1736 – Composer Johann Georg Albrechtsberger was born.
1809 – Composer Jacob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn was born.
1911 – Composer Jehan Alain was born.
1941 – Jimmy Dorsey and his orchestra recorded “Amapola.”
1956 – Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash held a recording session at Sun Studios in Memphis. The sessions were later named the “Million Dollar Quartet” and released.
1959 – Buddy Holly (22), Ritchie Valens (17), and the Big Bopper (28) died in a plane crash in Iowa.
1960 – The record label Reprise Records is formed by Frank Sinatra.
1961 – In New York, Bob Dylan made his first recording, taping “San Francisco Bay Blues”.
1993 – Gloria Estefan received the 1,974th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

For Miki and I, Sunday was just exactly that – SUN day. The day we would make our way to that unassuming building on Union Avenue, where Sam Phillips distilled what the world came to know as Rock’n'Roll.  For all the history, I wasn’t sure how this would work as a ‘tour’.  Studios from the 40’s and 50’s by their very nature were simple affairs,  so I didn’t think I’d be walking away with any more than a “bin there, done that”. How wrong I was.

From the moment we walked into the reception, which was a memorabilia-ridden 50’s style coffee shop, with an impressive 50’s style record shop in the back, we knew this tour was a good idea. The vibe in the place was just right, and we paid our money and waited our turn.

We were led up a narrow staircase into a room lined with glass display cases, containing amazing ancient recording devices, including an RCA lathe with a shiny uncut piece of vinyl on it. We saw Sam Phillips’ tape machine on which he recorded anyone and everyone.  Our guide for the tour was Cody, and I have to say right here, he was a star. He sounded genuinely enthusiastic, he was clear, concise, funny, and most importantly, brought the story of Sun Studios to life. Without him, it would have been the poorer.

I was incredibly moved by the tale of The Prisoners, who were actually prisoners, brought under armed guard and chained together around a single microphone to record “Just walking in the Rain”.   As the track played, haunting and beautiful, I could picture the scene.

We heard how Ike Turner’s band struggled up to Memphis, six in a car, with all their gear on top, and how the guitar amp fell off!  The speaker had two big holes in it, and when they arrived, they stuffed some newspaper in it, and used it for the session. The distorted sound it gave made “Rocket 88″ the first genuine rock record with fuzz guitar. the track pumped out around us as I stared through the glass at the actual amp with the newspaper still stuffed into the speaker cone. History in my face.

Of course, inevitably, we came to the story of Elvis. What I learned was that perhaps the most influential person in the history of Rock was Marion Keisker,  Sam Phillips’ secretary. It was she that was on the front desk when a shy 18 year old Elvis walked in, pretending he wanted to record a song for his mum.  In those days, tape was expensive, so people who wanted to make a record for themselves paid their couple of dollars and had to record it in one take, directly onto the disc. Any mistakes were recorded for all time. If you didn’t like it, you poaid for another go!  And then, there it was, crystal clear, the young Elvis, singing “My Happiness” – his very first recording. Sam Phillips wasn’t in that day, nor was he impressed when Marion kept pressing him to take another look at this shy kid.  He hated the kind of ballady pop that My Happiness represented. A year would go by before events would conspire to bring Scotty Moore and Bill Black, guitarist and baassist respectively, into Sun to have a go at recording something. They didn’t have a singer on hand, and once again it was Marion who pushed Sam to get Elvis in.  Would you believe it, when Scotty and Bill asked this kid what songs he knew he suggested My Happiness once again! After a long day, Sam poked his head around the door and told them to call it quits. Elvis, panicking tried to play every style he knew – remember, he was influenced by country, blues, everything that was happening on the Memphis scene, and gyrating wildly, he launched into an Arthur Crudup blues song, “That’s alright Mama”. Scotty and Bill joined in, fooling around, playing wildly. Sam was stopped in his tracks. He asked them to get organized around the mikes so he could record it properly. This moment, this exact moment, was the birth of rock’n'roll, the creation of an entirely new genre, the  perfect amalgam of disparate styles. It is perhaps the single most important event in recording history. It cannot be overstated.

Me with Elvis's microphone

As we walked through Marion’s office, and into the studio, we were played a recording of the very first time this song was played on the air. The DJ played it 19 times , one after the other, and the world would never be the same again.  As I stood in this completely authentic, unchanged studio, with this song playing around me, shivers coursed up and down my spine. I touched the microphone Elvis used here, I heard about the ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ – when Sam Phillips had the tape running for an hour and a half as Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johhny Cash and Elvis recorded together.  It wasn’t until after Elvis’s death that Phillips revealed its existence, as Elvis was contracted to RCA when he ‘accidentally’ recorded him!

This studio launched the careers of all of these people not to mention a guy called Roy Orbison. It is truly the birthplace of rock’n'roll.  It had lain unused, abandoned for 25 years, and was lucky to have survived being demolished and turned into a McDonalds – but it  wasn’t – and I’m lovin’ it!

Kev Moore

Here’s my vintage, previously unpublished conversation with the Queen of Rockabilly (Bob Dylan’s words, not mine), Wanda Jackson. In it, she gives a track-by-track analysis of 2003’s Heart Trouble – which still stands as her most recent album.

