Elvis Presley Unravelled #23
What’d I Say cover

Ray Charles improvised the song when he ran out of material at a gig. Elvis subsequently covered it in his 15th movie, Viva Las Vegas – What’d I Say cover

25 to 31 March
guest feature on the Mop Tops and The King show

Steve Chelmsford presents the Mop Tops and the King show. Certainly, a great name for a show that is all about the music of The Beatles and Elvis Presley.
Every other week, author of Rock’n’Roll Unravelled Derek Shelmerdine presents The Beatles Unravelled, alternating with Elvis Presley Unravelled.

The podcast provides this 1-minute segment of a little bit of Beatles and Elvis Presley history. Moreover, the Unravelled stories take a look at some of the more obscure parts of the story.

The MTK Network broadcasts the show, with 100 radio stations around the world. Consequently, the Mop Tops and the King is playing somewhere in the world, every day of the week.
Show Schedule for times and radio stations.
(Times on the Show Schedule are Eastern Time. The UK is five hours ahead.)

Listen Again – PODCAST
Origins of What’d I Say

Elvis sang about it in Viva Las Vegas
Ray Charles improvised the song when he ran out of material – What’d I Say cover.

In the summer of 1964, Elvis had Billboard Top-30 hits with both sides of What’d I Say c/w Viva Las Vegas. Both songs featured in his fifteenth movie, Viva Las Vegas.

Ray Charles wrote What’d I Say. It was a Billboard #6 for him 5 years earlier, resulting in his first major crossover hit.          

This classic song has its origins in a live performance couple of months earlier. Late one evening Ray’s band had exhausted their repertoire. Consequently, Ray Charles was forced to improvise. Unperturbed, he told the others to follow his lead and they created What’d I Say.

When he recorded the song it was too long for one side. Rather than edit it, Charles insisted that it was split it across both sides of the single.

Extracts from Rock’n’Roll Unravelled

All of the Elvis Presley Unravelled and The Beatles Unravelled podcasts are based on extracts from Derek Shelmerdine‘s book Rock’n’Roll Unravelled.

The Beatles – Extracts taken from Rock’n’Roll Unravelled
Elvis Presley – Extracts taken from Rock’n’Roll Unravelled

These extracts are only a small fraction of the stories, discographies, and other associated Beatles and Elvis information in the book.

About the book – Rock’n’Roll Unravelled

Rock’n’Roll Unravelled tells the story of rock’n’roll from its roots to mid-1970s punk.

In addition to the music, the book looks at the social factors influencing the music. The Vietnam War, fear of communism and Civil rights struggle certainly helped to shape the sounds of the time.

If it’s relevant to the music of the 1950s. ’60s, ’70s and its roots – it’s in the book. In addition to bands, artists, classic albums and singles, recording sessions, gigs and festivals, you’ll also find stories about influential managers, how bands came together, lineups and – SO MUCH MORE…

Rock’n’Roll Unravelled‘s unique three-part structure

Rock’n’Roll Unravelled has three sections: Timeline, What Happened Today and Pocket Histories.

What Happened Today – looks at the events happening on a day-by-day basis.

Consequently, as the review in Record Collector magazine puts it in its review of the book, “Shelmerdine has made a painstaking effort to documented pretty much every event that will prove significant in shaping popular music”. In addition, the review went on to describe the book as, “comprehensive… invaluable”.

Moreover, the cross-referenced events in What Happened Today create the other two sections, Timeline and Pocket Histories.

Timeline – consequently provides a date-order listing of all of the events in What Happened Today.

Pocket Histories – further extends the cross-referencing to build a picture of the lives and times of the artists, bands and events in What Happened Today.

TO BUY – a signed copy of Rock’n’Roll Unravelled

For all the previous editions of…
The Beatles Unravelled and Elvis Presley Unravelled

First Broadcast: What’d I Say cover

25 to 31 March 2022, on the MTK network.