My dad used to joke about him as “Elvis the Pelvis” after that show.
SteveAugust 17, 2020, 3:20 AM
Like Tolkien, I am not keen on allegories, but it is irresistible to compare Elvis to America as a whole. From a youthful exuberance and undeniable novelty of style and content, he achieved mid-stream economic and societal greatness, then went into a self-induced decline, leading to his pathetic death resulting from a degenerate lifestyle, self -indulgence and anomie. Can we all take a lesson here, people?
Mumblix GrumphAugust 17, 2020, 4:57 AM
I remember that day. We were visiting my aunt and I went for a walk. A parked car in a driveway with all its doors open was blasting Heartbreak Hotel at full volume and a guy was sitting on the ground looking lost. I was eleven and didn’t think much of it. Grownups were always doing weird stuff. Later at my aunt’s house, she casually mentioned that Elvis had died and my mother went pale. I didn’t know that she had a great deal of affection for him.
I’m pretty sure my mother is in this picture in the upper right shielding her eyes. https://i.imgur.com/vMACgLg.jpg
AnonymousAugust 17, 2020, 7:20 AM
Ahhhh…The King…
He died on his throne.
ghostsniperAugust 17, 2020, 7:23 AM
My dad told me once that the IRS was stealing about 90 cents from every dollar Elvis made, yet he still became a multi millionaire. Who can say what any of us would “become” with that kind of money? Yeah, we all think we’d have a better handle on it then other’s. But reality takes a nasty bite. I got nothing bad to say about the dood.
JackAugust 17, 2020, 7:59 AM
I was out of the Navy and in college when Elvi died. My wife or girlfriend, whatever she was at the time, along with a friend sat and cried and comforted each other as only smitten young women can do when some idol dies but I chalked it up to what it really was…..a fat, over indulged, drug addicted man whom people called ‘King’ but whose life had been in shambles long before he left us. Useless sentiment but I do wish it had ended differently.
TerryAugust 17, 2020, 8:01 AM
I received a small record player for my birthday in 1956. It played 78 & 45 RPM only. I saved my money and one of the first purchases was this song by Elvis on a 45:
My mother heard me playing this jewel and marched into the living room and asked, “What is that”! And then “It’s terrible trash”! And left the room. My appreciation of Elvis was lifted 10 points by that reaction by my mother.
I at that point was a rock ‘n roll fan for life. Thank you mother! RIP
Auntie AnalogueAugust 17, 2020, 10:17 AM
Elvis was drafted into the army, and he served honorably. Unlike that big-mouthed black boxer who never did time in stir for his brazen draft evasion, and who never did a thing for the hundreds of thousands of black conscripts who served their hitches, except to act as an exemplar of posturing shitty attitude.
My uncle, a draftee infantryman, served part of his hitch in Germany where, one day, his unit assembled in the field prior to a maneuver exercise. Sergeant Presley chauffeured a general to meet with the unit’s officers. Elvis saw the general to his briefing, then walked over to my uncle’s platoon and just hung out with the guys, and my uncle said that Elvis put on no airs and melded right in with the dogfaces. The guys, my uncle included, loved, in my uncle’s words, that Elvis was “a regular guy.”
If you want to know why America verges today on domestic chaos and ruin, it’s because of a yawning lack of regular guys, due chiefly to the Ruling Cla$$ $ellout of the solid manufacturing jobs that had let countless millions of American men be regular guys. And that’s why today there is also no one like Elvis Presley.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
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Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
Lest we forget: Elvis’s first appearance on Ed Sullivan’s show, September 9, 1956.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrn8nTMcv_k&ab_channel=TheEdSullivanShow
The camera showed Elvis only from the waist upward on his first appearance; and then there was what happened on his second appearance on October 28th:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGZm7EOamWk&ab_channel=TheEdSullivanShow
My dad used to joke about him as “Elvis the Pelvis” after that show.
Like Tolkien, I am not keen on allegories, but it is irresistible to compare Elvis to America as a whole. From a youthful exuberance and undeniable novelty of style and content, he achieved mid-stream economic and societal greatness, then went into a self-induced decline, leading to his pathetic death resulting from a degenerate lifestyle, self -indulgence and anomie. Can we all take a lesson here, people?
I remember that day. We were visiting my aunt and I went for a walk. A parked car in a driveway with all its doors open was blasting Heartbreak Hotel at full volume and a guy was sitting on the ground looking lost. I was eleven and didn’t think much of it. Grownups were always doing weird stuff. Later at my aunt’s house, she casually mentioned that Elvis had died and my mother went pale. I didn’t know that she had a great deal of affection for him.
I’m pretty sure my mother is in this picture in the upper right shielding her eyes.
https://i.imgur.com/vMACgLg.jpg
Ahhhh…The King…
He died on his throne.
My dad told me once that the IRS was stealing about 90 cents from every dollar Elvis made, yet he still became a multi millionaire. Who can say what any of us would “become” with that kind of money? Yeah, we all think we’d have a better handle on it then other’s. But reality takes a nasty bite. I got nothing bad to say about the dood.
I was out of the Navy and in college when Elvi died. My wife or girlfriend, whatever she was at the time, along with a friend sat and cried and comforted each other as only smitten young women can do when some idol dies but I chalked it up to what it really was…..a fat, over indulged, drug addicted man whom people called ‘King’ but whose life had been in shambles long before he left us. Useless sentiment but I do wish it had ended differently.
I received a small record player for my birthday in 1956. It played 78 & 45 RPM only. I saved my money and one of the first purchases was this song by Elvis on a 45:
https://youtu.be/MMmljYkdr-w
My mother heard me playing this jewel and marched into the living room and asked, “What is that”! And then “It’s terrible trash”! And left the room. My appreciation of Elvis was lifted 10 points by that reaction by my mother.
I at that point was a rock ‘n roll fan for life. Thank you mother! RIP
Elvis was drafted into the army, and he served honorably. Unlike that big-mouthed black boxer who never did time in stir for his brazen draft evasion, and who never did a thing for the hundreds of thousands of black conscripts who served their hitches, except to act as an exemplar of posturing shitty attitude.
My uncle, a draftee infantryman, served part of his hitch in Germany where, one day, his unit assembled in the field prior to a maneuver exercise. Sergeant Presley chauffeured a general to meet with the unit’s officers. Elvis saw the general to his briefing, then walked over to my uncle’s platoon and just hung out with the guys, and my uncle said that Elvis put on no airs and melded right in with the dogfaces. The guys, my uncle included, loved, in my uncle’s words, that Elvis was “a regular guy.”
If you want to know why America verges today on domestic chaos and ruin, it’s because of a yawning lack of regular guys, due chiefly to the Ruling Cla$$ $ellout of the solid manufacturing jobs that had let countless millions of American men be regular guys. And that’s why today there is also no one like Elvis Presley.
The “king” apparently did green time where I was stationed, 15 years later, Wildflecken, Germany.
https://www.rhoenundsaalepost.de/lokales/aktuelles/art2826,626106