One year ago today, I started a second blog. I was stuck for something to blog about here, and I hoped that starting from scratch would help me get past my writer’s block. One of the stories I posted the 1st day over at the other blog (which I’ve since taken down) was a piece commemorating the anniversary of Elvis’ death. It was Freshly Pressed, which really surprised me.
Here’s an updated and slightly edited version.
Today is the 34th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death. He died on Aug. 16, 1977, at his home in Memphis, Tennessee.
He was 42 then, so that means he would have been 76 today — the same age as the Dalai Lama and Woody Allen. That’s hard to imagine.
It’s easy to goof on Elvis, with his sequinned jumpsuits and big appetite, but I’m not talking about Fat Elvis.
I’m talking about Skinny Elvis, the good-looking kid from Tupelo who walked into Sun Records in Memphis and basically invented rock’n’roll.
Of course, some people say Elvis didn’t invent anything, that he basically took rhythm and blues and made it safe for White America, but I think that argument misses the point.
Somewhere in Peter Guralnick’s 2 volume biography of Elvis (if you haven’t, read it), Guralnick points out that Elvis was a sponge when it came to music.
Elvis listened to everything — R&B, bluegrass, country, gospel — and processed it, synthesized it. He took all these musical strands and wove them into something else, something new.
Sure, odds are someone else would have done that if Elvis hadn’t, but Elvis did, so let’s give him credit.
He was sexy and dangerous, too, and that’s something teenagers hadn’t really seen before, at least not in one package. Girls wanted him, and boys wanted to be him. You wouldn’t have had The Beatles if you hadn’t have had Elvis.
John Lennon (I think) said Elvis died when he went into the Army, and I agree. Elvis’ music was never as raw as before he was drafted.
In the 1960s, he made a string of bad movies and went Vegas, and in the ’70s, well, we all know about Elvis in the ’70s, but by then, he’d already changed the world by changing the music.
I think those early records — “That’s All Right,” “Mystery Train,” “Blue Moon of Kentucky” — earned him a lifetime pass and more than made up for later songs like “Rock-a-Hula, Baby” and “The Wonder of You.”
“Blue Moon of Kentucky,” after all, was a bluegrass tune — a waltz, at that — until Elvis got hold of it and turned into a rocker in 4/4 time.
I’d argue that is something close to genius.
Love me some Elvis. I went to Graceland when I was 15 or 16 and that settled the deal.
We’ve been in Tennessee 6 years and still haven’t made the trip. How lame is that?
Elvis may have been gay. Consider the lyrics to Jailhouse rock:
“Number 47 said to number 3, you’re the cutest jail bird I ever did see.” What? I am not familiar with co-ed jails, perhaps that is something strictly from the South.
He didnt discover Hawaii however, which it always seemed to be the underlying assumptions when documentary scripts about Elvis and his relationship to the 50th state are written. “Elvis love Hawaii”. Hey now, there is something new.
I have been to Graceland. I came away with the feeling like the guy had a lot of talent but not much ability to manage his life. It was sad really.
“Jailhouse Rock” was written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, who also wrote “Hound Dog,” “Stand By Me” and a bunch more songs that are flat-out classics. I’ve seen shows on TV about coded messages in 1950s pop culture, but I’ll bet no one at the time thought twice about the lyrics to “Jailhouse Rock.”
I loved thin, young Elvis, and mourned his loss when he turned into fat Elvis.
I remember there was a TV special soon after he died about his last tour. He was in terrible shape. He couldn’t remember the lyrics to “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” so he tried to joke his way through it. It was sad, but that’s the Elvis most people seem to remember. They don’t remember that young, dangerous kid from Tupelo. The remember fat Elvis with his Memphis Mafia.
Totally agree!