotter than hot hep cat disc jockey, who had given it up to travel with Elvis - by Elvis' invitation, kept clicking his fingers. He kept saying "We have James Dean in the car with us!" The guys put me through the James Dean poses and I was glad to oblige.
Cliff Gleaves and Anita Wood had something in common with Elvis in that they had both recorded on Sun, the small label that Sam Phillips had in Memphis, where local talent paid for vanity recordings and small budget records were recorded. Most of these recordings were not hits in terms of the way we think of hits now, but small labels did provide local and regional music, and the special flavor of music emerging in Memphis, with local musicians and local talent, is preserved in Sun recordings. Anita recorded a song called "I'll Wait Forever," at Sun and as things turned out, she didn't exactly wait for Elvis, but she did date him for years.
Cliff Gleaves, a once hotter than hot hep cat disc jockey, who had given it up to travel with Elvis - by Elvis' invitation, kept clicking his fingers. He kept saying "We have James Dean in the car with us!" The guys put me through the James Dean poses and I was glad to oblige.
Cliff Gleaves and Anita Wood had something in common with Elvis in that they had both recorded on Sun, the small label that Sam Phillips had in Memphis, where local talent paid for vanity recordings and small budget records were recorded. Most of these recordings were not hits in terms of the way we think of hits now, but small labels did provide local and regional music, and the special flavor of music emerging in Memphis, with local musicians and local talent, is preserved in Sun recordings. Anita recorded a song called "I'll Wait Forever," at Sun and as things turned out, she didn't exactly wait for Elvis, but she did date him for years.
ROCKIN COUNTRY STYLE DISCOGRAPHY - CLIFF CLEAVES link -click title!
Anita Wood's songs are included on Sun Recordscompilation disks.
Anita Wood's songs are included on Sun Recordscompilation disks.
UPDATE April 2012 A New Music Video!
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