Biographic - Sunday August 3, 2008 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

When Jack White of The White Stripes appeared on the 2003 Civil War drama "Cold Mountain" he was following in the footsteps of some of the most illustrious names in popular music. Since Elvis Presley made his screen debut in 1956's "Love Me Tender" a legion of rock and pop stars from Bobby Darin to Joe Strummer of The Clash, from Jon Bon Jovi to Will Smith, have featured in westerns. Elvis Presley made two more cowboy movies after "Love Me Tender" 1960s "Flaming Star" was originally conceived as a vehicle for Marlon Brando nine years later, "The King" donned a cowboy hat again for "Charro." Teen idol Ricky Nelson starred alongside western icon, John Wayne in Howard Hawks 1989 classic "Rio Bravo" the following year it was Frankie Avalon's turn to work with "The Duke" when he starred in "The Alamo" prior to that, Avalon had appeared with "Guns of the Timberland" he also guessed on the long-running tv western "Rawhide" Bobby Darin appeared on the TV series "Wagon Train" before starring in the 1967 movie "Gunfight At Abilene." In the early 1970s it was Bob Dylan's turn to get it on the act, when he appeared in "Pat Garett and Billy The Kid" alongside Kris Kristofferson as Billy The Kid. Country Joe and The Fish and Joe Walsh were among the cast members of the surreal 1971 western "Zachariah" while the 1980s saw Courtney Love, The Pogues, and Joe Strummer of The Clash in the Alex Cox western "Straight To Hell" Jon Bon Jovi made a fleeting cameo as a gunslinger in the 1990 hit "Young Guns II" the movie fro which he composed the chart-topper "Blaze of Glory" Will Smith has starred in some huge blockbusters, but 1999 "Wild Wild West" a remake of a tv series from the mid-1960s, was not one of them. The movie performed comparatively weakly at the box office. But perhaps the biggest clunker in the rock 'n' roll cowboy genre was "The Fastest Guitar Alive" a 1967, movie for which Roy Orbison removed his trademark sunglasses and picked up a guitar with a built-in rifle. The plot was so silly that even Elvis Presley had turned it down!

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