[Here's the related article, and here's a personalized Wanda Jackson card and matchbook.]

When did you realize that it was time for a new album?

Well, of course I’d been wanting a new release in America for a while, but CMH approached us. And so I was very flattered, naturally. I mean, they’re a fine company. Been around a while. And so when they offered to do the project I was thrilled. I don’t know how long ago that’s been, I’d say late last year sometime. October or something.

Had you already recorded material on your own?

No.

So you waited until the label approached?

Oh, yeah. I know a lot of the artists go ahead in the studio and record and find a company, but no. I haven’t ever done that.

Did you have any sort of ideas in mind when you went into the studio?

Well, I think that’s a rather interesting story, because CMH Records are mainly known for bluegrass. I mean, as far as I know. And that’s what I was told also, it’s mainly bluegrass. Well, so when they approached me, naturally I assumed they wanted a bluegrass album and I was thrilled because I’d never done one. And I love bluegrass and I know a lot of the songs. But then, as we kept going and talking about songs, it just changed. And so all of the sudden it was more like, for lack of a better word, a showcase. So they said you can do anything you want. You can do country or rockabilly or old or new or you can do gospel. So we have little bit of all of it in there. But I do have some of what I’m calling, strictly for reference sake, new country. That’s not to say I’m trying to do songs like Faith Hill and Martina McBride and those. But it is new songs from the new writers in Nashville, and I just felt very honored that they were sending me some really good things from the writers in Nashville. Aretha Sills did that for me. She got that done and I think I did about five original country [songs]. That’s not county-country. It’s new country but it’s not … whatever this new country is, it’s like almost pop. It’s not that kind of country. It’s not going back to the chump-chump-chump old country stuff. It’s what’s happening now.

You could even call it new classic country.

Oh yeah, I like that. Let’s hope it will be.

Could you touch a little bit on each track?

“Heart Trouble.” That was one of the new ones from Nashville, and I loved it so much. And I think it came out so good. So John and Aretha and I all decided that should be the title song.

And you put it first because you were so enamored by it?

Well, maybe I’m from the old school, but I think the title of an album, if you’re using the song title, put it first. Why bury it in the middle of your album somewhere, or at the very end? I have albums like that by other artists, and I’m thinking, “Why did you do that?” So anyway, it kind of sets the pace for the album. It gives you a little taste of what I’m going to be doing.

And then we have “Cash on the Barrelhead”. Well, that’s an Ira and Charlie Louvin song from the ‘50s. And I see Charlie often in Nashville. Not too long ago we did a show with him. Ira was killed, you know, in the ‘60s. So I just wanted to reach way back and find a good old country song and try to bring it up to date. So hopefully that’s what we did.

Interesting to contrast a new country song with an old one because it sets the tone for the rest of the record.

It really does, and I can attribute that to Aretha and John Wooler. They’ve set out the lineup and they’ve done an excellent job. But they also got my input. You know, I was with Capitol Records like, 18 years, and they didn’t consider hardly any of my wishes. I might have gotten photo approval, but I never had anything about the lineup. So this was all new to me. And I thought it was very interesting that our thoughts were along the same lines.

So anyway, the next one is “Mean, Mean Man”. A song I wrote. One of the first ones I recorded when I started doing rockabilly. And I wanted to do that one again because I’m doing it in every show I do now, for the last ten years at least. Because I’m finding how popular it is, and I didn’t know it. You know, with the fans. And also I learned that many of the musicians that are on the album with me, the Cramps, and Poison Ivy and Lee Rocker and all these, I just thought it’s still popular with my fans so bring it up to date with the new musicians. That’s kind of how that happened.

And then “It Happens Every Time.” That’s just another new one out of Nashville.

“Want Me to Walk Out the Door.”: Rosie [Flores] wanted to be on the album with me, and I thought it was so neat, because in 1995 she invited me to sing two songs on her new album at that time. And that’s what started the whole revival for me in America was doing the songs with Rosie. And I said, “Rosie, if I can come to California and help you promote your new record any way at all, let me know.” So it wasn’t long till she and my husband were getting together and she had hired a booking agency and we wound up doing five weeks of dates. Bimbo’s in San Francisco all the way to the Bottom Line in New York City. And so she wanted to be on the album and certainly she was the first one I invited. And so we did one of the songs that she had written, “Want Me to Walk Out the Door.”

Then we have “Riot in Cell Block Number Nine”. That’s another song that just continues to be popular. It’s like “Mean, Mean Man.” I just do it every show, and people who might not even know it like it. And those who know it just really have a good time with that song.

When did you first play that song?

It was the early ’60s. And the same with the next one, “Funnel of Love”. I have a little story around that. On the tour with Rosie, I kept getting requests for “Funnel of Love”, and I thought, “How do these kids know this song?” It was on the flip side of “Right or Wrong” on the 45. So I’m thinking, “How in the world? I don’t even know the song anymore. I’ve never sang it except on the record.” And so I let that tour go by. I couldn’t learn it that quick and get it all done. So I waited a while and I kept getting requests for it everywhere I went. So I finally got the record out and I learned it again and now I’m using it in every show. Even in Sweden, they love it too.

