Elvis Never Played In England? Here’s Why, Plus Props For The Lovely Linda
Oh, there's a real reason why Elvis never performed live in the U.K. -- Hey songwriters, here's why you should hold onto your own stuff -- Remembering a really cool rock woman born this date -- Enjoy your Thursday Coffee Break Calendar, good stuff in here today...
9/24/1962 (58 years ago today) - Elvis Presley receives an invitation to appear at the Royal Variety Performance over in England, but manager Colonel Tom Parker graciously declines by citing "previously contracted motion picture commitments". In actuality it was because Parker was an illegal Dutch immigrant living in America, and he feared that he might not be allowed to return to the U.S. if he ever left the country -- Once again, Elvis is on the losing end of a deal that could have influenced his career arc, and (as always) it was due to the shady/greedy shenanigans of the ludicrously over-protective Colonel.
9/24/1966 (54 years ago today) - Songwriting lesson #25 is "If you wrote it, hang onto it!": AM Top 40 pop-meisters The Association start three weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. singles chart with the classic-but-kinda-schmaltzy "Cherish". Actually, the even-shlockier New Christy Minstrels wanted to record the song first, but Association member-songwriter Terry Kirkman chose instead to not go for a quick $1,000 pay-out. A good move indeed; however the record company wasn't done futzing around: the finished recording clocked in at 3 minutes and 25 seconds, so the band's label went ahead and printed the time as 3:00, assuming DJ's wouldn't be discouraged from playing a "long song" (it just felt that way).
9/24/1942 - Born this day, Linda Eastman McCartney; wife of Paul, highly regarded photographer and animal rights campaigner; also launched her own brand of vegetarian foods years before anyone else thought that it was cool to do so -- Paul wrote "Maybe I'm Amazed" specifically for her, and the 1971 classic No. 1 album "Ram" (a genuine masterpiece) was released as "...by Paul and Linda McCartney". Linda was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1995, sadly passing away on April 17th just three years later at home on their ranch in Tucson, Arizona; she was only 56 years old.
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"...Give your heart to somebody/Soon, right away...", xoxo!