Making Music, Elvis and more by Lamar Fike

[presley31]

As we wait for Lamar's long anticipated memoir, Fike: An Uncommon Journey, here is a fascinating article which appeared in TheImproper.com:
I have been in the music business for five decades now, and I can assure you that there is nothing more constant than the changes in it. When I first became close friends with Elvis Presley in the 1950s, I used to go into the recording studio with him. At the time he was recording songs for his iconic film “Jailhouse Rock,” and the records he made that day were still cut using a lathe, a needle, and a virgin vinyl master.

When people ask me what changes I have seen in the music business, I tell them that I was in radio when it was all tubes, then I was there when it was all converted to transistors, and I am still here to watch the entertainment world embrace digital music. It is an ever-changing world, and the internet has moved faster that anyone ever thought it could move.

Although the way we receive and listen to music has changed from vinyl, to CDs, to digital downloads, it still comes down to the music that is being made and enjoyed by the consumer. To even break it down further, the “talent” that always rises to the top. Talent never cares where it comes from.
Texas Disc Jockey: Maybe it’s an experience or an emotion that makes a songwriter write a song, but is a product of that talent. And, although it is the singer of a hit song who gets a lot of the glory for creating the hit, the bottom line is that a hit song is a hit song no matter who sings it.

If it hadn’t been for my love of music, and my first job as a disc jockey in Texas, I might never have met Elvis, become friends with him, and suddenly have been thrown into a life in the fast lane. For a while I lived with Elvis and the Presleys at Graceland. That era still vividly lives in my memory. This has become one of the highpoints of my book “Fike: An Uncommon Journey.”

Is my new book “the final word” on the Elvis saga? Readers will have to be the judge of that. You always think, and you always hope that the book you write on any subject is the “be all” and the “end all” book on that topic. Even I have to admit, that with a subject like Elvis, there is always some new aspect to write about. However, I have a unique perspective that no one else has. I was there at the dinner table when it was just Elvis and his parents Gladys and Vernon. When I describe this book to people, I call it a “buddy book.” On one hand, I can’t tell anything new about Elvis per se, but I can certainly tell a story from a totally different vantage point. Every time you read about his life, there is something new to learn.

Touching People’s Lives: One of the most fascinating aspects of Elvis’ life is that he touched so many different aspects of other people’s lives. He was many things to many people, and my book captures many of his sides.

I also had a much more varied career than people realize. I moved to Nashville in 1962 to road manage Brenda Lee, and I was with her for many of the peaks of her great career. While in Nashville I was able to hang out in the recording studio with such superstars as Patsy Cline. I also worked with all of the aspiring talent that was drawn to Nashville: including once-struggling songwriters like Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson. My original job with Johnny was to place his songs with recording artists; however I often found that my real assignment was to sober him up to perform and write demos. Johnny was one-of-a-kind, and I always respected his talent.

When I see talent, I know it instantly. When I saw first met Eddie Rabbit in Nashville in the early 1970s, I knew that he was an extremely talented songwriter. He walked into my office with a demo for a song called “Kentucky Rain.” The minute I heard it, I told Eddie, “If Elvis cuts this track, your career will be made.” The rest is history. It became one of Elvis’ final No. 1 recordings.

Back to Nashville: After Elvis died, in the 1980s I went back to Nashville and began working as the “right hand man” to Jimmy Bowen at MCA Records. Bowen is not only a great record producer; he was always a great business man as well. Bowen rode into Nashville and he spun it like a top.

When he took over the Nashville office of MCA Records, he revolutionized the way things were done. He was able to take up-and-coming talent and turn them into superstars, including George Strait, Reba McEntire, Hank Williams Jr. and Rabbitt.

A lot of people don’t realize that it was Bowen who was responsible for turning Dean Martin into a recording star. Bowen knew what material to pick for him, and how to record him. Dean was a successful actor and comedian when Jimmy got hold of him, but Bowen knew how to record Martin. I tell all of these stories in my book, which is why it is much more than just “an Elvis book.”

What I love the most about the entertainment business is “the talent.” From talent comes greatness. When you have talent, it is its own commodity which I call: “it.” Once you have “it,” your talent just has to come out in one way or another. The thing about the entertainment business is that it so subjective. You can walk down the street and run into ten different people, and get ten different stories about what “entertainment” is and where we now stand in the “entertainment business?”
Today’s Talent: There is nothing really new about the current wave of talent shows that are now such a big hit on television. In the 1930s and 1940s there was “Major Bowes” and then came “Arthur Godfrey” in the 1950s. When I look at the shows like “America’s Got Talent” and “American Idol,” I see the natural continuation of that tradition. I think Simon Cowell is a brilliant guy. With “American Idol,” he took a tried and true formula and combined it with the immediacy of voting for talent on a cell phone or telephone and he has turned into a vastly successful empire.

I have always admired the talent of songwriters the most. Singer/songwriters are even more talented. When you can be both the songwriter and the singer, you have a real live gold mine. You have all of the bases covered. John Mayer, Carole King, James Taylor, Eddie Rabbitt, Deborah Gibson, Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, and Elton John are all living proof of this. In the long run, it’s the songs that outlive the performers. I call it “mailbox money.” If you write a hit song, all you have to do is to go out to your mailbox, and there is a royalty check! It’s mailbox money.

While the music business has changed over the years in many ways, the bottom line remains the “talent.” Talent always goes by the gut. When you see it or hear it, you know it is there. A hit song doesn’t care who sings it. Talent doesn’t care where it lands. True talent always rises to the top.

About Lamar: Lamar Fike has had a wide-ranging career in the music business. Fans of Elvis Presley instantly recognize his name as a key member of The King of Rock & Roll’s entourage, also known as the Memphis Mafia. However, Fike once worked as a disc jockey, worked for Nashville music publisher Hill & Range, wrote a best-selling Presley book and had an important role at MCA Records in Nashville in the 1980s and 1990s. Drawing upon all of these experiences, Fike recently completed work on an autobiography entitled “Fike: An Uncommon Journey” and a screenplay, “’57-’60: One of the Boys.” For both projects he teamed up with New York Times best-selling author Mark Bego, and he and Bego collaborated on the screenplay with filmmaker D. Edward Stanley. Lamar, who now resides in Texas, was Elvis’s friend, confidante and “sounding board.” He calls his own colorful observations “Fikeisms.”

source:http://www.elvisinfonet.com/

[Unchained Melody]

Thanks for that.

Fike certainly has come along way. Doing his own thing in the music buiz, he always been like that, of course knowing Elvis couldn't have hurt.

[presley31]

Your welcome bradley.

[rmk101]

Cool I'll have to buy it when it comes out!

[franny]

Thanks, for posting Jen.
Isn't Lamar'a new book - An Uncommon Journey out yet?

franny

[Diane]

I'd almost have to buy this one just to find out if Lamar's mouth has improved.

Diane

[presley31]

I'd almost have to buy this one just to find out if Lamar's mouth has improved.

Diane

I almost spit my tea out reading that comment diane..good one.

[Unchained Melody]

I'm waiting to see how good Lamar book is, I definitley plan on getting it.