VINYL RECORD COLLECTING: My Picks of the Top Ten Albums that Need to be Issued on Vinyl for their Very First Time...

1. Natalie Merchant - OPHELIA

This is the second studio album by the former lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs released in 1998. It includes her hit songs “Kind & Generous” and “Break Your Heart”. Released during the CD era of the time, vinyl records were rarely being pressed. Recently, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab released her first album TIGERLILY on two LP vinyl records. It is about time that this album also gets the vinyl record treatment.

2. One EskimO – One EskimO  (aka All Balloons)

English singer Kristian Leontiou is the lead singer of the indie rock band One EskimO and released an amazing album in 2009. The album is listed as both “One EskimO” and “All Balloons”. I tend to go with Discogs that has it listed as “All Balloons”. The atmospheric album, which to my ears sounds like it was influenced by David Bowie, is a very emotional journey with the story of a man in love with a woman who struggles in love. The entire album from start to finish is excellent with each song. The song “Kandi” is a stand out alongwith “Astronauts”, “Simple Day” and the close out “Amazing”. I’m surprised this album hasn’t had more attention. Go to One Eskimo Vinyl Records & Discography - Vinyl Me, Please to ask them to release this on vinyl.

3. B.B. King - Let The Good Times Roll (The Music Of Louis Jordan)

One of my favorite musical artists is the “King of the Jukeboxes” – Louis Jordan. With his orchestra. Louis Jordan and His Tympany Five rocked the juke joints through the 1930’s to the early 1950’s with hits like “Caledonia”, “Choo Choo Ch’Boogie”, “Saturday Night Fish Fry”, “Let The Good Times Roll”, and so many many more. One of my other favorite musical artists is the “King of The Blues” – B.B. King.

Back in 1999, B.B. King released an album that was completely a cover of Louis Jordan’s songs. B.B. King has been on record many times for stating that Louis Jordan was one of his greatest influences. Here he pays tribute. Go to B.B. King Vinyl Records & Discography - Vinyl Me, Please to ask them to release this on vinyl.

4. B.B. King – BLUES ON THE BAYOU

Another B.B. King album on my list. There are actually several that have not been released on vinyl or are just out of print, but this list spotlights three of them. The other one is this 1998 album. B.B. King went into the studio with his band to record this album in just four days, He wrote in the linear notes, "Found some old B. B. King songs. Wrote some new ones. [...] All live, all real. No overdubs, no high-tech tricks. Just basic blues." The album won the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Blues Album. Maybe Elemental Music might want to press this on vinyl for the first time? https://www.elemental-music.com/

5. Paul McCartney and Wings – WINGS OVER EUROPE

Okay. This is a long shot and will probably never happen. In 2018, Paul McCartney released a combined Archive Collection CD Box Set that contained both RED ROSE SPEEDWAY and WINGS WILD LIFE into an exclusive box set entitled WINGS 1971-73 that included a bonus live album of WINGS OVER EUROPE. The Box Set sold out in minutes online and I was unable to purchase a copy. The 1972 live album was unfortunately not sold separately, however I was able to acquire just the CD off of eBay from a seller. My CD looks legitimate but could possibly be a counterfeit. It is hard to tell. Still, I really want to see this released on vinyl record since it has not yet. Perhaps a Record Store Day exclusive?

6. John Lennon – ACOUSTIC

In 2004, Capitol Records released ACOUSTIC. This contained is a compilation of John Lennon’s solo era demos, studio and live performances featuring his acoustic guitar work. The album was met with criticism as many of the song had appeared on one of his compilations albums previous with the others were available unofficially on the LOST LENNON TAPES set of bootleg albums.  The album was taken out of print and you cannot officially stream it anywhere. I do have the original Capitol Records CD and admit I haven’t listened to it in over a decade, but realized when making this list that it would be a good addition now since the bootleg material is now hard to find and expensive and the other anthology is out of print also.

