The Story of Elvis Presley as told by D.J. Fontana
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- Опубліковано 13 вер 2024
- In this video Joe interviews D.J. Fontana, Elvis Presley's original drummer/session musician. This story starts after Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and Elvis, recorded "That's Alright Mamma" at Sun Studio's before they added drums to the band.
This video is part of a series called The Musicians Hall of Fame Backstage - Vault Series. This is a series of video's that were recorded up to two years prior to the Musicians Hall of Fame opening to the public in 2006.
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This is a great show because you're hearing it from those who were actually involved. Great history lessons in music.
I love the story about Elvis showing Bill Black how to play bass on 'Baby I don't care'. Wish we had some footage of that. I notice when Elvis plays piano it has a raw beauty to it just like his voice.
I’ll never understand why Elvis only won Grammys for his gospel music but never for any rock and roll??
How does the KING of rock and probably the biggest influencer NOT get recognized by the Grammys? 🤦🏻♀️
Cool interview!
Part of the problem is that the first Grammy Awards didn't take place until after Elvis went into the Army; hence many of his major hit songs, such as "Heartbreak Hotel," "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You," "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel," "Too Much," "All Shook Up," "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" and "Jailhouse Rock" predate the Grammys.
Daryl Restly Aw great point and thank you for not being a Homophobe like Georgie above 👆🏽 😁
@@darylrestly8133 ..you're probably right..."Suspicious Minds", "In The Ghetto", and "Kentucky Rain" always gave me chills, also, though..great stuff...
To add, I liked it when all that was required was to be nearby when the recording was made, and not knowing where he stood on any issue was still acceptable.
He started out @18, wanting to be in a
Gospel Quartet, that dream never left him.
Towards the end, he was talking about
getting together with JD Sumner, in hopes
of making it happen. Gospel was in his ❤️
His Grammys for,"How Great Thou Art", was
the perfect category for him, Gospel lived
in his Heart and Soul since he could remember, since age 2. 😎⚡✝️✌️❤️ 3-25-22
Elvis first drummer....in his words. Legendary
No producer, and no overdubs. Fascinating... and how things have changed in the last 65 years.
Elvis was the man! He was the ultimate rock star! Down to Earth, real, A very polite man with that southern hospitality.. Didn't even have bodyguards like they do today.. All he needed was his friends from school Growing up the Memphis Mafia. DJ Fontana super cool looks like he loves talking about the good old days, When your resume says you were the original drummer for Elvis Presley that speaks a ton of volume. Keep up the great vids. This channel is awesome!!
They are awesome. Elvis hand picked all his own musicians himself. He held the auditions after the original band.
Rest in peace DJ Fontana, you were a true
friend for ELVIS. 2022
I had the great pleasure of meeting and hanging out for awhile with DJ while he was touring with The Sun Rhythm Section. He was just the nicest man you could meet, as were all the guys in the band. When the band started playing, there was no doubt who was in charge. DJ was so strong! He set the time and it never moved. Meeting DJ and all the guys was one of the great moments in my life. Thank you DJ.
Haha, yes way.
There’s great Rock and Roll comes out of Europe. I’ve heard it.
What an interesting guy with wonderful stories.
I love to hear these stories of the early days. Thank you! Bless all of the originators of Rock!!!
Thanks Gigi.... please vote for us as best music museum in the USA Today poll before February 17Th. Thanks again for watching our channel.... Joe
His memory is great. Wonderful stories. Thanks Joe.
Thanks for watching.... Best, Joe
DJ Fontana is part of history of Elvis.Great person wonderful interview.Thank yuo so much.
Love the comment about Elvis playing every instrument. " Just enough to be DANGEROUS "
RIP DJ Fontana
Thanks for the great interviews ! Much LOVE !!!
Elvis always had someone from Shreveport Louisiana in his band. First DJ Fontana 🥁then James Burton 🎸
Estelle Brown from The Sweet Inspirations was also from Shreveport.
