# Elvis Presley



## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

It is eighty years ago today that Elvis Presley was born in a wooden shack in Tupelo, Mississippi, on the 8th January 1935. This is a thread for those who would like to remember this great artist, and a place to post youtube links and discuss all things Elvis!

I will start by posting what is probably my favourite song: 'Loving You', from his 1957 movie.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

My fave early Elvis:






and my fave later Elvis:






This also reminds me that I've been wanting to read Peter Guralnick's two volume biography thats so well spoken of:


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

I used to travel with a judge in his car to work in San Bernardino. Back when Elvis died, a lady was so obsessed with him that she called her front yard "The Elvis Memorial" and blanketed it with pictures and memorabilia, vowing to keep it there forever. We'd have to pass it every day, and each time we saw it it got weirder.

One day coming from court, we saw in the parking lot her Elvis Memorial Car, equally blanketed with slogans and pictures. My judge was great at saying the wrong thing at the right time, and here was a perfect time. Somehow his "What, she's running around loose" was caught by the wind into a nearby ear, who promptly quipped, "You got a problem with that?"

I turned fifteen shades of red trying not to burst out in hysterical laughter as the flustered judge found himself facing the unabashed nutjob. "Uh, no problem" he choked as he ducked into the car and we dashed away home.

Every time I hear the King I think about that Nut and her last full measure of devotion which sent a dignified judge diving for cover.

Anyway, to stay on topic, I have a soft spot for his early gospel recordings.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

SimonNZ said:


> This also reminds me that I've been wanting to read Peter Guralnick's two volume biography thats so well spoken of:


Thanks for mentioning that bio, which I wasn't aware of. It's so long since I've regularly listened to Elvis- he was a childhood obsession of mine- that I'm not up to date on the literature at all. I will be adding that to my reading list! My favourite Elvis books out of the far too many I have are 'Elvis and Gladys' by Elaine Dundy, which traces the Presley and Smith family histories and covers his early life up to the death of Gladys Love Presley, and the gaudy, gold lame-bound 'Elvis World'by Jane and Michael Stern, with its beautiful big colour photos of Elvis and of the magnificent interior of Graceland. It's a little redundant in the era of Google Images, but I spent so many hours gazing at its pages that it's one of the most childhood-evoking books for me!

'If I Can Dream' is my Mum's favourite. I converted her to the Elvis cult!


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## DavidA (Dec 14, 2012)

Elvis was certainly one of the greatest artists ever to have appeared on the pop scene. Yet for me he represents a huge tragedy of a talent that was badly mismanaged (at least when he had become a megastar) and only realised part of his enormous potential.

The songs in 'Elvis - that's the way it is' - are stunningly performed!


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Manxfeeder, that is an amazing anecdote! I've always thought that Elvis inspires devotion like no other singer- although since discovering TC, I've realised that Maria Callas fans make us Elvis nuts look sane. I'm sure their front yards are immaculate, though...


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Come to think of it this reminds me of a humourous footnote I read in a book last night:



> There are now at least 85,000 Elvis impersonators around the world compared to only 170 in 1977 when he died. At this rate of growth, experts predict that by 2020 Elvis impersonators will make up a third of the world population


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

According to Classic FM, the melody of Elvis' hit 'Can't Help Falling In Love' was plagiarized from Martini's 1784 song 'Plaisir d'Amour'. I had always thought it rather a melancholy tune: the melody's suggestion of the original French lyrics' 'chagrin d'amour' survived the transition to another language, century and musical idiom.

http://www.classicfm.com/discover/f...ssical-music-pop-songs/elvis-presley-martini/

Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.

J'ai tout quitté pour l'ingrate Sylvie.
Elle me quitte et prend un autre amant.

Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.

Tant que cette eau coulera doucement
vers ce ruisseau qui borde la prairie,

Je t'aimerai me répétait Sylvie.
L'eau coule encore. Elle a changé pourtant.

Plaisir d'amour ne dure qu'un moment.
chagrin d'amour dure toute la vie.

The pleasure of love lasts only a moment
The grief of love lasts a lifetime.

I gave up everything for ungrateful Sylvia,
She is leaving me for another lover.

The pleasure of love lasts only a moment,
The grief of love lasts a lifetime.

"As long as this water will run gently
Towards this brook which borders the meadow,

I will love you", Sylvia told me repeatedly.
The water still runs, but she has changed.

The pleasure of love lasts only a moment,
The grief of love lasts a lifetime.

Here is a spectacularly lugubrious but beautifully sung account of Martini's song by the great Golden Age baritone Maurice Renaud. Check out the trill on the second syllable of 'autre':






And here is Elvis in a more optimistic mood in 'Can't Help Falling In Love' from 1961's 'Blue Hawaii', the most visually stunning of all his movies:






'Blue Hawaii' made a huge impression on my young mind, and I vowed that when I was grown up I would spend my own honeymoon in Hawaii. Alas, like many grown-ups I ended up with Martini's and Renaud's chagrin d'amour instead of the carefree happiness of Elvis' Hawaiian idylls!