7. The Beatles – GET BACK – THE ROOFTOP PERFORMANCE *

In 2022, Disney+ released the marvelous Peter Jackson produced series GET BACK which featured the Beatles recording LET IT BE. He would also clean up the LET IT BE film for a release that came out about a year ago. At the same time, Giles Martin released a remastered anniversary box set of LET IT BE that include outtakes and the original Glynn Johns album. There were many extras, however the glaring omission was the Beatles Rooftop performance. This classic performance first seen in the LET IT BE film is the culmination of these sessions which was the last time all four would play live together on the rooftop of their Apple Records office building in downtown London on January 30, 1969 with Billy Preston on keyboards.   

Since it was wrongly omitted in the LET IT BE boxset, many Beatles fans expected this album would be released separately --- and it officially was released by The Beatles as it can be found available for streaming format ONLY. Not on any physical media!!!  (I’m listening to it at the moment as I write this on YouTube Music). Why oh why it hasn’t been released in physical media on CD or vinyl record I do not know. This concert was often bootlegged over the years, but The Beatles and Martin put together an “official” cleaned up copy. (*Some bootleggers recently ripped the new audio and put out their own counterfeit vinyl record bootleg using these new audio upgrades and even used the official cover of the album cover using the new branding and art. I confess that I bought a copy on eBay. However, I would love to see Apple Records release an official version and I think Beatles fans deserve this.)

8. Johnny Cash / Willie Nelson – VH1 STORYTELLERS

Another one of those albums released in 1998 that did not get a vinyl record release. This was Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson sitting down with a small studio audience taking turns on playing each other’s songs together, joking, and telling stories. This album was produced by Rick Rubin during that resurgence era for Johnny Cash and is one of his last live recordings released before his death. It is a treat to hear these two friends sit around on their stools, play their acoustic guitars, and sing together. Available on CD and streaming, it would be nice to have a vinyl copy edition.

9. B.B. King – LIVE

Okay, I am slipping in a third B.B. King album needing released on vinyl. In 2008, B.B. King released an album of his live show from Memphis in his club. This show was released on CD, DVD, and Blu-Ray at the time, but missed the vinyl record treatment as it happened just when the vinyl resurgence was about to take off. I particularly enjoyed this album because it represented what I saw live in concert with B.B. King at that time.

10. Jim Byrnes – FRESH HORSES

One of my favorite modern bluesmen is actor/singer Jim Byrnes who is originally from St. Louis and has been living up in Canada for decades now. He has won many Blues Album awards in Canada and worked with many blues artists. Most of Jim’s discography is available only on CD and only a few albums are available through streaming. However, his album FRESH HORSES released in 2004 is such a great album. I wish all of his albums would receive more recognition and receive vinyl record treatment, but this album in particular.

 

I hope in a year or two, that some of these albums will be issued on vinyl for the first time.

What are some of your favorite albums never released on vinyl that you would like to see pressed?

Next time, I will write about ten albums that I think should be re-released on vinyl records with a new pressing.

 

VINYL RECORD COLLECTING: Intro and My Record Collecting Music Habits Over the Years

This is my first in a series of articles related to Vinyl Record Collecting that I wanted to share my thoughts on with others who also love digging in crates and listening and collecting vinyl records.

Like many of you probably reading this, I am an avid record collector. Ever since my childhood, I have been collecting and listening to music with a passion. I am a Gen X music lover. So, I started listening to music on my parents turntable with their records, graduated to cassette tapes in my youth on my Sony Walkman, then in high school I abandoned cassettes and made the switch to Compact Discs (CDs) when that became all the rage. In the late 1980’s, while collecting and listening to CDs was my primary “go to” medium, I still collected vinyl records – usually albums that I couldn’t find on CD or if I just wanted to buy some “cheap” music since CDs were so expensive. In addition, some bootlegs were still vinyl only.

During my senior year of high school and for a few years on my college breaks, I worked in Springfield at White Oaks Mall in various record stores. I loved this job so much working around music. I watched LPs and cassettes dwindle as CDs took off during this short time period. One of the fringe benefits of working at the record store was that I took home free promo vinyl records and CDs after they had expired with their promotional marketing timeframes.

