Saturday, November 15, 2014

Elvis!



Did you see on the news that the Andy Warhol painting of Elvis Presley  just sold for over 82 million dollars?  Also, the first recording that Elvis ever made was "My Happiness" and it will go up for auction on January 8th, which would have been his 80th birthday.   Instead of thinking of how much money that record will fetch, I am only reminded of how much Elvis gave away in his lifetime and how he took great pleasure in doing so.  (Click on that link below from YouTube...Elvis Presley-Generous Man.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FebMNbvqxRw


More than anything else, Elvis was from the South.  This might not mean one thing to anyone else, but growing up in the 60's, this meant the world to me.  He was SOUTHERN and to hear him speak in his genuine accent is just a pleasure to my ear. (There are and always have been people who like to make fun of people from the South.)  Speaking of which, if anyone wants to say one bad thing about Elvis, please go elsewhere, thank you.

And don't even get me started on his singing voice!  What an incredible talent! And I was never lucky enough to see Elvis Presley on stage, but I can tell you this...when I worked at the travel agency, we received a few magazines from Las Vegas and in one of them, a columnist wrote that he had never cared for Elvis but went along to one of his concerts as he thought he should write about him.  This man became one of his biggest fans and stated that if you had ever experienced his power over an audience, it was something that you would never forget.

I really liked his movies from the 60's.  Now, people make fun of them, I know, but they were perfect fun for a kid like me!  And you could tell that he liked children, it just came across in his movies.
I do think that his acting talent was much better than he was given credit for...I really liked him in those earlier movies that he made, before he made all those movies in the 60's that I remember!
Jailhouse Rock was from 1957...a very good year!


Elvis loved Hawaii, so I have a photo of some orchids for you here.  Aloha!

33 comments:

  1. I always enjoyed his movies too, G.I. Blues was my favorite. And you're right about people who like to mock the south, they should just shut up.

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  2. Kay, I am one of the lucky ones who actually saw Elvis in person. My sisters and I saw him in Indianapolis .He was gorgeous even when he was heavy. That voice was wonderful. I was not crazy for his movies. Love Me Tender was his best. Blessings, xoxo,Susie

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    1. You are lucky, wish I could have seen him in concert!
      Blessings to you, my friend! x

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  3. I loved Elvis as a kid and as I grew up. I inherited all my aunt's records of his from the 50's. When I was a teenager, I wrote Elvis a very long letter, which I never had the courage to actually mail, and knew that it would most likely never reach him anyway. That is the only time in my life I ever wrote a letter to a celebrity. I never went to see him in person, but my sister did and loved it!! So sad the way his life ended.

    I love hearing a true Southern accent.

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    1. Very happy to see someone who really likes Elvis and his talent!
      I loved the way that Elvis spoke, he reminds me very much of many of my uncles!

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  4. Hi Kay! I enjoyed this post so much! I'm a big Elvis fan! I just got back from Vegas a few days ago and am catching up on your recent posts. I would have loved harvesting seeds with you, and you know I am fascinated with monadnocks! While Terry and I were in Vegas, we went to see a musical called "Million Dollar Quartet." It was based on a legendary jam session at Sun Records in December 1956. That evening is the only time Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Jerry Lee Lewis jammed together. Need I say that the music was fantabulous! I never got to see Elvis live, but I do remember the thrill of driving through Vegas when he was there and seeing a multistory banner "Elvis" draped down the side of the Hilton. And I loved his movies ~ we just watched "Blue Hawaii" recently. Still love it ~ and the first album I ever bought was "Blue Hawaii." I had to save up my money for a month ($4.12) until I could free it from layaway in the drug store. Such memories! I hope you feel 100% very soon! XO

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    1. Oh, Louise, I knew you would love Elvis too! I have seen videos on YouTube of the Million Dollar Quartet, I bet it would have been great to see that in Vegas! Of course, I loved Blue Hawaii, it was such a dreamy movie for an 8 year old! You crack me up, you can remember that album costing you $4.12!! You amaze me! I am not 100% yet, but I am getting there! xx

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  5. Those Elvis movies... now that's bringing back some memories! When I was a teenager, they did reruns on telly of these movies, usually on Friday afternoons when I was home from school and my Mum from work. We would watch the movies together, making fun of them, yes, but at the same time enjoying them.
    My Mum was a teenager in the late 1950s and early 60s, and she carved tiny Elvis-heads out of blocks of chalk and sold them on the school's playground.
    And, by the way, I am from the South*, too, so people can make fun of me as well :-)
    *the South of Germany, not the US, of course.

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    1. And if you watch those Elvis movies again, just think that is how your friend, Kay speaks, especially when she is talking with her Southern Dad!
      I LOVE that your Mom made those Elvis heads out of chalk!! I wonder if anyone has them and they will one day turn up at an art show?!
      Hee hee, you are SOUTHERN too! We are two of a kind! "-)

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  6. The first time I heard Elvis sing his American Trilogy I cried. It was so powerful and moving and full of emotion. Only a voice like his could have done that.

