My Rock Legends

The author of this book absolutely sparks the imagination of readers with new information revealed about Elvis Presley. Donald Hinton, MD, is a medical doctor who has specialized in the field of psychiatry. The physician lives in the State of Missouri and practices medicine at two different hospitals. But this is not what his new book is about. Dr. Hinton claims that a mutual friend introduced him to Elvis Presley.

Dr. Hinton explains that Elvis Presley is indeed alive and well. However, he suffers from chronic pain syndrome. When a mutual friend introduced him to Elvis, he discovered some differences with the man claiming to be the former King of Rock-and-Roll. It seems that Elvis has changed his name to Jesse. This is the name of Elvis’ twin brother, who died at birth. From this point on, I will address Elvis, as Jesse, as Dr. Hinton has done.

When Dr. Hinton met Jesse, he examined him as a patient. He discovered that Jesse suffered from chronic pain syndrome. Even though this is not his area of specialty, the physician was able to treat Jesse for his problem. During the time he treated Jesse, he developed a close relationship with him. Dr. Hinton claims that it’s easy to see that Jesse is Elvis. Aside from aging, the man is obviously Elvis Presley.

Dr. Hinton claims that Jesse was able to go to his former home, Graceland, and find a pair of cuff links in his former bedroom. He claims that Jesse gave him the cuff links as further proof of his identity. When Dr. Hinton tries to probe Jesse as to how he’s financially surviving these days, he finds out that Jesse has a number of liquid assets and cash to last him for a long time. However, he was vanquished from his former home, Graceland, when Elvis Presley Enterprises found out about him.

Dr. Hinton explains that he was intrigued that Jesse has no credibility in the eyes of his former friends and family. However, given the evidence provided by Jesse, he found it not impossible for his story to be true.

Dr. Hinton claims that Jesse also offers various FBI files that would be difficult for anyone else but Elvis to get. Dr. Hinton claims that Jesse is living a very secluded life, but enjoys day-to-day activities that Elvis never could experience.

Although the book is about Dr. Hinton’s relationship with Jesse, it is considered an autobiography.

I really liked the detail that Dr. Hinton provides in his book regarding the different times he met and visited with Jesse, along with some details regarding the FBI files. He gives details about Elvis’s voice and uncanny similarities between Jesse and Elvis. His detail seems to make his story very credible.

However, what I don’t like about the book is that he doesn’t give specific information as to what Jesse is doing presently. He also doesn’t give specific information where Jesse is living. It seems that Jesse has several different homes, each in different states.

At first I thought that the book was an attempt to capitalize on Elvis Presley. Even though I have not dismissed this suspicion, it cannot be denied that Dr. Hinton has provided information to his readers that would not be available unless one had a connection with Elvis.

Obviously, the truth exists. However, as in many other books and claims, you must come to your own conclusion.

Elvis Presley is certainly one of the most renowned names behind music. Even today, we are absolutely obsessed about this sensation who ruled the world for more than a decade.

Elvis, in his childhood, was brought up in modest family in close association with his aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents. He got his first taste of music while attending the Assembly of God Church. He was 10 when he made his first performance at the Mississippi and Alabama Fair in a talent contest.

In the meantime, his family, struggling money-wise, decided to move to Memphis, Tennessee in 1948, hoping for a better life. Things were quite hard in those days, forcing Elvis to work while attending LC Humes High School to help his family.

However, music was something that was already embedded within Elvis. He started developing his own style while in high school, winning the high school talent competition and even playing an encore in between.

Elvis graduated high school in 1953 and began working at a mechanics shop. The following summer he recorded his first album at The Memphis Recording Service “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin” and “My Happiness.” He changed jobs frequently and started to go to night school to be an electrician. While working at Crown Electric Elvis contracted with the recording service at Memphis, released and started to perform at local events and bars. He was even booked on The Grand Ole Opry, although it was dubbed a disaster.

Later in 1954 Elvis signed on with KWKH radio for a year. Here he met ‘Colonel’ Tom Parker, renowned for managing artists including Eddy Arnold and Hank Snow. Soon after, Colonel Parker became Elvis’ manager, the first association that worked that started working.