As I moved into the 1990’s and towards the 21^st Century, I still bought CDs and the occasional vinyl record, but I embraced the Napster era moving and listened to MP3s on my Apple iPod in the early 2000’s. For many years, my record collection sat in storage and I didn’t listen to them. I did sell some of my vinyl records when money was tight. Somewhere around 2006, I bought a Sony USB turntable with a USB plug where I could “rip” my vinyl records to make digital copies of my music to turn into MP3 files for my iPod and listen to in iTunes. I dusted off my records and began listening to them.

In 2008, the Annual Record Store Day launched here in America after it had successfully started a year earlier in the UK. I mentioned that I had broken out my old vinyl record collection in their crates and had begun listening to them on my new turntable. With the resurgence in vinyl moving into the 2010 decade, I began purchasing new albums on vinyl as well as the same copy on CD. I was feeling nostalgic for collecting and listening to vinyl records again.

(I digress for a moment… I never used to call it “vinyl” in my younger days. I just collected and listened to “records”. However, I have adapted over the past few decades to using the term “vinyl” together with “records” to call them “vinyl records”. I know the younger folks today just use the term “vinyl”, though I cringe when they use the incorrect plural form “vinyls” which I do not recognize as a proper term, I guess I am an old Gen X fogey.)

Somewhere around 2012 to 2016, life threw me some curveballs and I went through a difficult divorce and a job loss when the college that I worked at had closed. I had to sell some of my records to help pay the bills. Mainly some expensive bootleg records. Most of the music I was listening to at the time was digital as I had to put my record collection and my CDs back into storage during the separation and divorce. “Streaming” music had become popular with Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Prime, iTunes, SiriusXM, and YouTube Music. I was getting my music fix that way, but was missing listening to records most of all. I began playing around with listening to FLAC audio files instead of lesser quality sounding MP3s.

Life settled down for me with purchasing a new home and I was able to set up my stereo system and get my records and CDs again. I began collecting some records again and went to some more Record Store Day events with my pal Ron Rice. The Beatles had re-released and remastered their British discography in 2009 on CD and on vinyl records in 2014. Picking up those Beatles records on vinyl was invigorating for this record collector and I realized that I preferred to listen to the music on a turntable.

In 2016, in my post-divorce years and still single, I bought a new home to live in by myself. I sat up my stereo equipment and the Sony USB turntable. I got out my CDs and records to listen to once again.  I still had my original vintage Cerwin Vega 200 SE speakers from high school. When I played my music, everything sound horrible and then upon investigation, I realized that that after several decades, the foam cones in the speakers had corroded and fallen apart. Watching some YouTube videos, I learned how to “re-cone” my vintage speakers and restore them. It was cheaper than buying new speakers, plus I loved those vintage speakers (they still serve me well).

It was then, almost exactly nine years ago, I decided it was ridiculous to buy “new” albums in both vinyl and CD formats. Sure, some of The Beatles re-released had CD-only tracks, but for the most part, unless it was The Beatles or Sting/The Police, I decided I was going to stick solely to buying and collecting vinyl records and ditch buying new CDs. I had gone full circle.

Over the 2010 decade, I slowly began to “replace” my CDs with vinyl record copies, as I preferred to listen to my music on analog vinyl records. I began reselling some of my old CDs. Some I would keep no matter what, but I realized I was rarely listening to CDs at all.

Do I still buy CDs? Yes, on rare occasion if the album is either not available on vinyl or if the CD has extra tracks not available on vinyl. Again, especially if it is Beatles or Sting related.

