Interview with Joey Kent
FECC
: Mr. Kent, what is your involvement with the Louisiana Hayride materials ?
Joey Kent : My
father, David Kent, bought the Louisiana Hayride name and archives from KWKH in
the mid-seventies and produced a continuation of the Louisiana Hayride show from
1975 to 1987. I inherited the archival
photos and recordings upon his death in 1992 and have worked in the years since
to catalog, preserve and release these treasures to the world.
FECC: The
news about your upcoming book Elvis : The Hayride Years 54-56 with
Frank Page is great for the Elvis fans. We hope to enjoy a lot of previously
unpublished photographs in this new publication. Will your book also feature
reproductions of paperwork and memorabilia related to Elvis at the Hayride ?
Joey Kent :
Indeed.
The book contains over 120 images of Elvis from his tenure at the
Louisiana Hayride, a great many previously unpublished, as well as copies of his
contract, posters, letters, notes and news clippings, all woven together to tell
the story of Elvis at the Hayride. I have
held back only photos from Elvis' final Hayride show on December 15, 1956, as we
are planning a second Elvis Hayride book dealing specifically with that
performance.
FECC: Your book also includes a bonus CD titled Elvis
Presley At The Hayride Tonight ! Volume One . Is there enough material for
a second book in the near future AND a Volume Two CD ?
Joey Kent :
As
noted above, Frank Page and I are planning a second Elvis Hayride book which
will focus on his final Hayride show in December of 1956.
Since Elvis was a widely known figure by this time, the majority of the
photos of him at the Hayride come from that show.
The book will feature expanded interviews with the surviving
photographers and other details specific to the show.
We hope to include a second CD volume as well, the full concert from that
night's performance.
FECC: What
was the idea behind the recording of these broadcast radio shows and for whom
were they recorded ? Since it began in 1948, was each Louisiana Hayride
broadcast recorded in full, every song and every performer?
Joey Kent :
Sadly
enough, the FCC did not require radio stations back then to keep copies of their
programming as they do today. Audio
tape was a relatively new phenomenon and most stations still relied on costly
and bulky transcription machines that made phono acetates.
If a Hayride show was recorded on acetate or audio tape, it was generally
because a commercial sponsor had requested some sort of proof their ads had run
or the station was creating a sample of the show to give to a potential sponsor
such as Jax Beer or Sal Hepatica. At one
point, station manager Henry Clay ordered many programs recorded as ammo for a
feud he was having with ASCAP. The
licensing organization had accused the station of performing more ASCAP songs on
the Hayride than they reported and Clay ordered discs made to prove they were in
error.
He
further ordered the show's program director, Horace Logan, to encourage Hayride
artists not to sing ASCAP compositions on the show!
One saving grace, though, was a local photographer named Glen Graham.
Mr. Graham loved country music and approached KWKH for permission to tape
the shows on his Wollensock tape recorder. He
was given permission to do so in exchange for making his professional services
available to Hayride artists as an unofficial staff photographer of sorts. Mr. Graham taped the show many Saturday nights from the start back
in 1948 but his studio was broken into in 1960 and most of the tapes were stolen
at that time along with photo equipment, never to be seen or heard of again.
Fortunately, Graham had run out of storage room for the tapes at his
office and, beginning in the late fifties, began storing tapes at his residence.
Those tapes, over 40 reels, survive today and comprise over 1500 of the
2200+ tracks I have in the Hayride archives. Artist
performances by Johnny Cash, Roy Acuff, George Jones, Johnny Horton, Bob Luman,
Jimmy Davis, Tex Ritter and countless others were preserved in this way.
Joey Kent / Louisiana Hayride Archives ©
FECC: We
know that most of Elvis 1955 performances at the Hayride released so far come
from acetates that vary in sound quality. However, it is pretty obvious that his
performance of October 16, 1954 ( "Thats All Right, Mama" and
"Blue Moon Of Kentucky" ) offer superb sound quality. Does this mean
that some of Elvis' performances were recorded on reel-to-reel tape instead of
dubbing onto acetate disc ? Is it possible all the Hayride performances ( not
just Elvis ) were recorded on reel-to-reel -- and only selected tracks were
later transferred to acetate? If true, does this mean that many Hayride
performances are lost forever?