Parker sold Elvis’ Sun contract (The Memphis Recording Service) to RCA. In the meantime, Elvis caught the attention of Hill and Range Publishing Company, who helped create Elvis Presley Music Inc. With this, Elvis and the publishing company shared ownership of his songs.

Elvis recorded “Heartbreak Hotel” with RCA and teamed up with the Jordanaires, a gospel quartet. “Heartbreak Hotel” was released on January 27, 1956 shot up to number one on Billboard’s pop singles chart for eight weeks and hit number one on the country chart and number five on the R&B chart. Presley and the Jordanaires worked together well into the late 1960s.

Elvis’ road to stardom and fame started with “Heartbreak Hotel.” The next 20 years were filled with music, movies, military marriage, and divorce. Elvis Presley died August 16 1977 due to heart failure at the age of 42.

The exceptionally talented Rock artist Carlos Santana has released him CD entitled Love Devotion Surrender. I am very confident and happy to announce that I believe Carlos Santana fans, and Rock fans alike will be pleased with this one. With the release of Love Devotion Surrender Carlos Santana’s artistic excellence is on full display as Santana has once again delivered a brilliant collection of tracks that could very well be him best work to date.

Carlos Santana has been a heavy hitter in the Rock genre for quite some time now and Love Devotion Surrender is an excellent illustration as to why.

One of the nicer things about a CD like this is when the talent is this rich even if Rock isn’t your favorite genre you still can’t help but appreciate the greatness of the artist.

Listen and I think you’ll agree that the song choices are excellent, the production is outstanding and Carlos Santana is clearly in top form.

While the entire CD is really very good some of my favorites are track 3 - The Life Divine, track 4 - Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord, and track 7 - Naima

My Bonus Pick, and the one that got Sore [...as in "Stuck On REpeat"] is track 1 - A Love Supreme. What a nice track!

Love Devotion Surrender Release Notes:

Carlos Santana originally released Love Devotion Surrender on September 30, 2003 on the Legacy Recordings label.

CD Track List Follows:

1. A Love Supreme

2. Naima

3. Life Divine, The

4. Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord

5. Meditation

6. Love Supreme, A - (take 2)

7. Naima - (take 4)

Personnel: Carlos Santana (guitar); Mahavishnu John McLaughlin (guitar, piano); Larry Young (organ); Doug Rauch (bass); Billy Cobham, Don Alias,

Jan Hammer, Mike Shrieve (drums); Armando Peraza (congas).

Recorded in 1972. Originally released on Columbia (32034). Includes liner notes by Hal Miller.

In this article we’re going to briefly review the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert which was held at Wembley’s Stadium in London.

Freddie Mercury was not just the heart and soul or the rock group Queen, he was Queen. When he died from complications of AIDS on November 24, 1991, the world lost one of the truly unique and great singers.

When Queen first hit the scene in the mid 70s they had a cult following at best. Their music was quite different from anything that had come along until then. Their harmonic vocals, led by Mercury’s over the top solos, made them a group that sooner or later had to get noticed. And while it took years for them to reach the peak of their popularity, once they made it they were one of the biggest groups of the era.

And then the world got word of Mercury’s death and for all practical purposes, Queen was dead. In truth, until their recent team up with Paul Rogers, Queen had stopped performing and recording. But on April 20, 1992, Queen, with the help of some very talented musicians put on a concert to pay tribute to their fallen leader.

The concert, held at Wembley Stadium in London sold out its 72,000 tickets in just six hours. The concert was also broadcast live to over one billion people. The profit that they made from the concert was used to fund the Mercury Phoenix Trust which is a world wide charity organization to fight AIDS. This organization has been operating ever since.

The concert itself was actually announced and planned for at a February 1992 BRIT awards ceremony by Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor. At the time nobody knew who would play other than the remaining members of Queen which included May, Taylor and John Deacon who played his last performance as a member of Queen with this concert.

The lineup for this concert was quite impressive. Guest artists included Spinal Tap, Robert Plant, from Led Zeppelin, Roger Daltry, from The Who, David Bowie, who recorded the song “Under Pressure” with Queen, Elton John and even Elizabeth Taylor came by to give a speech.