In 2023, I upgraded my stereo equipment with a new Dual CD 429 turntable using and Ortofon 2m Blue moving magnet cartridge. I was running it through a Pro-Ject Tube Box S2 Phono Preamplifier using tubes into my brand-new Yamaha R-N602 Digital Stereo Receiver with Bluetooth. I still had my original restore vintage Cerwin Vega 200 SE speakers, but I added on to them with a pair of Cerwin-Vega SL-5M bookshelf speakers and a Cerwin Vega LW-10 Subwoofer for some extra bass to help fill the sound of the acoustics in the big room. I still have my Pioneer PD-M403 6CD multiplayer compact disc player that I got in college. It still does the trick.

Now, in the 2020s and moving in the future…. I will just purchase and listen to vinyl records at home and keep up this collection. I intend to let go of as many CDs as I replace though I will keep some sentimental CDs that mean something personally to me. I still will keep all my Beatles and Sting/The Police related CDs as those artists have always been my favorites.

Soon, I will write on more topics regarding record collecting. I will share what I am listening to as well as offer my thoughts on the hobby and vinyl community.

Until next time, keep digging in those record bins!

VINYL RECORD COLLECTING: Just Arrived! Deluxe Edition of My Gateway Drug to Meeting The Beatles

Late to the game, I just picked up my copy today of THE BEATLES 1962-1966 & THE BEATLES 1967-1970 (2023 Limited Edition) 6 LP box set. I originally wasn't going to get this since I own the individual albums in several variations, but this was on sale for about $100 and I couldn't pass it by this time. It has remixes of all of the tracks and I wanted to give it a listen. Especially the stereo mixes of the early material since Peter Jackson's software can pull apart the individual elements out of a mono recording. 

This compilation box set even includes The Beatles' "new" song "Now and Then", which was finished and released last year by the band's living members Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, just won a best rock performance Grammy last Sunday. So THAT'S a bonus. (However, I do have a copy of the 7 inch single, but it is nice to have it on a full album with the rest of their body of work. I digress.)

What is interesting, the The Beatles 1962-1966 ("Red Album") and The Beatles 1967-1970 ("Blue Album" albums were my original "Gateway Drug to The Beatles" when I was a little kid. Around 1978 or so, The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton starred in the really terrible SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND movie that took the characters from The Beatles songs and placed them in a storyline. I won't get into the movie... but it was a shit movie. It isn't a knock against the musicians or some of my favorite actors like Steve Martin. Just a shit movie.

However, my father bought the soundtrack and I played it to death. Along with STARS ON 45 that had a Beatles medley with Beatle sound-a-like singers.  He got so sick of me playing those albums as it was just cover songs of The Beatles that he decided to introduce me to "the real thing".

He got me the two compilation albums and from about 1979 to 1985, that was all of The Beatles that I would listen to at home on the turntable until I was introduced to the original SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND and ABBEY ROAD albums by my Uncle Mike. I immediately bought those two albums on cassette tape with my allowance money. Then in 1987, EMI/Capitol Records released the original UK Beatles albums onto CD when I was a sophomore in high school. My father offered me the gift of either getting a class ring or this brand new thing called a CD Player. Guess what I chose?

Then with money earned with my new job working at Godfather's Pizza when I was sixteen, I spent it on buying all of The Beatles album on CD that year. I rarely returned to listening to the "Red and Blue" Greatest Hits albums as it was a moot point. 

But now, all these years later, I look forward to giving this "expanded" album box set a good listen.

Goo goo gajoob!

FILMS: Initial Thoughts on Disney+ Docuseries "GET BACK" by The Beatles

 

 

Over the last four days, Jennifer and I watched the three-part Beatles docuseries “GET BACK” over on Disney+. I had been hyping it on Facebook ever since it was announced a few years ago that director Peter Jackson was going to take the footage that has been locked in a vault for decades and make a definitive docuseries out of it that would in a way re-write and re-place the abysmal “LET IT BE” film that for 50 years has been termed the documentary about the break up of The Beatles. The footage and sound recordings had been meticulously restored. I felt that since I’ve hyped my excitement up about wanting to see this docuseries, I might add my two cents. I thought since many of you know that I am a diehard, lifelong Beatles fan, you'd like to know what I thought.

