Announcing a new Facebook Group and a new Blog
We have created a new Facebook Group calledThe Childress (Texas) High School Classes of 1960-1966Created for anyone from the Childress (Texas) High School classes of 1960-1966 who is looking to reconnect or connect with former friends and classmates.If you are currently a member of Facebook or if you are planning to become a member of Facebook, we invite you to join the group. Contact either Nicki or Jennifer for information.You are also invited to visit our new blog, Voices From the Class of '63,
Darryl Morris and unidentified hound dog companion, 1956
After posting The Times of Our Lives: August 16, 1977 ... Elvis ... and Heartbreak Hotel (below) we received a note and the above picture from our blog friend and former teacher, Darryl Morris, who has allowed us to share the photo, along with his brief commentary, in blue. Many thanks to Darryl for this priceless moment in the times of his life.
)O(
Yes, Elvis touched many lives--mine most certainly included. This is me in 1956 lip-syncing "Hound Dog" at some sort of program at the Community Center in Wellington. I think it was part of the entertainment at the Miss Wellington contest. I don't remember who furnished the dog.
Blog Archive: Reflections on the Way We Were
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9 comments:
Seeing this picture of Darryl and his Hound Dog, reminds me of a friend of mine, who every year since I have known her, had to have a new Elvis costume just for the celebration of his birthday. Talk about adoration! Not only did she have Elvis outfits, she also cut her hair to look more like his. I don't remember how many elaborate Elvis costumes I made for her over the years. Is there any other man in history who gets this much attention?
I think Darryl makes a great Elvis...and I would love to make an authentic costume for him for the next he wants to be Elvis.
This definitely confirms that youth is wasted on the young. It's amazing how little we appreciate these things until we can only look back on them. My granddaughter, Heather, recently was looking at my high school senior yearbook. She quite innocently and sweetly said, "Poppa, you were hot."
Someday, one way or another, I'm sure that I will forgive her. I must honestly admit that old age is better than any of the alternatives of which I am aware.
This picture is absolutely fabulous! That hair ... those moves ... that "hep-cattitude"!!! Practice, no doubt, for your skills in "reaching" your classes a few years later....
And, if the Army hadn't worked out for you ... you might have had a helluva career in Vegas....
Many thanks again for sharing the photo....
)O(
I was just thinking about how Elvis dressed during the early years. Darryl's costume is pretty much "right on", since Elvis was a pretty conservative dresser until the late 60s or early 70s when he started performing in LV. I think that is when he started wearing the tight leather and flashy rhinestone studded, caped outfits. When I think of Elvis in the early years, I think of blue jeans and plaid shirts..partially opened down the front. Then of course, his sport coat attire, which Darryl is wearing. Great job, Darryl!
There are many times in our life that we look back and wonder, "What WAS I thinking??" : ) It is possible that this was one of those times for you, Darryl, but I am so glad you shared the photo with us. So much fun to look back on the way we were, isn't it?
Not sure what Darryl may have been thinking, Nicki ... but I think I have an idea about the females in the audience ... "mad, bad and dangerous" come to mind.... (grin) (See Nicki's comment to my "Elvis" post, in case you've missed it.)
Linda Kay mentioned yesterday that it would have been interesting to see that in Junior English class....
It really is a great picture....
)O(
We do indeed live in interesting times! Could Darryl possibly have been the first Elvis impersonator? Isn't it interesting that so many people impersonate him, even so early
in his career? The intrigue for Elvis has never stopped. How many people do you see trying impersonate Willie?....or Bob Dylan,(well, there may be a few there), or Johnny Cash? I have to give Darryl a special nod of approval for being so in tune with the times to pick up so quickly on Elvis, and also for not being afraid of repercussions for movin those hips!
I first started doing lip-syncing (which was called “pantomiming” ‘way back in 1955-56) after attending a Quail school program that featured a kid from Amarillo who lip-synced funny recorded comedy routines and songs. I recall one routine in particular that he did. It was a 1952 recording by Johnny Standley entitled “It’s In The Book.” In this routine, Standley told the story of Little Bo Peep in the manner of a fundamentalist preacher and also sang a song called “Grandma’s Lye Soap.” The kid who did this routine (and others) was a big hit at our school—we bumpkins had never seen anything like it—and when my folks let me buy a record player, I thought, “Heck, pantomiming looks like fun.” And so I lip-synced a Bo Diddley song for some of my friends, and when the word got out, I was somewhat in demand for programs of one sort or another at Quail and Wellington. When I did my Elvis routine that night in Wellington, my performing career almost came to an end because most of the middle-aged audience wasn’t quite ready for the “moves” I put on (just copying Elvis, you understand), and there were comments circulating around that my routine was not exactly in good taste. So, I bought a lot of Phil Harris records (I particularly remember “That’s What I Like About the South”) which once again got me into the good graces of the older set in the county.
As to Sheila making me a costume for my Elvis impersonation: Thanks, but there’s no way you could ever get me to do something like that again. I’d be embarrassed that the costume would have to be made to accommodate my pronounced paunch, and I also don’t think I could afford the wig I would now need to cover my bald pate. But, I do appreciate the thought.
About my stint as Elvis, all I can say now is that I was at least “The King” for a night.
Jennifer’s earlier post about Elvis was beautifully written, and I can certainly understand why Sharon would want to use it as an example in her writing class. Jennifer definitely has the knack for descriptive, expository, and just about any other kind of prose—particularly a figurative prose which often borders on poetry.
Nicki is likewise a very, very good writer; and I can honestly say that I’ve learned a lot about techniques of good written expression from both Nicki and Jennifer. I hope both will keep up the good work.
I don't recall ever performing any pantomime myself ... although I remember others doing it. I do remember Linda Kay and I listening to and memorizing huge chunks of comedy routines done by Brother Dave Gardner and Shelley Berman ("The Morning After the Night Before" ... "oh my god, don't fizz!!!" ... was a particular favorite) and Vaughn Meador ("The First Family") and others ... many of which I can still recite today (the "infernal" memory, you know), but from which I refrain since I have learned more about "compassion" in the years since. (grin)
My really cringe-worthy efforts onstage were in Junior High School, when Brownie Kimbrough put six of us girls together (I know two others were Pat Davenport and Pat Harmon ... there is a photo of them in costume and makeup buried in the 1960 yearbook) and we tap-danced to "Darktown Strutter's Ball" ... in blackface ... for a school show. Apparently the routine was a hit with some, as we were subsequently asked to perform the dance at various venues around Childress County. Oy.... But of course at the time, no one really thought anything of it....
As always, thanks for your kind words, Darryl. Even this far down the road from CHS, it is nice to know my former teacher enjoyed something I have written....
)O(
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