Then there’s “Crying Time.”

Yeah, well that just really blew me away. Because for Elvis Costello to even say he wanted to record a song with me on my album, that was an honor.

Were you familiar with his work?

Well I certainly knew of them, yeah. And I knew that he was up for three Grammy Awards. And so they got it coordinated where he was in California, but at that point I couldn’t get in. I think I was in Japan or somewhere. But anyway some dates changed and something cancelled and something else opened up, so I was able to come in at the very time he was in L.A. to do his guest shot on the “Frasier” show. So, that young man said that the only way he’d record with me, this was his request, was that we be in the studio together. Of course he’s such a fine artist, he has reasons for all these things and I didn’t know that. But he not only came in to record with me in person, but he brought his band. So he’s a real perfectionist. And the first time I met him he walked into the studio we were using for this project, and my husband said, “Why don’t you give Elvis one of your #1 box sets with all of these rocking songs?” I said, “Great, good idea.” So my husband meets him and he says, “Wanda has something she’d like for you to have.” And he takes out this box set and Elvis looks at it and says, “Oh, I already have that. And I have the #2 box set also.” And I’m thinking, “My goodness, that means he had to pay for them.” They’re family records. And so that really told me he was a fan. And he was the nicest guy, I just felt like I’d known him all my life. He’s like, I’d say, putting on an old pair of house shoes. Very comfortable with him. And I had sent him several songs to consider for duets, and this is the one he picked out. And this is my favorite also. So I felt like we were real soul mates.

Did you get a chance to play that with him live?

Well I’m hoping. If magazine articles like yours draw enough attention to the album, who can say? I’m at the point now where I don’t try to second-guess anything. My career has just taken off the last twenty years in a way I never would have believed. So anything can happen. I’m ready for it, whatever.

How about Carl Perkins’ “Rockabilly Fever”?

I’ve been using that for an opener for several years. I worked with Carl in the early ‘90s, a tour in Europe. And of course I’d worked with him in the ‘50s, we’re old buddies, but again in the early ‘90s and he sand this song on his show. And I kept listening to it. I thought, “Man, what a great song that would be for an opening song for me.” So I just learned it off his record and started using it and what can I say? I just wanted to do it. I think it really says what I’m wanting to say. “Rockabilly Fever is coming back again.”

Did you play it live in the ‘50s as well?

No. I’d never even heard it until the ‘80s. I recorded it in Sweden, in fact our album was called “Rockabilly Fever” and that would have been in ’85. So somewhere before that I worked with Carl and heard the song. And I just feel like he must have written it for me. When you listen to the worlds, it talks about Elvis and rockabilly’s coming back and everything. So I thought it was a natural.

And there’s another song co-written with Rosie Flores, “What Gives You the Right to be Wrong”.

That’s my very favorite song on the whole album. That doesn’t mean it’ll be everybody’s but that song is just so, I don’t know, I just really love it. What can I say, but the melody and the story, it’s a great song. I think it’s probably a song that an artist that’s really big in country right now, you know, Patti Loveless or whoever it might be, could do this and probably have a smash hit. I know it’s a hit song. I don’t know if it’ll be discovered, my version of it or not, but I think it’s a great song.

“Any Time You Wanna Fool Around”?

I think that is the greatest little country song. It’s probably my second favorite on here. I have like three favorites, or four. I gotta have four. But they’re really the original ones. “Heart Trouble,” and “What Gives You the Right” and “Any Time You Wanna Fool Around.”

And we have “Hard-Headed Woman” next.

I’ve been doing that in my shows around a little tribute I do to Elvis I do in all my shows. So I’ve been using that for a long time, and I think Aretha and John like that and they said, “Let’s do that again.” If I remember correctly that was their suggestion. Because it was Elvis Presley that brought me into getting into rockabilly.

What other songs in the Elvis tribute?

Well, I have different things I do with different bands. I have a band in Sweden that does a medley of songs. Like “Jailhouse Rock” and “Money Honey” and “Hound Dog”. And then really the most popular song with the audience in “One Night With You.” And I recorded that on Denmark CD project that I did a couple of years ago. But “One Night With You” and “Trying to Get to You.” So it can be a combination of any of those.

What about “Lonely for You?”

It’s just another one of the original songs out of the group of songs I got. It just came to the top also, the cream of the crop, you know? And I like it. I think that maybe you could say that this is the 21st century rockabilly song. I would think this might be it.

Three remaining songs. “It’ll Be Me.”

That was an old Jerry Lee Lewis song. It was brought to my attention somewhere along the way and I thought, “Man, that was a great song written by Chuck Willis.” It’s another one of my favorites on the album.

Jack Clements is credited with the song.

You’re right. That was Jack’s song.

You brought in backing vocalists on “Walk with Me.”

You’ll have to ask John about that. They did their part after I left. I really don’t know who it is. I don’t know their names but I’d love to give them credit in your article because I thought they did a fantastic job on all of them. Someone said Poison Ivy and one of the guys from her group did some of the backup and then there were some other people did the others.

When you leave, some of the musicians even had to come in. We’d just lay down a basic track and then the guitar player or the piano player would come in. So it was all kind of new to me when it all got put together.