For this longtime fan who has poured over the music of The Beatles, listened to this material for thousands of hours over the since early childhood including collecting and listening to bootleg outtake materials of these sessions, reading book after book of analysis on the subject matter, and even owned a bootleg copy of LET IT BE on a pirated DVD, etc. --- well, this docuseries changed my perception on many things of what I’ve believed yet what was most important to me to watch as a fan was to see the dynamic of the Fab Four working together in the studio and seeing how these songs materialized while witnessing the dynamics and drama going on in their interactions. It did rewrite the history books and what I had previously thought.

While it was said that Peter Jackson had free reign to cull the footage and make this documentary to reveal the true happenings of what was  going on, I still do suspect there were a few selective moments that may have been left out to not cast certain people in a negative light --- most of all – probably John Lennon as he was struggling with a drug problem in the early part of January 1969 before they moved the sessions over to the Apple Studios. The traditional history was that Yoko Ono caused the break up of The Beatles and I purely don’t believe that was the case. But I digress. 

To distill all of this into a quick reaction of the docuseries --- yes, I loved this film and thought it was truly amazing. It was very much a “Fly on the Wall” experience to watch The Beatles make one of their greatest albums in their final year all together as one group. To see and hear songs “come together” was truly out of this world like watching childbirth to hear them materialize. 

I mentioned to Jennifer that this 6+ hour docuseries  is really for the hardcore diehard Beatles fan to watch. Again, I had to break it up and watch it over four days with her because of the length of the 3-part docuseries. I think for the casual fan and/or a “newbie” who doesn’t know much about The Beatles, it would be best if there was a companion abridged “Reader’s Digest” version of this to make it a shortened 2-hour film at the most to watch it one sitting. I read the other day that Peter Jackson did put together this shortened version that he premiered at two red carpet events for the rich and famous in London and Los Angeles and I hope that Disney will make this version also available for the casual viewer that would be more likely to watch it in one viewing for the highlights. Otherwise, I think this is too much to digest unless you were somewhat more invested into The Beatles.

So, while I could write a whole thesis on my reaction(s!) to this docuseries, I will just keep it simple and say that I absolutely loved it. For decades, like I mentioned, the only way to see the original 1970 “LET IT BE” film was through pirated copies as it was a sore spot for The Beatles. Now, with Peter Jackson’s intervention, this has finally after all these years been lovingly remastered and given back to the fans to see a fuller, bigger picture of what more honestly transpired during those sessions, and it was a love letter to and from The Beatles to their fans – and actually this was a gift to Paul, Ringo, and their loved ones as it is a sore spot no more. I truly loved “GET BACK” and thought it was “Fab”.

 

Hello, is there anybody out there?

It's been about a month since I've posted last here on my blog at my website.

QUICK NOTES:

• Bummer about my St. Louis Cardinals.
• I've been a bit busy lately and working on the house and other projects. 
• I also built a new computer at home that replaces one I've had for a decade that I kept upgrading. Got rid of it and started with all new components to build a brand new computer. She is a beauty and runs sweet.
• Our Labradoodle puppy C.C. is also growing and growing. She's doubled the size since we got her this summer. Still working on training. Two steps forward, one step backwards it seems.
• Loved the new Beatles Abbey Road 50th Anniversary boxset. Perhaps I should review it?
• Can't believe ARROW is ending and we're getting CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS on CW Television this season. Not sure how I feel yet...
• BATWOMAN series is making me yawn thus far. Gonna watch episode 3.

John Lennon was right. "Life is what happens while you're busy making other plans."

I'll aim to catch up with some posts soon.

VINYL RECORD COLLECTING: The Beatles - Abbey Road 50th Anniversary Set

I have to admit, I'm pretty excited that Beatles fans are about to get a 50th Anniversary Edition box set of Abbey Road in September. Released in September 1969, Abbey Road was the final album that John, Paul, George, and Ringo recorded together as a band, though Let It Be was later released.