Great interview technique. You leave plenty of space for DJ to tell his tales.
Also, I like DJ’s modest way of being happy to talk about Elvis and the band rather than making it about him. So many guys want to put themselves centre stage - more like “Elvis confided that meeting me was the luckiest day of his life”
Thanks Johnny... please vote for us as best music museum in the USA Today poll .... you can vote daily until February 17Th.....best...........Joe
I agree, too many other people that knew Elvis seem to embellish or just plain make up stories about spending endless hours with him in private talking about things .
If even half of these stories were true then Elvis wouldn't have had anytime to do anything other than talk for hours at a time to the dozens of people who met him.
DJ comes across as someone who is just telling it like it is, honest and down to earth
One thing I like about these guys that worked with Elvis was they didn’t change from the time they got with Elvis till now. They’re just good musicians who love what they do.
Love your stories. Great times that will never be seen again. Bittersweet.
Amazing stories.... interesting guy.
Nice man. Did a great job for Elvis.
Joe a fantastic video with DJ. I love heaing the stories about Elvis.
Thanks Robert... that one was many years ago... probably one of the first two or three I did. It was at his home outside of Nashville. Thanks for watching... Joe
I have a DJ signed Copy of that same photo behind him - was fortunate his wife sent me the photo and signed drum sticks maybe a month before he passed away. Sent flowers to his service - he was the beat behind the king. His performance on Milton Berle when they breakdown Hound Dog is classic RIP DJ
James Y Super cool!
@James Y That’s so awesome!! Something to hand down to your grandchildren ☺️
Wow that’s beautiful.I’m sure you’ll always treasure that. Uk 🇬🇧
Dad Gummit, Hot Springs Airport story is Great! I am a native Hot Springs boy, used to go to Airport to Buy License Plates and Renew DRivers License. 1999. I live in San Francisco now
Just enough to be dangerous....I love that line !!
Thanks for watching Bennie… Joe
These icons of music are so fascinating. They’re so humble.
Awesome interview...Elvis was the man...what he said goes...
Thanks Thomas...Joe
I remember seeing photos of that Cadillac with Bills bass strapped to the roof parked in front of the Audubon house. Great to hear D.J. put voice to them old pics! Really appreciate the upload!
He’s such a bad ass! You can feel it! Hear it! See it! WOW! 👍🏼
So glad you've captured all these amazing tales before they're lost forever, Joe 👍...must be satisfying to know your work is being appreciated
Sane, help me by voting for us in the USA Today poll for best music museum in the USA... you can vote everyday until February 17th... thanks for your kind words!!! Sincerely... Joe
this is so cool i enjoyed listening about elvis early days❤
Thanks Rose... help us by voting for us in the USA Today poll everyday until February 17th as best music museum in the USA.... thanks again.... Joe
RIP Joe…..thank you for this great series of interviews
How is there not extensive interviews with DJ about all this.. Wish Elvis did more guitar playing ..comeback special shows he could play
@Nobby Heads i didnt say anything about the great Eddie Cochran. Comeback special set showcases Elvis playing good single note picking fills and runs.. So there is no stretching that it is on film that is why i wish there was more ..it is clearly seen he had more picking than just strumming chords
@@robertstotts2343 he was definitely a good/serviceable rhythm player. Those early recordings would not be the same without his rhythm guitar playing. The famous acoustic that he used on those recordings is currently on display at the R and R hall of fame. If you're close/can make it, it's definitely worth seeing.
@@pb12661 you can see his wrist work properly on comeback special and rehearsals 1970s.....Some Perfect singers like him can accompany themselves on instruments even though not showing.... His single note picking is only shown on comeback and rehearsals.. As i stated before he could pick more than people can see look at his wrist
@Nobby Heads Let's get this straight, Eddie Cochrane was a better giutar player.... but he was no Elvis Presley, no sir.
