Don’t Be Cruel

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ut Elvis, but he's funny, and he's polite.

No filming below the waist in case that thrusting pelvis should get people all excited, so instead we get to focus on the Jordanaires in the background, bopping away. Literally bopping – going "bop, "bop", "bop". Those check sports jackets mark them out as irredeemable squares – they made their name on the Southern Gospel circuit – but they're spot on with the bops. It's a strange combination, the established gospel singers and the young star trading on his sex appeal, but Elvis was a big fan:

On October 3, 1954, a teenaged Elvis Presley made the drive from Memphis to Nashville to make his only performance on the Grand Ole Opry. Debuting his high-energy brand of rockabilly with "Blue Moon of Kentucky", it was his first live performance on a radio broadcast. He had just recorded his first record at Sun studios, "That's All Right", just a few weeks prior. In 1955, The Jordanaires played a show in Memphis with Eddy Arnold to publicize their new syndicated TV series, Eddy Arnold Time (for the program the group used the name Gordonaires). They sang "Peace in the Valley", and when the show was over, Elvis Presley, an emerging singer, talked with them and said, "If I ever get a recording contract with a major company, I want you guys to back me up." He was on Sun Records at that time.

On January 10, 1956, Presley recorded his first session for RCA with guitarist Scotty Moore, bassist Bill Black, and drummer D. J. Fontana. "I Got a Woman", "Heartbreak Hotel", and "Money Honey" were recorded. Presley asked his new label RCA Victor if The Jordanaires could appear on the recordings.

The group changed personnel over the years. I think who we have here are Gordon Stoker, Neal Matthews, Hoyt Hawkins, and Hugh Jarrett.

Comments

  1. StarDasher Avatar
    StarDasher

    Elvis has morphed into the Chinese Foreign Minister!

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