Sunday 14 June 2015
Goodbye and Thank you
Elvis was a man who was not only the greatest entertainer of our generation, but whose ability to radiate warmth, generosity and humanity surpassed all others and has continued to do so ever since. This is what has always set him apart for me and something I have tried to explain to people when they say, "but what's the big deal, he was just an entertainer?"
For those of us in the know, you will understand me when I say that I look at people who say that with a mixture of pity and resignation - resignation that no matter what I say, my words would probably fall on deaf ears. Take the time to scratch not very far below the surface of this 'entertainer' and you will see a man who didn't just break, but who smashed through the boundaries of race, music and culture. A poor white kid who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks in the Deep South he may have been, but he was the polar opposite of the racially segregated environment he grew up in. Years later, when he was asked by a journalist why he had decided to hire the Sweet Inspirations as his vocal backing group (the inference being, 'what's wrong with a white vocal group?') Elvis responded with his usual polite logic: "because they are the best!" John Lennon said, "without Elvis there would have been no Beatles." Without black musicians, there would have been no Elvis and he was well aware of it.
Elvis was a contradiction on so many levels: the Memphis Flash who inspired a whole generation of rock n rollers and rock bands who followed, but who never truly understood the impact he made. He was the High Priest for an entire generation of post war teenagers, who up to that point had had nobody who understood how they needed to express what they were feeling. Who else could slow down the line 'You Ain't a Nuthin' but a Hound Dog', whilst grinding his hips into the stage on the Ed Sullivan Show (and do it with that trademark boyish smile) and then follow it with the most inspiring rendition of 'Peace in the Valley' only moments later? Here was a man who was the first ever rock n roll millionaire (at the age of 21), yet who during the course of his lifetime, gave most of his fortune away. A humble, god-fearing man who loved to be ostentatious. A man who still referred to people as Sir and Ma'am, even after he became one of the most famous people in the world. His charisma and his sheer dynamism still generate electricity when you watch him - just sit down and watch the '68 Comeback. Elvis was always so much more than 'just an entertainer.'
Friday 25 March 2011
You Tube - With Gary Toward and Band & Solo 'In The Ghetto' (Thank you for the editing work Sam and thank you Wend for 'In the Ghetto').
Sunday 20 March 2011
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