My Elvis Presley Blog

It’s That Time Again – Elvis We Miss You

Cher — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 07:35:38 +0000

Here it is August 16th again. This year marks the 33rd anniversary of the death of Elvis. It is amazing how other famous people come and go, pass into the sunset and after a bit of time are forgotten. But not Elvis. Never Elvis.

Some cynics may say that’s because Elvis Presley Enterprises has a wicked marketing scheme and have managed to keep Elvis’s memory alive for all these years. Take Elvis Week for example which is probably the biggest event of the season at Graceland. If you don’t count Christmas (Elvis LOVED Christmas!) and Elvis’s birthday in January.

There may be some merit to that. However I believe the real reason Elvis has never faded into oblivion like so many other famous people is due directly to those of us who love him. I am not the only woman in the world who holds a very large part of her heart in reserve for Elvis. There are millions. And there are millions of men who love Elvis for his craftsmanship, the man that he was and the great, great music that he produced.

Elvis music is still selling, a whole new generation of kids are choosing Elvis music to listen to, his life story is huge and multi-layered despite the fact that he only lived 42 years. There were more pictures taken of Elvis then any human being in history and more books written about him then one can count on both hands and feet.

Elvis is a legend that will never die.

For us, the King of Rock & Roll never left the building and we will keep his memory alive forever.

It’s That Time Again – Elvis We Miss You is a post from: My Elvis Presley Blog

My Elvis Presley Blog Returns!

Cher — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:50:47 +0000

Hello Again Faithful Readers.

I say faithful because if you’re reading this after waiting for nearly 5 months for new content, you must be completely faithful. I’ve been away. Not from my computer or home or any physical location but away from this blog about my fascination with the love affair I am having with Elvis.

I’ve immersed myself in a whole another world since January. It’s a hard one. Cruel, heart wrenching scenes of betrayal, abuse and ultimately, more often than not, death. It is the world of shelter animal rescue. If you would like to read more about that world and my experience in it, Beloved Critters is coming soon to a RSS feed nearby. Will update on that when it’s launched.

Rest assured that my passion for Elvis has not cooled even an smidgen. In fact, I think it may have intensified. For the past 20 years here on the Lower Mainland, I have always used public transit to get back and forth to work and used a mp3 player to listen to Elvis while being “transited publicly”. Personal circumstances changed this past February so I am now driving my beautiful Jetta to work and back. Elvis is playing on the cd player although I have to admit, I miss the closeness of the mp3 player. And my CD player chews disks for breakfast so I keep having to burn new ones. That’s a bit of a bummer.

But now I can sing along! Public transit does not lend itself to singing along to Elvis although there are some whackos out there that will do it anyway. All by yourself in the car sitting in backed up traffic is almost as good as the shower for sounding good while singing along with the Master. Sometimes I even have to tell myself to shut up so I can actually listen to Elvis for a change! However, I really do harmonize well if I DO say so myself.

So back to my blog about all things Elvis and it’s rebirth from a 5 month sabbatical. I plan to continue the series on Elvis and his women. It is still a subject that fascinates. Up until recently, the women who were loved by Elvis have been reticent to speak of their affairs with him. I want to know why. It’s established that he wasn’t the greatest lover in the world but it’s also accepted that he could romance your pants off in seconds flat! Why than are the women who loved Elvis so tight lipped?

Everything about this blog that was true in January is still true now. Thank you for staying loyal if you’re getting this on the RSS feed. Remember to sign up for RSS if you want to follow along.

My Elvis Presley Blog Returns! is a post from: My Elvis Presley Blog

Love Letter to Elvis

Cher — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:01:31 +0000

Born about 75 years ago

It seems bizarre to say “happy birthday” to a man who is 33 years dead so I won’t. But I will say Happy Anniversary to me as today marks 3 years since I fell head over heels in love with you. Not one day goes by when I don’t think of you several times during the day, listen to your voice and feel those old butterflies in my stomach.

When I first fell in love with you, it was with the Elvis on stage. The one whose voice was sexier then warmed up massage oil. The man whose moves on stage still make me laugh at the sheer audacity and sexual charge they contained. The man whose smile always seem to indicate that you had a secret that no one else knew. Then I started devouring every book I could find on you and now, 3 years later, more then 2 dozen books read and with a ton of research about the man that was Elvis, I love you more today then I did even then when your voice first thrilled me back in 2007.