Definitely not a stretch. Great point Robert Stotts. Professional musician Fil Henley (on his Wings of Pegasus UA-cam channel) covered this topic extensively. I have the links below at bottom.
Can't put all guitarists in the same category of skill level ..just like it's not fair to put other artists.. whether their painters, dancers Etc ..in a category of either "great" or "not good".
There's multiple levels of talent.
And it's generally only of a disingenuous smug mind to try to discredit.
No, Elvis was not like Cochran or Chuck Berry or Hendrix or Clapton. He never claimed to be... but then again he didn't try either.
But as a rhythm player he was quite competent and solid.
People forget on all of those early Sun Records sessions Elvis was covering the rhythm guitar playing....
Scotty on lead and Bill on base, when we listen to those recordings people often remarked it sounds like there were four or five musicians.
That's a testament to all three of them playing their asses off to make those great recordings, and Elvis certainly held his own with the acoustic guitar rhythm part
And by watching the 1968 Comeback Special footage it's clear to me that (in all my own humility) he could play every bit as good as I can... (and he could sing even better than me lol).
And I can walk into a room full of musicians anywhere and ask them what key they're in, then sit down and just start jamming along in rhythm playing.
Elvis was at that level.
Many professional guitar players, including classic rock guitar Gods like Pete Townsend are on record in interviews saying pretty much what I said above ...that the 68 Comeback Special proved Elvis was quite a solid guitar player, and in particular good Rhythm player.
Johnny Cash said same thing.
Anyone think they would have been comfortable saying in front of Cash or Townsend that they didn't know what they were talking about?
But I digress..
Anyway below are the 3 separate links were Fil really digs into this.
ua-cam.com/video/GMkyIJ0g5sg/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/1qNSzaBie3o/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/BHhXFSK-Yu4/v-deo.html
How fortunate to have this irreplaceable interview! Thank you very much. DJ was such a detailed, upbeat and animated storyteller that if there were HOURS of DJ interviews, I for sure would be binge watching. Loved his story about Elvis on the floor tossing vinyl while selecting songs to record. Came here for DJ and Elvis, but found your gem of a site in the process. 👌 Yes...voting.
Thank you very much!!! Joe
So much for all the sound equipment used today,Asring bass ,a basic drum kit ,a acoustic gtr,back then.
What a great story! I really enjoyed it!
Thanks Ron......Joe
Always great to hear from the musicians, from the era where you had to be able to really play and the nature of the recording technology meant that if minor mistakes were made ,they often add a little something and better still, go largely unnoticed by the general listening public .
I'm enjoying these episodes tremendously. Thanks for sharing.
Excellent stories! Thank you!
Thanks for watching.... Joe. Brett... Vote for us as best music museum in USA Today POLL...Thanks
One of Rock N Rolls best drummer 🥁 Pure Legend! McGavock Pike shout out!
Beautiful stories!!!! They never get old
Thanks Steve... Joe
@@MusiciansHallofFameMuseum bless you and your stories. Please keep them coming
Way too kind Steve.., thanks.. Joe
Elvis was VERY SMART regarding the Plane! Great stories.
Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful posting.really enjoyed it.il bet they are all together now having a Ball.🎤🎼🎸🥁what a beautiful gift we were all lucky enough to experience in this life. Great guy D J Fontana.
Thank you, Joe! Enjoyed the interview.
You’re welcome Lyle....... Joe
Great interview
Thank you! Best..... Joe
For sure! Very, very impressive interviewer, asking great questions, listening, having a real conversation. Here's a pat on your back, sir!
Incredible interview. Thank you!
Thank you Ron.... Best, Joe p.s vote for us in the USA Today.!!!
This is rock history lesson ..a group of guts jammed into a car goin town to town with barely any equipment , unlike todays made up pop stars flyimg around the workd in luxury...this was the hard road to rocknroll .
This is why I love this channel 🎸
Thanks Rock..... please vote for us in the USA Today poll as best music museum in the USA. Vote every day! Best,Joe
Excellent presentation, thank you !
