DESTROY: Greil Marcus. Much of the time, he's worse than the folks who see the image of Elvis in the grease spattered on a toaster of the local Waffle House.
― badger, Monday, 30 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Guy, Monday, 30 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― , Monday, 30 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
As for me, I would say classic. I think a lot of the mythology surrounding him has belittled the music he created.
― Nicole, Monday, 30 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― alex in nyc, Monday, 30 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Patrick, Monday, 30 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Mark, Monday, 30 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― DG, Monday, 30 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― keith, Monday, 30 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Keiko, Monday, 30 April 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Geoff, Tuesday, 1 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Omar, Tuesday, 1 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Other than that, he never meant a thing to me. Dud I guess. I'm such a fucking kid.
― Ian White, Thursday, 3 May 2001 00:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Era Tanttros, Sunday, 20 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Sean, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
― Ken, Thursday, 23 January 2003 16:40 (twenty-one years ago) link
― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 23 January 2003 16:59 (twenty-one years ago) link
No wait, that was William Lyon Mackenzie King!
Dennis Lee to thread!
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 23 January 2003 17:01 (twenty-one years ago) link
I don't understand how anyone can say he's a "watered-down Little Richard" since (a) they sound nothing at all alike, even when Elvis covered Little Richard songs, and (b) Elvis started making records before Little Richard cut "Tutti Frutti," the first record he made in the style he's famous for.
― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 23 January 2003 18:01 (twenty-one years ago) link
― James Blount (James Blount), Thursday, 23 January 2003 18:04 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ken, Thursday, 23 January 2003 19:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
Though he IS undeniably a great singer, with really terrible management, though try telling that to the billion dollar EP Estate.Like Ali, his talent was squandered, though there are many moments of transcendence throughout his career.
Also, in Linda Gail Lewis's autobio, she claims that the time Jerry Lee stormed the gates at Graceland, it was because a doped up EP had called him to come rescue him, a claim not as preposterous as it seems.Elvis might have been King, but Colonol Parker ruled.
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Thursday, 23 January 2003 19:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ken, Thursday, 23 January 2003 21:15 (twenty-one years ago) link
― M Matos (M Matos), Thursday, 23 January 2003 21:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
Here's a question to ponder: What would Elvis's legacy be had he not been so incredible looking?
― Jim M (jmcgaw), Thursday, 23 January 2003 21:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Jim M (jmcgaw), Thursday, 23 January 2003 21:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
One of whom I phoned just to hear her voice after her repeating "Listen, we will invite some guys over, listen to Elvis and play some yahtzee".
― robotman, Thursday, 23 January 2003 21:57 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Bruce Urquhart (Bruce Urquhart), Thursday, 23 January 2003 22:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ken, Thursday, 23 January 2003 23:47 (twenty-one years ago) link
― jones (actual), Thursday, 23 January 2003 23:51 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 24 January 2003 00:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
― ken, Friday, 24 January 2003 00:35 (twenty-one years ago) link
quite apt, that. in my case. didn't ever mean much to me, really.i have read, and probably will read, well-written articles (wouldn't stretch that to book-length, tho!) by various worthy people who have interesting - entertaining, meaningful, amusing, sad, shocking - things to say 'bout him, but i've never been tempted to get myself lots of his music (which doesn't mean i haven't heard any, "haha"). and the attempts of some of my best pals to help me "get it" haven't worked either. elvis simply fails to rock my world, period.)
― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Friday, 24 January 2003 00:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
This statement is 100% OTM. He *did* collaborate with some different people on the Memphis sessions; is it any coincidence those sessions are some of his greatest? Even kings need to be challanged once in a while, not continuously coddled.
But everything he did after '56 sounds pretty close to easy listening to these ears.
Listen again. Maybe start with "Memories" (dud title), the soundtrack plus loads more of the famous "68 Comeback Special". Even the most MOR ballad is worth listening to in his hands... but don't worry; there's only a couple of those here! Of course there are many *ballads*... but with a couple exceptions ("Memories" itself being one of them), they're pretty electrifying.
I do agree he's undervalued too. It's strange saying that about one of the biggest stars of all time, but it's true. I guess I mean undervalued *artistically*.
― Sean (Sean), Friday, 24 January 2003 01:12 (twenty-one years ago) link
Second best thing, from Nick Tosches: "I think that Elvis Presley will never be solved."
― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 24 January 2003 05:21 (twenty-one years ago) link
I used to think exactly the way Jim M does, but now I realize it's kinda silly: Elvis's post-Army stuff is frequently just too WEIRD to be "easy listening" - I mean, "Do The Clam"? "Old MacDonald Had A Farm"? "There's No Room To Rhumba In A Sports Car"? You can't make this stuff up. People will never cease to be impressed by The Beatles' interest in everything from random noise to showtunes, but the crackbrained audacity of Elvis's lifelong attempt to sing just about every type of song there was just makes them cringe.
Elvis was always a jumble of contradictions, musically and otherwise, no less pre-Army than after - that's what made him who he was. It's part of what made him so outrageous in the beginning: he was mixing blues with country with r&b and singing them in a way that often meant you couldn't tell where one genre left off and another began. That side of Elvis never really went away entirely, but we shouldn't kid ourselves into thinking it was all there ever was. Just listen to "I Love You Because," recorded at Sun, and just as drecky and dull a song as he ever sang. He doesn't triumph over the dross: he succumbs to it, he likes it. Then listen to "I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone," and marvel at how slick and professional he sounds: this guy could easily have made a career for himself as a straight entertainer all the way, without offending a soul. Then listen to "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and wonder, 'Where the hell did this guy come from?' Like Tosches said, no one will ever know.
― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 24 January 2003 05:46 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ken, Friday, 24 January 2003 14:41 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 24 January 2003 14:45 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 24 January 2003 14:51 (twenty-one years ago) link
― robotman, Friday, 24 January 2003 14:54 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ken, Friday, 24 January 2003 15:05 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 24 January 2003 15:08 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ken, Friday, 24 January 2003 15:23 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 24 January 2003 15:38 (twenty-one years ago) link
this is a bit lame. there are plenty who could cut loads of songs in 30 days but the studio and what 'artists' do has changed. and its quality that counts anyway.
''They run his demise into the ground, search for dirt, print as much inuendo and trash as they can find. They never explore the fact that he had a 3 octave voice, and could virtually sing any style of music.''
could elvis do opera if he wanted to ken?
― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Friday, 24 January 2003 15:51 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ken, Friday, 24 January 2003 16:04 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ken, Friday, 24 January 2003 16:13 (twenty-one years ago) link
Mind you, it was his human weaknesses that did him in.
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 24 January 2003 16:16 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Horace Mann (Horace Mann), Friday, 24 January 2003 16:20 (twenty-one years ago) link
Forgot all about that and was imagining he had died in that apartment on Jones Street.
― The Dark End of the Tweet (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 28 November 2022 07:17 (one year ago) link
Oh hey. Just walked by MoMI and…
― The Dark End of the Tweet (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 30 November 2022 00:16 (one year ago) link
Popped in, thought about approaching Baz to show off my new Elvis karaoke chops, but security gave me the stink-eye so I thought better of it.
― The Dark End of the Tweet (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 30 November 2022 00:32 (one year ago) link
Listening to the new Elvis On Tour box: four complete concerts from April 1972, the movie on Blu-Ray, and two discs of outtakes and rehearsals and whatnot. These live discs are insane. He only plays for an hour, but does between 20 and 25 songs — it's a positively Ramones-esque pace. The set list is mostly the same from night to night, with a few changes. And the band absolutely destroys, of course.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Monday, 5 December 2022 19:06 (one year ago) link
finally watched the movie, was taken aback by how wall-to-wall insane it was, felt like a good 60% of it was just insane montages and transitions
Tom Hanks in a fat suit was really weird to watch. he reminds me of Malkovich as Teddy KGB in Rounders. that accent he uses is so over the top, I just can't believe an actual human being sounded like that. he talks like he's a big cartoon rat or something. that said I haven't actually heard Tom Parker talk, so...
― frogbs, Tuesday, 2 May 2023 18:48 (ten months ago) link
he talks like he's a big cartoon rat or something.
ahahahaha that is totally it!
― Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 2 May 2023 18:58 (ten months ago) link
lol otm
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 2 May 2023 19:21 (ten months ago) link
Yeah, that's a fantastic description, and dead on.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Tuesday, 2 May 2023 19:34 (ten months ago) link
Hahaha yes! The whole thing is so garish and episodic and hard to digest in one sitting I think of it as Elvis: The CD-ROM
― Terrycoth Baphomet (bendy), Tuesday, 2 May 2023 20:41 (ten months ago) link
I liked it in the theater but don't know if I could sit through it again.
― Because the Nighttoad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Tuesday, 2 May 2023 20:43 (ten months ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJFojCn6m74
― Shifty Henry’s Swing Club (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 November 2023 18:50 (four months ago) link
Forgot about thishttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCFNB1XNFRQ
― Shifty Henry’s Swing Club (James Redd and the Blecchs), Friday, 17 November 2023 18:55 (four months ago) link
So about PRISCILLA.
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 February 2024 00:19 (one month ago) link
How is it?
― Sony's Sports Walkman Universe (morrisp), Sunday, 25 February 2024 00:20 (one month ago) link
It’s basically a bummer.
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 February 2024 01:07 (one month ago) link
:(
― Sony's Sports Walkman Universe (morrisp), Sunday, 25 February 2024 01:38 (one month ago) link
i haven’t seen it yet, i think i’ll wait it out
― werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 25 February 2024 01:54 (one month ago) link
It’s all true I have no doubt but still
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 February 2024 15:09 (one month ago) link
I learned a few things though
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 February 2024 15:19 (one month ago) link
Maybe it’s a bummer in a good way, I still have to ponder.
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 February 2024 15:22 (one month ago) link
Lisa Marie didn’t like the script :(
Would love to see what someone else around here thinks
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 February 2024 15:28 (one month ago) link
I saw lots of positive reviews out there. Think maybe around here Eric didn’t like it. Me, I’d much rather rewatch THE VIRGIN SUICIDES.
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 February 2024 15:30 (one month ago) link
I can use one of my expiring February hoopla credits for that
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 February 2024 15:33 (one month ago) link
Hmm. Can't verify my library. Will have to wait until Monday I guess.
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 February 2024 15:56 (one month ago) link
Neither Elvis nor Priscilla had any real chariisma in this movie, as far as I could see.
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 February 2024 15:57 (one month ago) link
It's second-tier Coppola but good.
― poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 25 February 2024 15:59 (one month ago) link
Hoping to watch it this afternoon or tonight.
― Tahuti Watches L&O:SVU Reruns Without His Ape (unperson), Sunday, 25 February 2024 18:35 (one month ago) link
Heh, just came across a brief J.G. Ballard review of Albert Goldman’s book in the recent Selected Nonfiction collection.
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 February 2024 19:50 (one month ago) link
Some Priscilla discussion here: Sofia CopPOLLa
― Kim Kimberly, Sunday, 25 February 2024 19:58 (one month ago) link
Thanks!
― The Ginger Bakersfield Sound (James Redd and the Blecchs), Sunday, 25 February 2024 20:13 (one month ago) link