Elvis.
Where did your mind go when you read that word?
Mine went to shiny, combed-back, thick black hair. I heard a low, rumbling, twang-tinged voice saying: “Thank you. Thank you very much.” I pictured a young man (with that hair), dressed in a dark suit, white shirt and black necktie, standing at a microphone, eyes closed, expression intense, his right hand in the middle of a downstrum on a leather-encased, dreadnaught acoustic guitar that is being slightly pushed into the mike stand by the forward thrust of his hips.
I heard a voice, singing: “You ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog…”
Elvis Aron Presley.
The King.
January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977.
On that dash, he changed the world.
Elvis.
Where did your mind go when you read that word?
For a bit more about Elvis, go to the Archives for July 2010 and check out my post of July 5, the anniversary of the day he recorded “That’s All Right (Mama).”
I read the word “Elvis” and it triggers my first memory of anything Elvis…..circa early 1960’s….my grandfather getting out of his car after arriving at our house for a visit. Perhaps because he enjoyed the tune or perhaps to impress his young grandchildren – I see and hear him singing, with great gusto, “Ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog, cryin’ all the time…” as he greets me with a huge grin. He always accentuated the “hound dog” part, making it close to a growl. It made me laugh. I loved it.
Elvis….. Memphis, Caddilacs, Priscilla and Lisa Marie. Re-runs of him playing the Sullivan show – from the waist up. And the movies, from Love Me Tender to Viva Las Vegas. Oh, and let’s not forget Jailhouse Rock!
A colorful career, a plain ol country boy who achieved fame of mythical proportions to this day. One of the most “larger than life” characters we’ll ever see…. Cut down too early by hangers on and drug abuse.
The one way I don’t want to see Elvis in my mind is in a white jump suit. Seeing him that way just took the lustre off of The King.