Bill P.
Elvis always surrounded himself with fear musicians. I'm a kid of the 70s. The very1st album I remember holding in my hand was Aloha from Hawaii & Live at MSG. I just recently got a turntable again after several years and grabbed up as much Elvis vinyl I could. Love to watch Ronnie Tutt. I liked watching him back then in concert cos it was almost like watching Animal from the Muppets lol.
Superb interview and stellar stories.
Bleu, thanks for watching... please vote us number 1 best music museum in the USA Today poll. You can vote everyday until February 17Th if you would.... thanks again, Joe
Another amazing interview! Thanks again.
Thanks GA.... Joe
Man, I have been watching every one of these since I subscribed and they are all just staggeringly good videos. You are as I’m sure you know sitting on absolute Gold material. You’re just teasing us with all these tiny snippets that must be longer. If you had a way to accept donations for it, I would pay to listen to all these in full length form. My God man this is all such great material. Jeez.
Thanks Patrick..... best....... Joe
Great stuff.
Lol, i can imagine the BASS flying off the front-end of car into the darkness! .. My god, these boys must have freaked! 😰😅
OH,, the good ol days!
TKS for sharing, great video!
E.P forever! 💕
Glad you enjoyed it Sammy.... Thanks for watching.... Joe
@@MusiciansHallofFameMuseum No problem & tks to you!
I like the way you handle these interviews btw. You are patient & leave the person time to speak without interrupting. Calm but professional wise.
Have a great day & let us know if there are other Elvis treasures out there, 😉 TCB
Sammy.... I’m going to share a recent clip I shot with my long time friend James Burton.about the day Elvis passed away. I’ve spoken many times to James about this but this interview was incredible. I think you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. Also I’ll share one of the very first interviews I did when I first started working on the museum. It was with the great Scotty Moore at his home studio, Best.........Joe
@@MusiciansHallofFameMuseum Wow! O.k, great! .. ~
This is fascinating, thanks for this.
The story with that bass cracked me up :D
Love ❤️ this. Thank you 😊
You’re welcome Mary.... Best.....Joe
I was lucky enough to see DJ and Scotty when they toured the UK in 1998. They were playing in a small converted church in Ayr. Scotty was kinda shy but DJ was having a ball. Needless to say, the music was great.
Legends
Respect to this channel
Thanks.... please vote for us as best music museum in USA Today POLL. You can vote every day until the 17Th. Best, Joe
11:40
good move, Elvis! I would have done the same thing. Geezz.... These little stories are priceless.
Thanks PB.....Best, Joe
@@MusiciansHallofFameMuseum Great channel. I can listen to these interviews all day.
Thanks PB....Joe
Once again, good job,
Thanks for documenting these stories Joe, fascinating stuff from those that were there !
Joe has the best content for real stories.
Thanks for watching Michael....Joe
One night dad and I were test driving a Trans Am. As we crossed 55, t-top was waiving, then gone. I just knew it was busted in the road. Couldn't find it. Cruised along, there was a glint, from a mud hole. There she lay, with one scratch on the painted part. No cracks. Locked r down, Whew!
É gratificante falar sobre Elvis Presley, D J FONTANA E SCOTTY MOORE. maneco - Porto Alegre-RS - Brasil.
👋😊🇺🇸
Speaking of car fires,the white Cadillac hearse, that Elvis took his final ride in, was still in use, in 1984, it was the funeral home owner's favorite.He didn't want to do it but he owed a favor to a funeral home in Florida,and they needed the loan of a hearse.Two young driver's who were taking the car, had driven the car almost to the Florida state line,when in the early a.m.,the car inexplicably caught fire,and burned on the side of the highway.The ruined hearse sat in a Marietta junkyard until 1989,then was crushed for scrap!