So you recorded with the rest of the band?

We had the majority of the people there when I was recording. But still there were some little special things. Like if you want a heavy piano like in “It’ll Be Me.” We had piano there, but maybe we didn’t get enough piano. So I would say, “I want more piano.” So he’d come in and lay his stuff down. He was there and the guitar player was there when I was recording. Because I have to have enough music to feel these songs, right? But if you wan to add a little tasty thing, if you want organ, if you want a little vocal here and pull this out. You have to do that later, because I don’t live in California and I tour 12 months a year. So they just have to get me when they can and then they might throw something else in. But I knew basically what it was gonna be. It wasn’t a surprise to me. I have approval on everything.

The closing track, “Let’s Have a Party.”

There again, people in America have not heard a recording of me singing, “Let’s Have a Party” since ’59 or ’60. That was the original. So even “Mean, Mean Man” and “Hard-Headed Woman” and “Let’s Have a Party,” I recorded them before but it’s been that long. In the early ’60s. So if they liked them, this is a little up-to-date version. And we put some titles in there, or John and Aretha did, so that my fans could look and say, “Oh, hey, here’s ‘Party,’ ” and we’re putting the other ones in to show them some new things. And I have some fans I’ve sent a song or two for them to listen to and they like them real well so I’m hoping all the fans will like them.

Is this a greatest-hits album?

To me, if I pick up an album, or I’m wanting an album by somebody and I pick it up, I’d like to see something on there that I’m familiar with, of theirs. Know what I mean? So I didn’t want this to be an album of all original things. Nobody would know what it was. So by putting this on there, and the way they have blended them so well, you’ve got a new and an old and another new, and yet it just all blends so nicely. John Wooler has just done a fantastic job of putting all this together. I’ve never worked with anybody any easier to work with. I’ve never been treated better by any company that I have with CMH.

What releases have you put out in Sweden but not in the U.S.?

Well, I’ve done a couple of recordings in Sweden but it was a few years ago. They were never released in America. I’ve done two albums in Denmark, and one of those was picked up by an American company. Rounder Records. They took the album and changed the title to Rock & Roll Away Your Blues. In Denmark it was something else. And I do a lot of recording with other artists in Europe. Kind of like Rosie did on my album and I did on hers and James Enfield, he didn’t sing but he played and he wrote the song for me. So it’s kind of like a cameo. And I do a lot of that in Europe and it’s really been interesting and been fun to do. Germany and Austria and Czechoslovakia and Hungary and Denmark.

Do you spend most of the year outside the U.S.?

I’d say half and half. We’re in business with our son and our daughter works for us and so our grandkids are there so yeah, we get home. Stay home all that we can. But we love to travel, it’s been our life. We’ve been married, in October it will be 42 years. That’s almost a record for people in show business. At least the people I know. So we try to be home all that we can but we love to travel and as long as we can we’d like to do that. Our health is good and the fans still come out. It’s so interesting that this is my 20th consecutive year to tour for a month to six weeks in Sweden. In October of last year, a place I’ve worked for about five years in a row, every year, I drew the biggest crowd I’ve ever had. And I’m scratching my head thinking, “This can’t be happening.”

Why Sweden in particular?

That’s a good question. I don’t know. I tell the people in Sweden, “Sweden and I have been having a love affair for 20 years, and my husband says it’s OK.”

Future recording?

Probably, if this one does good. I’ve got both my hands, the fingers are crossed. Probably CMH would want another one, if it’s successful. Everything is kind of iffy at this point. But we’ll see.

When will you come back to the U.S.?

I go back in August, the day after my grandson’s birthday. Then we come back to England for a big rockabilly festival in September. So that’ll be four times I come to Europe, Lord willing, this year. So it’s always four to five times a year. And we’ve also been to Japan this year. So that’ll make five. You know the jet-lag is kind of hard on you.

—

More transcripts:

• “David Bowie Transcript, 7.9.03: ‘I Am The Man Who Found Velvet Underground!’ “
• Nick Cave transcript, 1.28.03
• David Grubbs transcript, 9.18.09
• “Wanda Jackson Transcript, 6.26.03: On ‘Soul Mate’ Elvis Costello, Elvis Presley And More“
• “Los Campesinos! Singer Talks Pavement, No Age – And That One-Of-A-Kind Box Set“
• “Iggy Pop Transcript, 7.18.03: ‘I Was Shooting Dope At The RIAA Awards When It Wasn’t Chic’ “
• “Quasi’s Sam Coomes Transcript, 10.4.01: ‘I’d Still Play Music Even [If] Nobody Cared’ “

This is the first album I have reviewed thus far that I only own in download form.

That seems rather inappropriate somehow, as these guys seem a long way removed from anything digital and new-fangled. This is rootsy Southern rock of the highest order.

This particular album is a thematically consistent collection.  All the tracks tell tales of life down South, with a strong emphasis on the seedy and downtrodden.  The trio of tracks about various crims dealing with a Sheriff of some renown (The Boys From Alabama, Cottonseed, and The Buford Stick all about Buford Pusser) are particularly captivating.

The band is happy to name-check prominent Southerners. Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and  Sam Phillips all get a run.

