Elvis Presley

Rockabilly Legend Wanda Jackson: "I Do Music People Like"

>Wanda Jackson has had a career most musicians would envy. The "Queen of Rockabilly" has entertained audiences for decades with such songs as "Hot Dog! That Made Him Mad," "Hard Headed Woman" and "Fujiyama Mama," displaying an originality and bravado that helped pave the way for artists as diverse a ... More >>

5 (Food-Related) Reasons To Go To Alvin, Texas

In the past, I've been criticized by some readers of EOW for focusing my restaurant research on establishments inside the loop. And while it's true that I don't regularly travel very far for my food, I recently found yet another excuse to go way outside my zip code. Alvin, Texas is my new favorite d ... More >>

Sticky Fingers: 10 Musicians Who Deserve Their Own Ice Cream

Ice cream is good -- especially in the summer and of course today. With the advent of the deliciously yummy Ben and Jerry's ice cream, among others, ice-cream companies have been naming their flavors after artists for years. Ben and Jerry's especially has been at the forefront of naming their ice ... More >>

The Bassman Cometh: Jerry Scheff On Working With Elvis, Dylan & The Doors

Way Down: Playing Bass with Elvis, Dylan, The Doors & More By Jerry Scheff Backbeat Books, 240 pp., $19.95 Bassist Jerry Scheff had a bird's -eye view of a lot of musical greats in the '60s through the '80s, and in this memoir, the easygoing, affable storyteller tells about his experiences and how ... More >>

This Week in Deliciousness

​Welcome back to the weekly roundup here at Eating Our Words, where opinions are like nipples: everybody has four or five weird ones. We started the week off right by not at all clearing up the confusion regarding the difference between fish sauce and nuoc mam. The conclusion: Vietnamese restauran ... More >>

Classic Christmas: Mannheim Steamroller's Christmas

Over the holidays, we're looking back at some classic Christmas albums taking some track by track and just digging on others. ​Let me just get this out of the way right off the bat: I don't care for Mannheim Steamroller. I think their music is odd and a little creepy. But, that doesn't mean 1 ... More >>

Looking Glass: Rock Music's Five Most Famous Four Eyes (Other Than Buddy Holly)

Holly had no idea what he was starting.​The Wall Street Journal wrote an interesting article about Buddy Holly's optometrist. That's not something most people would think about when it comes to music, but fashion has been significantly influenced over the years by music. In much the same way C ... More >>

First Look at Local Foods

Photos by Katharine ShilcuttStep up and order at Local Foods.​Let's get one thing out of the way first: Stop blaming benjy's for Antone's demise. I'm the first to say that I miss the old Antone's in Rice Village like I miss Elvis. So come on now: We can all agree that Antone's closed before it ... More >>

Awesomeness and Hearing Loss at the 2011 Texas BigBeat

How do a crapload of drums sound when playing in unison in an airplane hangar? Pretty freaking awesome. ​In the Cameron Crowe-directed documentary Pearl Jam Twenty, lead singer Eddie Vedder discusses the detrimental impact of the band's Spinal Tap-like replacement of drummers, equating each ch ... More >>

Music's Top 5 Dubious "Dr. Feelgoods"

ibtimes.com​To say that Dr. Conrad Murray had a bad day in court yesterday is probably something of an understatement. In addition to veiwing graphic pictures of Michael Jackson's autopsy, jurors in the involuntary manslaughter trial of the King of Pop's former physician heard damaging testimo ... More >>

The X Factor Does Dallas (And Miami)

Fox​Audition round two of The X Factor is held in Miami and Dallas, and they tell a different story than Los Angeles. In my first recap, I was impressed with the consistently great talent The X Factor delivered, keeping the freak-show acts to a minimum. When the judges hit Miami, the dearth of ... More >>

Top 5 Musical Ed Sullivan Show Controversies

theselvedgeyard.wordpress.com"You want me to sing WHAT now?"​To the right-wing conservatives, religious groups, and self-proclaimed family organizations raising hell over Chaz Bono's "assault on family values" as the first transgender contestant on Dancing With the Stars, Rocks Off asks the q ... More >>

Wanda Jackson Loves Jesus, Jack White & Adele

​Rocks Off conducted an unusual interview this week. We say "interview," when perhaps a better word is "exchange." Recently we have been tinkering with the composition of our interviews, in the hopes of avoiding boilerplate questions like "Who are your influences?" in favor of something, we h ... More >>

Rocks Off's Fantasy RodeoHouston Lineup

Photos courtesy of Houston Livestock Show & RodeoGeorge Strait in 1996​If you walk through Reliant Center, hanging from the ceiling are banners listing almost every musical performer RodeoHouston has hosted since the '60s. The names reflect the hallowed history of country and fleeting fancies ... More >>

Top 10 Musical U.S. Presidents

"The future of our nation depends on providing our children with a complete education that includes music." - Gerald Ford gwu.eduWhen else are we going to use this picture?​Today is President's Day, and if you'll think back to high-school U.S. History, you'll remember that potential Commande ... More >>

Sweet Liberty

Laid-back Liberty Station a winner for cyclists.

