Sonny Curtis at J.I. Allison’s Memorial

Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum
Nashville, Tennessee
November 20, 2022

[philipsurridge]

RIP Jerry, thanks for some great memories and thank you Sonny, I met you once over here in the UK, you are a true gent.God Bless.

[ianarchibald]

Actually, it was the other way around, Buddy had met J.I. way before anyone knew who Elvis was. They had been jamming around Lubbock playing Bill Haley and r&b tunes before Elvis hit Lubbock. According to John Goldrosen's excellent book on Buddy, it was Buddy who got Elvis turned on to using drums full time. Until then Elvis was with Scotty and Bill on guitar and bass - no drums. When Elvis heard Buddy and the boys play, that's when he went back and recruited D.J. Fontana who was the house drummer for the Louisiana Hayride. Elvis didn't use drums until the beginning of 1956 when he signed with RCA.
Anyhow, granted Sonny worships Elvis, he even said that the reason they decided to play rock and roll was because of the way the girls responded to Elvis. Then again, when Buddy and the Crickets first started, Sonny declined to join them and went out on a Slim Whitman tour to make guaranteed money and Niki Sullivan took his place. I guess he wasn't THAT fond or trustful of the new music.