Joey Kent :
It
is true that some recordings survive on tape and others on acetate.
Many acetates, such as those of Hank Williams' morning show on KWKH, were
actually recycled for their aluminum centers and lost that way.
Beginning late in 1952, when a portion of the Hayride show was broadcast
every few weeks over Armed Forces Radio as part of their weekly country show
"Saturday Night Country Style", acetates were made of those broadcasts
for syndication to military bases throughout the world. Sadly, few copies survive today but some may surface down the road.
Both the Library of Congress and the National Archives have a series of
these recordings but both sets are from 1958-59, a collection salvaged some
years ago by some US senator from a base in Korea.
In theory, Elvis would appear on several shows if they could ever be
located. In the case of Elvis'
first Hayride show from October of 1954, that performance was indeed recorded on
tape, and that accounts for the superior sound quality.
FECC: Do
the tracks on the CD come from a better source than all of the previous releases
containing these songs ?
Joey Kent :
Yes,
whenever possible the original sources have been used for this latest mastering,
and sound restoration expert Walter Devenne did a phenomenal job of restoration
using the latest sound enhancement techniques, many not available for use on
earlier editions.
FECC: Do
you believe that any of Elvis performances at the Hayride are in the hands of
private collectors ?
Joey Kent :
Yes.
I know of a Hayride recording of Elvis singing "Little Mama"
that is in private hands. I also know of
a Hayride recording of Elvis singing "You're Right, I'm Left, She's
Gone". The owner was kind enough to
send Frank Page a cassette copy of an acetate he made of one of the Saturday
Night Country Style armed forces broadcasts. The
man taped the show off KWKH affiliate station KTHS in Little Rock on July 16,
1955. For some reason, he sent Frank a
cassette copy many years ago but the man's name and address have since been lost
to time. We did, however, restore the
cassette copy of the song and it has been made part of the archives.
I have been told in the past that many live recordings of Elvis from that
era still exist on tape and acetate in the vaults of RCA/BMG.
Some may be Hayride although I haven't gotten confirmation on the titles,
dates, quality or other information.
FECC: It
is not impossible that some fans recorded Hayride shows from sitting in the
audience or at home next to their radio. Have you ever come in contact with fans
possessing such unique recordings ?
Joey Kent :
Recently
a recording surfaced of the final Hayride show Elvis did back in December of
1956. I have three songs from that night:
two recorded by audience members and the encore of "Hound Dog"
recorded by KWKH. This tape, which was
made by a radio station employee in Texas directly from the Hayride's radio
broadcast that night, features all ten songs Elvis did that night including nice
gems like "Paralyzed" and "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again".
The radio mix contains much less distortion and the audience roars are
more in the background where they belong. At
the time of this interview, I am still working to obtain a copy of this
recording and hope to make it part of the second planned Hayride Elvis book.
Joey Kent / Louisiana Hayride Archives ©
FECC: You
were involved with the CD titled Good Rocking Tonight The Evolution Of
Elvis Presley by Music Mill Entertainment, which contained two previously
unknown Elvis tracks ( "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" - 01/22/55 and "Thats
All Right, Mama" - 01/15/55 ). Were there any Elvis recordings from the
Hayride that you, for whatever reason, left off of this CD?
Joey Kent :
No,
I put in everything I had at the time.
FECC: The
CD The Elvis Broadcasts On Air states that five songs were
performed and recorded on January 22, 1955, including Tweedlee Dee.
However, in two well-regarded Presley books, Sessions II (
Joseph A. Tunzi ) and Elvis Day By Day ( Ernst M. Jψrgensen and
Peter Guralnick ), Tweedlee Dee is being given as recorded a week
earlier, on January 15, 1955. Since you were involved with the
previously-mentioned Hayride CD, can you tell us why you have a later recording
date for Tweedlee Dee ?
Joey Kent :
Both
the January 15th and 22nd performances come from the same acetate and that made
it easy to confuse which was which since neither side of the acetate was
labelled. The Elvis Broadcasts CD (for
which I supplied the info) is in error. I
got it backwards. As you'll see in the
forthcoming book, a teenage girl named Joyce Railsback kept a journal of many of
the shows and her diary helped straighten out the mess.
