August 17th, 2006
This entry was posted on August 18, 2006 9:04 AM and is filed under Music.
August 17th, 2006
Last night as I was flipping through the channels before I hit the sack, I came across an Elvis Presley movie and realized that 29 years ago Elvis died. I have always thought Elvis was one of the "coolest" entertainers of all time, right up there with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. I believed Elvis was the "King of Rock and Roll," only because of the period of time he entered the music scene. In my humble opinion it was the black artists/pioneers of the day, people like, Louie Jordan, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and all those southern blues artist who some of us never heard before that actual invented "Rock and Roll." Elvis was good looking, he had massive sex appeal and was actually a good thing at the time for the other pioneers because through Elvis, "rock and roll" became internationally accepted.
SIDE BAR; I have to laugh when I think that Michael Jackson named himself the "King of Pop." I'm from the Midwest, ... "pop" is soda to me. My father taught me never to brag about yourself, he said: "If others are not blowing your horn, it means that your horn really isn't worth blowing." Michael would have been named something, but by calling himself the "King of Pop," he dropped about 5 notches on my personal "Star-o-meter." (The sexual molestation trials and him leaving America after his last trial didn't help with his credibility either!)
Years ago, I performed the "Elvis" show in our band "Jade 50's." Yes, ... I had the jumpsuits, the sunglasses, a wig and everything. (photo on the website.) Back then we were a '50's - '60's review and I must admit we were very good and very funny.
The second act of our show was our "Elvis" set.
In the mid-1970's we were performing in Rochelle, Illinois, about 25 miles west of DeKalb. The club was called "The Garage" and it was packed. I think it held about 500 hundred people and there were at least 650 people there on that hot summer night.
At the start of the second act, ... the lights went black, the synthesizer and drums start play "2001; A Space Odyssey" and the crowd started screaming, as if Elvis was really in the building (I never really understood that, ... we were in Rochelle!!!!!.)
As I walked up to the two level stage, ... I forgot that it really was two levels. With the lights off, the spot/strobe light flashing and all the screaming and yelling, I just spaced out. As I was about to walk up on the stage from the audience, ... my shin hit the 1st tier of the stage, I lost my balance and fell hard. My "Elvis" sunglasses flew off my head and landed by the kick drum, my guitar went flying over towards the bass player and even worse, MY WIG FELL OFF!
My ass is now the only thing the crowd can see as the light man was keeping it trained on me as he was told. My shin was killing me and the screaming girls and cheering men started laughing as hard as they could. (I would be laughing too, ... especially if my girl friend was screaming for some rocker and he fell and made a ass out of himself!)
What could I do? ... I lost the crowd before I could say "Thank you, ... thank you very much." I looked at the shadow of myself on the back wall and noticed my real hair was smashed down on my head. I must have looked like Pee Wee Herman in an Elvis jumpsuit. I crawled over to the drums and grabbed my glasses and put them on right away (and hid behind them.) I grabbed the wig and placed it on my head and I used the shadow on the back wall as a mirror. I stood up and looked at the drummer and asked; "How do I look?" That's when I noticed that the entire band was almost wetting their pants, bitting their lips, choking, coughing and laughing harder then the crowd. The drummer gave me an "OK" sign, but he was laughing so hard he could hardly play the song.
I picked up my guitar, thinking I looked cool again, and started singing "That's Alright Mama." The audience was in hysteric's. By the end of the song they were laughing so hard, they were beginning to tear-up and cry. I couldn't figure out how to look cool again, so i just went on with the show while my shin was now bleeding through my white, rhinestone and eagle studded jumpsuit.
That show seemed to last for about 6-days, ... but it was only 40-minutes. After every song the crowds laughter was so loud, that my, "Thank you, ... Thank you very much," was buried.
The last song was "I Can't Help Falling In Love," and at the end of the tune the band went into that big drum intro again and started to play me off the stage, ... I did a few Elvis posed and the crowd's face's hurt by this time from laughter. Needless to say I didn't have to give out one scarf. I thought they were still laughing at the spill I took 40-minutes earlier, but when I got to the dressing room (and heard my guitarist say; "Elvis has left the building!," while he was snickering and cracking up, and then I heard the audience laughing and clapping) I looked in the mirror, ... MY WIG WAS ON BACKWARDS and my "Elvis" sunglasses were bent and hanging down on one side while the blood from the split shin had soaked through the front of the right pant leg of my jumpsuit from my knee down. I looked like a homeless person who had found an Elvis Presley costume and tried it on for size!
Seconds later the band came into the dressing room laughing and falling on the floor. I was hot at first but as I stood there looking into the mirror, I started laughing. The guys felt bad and were hugging me, but laughing with tears running down their faces.
Humbling? ... Yes, very. Funny? You couldn't write a funnier skit. Was the audience entertained? They stayed all night and never missed a show after that.
I learned not to take myself so seriously, ... being funny is sometime better then looking great, ... and entertainment is the name of the game.
