Das Mischpult SILVESTRIS – Ein Vollröhren-Mischpult für ... - EMSP

Abschlußbericht Mixed Signal Baugruppen 2008/9 Mischpult SILVESTRIS (Teil 1) Einführung
Did you record everything live in the studio?
“We’d sometimes record everything in a couple of takes, but not always. He might have overdubbed
his voice towards the end, but when I was playing with Elvis, we always did things live. But he was
harder on himself than he ever was with any of us. We recorded in the day and at night, but later on
in his life, it started being mostly at night or late afternoon into the night. There was no drinking around
the studio, and I never saw any drugs in the studio, not during my time. We might go out after the
session around midnight and get stoned, but never during a recording session. I really think that’s a
mistake a lot of musicians make.
“Mystery Train was the last thing we recorded on Sun, and I’d just gotten a new Gibson and the
Echosonic amplifier, which created the slapback that you could do with tape machines. Hound Dog
we cut in New York. Gordon Stoker is playing piano on the session, because Shorty Long had to leave
to work on some rehearsal for a stage show. The background on Hound Dog sounds like a bunch of
guys sitting around, although it’s just three people.
“Don't Be Cruel", I turned my E string down to a low D. I played the intro and then I played a chord at
the end, but that was all I did on it. Same with All Shook Up – I just played a little rhythm type of thing
on that. Jailhouse Rock – shoot – I don’t remember anything specific, but it was just a rip romping
song. One thing you realise now is that the songs and the music and the excitement is still there in
those records now.”
Would you say you were Elvis’ main creative foil?
“Well, yeah, I guess you could say that. In the very early days, me and Bill just tried to play what fitted
the music and the song rather than just playing a bunch of notes. Of course, I guess it was put on me
more than anybody else, because Bill was just playing rhythm. In terms of the sound, we had no
reference points, that’s for sure. My reference was just the song really.”
Would you say that less is more is your basic philosophy as a guitarist?
“Yes. Less is definitely more. I know there are some guitar players that are just barn-burners, but that
don’t impress me a bit, other than the fact that my hands won’t move like that. I always listened
carefully. I wouldn’t want to get in the way of something else, especially the singer. If Elvis was doing
anything, I didn’t want to do anything that would step on his toes, and then when he wanted me to
take a guitar break, he’d be the same way. We fed off each other. I guess you could say that there
was a kind of musical telepathy between us. The one thing I always appreciated about Elvis was that
he never tried to tell anybody what to play.”
Was the ’68 TV Special the last time you actually played with Elvis?
“Yes, and that was the last time I saw him too. I’ll tell you something I’d like you to put in your
magazine - when we did that, DJ Fontana and I went out and had dinner at Elvis’ house in
Hollywood. He said he wanted to talk to us, and we were looking at each other like – What did we
do? And we went in and he said: ‘When we’ve finished this movie, I want to do a tour of Europe. You
guys want to go?’ And I said – hell, yeah, all you’ve got to do is give me a little notice so I can get
somebody else in charge of the studio. Of course, Parker put a clamp on that real quick when he
heard about it because he couldn’t leave the country.”
What do you remember about the ’68 TV Special?
Well, we just did two shows in the round – one in the afternoon and one at night. For the actual
performance, I think they spliced between the two. The main thing I remember is that I’m the only
person on stage who’s got an electric guitar there. Elvis told us to sit down, and so I didn’t put a strap
on his guitar, and I didn’t have one on my guitar either, so it was hard to stand up and play. After he
did the first couple of songs, the crowd started getting good, he started feeling good, so he stood
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