The musical highlights could have made a greatest hits album alone. Many Queen favorites were played such as “Tie Your Mother Down”, “Radio Ga-Ga”, “Under Pressure”, “Somebody To Love”, “We Will Rock You”, “We Are The Champions”, and of course Queen’s greatest hit of all, “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Other highlights and artists included Def Leppard, who sang “Now I’m Here” with Brian May, Gary Cherone singing “I Want It All”, Seal singing “Who Wants To Live Forever”, Ian Hunter and a host of others singing “All The Young Dudes”, Lisa Stanfield singing “I Want To Be Free”, and Elton John singing “The Show Must Go On.”

The passing of Freddie Mercury has left a terrible void in the music industry. And while Paul Rogers is certainly a talented singer in his own right, he can’t fill Mercury’s shoes.

Nobody can.

“Fender” is the dream of every lover of the guitar. It’s one of the most popular guitars, being used by many guitarists. Before going to buy one of the various types of fender guitar, let us take a overview of the Fender musical instruments corporation.

Arizona is the home of this guitar manufacturer. The wild success of Fender’s “Stratocaster” and “Telecaster” guitars has helped it’s rise to fame. A solid body is a feature of both of these electric guitars. Even though many popular brands of electric guitars are on the market today, the reputation and likability of Fender guitars is without comparison.

To date the Fender guitar at the top of the popularity list is the Fender Stratocaster. The Stratocaster is a solid body electric guitar which features a maple neck and maple, rosewood or ebony fret board. This versatile guitar also has three single-coil pick-ups. The Stratocaster is known for being able to produce a very diverse spectrum of sounds. Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and many other guitar greats have chosen to use Fender guitars.

Likewise, another well-known Fender guitar is the “Fender Telecaster”. This electric guitar has two single-coil pick-ups. The Telecaster is popular for its prominent sound quality. Even today, after almost six decades of its birth, the Telecaster continues to impress millions with its crystal clear sound. Many beautiful melodies have been developed on the Fender Telecaster.

Fender manufactures other electric guitars like the “Fender Esquire”. Designed in 1950, the Esquire had one single-coil pick-up. This guitar is also a solid body guitar. Though essentially being a single pick-up guitar, the Fender Esquire never failed to impress the audience with its perfect tone and melody.

If you know the type of sound quality you want in a guitar, then it’s not hard to select a Fender guitar to meet your needs. Fender electric guitars are available worldwide, plus there are many online music stores where you can purchase your chosen musical instrument.

One of the most legendary rock bands to have come out of Britain in the last 50 years, The Who have just released ‘Endless Wire’ - their first full studio album of new material since 1982 - and are now in the midst of their first tour in over 20 years. However, while the touring longevity of some bands, such as The Rolling Stones, Status Quo and Iron Maiden, may make such achievements seem quite ordinary, this belies the long and complex journey that remaining members of The Who - Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey - have taken.

Formed in the 1960s, the initial line-up of The Who consisted of Townshend and Daltrey, as well as John Entwistle and Keith Moon - widely credited as one of the greatest drummers of all time. Influenced by the early music of The Kinks, the foursome released their debut album ‘My Generation’ in 1965, which included some iconic mod anthems such as “The Kids are Alright”, title-track “My Generation” and, Homer Simpson’s personal favourite, “Magic Bus”. Although the album generated the group much success as a singles band, The Who - with Townshend at the creative helm - began to steer themselves towards greater things and in 1969 revealed their first full-length rock opera, ‘Tommy’.

‘Tommy’ brought The Who untold levels of popularity across the world, with Melody Maker magazine quoted as saying, “Surely The Who are now the band against which all others are to be judged.” At the Woodstock Festival in 1969, The Who performed ‘Tommy’ in its entirety and the film that followed in 1975 - starring the likes of Oliver Reed, Elton John, Tina Turner and Jack Nicholson - helped the band skyrocket to stardom in the United States.

The 1970s saw The Who continue to plough their way through the world of rock ‘n’ roll, with the 1970 release of ‘Live at Leeds’ - widely considered to be the best live rock album ever released - and the advent of their second full-length rock opera, ‘Quadrophenia’, in 1973. However, the death of drummer Keith Moon in 1978, just weeks after the release of album ‘Who Are You’, marked a turning point for the band, who replaced Moon with Kenney Jones. Moon’s death, however, didn’t damage the place of The Who as rock legends, and in 1979, Time Magazine heralded The Who as having “outpaced, outlasted, outlived and outclassed” all their rock contemporaries.

