Today we discover the iconic jamming session that birthed ‘The Million Dollar Quartet’ - Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash and Carl ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ Perkins - who spent the day making music together at Sun Studios, Memphis on 4th December, 1956.
Although the event began as an impromptu get-together, Sun’s Sam Phillips was quick to call a press ph ... Show More
Today
The £21,000 Masque
With a cast of over 800, and a budget equivalent to £3 million, James Shirley’s extravagant masque ‘The Triumph of Peace’ was performed on 3rd February, 1634. Unusually, it was such a popular show that, despite the enormous cost of staging it, King Charles I and Queen Henrietta M ... Show More
11m 56s
Yesterday
The Truth Machine
Leonarde Keeler, inventor of the modern polygraph, first showcased his device in a courtroom on 2nd February, 1935. The wooden box, which measured physiological responses like blood pressure and respiration, took the stand alongside him, and, while Keeler emphasized the machine w ... Show More
11m 56s
Dec 2022
Episode 1390 - Elvis Mitchell
Elvis Mitchell waited his entire life to make the new documentary Is That Black Enough For You?!? As a film critic, professor, chronicler of the entertainment business on his show The Treatment and, most importantly, a lifelong movie fan, everything prepared Elvis to write and di ... Show More
1h 29m
Dec 2023
The Story of Elvis Presley's Christmas Recordings By a Man Who Was There
On this episode of Our American Stories, Greg McDonald got his start in show business as a teenager after meeting Elvis Presley and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, shortly after Parker began managing Elvis in the ‘50s. Here’s Greg with a Colonel and Elvis Christmas story. Suppor ... Show More
7m 59s
Jan 2024
The Symphony
“Just keep going.”—Dave Chappelle
Featuring, in order of appearance:
Kevin Hart, Questlove, Mo Amer, Bill Burr, Pras, Michelle Wolf, and Jon Stewart
Contains music by:
Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Max Roach, Miles Davis, Milt Jackson, and Stevie Wonder
Record ... Show More
28m 39s