This some wonderful hybrid of Springsteen and Earle in terms of story-weaving, with a sleazy, bar-room feel to the triple guitar backing. The vitriol on Puttin‘ People on the Moon would do either aforementioned artists proud:

The one ‘happy’ tune on here, about the joys of car-racing (Daddy’s Cup) almost gets me craving a steering wheel.

It is unforgivable that I am yet to catch these guys live.

File under: Dirty but Beautiful South

On this day in 1955 – Carl Perkins wrote “Blue Suede Shoes.” Less than 48 hours later, he recorded it in Memphis, TN.

SOTD: Banjo or Freakout – Merry Christmas Baby

CAHOTD

DOTD

RCOTD

Question of the Day:

What is your favorite homemade item you recieve from family or friends?

Million Dollar Quartet Announces Opening Dates
We’ve told you previously here about the upcoming Broadway show, Million Dollar Quartet. The fifties musical is based on the famous 1956 recording session that brought together four of rock ‘n’ roll’s all time greatest artists, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. The show recreates that legendary session, bringing to the Broadway stage such early rock mega-hits as Blue Suede Shoes, Great Balls of Fire, I Walk The Line, Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, Folsom Prison Blues and many more.

Now producers have firmed up dates for the show, announcing that previews will begin on March 13th, with opening night set for April 11th at Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre. You can be sure that ShowBus will have tickets as soon as they are available.

Valerie Harper Coming to Broadway
Television’s Emmy award winning Rhoda is headed to the stage in 2010. Valerie Harper will star as force-of-nature celebrity Tallulah Bankhead in the new comedy Looped. Harper will play Bankhead near the end of her career when she is called in to loop a line of dialogue for what would ultimately be her last movie.

Previews for Looped will begin on February 19th with opening night scheduled for March 14th at the Lyceum Theatre.

Godspell Broadway Bound – Again
The plan was for the revival of Godspell to make its way to Broadway in September of 2008. That plan fell through, but producer Ken Davenport now says that the musical is back on track for a return to The Great White Way during the 2010-2011 season. This will be the first Godspell revival since its original Broadway debut more than 30 years ago. That production played more than 500 performances and won critical acclaim. We’ll keep you posted as firmer dates become available for Godspell.

Show Closings
Despite record holiday season box office numbers for Broadway in general, a number of shows have recently closed or are set to close as the new year begins. Already dark are A Steady Rain, Hamlet and The Royal Family. Closing on January 3rd are Tracy Letts’ Superior Donuts and Shrek The Musical. Burn The Floor, which had previously announced an extension to February 14th has now returned to its original closing date of January 10th. And finally, January 24th will mark the closing of Bye Bye Birdie which was panned by critics.

And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back soon for our next blog update.

The ShowBus Team
http://ShowBusTours.com
info@showbustours.com
(800) 882-6400

One of the things I enjoy about digging through old pictures is how I inevitably stumble onto surprises, in some cases jaw-dropping ones. That would be a good description of how I reacted when I recently found a picture of myself from the Fifties, when I was a teenager and obviously fashion-challenged.

I think I remember the gaudy striped shirt, but I cannot believe that I ever wore those pants in public. It seems to me that they were called clamdiggers, or beachcombers, or maybe pedal pushers. And girls sometimes called their version Capri’s — I think.

Like most teenagers — then and now — I was very insecure about things like that, so apparently I thought I was right in style or I would never have allowed that picture to be taken. And at least the pants were white, unlike those described in a song titled “Pink Pedal Pushers,” by rockabilly legend Carl Perkins.

In fact, I’d like to think that another of ol’ Carl’s songs might have come closer to how I was feeling when the picture was taken. If you read the lyrics of his 1956 hit, “Put Your Cat Clothes On,” his advice seems to be aimed at his girl, Kitty. (Get it?) But I think it was actually Carl’s advice for anyone planning to go out and raise a little hell. After all, he also mentions how he gets himself ‘slicked up to look like a dilly’.

It’s a good song and I’ve always been a fan of Perkins, but I also like a modern cover — a live performance by retro-rockabilly Brian Setzer. In the last couple of decades, Setzer has probably done as much as anyone to keep the sounds of rockabilly alive.

If you can stop snickering at my picture for a few minutes, listen to each version and see which you like best.

“Put Your Cat Clothes On” – Brian Setzer & The Nashvillains

Vince Lombardi Story May Be Broadway Bound
Based on the book Pride Still Matters by David Maraniss, a new Broadway play may be on the way about the life of legendary Green Bay Packers football coach, Vince Lombardi. The production, if it makes its way to The Great White Way, will be produced by Tony Ponturo and Fran Kirmser of Hair fame.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Lombardi coached the Packers from 1959 to 1967, racking up 5 league championships and two Superbowl wins during his tenure. His name has become synonymous with the NFL and he is widely known for his motivational skills on and off the field.

Look for a possible Fall 2010 debut for Lombardi on Broadway.

Million Dollar Quartet Set for Nederlander Theatre
After a year long run in the Windy City, Million Dollar Quartet has announced that will make it’s Broadway debut next Spring at West 41st Street’s Nederlander Theatre.

