| August 11th, 2004 10:08 AM |
|
|
| CS |
The man who
kept Elvis rockin'
Elvis Presley is accompanied by D.J. Fontana in 1957 Hollywood.
This is Elvis Week in Memphis, marking Elvis Presley's death on Aug. 16, 1977. It's also 50 years since Elvis cut his first single in July 1954 - an event hailed as the start of rock 'n' roll.
This would be a good time to fix a glaring oversight from Elvis history: D.J. Fontana, his first drummer, is not a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Since the Hall has a "Sidemen" category, there's no reason he shouldn't be - a point recently made in a letter to the Hall signed by drummers Charlie Watts of the Rolling Stones, Ringo Starr of the Beatles, Levon Helm of the Band and Max Weinberg of the E Street Band.
"To me, it's an embarrassment D.J. isn't in there," says Weinberg - who should be there himself with the E Street Band, though that's a separate discussion. "He was a major influence on so many drummers who followed.
"It's not just that he and Scotty Moore are the last living guys who rode in that car with Elvis. D.J. was the link between big band jazz and rock 'n' roll."
Dominic Joseph Fontana, who at 75 still talks in a matter-of-fact Louisiana drawl, doesn't claim anything that sweeping, although his footprints are all over the rock 'n' roll trail.
He still loves the big bands he grew up on, like Woody Herman and Stan Kenton. But he also picked up blues and country, and he was the house drummer on Shreveport's "Louisiana Hayride" radio show in August 1955 when he fell in with Elvis.
"A lot of [the] country audience then didn't want drums," says Fontana, who often played behind the curtain. "Some artists didn't want them, either. They liked to sing out of meter, so it was better not to have the beat."
But Elvis was different:
"He wanted drums. He liked a lot of noise, bangin' and bashin'."
Joining Elvis meant $12 a week and getting into the car, where Elvis, D.J., Scotty and bass man Bill Black rotated four-hour driving shifts on a circuit of honky-tonks and high schools.
"Then in Dallas we played a stadium," says Fontana. "We came out and 35,000 people were screaming and shouting. It was like a war zone. I looked at Scotty and said, 'I think this boy's gonna make it.'"
Fontana drummed with Elvis through 1969, when Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, finally forced out the last of the veterans.
"I don't think he liked anyone around who might be too close to Elvis," Fontana muses.
So D.J. became a session man, and he's still working the kit today, though he picks his spots.
He'll be in Memphis Friday playing with Scotty and Elvis' backup vocal group, the Jordanaires.
His drumming isn't hard to spot: lean, clean, no showboating, no click tracks. If you miss a note, but the music feels right, well, that's all right, mama.
All he needs now is a date in Cleveland. Just ask Charlie, Levon, Max and Ringo.
Originally published on August 10, 2004 |
|
CHAT
ROOM aka THE FUN HOUSE] [
RESTROOMS]