“L” is for “Love” … of music, that is!
By Phyllis Knox
This blog is part of a very special series created and written by Phyllis Knox, “Alphabetic Musings”, whereby she chooses a word starting with a particular letter from the alphabet and injects it with her storytelling magic.
Let’s be clear: I Love music. Love with a capital L. As I sit and ponder the role of music in my life, I can’t help but let go of today and return to my youth. A very different time, one might say, and a very different Phyllis, for sure.
My first memories of music are of hearing wonderful sounds over the radio, it may have been 1953 or 1954. Elvis, born on January 8, 1935, was just then coming onto the scene. I cannot find the exact words to tell you, the reader, how his voice, his hip movements (I noticed the ‘dance’ only later on) and the lyrics to his songs affected me! I was mesmerized even hypnotized by the King. He had not yet been crowned but, he was already somebody special in my eyes. In the years that followed, I used to get an allowance of 50 cents a week and babysitting added a whole 50 cents per hour to my gold mine (I stashed the coins away in a little pink piggy bank hidden from the eyes of my three sisters who shared a bedroom with me). In time, I was able to buy a first 45 RPM record for less than 5$. What a deal--- two of Elvis’s songs on one circular vinyl surface put onto a turn table: a miracle at the tip of my fingers. I played that beautiful voice performance of Elvis Presley's both day and night until…. well, it played no more! I was in heaven as I fell under the spell of his words on the many 45s and 33s which would be added to my collection over the years. I loved, loved, loved those tender moments when I could hear only the sounds of wonderment!
I made a promise to myself as a teenage girl that one day I would see Elvis in person and I would meet him and that I would tell him that I thought he was wonderful! Sadly, I was never able to fulfil that promise. But back then, the seed was planted and a real LOVE of music began which has only grown during these many, many years. Elvis was one of a kind! Though I have read books and heard television and radio commentaries and seen some very negative documentaries about him and his life choices, I have always loved and totally enjoyed the entertainer that he was! He gave it his all. Elvis sang Blues, Church/Gospel and Country renditions and he did it all with the same enthusiasm, constantly wanting to make people happy as he touched their very hearts and their deepest thoughts and their sentimental souls, without fail. If you go on-line to Google and then, type in “billboard 40 Best Elvis Presley Songs”, you will find yourself on one of the most fantastic sites all of which have original renditions of the King’s songs performed between the mid-fifties and the mid-seventies...wow! There are at least 50 sites that you can go to in order to get to hear and/or read about Elvis’s top 40 songs!
At this point please, indulge me as I give you my own Top 20 all-time Elvis favourites. They are:
20. Don’t Be Cruel
19. Love Me Tender
18. Blue Suede Shoes
17. Are You Lonesome Tonight?
16. Return to Sender
15. Heartbreak Hotel
14. Teddy Bear
13. Can’t Help Falling in Love
12. Fever
11. All Shook Up
10. Stuck on You
9. If I Can Dream…
8. Teddy Bear
7. Jailhouse Rock
6. Don’t Be Cruel
5. Suspicious Minds
4. Crying in the Chapel
3. Hound Dog
2.I t’s Now or Never and as you may have already guessed, coming in at # 1, my all-time favourite is:
1. Memories.
If there are any Elvis fans reading this, let me know what your favourite Elvis songs are! Elvis left us far too soon on August 16, 1977 at the young age of 42... a day I will never forget as long as I live, the sadness was so raw at that very moment when I heard of his demise! His memory has followed me through all these years – from my youth through to my adulthood and beyond. Elvis’ songs are as vibrant to me today as they were almost 3/4’s of a century ago!
I want to write a few words here about another natural talent from that same epic time and from the same general geographic (Southern US of A) area as Elvis: Jerry Lee Lewis. He was born in Louisiana in 1935 and was really a competitive rival of Elvis’s. In some ways, their church roots were similar as well as their similar Rock and Roll, Rockabilly, Country. Gospel and Honky-tonk styles. In addition, while Elvis had the ‘looks’, Jerry Lee had the genius piano-playing skills. Lewis played and sang two of my all-time favourites: Great Balls of Fire Jerry Lee’s Greatest. 1961 and Whole lot of Loving going On Jerry Lee Lewis 1958.
Back in the 50’s, my older brothers were great fans of The Everly Brothers. As a 10-year-old, I would sit for quite a while and quietly listen to them, without understanding the words. These two young singers’ voices harmonized as only a brother or a sister-team can ever hope to achieve. Don was born in 1937 and Phil was born in 1939. Their earliest active singing years were from 1957 to 1973 and their ‘comeback’ years were from 1983 to 2005. These born-in-the-State of Iowa entertainers were second to none and as far as I am concerned, they were always at the top of their game for all those many years. I typed in “The Everly Brothers Top 4” and I found “Songs From Sources across the web”. The following is a list of the brilliant and wonderful songs that are mentioned. They are UNBELIEVABLE!
#1. Cathy’s Clown A Date with The Everly Brothers-1980
#2. Till I Kissed Her A Date with The Everly Brothers-1980
#3. Leatherneck Jamboree: Bye Bye Love The Everly Brothers-1958
#4. All I Have To Do Is Dream 1958.
As the 60’s came around, I heard the sounds of The Rolling Stones and The Beatles...I was clearly more of a fan of the former! It would take some 30 years (1998) before I would see them preform in person (in Quebec City). It was a long wait and the ‘guys’ had changed, let’s say, a bit from their youthful selves, but the electricity & the excitement in the auditorium was over the top! The sounds of their voices and the musical instruments elevated me to an almost heavenly place, which is only just a bit of an exaggeration!
From a young age, I heard Country & Western music in the background of our home and I have never ever heard enough of it. I simply don’t tire of the banjo, the electric guitars, fiddles and the mouth organs! Patsy Cline (the Queen of Country who also crossed over to Pop music), Willie Nelson and Hank Snow, a very talented Nova Scotia ‘Country Boy’, and Hank Williams were among my favourites. Much, much later would come Shania Twain, our wonderful Canadian artist...her soft voice and her happy stage presence make for an enjoyable “happening”.
Another artist, Cat Stevens, will always touch my soul in a way that very few musicians ever could. His 1970 (not yesterday, I was 21 years old!) song, “Morning Has Broken,” is, as far as I am concerned, one of the most brilliant and beautiful songs of all time... ‘Cat’ sang it in his perfect-pitch, and oh-so-clear c voice! And there are other artists worth mentioning, such as Prince...his song “Purple Rain” came out in 1984 and for whatever reason, I fell in love with that song at the time. He seemed to add a touch of Rhythm & Blues to his classy Pop style...great!
In terms of live performances, there have been some great ones, and others, less great. In the 1980’s, I saw Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton perform together on stage at the Forum in Montreal. I would give it a 6.5/10 rating, a little disappointing but, c’est la vie, n’est-ce pas? But then, there was the Quebec City performance of Leonard Cohen… is it possible to have a higher than a 10/10 rating? If so, he surely would have gotten it from me that evening. Our Canadian Boy was, well, FANTASTIC! Need I say, he sang some of his classics so lovingly that evening! His renditions of “Hallelujah” and “Dance Me to the End of Time” will be etched in my memory until the end of my days!
I must stop writing now and go onto my next project which is listening to my brand-new CD from the wonderful County singer, Chris Stapleton. I highly recommend it, for all of you capital-L Lovers of Music!
Phyllis Knox
