Elvis Presley -- "Trying to Get to You"
The first time I listened to Elvis' Sun Studios recordings, I was a college student with hair down to my collar, my musical interests veering toward the irony-laden slacker indie rock that seemed to be the best thing going in the early 1990s. Elvis wasn't really part of the scenario. But I instantly understood that there was some real power to these recordings. Elvis might not have invented rock and roll. He may not have been a genius. He might have just been the lucky bastard who stumbled upon the winning formula. But he's the guy who put those songs on the charts, and he's the one who gets most of the credit. And though rockabilly purists will sneer a little when his name is mentioned, Elvis certainly did rock with the best of them back in the early days. In the Jim Jarmusch Mystery Train Elvis v. Carl Perkins debate, I'll take Elvis.
Elvis, Scotty Moore, and Bill Black did make a lot of noise for a combo without a drummer. Even when they added D. J. Fontana to the ticket, he was mostly hitting the snare. Elvis was actually a really good rhythm guitarist; his very percussive playing added a lot to the sound of the band. Bill Black's upright bass was really the key element in this sound, though, and when he switched to the electric bass (his famous comment was something about not getting paid enough to haul the double-bass around), it was the end of something. The extra band member in these early recordings (aside from the piano here -- the only Sun track to feature it) was Sam Phillips, and the instruments he played were spring reverb and tape delay -- still the best effects you can put to use in a recording studio, as far as I'm concerned. The formula was basic, but it worked gloriously. When you listen to the songs, you can't see Elvis moving around, dancing like an epileptic or like someone who is possessed, but you can definitely picture it.
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