Scott Weiland: Five Great Onstage Meltdowns Before His

Marc Brubaker​ For more images from Sunday's ill-fated show, see our slideshow here. As most of the continental U.S. knows by now, Stone Temple Pilots lead singer Scott Weiland (above) had some... issues... at the band's Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion show Sunday. Arriving late and opening ... More >>

Leah White: The Houston Zoo Muse's Eight Favorite Animal Songs

See the video for "Beautiful Day" here.​Rocks Off does not have children, nor do we anticipate doing so anytime in the forseeable future. Frankly, the thought of being responsible for another living creature around the clock both terrifies and confounds us - just ask our cat, Neko. However, w ... More >>

A Rock & Roll Time Capsule From Friday Night Lights Country

myspace.com/sweetmikeycThat's right, that's former Elvis Presley guitar-picker Scotty Moore on the far left.​ As Lonesome, Onry and Mean noted yesterday, even in an age when no one supposedly buys, listens to or reviews albums anymore - three words: Record Store Day - too many albums pour into our ... More >>

Mardi Gras Mambo: "Krewe de Blue" DJ Clint Broussard's Favorite Fat Tuesday Jams

It's Fat Tuesday, which means before you get ashes painted on your forehead tomorrow, you'll be face-down in the gutter tonight. Rocks Off asked Clint Broussard, DJ for KTRU's "Blues In Hi-Fi" and tonight's "Krewe de Blue" Cowboy Mouth pre-party at House of Blues, to give us a few of his favorite M ... More >>

The Man Comes Around: Top Ten Big-Deal Musical Deaths of the Decade

​This past decade saw the passing of an innumerable amount of musical icons and pioneering giants. Not only did we lose the second coolest Beatle, but we lost two of the best dancers and performers the world will ever see. Punk rock and metal saw some of their best and brightest lights get snuffed ... More >>

Our Five Favorite Heavy Metal Christmas Carols

​Every year the Christmas gods try to throw us the same old boring and tired holiday music. Mariah Carey, Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley and Hall & Oates are just fine, but this member of Rocks Off needs the blood of the innocent and punishing power chords under his dead, decaying tree. We sought ... More >>

Listology: Runaway Sun Choose Their Favorite Album Covers

www.myspace.com/runawaysunmusic​ On today's Listology hot seat are up-and-coming local blues-rockers Runaway Sun, whose CD release party for debut full-length The Bridge is Saturday night at the Continental Club with Clory Martin. Perhaps wisely, the quartet chose to list their favorite album cove ... More >>

Houston 101: Magnolia Gardens -- Houston's Rockin' Little Riverside Beach

It may not look like much today, but back in the '50s and '60s, Magnolia Gardens was the place to be if you liked country music and rockabilly. The open-air dance hall/bandstand on the banks of the San Jacinto River was in a resort-like setting, with a restaurant or two and a few boat ramps scatter ... More >>

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Joey Harris & the Mentals

​From the first bars of ripping blaster "Little Boy," Joey Harris and his Mentals explode like Elvis's heart after a fried banana sandwich. The Mentals don't even bother with a title for this one. It's clear from the Rolling-Stones-in-a-barroom stomp of the opening track that the ethic and spirit ... More >>

Man Drive Car

Taxicab Confessions this isn't: Ramin Bahrani's quietly profound Goodbye Solo.

If You Get A Seat-Belt Ticket Soon, Don't Blame Elvis

Photos by Chris VogelNothing says seat belt safety like five oversized inflated balloons in the shape of a cowboy, duck, bull, Godzilla monster and Elvis look-alike. At least that's what the Texas law enforcement community is hoping, as they unveiled the 24-foot-tall "safety ambassadors" this mornin ... More >>

Gothtopia: Searching for the Perfect Vampire Anthem

Note: Lost in all the inaugural hoopla this week was the fact that Monday was Edgar Allan Poe's 200th birthday. No better time, then, to debut Rocks Off's new Goth column... Recently, my wife and I made our way down to the Houston Public Library to hear a talk with Charlaine Harris, author of ... More >>

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Inducts Metallica, Run-DMC, Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson

Yesterday marked a tremendous day for rappers and thrashers across the world: Metallica and Run-DMC were announced as the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's newest inductees, along with Jeff Beck, Wanda Jackson, Little Anthony and the Imperials, Bobby Womack, two members of Elvis Presley's backing band ... More >>

Classic Rock Corner: Blues/Soul/R&B In Memoriam 2008

Ah, that nasty Grim Reaper took a lot of great musicians this year, and his scythe cut a wide swath across all genres, including many heavyweights in the blues and R&B world. The greatest loss comes in the form of someone who was a man, a song, and a beat all in one... Bo Diddley, singer-songw ... More >>

Five Other Rock-Star Presidents

Lonesome Onry and Mean: Only a Week Until Robert Plant/Allison Krauss

Tom Petty Week, Part 5: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers Cover "Blue Moon of Kentucky"

An Exclusive Interview with the Astrodome

Q&A: Talking Naked Ladies and Sweaty Elvises with Caren Anderson and Carl Baldwin of Portland’s Velveteria and Black Velvet Masterpieces

El Vez

El Vez performs Saturday, November 25, at the Continental Club, 3700 Main, 713-529-9899.

Polysics, with Alex Atchley, Los Abandoned and the Gaskets

Wednesday, March 15, at Super Happy Fun Land, 2610 Ashland, 713-880-2100

Capsule Reviews

Our critics weigh in on local theater

Capsule Reviews

Our critics weigh in on local theater

Capsule Reviews

Our critics weigh in on local theater

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Family Feud

Hip-hop turns 25, and the battle lines are drawn

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

Elvis Presley

Elvis: Today, Tomorrow & Forever (RCA) / "A Little Less Conversation" (BMG)

Clear Channel Cajun Invasion

April 5 through 7

Ted Roddy's Tribute to the King

Sunday, December 23

Best Use for the Astrodome

Mock naval battles

Best Unsigned Band

Los Skarnales

Moving Up the Food Chain

East End dive no more, Ostioneria Puerto Vallarta is a polychrome palace where seafood and Elvis are king

Night & Day

October 29 - November 4, 1998