Last week was Elvis Impersonator Week on Letterman.
Get a gander of Shawn Klush doing Suspicious Minds with an eight-piece horn section, nine-piece string section, four backup singers, two guitar players, three keys players (one of which is Paul, natch), a madman drummer, and a left-handed bass player.
Tell me that’s not awesome. I dare you. I challenge you. You can’t do it.
Three things you should know about Bill Monroe if you’re a rock and roll fan:
1. The first song Elvis Presley performed on the Grand Old Opry was Monroe’s Blue Moon of Kentucky. After hearing Presley’s version, Monroe altered his own.
2. Rock Around the Clock by Bill Hailey and the Comets, arguably the first rock and roll song, is virtually identical in rhythm and melody to Bill Monroe’s Heavy Traffic Ahead.
3. You know those Chuck Berry guitar licks (think intro to Johnny B Goode) that were so influential on the creation of bands like the Beatles and the Stones? Yeah…Chuck Berry basically copped Monroe’s mandolin style and transferred it to an electric guitar. That’s it.
4 (just for good measure), the following are quotes from Bill Monroe:
When meeting Frank Sinatra at the White House: “Yeah…I believe I’ve hearda you”
When told that Beethoven had long hair: “Really? Well what did he play?”
On hearing the dobro in a bluegrass band: “That ain’t no part a nuthin!”
you know, sometimes I amaze even myself.