Million Dollar Quartet captures the excitement and the sounds of the night when music legends Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley all came together for a one-night jam session at Sun Records’ storefront studio in Memphis. Featuring songs like “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Fever,” “Sixteen Tons,” “Great Balls of Fire” and “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” Memphis is a treasure trove of the greatest rock, rockabilly, gospel, R&B and country standards of the 1950s.

Here’s a quick video clip from Million Dollar Quartet which is scheduled to begin previews on March 13th, with opening night set for April 2010 at the Nederlander.

More Wishful Drinking
Carrie Fisher’s one-woman show, Wishful Drinking, has announced that it will extend it’s run at Broadway’s Studio 54. Originally scheduled to go dark on January 3rd, the limited engagement will now add two more weeks of performances, with January 17th now set as its final night.

The daughter of Hollywood legends Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Fisher’s show is a tell-all about her life as the child of Hollywood royalty. Tales of her parents’ divorce, her own divorces, her various romantic involvements, and even her experience after starring in Star Wars are all part of this honest and often humorous look at the star’s life.

And that’s today’s ShowBus Buzz. Check back here often because we’ll be back with more news from Broadway very soon.

The ShowBus Team
http://ShowBusTours.com
info@showbustours.com
(800) 882-6400

Well how can you say you will when you won’t?
Say you do, baby, when you don’t?
Let me know, honey, how you feel
Tell the truth how love is real.

The honey-do’s started today. I’ve got a shit load of stuff to do before the big lay up. It doesn’t help that I’ve admittedly blown off doing a lot of stuff when I could have.

I’ve been gathering seed from the garden off & on. I’m almost there. My neighbor, Mark, the industrial designer, has a friend whose family has land along one of the Piney Rivers here. It’s old farm land, and he’s been wanting to get some native plantings established. I’ve given Mark access to my seed so they can get some native species going adjacent to their main camping site. It doesn’t cost me anything, and I like to pass the stuff along to decent families. They tend to camp into the winter months, and now is about time to get the stuff sown. They had a fairly good result from general sowing last fall, but it always takes a couple years for native biennials to make their presence known.

There’re also some people who started a community garden up on Morgan Ford. We were driving by one Saturday and we stopped to talk with them. They had just started getting it going and were need in plants. So they’re on my seed distribution list as well. And then there are a couple people at work that are usually willing to take seedlings off my hands.

That task is about wrapped up, except for getting some river oats seeds. Had a pretty good yield this year, plus we had our first (limited) harvest of hazelnuts. Not enough for a batch of cookies once the squirrels got done devastating them, but hopefully enough for maybe another dozen plants.

Went to Walgreens and picked up a second reusable underpad and some disposable ones. That should be enough to get us going once I get back from the hospital. I also laid in four Ghirardelli’s caramel latte chocolate bars. Those are going to be critically important to my recovery, especially the first week.

Thanks to the phenomenal patience and incredible familiarity with the quirks of local buildings of Carl at Oak Hill Hardware Store, I finally got the threshold for the front door put in. The old one was taken out a couple years back by some total fucktards that did some step & stoop work on our building. They were highly recommended to the landlord by another rehabber, but they were absolute morons. They replaced the marble lip under the front door (along with some other work they fucked up), but never replaced the threshold. I asked them about it one day, and they denied that there ever was a threshold. I mentioned it to Brian, he mentioned it to them, and they eventually installed some cheap hollow plastic quarter-round instead of a threshold which didn’t do a damn thing as far as blocking air incursion.

We got by the last two winters with a door sock, but I broke down today and put in another threshold. Only thing that needs to finish it is rasping the door a little bit since it’s binding some. But that should take care of the biggest part of air leaks.

It would be nice to get the back weed-whacked and build up some lasagna beds. It’s not much to speak of in spite of me futzing with it since we moved in. There’s an ancient Siberian elm that’s half-gone. I never worked around a Siberian elm before, but the root system is horrific. They send out lateral surface roots in all directions, making it almost impossible to turn the ground over with a spade fork, let alone a tiller. Plus the original furnaces in the building were coal “octopus” models. The traditional way ash was disposed of was dumping it in an ash pit that also doubled as a trash fire pit and probably barbecue. Once that was filled up, people usually sifted the coal ashes over the lawn.

I know that was done here because our pH is about 8.4 in some spots, front and back. When we moved in the weeds were struggling to grow.

I’ve added amendments around those fucking elm roots, sprinkled sulphur in various forms and it’s still too alkaline. The idea of building some lasagna beds and incorporating a lot of peat moss finally developed in my thick skull. That would work, especially if I sprinkled a couple bags of sulphur as a base. Plus it’s fall, and there is a more than adequate supply of leaves to use, especially oak leaves from that glorious 69-year old specimen Patrick and Jenny have across the alley.

The problem there is that damned Siberian elm and a broken sewer line on the east side of the building thanks to (you guessed it) that fucking elm. The sewer line needs to be replaced, which means digging down about eight feet and about 25′ back into the basement, which will totally roach what I already have planted there. But before that, that damned elm gets taken down and put out of my misery, at least in theory. If nothing, I’ll get some decent fire wood out of the bastard.

