Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Red-Letter Dates in Music History

It was seventy-three years ago today, in Tupelo, Mississippi, that Gladys Love Presley succesfully delivered one of the twins she was carrying, the other being stillborn. And it was sixty-two years ago today that she took that boy to a pawnshop to buy a rifle for his birthday, and he came out with a guitar instead.

We're all quite grateful here.

Powerpop would not exist without rock and roll, and rock and roll would not exist without Elvis--or at the very least, it would look very, very different.

So, uh, thanks, man. Happy Birthday.

4 comments:

steve simels said...

Interesting to think how the death of Elvis' twin may have changed history in unfathomable ways.

An interesting meditation on same can be found in Nick Tosches' indispensable "Unsung Heroes of Rock n Roll" (still the best and funniest reference book about pre-Elvis rock -- yes, there was such a thing). It's an interview with a guy who may or may not actually be Jesse Garon....

Kid Charlemagne said...

TCB!

billy b said...

One of my grandmother's best friends (we called her Aunt Ruth) had a house that backed up to Graceland in Whitehaven.

In 1967, we were visiting Aunt Ruth and walked on the grounds at Graceland. In those days, there was only a fence out front.

Anonymous said...

Nobody does it better.