BLUE MOON OF KENTUCKY, the signature song of THE BLUE MOON BOYS !
Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore on guitar, Bill Black on stand up base... a 1954 Rockabilly Classic!
Showing posts with label The Blue Moon Boys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Blue Moon Boys. Show all posts
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Monday, October 5, 2009
GRAMMY MUSEUM FIELD TRIP
Recently 24 Los Angeles County Museums staged a free day over a weekend and I took full advantage, heading for the Grammy Museum in downtown Los Angeles.
I called Wes from the museum to tell him that I just got chills when I saw the simple red jacket that Ritchie Valens had worn for his first publicity photo. Also on display was Elvis Presley's family bible circa 1936 and letters from Elvis to a fan on Blue Moon Boys era pink stationary. Can you help but compare your own handwriting to that of the famous artist? How about a letter from Buddy Holly to his mother?
The museum boasts cutting edge techological achievement. There are NEARLY 200 MUSICAL GENRES to explore and you can watch performances, listen to famous songwriters talk about collaboration (I listened to Hal David and Carole King) or play at recording in booths with famous producers coaching you from small video screens.
Now listen. We know Grammys TM and Academy Awards TM are amazing. But we also know that the vast majority of musicians, songwriters, entertainers, actors - ARTISTS - never get near such recognition but are still deserving of praise, if for no other reason than it's damn difficult to be true to yourself as an artist and make a living.
So be inspired by the Grammy Museum and then keep on doing what you do, prizes or not!
Christine Trzyna
I called Wes from the museum to tell him that I just got chills when I saw the simple red jacket that Ritchie Valens had worn for his first publicity photo. Also on display was Elvis Presley's family bible circa 1936 and letters from Elvis to a fan on Blue Moon Boys era pink stationary. Can you help but compare your own handwriting to that of the famous artist? How about a letter from Buddy Holly to his mother?
The museum boasts cutting edge techological achievement. There are NEARLY 200 MUSICAL GENRES to explore and you can watch performances, listen to famous songwriters talk about collaboration (I listened to Hal David and Carole King) or play at recording in booths with famous producers coaching you from small video screens.
Now listen. We know Grammys TM and Academy Awards TM are amazing. But we also know that the vast majority of musicians, songwriters, entertainers, actors - ARTISTS - never get near such recognition but are still deserving of praise, if for no other reason than it's damn difficult to be true to yourself as an artist and make a living.
So be inspired by the Grammy Museum and then keep on doing what you do, prizes or not!
Christine Trzyna
Saturday, October 25, 2008
(204) FERLIN HUSKY GOSPEL and PAUL REVERE AND THE RAIDERS ? REALLY!
Now, if you've read about me as a cover blurb on Cool Magazine's hipster cover in 1958, along with James Dean and Ferlin Husky, and Ferlin as one of the men on the video from a YouTube presenter said to be one of the earliest of Elvis (along with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Blue Moon Boys Bill Black and Scotty "The Guitar that Changed the World" Moore), you may be wondering "who is Ferlin Husky?" What a name? Right?
Like Elvis Presley, Ferlin Husky's a southerner who recorded Country, Country-Pop, religious music and funny songs.
Here's COUNTRYPOLITAN's Profile of Ferlin Husky: http://www.countrypolitan.com/bio-ferlin-husky.php
And above Ferlin's Official Web Site!
Ferlin recorded "Gone" in 1954 as a country song which didn't chart well, but a new producer worked on the 1957 version and he continued to sing this song throughout his career.
Now, this may seem improbable but the American Invasion of Britian continued when in 1965 the Paul Revere and the Raiders covered "Gone." Yes! Really!
UPDATED VIDEO JUNE 18, 2011
Saturday, November 24, 2007
MUSICIANS HALL OF FAME INAUGURAL - NOVEMBER 26, 2007
Friends, we are posting this notice for the new Musicians Hall of Fame, to let you know they are honoring some of those "side men," "session men," and "studio musicians" (Christine says "And where are the women?") that a lot of people don't know about. They are opening in a couple days with a big ceremony to open the museum and give these guys awards for their work.