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Elvis once 'joked' that his African American back up singers' breath reeked of catfish. He kept at it even as the singers walked out on him for what they considered to be unapologetic racist remarks.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Morimur said:


> Elvis once 'joked' that his African Americans' back up singers' breath reeked of catfish. He kept at it even as the singers walked out on him for what they considered to be unapologetic racist remarks.
> 
> Most of 'his' music was plagiarized, but then he was only an interpreter--a highly gifted one, at that.


Seriously? I always thought he had a good rapport with people of colour- as much as it's possible to generalize. In the early days he always shopped on Beale Street, Memphis, at the black clothing stores (this being the era of segregation still) because he preferred the flamboyant clothes fashionable among black men to the more conventional wares available in the white part of town. I don't know of any plagiarized songs, though there were a lot of cover versions of songs already recorded by the black singers who were his idols- along with other such diverse role models as Dean Martin, Mario Lanza and many C&W artists. I very much doubt that, in spite of his ******* background, Elvis was a racist. IF he was not always considerate to the musicians he worked with later on, that may have more to do with an attitude of entitlement that tends to creep in when one has been very famous and surrounded with yes-men for too long.


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## Morimur (Jan 23, 2014)

Far as I know, this incident took place late in his career, when he was grossly obese and high as a kite from all the pharmaceuticals he was consuming.


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

SimonNZ said:


> This also reminds me that I've been wanting to read Peter Guralnick's two volume biography thats so well spoken of:


^ These two volumes are FANTASTIC! Superb biography. (But the second volume is very, very sad.)

_Anything_ written by Guralnick is worth reading. :cheers:


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## JACE (Jul 18, 2014)

Elvis was most decidedly not a racist. 

But given the amount of pharmaceuticals that he was ingesting near the end of his life, I wouldn't be surprised by anything that he said. 

IIRC, the coroner who performed the autopsy after Elvis' death discovered something like 25 different drugs in his body.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

I loved the Sun stuff and the first two albums for RCA and also fond of the 1969 Memphis material but I have to say that I haven't got too many kind words for much else I've heard. And let's face it, most of the films were dreadful. That was the trouble with having so many of his career decisions being decided by someone else. 

It does pain me to think how things might have been different had he been nurtured by someone more scrupulous than the Dodgy Dutchman* who just wanted to keep the gravy train running at all costs.

(* = no offence meant to anyone from the Netherlands, it was just a nickname that me and few friends had for him when we were young)


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

I remember liking the gospel albums, though its been quite some time since I've heard them.

In fact, what the hey, I'm going to put this one on right now:


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

January 10, 1956,* Elvis* records this...


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

Morimur said:


> Elvis once 'joked' that his African American back up singers' breath reeked of catfish. He kept at it even as the singers walked out on him for what they considered to be unapologetic racist remarks.


Actually Elvis isn't regarded by African-Americans very well. He was accused of stealing/appropriating their culture of blues, etc.

Chuck D once said famously on "Fight the Power" song:

Elvis was a hero to most
But he never meant **** to me you see
Straight up racist that sucker was
Simple and plain
Mother **** him and John Wayne
Cause I'm Black and I'm proud
I'm ready and hyped plus I'm amped
Most of my heroes don't appear on no stamps
Sample a look back you look and find
Nothing but ******** for 400 years if you check


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## Albert7 (Nov 16, 2014)

By the way I did visit Graceland when I was a kid and thought it was fascinating... just to share a contemporary remix of his classic work:


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Downloaded the 30 disc box set *The Complete Elvis Presley Masters.* Can't find any duds 6 discs into the albums. Fantastic singer.

He really was the one of the greatest to have ever lived. Hopefully, we can ignore the tragic late life of his.

Bow to *The King*. May his soul rest in eternal peace.

We miss you dearly, Elvis!


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

albertfallickwang said:


> Actually Elvis isn't regarded by African-Americans very well. He was accused of stealing/appropriating their culture of blues, etc.
> 
> Chuck D once said famously on "Fight the Power" song:
> 
> ...


Hmm...rather eloquent for a rap song.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

albertfallickwang said:


> Actually Elvis isn't regarded by African-Americans very well. He was accused of stealing/appropriating their culture of blues, etc.
> 
> Chuck D once said famously on "Fight the Power" song:
> 
> ...


Can't blame African Americans for having (in some cases) a chip on their shoulder- I can't even imagine how I would cope with being in an ethnic minority in an institutionally racist country such as the US, with the horrors of racial segregation less than half a century in the past and unarmed innocent people still shot by cops and vigilantes just for being a certain colour. However,culture- black and white- belongs to everybody who wants it. White people hopefully wouldn't look at a classical instrumentalist or singer of Asian or African heritage and say that a non-Caucasian is stealing our culture: it's everybody's culture, and so potentially are minority cultures. Surely a cultural mixing pot is better than cultural ghettoisation, even if the former results in a dilution of the minority culture in question. It always strikes me as odd that the charge of 'stealing' black music is levelled at white rock 'n' roll performers but not so much at white jazz musicians: perhaps the difference is that jazz from its beginnings mixed African and European roots. Perhaps some black musicians have a more proprietary feeling about the blues, since that was a relatively pure African American idiom.

