ELECTION DAY ! A NEW PRESIDENT BY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT !

Friends if you are reading this, right now, and you HAVE NOT YET VOTED Please go now to the polls! Participate in a historic American event.

Check back tomorrow to read more about my life in music...

Wes

(206) ELVIS - INTO THE HOLIDAYS

My friend Elvis Presley lived in Los Angeles during the years he was making movies. His houses in the early 1960's were party houses he rented in Bel Air. I was a frequent guest there, welcome to stay entire weekends if it suited me and often it did. I had some of the best times of my life there.

Of course Elvis loved his family a great deal and when he was feeling sentimental for the South, he would head for Graceland TM for the holidays. Perhaps for that reason there is no better time of the year to see the house than decorated for the holidays, especially Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The Elvis I knew was a dichotomy in his way. He was a famous Rock and Roller and a sensualist, but also a Gospel Singer, a devout believer in Christ, with great loyalty to family and his family of friends. To be part of his musical Rock and Roll family at the house was a honor.

TRICK OR TREAT ? ? ? ANDY KAUFMAN - ELVIS IMPERSONATOR on JOHNNY CASH SHOW

Andy Kaufman, a Saturday Night Live comedian, took his act to the television show "Taxi" and as a stand-up comic around the country. A devoted Elvis fan, this impersonation makes you forget you're looking at Andy.

Andy Kaufman was ELVIS' favorite impersonator. Andy used to work at Jerry's Deli in Sherman Oaks, California, as a waiter. Wes

BOB DYLAN Quote on ELVIS PRESLEY

"When I first heard Elvis' voice I just knew that I wasn't going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail." - Bob Dylan

(205) BOBBY DARIN COVERS NAT KING COLE'S HIT : NATURE BOY

Bobby Darin and I became friends in New York before he left for Hollywood. In 1961 he coverd "Nature Boy," a song first made famous by Nat King Cole in 1948 which was a number one hit for Nat. Eden Ahbez was the song writer. Eden figured in the early 1960's music scene around Sunset Boulevard and The Source Restaurant, one of the first organic-natural foods kind of places in Southern California.

OLD EXPIRED VIDEO REPLACED APRIL 2012 new link BOBBY DARIN'S OFFICIAL WEBSITE.

Here's Nat King Cole's original version.



See our previous blogs about Nat King Cole and Bobby Darin by using the search feature of this Google Blogger.

(182) GLEN CAMPBELL RECORDS JERRY CAPEHEART'S TURN AROUND LOOK AT ME

Jerry Capehart was the man who signed me to American Music. (I've seen Jerry's surname spelled Capeheart and Capehart by the way, and I don't remember which he preferred.) I was honored to be signed by a man who was a great songwriter himself. Jerry and I remained friends until he also passed into Eternal Life.

This is the YouTube video of Glen Campbell singing Jerry's "Turn Around Look At Me."

Versions of Jerry's hit song were later recorded by the Vogues and Elvis Presley. This one, the original circa 1961, came out on Crest Records. Guess who owned Crest Records? Sylvester Cross who owned American Music! And guess who was a staff songwriter at American Music? Glen!

VIDEO REPLACED MARCH 2013 ]

(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

I'LL ALWAYS BE YOURS - BOBBY DENTON on JUDD RECORDS

Bobby Denton recorded "I'll Always Be Yours" on the Judd label. The label was owned by Jud Phillips, the brother of Sam Phillips.

(203) BOBBY DENTON RCS DISCOGRAPHY

Bobby Denton is now known as a Senator - the Singing Senator - but like a lot of us, starting out he was a southerner, and a singer hoping to be a star, who turned to his roots and religious Christian mustic.
I'm proud to say that Bobby has recorded and performed songs that I wrote.

Here's Bobby on RCS Discography:

http://rcs.law.emory.edu/rcs/artists/d/dent3600.htm


http://www.bobbydenton.com/ THE SINGING SENATOR ! - His Official Site!


Like Texas, Tennessee, and other United States, Alabama takes pride in its own!
http://www.alamhof.org/bobbydenton.html THE ALABAMA MUSIC HALL OF FAME

CHRISTINE WHITE - I MISS YOU!

The recent news that actor Paul Newman had gone to Eternal Life made me think about my early New York days and taking classes at Actors Studio. I met Paul Newman in New York and Joanne Woodward on a Greyhound bus; we were both bussing it back home to North Carolina.

In those days my friend Christine White, James Dean's good friend, and Joanne were up for a lot of the same roles.

I miss you Christine White!

Love ya!

Wes

(202) RCS DISCOGRAPHY - THE JUDD RECORD LABEL - The Other PHILLIPS

Click on the title above to get to the Judd Record label's page for RCS discography. Judd was owned by a brother of Sam Phillips (of Sun Records fame), Jud Phillips, who lived in Alabama. The label had a studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and in Nashville, Tennessee. A fellow who's now a Senator, Bobby Denton, was once a singer who recorded at Judd...

JOHNNY CASH IMPERSONATING ELVIS !