Long live the King!
Last night as I was flipping through the channels before I hit the sack, I came across an Elvis Presley movie and realized that 29 years ago Elvis died. I have always thought Elvis was one of the "coolest" entertainers of all time, right up there with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. I believed Elvis was the "King of Rock and Roll," only because of the period of time he entered the music scene. In my humble opinion it was the black artists/pioneers of the day, people like, Louie Jordan, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley and all those southern blues artist who some of us never heard before that actual invented "Rock and Roll." Elvis was good looking, he had massive sex appeal and was actually a good thing at the time for the other pioneers because through Elvis, "rock and roll" became internationally accepted.
SIDE BAR; I have to laugh when I think that Michael Jackson named himself the "King of Pop." I'm from the Midwest, ... "pop" is soda to me. My father taught me never to brag about yourself, he said: "If others are not blowing your horn, it means that your horn really isn't worth blowing." Michael would have been named something, but by calling himself the "King of Pop," he dropped about 5 notches on my personal "Star-o-meter." (The sexual molestation trials and him leaving America after his last trial didn't help with his credibility either!)
Years ago, I performed the "Elvis" show in our band "Jade 50's." Yes, ... I had the jumpsuits, the sunglasses, a wig and everything. (photo on the website.) Back then we were a '50's - '60's review and I must admit we were very good and very funny.
The second act of our show was our "Elvis" set.
In the mid-1970's we were performing in Rochelle, Illinois, about 25 miles west of DeKalb. The club was called "The Garage" and it was packed. I think it held about 500 hundred people and there were at least 650 people there on that hot summer night.
At the start of the second act, ... the lights went black, the synthesizer and drums start play "2001; A Space Odyssey" and the crowd started screaming, as if Elvis was really in the building (I never really understood that, ... we were in Rochelle!!!!!.)
As I walked up to the two level stage, ... I forgot that it really was two levels. With the lights off, the spot/strobe light flashing and all the screaming and yelling, I just spaced out. As I was about to walk up on the stage from the audience, ... my shin hit the 1st tier of the stage, I lost my balance and fell hard. My "Elvis" sunglasses flew off my head and landed by the kick drum, my guitar went flying over towards the bass player and even worse, MY WIG FELL OFF!
My ass is now the only thing the crowd can see as the light man was keeping it trained on me as he was told. My shin was killing me and the screaming girls and cheering men started laughing as hard as they could. (I would be laughing too, ... especially if my girl friend was screaming for some rocker and he fell and made a ass out of himself!)
What could I do? ... I lost the crowd before I could say "Thank you, ... thank you very much." I looked at the shadow of myself on the back wall and noticed my real hair was smashed down on my head. I must have looked like Pee Wee Herman in an Elvis jumpsuit. I crawled over to the drums and grabbed my glasses and put them on right away (and hid behind them.) I grabbed the wig and placed it on my head and I used the shadow on the back wall as a mirror. I stood up and looked at the drummer and asked; "How do I look?" That's when I noticed that the entire band was almost wetting their pants, bitting their lips, choking, coughing and laughing harder then the crowd. The drummer gave me an "OK" sign, but he was laughing so hard he could hardly play the song.
I picked up my guitar, thinking I looked cool again, and started singing "That's Alright Mama." The audience was in hysteric's. By the end of the song they were laughing so hard, they were beginning to tear-up and cry. I couldn't figure out how to look cool again, so i just went on with the show while my shin was now bleeding through my white, rhinestone and eagle studded jumpsuit.
That show seemed to last for about 6-days, ... but it was only 40-minutes. After every song the crowds laughter was so loud, that my, "Thank you, ... Thank you very much," was buried.
The last song was "I Can't Help Falling In Love," and at the end of the tune the band went into that big drum intro again and started to play me off the stage, ... I did a few Elvis posed and the crowd's face's hurt by this time from laughter. Needless to say I didn't have to give out one scarf. I thought they were still laughing at the spill I took 40-minutes earlier, but when I got to the dressing room (and heard my guitarist say; "Elvis has left the building!," while he was snickering and cracking up, and then I heard the audience laughing and clapping) I looked in the mirror, ... MY WIG WAS ON BACKWARDS and my "Elvis" sunglasses were bent and hanging down on one side while the blood from the split shin had soaked through the front of the right pant leg of my jumpsuit from my knee down. I looked like a homeless person who had found an Elvis Presley costume and tried it on for size!
Seconds later the band came into the dressing room laughing and falling on the floor. I was hot at first but as I stood there looking into the mirror, I started laughing. The guys felt bad and were hugging me, but laughing with tears running down their faces.
Humbling? ... Yes, very. Funny? You couldn't write a funnier skit. Was the audience entertained? They stayed all night and never missed a show after that.
I learned not to take myself so seriously, ... being funny is sometime better then looking great, ... and entertainment is the name of the game.
Long live the King!