I can't help feeling that any black animosity towards Elvis is primarily caused by economic factors. Black musicians were underpaid and ill-treated by the music industry since before Elvis was even born. There's a well known story that some white record company executive made the famous blues singer Muddy Waters paint his, the executive's, house: he wouldn't have done that to Rudy Vallee. So there would be some justifiable resentment that, when 'race music' went mainstream as rock 'n' roll in the mid 50s, a disproportionate share of the financial rewards went to white musicians, of which Elvis is the most famous. The song lyrics you quote betray that sense of grievance, but it is one shared by all oppressed people, not merely those of one particular ethnic background. What black (and white) Americans appear to need is a better cultural figurehead than the world of rap and hip hop can provide: typical lyrics of misogyny, drugs and violence propagate the worst racial stereotype of the African American male, and do the white racists' job for them. What they need is an intelligent leader who understands that the political struggle is between ordinary people and the kleptocratic One Percent: a Paul Robeson, not the Parental Advisory pottymouthed scumbags. Blame McCarthy and his successors, not Elvis*, for the divide and rule tactics that destroyed the American left and made your country among the least equal on earth.

* Elvis' politics were not above suspicion, since he publicly supported Richard Nixon. I'm still not convinced he was an actual racist though.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

> Figleaf: Can't blame African Americans for having (in some cases) a chip on their shoulder- I can't even imagine how I would cope with being in an ethnic minority in an institutionally racist country such as the US, with the horrors of racial segregation less than half a century in the past and unarmed innocent people still shot by cops and vigilantes just for being a certain colour.


Racism is the most crude and primitive form of collectivism.

Past wrongs don't justify present animosities against innocent people who had nothing to do with government-imposed apartheid, Jim Crow laws, or slavery.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Figleaf said:


> Can't blame African Americans for having (in some cases) a chip on their shoulder- I can't even imagine how I would cope with being in an ethnic minority in an institutionally racist country such as the US, with the horrors of racial segregation less than half a century in the past and unarmed innocent people still shot by cops and vigilantes just for being a certain colour. However,culture- black and white- belongs to everybody who wants it. White people hopefully wouldn't look at a classical instrumentalist or singer of Asian or African heritage and say that a non-Caucasian is stealing our culture: it's everybody's culture, and so potentially are minority cultures. Surely a cultural mixing pot is better than cultural ghettoisation, even if the former results in a dilution of the minority culture in question. It always strikes me as odd that the charge of 'stealing' black music is levelled at white rock 'n' roll performers but not so much at white jazz musicians: perhaps the difference is that jazz from its beginnings mixed African and European roots. Perhaps some black musicians have a more proprietary feeling about the blues, since that was a relatively pure African American idiom.
> 
> I can't help feeling that any black animosity towards Elvis is primarily caused by economic factors. Black musicians were underpaid and ill-treated by the music industry since before Elvis was even born. There's a well known story that some white record company executive made the famous blues singer Muddy Waters paint his, the executive's, house: he wouldn't have done that to Rudy Vallee. So there would be some justifiable resentment that, when 'race music' went mainstream as rock 'n' roll in the mid 50s, a disproportionate share of the financial rewards went to white musicians, of which Elvis is the most famous. The song lyrics you quote betray that sense of grievance, but it is one shared by all oppressed people, not merely those of one particular ethnic background. What black (and white) Americans appear to need is a better cultural figurehead than the world of rap and hip hop can provide: typical lyrics of misogyny, drugs and violence propagate the worst racial stereotype of the African American male, and do the white racists' job for them. What they need is an intelligent leader who understands that the political struggle is between ordinary people and the kleptocratic One Percent: a Paul Robeson, not the Parental Advisory pottymouthed scumbags. Blame McCarthy and his successors, not Elvis*, for the divide and rule tactics that destroyed the American left and made your country among the least equal on earth.
> 
> * Elvis' politics were not above suspicion, since he publicly supported Richard Nixon. I'm still not convinced he was an actual racist though.


Great post.

Muddy Waters was brought up here:


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Marschallin Blair said:


> Racism is the most crude and primitive form of collectivism.
> 
> Past wrongs don't justify present animosities against innocent people who had nothing to do with government-imposed apartheid, Jim Crow laws, or slavery.


Most racism seems to be on the right, among those of an ultra-individualist persuasion. There are counter examples I suppose, like the Peak Oil blogger Jim Kunstler, who writes from a broadly anarcho-communist viewpoint but has an extreme dislike of African Americans. Probably he is just a bit nutty (par for the course in the doomer blogosphere).

Surely your second paragraph can't imply that whites are on the receiving end of racism from black people who are aggrieved about past injustices? As a white person (albeit with little experience of the US) I have never ever experienced this, and people who imagine they have been discriminated against for being white (!) are always in my experience blaming totally the wrong people for their own perceived lack of success. Divide and rule, as I said.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

I'm being nagged to make the pilgrimage to Memphis, so I suppose I'll be going to Graceland sometime this year.

