The Roots of Elvis: Jan., 1956

January, 1956. At last, the prophesied White Man with the "Negro Sound and Negro Feel" (thanks, Sam Phillips) had arrived with Heartbreak Hotel. (No white robes, but they would come.) Elvis, the Pop Savior, had come to Earth--or RCA, anyway--to cleanse the pop charts of white-bread, cute-novelty stuff like 1953's Doggie in the Window, the kind of pop that ruled in the mid-1950s.

Or did such stuff rule? Not if the records people were listening to are any indication. Contrary to myth, vocal pop of the 1953-1955 period tended to be extroverted and loud. Singers like Tony Bennett, Tony Martin, Frankie Laine, Rosemary Clooney, and June Valli were folks who could hold a loud and long note without the aid of echo, if necessary, and who could have taught the Promised Presley a thing or two about projecting his tonsils. But this is sacrilege. (Sorry--I got carried away.)

Still, I can prove that which I assert. Here are two records from January, 1956 that aren't at all unusual for non-Elvis pop of that day. In fact, June Valli's From the Wrong Side of Town sounds a heck of a lot like Elvis To Come. And she recorded it at the very same label, RCA. Fascinating....

http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/208702.html
Teenage Meeting (Gonna Rock It Up Right), Don Cornell, released Jan., 1956. Song featured (not by Don) in the movie Don't Knock the Rock. A Bill Haley ripoff, you say? And then some!

http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/183510.html
From the Wrong Side of Town, June Valli, released Jan., 1956. So Elvis-esque, it's scary. Clink-clink-clink, clink-clink-clink. Jordanaires-style vocal backing. Southern-Gospel-style vocal emoting by Valli. And on Elvis' label. Did I mention that Valli had been singing in this vein since at least 1953?

Don Cornell will return in our next post, with a song that could pass for an Elvis hit released a month later....

Lee

Leonard Bartstein

Coming up, on The Roots of Elvis: "February, 1956"

But, first, here's a file I had meant to post before but kept forgetting about. Which is funny, because, once heard, this file is not easily forgotten.

Sorry--I couldn't resist that cliche. It was begging to be typed.

Anyway, this is an edited version of "Christopher Street," a selection from the 1953 original-cast recording of Wonderful Town--music by Leonard Bernstein. Sounds an awful lot, to me, like the end-title music from The Simpsons. Dubbed from vinyl (but it probably came out on shellac, too!).

http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/138354.html
Christopher Street (Lee-edited music by Leonard Bernstein, orig. 1953)

Lee

The Roots of Elvis, Part 3: Was RCA crazy?

Was RCA crazy? In late 1955, yes. Crazier than Hal, the 2001 computer. According to Rock History, at least. Because it was in late 1955 when RCA, the biggest of the majors, took a huge, huge risk by investing in both Elvis Presley and the utterly uncertain future of rock and roll.

Imagine--a white performer assigned to make rock and roll records. Somebody young, just like the music's audience. Someone who was starting to hit it big in the C&W charts at a time when the popularity of Country was increasing. RCA had to have been out of its everloving gourd.

And, while we're marveling at the inexplicable, drive-your-car-off-a-cliff-just-to-be-doing-it recklessness of the Radio Corporation of America, let's listen to some very early rock and roll of the white-pop variety, starting with Peggy Lee, from 1951. These examples demonstrate that, by late 1955, white rock and roll had only been around for, maybe, four years. No wonder RCA had to have been wacko to gamble on Elvis.

Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (Louis Prima-Milton Kaback), by Peggy Lee with Orchestra (1951).
http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/167062.html (Might be a cover, but, so far, it hasn't turned out to be one. Not a Lennon-McCartney tune, either. Peggy rocks!)

Brother Fats (Sunny Skylar), by Ray Anthony and His Orch., vocal by Gloria Craig (1951). http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/183708.html (A rockin' boogie selection in the style of Buddy Johnson, written by the man who gave us Hooray, Hooray! I'm Goin' Away! by Beatrice Kay)

Stop! (Let Me Off the Bus), by Snooky Lanson, with Orchestra (1955). http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/188752.html (Lanson does a perfectly fine job on this Dot label rocker, and the song is very likely not a cover, especially as the writing credits include "Vaughn" and "Wood." Notice how much the vocal group sounds like the Jordanaires during the instrumental breaks? Doesn't it almost sound like they borrowed these guys to make Hound Dog?)

Smack Dab in the Middle (Stone), by The Mills Brothers (1955).
http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/187943.html (The Mills Brothers do a fabulous job on this Jesse Stone number, which had earlier been recorded by Stone, as "Charlie Calhoun," on MGM.)

Gum Drop (Toombs), by The Mills Brothers (1955). http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/187944.html (Probably a cover of the recording by Otis Williams and His Charms. But it rocks!)

Hambone (R. Saunders), by Frankie Laine and Jo Stafford, w. Paul Weston Orch. (1952).
http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/183509.html (Columbia label cover of the Red Saunders record, done in country-mixed-with-R&B style--and while Mitch Miller was in charge. I know, I know. Rock History tells us Columbia recorded no rock and roll during Mitch's watch. Sure.)

Enjoy!

Lee

Mock Duel

A brief break from Elvis roots for a very interesting bluegrass selection from 1957 by Carl Story and His Rambling Mountaineers. This file was ripped from vinyl (of course)--Mercury 71088, to be precise. Found it in a thrift store, and I was astonished by two things: 1) a Carl Story record in a thrift store, and 2) a Carl Story record in a thrift store in excellent condition. I still haven't recovered.

But the big surprise was Mocking Banjo. It will sound very, very familiar.

http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/192636.html

Deliverance would come, but not for another 15 years....


Lee

The Roots of Elvis, Part 2: Love Me

Presenting Connie Russell, here backed by Red Callender's Combo and a second voice (whose, I do not know). All I know about Connie is that she was white, attractive, and someone who sang on television and records in the 1950s. For our purposes, she was not an R&B or country singer. (I'm afraid to label her "pop," lest it turn out she's considered a jazz or Broadway singer--more than "pop," that is. The horror!)

This is Connie's extremely good 1954 version of Leiber and Stoller's "Love Me"--a cover of Willy and Ruth's R&B version of the same year (Spark 105). However, Connie sounds much more like Elvis than Willy and Ruth. Elvis returned the favor in 1956 by recording a version of "Love Me" that sounds much more like Connie than Willy and Ruth--the same metronomic triplets, and the same emotional intensity (but with lots of RCA echo added). Here's Connie:

http://www.box.net/public/lee/files/188623.html

Did Elvis copy Connie's record? Possibly. Or, maybe, it's just a case of two white popular singers "covering" an R&B song and achieving very similar results. But two years apart.

(The theme of this thread, of course....)

Lee