October 20: This Day in Music

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Fri Nov 29, 2019, 12:08 PM - Edit history (1)

So far, I've managed to avoid the water cooler that has been spiked with LSD, which has affected so many other posters in the DU Lounge this afternoon.

http://www.thisdayinmusic.com/

1983, American country and western singer, songwriter, Merle Travis died of a heart attack aged 65 {so I've outlived him, but with many fewer hits}. Acknowledged as one of the most influential American guitarist's of the twentieth century. Wrote 'Sixteen Tons' 1955 US No.1 for Ernie Ford. He appeared in the 1953 movie From Here to Eternity singing ‘Reenlistment Blues’.

Here's a pretty tune, I'll See You in My Dreams, written in 1924:

For those of you with color monitors:

"I'll See You in My Dreams" is a popular song. It was written by Isham Jones, with lyrics by Gus Kahn, and was published in 1924. Originally recorded by Isham Jones and the Ray Miller Orchestra, it charted for 16 weeks during 1925, spending seven weeks at number 1. Other popular versions in 1925 were by Marion Harris; Paul Whiteman; Ford & Glenn; and Lewis James.

The song was chosen as the title song of the 1951 film I'll See You in My Dreams, a musical biography of Kahn.

Popular recordings of it were made by many leading artists including Cliff Edwards (1), Louis Armstrong, Pat Boone, Bing Crosby (recorded November 27, 1947), Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Mario Lanza, Tony Martin, Anita O'Day, The Platters, Ezio Pinza, Sue Raney, Jerry Lee Lewis (1958, instrumental), Andy Williams, and Linda Scott. A "Texas Swing" version of the song was recorded by Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys.

The song was also recorded by Django Reinhardt and the Quintet of the Hot Club of France, and inspired Merle Travis to record it as a guitar instrumental. Many other guitarists including Chet Atkins and Thom Bresh followed in Merle's footsteps. Michel Lelong, a French guitarist, published the first tab of this Travis' arrangement for the American publisher/guitarist Stefan Grossman's Guitare Workshop during the 1980s, following by Thom Bresh (Merle Travis 's son) for Homespun Tapes, and Marcel Dadi for Stefan Grossman 's Guitar Worshop.

It was recorded by Mario Lanza on his Coca-Cola Show of 1951-2 and is available on a compilation album mastered from those same shows, and featuring the same title, I'll See You in My Dreams, released by BMG in 1998.

An early version was recorded by Hawaiian steel guitar originator Joseph Kekuku in 1925.

(1) mentioned in the DU Lounge just a few days ago: {who can point me to that thread?}

Merle Robert Travis (November 17 {nope - it's November 29}, 1917 – October 20, 1983) was an American country and western singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rosewood, Kentucky. His song's lyrics often discussed both the lives and the economic exploitation of American coal miners. Among his many well-known songs are "Sixteen Tons," "Re-Enlistment Blues," "I am a Pilgrim," and "Dark as a Dungeon." However, it is his unique guitar style, still called Travis Picking by guitarists, as well as his interpretations of the rich musical traditions of his native Muhlenberg County, Kentucky, for which he is best known today. "Travis Picking" is a syncopated style of guitar fingerpicking rooted in ragtime music in which alternating chords and bass notes are plucked by the thumb while melodies are simultaneously plucked by the index finger. He was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977.

1955, Elvis Presley and Bill Haley and his Comets both appeared at Brooklyn High School auditorium, Cleveland.

Oooof! I wish I had a video of that.

[Docreed2003]

1. So, I hope folks will forgive me going full on music history nerd here....

I would argue that if there had never been a Merle Travis, and his signature “Travis Picking”, rock music would have been a very very different thing all together. You see, without “Travis Picking”, there’s likely no Elvis Presley. Please bear with me while I explain.

There was a young man in Memphis TN who had paid to record a couple songs at “Memphis Recording Studios”/aka “Sun Records” in 1953. The first recording he claimed was for his mother’s birthday, which was months earlier. His real intention was a hope that he would be noticed by the then locally famous record producer Sam Phillips. Let’s just say Phillips wasn’t too impressed with this young man, and who could blame him he was recording the likes of “Howlin’ Wolf” at the time. Phillips’ secretary/personal assistant, however, heard something in that young truck drivers voice and convinced Sam to give him a chance in the studio. Philips, reluctantly, agreed and even set the young man up with two of his best studio musicians: Scotty Moore, a talented country guitarist, and Bill Black, a standout stand up bassist.

The recording session was set up for the evening of July 5, 1954. Now, I don’t know how many of you are familiar with Memphis summers, but July is hot as Hades in that river town. The young singer had dreams of being a crooner like Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra, and, frankly, the early recordings of that evening were to say the least underwhelming. The band took a break and as they were lingering around the studio before the next take, the young singer began to lighten the mood by playing an old blues number that he knew, while sipping on a coca-cola. Sam Phillips came running back into the control room flabbergasted and essentially said “Where the hell has that been all night”. So a song meant to lighten the dismal mood in a sweltering recording studio would go down in history as one of the greatest early Rock songs and launch the career of young Elvis Presley. Here it is, for your enjoyment:

Listen to that lead guitar picking, particularly in the solo...that’s Scotty Moore, a guitarist who is probably one of the most underrated early rock guitarists and who Keith Richards says inspired him to be the guitarist he became. That sound is “Travis Picking”.

So, if there had been no Merle Travis, there very well may never have been an Elvis Presley, or at least the King of Rock and Roll as we know it. That’s just one example of Travis’ influence. Thanks for indulging me in my music history diatribe!

Oh, and that concert certainly happened October 20, 1955. As legendary as it would have been, realize folks, Elvis wouldn’t have been signing any of the songs he became known for in 56, his breakout year. His setlist would have been composed of his Sun Records songs. If anyone is interested, I’ll dig out a book I have and look up the actual setlist that night. For what it’s worth, here’s a pic from that night, and if you look close you can see a hint of Presley’s natural auburn hair color:



And a little backstory on that night.

https://www.elvispresleymusic.com.au/pictures/1955-october-20.html

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2. More! More! Thanks. Finally, the interwebz is reaching its potential.

Can you imagine? (I mean, rhetorically.) Bill Haley and Elvis Presley put on a concert at a high school in Cleveland? Wow.

Thanks for that, Alan Freed.

[Docreed2003]

3. Must have been quite the night...

In retrospect, I’m sure it was magical. But, I’m an honest southern liberal here, lol, so I’m gonna be honest with you...that night, in 1955, that crowd came out to see Bill Haley, the hometown rocker, and not Elvis Presley. Elvis hadn’t even made his first national TV appearance at that point and as far as I can tell had only played one other concert in Ohio. So, I’m sure, as thrilling as it must have been for 20 year old Elvis to play a venue with Haley, he was just the opening act afterthought! My how the world would change just a few months later!