I never cared much for Elvis. I'm more into Sinatra and real singing.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Wood said:


> Great post.
> 
> Muddy Waters was brought up here:


Thanks, Wood!

OMG, poor Muddy Waters' childhood home looks like a draughtier version of my garden shed! It makes the Elvis birthplace, built by the impoverished sharecropper Vernon Presley, look palatial:








[/URL][/IMG]


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

hpowders said:


> I'm being nagged to make the pilgrimage to Memphis, so I suppose I'll be going to Graceland sometime this year.
> 
> I never cared much for Elvis. I'm more into Sinatra and* real *singing.


Care to explain why Elvis didn't have "real singing"?


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

hpowders said:


> I'm being nagged to make the pilgrimage to Memphis, so I suppose I'll be going to Graceland sometime this year.
> 
> I never cared much for Elvis. I'm more into Sinatra and real singing.


Wow, lucky you! Or lucky Mrs hpowders, if she's the Elvis fan.

If you mean that 'real singing' is not microphone singing, I agree wholeheartedly!


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Figleaf said:


> Most racism seems to be on the right, among those of an ultra-individualist persuasion. There are counter examples I suppose, like the Peak Oil blogger Jim Kunstler, who writes from a broadly anarcho-communist viewpoint but has an extreme dislike of African Americans. Probably he is just a bit nutty (par for the course in the doomer blogosphere).
> 
> Surely your second paragraph can't imply that whites are on the receiving end of racism from black people who are aggrieved about past injustices? As a white person (albeit with little experience of the US) I have never ever experienced this, and people who imagine they have been discriminated against for being white (!) are always in my experience blaming totally the wrong people for their own perceived lack of success. *Divide and rule, as I said*.


One of the worst things about the current global economic slump and growing inequality is that there seems to be no significant socialist opposition. Those left wing parties that are in power are following neo-liberal policies which are diametrically opposed to the interests of the vast majority of the electorate.

The result is that those who naturally wish to rebel against our failed democracies are drawn toward far right parties and / or religious fundamentalism, both of which are divisive. Until the masses come together for the common good things can only get worse.

Back on topic: there are only two people (outside my family) that I can recall where I was when their deaths were announced. In 1980 I walked past a newspaper stand in central London which screamed 'John Lennon Shot Dead' and secondly news of Elvis's death was broadcast on a car radio whilst I was sitting in a car parked up in the Wirral.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Figleaf said:


> Wow, lucky you! Or lucky Mrs hpowders, if she's the Elvis fan.
> 
> If you mean that 'real singing' is not microphone singing, I agree wholeheartedly!


She's a fanatic. Not me. If I go, it's simply because I love to drive and if I'm lucky, I will encounter his daughter at Graceland while my love is busy looking around.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Figleaf said:


> Thanks, Wood!
> 
> OMG, poor Muddy Waters' childhood home looks like a draughtier version of my garden shed! It makes the Elvis birthplace, built by the impoverished sharecropper Vernon Presley, look palatial:
> 
> ...


I suppose at least they were both detached properties.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Wood said:


> I suppose at least they were both detached properties.


:lol:

Not to mention self-built, and (in the case of the Presley residence at least) presumably owner occupied. If you built those in the UK now, you'd have Kevin McCloud and George Clarke round with film crews to make them into aspirational lifestyle programmes for Channel 4!


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Wood said:


> One of the worst things about the current global economic slump and growing inequality is that there seems to be no significant socialist opposition. Those left wing parties that are in power are following neo-liberal policies which are diametrically opposed to the interests of the vast majority of the electorate.
> 
> The result is that those who naturally wish to rebel against our failed democracies are drawn toward far right parties and / or religious fundamentalism, both of which are divisive. Until the masses come together for the common good things can only get worse.
> 
> Back on topic: there are only two people (outside my family) that I can recall where I was when their deaths were announced. In 1980 I walked past a newspaper stand in central London which screamed 'John Lennon Shot Dead' and secondly news of Elvis's death was broadcast on a car radio whilst I was sitting in a car parked up in the Wirral.


Totally agree about the lack of meaningful opposition!

So Princess Diana didn't make much of an impression on you, then?  The woman had to go and get killed during the university holidays, leaving me to deal with my mother's hysteria and my grandparents going into a protracted period of mourning. Oh for some intelligent company back then- we didn't even have the internet...

Back on topic (sort of): I read something on the subject of 'Celebrity Worship Syndrome' which claimed that the next new major world religion(s) will centre around Elvis or Diana. Though I still maintain that the smart money is on Callas.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

"Let us now rise and turn to page 128 in our hymnals and sing Rock-a-hula-baby..."


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Figleaf said:


> ....Back on topic (sort of): I read something on the subject of 'Celebrity Worship Syndrome' which claimed that the next new major world religion(s) will centre around *Elvis* or *Diana*. Though I still maintain that the smart money is on *Callas*.


