Elvis Presley

[ang]

Wen I was really young (under 10, definitely) I watched Follow That Deam on tv with my Mum, ad just fell HARD for Elvis - the song 'Angel' from that movie has always been my favourite - I felt like he was singing it for me.

I'm not a huge huge fan, but certainly get very happy when I heard one of his songs. I sat up with my two kids last night ad watched the 68 Comeback special, they really enjoyed it too!! My brother is a massive Elvis fan - he runs a karaoke club and tends to sing Elvis most of the night if no one gets up to sing. And he gave his daughter the middle name 'Presley'.

[koshergrit]

sugaree said:

It wasn't really a typo. His parents were early proponents of kre8v spelling, and they spelled it Aron. It was put down as Aaron on his birth certificate, no doubt by people who could spell, but Elvis signed his legal documents as Elvis Aron Presley.

Actually, they weren't. Elvis's older brother (who was stillborn), was named Jesse Garon. So Elvis's middle name of Aron was spelled as such in memory of Jesse.

Also, shortly before his death, Elvis had a dream in which both he and Jesse were performing together in front of an audience. Very sweet but sad.

Oh, and I'm going to Memphis as soon as I can!

[Shanmac]

I don't know what it is, I have never liked him or his music. I hear his voice and I kind of cringe. My brother is somewhat of an Elvis fan (he and his wife had "Can't Help Falling in Love" as their first dance song at their wedding), and I have never "gotten it." He was handsome when he was young/before the drugs and bloat, but I guess his singing style just doesn't appeal to me.

And his movies make me want to throw something through the TV.

I do think it's tragic the way his life ended. Whether I like him or not, he was talented, and I think he just surrounded himself with all the wrong people. Although the way he "shopped" for Priscilla and made her change her hair, her makeup, etc. -- creepy. Very creepy.

[comfortablynumb]

shanmac said:

I don't know what it is, I have never liked him or his music. I hear his voice and I kind of cringe. My brother is somewhat of an Elvis fan (he and his wife had "Can't Help Falling in Love" as their first dance song at their wedding), and I have never "gotten it." He was handsome when he was young/before the drugs and bloat, but I guess his singing style just doesn't appeal to me.

And his movies make me want to throw something through the TV.

I do think it's tragic the way his life ended. Whether I like him or not, he was talented, and I think he just surrounded himself with all the wrong people. Although the way he "shopped" for Priscilla and made her change her hair, her makeup, etc. -- creepy. Very creepy.

Thank you, thank you, Shanmac. I was beginning to think I was the only person in the world who felt this way. He has never done anything for me, and when I mention that to people, they look at me as if I said, "And by the way, I also eat puppies and kitties for snacks."

[lemuralley]

dasaky said:

Thank you, thank you, Shanmac. I was beginning to think I was the only person in the world who felt this way. He has never done anything for me, and when I mention that to people, they look at me as if I said, "And by the way, I also eat puppies and kitties for snacks."

Can I give big hugs to the both of you? I've never, ever gotten the utter fascination with this guy, and I can't chalk it up to being too young because I knew people in high school (mid-90s) that were crazy about him. I like some of his music but it's really the songs I like, not the singer. So seeing all of the Elvis paraphernalia that's still sold in insane quantities even today (not to mention the annual visitors to Graceland) is completely baffling to me. And people have looked at me like I'm crazy when I say I'm very ambivalent about Elvis. I will say that the man had some lovely eyes, though.

[Gabbycatsmom]

lemuralley said:

dasaky said:

Thank you, thank you, Shanmac. I was beginning to think I was the only person in the world who felt this way. He has never done anything for me, and when I mention that to people, they look at me as if I said, "And by the way, I also eat puppies and kitties for snacks."

Can I give big hugs to the both of you? I've never, ever gotten the utter fascination with this guy, and I can't chalk it up to being too young because I knew people in high school (mid-90s) that were crazy about him. I like some of his music but it's really the songs I like, not the singer. So seeing all of the Elvis paraphernalia that's still sold in insane quantities even today (not to mention the annual visitors to Graceland) is completely baffling to me. And people have looked at me like I'm crazy when I say I'm very ambivalent about Elvis. I will say that the man had some lovely eyes, though.

Ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto. I never have understood the fascination with Elvis either. I have to say my high school days were 1970-74 and with the exception of liking "In the Ghetto" and Suspicious Minds", anybody I went to school with admitting they liked Elvis at all would have relegated themselves to the beyond-nerd crowd. That being said, I can remember sitting in the living room with my Mom when Dad was out of town watching Elvis' comeback Hawaiian concert on the TV. That was kind of fun but I think it was because we were watching something that never would have been allowed on the TV if Dad had been home. ;D Now-a-days I think Elvis had a pretty singing voice and eye lashes that a lot of women would die for. But I think he was a rotten actor and in his later years because a sad caricature of himself.

Back in the late 70's I had a neighbor that used to date an Elvis impersonator in Dallas. The dude was weird. Just about every time I ever saw his hair, glasses and walk and mannerisms were all Elvis. The thought of how he acted in bed is really creepy.

I was in a drug induced Percodan post-surgery haze when it came out in the paper how many drugs Elvis had in his system when he died. I remember being astounded because I could barely stay awake with one Percodan in my system and he had enough in him to kill a horse.

It also give me the heeby-jeebies to think that Priscilla's parents allowed Elvis to basically take possession of her when she was what? - 14 or 15 or something like that. Fast forward to now-a-days and tell me what that says.

Shanmack, if you really want people to look at you like you eat kittens and puppies, besides saying you don't know what people really see in him, say what I say occasionally: Elvis was a junkie, child molester. You should hear the excuses the angry Elvis lovers have for him. ....He wasn't a junkie - those were prescription drugs! Not his fault - his doctor's fault! He wasn't a pedophile or child molester! Times were different then! He had Priscilla's parents permission! Give me a break.

[petals]

I don't hate him but IMO, he's nothing special. He's kind of like the bottom of my shoe. I know it's there but I don't put much thought into it, you know? Though, when Hubby puts his music on in the car I change it--I won't be trapped in a vehicle and forced to listen to Elvis. It's not hate so much as . . . I'd rather listen to something else.

[Atreides]

I gotta agree that Elvis and his music do nothing for me at all. I just don't get it. The weird thing is that I'm sure he's heavily influenced a lot of other artists that I do like but the original is just meh.

[sugaree]

Well, if Tarentino is right and people can be divided into Beatles fans and Elvis fans, I'm a Beatles fan. I respect how talented Elvis was musically and how important he was, but whenever I hear people talk about how Elvis changed everything (or for that matter whenever I hear people talk about how the Beatles changed everything), I think about how people say that Nirvana changed everything. Nirvana really wasn't doing anything radically different (see Pixies, Replacements, Husker Du, etc), and other bands with similar styles were wildly popular at the same time as Nirvana, so I just see it as hype.

I am just not convinced that music history would have followed a different path without Elvis. If I look at a timeline, white DJs were playing black musicians before Elvis came around; black and white artists alike were hitting the charts with 100% rock and roll just before or as Elvis debuted. I'm not downplaying his importance to music in general or to the lives of his fans (God knows there's enough musicians important in my life, even though I do not plan to put up any black-velvet paintings or embark on pilgrimages to their homes), but I honestly believe that music would have run the same course without him.

[snarkblossom]

I must be a freak because I'm a Beatles fan and an Elvis fan. And while I admire Tarantino for Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, I think he's mostly an asshole.

But I have to say,I didn't really "get" Elvis until I was in my early 30s (in the 80s). When I was in high school, I had a friend whose older sister was obsessed with him and I thought she was really weird. I think Elvis's life and career needs to be segmented into sections to really understand and appreciate him; the Guralnick books are helpful in that regard.

I think one of the reasons I really did grow to appreciate him more is that I started to study and play music of the old blues guys he emulated and idolized, and that helped me understand and appreciate him more. I never found him attractive until I was much older and saw footage of him during that "going in the army" time and also at his revival concert with the black leather suit. And then I sort of got it.

Most of all though I do feel sorry for him. I think he was pretty screwed up from the early fame and lack of formal education, also from some sort of strange relationship he had with his mother that prevented him from relating to women properly. The idea that he could not sexually relate to any woman who was a mother was really screwed up.

As far as Elvis changing music history, if Elvis hadn't happened along they would have found someone else like him. Not exactly the same, but it would have happened regardless. The music was ready for crossing over and it would have happened anyway, though not in exactly the same way. In fact if Elvis hadn't happened, Carl Perkins might have just become "Elvis" instead.