Now James Burton was one of the musicians who worked for me in the studio before he went on to be Elvis Presley's and Scotty Moore and the Blue Moon Boys, as you know from reading this blog, was very much a part of Elvis' early success. We posted on them earlier, but to recap, Scotty is the man called "The Guitar That Changed The World." His licks such as what you hear on "Heartbreak Hotel," were key to the sound associated with Elvis. Elvis was just one of the Blue Moon Boys before it became "Elvis and The Blue Moon Boys."
Let's give a hand to these musicians whose life work it has been to give us the soundtracks of our lives!
Wes Bryan and Christine Tryzna
Link above to the MUSICIANS HALL OF FAME'S web site!
Saturday, November 3, 2007
(64) SAM PHILLIPS and SUN RECORDS : WHO DISCOVERED WHO?
When Colonel Parker bought Elvis' contract with Sam Phillips for his local Memphis label at Sun Records, he then sold Elvis to RCA for much more. Of all the artists who recorded at Sun, Elvis Presley emerged to be the most musically impactful of them all.
There' a controversy about Sam - just how interested he really ever was in Elvis - just how much insight he had that Elvis would be famous. Was he just a man who had a small struggling business who rarely turned away income or someone who was a visionary?
A woman named Marion Keister is the key here.
Elvis made his first record at Sun. A vanity recording that he paid a few dollars to record, "My Happiness," which was given to his mother as a gift. At the time he had graduated from Hume high school in Memphis a couple months earlier and was working as a parts driver for a local electric company. He was not yet with the Blue Moon Boys - Bill Black and Scotty Moore, though he may have met them here or there. He was helping support his family and still putting clothes on layaway. He made this record with Marion Keister as the producer. Of course when it came to a vanity recording there wasn't a lot of production considerations. It was basically no budget. Yet, vanity and other no budget recordings today hold the history of Rockabilly and early Rock and Roll. Marion remembered Elvis. She talked him up to Sam Phillips.
Came the day that Sam needed some singers for a project and it was Marion who suggested he call Elvis in. Sam was impressed. One thing lead to another. Marion had a background as a DJ and as a singer herself. She and Elvis would also cross paths in the military.
Sun Records is associated with many people who were in early Rockabilly and early Rock and Roll. Their attraction to the label has much to do with Sun being "it" in Memphis - the location - as well as a building reputation based on who else used the studio. No doubt as some of them succeeded others wanted the luck of the studio to rub off on them. Did Sam Phillips really "Discover" so much talent or did they "Discover" his studio?
I have to back up a bit here and say that a few people claimed to "Discover" me who were onto my road to success after I started to ride it. I always credited the Akron, Ohio photographer who insisted I looked like James Dean, Irving Waitzkin. He took me to the Beacon Journal and had photographer Bill Samaris there take photos of me for that Roto Cover that made all the difference.
Here's the History of Rock site on Sam Phillips.:
There' a controversy about Sam - just how interested he really ever was in Elvis - just how much insight he had that Elvis would be famous. Was he just a man who had a small struggling business who rarely turned away income or someone who was a visionary?
A woman named Marion Keister is the key here.
Elvis made his first record at Sun. A vanity recording that he paid a few dollars to record, "My Happiness," which was given to his mother as a gift. At the time he had graduated from Hume high school in Memphis a couple months earlier and was working as a parts driver for a local electric company. He was not yet with the Blue Moon Boys - Bill Black and Scotty Moore, though he may have met them here or there. He was helping support his family and still putting clothes on layaway. He made this record with Marion Keister as the producer. Of course when it came to a vanity recording there wasn't a lot of production considerations. It was basically no budget. Yet, vanity and other no budget recordings today hold the history of Rockabilly and early Rock and Roll. Marion remembered Elvis. She talked him up to Sam Phillips.
Came the day that Sam needed some singers for a project and it was Marion who suggested he call Elvis in. Sam was impressed. One thing lead to another. Marion had a background as a DJ and as a singer herself. She and Elvis would also cross paths in the military.
Sun Records is associated with many people who were in early Rockabilly and early Rock and Roll. Their attraction to the label has much to do with Sun being "it" in Memphis - the location - as well as a building reputation based on who else used the studio. No doubt as some of them succeeded others wanted the luck of the studio to rub off on them. Did Sam Phillips really "Discover" so much talent or did they "Discover" his studio?
