(184) PAT BOONE MIGHT'VE BEEN ELVIS' BIGGEST COMPETITOR ! 12 GOLD RECORDS BY 1961

My voice had once been compared to his...You may find this hard to believe today, but there was one person who was better liked during the early Rock and Roll era by the general public than Elvis, and that was Pat Boone, who never did have that dark edge of a Rock-a-billy artist that Elvis had and had a wider audience.

Now friends, we're still in the cover tune era here, so you'll find if you look at who recorded what and when you'll find that songs that Pat recorded were later recorded by other artists we mention. For instance, Pat recorded "Moody River," in 1961 and the next year Johnny Burnette recorded it. So do you think I was pitching songs to Pat?

You'd better believe it. Pat started his own publishing company called Cooga Mooga! (Guess who eventually did some work for Pat there?)

Here's Pat on the Lawrence Welk show singing "Moody River," and then Johnny Burnette's 1962 version, as presented by YouTube video-ers. As Lawrence mentions, Pat had 12 Gold Records by the time he did this show.

Pat Boone on the Welk singing "Moody River."

Johnny Burnette covering "Moody River," (and sounding very Elvis-like.)

Now a little later, when Frank Sinatra gets his own label, Reprise, he records "Moody River" too. Here's his swinging 60's version. My co-worker at American Music, Jimmy Bowen went to Reprise as Frank's producer.

No replacement for Johnny Burnette. Frank's version of "Moody River." VIDEOS RELACED APRIL 2011

(181) DORSEY BURNETT - THE DYING EMBER

While a staff songwriter at American Music, I wrote this song with Fred Horton. Fred wasn't staff but the owner-boss Sylvester Cross OK'd him. The song was meant for Elvis Presley but Dorsey got it - long story- and recorded it first. I think of this song as one of my best. Read our other blogs about Dot Records by using the search feature of this GOOGLE blog!

QUOTE on ARTISTS by ?

"A person who works with their hands is a laborer.
A person who works with their hands and mind is a craftsman.
A person who works with their hands, mind, and soul is an artist."

THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THIS BLOG : THANK YOU TO OUR FRIENDS

Wes and I have had a year of adventures with this blog, a year of being reunited with old friends and of recalling great memories of his life in music, as it has intertwinned with some great people in the business; artists, singers, songwriters, producers...

We want to thank and send our love to those who have been supportive of us through the process of writing his memoirs and the process of making the index for that book come alive here with sound clips, videos, websites and photos.

Christine Trzyna & Wes Bryan

ELVIS ! UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!

A lot of fans will be in Memphis for the anniversary of Elvis Presley's death today. Elvis Week officially is August 9 -17th this year. Early in this blog I remembered how his death effected me personally. In fact, the idea of having a blog about my life in the music business had a lot to do with Elvis and my friendship with him. Few people, even those of us who had fate on our side when talent and hardwork were not enough, get to become as famous and loved as Elvis Presley. And I had the good fortune to be able to count the man as one of my friends! One of my best friends in a life full of friends!

This is what Elvis said to me one time when I was feeling down about my career. He said, "Wes, you're a good human being and that's be'en a success in my book."

I LOVE AND MISS ELVIS! I believe he goes on in Eternal Life and God knows he remains an inspiration to many people today. So many of his fan clubs have followed in his path of generosity!