This YouTube video of Johnny Cash impersonating Elvis The Pelvis - or trying to - is a lot of fun!



Elvis was usually honored when one of his friends tried to sound like him and he had a good sense of humor about impersonators. Thousands of individuals today make some small living at being Elvis impersonators, some make a good living at it. Andy Kauffman and Eddie Murphy are two commedians who've impersonated Elvis.

(201) RCS DISCOGRAPHY THE SUN RECORD LABEL and SAM PHILLIPS

Using the RCS Discography site that we just bragged so much about, let's take a a look at the SUN record Label. As we know, so very many artists who made it big made their first recordings at this Memphis recording studio. If you've read our recent posting about the earliest video of Elvis ever made (also posted below) you may see that he was there backstage somewhere with a group that included Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins, who were an original Sun recording artist too, as was Charlie Rich, Billy Lee Riley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, and many others.

Click on the Title Above to get to the exact page for the Sun label's RCS Discography...

Below Edwards and Callahan give their Sun Records Story...

BSNPUBS - EDWARDS AND CALLAHAM - THE SUN RECORD LABEL  link

RCS DISCOGRAPHY WE THANK YOU AGAIN!

We are so lucky to have a great resource like RCS discography on the Internet. This volunteer project is a real labor of love and ROCKIN COUNTRY STYLE DISCOGRAPHY WAS PROBABLY THE FIRST SITE ON THE INTERNET TO HAVE A PAGE for me, WES BRYAN, which got us interested and then hooked. Since we're going to talk about Sun records and then Judd records a bit this is a good place to mention how grateful we are to have RCS!

We're talking here about early Rock and Roll - Rockabilly- Rockin Country Style and one of the most fascinating things about that era was that it was the time of small regional labels. So using the LABEL search feature we can go right to them and see who they were recording, hear sound samples, get profiles and pictures in some cases.

Now folks, RCS can't take donations as things are set up, but you can always express your appreciation in other ways. Send them a note in the U.S. mail or an e-mail ! Or get involved if you have some records you are willing to share for a time so that more clips can be uploaded! The volunteer team there headed up by Terry Gordon has done a great job of supplying music clips as well as photos of actual records and covers.

Using the GEOGRAPHICAL search is a fascinating way to see what SMALL LABELS existed and who recorded on them. Elvis Presley and so many others walked into Sun Records in Memphis to produce a recording - vanity or low budget. Other Rockabilly and Country artists to be were doing so all over America in smaller towns and markets. Go to the state and the town/label and give a listen to a local hopeful giving it their all! You can also use the RCS LABEL search to see who was recording at Sun besides Elvis and get a feel for the body of work from a particular studio.

CLICK ON THE TITLE ABOVE TO GET TO

THE RCS MAIN PAGE !

(199) CLIFF RICHARD the BRITISH ELVIS - GOING STRONG 50 YEARS

Cliff Richard is one of those British artists who has been made a Sir by the Queen, like Paul McCartney and Elton John, for his achievements in the music business. His backing band in the late 1950's and early 1960's was called The Shadows and in the early 1960's he was running on the British charts before the Beatles.

Though Cliff Richards was considered to be "The British Elvis" and has had a career that spans decades and is still performing today, for some reason he never caught on in the United States and has remained a British phenomenon. Mysterious indeed! Because Cliff has sold singles and albums - millions - just like Elvis.

Could it be that because we Americans had Elvis we didn't need Cliff too?

Of course Cliff has an official site!Link above! He's very near 50 years of success!

Take a look at his fan club which has a picture of Cliff when he was very young.
http://www.cliff-guaranteed.co.uk/

Here's a circa 1961 video of Cliff and the Shadows. Cliff was called "A Living Doll."

VIDEO REMOVED JANUARY 2012

Guess who did a cover of Fabian's hit "Turn Me Loose?"

(198) EDDIE COCHRAN 20 FLIGHT ROCK and PAUL MC CARTNEY

The "20 Flight" refers to 20 stairs on a staircase... His "20 Flight Rock" is a humorous Rockabilly song that was a hit about 1957. Eddie Cochran died in 1960 but by then he had captured the interest of a few young upstarts who would become the Beatles.

Here's Eddie Cochran playing "20 Flight Rock" thanks to a YouTube presenter:

Paul McCartney talks about meeting John Lennon and playing Eddie Cochran's 20 Flight Rock on a right handed guitar... He says that because he knew all the words John was impressed and that's probably how he got to be in the Beatles.

In England, "20 Flight Rock" was covered by Cliff Richard, one of the British "Elvis's.

UPDATED July 2012 ROCKIN COUNTRY STYLE DISCOGRAPHY FOR EDDIE COCHRAN

VIDEOS REMOVED January 2012

WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC RIGHTS INFORMATION

Once in a while we'll be posting a notice like this one that reminds readers that the content of this blog is Copyright Wes Bryan and Christine Trzyna with all rights reserved including Internet and International Rights.

If interested in speaking to me, Wes Bryan, please contact us at the e-mail address we've provided. (By the way folks, don't phish us or spam us, or try to scam us; We report it all and block offenders addresses!)

