HAPPY 80th BIRTHDAY DICK CLARK!

Today is Dick Clark's 80th birthday and we want to acknowledge his contribution to the music of the 20th and 21st century and to Wes' career! (Wes appeared on his show singing "Tiny Spaceman" and a year or so later, "Freeze.") Happy Birthday, Dick!

(280) STATE FAIR - PAT BOONE - ANN-MARGRET - BOBBY DARIN

The movie STATE FAIR, which came out in 1962, stared my friend Bobby Darin, as well as Pat Boone. I'd begun to work with and for at Pat's production company called Cooga Mooga.

One more person who we'll be blogging a bit about in the future, someone all Elvis Presley fans know to be very important to his story, the exciting singer, dancer, and actress Ann-Margret, also stared in this film.

We're linking to the IMDB on State Fair as a link so click on the title above if you want to go there!

Here's Ann singing with Pat...

THE BLOG DOESN'T GIVE AWAY THE BOOK!

ON THIS THANKSGIVING DAY, I want to say THANK YOU to WES BRYAN, who I've had the great experience of working with, and who I've learned so much from.

Some of our readers spend seconds, others read a new blog post or two, others may turn on our YOUTUBE Station and read for an hour or so. Until recently Wes and I were not aware of our readership. The news left us both surprised and happy because we started this blog in August of 2007 taking it one blog day at a time...and this really is a labor of love so we're loving it.

A lot of people are asking WHAT ABOUT YOUR BOOK?

Does the blog give away the book?

The answer is no! We feel that the blog is like bringing the INDEX of our book, which is his memoir, alive. We understand that our readership includes fans of ELVIS PRESLEY, BUDDY KNOX, ERSEL HICKEY, JOHNNY RIVERS.... and so many other early rock and rollers. We're their music fans too.

We know our book will appeal to music historians, but the book, which we have a wonderful secret title for, (Wes has spoken to the press about it only slightly, calling it "THE LONELY IDOL") is coming from the heart ... and whose heart is not for capture?  

 

Robert Frost said that if the writer sheds no tears writing, the reader won't either. We shed tears.

THANKS to our READERS, past, present, and future.

Here we come Electronic Media and Good Ol Books !

(OK, I'm still trying on taking a Kindle to bed with me!)

Christine Trzyna

DION Quote AT THE 25th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME

"The younger generation went to the school of "The Wanderer" and "Runaround Sue." - Dion

Quoted in the November 26, 2009 Rolling Stone Magazine - out early!

THE MYSTERY OF PETER JAMES - NO HE IS NOT P.J. PROBY

"Peter James is a real person. He is not P.J. Proby or someone else, recording under a fake name. I met him working with Jerry Capeheart at American Music. I saw him record at United Western. He did demos but he was also a producer. He was a white fellow, about 6 feet tall, thin, dark hair, and he wore an eye-patch!"

That's what Wes Bryan had to say when I asked him to help solve the Peter James Mystery that has been the talk of rockabilly and early rock and roll fans on YouTube recently.

I also contacted P.J. Proby and he says he never recorded under the name Peter James.

My own internet research brought up no evidence that Peter James continued to work after this period. But there is something new on the net everyday.

So if Peter James is out there, please contact us!

Christine Trzyna

ROBERT PLANT on ELVIS PRESLEY from Rolling Stone Magazine

From the November 27, 2009 Rolling Stone Magazine, Led Zeppelin's old singer Robert Plant wrote why Elvis Presley is his choice for one of the 100 Greatest Singers of all time. Elvis rated #3 by the way.

"I know he wanted to express more. But what he did was he made it possible for me, as a singer, to become otherworldly."

-Robert Plant

Link to ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE here!

VETERANS DAY !

HELLO TO RED WEST and CONGRADULATIONS !

We're linking to IMDb movie database for the career of Red West, who was one of Elvis Presley's friends - and body guards - for many years. Red and I wrote a few songs together when I was up at the house. I consider him a friend to this day.

Red had bit parts in Elvis' movies and then committed to an acting career. As you can see from looking at the database he has managed to get a role a year for some time and he's no quitter. RIGHT NOW "Father of Invention," is in post production and he's working on TBK" The Toolbox Murders."

ELVIS WOULD BE PROUD OF RED !

Here's Red's MySpace. Click! Doesn't look like he has much time to update it but...

http://www.myspace.com/red1936

Were Reading GQ MAGAZINE November 2009 on JERRY LEE LEWIS

JERRY LEE LEWIS WILL NOT GO TO HELL by Chris Health is the writer and we can't link to the article so run out and buy the magazine won't you?

"Such myths seemed to envelop Jerry Lee Lewis long ago. He was the crazy one who had burned both ends of every candle he could find; the rock n roll pioneer who did plenty that no one had done before and more than a little than no one would ever see the need to do again; who had enjoyed grand triumphs and a series of unimaginable tragedies; who would find himself adrift, surrounded by darkness he had sought out for himself and a whole load of darkness that had been thrown upon him; who was riven by the pulls of what he believed to be right and what simply felt right at the time; who was swamped by legend and history and rumor."