Haven't Watched

But you might want to... (It's an hour long!)



Sort of "live blogging" as I watch.

This is the old way of telling the story, that puts Elvis in front of Chess and Chuck.  Since his first hit came a year after Maybellene, that telling doesn't really make sense.

I say "the old way."  That old story about Elvis being the "King" died with Elvis.  Eventually the truth will out.

They put Bo after Elvis and Chuck.  Also wrong.  Not saying there's any intention to mislead, just that how you tell a story shapes the story.

They call Pat Boone a "cover artist" but don't call Elvis a "cover artist."  But that's what he was for the most part, especially in the early days.  He was just a better cover artist than Pat Boone.  Chuck and Bo weren't covering any of it.

Fats gets it right: "What they call rock and roll was called rhythm and blues before.  I been playing it 15 years in New Orleans."

Little Richard comes after Fats in this show-- but his first hits were in the very early 1950s, weren't they?  But this show put Bill Hailey first.

Good thing they do is contrast Boone's bad covers-- but he gets as much time as Richard.

The pictures of the mixed audiences are cool-- best I've seen.  This was the huge contribution these artists made to U.S. culture.

(I'm up to 25 minutes.  That's enough!)