ELVIS' MUSICIANS: D.J FONTANA

Dominic Joseph Fontana was born March 15th , 1931 in Shreveport, Louisiana.

Best known as Elvis’ drummer, he played on over 460 RCA cuts with Elvis during 14 years of service.

D.J. was employed by the Louisiana Hayride to be an in-house drummer on its Saturday night broadcast. He always played behind a curtain as in those days drums were considered a musical sacrilege to country music fans.

October 16th, 1954, he was hired to play drums for Elvis. He joined a band (originally assembled by Sam Phillips) consisting of Scotty Moore (Lead Guitar), Bill Black (Bass), and Elvis, calling themselves "The Blue Moon Boys".

The band became the one that would perform and record the vast majority of the Elvis hits of the 50's. They also toured extensively and performed on several television appearances during this period.

D.J last performance with Elvis was on the NBC T.V Special known as the '68 Comeback Special.

In 1983 he published a book titled "D.J. Fontana Remembers Elvis" about his years. with Elvis.

D.J. Fontana is a member of the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.

I met DJ back in 2002 at the Collingwood Elvis Festival in Ontario, Canada and had the chance to have a little chat with him. It did’nt take long to realize that the man is a gentleman, taking the time to listen and talk with the fans.

ELVIS' MUSICIANS: SCOTTY MOORE

Winfield Scott "Scotty" Moore III was born in December 27th, 1931.

He is a member of the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame and for his pioneering contribution, Moore has been recognized by the Rockabilly Hall of Fame in 2000.

Known for his work with Elvis in the first part of his career, from 1954 to 1958, Scotty Moore learned to play the guitar at eight years of age from family and friends .His early background was in Jazz and country music.

Scotty led a group called the "Starlite Wranglers" before Sam Phillips at Sun Records put him together with young Elvis Presley.

Phillips believed that Moore's lead guitar and Bill Black was all that was needed to augment Presley's rhythm guitar and lead vocals on their recordings.

In 1954 Moore and Black accompanied Elvis on what was going to be the first legendary Presley hit: "That's All Right Mama".

Elvis, Black and Scotty Moore then formed the "Blue Moon Boys". They were later joined by drummer D.J. Fontana.

Beginning in July of 1954, the "Blue Moon Boys" toured throughout the American South and as Presley's popularity rose, they toured the United States and made appearances in various television shows and movies.

July 12, 1954: Scotty becomes Elvis’ first manager with the signing of a contract that also bore the signatures of Elvis’s parents.

Moore played on many of Presley's most famous recordings including "Good Rockin' Tonight", "Baby Let's Play House", "Heartbreak Hotel", "Mystery Train", "Hound Dog", "Too Much" and "Jailhouse Rock".

Scotty is given credit as the pioneer of the rock 'n' roll lead guitarist. Most popular guitarists cite Moore as the performer that brought the lead guitarist to a dominant role in a rock 'n' roll band.

Moore, being quite introverted on stage, accomplished this almost exclusively through his performance and interpretation of the music.

In the 1960s, Moore released a solo album called The Guitar That Changed the World.

He moved to Nashville in 1964. In addition to working as an engineer and session musician, he played on many of Presley’s Nashville sessions at RCA’s Studio B. Moore set up his own Nashville studio, Music City Records, in 1966.

Moore and Fontana rejoined Presley for the televised 1968 “comeback special” (bassist Black had died in 1965).

While with Presley, Moore initially played a Gibson ES-295, before switching to a Gibson L5 and subsequently a Gibson Super 400.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

ELVIS' MUSICIANS: BILL BLACK

William Patton "Bill" Black, Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21st, 1965).

Elvis Presley's bassist.('slapped/rockabilly' upright double)

Born in Memphis, Tennesse, Bill recorded "That's all right"with Elvis and Scotty in a Sun Records Studio session in Memphis. That is considered a seminal event in the history of Rock N Roll.

Bill Black became one of the first bass players to use the Fender Precision Bass Guitar in the late 1950s.

Bill, Scotty, Elvis and drummer D.J. Fontana toured extensively during Presley's early career.