I have to back up a bit here and say that a few people claimed to "Discover" me who were onto my road to success after I started to ride it. I always credited the Akron, Ohio photographer who insisted I looked like James Dean, Irving Waitzkin. He took me to the Beacon Journal and had photographer Bill Samaris there take photos of me for that Roto Cover that made all the difference.
Here's the History of Rock site on Sam Phillips.:
Sam Phillips at the Tennessee Encylopedia - Clearly a Son of the State! Link above!
Decide for yourself: With Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and many others on the Sun Label, was Sam Phillips all he's said to be?
Saturday, October 13, 2007
(48) WAITING and WONDERING WHAT'S NEXT
So, I waited for Elvis' return.
DJ - friends George Klein and Dewey Phillips waited.
His friends in Memphis and around the world waited.
His fans waited.
What would Elvis really be like after a stint in the U.S. Army? Would he still be Elvis the Pelvis? His career remained hot, thanks to his manager Colonel Parker, but would he remain true to himself?
We were not the only ones who waited and wondered.
There were a few people left behind who needed answers.
Anita Wood, the girlfriend who had been faithful, was one of them.
The once upon a time Blue Moon Boys, Scotty Moore, "The Guitar that Changed the World," Bill Black, who played stand up base, and D.J. Fontana, his drummer, wondered too. Bill, and Scotty had been the Blue Moon Boys and toured with Elvis and originally they were called the HILLBILLY CAT and THE BLUE MOON BOYS! (Fontana had been added a bit later than 1954 and featured in television performances by 1956.)
Before Elvis left, Colonel Tom Parker had taken on Elvis - and only Elvis - as his star. Colonel was his agent, manager, his everything. He did not take on the Blue Moon Boys, and they were left wondering if they had any employment with the famous Elvis or not. Would they play with him live on tour, on television, or in the studio? Hourly wages? Salary? What about a percentage of the royalties?
Heartbreak Hotel - 1956 - Elvis Presley with the Blue Moon Boys backing him. This You-Tube video presentation has Scotty Moore stepping forward to do a bit of a solo.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next blog will focus on one of the Blue Moon Boys, Scotty Moore.
DJ - friends George Klein and Dewey Phillips waited.
His friends in Memphis and around the world waited.
His fans waited.
What would Elvis really be like after a stint in the U.S. Army? Would he still be Elvis the Pelvis? His career remained hot, thanks to his manager Colonel Parker, but would he remain true to himself?
We were not the only ones who waited and wondered.
There were a few people left behind who needed answers.
Anita Wood, the girlfriend who had been faithful, was one of them.
The once upon a time Blue Moon Boys, Scotty Moore, "The Guitar that Changed the World," Bill Black, who played stand up base, and D.J. Fontana, his drummer, wondered too. Bill, and Scotty had been the Blue Moon Boys and toured with Elvis and originally they were called the HILLBILLY CAT and THE BLUE MOON BOYS! (Fontana had been added a bit later than 1954 and featured in television performances by 1956.)
Before Elvis left, Colonel Tom Parker had taken on Elvis - and only Elvis - as his star. Colonel was his agent, manager, his everything. He did not take on the Blue Moon Boys, and they were left wondering if they had any employment with the famous Elvis or not. Would they play with him live on tour, on television, or in the studio? Hourly wages? Salary? What about a percentage of the royalties?
Heartbreak Hotel - 1956 - Elvis Presley with the Blue Moon Boys backing him. This You-Tube video presentation has Scotty Moore stepping forward to do a bit of a solo.
VIDEO REMOVED APRIL 2012
There are a few books out including one on Scotty Moore that we've read, and a newer one about the Blue Moon Boys and Elvis that we haven't.We've decided not to give any thumbs up or thumbs down on books. We understand that there are numerous perspectives when it comes to Elvis Presley, and the people who surrounded him, and we will allow that each has the right to his own experience and the telling of it.
There are a few books out including one on Scotty Moore that we've read, and a newer one about the Blue Moon Boys and Elvis that we haven't.We've decided not to give any thumbs up or thumbs down on books. We understand that there are numerous perspectives when it comes to Elvis Presley, and the people who surrounded him, and we will allow that each has the right to his own experience and the telling of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next blog will focus on one of the Blue Moon Boys, Scotty Moore.
As a music producer I, and many others like me, have told a studio guitarist
"Sound like Scotty Moore."
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