In 1983, Pete Townshend declared himself unable to write material that was appropriate for The Who and withdrew from the band, thus signalling an end to a rock outfit that had managed to last the pace of nearly 20 years. However the band re-formed for Bob Geldof’s Live Aid Concert at Wembley Stadium in 1985, and the remainder of the decade saw similar one-off collaborations between the former members.

The year 2000 saw a landmark in the evolution of The Who as musical geniuses, when Townsend, Entwistle and Daltrey decided to re-form and record new material. Tragedy struck in 2002, however, when Entwistle died from a cocaine-induced heart-attack. Nevertheless, Townshend and Daltrey continued to create new material, and in 2004 released two new singles as part of a singles anthology. In October 2006, ‘Endless Wire’ was released, debuting at number seven on the US Billboard albums chart and number nine on the UK Albums Chart - and The Who embarked on a long and gruelling worldwide tour.

Following a highly-acclaimed American leg - during which the Boston Herald claimed, “More than forty years on, The Who’s shows still burst with youthful exuberance,” - The Who will be playing in venues around the UK from May; the highlight of which is sure to be their performance at Wembley Arena on June 27th. If you’re a fan of The Who, young or old, why not take a short break to London to witness them in action in the capital - and see 40 years of some of the best musical talent the world has ever seen speak for itself!

Oprah asked rock star legend Billy Joel some really good questions to learn about how the successful musician creates such stirring songs. Billy who doesn’t see himself as a “rock star” didn’t object to Oprah calling him a legend in his own right, though Joel doesn’t consider himself the high-maintenance celebrity type.

Billy when asked which of his songs are his personal all-time favorites mentioned he considers them all as children, each dear to his heart. Joel did acknowledge however that any given day his personal favorite can change given the circumstances.

Oprah to my surprise brought up newspaper clippings about three of Joel’s car accidents and asked him if he was a bad driver. Billy said, “I’m not a bad driver, I just have bad luck.” He then mentioned a French car of his which was a bit awkward to drive considering the French manufacture cars a bit differently.

Billy was very transparent about his former drinking problem and being in rehab, saying it was like being in prison on lockdown with no access to anything. Being among other drunks and people with problems provided Joel some solace and therapy of sorts to cope with his own problems he acknowledged.

Joel looked a bit uncomfortable when Oprah brought up the age difference between he and wife. Billy Joel married his wife, chef Katie Lee, in 2004 when she was just 23 years old and he was 54. Katie was only five years older than his daughter.

Oprah probed a bit about Joel’s relationship with ex-wife and supermodel Christy Brinkley, which Joel said they have agreed to get along for the sake of their daughter.

Undoubtedly Katie was the shining personality on the couch with Oprah and did a great job taking the cameras through their lovely New York home, during which she often referred to Billy as “my husband” in somewhat strange fashion.

The two hit it off in New York when they discovered each other’s love for food and Billy swept Katie off her feet no doubt with some love songs and lavish romance. Billy laughingly said concerning their meeting, when he invited Katie to have a drink with him: “That was one time drinking came in handy.”

Oprah definitely didn’t hold back during this interview. Billy Joel looked and seemed a bit uncomfortable during some of the questions, which kind of felt like an interrogation for me as a viewer. I hope he sells a lot of CDs for having to endure that interview.

One question I would have liked Oprah to ask of Katie Lee was, “How did being turned away and refused entry into Diddy’s annual White Party make you feel?”

Billy Joel’s wife Katie Lee was turned away from Diddy’s annual White Party, because she was dressed in cream. The hip-hop mogul had a strict white dress code at the end-of-summer bash at his Long Island, New York, mansion and made sure his bouncers enforced the fashion rules.

I guess Oprah felt Billy could handle it considering he’s been around the block a bit compared to his young and kind hearted bride. Interestingly, when Oprah asked Billy about any early opposition to his song “Only the Good Die Young”, Billy said a bit of Catholic church opposition helped his popularity among the youth and increased sales.

Undoubtedly opposition, persecution, and even a bit of bad publicity can help musicians and fading celebrities.

I wish Katie and Billy all the blessings of heaven and earth.