Bill was an extrovert and often "clowned" and did comedy during the shows. He and Elvis had a couple of comedy routines together that they would slip into the show from time to time. Bill's on stage personality was a big contrast to the introverted stage presence of Scotty Moore. This balance seemed to be the perfect fit for the Elvis performances.

Elvis' unusual and very active stage presence was not always easily accepted in the 50's. Bill's comedic personality would often relax the audience and win them over to their side.

Black worked with Elvis until 1958, leaving his band in large part due to disputes over financial terms.

Although guitarist Scotty Moore would eventually work with Elvis again, Bill never did, joining a Memphis group that evolved into Bill Black's Combo in 1959. Their instrumental "Smokie," released late that year, made the Top Ten.

Black died of a brain tumor in 1965 at the age of thirty-nine and is buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Memphis.

Elvis received criticism for not attending his funeral; however Elvis believed that his presence would turn the funeral into a media frenzy. He decided instead to visit the family privately after the service to express his condolences.

Bill Black's bass is today owned by ex-Beatle Paul McCartney who received the bass as a birthday present from his late wife Linda McCartney in the late 70's. The bass can be seen in the video clip to McCartney's song "Baby's Request". In the documentary film "The world tonight" Paul McCartney can be seen playing the bass and singing his version of "Heartbreak Hotel".

source;http://wikipedia.org/

When Elvis met Nixon

There is no doubt that one of the strangest event in Elvis’ life happened on December 21, 1970.

December 20th, 1970, Elvis, bored with his confined existence in Graceland, decided to leave his home, on his own for the first time since 1956.

He went to the Memphis International airport, something he had never done before, bought a ticket under the name of John Burrows and boards a commercial flight to Washington D.C

After checking into the Washington Hotel he left almost immediately and took the next flight to Los Angeles where he met up with Jerry Schilling.

Elvis admired law enforcement officers and collected badges of police departments he visited and he had hundreds of them.

Three weeks earlier, he had spoken in Palm Springs, CA with Spiro Agnew, the Vice President of the United States and had come away with a burning desire to fight the drug culture, hippies, the SDS, and the Blank Panthers. He became inflamed with the desire to be deputized by the federal Bureau of Narcotics and Dangersous Drugs (BNDD).

He asked Schilling to join him on a quick trip to Washington without giving many details about the reason of this trip. Bodyguard Sonny West would fly in from Memphis to meet them. Elvis asked Schilling to take out some cash, approx $500.00 for the trip cause he had left Graceland with only $20.00 and a credit card.

Elvis ended up giving away the money to a soldier returning from service in Vietnam.

Schilling said to Elvis, "That's all the money we got!"
Elvis replied, "I said give the man the money."

Elvis went back to his seat and started to write a strange letter to President Nixon on American Airlines sheets, asking Nixon for a small favor. ( see the letter at the bottom of this page )

Upon their arrival in Washington on the morning of December 21, 1970, Elvis and Schilling got off the plane, met Sonny West and took a limo to the Washington Hotel where they got rooms 505-506 & 507 registered under the names of Jerry Schilling, Sonny West, and Jon Burrows.

Right after breakfast, the trio set out to visit the White House.Elvis got out of the limo and simply walked up to the White House gates and handed the guard a 5-page letter addressed to President Richard Nixon.

Elvis asked to meet with the President although he had no appointment, and Nixon didn't even know he was coming.
Then he left to wait for an answer in his hotel room. Elvis could not wait for the answer.

He went off and asked for a meeting with the director of the BNDD to seek a badge. He instead met with BNDD deputy director John Finlator, who refused Elvis' request.

Meanwhile, at the White House, Nixon’s aides read Elvis’ letter, and thought it might not be such a bad idea to get photographs of the President meeting with the legendary King of Rock and Roll. “The President will see Mr. Presley for 20 minutes”.

In the hotel room, Schilling received a call inviting Elvis to the White House for a meeting with the president.

Elvis, Sonny and Jerry quickly went to the White House. The guns Presley had brought including the one he brought as a gift for Nixon had to be left at the gate.