The horror, the horror, the horror.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Muddy's and Elvis' homes fit right in with today's unreal estate values.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> Most racism seems to be on the right, among those of an ultra-individualist persuasion. There are counter examples I suppose, like the Peak Oil blogger Jim Kunstler, who writes from a broadly anarcho-communist viewpoint but has an extreme dislike of African Americans. Probably he is just a bit nutty (par for the course in the doomer blogosphere).
> 
> Surely your second paragraph can't imply that whites are on the receiving end of racism from black people who are aggrieved about past injustices? As a white person (albeit with little experience of the US) I have never ever experienced this, and people who imagine they have been discriminated against for being white (!) are always in my experience blaming totally the wrong people for their own perceived lack of success. Divide and rule, as I said.


An individualist by definition judges other individuals by the content of her/his character and not by incidental things like race, gender, ethnicity, nationality, religon, sex, or sexual orientation-- which of course are incidental and not primary attributes of one's character-- so I don't see how you link individualism with the Right-- when neoconservatism is in fact a special sort of rightwing-nationalist _collectivism_-- not unlike their leftwing collectivist brethren of the Left before them: the _Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei_ (National _Socialist_ German Workers Party).

History constantly shows government as always getting in the way of what freely-consenting individuals want to do with their lives. Pre-Civil War America condoned the slavery of the American South with the Fugitive Slave Act and the Missouri Compromise. The post-bellum Southern state governments prevented blacks and whites from dating, marrying, or integrating with their miscegenation and Jim Crow laws. The U.S. Supreme Court upheld this invidious racism in the watershed case _Plessy vs. Fergusson. _

I don't blame people for trying to free. But I do blame their criminal governments for constantly trying to disenfranchise and dehumanize them. . .

*SO IN CONCLUSION, I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT I LIKE NINTEEN-FIFTIES-ERA, ROCK-AND-ROLL ELVIS AND NOT ANY OF HIS ADDLED LATER STUFF.*

- just to keep my post 'on topic.' _;D_


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Wood said:


> One of the worst things about the current global economic slump and growing inequality is that there seems to be no significant socialist opposition. Those left wing parties that are in power are following neo-liberal policies which are diametrically opposed to the interests of the vast majority of the electorate.
> 
> The result is that those who naturally wish to rebel against our failed democracies are drawn toward far right parties and / or religious fundamentalism, both of which are divisive. Until the masses come together for the common good things can only get worse.
> 
> Back on topic: there are only two people (outside my family) that I can recall where I was when their deaths were announced. In 1980 I walked past a newspaper stand in central London which screamed 'John Lennon Shot Dead' and secondly news of Elvis's death was broadcast on a car radio whilst I was sitting in a car parked up in the Wirral.


The "common good" as defined by _whom_?--- Robespierre? Hitler? Dick Cheney? The Bilderberg Group?

The Nazi slogan "_Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz_" ("The common weal before the individual good" or "the community before the individual") was a Nazi slogan that was printed onto the money of the Third Reich--- and like the "common good" of the French Revolution, Stalin's Five Year Plans, or Mao's Great Leap Forward--- it inevitably translated into "the individual 'bad.'"

I think what people need is freedom and not fascism. . .

By the way, hi Wood-- long time, no speak. _;D_

*AND I JUST WANT TO SAY, FOR THE SAKE OF BEING 'ON TOPIC,' THAT ELVIS MOVED GREAT ON STAGE IN THE FIFTIES. *


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Off-topic daffy political rants and pointless Elle MacPherson pics...it could only be our Blair.

Lets hear more - or even some - about the Elvis music you like, please.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

SimonNZ said:


> Off-topic daffy political rants and pointless Elle MacPherson pics...it could only be our Blair.
> 
> Lets hear more - or even some - about the Elvis music you like, please.


'Scratch a collectivist, get an authoritarian'-- that could only be our politically-non-neutral, partial-and-unbalanced. . . well, everyone knows who.

<Kiss.> . . .

(Oh, incidentally: Be sure to admonish others in this thread above me for their politics as well--- that is to say: "in the spirit of impartiality.")

*ANYWAY, YEAH, I REALLY LIKE THE ENERGY AND DIONYSIAN SPIRIT OF ELVIS' FIFTIES OEUVRE.*


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Marschallin Blair said:


> 'Scratch a collectivist, get an authoritarian'-- that could only be our politically-non-neutral, partial-and-unbalanced. . . well, everyone knows who.
> 
> <Kiss.> . . .
> 
> ...


His early sixties' songs weren't terrible. They were fantastic too.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Ludwig van Beethoven said:


> His early sixties' songs weren't terrible. They were fantastic too.


Thanks. _;D_

I honestly don't know that much about Elvis, but I do love the more energetic and rebellious rock and roll of his from the fifties.


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Marschallin Blair said:


> Thanks. _;D_
> 
> I honestly don't know that much about Elvis, but I do love the more energetic and rebellious rock and roll of his from the fifties.


He made great songs till his death. His '50s songs had more of the religious, R&B vibe. Most fans know him for his rock n' roll hits, released in the endless waves of his "Hits Compilations". One glance at this box sets/compilations show an alarming rate of these things!