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    1. I love that American Trilogy too. Only Elvis can do it, no one else!

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  7. Elvis, the one and only King. He was great! His movies were harmless fun. But his earlier movies, before Col. Tom Parker's greed took control were really good and they showed that Elvis did have serious acting talent and he could have, if allowed, gone on to do some great dramatic roles.

    Presley was Barbra Streisand's first choice to play opposite her in the remake of "A Star Is Born", but Parker was against it. Such a shame. Parker had far too much control over Presley's career.

    However, I did love Kristofferson in the role. I've always been a bit partial to Kris! :)

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    1. I think that Elvis had a very natural acting talent and it really was a shame that he wasn't allowed to develop it. Still, I truly loved his silly movies, they really perfect for me as a child.
      And we have something else in common, I ADORE Kris Kristofferson. I think I did a post about him...let me find it...http://georgiagirlwithanenglishheart.blogspot.com/2012/04/closer-to-bone.html
      There...I didn't say too much about him but it is IMPLIED that I like him!
      You have to read between the lines with a lot of the things that I write!

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  8. I love the picture of your orchids. I also loved Elvis. I liked his movies and have to say one of the first I saw as a teenager was in a theatre of screaming girls...I was one of them. What a heart throb he was. As I got older I still liked him and when he died so young I cried. I have a lot of his songs on my iPod and play them often. I didn't see the picture of him you mentioned. I'll have to look it up.

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    1. When I heard on my car radio that he had died, I actually pulled my car over to absorb that news. Never did that before or since.
      The Andy Warhol painting was a three image Elvis when he was dressed in this cowboy outfit for that movie, "Love Me Tender". His Mom was upset because he died in it, if I remember that correctly.

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  9. What a voice! They'll never be another voice quite so rich.

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    1. And even his speaking voice was pleasant to listen to! I even enjoy the Elvis impersonators, they aren't as good but I like them anyway!

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  10. Elvis was wonderful! He was also funny, he liked taking old fashioned camera flash bulbs and floating them in his swimming pool, and shooting at them with a small caliber rifle to make them blow up!

    Grandpa has an autographed picture of Elvis that one of his patients got for him when she visited his home. She came in for a check up and told him she was going on vacation to Memphis and he joked, "Bring me back an autographed picture of Elvis!" She said she would, and he laughed, then she told him, "My uncle is Elvis' dentist, and we always get invited over to his house when we visit Tennessee, so I will get you an autographed picture!" She did!

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    1. And if it is true that he also shot out his TV set, there are times when I want to do the same thing!!
      I love the story of getting that autographed photo of Elvis! It is just typical o of the many kindnesses that Elvis did that no one knows about.

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  11. Every now and then, the local newspaper will publish a photo of Elvis when he was in Hawaii. Lovely memories!

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    1. Yes! Elvis loved Hawaii and I am sure that there must be many who remember him from his visits there.
      Aloha!

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  12. I read all about Elvis on Wikipedia a while back. Quite a story. I don't know who would be making fun. I would love to see the painting that sold.

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    1. I saw the painting on the BBC website, that is where I read about it.
      And I grew up in the 60's and people really made fun of people from the South. They still do sometimes.
      And if you really want to know about Elvis, ask me! I think I could write a book! :-)

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  13. He was one in a million and I can remember many fun trips to the movie theater with my BFF back in the day to see his flicks...I loved them and enjoy watching them on TV when they appear. His gospel songs are wonderful too. It's hard to imagine he would be 80....I think he'll always just be a young, handsome man in my memory.

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    1. My sister and I saw all his movies and we loved them! Elvis loved gospel music, and would sing it every chance that he got.

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  14. He was definitely a multi-talented guy ... and pretty darn cute when he was young! From that video, it looks like Michael Jackson stole a few moves (not to mention clothing tips) from Elvis.

    We used to know a couple who were huge Elvis fans ... the husband was always telling us that Elvis "knew a hundred hymns by heart".

    Hope your autumn is going well! :)

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    1. I always thought that Elvis and Michael Jackson had a lot in common. Extremely talented, but so much so that we are not fully able to appreciate them.
      Yes! Elvis knew and loved his gospel music, just like a true Southern boy from the Bible Belt.
      Hope you are doing well, Sue! Stay warm!

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  15. Evis was good. I remember when I was 5 or 6 we had a Basset Hound, and I would hold its ears and sing "y'ain't nothin but a houndog".

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    1. Elvis was a good sport and did as he was asked, when he sang that song to the dog on the show with....I think it was with Steve Allen or was it Milton Berle? Anyway....he made sure he was treated with a bit more respect after that, and I am glad he did!
      Funny you doing that as a kid though, I bet the dog liked the attention!

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  16. In the days before multi-channel TV and specially produced children's programmes, the BBC used to broadcast Elvis films in the school holidays and I always enjoyed them. He had a truly unique voice and, boy, he knew how to use it! x

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