We are linking to a good many web sites, favoring the official web sites of various famous and important people as well as reference sites and YouTube video. If we link to your site or a video you uploaded and you don't want us to reference it, please let us know, and we'll take down the link. The content of other people's sites remains their own.

Thank you for your consideration and courtesy.

Christine Trzyna & Wes Bryan

http://wesbryan.blogspot.com WES BRYAN - MY LIFE IN MUSIC
e-mail : wewritethebook@yahoo.com

WES BRYAN - COOL MAGAZINE

Here's one of the magazines I was mentioned in back in March of 1958 as the New James Dean. It had an article about James "Jimmy" Dean as well. (That's another fellow on the cover - another hipster!) The comparisons of me and James Dean went on and on. More than one man hoped to fill those big shoes James Dean left but I was the one with United Artists behind me. I was being groomed by United Artists to play Jimmy in a "Bio Pic" about his life, which was never meant to be. But about this time in New York I met the great actor Paul Newman. He said to me, "There's a great need to fill James Dean's shoes and you're it!

Oh - that's Ronnie Burns on the cover... Guess who his dad was? George Burns. That's right. George who gave Ann-Margret her start in Las Vegas! If I remember the photo spread inside, it had Ronnie at home pool side with a lot of sexy girls sitting around him...

A Note on the First Video Ever of ELVIS (?) posted below by Wes Bryan

Christine Trzyna here: Wes and I were looking at the YouTube video we posted last week that is proposed to be the first film footage of Elvis ever. Wes identified the people in the video (as you look on the screen) as Bill Black to the right of Elvis, Scotty Moore "The Guitar That Changed The World" to the right. Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Ferlin Husky, a country singer who was on the Grande Old Opry. So we think that this video is of Elvis Presley in his incarnation as the lead singer for the Blue Moon Boys on or at the Grande Old Opry.

Ferlin Husky is also in this video.

(196) CARL PERKINS : THE BEATLES : HONEY DON'T

Carl Perkins Rockabilly recording on Sun Records "Honey Don't..."When The Beatles recording the same song with the Mersey Beat it was a rare recording of the drummer, Ringo Starr, singing... "Rock on George."

VIDEOS REPLACED MARCH 2014



RUN THE NAME RINGO STAR THROUGH THE SEARCH FEATURE ON THIS BLOG and you'll find out about the recent museum show on Ringo! )

PAUL NEWMAN - MY LIFE IN ACTING AND HIS

P A U L N E W M A N

The great actor Paul Newman passed into Eternal Life last week at the age of 83. He first acted in a Broadway play in 1953 and it was in New York that I first met Paul in about 1958.

During my first tour for United Artists of the South, I did a radio performance show in Saint Louis, Missouri with the actress Geraldine Page. So Geraldine asked me to call her when I got back to New York and in New York she invited me to go see The Sweet Bird of Youth, which Paul was in. We went backstage and I met Paul. Paul invited me to Downeys to get a couple Budweiser's. That was the same restaurant that I met columnist Earl Wilson in when he interviewed me for the New York Times.

Paul said to me, "There's a great need for an actor to take Jimmy's (James Dean) place and you're it!"

Paul Newman was a few years older than James Dean when they both auditioned for East of Eden. James Dean got the roll in part because Paul was thought to be too old for the role.

Paul was a very private person and he didn't talk about it with me, but I knew that Paul had never gotten over the death of James Dean. The James Dean that impressed Paul Newman was not only the actor but the race car driver. Paul fullfilled every dream that James Dean had about racing cars!

Wes Bryan

C 2008

(195) GENE VINCENT and ELVIS PRESLEY BE BOP A LULA !

Here's an early Elvis Presley recording of Gene Vincent's Be Bop A Lula!



Gene in France singing Be Bop A Lula years past its 1958 debut...



Use the Search feature of this Google Blogger to see what else we've had to say about Gene Vincent.

(194) CHUCK BERRY ROLLS OVER THE STONES, THE BEATLES (And A Whole Lot of Other Bands) WITH ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN !

The Rolling Stones cite Chuck Berry as one of their prime influences and inspirations and they've proven it by recording or playing in concert a good number of the songs Chuck wrote. Chuck Berry's "Roll Over Beethoven" has been recorded by so very many artists, the Rolling Stones and the Beatles are just a couple of them.

Chuck Berry's ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN :



Here's John Lennon's recording of the song:


Leon Russel's version:

(193) JOHNNY B. GOODE, CHUCK BERRY AND JOHNNY LENNON

Chuck Berry wrote so many Rock and Roll songs that become classics and were covered and recorded by other artists he made more in residuals than he ever did performing himself.

Here's Chuck performing one of his most covered classics, Johnny B. Goode.


Here's a YouTube presentation of a rare recording (says the owner) of the Beatles covering Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode. John Lennon especially loved Chuck Berry.



When Elvis was performing at the International, he did a Johnny B. Goode cover that was fantastic. Here's one YouTuber's contribution from a 1969 performance there...