Nonetheless, he was good through-and-through.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Figleaf said:


> :lol:
> 
> Not to mention self-built, and (in the case of the Presley residence at least) presumably owner occupied. If you built those in the UK now, you'd have Kevin McCloud and George Clarke round with film crews to make them into aspirational lifestyle programmes for Channel 4!


Grand Designs? Yes, that would be the token affordable housing episode.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Ludwig van Beethoven said:


> He made great songs till his death. His '50s songs had more of the religious, R&B vibe. Most fans know him for his rock n' roll hits, released in the endless waves of his "Hits Compilations". One glance at this box sets/compilations show an alarming rate of these things!
> 
> Nonetheless, he was good through-and-through.


Got'cha._ ;D_

_Merci. _


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Figleaf said:


> Totally agree about the lack of meaningful opposition!
> 
> So Princess Diana didn't make much of an impression on you, then?  The woman had to go and get killed during the university holidays, leaving me to deal with my mother's hysteria and my grandparents going into a protracted period of mourning. Oh for some intelligent company back then- we didn't even have the internet...
> 
> Back on topic (sort of): I read something on the subject of 'Celebrity Worship Syndrome' which claimed that the next new major world religion(s) will centre around Elvis or Diana. Though I still maintain that the smart money is on Callas.


Pass me the sick bucket! Half of my staff wanted the day off to see Di's cortege drive by.

It is extremely nauseous to see the mass expression of phoney grief for people who are unknown to the grievers. By coincidence, it appears to be going on in France at the moment too.

You are cheeky. 

I'll have to be a Hindu, I couldn't possibly just have one such God.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Marschallin Blair said:


> The "common good" as defined by _whom_?--- Robespierre? Hitler? Dick Cheney? The Bilderberg Group?
> 
> The Nazi slogan "_Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz_" ("The common weal before the individual good" or "the community before the individual") was a Nazi slogan that was printed onto the money of the Third Reich--- and like the "common good" of the French Revolution, Stalin's Five Year Plans, or Mao's Great Leap Forward--- it inevitably translated into "the individual 'bad.'"
> 
> ...


Well I agree with you about freedom before fascism, for sure. We need a strong government and educated population to achieve that though.

Hi to you too MB! Your fan mail box is often full, it is hard to get through sometimes. I'll try again later.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

SimonNZ said:


> Off-topic daffy political rants and pointless* Elle MacPherson *pics...it could only be our Blair.
> 
> Lets hear more - or even some - about the Elvis music you like, please.


Yes, I would much prefer some Schwartzkopf piccies.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Wood said:


> Well I agree with you about freedom before fascism, for sure. We need a strong government and educated population to achieve that though.
> 
> Hi to you too MB! Your fan mail box is often full, it is hard to get through sometimes. I'll try again later.


Woodsey. . . . . . . 'Darling'. . . . . . we'll just have to collapse into hugs and kisses on this one, and 'disagree.'

Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. . .

I'm cleaning out my box-- 'again.'

I just have too many great PM's that I want to save, and sometimes separating the wheat from the chaff is a hard thing to do.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

It is interesting how many songs we have grown up with that weren't actually written by the people who were credited with writing them.

Love Me Tender for example:






Which was an old 19th Century tune:






All of which provides a good enough excuse to post this:


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## Lord Lance (Nov 4, 2013)

Wood said:


> Pass me the sick bucket! Half of my staff wanted the day off to see Di's cortege drive by.
> 
> It is extremely nauseous to see the mass expression of phoney grief for people who are unknown to the grievers. By coincidence, it appears to be going on in France at the moment too.
> 
> ...


There are Hindu sects where they worship only one God. Sects like you Christians have Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Lutheranist, West Orthodox, East Rite Orthodox.

*NOTE: The author is an Indian atheist/apatheist/naturalist. Society has rejected him.*

But, being curious, I know.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Marschallin Blair said:


> The "common good" as defined by _whom_?--- Robespierre? Hitler? Dick Cheney? The Bilderberg Group?
> 
> The Nazi slogan "_Gemeinnutz geht vor Eigennutz_" ("The common weal before the individual good" or "the community before the individual") was a Nazi slogan that was printed onto the money of the Third Reich--- and like the "common good" of the French Revolution, Stalin's Five Year Plans, or Mao's Great Leap Forward--- it inevitably translated into "the individual 'bad.'"
> 
> ...


Who's that in the pictures you keep posting- is it *Elle-vis*? :lol:

'The masses coming together for the common good' doesn't have to be some top-down monolithic thing imposed by an ideologically motivated government. It could be ordinary people setting up cooperatives or pooling their resources to buy up property and live in it together- real ownership of the means of production involves the disintermediation of employers and landlords, and (here's the part you will like) no sane person looks to today's governments to bring this about. It's not a revolution, but it's a start.

Anyway let's have a couple of Elvis' more political songs- actually there are only two that I can think of. One is 'In the Ghetto', the only antipoverty protest song he recorded. The other is 'US Male', a hilarious parody (one hopes it's not serious!) of ******* chauvinism.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Wood said:


> It is interesting how many songs we have grown up with that weren't actually written by the people who were credited with writing them.
> 
> Love Me Tender for example:
> 
> ...


