From Bill Kirchen's "Hammer of the Honky-Tonk Gods".
Music
My first favorite music of 2010
I rarely buy an entire album anymore, but when I hear something this good I have to have all of it. Broken Bells, by Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse of Gnarls Barkley, along with James Mercer of The Shins, is a modern experiment with plenty of pop hook and a sound that's fresh yet familiar. You can sample two of the songs here in full. And of course, it's available on iTunes. Broken Bells is well done and highly recommended.
Elvis 1956
Twenty-one-year-old Elvis Presley was at the beginning of his remarkable and unparalleled career when photojournalist Alfred Wertheimer was asked by Presley's new label, RCA Victor, to photograph the rising star for a one-day assignment. It quickly developed into an odyssey. With unimpeded access to the young performer, Wertheimer was able to capture the unguarded and everyday moments in Elvis' life during March and July of 1956, the pivotal year that made Elvis' career—taking him from virtual obscurity to international stardom and his crowning as "The King of Rock 'n' Roll."
These images represent the first and the last unguarded look at Elvis, and are an extraordinary portrait of a charismatic young man who would go on to become a legend.
The national tour of Elvis at 21 launches at The GRAMMY Museum in Los Angeles on January 8, 2010 and will travel through 2012