I like the way Elvis picked his songs. I wonder if that changed when he got more involved with the movies. Regarding the story about the plane incident, I remember reading about it on the back of the album Elvis’ Gold Records volume 1, with the song “I want you, I need you, I love you.”
By the way That snare sound D.J. And the engineers Got on Jailhouse Rock was phenomenal .Then the groove DJ. Laid down that mix of straight 8th and shuffle was genius.
Thank you Joe ,I had no idea this documentary was from you ! You have the BEST shows and the BEST guests and you give the BEST interviews with you being so informed and curious and treating your guests w such compassion, and I must say you treat your viewers on here so kind ,always commenting and answering us back ! That never happens on these formats .You’re a wealth of knowledge and you have so much humility !!If I ever get to Nashville I hope to meet you ! I was there in may of 15 but wasn’t aware of the musicians HOF,or I woulda stopped in then .Thank you !
Could listen to you all night
Thanks Julie… I look forward to meeting you too….Joe
Wow man you manage to capture yet another amazing interview! Joe if you ever need a friend near Boston you got one!
Thanks Star.... Best.., Joe
Thank you Joe for these treasures of music. DJ was and other musicians were so overlooked
Thanks for watching EL.... joe
Thank you
Nice interview.
So E played guitar on Baby I Don’t Care,🤔
Yeah, he played Bass guitar on it. Paul McCartney even said that when The Beatles met Elvis at his house in 65, he was sitting on the couch playing a Fender Bass.
"All during the movies" - "such as they were..." funny guy!
RIP brother...miss you Joe.
thank you joe, more great stuff,,! cheers from italy,,
What an awesome interview...
Gwag , thanks for your thoughts... please support us by voting for us in the USA Today poll for best music museum in the USA.... you can vote everyday too until February 17Th... best.... Joe
Musicians Hall of Fame & Museum will do, thanks for the great videos..
Historic interview. Fantastic !!!
Thanks 3340.... Joe
Great stories by a great layer. Fontana was special!
DJ's a nice man at the Taft theater Cincinnati
Great stuff.I love it! Almost forgot to mention that.
DJ was cool
Good interview
Thanks again Bill…..Joe
Great interview!
Thank you Kevin..... Best, Joe
Elvis is cemented in history! The best ever!
Amazing stories!
The angel's must have been looking out for them!
Amazing he kept that same drum kit all those years...I wonder where it is now???
Hi Matt.... thanks for watching... as for D.J’s kit....,very long story short... I told D.J I wanted to buy it for the museum the day we did this video... probably 2004... and continued to ask him about it until about 3 years ago... I called D.J again and asked if he was ready to sell the drums... he said I already did!!!!!! I’m like ... D.J you promised me you’d let me know first but that was that...I asked who bought them. He said Keith Richards. There’s more but that’s your answer... best... Joe
@@MusiciansHallofFameMuseum Wow! Thanks, Joe.
Great interview Joe. 👍🏻😎
Thanks David... joe
The standup bass that they’re mentioning, Paul McCartney purchased it many years ago, but when he found out that bill blacks daughters didn’t know what happened to it he contacted them, flew them to Switzerland and gave it back to them. I think he paid $250,000 for it?
That's a very classy thing Paul did.
Paul did not give it back. Bill Black sold that bass before he died. Linda then traced it down and bought it from the then owner to give it to Paul for a gift. Blacks daughter is glad Paul has it cuz she knows he cherishes it.
VjSmith I know that it was after bills death, however, I saw a news expose and McCartney flew the daughter out to Switzerland and gave it back to her.
Hi Joe, thank you for another superb interview. It would be great to hear more from DJ, if you have anything? I would love to vote for the Musicians' Hall of Fame but - sadly - the voting system is restricted to US viewers only and I'm over in the UK. Thanks again for the awesome series of interviews; keep 'em coming!
👋😊🇱🇷
Nice interview.....does anyone know what happened to DJ's drum kit? If the family didn't keep them, they should be in a museum, heck the Smithsonian for that matter!!
