Monday, August 15, 2011

"Heartbreak Hotel"

Elvis Presley - Heartbreak Hotel (1956)



Elvis had some help on this record. In addition to his regular backing trio, pianist Floyd Cramer and guitarist Chet Atkins played. I specifically looked that up because the piano in particular is stunning on this track. It's like a waterfall, dancing over the right and "wrong" notes until finally settling in. So I looked it up and found Mr. Cramer, who it is said popularized the "slip note" style so different than his contemporaries. Well let me tell you, this is one of the songs that popularized it. Elvis' voice is almost mesmerizing, a real downer of a song that really resonated with the kids. Don't let anybody tell you that "Emo" is a new thing, or that kids listening to depressing music is one of the signs of the end of days.

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