MyWay header

was “my way” really their way or someone else’s way?

HAVE WE MISSED THE OB­VIOUS? Look, I know that old-school rock & roll fans in gen­eral and Elvis fans specif­i­cally are sup­posed to re­ac­tionarily hate punk rock. But the punks of the ’70s were car­rying on some of the spirit of the ’50s that we love, es­pe­cially the un­tamed Elvis of the Dorsey Brother Shows! [Read more] “was “my way” really their way or someone else’s way?”

BowieElvis header 2

elvis on stage together with david bowie

MY TRIBUTE TO DAVID BOWIE was an ac­count of how and when I was trans­formed from a Bowie-hater to a Bowie-lover in 1975. I ti­tled it “Just How Did David Bowie Af­fect Your Con­scious­ness and posted it on my Rather Rare Records site last week. It had taken a few days to write it, as I was un­pre­pared for Bowie’s passing. [Read more] “elvis on stage together with david bowie”

Elvis art FanPop 1500 crop

look, ma! I’m someone’s blog of the month!

ON OC­TOBER 29, 2015, I pub­lished an ar­ticle ti­tled “on william strunk and vig­or­ously con­cise writing” on my Neal Umphred Dot Com web­site. It’s as boring as the title makes it sound—you’d have to give a damn about the most im­por­tant figure and the most im­por­tant book in the his­tory of Amer­ican writing! [Read more] “look, ma! I’m someone’s blog of the month!”

Byrds 5D header1200

if every day was like a fifth dimensional christmas

I AM WORKING on a se­ries of ar­ti­cles for my Rather Rare Records site about the Byrds records of 1966, which will cover the three singles—Eight Miles High, 5D (Fifth Di­men­sion), and Mr. Spaceman—and the FIFTH DI­MEN­SION album. Un­for­tu­nately, it is weeks away from com­ple­tion and Christmas can’t wait. [Read more] “if every day was like a fifth dimensional christmas”

Elvis Army 6 BMW507 1 1500

the elvis presley gold standard 45s part 2 (company sleeves)

SOME­WHERE ALONG THE WAY, the powers-that-be at RCA Victor de­cided that the record­ings that Elvis Presley la­bored over in the studio were not up to snuff. You know, the ones that sold a ba­jil­lion copies and al­most single-handedly jus­ti­fied the in­ven­tion of the 45 rpm single as a medium. [Read more] “the elvis presley gold standard 45s part 2 (company sleeves)”