I supplied the correct date to Ernst Jorgensen for his book and Joe Tunzi
for his.
FECC:
The Elvis Broadcasts On Air also claims that three songs from the final
Elvis Hayride show on December 15, 1956 were pulled from a full 45 minute
performance. Was this last Hayride show completely recorded? Do you own the
tape?
Joey Kent :
See above. Elvis'
final Hayride performance ran between 35 and 45 minutes long and contained the
following ten songs in order: "Heartbreak Hotel", "Long Tall Sally", "I
Was The One", "Love Me Tender", "Don't Be Cruel", "Love Me", "I Got A Woman",
"When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again", "Paralyzed", and "Hound Dog".
FECC: Were
there ever any Hayride shows broadcast on TV, either locally or regionally?
Joey Kent :
At
one time in mid-55, KWKH attempted a televised Hayride show on local CBS
affiliate KSLA-TV 12. The show never made
it past the pilot stage. Rumors abound
that the show was recorde on kinescope but this simply is not true.
Kinescopes were very expensive pieces of equipment and KSLA was a brand
new station that couldn't afford such a luxury.
FECC: Does
any film exist of Elvis performing at the Hayride? Do you personally have any
amateur footage of performers at the Hayride ?
Joey Kent :
I've
heard rumors but have never seen any footage. I
have approximately one hour of 8mm footage recorded at the Hayride during the
late 50s and early 60s by Hayride fan Ann Paulsen.
A good bit of that footage was used in the 1984 Louisiana Public
Broadcasting production "Cradle Of The Stars" which is available on
VHS. I know of a good deal more
footage and am trying to secure it now. None
of Elvis, though. I can assure you the
rumor that Hayride personnel shot footage of the show for insurance reasons is
completely false. KWKH could barely
afford to put on the show, much less have someone film each show. Plus, the lawyers didn't circle back then the way they do now.
What would the station have been protecting itself from?!
Joey Kent / Louisiana Hayride Archives ©
FECC: On
behalf of all our readers we would like to thank you very much for your kindness
and for having took the time to do this interview with us. We know that
Elvis : The Hayride Years 54-56 will be a success, but still we would like
to wish you all the best of luck with this project and the other ones in the
future.
Joey Kent :
Thank
you. This volume was born of the creation
of a much larger volume: a giant coffee table book about the history of KWKH and
the entire Louisiana Hayride show. Hayride
announcer Horace Logan wrote his book and Hayride bandmember/manager Tillman
Franks has written his. It's time for Frank Page to go on the record with an unbiased
historical accounting in not just his words but the words of the stars,
engineers, fans, managers and others who helped make the show such an incredible
success. We sincerely hope to have
the book, entitled "Cradle Of The Stars: KWKH and the Louisiana Hayride" out sometime in 2004.
A lot of work went into this Elvis volume but it will pale in comparison
to the full Hayride book which traces the evolution of KWKH from an amateur
station in Shreveport in 1916 up through the Hayride era and into the present
time.
In
both cases, great care has been taken to restore all the photographs, verify all
the facts, and credit all those who deserve credit.
Speaking of...in the spirit of saving the best for last I'd like to thank
the publisher of our Elvis book, Joe Tunzi, for encouraging Frank and I to
compile this Elvis volume and release it to the public during the fiftieth
anniversary year. Joe shares our
enthusiasm for the rich history of the Hayride and personally produced the
wonderful companion CD. It was his commitment that these ten tracks sound the best they've
ever sounded that resulted in the hiring of Walter Devenne and the creation of
an excellent audio companion to a wonderful glimpse into the early life of Elvis
Presley. At long last, the gap between
Sun and RCA has been filled in and Elvis at his most beautiful, his most free
and wild, can now be shared with the world. And who better to paint that picture than the man who first
introduced radio listeners worldwide to a kid from Memphis back in the fall of
1954, my good friend, Hayride legend Frank Page. Both he and I thank you.
Joey Kent
December,
2003