Aug. 17, 3:46 p.m.: Top Ten, more on musical acts I wish I’d seen

Stepping away from rock to mourn some legends.

By: Hank Kalet
   Two weeks ago in the Top Ten, I offered a list of rock bands I wish I had seen but didn’t — with the limitation being that they had to be rocking while I was alive. I excluded Elvis Presley on the grounds that, as a rock ‘n’ roll act, his prime years were before 1962.
   I got some mail on that one, including one that quoted John Lennon saying something to the effect that Presley "was the biggest, most awesome act hed ever witnessed. And hed seen, and done a lot." I won’t argue with my correspondent or with John Lennon, a true musical hero, but I also stand by my original contention. Elvis, but the early 1960s had ceased to be a rocker and was, instead, an entertainer, a performer, a movie star. He was not making rock ‘n’ roll records, though he did make some good music and his 1968 comeback special is perhaps the finest musical appearance in television history this side of a couple of historic Ed Sullivan shows.
   So, to correct any impression that anyone may have that I dislike Elvis or do not respect him, I offer this week’s Top Ten: the 10 non-rock performers I wish I had seen:
   1. Elvis Presley. As I said, his best rock years had passed, but he remained a glorious stage presence almost until his death.
   2. Johnny Cash. The Man in Black was, as far as I am concerned, country’s greatest performer.
   3. Ray Charles. Brother Ray requires no explanation.
   4. John Coltrane. My all-time favorite jazz man, composer and band leader who recorded my single favorite jazz album, the sublime and spiritual "A Love Supreme."
   5. Miles Davis. I don’t care that he would turn his back to the audience, his imagination ran deep and wide and we should be thankful that he played that trumpet of his for as long as he did.
   6. Louis Armstrong. A consummate performer who could do it all: Sing, scat, make us laugh, but most of all, he is responsible for inventing the jazz trumpet as we know it. Without him, there could have been no Charlie Parker.
   7. Frank Sinatra. Simply a presence, making whatever it was he sang all his own.
   8. Muddy Waters. A ball of bluesy energy.
   9. Dizzy Gillespie. Those expanding cheeks and jowls, looking so much like a frog, but playing so much like an angel.
   10. Sammy Davis Jr. Another consummate performer — singer, dancer, comedian.