Thank you very much for those links. It's the first time I had heard' Aura Lea'. The tender lyrics and pretty tune remind me of Stephen Foster's Irish influenced songs like 'Beautiful Dreamer' and 'Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair'. It's always interesting to compare Elvis' performance of old songs with earlier incarnations of the same melody, or the recordings of earlier singers. Here's a well known one: 'Are You Lonesome Tonight' dates from the 20s and was a hit for Al Jolson. Here's Jolson in a much later recording, though earlier than Elvis':


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> Who's that in the pictures you keep posting- is it *Elle-vis*? :lol:
> 
> 'The masses coming together for the common good' doesn't have to be some top-down monolithic thing imposed by an ideologically motivated government. It could be ordinary people setting up cooperatives or pooling their resources to buy up property and live in it together- real ownership of the means of production involves the disintermediation of employers and landlords, and (here's the part you will like) no sane person looks to today's governments to bring this about. It's not a revolution, but it's a start.
> 
> Anyway let's have a couple of Elvis' more political songs- actually there are only two that I can think of. One is 'In the Ghetto', the only antipoverty protest song he recorded. The other is 'US Male', a hilarious parody (one hopes it's not serious!) of ******* chauvinism.


"*Elle*-vis"-- that's_ so _'G'-'D' cute. I love it.

I actually laughed out loud when I read your post because down here in San Diego, where I live, I remember there once was a rock and roll show with an Hispanic artist who dressed up like Elvis who went by the name of "El Vez." Ha. Ha. Ha.

So as far as 'Elvis sightings' go, he's seems to be everywhere: whether outside the raucous the London SoHo club _The Box _or at a local rock and roll bar in your neighborhood.










"Elle-vis"










"El Vez"

The man and his music will never die.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

> Figleaf: 'The masses coming together for the common good' doesn't have to be some top-down monolithic thing imposed by an ideologically motivated government. It could be ordinary people setting up cooperatives or pooling their resources to buy up property and live in it together- real ownership of the means of production involves the disintermediation of employers and landlords, and (here's the part you will like) no sane person looks to today's governments to bring this about. It's not a revolution, but it's a start.


Absolutely: people, freedom, community.

I love it.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Marschallin Blair said:


> "*Elle*-vis"-- that's_ so _'G'-'D' cute. I love it.
> 
> I actually laughed out loud when I read your post because down here in San Diego, where I live, I remember there once was a rock and roll show with an Hispanic artist who dressed up like Elvis who went by the name of "El Vez." Ha. Ha. Ha.
> 
> ...


I'm loving 'El Vez's' fierce jumpsuit! Just the thing to wear when singing 'Tiger Man':


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

My favourite Elvis impersonator - Tortelvis, who sings for a tribute band called Dread Zeppelin. Yes, they play Zep toons with a reggae feel while fronted by a Vegas-era Elvis.


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## aajj (Dec 28, 2014)

^^^ Yeah, Tortelvis! I've heard Dread Zeppelin and I think they're pretty good. Another band, whose name I cannot recall, gave Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon the reggae treatment and it worked well.

My favorite Elvis impersonator was Elvis himself in the 1970s. Ain't nuthin' like the real thing.


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## tdc (Jan 17, 2011)

I heard an interesting thing about Elvis was that he apparently had photographic memory, so he would read a movie script one time and have all his lines memorized as well as every other actors lines.

I haven't listened to Elvis very much, so don't have much of an opinion on his music - maybe one day I'll explore him a little more.


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## Marschallin Blair (Jan 23, 2014)

> Figleaf: I'm loving 'El Vez's' fierce jumpsuit! Just the thing to wear when singing 'Tiger Man'


Yeah, that guy _rules._


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

aajj said:


> ^^^ Yeah, Tortelvis! I've heard Dread Zeppelin and I think they're pretty good. Another band, whose name I cannot recall, gave Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon the reggae treatment and it worked well.
> 
> My favorite Elvis impersonator was Elvis himself in the 1970s. Ain't nuthin' like the real thing.
> 
> View attachment 60949


I'm not sure how many of us look and weigh the same in middle age as we did in our twenties. I look back at photos I thought at the time were hideously unflattering, and now I can't believe how good I looked! Ah, memories...


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## aajj (Dec 28, 2014)

tdc said:


> I heard an interesting thing about Elvis was that he apparently had photographic memory, so he would read a movie script one time and have all his lines memorized as well as every other actors lines.


I've heard this about Shirley Temple.


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## aajj (Dec 28, 2014)

Figleaf said:


> _I'm not sure how many of us look and weigh the same in middle age as we did in our twenties_. I look back at photos I thought at the time were hideously unflattering, and now I can't believe how good I looked! Ah, memories...


Certainly true but Elvis had a prescription drug problem which contributed to the decline of his appearance and health.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Ludwig van Beethoven said:


> There are Hindu sects where they worship only one God. Sects like you Christians have Roman Catholic, Russian Orthodox, Lutheranist, West Orthodox, East Rite Orthodox.
> 
> *NOTE: The author is an Indian atheist/apatheist/naturalist. Society has rejected him.*
> 
> But, being curious, I know.