At 12:30, Elvis was taken into the Oval Office. He was wearing a black suede suit, a white shirt with a high collar open to the chest, a dark purple cloak around his shoulders, a gold-plated belt and black leather boots.

He carried a cane, and wore amber-tinted sunglasses to cover his eyes, which were covered in heavy eye shadow and mascara. "He had on more mascara than the Avon Lady," recalls Marty Lacker.

When Elvis entered the Oval Office, Krogh recalls, he froze.

Elvis showed Nixon some pictures of his wife, Priscilla, and Lisa Marie, his law enforcement paraphernalia including badges from police departments in California, Colorado and Tennessee.

Presley kept repeating that he wanted to be helpful, that he wanted to restore some respect for the flag, which was being lost. He mentioned he was just a poor boy from Tennessee who had gotten a lot from his country, which in some way he wanted to repay.

The President mentioned that he thought Presley could reach young people, and that it was important for Presley to retain his credibility. Presley responded that he did his thing by singing. He said he could not get to the kids if he made a speech on stage, that he had to reach them in his own way. The President nodded agreement.

Presley indicated that he thought the Beatles had been a real force for anti-American spirit. He said that the Beatles came to this country, made their money, and then returned to England where they promoted an anti-American theme. The President nodded in agreement and expressed some surprise. The President then indicated that those who use drugs are also those in the vanguard of anti-American protest. Violence, drug usage, dissent, protest all seem to merge in generally the same group of young people.

He also mentioned that he is studying Communist brainwashing and the drug culture for over ten years. He mentioned that he knew a lot about this and was accepted by the hippies. He said he could go right into a group of young people or hippies and be accepted which he felt could be helpful to him in his drug drive.

After some small talk, Elvis got down to business. "Mr. President, can you get me a badge from the Narcotics Bureau at large? Nixon nodded and said, “I’d like to do that, but I don’t know if we have such a thing”. Nixon told Krogh that he would like Elvis to receive a badge. “See if it’s possible that he gets one.”

Nixon patted Elvis on the shoulder and told him, “Well, I appreciate your willingness to help us out, Mr. Presley.”

Elvis was smiling triumphantly. "Thank you very much, sir. This means a lot to me."...Elvis then moved up

close to the President and, in a spontanous gesture, put his left arm around him and hugged him.

Nixon opened the left-hand drawer of his desk, which was where he kept gifts for visitors. Elvis could see the drawer held some Presidential tie clasps for men, and Presidential pendants for women.

Not done yet, Elvis asked the president if he would see his friends Schilling and West: "It would mean a lot to them and to me." Schilling and West were ushered into the Oval Office. Nixon gave them the same tie clasps and cuff links with presidential seals that he had already given Elvis.

Elvis prompted Nixon: "You know, they've got wives too." Elvis and Nixon then rummaged through Nixon's desk for suitable presents for the wives.

After lunch in the White House mess and a tour of the White House, Elvis was presented with the BNDD badge by Finlator.

Elvis presented Nixon with a commemorative World War II-era Colt .45 pistol.

They took a series of formal pictures.

“Now I know why they call you Tricky Dicky,” Elvis said to the President jokingly.

Nixon, unshaken, shot back. “And now I know why they call you Elvis the Pelvis!”Regarding Elvis’ theatrical get-up.

Nixon told Presley, “You dress kind of strange, don’t you.”

Laughing, Elvis gave a classic reply. “Well, Mr. President, you got your show, and I got mine.”

Elvis, Sonny and Jerry left the White House and flew out of town without ever checking out of their hotel.

Elvis had recently gotten several death threats, and become obsessed about carrying a gun everywhere with him.

He wanted to be declared a Federal Agent so he and his bodyguards could legally carry small arms in every state in America. Nixon’s badge allowed them to do just that. Now, Elvis was legally empowered to protect himself, and carry on the fight for justice and "respecting the flag".

The Memphis Mafia all carried guns, too. Excessive drug use had made Elvis irrational and paranoid, and he kept saying he wouldn’t go anywhere without a gun.

