I grew up in the 60s loving the Beatles. It took me a long time to hear the music of Elvis Presley with ears attuned to its riches, but Elvis was the man, even for the Beatles themselves. Yesterday was his birthday. I thought we might note the occasion with a look back that draws on the availability of his work on YouTube. In addition to hitting a few highlights,
Saturday (January 8th) marks what would have been the "King of Rock n' Roll" Elvis Presley's 85th birthday. From his meteoric rise to fame in the 1950's, to his death at the age of 42 in 1977, through to the present-day; the world is still fascinated by everything that is Elvis. After working as a movie theater usher and a truck driver for a Memphis Electrical Company, Elvis began singing locally as "The Hillbilly Cat," and signed to the late Sam Phillips' Sun Records, who then sold his contract for $35,000 to RCA Victor in 1955. Elvis went on to become rock's first true global superstar. Following years of declining health and prescription drug abuse, Elvis died of a heart attack on August 16th, 1977 at his Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. He remains among the highest earning dead celebrities. Internationally, Elvis has sold well over one billion records, more than any other artist. His American sales have earned him gold, platinum
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Good morning, it’s Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise a quotation meant to be inspiring. Today’s comes from one of the fathers of rock ’n’ roll, a man born this day in 1928. The youngest of eight children in a French Creole family from New Orleans, he was christened Antoine Dominique Domino Jr., but the world would come to know him as “Fats.”
Fats Domino shares a birthday with country music virtuoso Johnny Cash, who came into the world four years later. I’ve written about “the man in black” previously; this morning I’m writing about a black man who help create the most distinctly American form of music.