I always find Hinduism somewhat tricky to pin down. Is it right that there is just one God, the rest being manifestations of the one, or is that an over-simplification?

I'm not a Christian!

Society can be over-rated. Where are you based Ludo?


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Figleaf said:


> Thank you very much for those links. It's the first time I had heard' Aura Lea'. The tender lyrics and pretty tune remind me of Stephen Foster's Irish influenced songs like 'Beautiful Dreamer' and 'Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair'. It's always interesting to compare Elvis' performance of old songs with earlier incarnations of the same melody, or the recordings of earlier singers. Here's a well known one: 'Are You Lonesome Tonight' dates from the 20s and was a hit for Al Jolson. Here's Jolson in a much later recording, though earlier than Elvis':


Yes, I like it too.

This is a fascinating area, it could be a thread in itself.

Knowing this community, I'm surprised that no-one has mentioned the blacking up in that clip.


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## Wood (Feb 21, 2013)

Amongst all of the diversions on this thread it is apparent that most of us seem to know Elvis more by reputation and his most popular songs than anything more substantial. Perhaps Figleaf you could give us a 'less well known but still very good' Elvis song of the day link to YT for the next few days?


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Figleaf said:


> I'm not sure how many of us look and weigh the same in middle age as we did in our twenties. I look back at photos I thought at the time were hideously unflattering, and now I can't believe how good I looked! Ah, memories...


Which may remind one of the gawdawful "before 'n afts" seen in the obits these days.:angel:


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Wood said:


> Amongst all of the diversions on this thread it is apparent that most of us seem to know Elvis more by reputation and his most popular songs than anything more substantial. Perhaps Figleaf you could give us a 'less well known but still very good' Elvis song of the day link to YT for the next few days?


I like this one, 'Tender Feeling'. It's incredibly sentimental- when I was playing it just now, my son left the room in disgust!


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Elvis has a beautiful voice. I thought I recognised the tune - and then I did. It's *Shenandoah*, with a few twiddles!


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Here's a lovely song, 'Young and Beautiful'. We can compare Elvis' performance with a cover version by Richard Hawley, who is an Elvis obsessive. Richard has also recorded an album of songs with Lisa Marie Presley, which I haven't heard yet, but I mean to. If you haven't heard Richard live yet, don't waste any more time- he's absolutely electrifying!


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

Ingélou said:


> Elvis has a beautiful voice. I thought I recognised the tune - and then I did. It's *Shenandoah*, with a few twiddles!


I thought it sounded suspiciously good for one of his 60s movie songs! It's from 'Kissing Cousins' (1963), and the rest of that soundtrack is very forgettable indeed. I just typed 'Shenandoah' into YouTube and there it was, you are totally right! The original lyrics are better too.


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## SimonNZ (Jul 12, 2012)

Coincidentaly I was listening to Richard Hawley just an hour ago: the wonderful Coles Corner album. Didn't know he'd made an album with Lisa Marie.

I was thinking last month that its curious that the music from Elvis' Christmas albums don't seem to get the radio/mall play that they once used to - in fact out my way its absolutely zero (and when you consider the stuff they do play...). maybe the situation is different elsewhere.

My parents had this one when I was little:


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

SimonNZ said:


> Coincidentaly I was listening to Richard Hawley just an hour ago: the wonderful Coles Corner album. Didn't know he'd made an album with Lisa Marie.
> 
> I was thinking last month that its curious that the music from Elvis' Christmas albums don't seem to get the radio/mall play that they once used to - in fact out my way its absolutely zero (and when you consider the stuff they do play...). maybe the situation is different elsewhere.
> 
> My parents had this one when I was little:


We could do with more Elvis at Christmas time as well as at most other times! Coincidentally Richard Hawley sang a lovely 'Blue Christmas' live on the radio a few years ago, on either BBC Radio 2 or Radio 6 Music. I don't know whether it was recorded, though. Coles Corner is one of my favourite albums ever: I actually went on a pilgrimage in 2011 with the children to visit John Lewis in Sheffield, the site of the original Coles Corner. Then we went off in search of Lady's Bridge, a distinctly unprepossessing structure in a seedy part of the centre that was then being redeveloped. Just when I was feeling a distinct sense of anticlimax the rain stopped, and a beautiful double rainbow appeared! (Well, from where I live, it's cheaper and quicker to get to Sheffield than to Graceland!)

Here's my favourite Coles Corner song (after 'The Ocean' anyway) which actually sounds like it could have been recorded in Sun Studios, c.1955. I'm sure that's what the echoey effect is for.


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## VinylEupho (Jun 11, 2014)

I got 2 Elvis albums on LP, sounds awesome.


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## Figleaf (Jun 10, 2014)

'Frankie and Johnny'- a jazzy song from the 20s, I think, from the sountrack of the movie of that name:


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## Rogerx (Apr 27, 2018)

*Remembering Elvis Presly*






Elvis Presley Greatest Hits Full Album | The Very Best Of Elvis Presley

On his birthday.


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