Photo © Alfred Wertheimer
It's well documented that Elvis was a degenerate, and more than likely that he was a record collector too. So, in commemoration of his 72nd birthday, I'll kick off this flagship posting of the boogie woogie flu with some chestnuts that the King recorded and brought to a larger audience. Hopefully, his records were in better condition than mine. Check out Pete "Guitar" Lewis on "Hound Dog". There are two versions of "Tomorrow Night" here. Elvis recorded a beautiful version based on Lonnie Johnson's signature number that never saw the light of day until thirty years after the fact. The Lavern Baker version was recorded around the same time as Elvis' and is something to behold. I had to include Elvis himself, so we get his version of "My Baby Left Me" by Arthur Crudup, songwriter of Elvis' first single, "That's All Right".
Happy Birthday Elvis.
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Download:
"Hound Dog" mp3
by "Big Mama" Thornton, 1952.
"Baby Let's Play House" mp3
by Arthur Gunter, 1954.
"Blue Moon of Kentucky" mp3
by Bill Monroe and his Bluegrass Boys, 1947.
"Good Rockin' Tonight" mp3
by Wynonie Harris, 1948.
"Tomorrow Night" mp3
by Lonnie Johnson, 1948.
"Tomorrow Night" mp3
Lavern Baker, 1955.
"My Baby Left Me" mp3
by Elvis Presley, 1956.
Fabulous blog, old buddy! Keep the tunes coming...
ReplyDeleteI used to work for the Graceland archives, I cataloged E's records. He had a lot of great 50's r&b 45s. Not a big lp fan apparently. also early british invasion 45s. He had 2 early Beatles lps where he or someone marked specific tracks
ReplyDeletethanks c.
ReplyDeletethis doesn't come as a surprise. elvis knew good songs, and good singers too. i'm curious which british invasion records he had. any stones.?
only one I came across, one of the early ones, "Time is on My Side" maybe? A couple of Animals, Beatles, this was 10 years ago, can't recall the rest, but I want to say there was a Them 45 in there.
ReplyDeletecool. them and the animals: the cream of the crop.
ReplyDeleteOh my lord that Lonnie Johnson track is wonderful. I have to track down a 78 for myself now.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work, I love your blog...
Happy Birthday. I always felt Elvis was referring more to Roy Brown's version of "Good Rockin Tonight" (Deluxe, 1946) -- if you listen to the vocal. Elvis seems to quote Roy's crying, gospel-like delivery on the way he swoops down into baritone range on the refrain "there's good rockin' tonight." Wynonie's was a bigger hit, but then again, Sam Phillips was shocked Elvis even heard of Arthur Crudup.
ReplyDeleteCool tunes, Ted...for kicks, I took out the clicks and pops of the first two songs, and they sound excellent! Let me know if you want the improved files, or any others.
ReplyDeleteMike Tubbs
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