Slippery History 2

This might get messy before it gets finished. I'm determined to push through, though a few gaps may develop between posts, and very soon the cronology will vanish, but hopefully return in the big picture.

The King's music played an important part in the family's daily routine. My aunts accumulated quite a stack of Elvis 45's, many of them reissued hits packaged with two and sometimes even three songs per side. By stacking five or six discs on the fat, seven inch, 45 accommodating changer, the girls could dance and sing along for twenty or better minutes at a time. This sort of concert, as a warm-up to The Mickey Mouse Club and American Band Stand, took place in granny's living-room each day after school. We listened to hits like (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear, Jailhouse Rock, Love Me Tender, and many others. The drums between stanzas on Hound Dog drove me wild, but my favorites included Trouble, King Creole, Crawfish, and Blue Christmas.

Granny programmed the morning concert. After everyone left for school or work, she loaded a stack on the Phillips changer and sent it whirling while making beds, sweeping floors, and washing dishes. If the stack finished before the chores, she repositioned it and repeated the sequence. Not a morning went by without the song One Night, possibly her favorite, playing background to the housework. Elvis's impassioned vocal on that cut is one of his all time best and still packs quite an emotional punch. I always loved the line, "I ain't never did no wrong."

Everyone in the house seemed excited when Elvis sang on TV. We watched the old Philco set from couch, floor, or rocking chair huddled together, often eating homemade fudge, wrapped, during winter, in blankets, or doing a little Elvising in the wind of a two bladed window fan during warmer months. For me, if Elvis was on, I was on.

Here's my band.