I know your warts, I know your lunacy. I know your vulnerabilities and I know your occasional bouts of meanness and paranoia. I also know of your love for all women and your adoration for your fans. I know your generous heart and your deep seeded insecurities. I know all about your huge ego, your vanity and your desperate need to be loved. Your fear of obscurity and public shaming. I know all this by reading between the lines of what other people say and write, by listening to you singing as well as recordings of you speaking. Your sense of humor was phenomenal and if my impossible dream could be realized, I know that you and I would split a gut laughing together. Women who loved you refuse to speak of it. A precious gem that cannot be shared without soiling so it is kept locked away in a very special place in their hearts under lock and key. That tells me volumes more then any books could about what kind of man you really were.

Elvis, I know now that you were never meant to reach your 75th birthday or your 50th. You couldn’t have dealt with the pitfalls that come with aging and you lived life more fully in your 42 years then most of us will have in 82 years. You were here as a bright and shining star that was tragically destined to burn itself out. But while you were here, you shone your light on each of us and our lives were changed forever.

And you changed our lives so much. You brought us rock and roll music that finally allowed white and black people to find a common path that they could share. You liberated women to allow themselves to show sexual desires and needs. You gave us permission to dance like no one was watching. To sing like no one was listening. To pray, like somebody was. You gave us everything you had and left nothing on the table.

I love you and miss you so much Elvis. Each birthday we mark, I cry for missing you. Each anniversary of your passing, I cry for missing you. But thank God you left so much of yourself here with us. Sometimes, like last week when you changed my mp3 player to that particular song that I had been just speaking of the day before, I feel you close by. Once in awhile, I close my eyes and you’re standing right in front of me. I can feel your presence, I smell your essence. I know that my thinking of you so deeply attracts your spirit to me and so I will go on dwelling on your face, your song and your spirit.

With deep abiding love…

Love Letter to Elvis is a post from: My Elvis Presley Blog

Elvis, Marilyn and James Dean

Cher — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 08:48:01 +0000

Welcome to my next instalment in the series “Songs Written About Elvis”. In this one he shares the spotlight with two other super super stars, Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. There was a time when I was fascinated by Marilyn Monroe and read everything about her that I could get my hands on. Another victim of too many prescription drugs, too much fame and not enough authentic support from friends and family. I was never a fan of James Dean because he was way before my time but Elvis adored him and aspired to be as great an actor so that’s all I need to know about that. That was, obviously, before that old illegal Dutch crook with the phoney name was permitted to crush all of Elvis’ dreams.

This a song sung by The Bellamy Brothers who you might know better for their song “Let Your Love Flow” from around 1975. (And “If I Told You That You Had a Beautiful Body Would You Hold It Against Me”)…a corny Groucho Marx line that made this group a ton of money.

Elvis, Marilyn and James Dean was recorded and released on not one but two albums in the summer of 1995. One in June called Native American and one in August called Sons of Beaches. Same track listing, different album name and different cover. Huh?

Needless to say this or any other tune from those two “twins from a different father” albums ever achieved any notoriety at all but the sentiment at least of this tribute song is appreciated by this Elvis (and Marilyn) fan.

Elvis Presley Blog – A New Look

Cher — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:10:29 +0000

Today I changed the theme for the Elvis Presley Blog and I hope you all will like it. The previous theme felt a little too busy for me and I wanted to find something more simple and straight forward. Something that focussed on content more then the theme. I hope I’ve found it with this simple but elegant theme I’m using now. As always, your comments and thoughts are welcomed.

I have been a bit of a slacker on this blog for a couple of weeks now but certainly not because I’ve lost interest. I just got involved in some things on my other blog, Taking on Animal Cruelty and have been pressed for time to spare for Elvis. (Don’t tell him I said that!).

Hopefully I’ll be able to devote more time to this blog now though and thank you for your patience and understanding.