For years and years, I've had my "favorite" Beatles album. I'd go through a Sgt. Pepper phase, or a Rubber Soul/Revolver phase... but I tend to listen to Abbey Road more than any other of their releases.

The new boxset is available for preorder on www.thebeatles.com and www.amazon.com amongst other sites. The album’s 17 tracks are newly mixed by producer Giles Martin (son of original producer George Martin) and mix engineer Sam Okell in stereo, high res stereo, 5.1 surround, and Dolby Atmos, accompanied by 23 session recordings and demos, most of which are previously unreleased.

Giles did an excellent job remastering The Beatles catalog in 2009 and over the past two years, has given us 50th Anniversary boxsets of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and The White Album -- both are FAB and also include bonus unreleased tracks, studio outtakes and demos.

I'm sure the Abbey Road 50th Anniversary Edition with guarantee a splendid time for all.

Elvis Presley: (The Secret Bass) Guitarman?

Elvis Presley is the King of Rock’n Roll.

I really don’t need to say much more than that. He doesn’t need an introduction.

For as far back as my memory allows me to go, his music has been a part of my life. I must have been about four year’s old when I was dancing on the shag rug to “Hound Dog” as the vinyl record spun on Daddy’s high fidelity turntable.

Now, I’ve got to forewarn you, I’m going to take the scenic route as I discuss my theory that Elvis Presley secretly held a passion for bass guitars and saw himself as a bit of a bassman. He knew how to get down on it and could really play bass guitar.

Did you know that Elvis actually played the bass guitar on the track “You’re So Square (Baby, I Don’t Care)”?

There was no question that the man had rhythm and that even his gyrating fingertip could swoon a crowd of women into a tizzy as it moved back and forth. Watch any film clip of Elvis live on stage (especially post 1967) and you can see his head, hands, body and his whole soul move along with the rhythm that the basslines dropped. Sometimes, when on stage and gyrating in his karate moves, he would even play a bit of “air (bass) guitar” on occasions with his two fingers as if he was “walking the basslines”.

But let’s take the scenic route and build up to discussing his bass playing and passion for Fender basses for later in this blog o’mine as I digress a bit.

One of my earliest memories as a kid was getting my shots for school at the doctor’s office in August 1977. Over the radio, the newscaster announced that Elvis Presley had died. It was like a family member had passed away. I was with my mother in the reception room and it was the first time in my life that I can remember ever seeing my Mama cry. It will be a moment that I will never forget.

I would learn years later, that Mama had met Elvis when she was younger. The story goes something like this… around 1956 or so when my Mama was about eight year’s old, my grandmother took her, along with her sister(s?) and cousin(s?), to see where this local Elvis boy lived in Memphis. This was before he bought Graceland in 1957 and had just made the transition from Sun Records to RCA Victor for his recording contract.

Take this all with a grain of salt (I do believe it is all true), but oral family tradition has it that during the infamous Elvis meeting with my Mama and the girls, they were standing on the sidewalk in front of his house to see if they could sneak a peek of him. They could see Elvis’s mother, Gladys, hanging clothes on the laundry line. Elvis then rode up on his motorcycle wearing his black leather jacket and cap. He had a girl on the back of the cycle with him. Mama says it was Natalie Wood, and would you believe, doing a little Internet research, Elvis did indeed date Natalie Wood in 1956.

Well, the story goes that Elvis pulled over on his bike to say hello to his young fans. He chitchatted with the girls, and then get this… he cuts up a bit with them and then he ruffled my Mama’s hair. She had “Shirley Temple” style curls as a child and Elvis goofed off with her for a moment. He stroked my mother’s hair and played with her curls for a moment. According to Mama, Elvis then invited my grandmother to come back the next day to play cards with his mother but my Granny declined.

“That’s okay. We don’t want to bother.”

Shoot. We could have become Memphis Mafia.

I tell you that story to set up the next story. Yes, indeed, I’m an Elvis fan. By birthright as you can see.

