Elvis Presley

[DonFan]

That was a well-written piece on Elvis, Mrs. F!

I grew up listening to Elvis--he started in 1956, the year I was born (yep, I'm that old but I'm very well-preserved ) and my parents were huge Elvis fans so Elvis music was always playing in our house. I was lucky enough to see the man three times live in concert--he was the first live concert I ever saw, actually!-- and believe me, that experience will be with me forever! I saw him twice when he was younger and in his prime, and the last time was about a month before he died. He was an unbelieveable singer and an amazing performer--and he was absolutely GORGEOUS, too! I will try to compile a list of my favorite Elvis songs later---he has too many to choose from!

IMO, there will never be another singer who has made more of an impact on music and popular culture than Elvis. He truly was The King.

[Mrs Frey]

Thank you for the compliment, DF! It means a lot coming from you. You're not old!

My parents were and are Elvis fans too - they were teenagers in his breakthrough year of 1956 (20 twenty years before my birth - good grief! ). Just to think that most people remember that year as the year in which he started - he actually did all his Sun recordings, such as "That's All Right" and "Good Rockin' Tonight", in the years 1954 and 1955, which some people consider to be some of his finest work. He was only 19 years old in 1954! Unbelievable. He was on the road solidly for two years before "Heartbreak Hotel" made him an international star.

Wow, it's wonderful that you got to see him in concert, and three times too! I can just imagine how exciting that must have been. Yes, he was a beautiful man, wasn't he? Gorgeous indeed. Did I forget to say that? Absolute perfection... siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh...

I couldn't agree more with your last paragraph. I look forward to seeing your Elvis top ten!

[EasyFeeling]

Wow, your enthusiasm is infectious, MF. I totally enjoyed what you've written.
And DF, how cool that you've seen him live.

I think I'll have a look on ebay for a DVD.

[SweetHolly]

I love Elvis too! For my 8th birthday, one of my presents was an Elvis tape. I don't remember which one it was because I think I lost it after my family and I moved to the house where I still live when I was 9 and a half. He died 4 years before I was born. My aunt Ellen was supposed to go to his last concert which was in Indianapolis but she didn't go and she regrets not seeing him in concert. My favorite song by Elvis is Kentucky Rain.

[Maleah]

The '68 comeback special is......well........it's hot A MUST have, if you will

[Brooke]

DF, that is so cool that you actually got to see Elvis live! 3 times!

And btw, you are NOT old! You and I were born the same year!

[Freypower]

MF, regarding Guitar Man, I knew of the song but only heard it recently when I bought it on iTunes. I fell in love with it instantly because it is an Elvis 'attitude' song. He walks into this bar in Mobile and takes over this band.. (Does that sound like anyone else we might know)?

I thought I'd share a couple of verses by two of my favourite songwriters, Mark Knopfler and Neil Young.

Knopfler's is the more cynical, from Back To Tupelo:

Around the time of 'Clambake'
That old dream's still rolling on
Sometimes there'll be the feeling
Things are going wrong
The morning star is fading
Lord, the Mississippi's cold
You can still be Marlon Brando
And the king of rock and roll

But it's a ways to go
Back to Tupelo....

Neil, who also wrote 'the King is gone but he's not forgotten' tries to remember Elvis as he was:
(he chooses phases from the whole of Elvis' career. I've chosen what I wished he'd stuck with:
(from He Was The King, from Prairie Wind)

The last time I saw Elvis
He was frontin' a three piece band
Rockin' on the back of a flatbed truck (*What brand was this Neil? A Ford, maybe)??
With an old guitar in his hand
He was the King

I thought I would make a couple of observations on my Top 10, apart from what I've already written about Guitar Man.

There is nothing to be said about Suspicious Minds except as I once heard it described, it is the best white soul vocal of all time. That BRASS! The backing vocals! That astonishing fadeout! The guitar at the beginning! 'OOH OOH OOH OOH OOOH because I love you too much baby'....but my favourite part is the 'YEAH YEAH' and then 'don't you know I'm.....' etc.

In The Ghetto is an astonishingly courageous record for a white Southern rock star like Presley, who was so totemic in the South, to have made at the time. His debt to black musicians and his obvious pain at the suffering of poor black people is obvious in the song.

Heartbreak Hotel is STILL avant garde. And it's so BLEAK!!!!

Jailhouse Rock is proto punk and it's still funny. 'You can't find a partner, use a wooden chair'...

Burning Love is pure Elvis Charisma. 'Lord a'mighty, feel my temperature rising'. It is utterly convincing. I know it's late period but it works, 'hunka hunka' notwithstanding.

Return To Sender is funny. I don't like the ponderous ballads (with one exception, see below). 'SHE WROTE UPON IT' .... seriously, how can you resist?

Can't Help Falling In Love, though it may be a ballad, utterly aches. It is one of the saddest songs ever written. Feel his pain. It makes you cry. A happy love song it is not. It is just weary resignation, and that is why it's so powerful.

Viva Las Vegas - again, pure FUN! Pure Elvis 'cocky' delivery.

As for American Trilogy.... perhaps it is contrived, but the way it pulls together the Northern, Southern and African American view of the Civil War is heartrending. And Elvis means every single word. The climax is astonishing.

[Maleah]

You named pretty much all of my favorites there FP....so I have nothing much to add!

I LOVE Guitar Man! Such attitude!

Can't Help Falling In Love With You and Tryin' To Get To You (I think that's the title?) are two songs I remember singing with my Mom....I love them both!

[EasyFeeling]

The '68 comeback special is......well........it's hot A MUST have, if you will

Today I saw the DVD in the store, it costs 20 Euros. No, I have to go to ebay if I can get it for a lower price.

[Maleah]

Oh and I can't forget the song that was my Mom's favorite! I love "Don't Be Cruel" as well