Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll” or simply “the King”.
Posted in Because I Can, Music, The Big Screen
Guitarist Jitse Zonneveld and keys player Frank Steijns recorded in the centre of the city of Weert in the south of the Netherlands. July 17th 2021
Posted in Because I Can, Music
August 1, 1981
Posted in Because I Can, Music, The Little Screen (Television)
Gibbons, Beard and Hill – 1986
The band’s Billy Gibbons and Frank Beard issued a statement:
“We are saddened by the news today that our Compadre, Dusty Hill, has passed away in his sleep at home in Houston, TX. We, along with legions of ZZ Top fans around the world, will miss your steadfast presence, your good nature and enduring commitment to providing that monumental bottom to the ‘Top’. We will forever be connected to that ‘Blues Shuffle in C.’
“You will be missed greatly, amigo.”
Earlier this month, Gibbons and Beard played their first performances without Hill in more than 50 years, stating that the bassist had been forced to seek medical attention “to address a hip issue,” according to a statement, although his ailment was apparently more serious than they let on. “Per Dusty’s request the show must go on!,” the statement continued, and the band’s longtime guitar tech, Elwood Francis, filled in.
Hill would join Gibbons and Beard for a gig in Beaumont, TX, on Feb. 10, 1970. The lineup remained the same for more than five decades: They celebrated their 50th anniversary at a San Antonio concert in February 2020.
Dusty hill has zoomed on out…
Thank you for 50 years of fantastic rock and roll!
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The ever-evolving Foo Fighters, performing as the Dee Gees, played an absolutely spot-on, groovy cover of the classic Bee Gees disco song “You Should Be Dancing”. Frontman Dave Grohl, with the help of some really talented backup singers, matched the high timbre of Barry Gibb‘s legendary falsetto without appearing to break a sweat.
Kristoffer “Kris” Kristofferson is an influential American country music songwriter, singer and actor. He is best known for hits such as “Me and Bobby McGee”, “Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down”, and “Help Me Make It Through the Night”.
Kris Kristofferson (June 22, 1936 – )
Posted in Music, The Big Screen
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll” or simply “the King”.
Posted in Because I Can, Music, The Big Screen
Rock legend Eddie Van Halen didn’t set out to change the way the guitar was played. But, as he explained to a standing-room-only crowd at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, music shaped his life—and his life shaped his music—in unexpected ways from his very first performances. – link
Thank you, Eddie for your music. The great big band in the sky just added a kick-ass guitarist. What a jam session there will be tonight.
Eddie Van Halen, founding member of Van Halen, and guitar virtuoso extraordinaire, died today at age 65.
Article about Eddie at the Oral Cancer Foundation here
We came here with approximately $50 and a piano, and we didn’t speak the language, he said. Now look where we are. “If that’s not the American dream, what is?” he said.
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Mac Davis has died at age 78 from complications from heart surgery. Davis was an American country music singer and songwriter originally from Lubbock, Texas.
He is credited as writing “Memories”, “In the Ghetto”, “Don’t Cry Daddy”, and “A Little Less Converstation” for Elvis Presley, and a career in the 70s produced hits such as “Baby, Don’t Get Hooked on Me” and “Hard to Be Humble.”
He starred in his own variety TV show, a Broadway musical, and did TV and film as well.
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Minecraft Abbey Road
Beatles Abbey Road
Abbey Road is the eleventh studio album by the English rock band the Beatles, released on September 26, 1969 in the United Kingdom and on October 1, 1969 in the United States. The recording sessions for the album were the last in which all four Beatles participated. Although Let It Be was the final album that the Beatles completed before the band’s dissolution in April 1970, most of that album had been recorded before the Abbey Road sessions began.
Posted in Because I Can, Music
The King of Rock and Roll teams up with TV’s reigning variety program, as Elvis Presley appears on “The Ed Sullivan Show” for the first time on September 9, 1956.
After earning big ratings for “The Steve Allen Show,” the Dorsey Brothers “Stage Show” and “The Milton Berle Show,” Sullivan finally reneged on his Presley ban, signing the controversial singing star to an unprecedented $50,000 contract for three appearances.
With 60 million viewers—or 82.6 percent of TV viewers at the time—tuning in, the appearance garnered the show’s best ratings in two years and became the most-watched TV broadcast of the 1950s.
Although “The Ed Sullivan Show” was filmed in New York, Presley performed remotely from CBS’s Los Angeles studio (he was filming his first movie, “Love Me Tender,” in California). At the time, his first album, “Elvis Presley” had already debuted and “Heartbreak Hotel” was a hit single, but he wasn’t quite yet “The King.”
On the variety show, Presley, then 21, was introduced by British actor Charles Laughton, who was filling in for Sullivan that night, as the legendary host was at home recovering from a serious car accident. Presley performed “Don’t Be Cruel,” Little Richard’s “Ready Teddy” and “Hound Dog” and viewers got a full head-to-toe look at the singer despite fears of “vulgar” hip-shaking gyrations. He also sang “Love Me Tender” and, according to Variety, “For the first time in the history of the record business, a single record has achieved one million sales before being released to the public.”
Presley, clad in a plaid jacket, told the audience performing on the show was “probably the greatest honor I have ever had in my life,” before kicking things off with “Don’t Be Cruel.” He said, “Thank you, ladies,” to the screaming fans and then introduced “Love Me Tender” as “completely different from anything we’ve ever done.”
During his second segment, Presley sang “Ready Teddy” and “Hound Dog.” Laughton’s closing remarks that night? “Well, what did someone say? Music hath charms to soothe the savage beast?”
“When it was over, parents and critics, as usual, did a lot of futile grumbling at the vulgarity of this strange phenomenon that must somehow be reckoned with,” a reviewer for Time magazine wrote at the time.
Other guests that night included singers Dorothy Sarnoff and Amru Sani, a comedy act from novelty quartet The Vagabonds, a tap dancing duo and an acrobat act.
During his second performance on October 28, 1956, Presley once again performed “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Hound Dog” along with “Love Me Tender.” And during his third and final performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on January 6, 1957, he sang seven songs, including the gospel song “Peace in the Valley,” over three segments, but the episode is most famously remembered for TV censors refusing to show Elvis below the waist.
At the end of his performance, however, Sullivan called Presley “a real decent, fine boy. … We’ve never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we’ve had with you.”
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“2020 is going to snow yellow snow.” – X33n
Reference to:
Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known mononymously as Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll” or simply “the King”.
Posted in Because I Can, Music, The Big Screen