I’ve amassed quite the Elvis record collection myself and I believe I have over 50 different albums that he put out. I even own quite a few Elvis movies on DVD. I love KING CREOLE, CHANGE OF HABIT, ROUSTABOUT, KID GALAHAD, HEARTBREAK HOTEL and so many more. I make no apologies. I’m an Elvis fan.

So, last year, as part of her own birthright, I took a little vacation down to Memphis in May of 2010 to visit my Mama and Daddy. For this trip, I just took my daughter, Rachel, along with me to visit her grandparents. During the trip, we decided to take Rachel on her first pilgrimage to Graceland. It was just me, Rachel and Granny (my Mama) who went as my Dad wasn’t feeling well and stayed home.

There is a lot to see at Graceland. I recall them saying that only about a third of their memorabilia is on display while the rest is archived in storage. In some of the halls, you can see many of his Martin and Gibson six-string guitars on display amongst other props, jumpsuits, big buckled belts and movie posters.

As many Elvisologists will tell you, there has often been debate about how well Elvis actually played guitar. He may have appeared to be a “Guitarman", but his Sun Records guitarist Scotty Moore eluded that Elvis was not really an accomplished musician, though he had an “uncanny and amazing sense of timing and rhythm.”

In the early performance career of Elvis and as seen in both his movies and album covers, he was often holding one of his acoustic six-strings. During an interview that I recently caught on the Elvis XM Radio (XM 18) with host George Klein, I heard photographer Robert Dye mention on air that he remembers how aggressively Elvis strummed the guitars that he broke two strings of a guitar he had borrowed from a musician at performance in Memphis’s Overton Park.

A similar account was written about in Paul Hemphill’s book, The Nashville Sound: Bright Lights and Country Music in which country singer Bob Luman recalls that during a show in Kilgore, Texas, Elvis “…hit his guitar a lick, and he broke two strings. Hell, I’d been playing for ten years, and I hadn’t broken a total of two strings. So there he was, these two strings dangling, and he hadn’t done anything except break guitar strings yet, and these high school girls were screaming and fainting and running up to the stage, and then he started to move his hips real slow like he had a thing for his guitar.”

This kind of jives together that Elvis used the guitar as more of a prop in his performance and to give his hands something to do in his jitteriness. I’m sure the heavier EADG gauge strings of a bass would have suited him better!

Sure, he knew the guitar chords and could strum and keep rhythm. It has been suggested on Scotty Moore’s website in an article by James V. Roy that “…perhaps the lack of a microphone on his [Elvis’s] guitar most of the time contributed to the development of his aggressive style in an attempt to be heard.”

[Sidenote: I highly recommend visiting www.scottymoore.net.epguitars.html for more on the scope of Elvis’s guitar playing and a look at some of his guitars.]

Amidst the guitars and memorabilia on the main Graceland museum, there is a very snazzy 1972 Fender Jazz Bass on display that we saw on the tour. It is a beautiful sunburst with tortoise shell pick guard. It has two pickups and a three knob arrangement. It stuck out amongst the many guitars, because, well, I’m a bassman myself, and I love looking at bass guitars.

With a man who had three televisions in his living room in the early 1970’s and was known for giving passerby individuals the keys to free Cadillacs all the time, it didn’t seem all that out of the ordinary that Elvis may have ventured out and bought a bass to fiddle around with and experiment. I remember seeing this particular bass many years ago in one of my visits to Graceland.

It is a very swank bass and definitely has that early 70’s feel and look. If I recall correctly, bassist Geddy Lee plays one.



But while on our pilgrimage with my daughter and mother, something else caught my eye this time in one of the museums across the street from Graceland. There was another bass guitar. It was a Fender Precision 1951 bass guitar originally owned by Bill Black that was pretty much a spitting image of my own bass guitar. It had a chrome pickup and bridge cover like mine.

My primary bass guitar is a “Sting Signature Series” reissue of a 1953 Fender P-Bass that I bought customized with those same style added chrome pickup and bridge cover. Before customization, my bass guitar is a replica of the one used by one of my favorite artists – Sting (lead singer and bassist of The Police).

