I Love A Rainy Night And I Like Eddie Rabbitt

by Kevin Burton    If you’re like most people, when you think of a nice day, you’re thinking about picnic weather, right?     Well I’m not like most people.    My nice days have a soundtrack to them. I am a son of the Midwest. What you call spring and summer, I call tornado season.  …

Elvis Presley: The King Of What?

by Kevin Burton    Yesterday was Elvis’s birthday. He was born Jan. 8, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi.  And the fact that I used only his first name and you know exactly who I am talking about is one measure of his exalted place in American culture.    But how good was he as a musician, …

Elvis Makes Two Stops In Kentucky

by Kevin Burton    Before he was a cultural icon, Elvis Presley was a truck driver. Good reason to let Elvis drive part of our Coast To Coast rock and roll road trip.    “Blue Hawaii” is out, as that would require a plane or a boat. Our next travel destination: Kentucky.    Kentucky Rain …

Rock Music Followed Where Fats Domino Led

by Kevin Burton    There is a case to be made for Fats Domino as the main creator of rock and roll, but he rarely gets that credit, or even gets into that conversation.    Yesterday we began to look at why that might be, what causes rock historians to not give him full credit …

Domino Overlooked, Ain’t That A Shame?

by Kevin Burton    The best song I didn’t fit into my Flying Colors series about songs with a color in the title is “Blueberry Hill” by Fats Domino. This is not the first time he has been overlooked.    His “Blue Monday” did make number 6 on my list, so I didn’t ignore him …

70s Elvis And The Fiction Of “My Way”

by Kevin Burton    In a 50th year retrospective, The Guardian called the song “My Way” a monument. True enough in the musical sense, but I say it’s a sad one.     This look at My Way is part of our 2022 series on songs that peaked at number 22 on the American chart.  You …