THE ORIGINAL CRYPT ELVIS WAS LAID TO REST IN GOES TO AUCTION

One of many news articles saying about the same thing, Darien Julien, auctioneer, will auction Elvis' original crypt. Linking to the AP Press article by Derrik J. Lang. A note: this is the same place that Elvis' mother was laid to rest for years before Elvis died. Both bodies were moved to Graceland, though there are those who believe that they are actually secretly buried elsewhere.

78th BIRTHDAY OF ROBERT MOOG : INVENTOR OF THE MOOG SYNTHESIZER

As we get ready to take off for a long MEMORIAL DAY weekend, we want to celebrate the 78th birthday of Robert Moog, inventor of the Moog synthesizer.

We're linking to the on line WIRED magazine and an informational article, which reminds us that GOOGLE is celebrating this day with an icon you can PLAY... Have fun!

HELLO TO OUR READERS AROUND THE WORLD - FANS OF EARLY ROCK AND ROLL

Hello to Germany, Ukraine, Australia, China, France, Netherlands, New Zealand, Belgium, Japan, Italy, and Slovenia! Wes and Christine

NEW GOOGLE TRANSLATER INSTALLED : GIVE IT A TRY!

Friends, we've installed the newest GADGET provided by GOOGLE, which should translate WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC with all the latest bells and whistles working. GIVE IT A TRY. FOR NOW IT'S AT THE TOP OF THE SIDE BAR. GIVE IT A TRY EVEN IF YOU READ IN ENGLISH. Report back to us, please! Christine

(418) DINO DESI AND BILLY ON REPRISE : I'M A FOOL

Jimmy Bowen also produced DINO DESI and BILLY, and they were hot in the mid sixties. They were so young themselves their appeal was mostly to the young teens. They did a whole album of cover tunes, and had two top hits, including "I'm a Fool." They were on TV commercials, toured the country, and then faded away, moving on to other ways to have a go at life. (That they did cover tunes at this point when everybody's competition became the Beatles, who were writing most of their own songs at this point, probably hurt them.)

Dean Martin's son, Dino Martin, was the DINO. Desi Arnez is the son of the famous television comedian Lucille Ball and her Cuban band leader husband Desi (of "I Love Lucy" fame). And BILLY was a school friend of theirs, Billy Hinsche. Dino went on to act and was doing well, but when he died in an aircrash Dean's heart was broken. Some said Dean was never the same after this loss. Today, Dean's younger son Ricci Martin takes his brother's place in a revival band with Billy Hinsche leading.

FRANK SINATRA and ELVIS PRESLEY : ELVIS ON THE WELCOME HOME SPECIAL

We've subbed in this historical music video of Elvis on the Frank Sinatra Welcome Home Elvis special... The other vide we posted is sounding warped... so... enjoy this one instead! (Thanks Bart for contacting us about the warp!) This is a longer video. ELVIS sings Jimmy Bowen's STUCK ON YOU!

(417) EVERYBODY LOVES SOMEBODY SOMETIME : ESPECIALLY DEAN MARTIN ! LINK TO DEAN'S OFFICIAL SITE

We're linking to DEAN MARTIN'S OFFICIAL WEB SITE.

On it you'll see that, around Valentine's Day this year, fans voted the song "EVERYBODY LOVES SOMEBODY SOMETIME" as their all time favorite Dean Martin song. The song is a Classic cover tune, and it's probably Dean's signature song, written by Ken Lane and Irving Taylor.

The producer was Jimmy Bowen, who was hired by Frank Sinatra for his Reprise record label. The arrangement was by Ernie Freeman for the record. The song went Gold in 1964 and was thought to have revived Dean's career. (In a few years Dean would also cover the songs Glen Campbell made famous, "By The Time I Get to Phoenix," and "Gentle On My Mind.")

From the distance of the years since then it's hard to believe that talents like Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, or Frank Sinatra were considered to have been "has beens" after years of ambition, hard work, chance taking, smart decisions, creativity, building a fan base, and all the rest that comes with negotiating a career. They (as well as Elvis Presley and Glen Campbell and so many others) had their ups and downs no doubt and in the end it all comes out CLASSIC!

ANDY WARHOL DOUBLE ELVIS AUCTION : 37 MILLION

"And the buyer? According to The New York Times, the winning bidder was dealer José Mugrabi, who was once reported to have the “ world largest private stash ” of Warhol paintings — 800 of them in total. Th Wall Street Journal profile of the dealer in 2008 included one humorous incident highlighting how hard it must be to keep track of his hundreds of purchases.."

Linked to the LA Times Article - click on the title!

KEELY SMITH AND FRANK SINATRA : SO IN LOVE

(415) JAZZ SINGER KEELY SMITH ON REPRISE : PRODUCED BY (HER THEN HUSBAND) JIMMY BOWEN

So Keely Smith and Jimmy Bowen were married and they wrote this uptempo song together, which he produced on the Reprise label, owned by Frank Sinatra. The production brings together the Big Band Sound with that 60's sound of brass.

It was during the mid 1960's the Bobby Darin bought my song "The Old Prospector" for his TM Music Publishing and took it to Vegas with him to present it to Keely Smith.

KEELY SMITH : THERE'S A HOUSE PARTY TONIGHT: FROM OUR ARCHIVES POST (121)

POST (121) on KEELY SMITH From March 2008

Keely Smith and Louis Prima were one of the favorite Lounge Acts acts of Frank Sinatra and his Rat Pack in Vegas.

I thought Keely was terrific and had an amazing voice. Make that HAS an amazing voice that has only gotten better with time. Keely performed at J.F.K.'s inauguration and in the 2000's she's recording CD's and making appearances on television shows sans Louie who passed some time ago in 1978. So many of the songs she and Louie recorded were high energy and positive. They were good time party songs, fun in Vegas songs, and "There's A House Party Tonight," is one of my favorites! Now, we searched for a video of Keely and Louie and this song to no avail, but we didn't want to miss posting about them. House parties, be it Vegas, Palm Springs, or Los Angeles, were the rage. They were private parties. Parties of the rich. Elvis' kind of party.

Link above to a NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO site that features an interview with Keely.

From YouTube a Video of Louie and Keely in the mid to late fifties singing "When You're Smiling." Keely's stone face is in direct contrast to Louie and the band's energetic performance, and that's exactly what's so funny about it!

On March 22 2011 we substituted the historical music YouTube video below, which is not of the song "There's A House Party Tonight," but does document Keely's act with Louis! You could say she's the "straight man" to his exuberance!