WE'RE MOVING OUR STORY FORWARD THROUGH 1964!

Friends, we've decided to move forward in our story while continuing to update. We've kind of been doing that over the last couple weeks anyway, and though we like the smooth flow of the story, we also don't mind interrupting that with posts such as the recent ebay auction of old photos of me and records that I wrote songs on.

We are always open to finding pennies from heaven right on the pavement we walk on!

We'll be inserting some older posts with great stories from our archives between new ones.

Back when we started blogging Youtube was a brand new thing and we were not sure of it and didn't know if we should include videos in our blog - even though this is a MUSIC BLOG - and the whole INTERNET was burgeoning; we were just learning. Well, we're still learning. And in the process of updating we've been realizing we forgot a few artists along the way!

Some of these people should really be included in this blog because if I met them, knew them, worked with them, became friends with them, or was inspired by them, they belong here!

If these artists are still with us, I hope to hear from them, and if they aren't this blog serves to give them the honor they deserve!

Wes Bryan and Christine Trzyna

FROM OUR ARCHIVES (246) BOBBY DARIN stars with NICK ADAMS

(246) BOBBY DARIN stars with NICK ADAMS

My friend Bobby Darin came out to LA from New York to pursue an acting career, had a whirlwind romance with actress Sandra Dee, and married her. I got to pitch songs to him on the set of some of their movies and in the offices of his music publishing house. Bobby continued to make television appearances as a singer, as he did on the Judy Garland show, while pursing an acting career.

Bobby made a World War II story film in 1962 that also stared Nick Adams, my friend and Elvis'.

(261) VISITING ELVIS ON SET of KID GALAHAD

Elvis had three movies that came out in 1962. When Elvis was filming he took his roles very seriously. He could read a script through once and remember his lines but he called it a night early to get a good night sleep if he had to be up early for filming.

While Elvis was filming "Kid Galahad," I went to see him and the entourage as it existed at the time (no one used the term Memphis Mafia yet - that was coined by a reporter some time later). The guys were simply "his guys," and the role they played in Elvis' life was that every one of them had a job to do. Their jobs ranged, over time, and depending on the person's capabilities, from keeping the cars detailed to finding out about beautiful women he expressed interest in. I never worked for Elvis.

Elvis' had a little house to stay in, in Big Bear, during the filming. That's where we all relaxed with Elvis, after a day of filming.



There are a lot of Kid Galahad music videos on YouTube. We picked this one because the film makers picked up on the fact that Elvis loved to have a lot of guys around, guys with musical talent, singing with him.

(151) THE ACADEMY AWARDS

I attended the Academy Awards a couple times because Phil Sadona, who was on the board of the Academy liked me and gave me tickets. He was one of the people who felt that I should not give up on acting. Phil had once had a contract with 20th Century Fox at the same time as Marilyn Monroe, my favorite actress. He had curly black hair and looked like the old actor Errol Flynn. He used the stage name Tony Roman when he was an actor.

There is always controversy over the Academy Awards and how the Academy selects the winners. But I believe that the Academy Awards has elevated the art of acting and that this is a coveted and desireable acheivement to be recognized by them.