5. DOES ANYONE KNOW THE WORDS?

For the first year or so Elvis Was a Truck Driver had been primarily an instrumental band. Individual members had grown in their knowledge of the instruments and their ability to play them. Band members also grew in their knowledge of each other as musicians and their ability to play with and off of each other. For reasons unknown, perhaps out of experimentation, perhaps out of boredom, it was time to add lyrics.


Being aware of the unique nature of the band's music, unique lyrics were necessary and it was recognized that there was no better place for unique lyrics than the supermarket tabloids and the local community newspaper. At each session someone would bring a National Enquirer or local community newspaper, and the copy would provide a starting point, or a basic idea upon which to improvise. Sometimes the copy was used verbatum as lyrics. As the band matured, band members brought their own poetry and other writings to the sessions to use as lyrics.