The King of Rock & Roll

Elvis Aaron Presley
The King of Rock & Roll
Born: 1/8/1935 Tupelo
Height: 6'0"
Died 8/16/1977

Songs, albums, and movies too many to mention on this blog (this won't the last post on this subject).

Anyone can Google Elvis and get enough material to choke a horse. As usual what you are about to read is my first hand experience and perspective. Before today, you couldn't read this information on the Internet.

September 9, 1956 was the first appearance of Elvis on the Ed Sullivan show. I will never forget that event for the impact that Elvis made in the music world, but equally important I will always remember because at that very young age, I experience mass hysteria. 1956 was one year before my family bought our very own black and white Phillco television set. Due to that fact we used to go visit with a family that lived a half block away most every Sunday after early dinner, and catch a couple of television shows with them. I loved going because they had three daughters and a son. One of the girls was my age (Norma), and the other two girls were teenagers 13 and 16. The son was younger than me by two years, and he kept telling me that Norma liked me. I guess it was an ego builder nothing else.

On the night of the Elvis performance, Mr. Sullivan was in the hospital due to a car accident during the week prior. Some performer from England stood in for him. For this particular program the girls had invited about 6 or 7 of their close friends. When Elvis was introduced all the girls started screaming and pulling their hair, it seemed fake except that they all had tears streaming down their faces. I was amazed at what I witnessed, and it took me a long time before I could make sense of Mass Hysteria. That day Elvis performed Ready Teddy, and Hound Dog. I went on to become a devoted fan of Elvis (to this day). I even traveled to Las Vegas specifically to catch his performance in 1975 at the La Vegas Hilton. I wish I had saved the ticket stub, but how was I to know that he would die within two years.

When I arrived in Washington State from Texas, I was pleasantly surprised to learn that my new sister-in-law was also an Elvis fanatic. She had the full Elvis collection, which at the time consisted of five albums (1956-58)

Another sad note: my wife and I were married in 1977, three months after getting married we were driving the highways of Easter Washington when a song was interrupted to report that the King of Rock & Roll had died. I felt a sense of loss almost as if I had lost a close relative. In the future I will also post about other great artist, and even attempt some music comparisons across the time spectrum. Do you have any special memories or stories of Elvis? Stay tuned the best is yet to come......

Latin Oldies but Goodies

El Charro de America

 I enjoy all music styles but I must admit some of my very favorites are of days gone by.  These beautiful music I speak of is never going away.

Some examples are: Ella, En Mi Viejo San Juan, Cancion Mixteca, Uste, etc., etc.  My mother and father’s favorites were Historia de Un Amor, Cien Anos, and Tampico Hermoso.  Some of their favorite recording artists were Jorge Negrete, Pedro Infante, Lola Beltran, Jose Alfredo Jimenez, Libertad La Marque, Agustin Lara, etc.

·       Pedro Infante nació el 18 de noviembre de 1917 en Mazatlán, Sinaloa — murió el 15 de abril de 1957 en Mérida, Yucatán, fue el actor y cantante mexicano más famoso, carismático y publicitado de la época de oro del cine mexicano, así como uno de los más grandes representantes de la música ranchera. 

·       A partir de 1939 apareció en más de 60 películas, y desde 1943 grabó aproximadamente 310 canciones. Por su actuación en la película Tizoc (1956), fue acreedor al oso de plata del festival internacional de cine de Berlín al mejor actor principal, y al premio globo de oro a la mejor película extranjera, otorgado por la prensa extranjera acreditada en Hollywood, premio que ya no tuvo la oportunidad de recibir. Los mariachis de antaño lo recuerdan porque siempre tuvo mucho cariño por sus músicos, sus mariachis.

I enjoy Trio music like Los Panchos, Los Dandys, I also appreciate the Merengue, Salsa, Bachata, Corridos Nortenos, Polkas, Huapangos, Cumbias, Rock, Baladas, y Boleros.  I am in the planning process of starting a Podcast for Spanish music.  I can picture a romantic half hour once weekly, and a separate half hour also once weekly with just a mix of music from our younger years.  Stay tuned for additional information.

Once music gets into our blood, you are stuck for life.  At about twenty years of age I got real lucky and was hired at a (24/7) Spanish Language Broadcasting Radio Station in central California.  I started out as a copy person translating Associated Press news into Spanish for Broadcast, and eventually worked my way to reading the news on the air, with my own air time on the weekends.  I’ve been involved in the music business in one way or another ever since.

My music involvement has been from owning music stores, to promoting recording artists in concerts and dance venues, to owning a multi-system wedding Disc Jockey service.  All my entrepreneurial efforts have been successful, but all businesses reach a point of saturation or completion.  My longest effort was the multi-system wedding Disc Jockey service.  I owned it and successfully operated the enterprise for 22 years before I sold it.

My life like everyone else’s life has had ups and downs, but you have to remember that you can’t enjoy the highs if you never have experienced lows. Having gone this far in life, I wouldn’t change anything if I could.  The best is yet to come…..