Elvis Presley – My Happiness (1953)
Elvis Presley with his cousin, Gene (1953) “My Happiness” is the first song Elvis ever recorded. It was tracked in the summer of 1953 at Sun Studios in Memphis. Elvis didn’t plan on doing anything with the recording. He just wanted to hear how his voice sounded. The rest is history. Listen to it HERE: … Read more
Jack Kittel – Psycho (Hard to Find 45′s)
So it’s been awhile since my last “Hard to Find 45″ post, and I know that you’re all DYING to hear a new, obscure tune. The following song is probably the eeriest “Hard to Find 45″ post yet. “Psycho” was originally written in 1966 by blind songwriter Leon Payne (who wrote songs for Hank Williams, … Read more
Karlheinz Weinberger Photography
“The outfits in Karlheinz Weinberger’s photos might seem at first glance artificially produced, some over-stylized exaggerations from a Kenneth Anger movie. But the kids in Weinberger’s photographs are very real rockers from the late ’50s and early ’60s in Zurich who built a community out of a shared love for Elvis and American music. A new book of Weinberger’s … Read more
The Little Red Riders Book
NIGEL:…look this, this miniature bread. It’s like…I’ve been working with this now for about half an hour. I can’t figure it out…let’s say I want a bite, right, you’ve got like this… IAN: You’d like bigger bread? NIGEL: Exactly! (This Is Spinal Tap, 1984) I recently came across a book called The Little Red Riders … Read more
Sam Cooke
(Post originally published for The Vinyl District – 4/26/2010) I could write volumes upon volumes on what Sam Cooke’s voice means to me. More so than any other vocalist – or musician for that matter – Sam Cooke has always hit my ears the hardest (and softest for that matter) – has pulled my heartstrings the most. … Read more
Jacksonism
Greil Marcus: “Jackson-ism produced the image of a pop explosion, an event in which pop music crosses political, economic, geographic and racial barriers; in which a new world is suggested. Michael Jackson occupied the center of American cultural life: no other black artist had ever come close.But a pop explosion not only links those otherwise … Read more