Elvis usually kept a derringer in his boot, and carried another gun in his pocket. Sometimes two!

Elvis bought almost $20,000 worth of hand guns in 1970.

If you want to know more, you got to see the movie " ELVIS MEETS NIXON"!!!

Special thanks to:

http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/nixon-met-elvis/

http://www.dialbforblog.com/archives/88/

http://www.cnn.com

After Scotty, there was...Walter Louis Garland

Born in 1930, Garland first strummed a used Encore steel-string at age 6 and quickly proved himself a natural.
He played, toured and recorded with Elvis Presley from 1957 to 1961.

Garland versatility and ability to work up song arrangements may have helped to bring him and Elvis Presley together in the studio in 1957, while Elvis was on leave from the Army.

Although Scotty Moore had played regularly with Elvis since 1954, he was now working with him on a per-job basis. Elvis was beginning to expand his musical range, adding more pop-oriented numbers to his repertoire. Though most of his tunes still rocked, it was obvious that he was trying to appeal to a wider audience.

Garland got the call on a number of sessions with Elvis from 1957 to 1961, playing on songs such as "Little Sister," "I Need Your Love Tonight", "Big Hunk of Love" "I Got Stung," "A Fool Such As l," "Stuck On You" (which had Hank on 6-string bass), "It's Now Or Never," "Are You Lonesome Tonight," "Surrender, "and “I Feel So Bad," He also picked guitar on Elvis' "His Hand In Mine" LP.

(On recording with Elvis) Mr Garland said: "Real nice. He never got upset about anything. You hear a lot of people talk about him, saying 'Elvis did this' and 'Elvis did bad' in record sessions, but that's all junk! He never did. He ran in and sang what he was supposed to sing, and afterwards he shook hands with everybody and said thanks."

Hank was also part of Elvis' March 25, 1961, Benefit show in Honolulu, which was Presley's last live performance for eight years. Garland was featured prominently, and when Elvis introduced the band, everyone got a routine intro while Hank was referred to as "one of the finest guitar players anywhere in the country today."

Garland was playing on the soundtrack for the movie "Follow That Dream" when his 1959 Chevy Nomad station wagon crashed near Springfield, Tenn., throwing Garland from the car and leaving him in a coma for months. A suspicious career ending accident that almost killed him and ended his brilliant music career. His brother claims it was no accident, but an attempted hit by someone in the Nashville record scene.

Hank Garland underwent a series of shock treatments. He had to learn to walk, talk and how to play the guitar again. He recovered to an extent but was in poor health and lost a lot of his aggressiveness. He was not able to perform again professionally.

Hank Garland died at a medical center in Orange Park, Florida on December 27, 2004 at age 74.

THE DAY ELVIS DIED

I was 11 years old the day Elvis died, August 16th, 1977. It was a warm and sunny day.

I was trying to install a little am-fm radio on my bicycle…lol..when my mother got out of the house and told me Elvis was dead.

I was not an Elvis fan at the time. In fact I barely knew Elvis. I knew him mostly as an actor. There was Elvis movies on T.V on a regular basis and my aunts used to watched them and told me about Elvis, about the fifties, the way Elvis moved on stage back then. They were also showing me recent pictures of the King, I could see the man was in bad shape and that he didn’t look like the Elvis I knew from the movies.

My mother had one Elvis record, a single with on one side, Kiss me quick and on the other, Suspicion that I used to listen once in a while as part of other records she had.

When she told me Elvis died, I got into the house and listened to this record.

The T.V was on and I remember there was a special report about the sudden death of Elvis.

The next day, my mother and I went to the grocery store and I saw a newspaper, a special edition about Elvis. She bought it so I spent a couple of days reading about Elvis’s life.

A few days later, she bought another newspaper and a magazine..and later during the week…another one.. and another one..lol.

A couple of weeks later my family and I went shopping in a little town nearby. In a general store, I saw this greatest hits album “ Elvis, les 40 plus grands succès”. I wanted it so bad..lol so.. my mother bought it and…that day…that day…I became an Elvis fan… forever...