Charlie Watts bought them. Thanks for watching.... Joe
@@MusiciansHallofFameMuseum Thanks for the reply Joe, now I know!
I voted for you again, Joe! I’ll try to do it every day through the 17th
Steve... u r the man!!!! Best... Joe
They hit a pick up truck when that bass flew off!😉
Joe .. DJ mentioned Scotty Moore a few times but did DJ ever play when Hank Garland played guitar in the studio and other gigs for Elvis?
He didn’t mention it during my video but Hank played on the RCA Nashville sessions sometimes as did Bob Moore on bass and Buddy Harman on drums.
@@MusiciansHallofFameMuseum Thanks for the information Joe. Do you have any interviews about Hank Garland ?
SIRONEDRAGON I didn’t start working on putting the Mhof&m together until 2003. Didn’t start video interviews until 2004. Harold Bradley and Charlie McCoy and maybe Bob Moore mentioned Hank but not in great depth. Sorry. The bottom line was that he was great. Thanks again for watching... Joe
@@MusiciansHallofFameMuseum Thank you Joe for having done those interviews when you did....
Herb Brockstein's! Being from Houston (pianist-not a drummer) I remember Herb's place quite well.
Thanks for sharing Buzz.... joe
He said after he passed away maybe we should have went
Elvis...
Crazy times😱Having to throw sand on Cadillac to put out fire. then bass flew off.
Thanks for watching Shirley... Joe
An interesting possible reason, that drums weren't common in country music, when DJ was working for The Louisiana Hayride was that in the 1840's it became illegal for civilians to use drums in the USA, because it was considered a military communication device, like a semaphore or signal flags might be used. It was rationalized, that they could be used by would be civilian rebels trying to overthrow the government or the powers that be, cor co-ordinating attacks. Kind of like The Establishment these days is afraid of the Internet. What caused this law, was the Nat Turner Slave Rebellion in Virginia. Nat Turner used drums to signal his fellow slaves to coordinate the rebellion. 80 or so years later, many of the early popular country recordings were made in Virginia of Virginians such as the Carter Family. Drums weren't legal in a non-military context, so country music evolved accordingly.
Way away in Louisiana Jazz evolved with drums, which set set it apart from country, because of the huge influence of the military marching band music of John Philip Sousa on Jazz, & since Louisiana was distant from Virginia, where the impetus for the illegal drum law happened, enforcement of the law was probably lax, plus, some home guard/national guard/militia type organizations, sometimes had bands, so, since they were military, in a old school, "Johnny get your gun", semi-informal, part time soldier way, they probably were slack about keeping their drums locked up or even knowing why, or even that drums were illegal for civilians in the first place!
I'm writing this off the top of my head, but when DJ Fontana mentioned country music not using drums, I remembered reading, that drums were made illegal in the 1840's in America, because of the National Turner Slave Rebellion in Virginia in a book, that I read for an American History class in college 40 or so years ago. I should research it & verify that the law was national or whether it was state by state or if it just were Virginia or didn't exist outside of the book, that I'd read? Also, if it exisisted, is it still on the books? Was it ever repealed? Are all these high school halftime shoes breaking the law?
Anyway, this could just be my fanciful speculation, but maybe, there's something to it? ...Anyone know?
Correlation between gospel and country music. Drums didn’t fit into gospel music which was very close to early country. Thanks for watching and your comments! Best.... Joe
what PA did these guys use,how did people hear them?thanxDJ,you rock bro
Hi Steve…. Back then usually the house P.A. They only had one amp. Tge bass was a stand up. Sometimes a vocal mic in channel 2 of the guitar amp.?
Best….Joe
But so squashed up how did they sleep actually. But gosh what a story.
How old was D J here. He looks awful young. Can't find a date on this interview.
This was around 2004. Thanks for watching.... Joe
I wonder where the drums are today
Charlie Watts bought them Roy. Best, Joe