Again, my bass set up looked just like the Bill Black Fender bass that I saw in the display case. Then, something caught my eye. It was the placard next to the bass that read:

Fender Electric Bass ca. 1957

This Fender Precision Bass Guitar (owned by Bill Black) was played by Elvis during the final version of the song “You’re So Square” in his 1957 film “JAILHOUSE ROCK”. – On loan from the private collection of Judy and Larry Moss, Memphis, TN.

Also, next to the photo, was a black and white picture of Elvis holding the bass that stood right before me. It is an amazing photo. It was doubly amazing to know that Elvis was holding a bass guitar that looked just like mine. It brought me a bit closer to the King at that moment!

I had never known that Elvis played bass guitar on an actual recording. Especially one that had perhaps the most memorable bassline of any Elvis song. It made me a bit curious.

I did a little bit of homework because I was curious about why Elvis played bass on the song and not Bill Black. What I found online was this recollection from deejay and close personal friend of Elvis, George Klein.

Klein said, “On 'Baby I Don't Care' , the Fender electric bass had just come out at that time and Bill Black was using the upright bass. In live concerts, you really couldn't hear the upright, they couldn't ‘mike it up’ well cause the sound systems in those days weren't very good. So it was really just for effect. When the Fender bass came out, it was electrified. And Elvis loved it because it'd be great in concert. It gave him a bass sound behind him. So when it first came out, Bill Black had to learn how to play it and he was having a little trouble. On the 'Jailhouse Rock' session when they got to 'Baby I Don't Care' and the intro that's on there, Bill couldn't get it down like Elvis wanted it. So Elvis played it. He recorded it and then he sang over it. I think he played guitar on 'One Night' too, I'm not sure, perhaps Scotty played that ...”

Wow.

Listen to the song and you will hear that it has a solid bassline.



Do you know how one thing can trigger another thing? How one memory can reopen another that you had stored in the attic of your mind?

Well, I’m also a big Beatles fan. I recalled an interview with Paul McCartney during their official documentary, THE BEATLES ANTHOLOGY, where the lads from Liverpool were reminiscing about their first (and only) meeting with Elvis Presley at his Bel-Air Los Angeles home in August 1965.

McCartney said, “That was the greatest. Elvis was into the bass, So there I was, "Well, let me show you a thing or two, El..." Suddenly he was a mate. It was a great conversation piece for me. I could actually talk about the bass, and we sat around and just enjoyed ourselves. He was great. Talkative. Friendly and a little bit shy. But that was his image. We expected that, we hoped for that.”



A moment of digression… Sir Paul, a legendary bassman himself, also ended up buying Bill Black’s stand up bass years later.



_{(Photo by Charles Nicholas © The Commercial Appeal)}

But getting back on track, I then started looking around in books and found another famous photo from 1965 published in The Commercial Appeal of Elvis playing a 1962 Olympic White Fender Precision Bass Guitar on his loooooooong stretch white couch in the front living room. I’ve got a hunch that this was the same bass that McCartney and Elvis played around on during their infamous get together that same year. If I’m correct, I believe that this is also the same bass guitar on the guitar stand behind in his movie, SPINOUT from 1966. He would also be pictured with a different Fender Sunburst P-Bass in the 1965 film GIRL HAPPY and the 1967 film EASY COME, EASY GO.



_{(Screen capture © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)}

All very swank. All very deep.

So with that, I’m lead to believe that Elvis deep down was a bass enthusiast who loved to play those various Fender basses. But he knew. He knew that his primary instrument would always be his voice. He had to take care of business in flash with that first and foremost.

Often imitated but uniquely his.

To quote a line from one of his songs, “I thought my pickin’ would set ‘em on fire, but nobody wanted to hire a guitarman.”



_{(Screen capture © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.)}

But, I’ll secretly know (and maybe you too will now) that Elvis was really a (secret bass) guitarman in his heart. I just can’t help believing.

Scott