At least I don’t have to pay for it. I just have to work around it as best I can. Since we’re not planning on moving, that gives me a couple of years to get things right once the drek and destruction is finished. But it would be nice to have a small semblance of a half-way decent garden.

One of the things that came from people when the news of the cancer went around was “if you need anything, let me know…” It seemed to be a standard response for some reason, and a hollow one at that. I was talking with one of my siblings when “if you need anything…” came over the phone.

Well, how about coming over and helping me weed the garden? It’s looking pretty ragged.

I don’t have time for that!

But you just said if I needed anything to let you know. And I could use some help with that.

I’ve got my own garden to take care of, for God’s sake!

So what’s “if I need anything let you know” mean?

Uh… I’ve got to go…

I’ve heard the same line of bullshit from total strangers. When Dia was doing her month at Barnes ICU a couple years back I set up a safe deposit box at out bank. The suit was requiring that Dia sign the papers as well since we have joint accounts. I finally got through his thick skull that she was medically incapacitated– intubated and completely sedated. We got around the bureaucratic stupidity by getting everything set up on the basis of my IRA, which was in my name as primary. We got the keys and set things up. When we were leaving, the suit said “sorry to hear about your wife. If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”

That shit sucker hasn’t come around to help me weed, either.

Janelle Rominski, NBC Chicago Street Team

Chicago’s hit rock ‘n’ roll musical, Million Dollar Quartet celebrated its one-year anniversary this month.  Having rocked Chicago at the Apollo Theater for a year, this inspiring show has been extended through March 28, 2010.  In the springtime, Million Dollar Quartet is set to rock Broadway.

Million Dollar Quartet is inspired by an actual event that occurred on December 4, 1956, when Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins came together at the Sun Records’ studio in Memphis.  Sam Phillips, the “Father of Rock ‘n’ Roll” discovered the four musicians and brought them together for the only time in their careers for one of the greatest rock jam sessions of all time.

You walk into the theater as if you’re in Sun Records’ studio where a drum set sits, an upright bass is rested on its side, a piano stands still, guitars are propped up ready to be strummed and four shiny, classic, chrome microphones lay resting on mic stands waiting for soulful vocals to be sung into them.

The performers walk out and embrace the stage singing an unbelievable collection of featured songs including “Blue Suede Shoes”, “Who Do You Love”, “Great Balls of Fire” and many more hits.

The stars of the show have an uncanny resemblance to the star recording artists they’re portraying.

Their musical talent and acting abilities work very well together.

The production stars Eddie Clendening as Elvis Presley; Lance Guest as Johnny Cash; Levi Kreis as Jerry Lee Lewis and Rob Lyons as Carl Perkins.  Chicago’s very own Tim Decker plays the “Father of Rock ’n’ Roll” Sam Phillips, and Chicago-based actress Kelly Lamont plays Elvis’ girlfriend Dyanne.

Throughout the performance, audience members were tapping their feet, rocking their bodies, shaking their heads and singing along to the tunes.  This musical journey to the past is a “must-see”!

For more information visit www.MillionDollarQuartetLive.com

Want more Rominski reads? Read more right HERE!

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“Put Your Cat Clothes On” – Carl Perkins

Well, it’s Friday… rockin’ into the weekend…

Brian Setzer – rock this town

Brian Setzer – Mystery Train

Joaquin Phoenix – Get Rythm (Original by Johnny Cash, very well done, Joaquin!)

Eddie Cochran – Twenty flight rock (sorry, no other video that really shows “him”)

Carl Perkins – Dixie Fried

(Above: Bruce Springsteen isn’t even close to being the biggest legend onstage in this historic performance of “I Saw Her Standing There” from 1987.)

By Joel Francis

“Rock Hall Live,” an exquisite nine DVD box set of performances and speeches from the past 25 years of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremonies is a treasure trove for all music fans, but it should especially attractive to Bruce Springsteen fans. Springsteen appears on all but two of the discs in more than a dozen performances and nearly as many speeches. As the unofficial MC of the collection, Springsteen makes more appearances than anyone else.

The Daily Record previously reviewed “Rock Hall Live.” On Monday and Friday of this week it will examine every Springsteen performance on the collection. Although these performances are scattered throughout the box set, we will look at them in chronological order. On Wednesday, The Daily Record will review Springsteen’s concert at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo. (NOTE: Tuesday’s concert was cancelled because of the death of Springsteen’s cousin and road manager. On Wednesday The Daily Record will discuss Stevie Wonder’s 1968 hit “For Once in My Life.”)

1987 – “(Oh) Pretty Woman” (with Roy Orbison)

The footage from these early inductions – 1987 heralded the Hall’s second class of members – is shaky and the audio is questionable at best. Surrounded by Bo Diddley, Smokey Robinson, B.B. King, Carl Perkins and scores of other music legends, and awestruck Springsteen pays tribute to the man he immortalized in the lyrics to “Thunder Road.” Springsteen is so excited he forgets the song in a couple places, but his joy at being able to celebrate with Roy Orbison is infectious. Two years later, Orbison was gone and Springsteen paid him another tribute by performing “Crying” at that year’s ceremony.

