They Laughed at Galileo by Albert Jack

Author:Albert Jack
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2014-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

SUPERSTARS WHO WERE TOLD NOT TO GIVE UP THEIR DAY JOBS

The Grand Ole Opry is a country music stage concert founded in 1925 in Nashville, Tennessee. The Opry, which began as a weekly barn dance that was listened to on WSM Radio (famously known as the Legend), began broadcasting nationally in 1939 and is now known as one of the longest running radio programmes in history. Over the years the Opry has provided a stage for country music icons such as Hank Williams, Patsy Cline and the Carter Family, establishing the city of Nashville as the home of the world’s country and western genre in the process. More recently stars such as Dolly Parton, the Dixie Chicks and Garth Brookes have found a home upon its stage.

However, on 2 October 1954 a gangly nineteen-year-old hopeful made his first and only appearance, to which the live audience reacted politely, despite finding his brash music and ‘snake-hip’ gyrations to be ‘vulgar and distasteful’. The General Manager at the time, Jim Denny, later told young Elvis Presley (1935–77) that he should return home to Memphis and, ‘You ain’t going nowhere, son, except back to driving a truck.’ Only six months earlier the teenager had failed two auditions to become the vocalist in local bands on the grounds that he couldn’t sing. The following month, in November 1954, Presley was offered a contract to perform fifty-two shows at the Louisiana Hayride where he famously met Colonel Tom Parker, who had other ideas for him.

Within twelve months, and towards the end of the Hayride residency, Presley had not only been voted the year’s top artist at the Country Disk Jockey Convention, but Colonel Tom Parker was considering offers of $25,000 each from three record labels for the young star’s signature. On 21 November 1955 Parker received an offer from RCA of an unprecedented $40,000, which the pair eagerly accepted, although Presley, still only a minor, had to ask his father to sign the papers. Within another year Elvis Presley would become the most famous singer in the world and, by the time of his death twenty years later, had contributed over 100 singles to the Billboard charts, more than any other solo artist in history.

But Elvis is not the only iconic musician who would suffer the effects of rejection and/or misjudgement. In 1967 Jimi Hendrix (1942–70) had reached the top ten of the UK charts three times but had so far failed to make an impression in his native America, other than as a respected session guitarist. One day Mike Nesmith of the Monkees was having dinner in London with Paul McCartney and Eric Clapton when John Lennon arrived. Nesmith later recalled: ‘John said, “Sorry I am late but I’ve got something I want to play to you guys.” He had a tape recorder and played Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Joe”. Everybody’s mouth just dropped open. John said, “Isn’t this wonderful?”’ A few weeks later Micky Dolenz of the Monkees met Hendrix at the Monterey Pop

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