look / Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain’s annual convention

October 8th 2005
Played with Suzi Quatro at the Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain’s annual convention. Suzi had been asked to play there because of ‘Singing With Angels’, an Elvis tribute song that she had written and recorded in Nashville in May featuring James Burton and The Jordanaires. On this night not only was Suzi on the bill but also the TCB Band (Elvis’ rhythm section from 1969 to 1977)…well, at least three of them. It was great to meet two more of my heroes in Jerry Scheff and Glenn D. Hardin and to meet James Burton again. I hadn’t seen him since 2001 just before he recorded his guitar part for my recording of ‘The Wonder Of You’. Suzi, of course, performed her Elvis tribute and James joined us on stage for it. What was special to me that night was not only the gig itself but running through the song before the show with James, Suzi, Tim Smith, Darren Loveday, Dick Hanson and myself in a little circle, all singing and playing at each other. I couldn’t take my eyes off James. His guitar playing, even through a crummy old practice amp, was exquisite. As a huge Elvis fan, I loved this moment. I kept thinking to myself, how many times must James Burton have run through a song with Elvis like this just before a show? And that’s who Elvis would have been looking at. Walk a mile in my shoes!

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