A King is Born: It’s Elvis Presley’s Birthday
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Elvis Presley did not invent rock & roll. Bill Haley and others predated him in that regard. Neither was Elvis the best guitar player, or the best singer, or the most consistent entertainer.
So, what gives? What the heck made Elvis possibly the single most important figure in American 20th century popular music? Was he in the right place at the right time? Or did he realize what time it was and find a way to matter? Maybe he just did what he loved, fame and fortune be damned. And the guy loved music. His love is evident from his post-concert gather-round-the-piano gospel sessions, to the well-worn jackets of his personal 33 rpm record collection in the basement TV room at Graceland. |
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The Many Stories of Elvis
Elvis may not have been the best at any one thing, but the whole has never been so much greater than the sum of one person’s talents. His was a great mural composed of countless sub-works, each section a contradictory masterpiece, each patch of the quilt an amazing story in itself…
Like in 1956 when Elvis had his white Cadillac Eldorado painted purple. When asked what shade of paint he wanted, Elvis crushed a handful of grapes on the fender. That was the color he wanted, and that’s the color he got. The purple Cadillac convertible is now on display at the Graceland Automobile Museum, along with his famous 1955 pink Cadillac.
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And who but a king could drop by the White House, unanounced, carrying a pearl-handled Colt 45 revolver, and not only be granted court with the President, but also request and receive a Special Agent badge from the Bureau of Narcotics before flying the Oval Office?
Giving away new cars to strangers, shooting out TV sets, fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches…the list of stories goes on and on. |
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Elvis in 1956
Take a trip back in time to America, 1956, when God’s prism reversed itself, sucked up Beale Street, Nashville, Hollywood, and the wrong side of the tracks in Tupelo, and laser-focused them into a single undimmed light: a frenetic train roaring out of the tunnel, barely clinging to the tracks, moving so fast there was no doubt it would crash…
Elvis Leaves the Building
Before he died on the throne, Elvis died for his fans at every concert.
It’s 1972. Super Elvis spreads his cape like a lumbering crucifix: It is finished! With no apology to Jesus, there won’t be an encore. No second coming. Ever.
The frenzied mob of middle-aged vampires reach out, try to snatch a relic to prove a miracle happened. They fail. Super Elvis escapes. He storms out of the light, soars down the arena’s long dark tunnel, death in reverse, into the womb of the Elvismobile…
Elvis died almost thirty years ago, but he remains an icon of American pop culture to this day. And, as you read this sentence, you will breathe at least one atom from the last note Elvis sang.
The king is dead. Long live the King!
Read More: Elvis, Elvis Presley, the king
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I think it is just that Elvis had all the right moves! It didn’t hurt that he was painfully good looking too!
Jodi: And, as usual, when you actually look behind the curtains of most celebrity, there’s a lot of work and sweat. As Todd Leopold at CNN notes:
when he was born tell me
January 8, 1935