1988 – “I Saw Her Standing There” (with Mick Jagger and the Rock Hall Jam Band)

It takes the cameraman a few moments to find the vocalist amongst the throng of performers onstage, but the camera finally lands on Billy Joel, belting out the first verse from the peanut gallery. Mick Jagger takes the second verse with an assist from George Harrison. Somewhere onstage, Ringo Starr is one of several happy drummers, making the occasion the closest thing to a Beatles reunion to happen until the Anthology project. (Paul McCartney was feuding with Harrison and Starr at the time and opted not to attend.) After a guitar solo from Jeff Beck, Springsteen finally gets the mic for the third verse. Despite forgetting a few of the words, he exuberantly finishes the number with Jagger.

1988 – “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” (with Mick Jagger and the Rock Hall Jam Band)

In his 2004 speech inducting Jackson Browne to the Rock Hall, Springsteen says he wishes he’d written “Satisfaction.” Sixteen years earlier, Springsteen realized part of his dream by performing the number with half of its authors. Surrounded by John Fogerty, Bob Dylan, Harrison, Beach Boy Mike Love, Jeff Lynne, Tina Turner, Ben E. King and keytar-rocking band leader Paul Schaffer, Springsteen trades lines with Jagger on the chorus. Sporting a gray suit and bolo tie and backed by E Street drummer Max Weinberg somewhere in the swarm, Springsteen is little more than a vocal prop in this chaotic number.

1993 – “Green River,” “Born on the Bayou,” “Who’ll Stop the Rain” (all with John Fogerty and Robbie Robertson)

Springsteen plays rhythm guitar and adds backing vocals to this trio of Creedence Clearwater Revival classics. Still upset at his former CCR band mates, John Fogerty refuses to perform with Doug Clifford and Stu Cook. The tension between the three is evident during the acceptance speech, but it completely dissolves once Fogerty straps on his guitar and steps behind the mic. The songs don’t really need three guitarists, but Springsteen is elated to be performing with yet another idol and happy to let Robbie Robertson and Fogerty do all the heavy lifting. There is also rehearsal footage of Springsteen, Fogerty, Robertson and bass player Don Was playing around with different arrangements. Robertson is clearly in charge of the ensemble and again Springsteen seems content to observe. Springsteen does jump into action, however, to work out the harmony vocal line with Fogerty and to successfully lobby for the inclusion of “Green River.”

1994 – “Come Together” (with Axl Rose)

This is a bad idea on paper and it’s even worse onstage. Springsteen looks stiff, sharply strumming a black Stratocaster that matches his tuxedo. A few paces away, Axl Rose more relaxed wearing jeans and flannel as he bobs and weaves like a snake hearing some inaudible flute. This isn’t a duet so much as two performers doing the same song in a shared space. Rose’s voice is fine in its own context, but it’s rarely complementary. His performance here is so grating it makes one long for Aerosmith’s version (shudder). Springsteen seems relieved when the song finally ends.

Keep reading:

Springsteen Rocks the Hall (part 2)

Review: Boss is Bigger than Big 12 Tourney (2008)

Bruce Springsteen and Tom Morello – “The Ghost of Tom Joad”

Review: Springsteen’s “Dream” Needs More Work

Springsteen in the Waiting Room: Drop the Needle and Pray

New DVD Set Celebrates Rock Hall Performances

More Bruce Springsteen in The Daily Record

Carl Perkins fue otro de los muchos pioneros del rock que pasaron por Sun Records. Aunque no sea tan famoso como Elvis, como Johnny Cash o algunos otros, lo cierto es que éstos alcanzaron el éxito muchas veces gracias a los temas de Perkins, como éste.

Era de una familia bastante pobre de campesinos; tanto, que su primera guitarra se la hizo con un palo de escoba y una caja, pero consiguió que un vecino le vendiera una. Aun así, como no tenía dinero para cambiar las cuerdas, las ataba. Para evitar los nudos, doblaba las cuerdas para tocar la nota que quería (lo que se llama bending, prácticamente lo inventó él)

Consiguió tocar con su hermano en algunos garitos donde siempre acababan metidos en peleas (se hicieron casi más famosos por ello que por sus canciones). Tras casasrse y mejorar un poco su situación económica, consiguió hacer una prueba para Sun Records en el 54. Al año siguiente escribía esta canción, Blue Suede Shoes, basada en la historia de un bailarín de un tugurio que le estaba echando la bronca a su novia porque le había estropeado los zapatos (y Carl pensaba que la chica valía bastante más que los zapatos). La escribió deprisa y corriendo sobre una bolsa de patatas, y ale, ya tenía su hit. Con ésta consiguió el número 1 y salir por la tele asiduamente. Además, forjó una amistad con Elvis Presley que duraría lo que le quedaba a éste de vida, por lo menos, además de ser colega de todos los grandes de la época.

Tanto es así, que a su funeral en 1998 fueron, entre otros, George Harrison, Jerry Lee Lewis, Wynonna Judd, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash y June Carter Cash.

Blue Suede Shoes, por cierto,  es otra de las canciones conservadas por el Registro Nacional de Grabaciones de la Library of Congress.

Versión original

En directo y más reciente:

On Tex Ritter’s Ranch Party