Until next time

Cher

Elvis Presley Blog – A New Look is a post from: My Elvis Presley Blog

Elvis Sings Blue Christmas on New Verizon Commercial

Cher — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:55:42 +0000

Elvis lives still…

Amazing it is that even 32 years after his death, his voice and his spirit are still with us, marketable with continued commercial appeal. Elvis Presley was and is truly endless…

Elvis Sings Blue Christmas on New Verizon Commercial is a post from: My Elvis Presley Blog

Songs Written About Elvis – “Back to Tupelo” by Mark Knopfler

Cher — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:50:36 +0000

Mark Knopfler is best known as the lead guitarist, vocalist and songwriter for the British rock band Dire Straits, which he co-founded in 1977 with his brother David. After Dire Straits disbanded in 1995, Knopfler continued to record and produce albums as a solo artist under his own name. Occasionally, Knopfler has played in other groups, such as the The Notting Hillbillies; as well, he has guested on works by other artists, including The Dandy Warhols, Bob Dylan, Bryan Ferry, Eric Clapton, Jeff Healey, John Fogerty, Jools Holland, Steely Dan, Emmylou Harris, Sonny Landreth, Phil Lynott, Joan Armatrading and Chet Atkins. He has produced albums for artists such as Tina Turner, Willy DeVille, Randy Newman, Bob Dylan and even "Weird Al" Yankovic. In addition, he has scored the music to several films, including Metroland, Local Hero, Cal, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Wag the Dog, and Rob Reiner’s classic, The Princess Bride.

He is one of the most respected fingerstyle guitarists of the modern rock era. Knopfler was ranked #27 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time."

Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits have sold in excess of 120 million albums to date

Like many other schoolboys of the 1960s, he served an early apprenticeship by forming and joining anonymous schoolboy bands and listening to singers like Elvis Presley and guitarists Chet Atkins, Scotty Moore, Jimi Hendrix, Django Reinhardt and James Burton. The rest, as they say, is history and if you wish to know more about Mark, check out his full bio here: Mark Knopfler

I have never heard “Back to Tupelo” before today although I’ve been a fan of Mark’s for a long time all the way back to when Dire Straits was the hottest thing on the radio. He is one of the great all time guitar players in my opinion and I know my guitar players. This song was released on Mark’s solo album titled The Trawlerman’s Song in 2005. As I listened to the YouTube video below I also read the lyrics as Mark is not all that easy to understand sometimes and I got chills down my spine. I also became very sad. For Elvis. Again. Note the reference to the “lying dutchman”.

Enjoy this, it’s very good especially if you enjoy world class guitar playing as I do. Thank you Mark for writing such a poignant and moving tribute to the King.

around the time of ‘clambake’
movie number twenty-five
you and the lying dutchman
are still in overdrive
you’re as strong as when you started
mississippi in your soul
you can still be marlon brando
and the king of rock and roll
it isn’t just the records
no, you must have hollywood
the songs alone are not enough
that much is understood
you’ll soon be back in memphis
maybe then you’ll know what to do
the storylines they’re giving you
are just not ringing true
oh, it’s a ways to go
back to tupelo
when you’re young and beautiful
your dreams are all ideals
later on it’s not the same
lord, everything is real
sixteen hundred miles of highway
roll back to the truth
and a song to give your mother
in your first recording booth
around the time of ‘clambake’
that old dream’s still rolling on
sometimes there’ll be the feeling
things are going wrong
the morning star is fading
lord, the mississippi’s cold
you can still be marlon brando
and the king of rock and roll
but it’s a ways to go
back to tupelo

Songs Written About Elvis – “Back to Tupelo” by Mark Knopfler is a post from: My Elvis Presley Blog

Don’t Miss It! Huge Elvis Presley Auction Coming This Saturday!

Cher — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:45:25 +0000

If you are an Elvis fan, you don’t want to miss this auction. You wouldn’t believe the Elvis memorabilia and collectibles that are being auctioned off. Tons and tons of everything Elvis. If you’re in Minnesota, you can show up personally but if not you can purchase online by proxy bid. (Not sure what that means however if you’re interested, check out the link below to get more information)

My budget is too skimpy right now to allow me to bid on anything but being at that auction would feel like I’ve died and gone to heaven. Or possibly overdosed on Elvis in a truly sublime way. There are some old magazines I’d like to get my hands on particularly. I’m not a big bobble head fan or stuffed bears but old magazines that feature the King would be so cool to own.

Oh well, maybe next time but if YOU are in the market to add to your collection, don’t miss this auction. It’s HUGE!

A New Day Auctions – Over 2,000 items! This is the jackpot of Elvis Presley collectibles in MINT condition- many are in original shipping packages- NEVER OPENED! Most have been in climate controlled storage and never displayed since they were received. 30 years of Elvis Collectibles and Memorabilia to be auctioned! Cookie Jars, coins, stamps, photographs, plates, figurines, lamps, gold records, life-sized cut-outs, mouse pads, welcome mats,and much much more!

Don’t Miss It! Huge Elvis Presley Auction Coming This Saturday! is a post from: My Elvis Presley Blog

Elvis Presley: A Fashion Icon

Cher — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 06:48:44 +0000

Sometimes we forget that aspect of Elvis that was not music, movies, sex, drugs and rock & roll. I mean that which was pure and true fashion trend setting. Elvis wore his hair long before everyone else thought it was fashionable. Elvis wore pink when most men wouldn’t be caught dead in it. Pink was in fact, Elvis’s favorite color. Elvis wore silks, velour, handmade and custom shirts before anyone else thought to do it. Elvis wore big belts, jewellery normally not seen on a man but on Elvis…well he made anything look good. Unfortunately, a lot of the pictures that were taken of Elvis in the early days were black and white and although colorized more recently (see picture H below as an example), we are still not getting the true picture of the flash and style that was Elvis in the 50’s.

So it’s only appropriate and way overdue that EPE would set up a tribute to the fashion trend setter that Elvis was. You can read the full story here at elvis.com but before you go, take a look at the pictures below. If you’re an Elvis Insider you can vote for the picture to represent this fashionable tribute and the first group here is the gallery of pictures eligible to vote for. My choice will be C but it’s not the greatest version of that picture so I have provided you with a much better copy of it from my own collection below the EPE picture. (scroll down)

This is Elvis at Graceland when it was empty prior to moving in and he was there to plan the interior decorating. Folks, this is the spring of 1957 and if you didn’t know better, you just could not guess that this outfit was worn by the sexiest man ever over 52 years ago. I love this picture, it is one of my all time favorites.

Here are some more shots from my collection of what I feel is indisputable proof that not only did Elvis send men’s fashions spinning off into an entirely new universe but that he alone could wear absolutely anything he wanted to and get away with it. What would make most men look feminine and ridiculous would make Elvis look deliciously masculine.

These two are also my all time favorite pictures of Elvis and don’t miss the pink socks eh? He was probably wearing pink shorts too.

Another favorite shows that only a man with a complete sense of self and style could wear a choker and look really hot!

And then of course there’s that infamous black leather outfit that he was so worried was going to make him look silly on national TV back in 1968. Silly? Not a chance. Hot? Definitely and in more ways then one. To this day I don’t know how he did that show under those hot lights with that outfit on. But did he make it look good? Absolutely!!!

Again, here’s the link to the story at www.elvis.com

Elvis Presley: A Fashion Icon is a post from: My Elvis Presley Blog

Elvis Presley: Songs Written About Elvis 2

Cher — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:32:10 +0000

"(619) 239-KING" and “Elvis is Everywhere” by Mojo Nixon

Hello again, dear Readers. I am back with your 2nd instalment of the songs written about Elvis. If you remember from my first post in this series, was it just yesterday? Yes indeed it was. Anyway, I discovered while reading yet another biography about Elvis that there are over 232 songs written and recorded about Elvis. I was enchanted to know this because who else can you name that has had that many songs written about them besides God, Jesus, Mother Mary and several other religious figures?

I promised you that I would research these songs and present them to you. My first post included probably the most famous tune ever written and recorded about Elvis, “Black Velvet”. Today I thought I’d cover two more songs that really should put a smile on your face and I’m pretty sure even Elvis would have gotten a kick out of them.

Mojo Nixon was born exactly 20 days before me on August 2, 1957 in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was originally named Neill Kirby McMillan, Jr. and I can’t seem to find an explanation for the name change but no matter, Mojo suits him much better as you’ll soon see.

Mojo is an irreverent artist taking shots at just about anybody he wants to. Some of his song titles include “Don Henley Must Die”, “Jesus at McDonalds” and “Debbie Gibson Is Pregnant with My Two-Headed Love Child”. You get the idea? However with the two songs he recorded about Elvis, it seems that Mojo actually really loves Elvis and for that, I will forgive him for using so many really ugly and bad Elvis impersonators in his videos. Of note: in the “619-239-KING” video there is actually one impersonator that shows up early in the video who actually does resemble Elvis as he looked in the mid-70’s. Mojo is quoted as saying that his personal religious trinity was Presley, Foghorn Leghorn and Otis Campbell.

If you’re interested in reading more about Mojo Nixon, click here. Meanwhile, enjoy these two videos:

(619) 239-KING Embedding is disabled for this one but you should be able to watch it at YouTube by clicking on the link

Elvis Presley: Songs Written About Elvis 2 is a post from: My Elvis Presley Blog