Elvis Presley: Classic Or Dud?

Wait which episode was that, or are you going to make me listen to all 500?

It’s actually from the most recent one, in which he answers questions from listeners

Recent Andrew Hickey talk here and elsewhere led me to find his on-target review of the Elvis movie: https://andrewhickey.info/2022/07/11/elvis-film-review/

thx for posting- a good read!

though uh he is VERY thorough lol
“Now I should also take a moment here to address my non-conventional use of punctuation. I know it is common for a period to be used in a natural break but as you’ll see I prefer …”

That was interesting, this guy’s a good writer

Fwiw, John Goodman isn’t really fat anymore

yes! he’s pretty lean these days

But also---wrinkled as hell, deflated-looking. And deflated-seeming, last time I could stand to watch The Connors. Like some older people I've known---

wow that’s a great review. thank you

This fucking clip is amazing. I'm sure it's upthread somewhere but holy shit — not just the way the rhythm section (Jerry Scheff and Ronnie Tutt) go off about two and a half minutes in, but the way Elvis reacts to Tutt, grinning like he can't even help himself given what he's hearing, and then the way he plays with the backup singer a minute later, stalking across the stage at her like a goddamn tiger...just an unbelievable performance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1g5tVGZhfk

Cool, thanks.

Does he pretty much always say/sing “shove it up your nose” at that one point? Used to think that was a one-off but it seems to keep reappearing.

unbelievable confidence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdYYcMH4dmw

The movie's gonna be on HBO Max starting Friday. Asked my wife if she had any interest in watching it with me, she said no, so I'll probably pass.

You don't know what you are missing.

i’m in!

another great performance, fun tune too

Does anyone else like to do an Elvis number as karaoke? Have we discussed before?

Also trying to find this article from the Village Voice called “Elvis Presley: Rhythm and Ooze,” by Gregory Sandow.

Don't know if this helps, but if you have access to a library's archives, it's the Aug. 18, 1987 issue, page 71

(Actually it may be Aug. 16 not 18 - I see it listed as both)

Thanks. Saw that date.

Snippets are quoted here.

Also want to see that Kiri Te Kanawa interview.

Here's a brief roundup of a few classical singers talking about him: https://alainrozan.wordpress.com/

Including Bryn Terfel. Seems like the quote is from here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/10/arts/music/10bryn.html

Also something here: https://www.classicfm.com/artists/bryn-terfel/guides/bryn-terfel-hall-valley-king/

"Return to Sender" his Desert Island Disc!

I know, I know, I don't need these opera stars to validate him, but it still makes me happy for some reason.

I particularly enjoyed this

Elvis is now streaming

:D

Does anyone else like to do an Elvis number as karaoke? Have we discussed before?

i do if i can dream a lot

if i did i would do From a Jack To A King

I often do “Polk Salad Annie,” which is fun for various reasons.

Trying to think of another one to mix it up.

film was entertaining, started and ended kind of horribly but the entire middle section is excellent.

The Vegas part was when I really, really believed he was actually Elvis, but thought a lot of the rest of it was pretty good too.

god butler really inhabits the mannerisms

that scene on the ferris wheel when he flashes the little kid grin talking about comic book hero - i was like whoa

and the early dance moves, the way he’ll just flail his arms loose like he’s a rag doll but his core is pure iron & controlled
so fkn good

ugh i am ON BOARD and i’m barely an hour in

i hate the music overlays but luhrman gotta luhrman

When you get to the 1968 TV special and then the Las Vegas opening the recreations become uncanny (although I don't believe for a second the Colonel didn't know what Elvis was going to perform in the TV special ahead of time... I guess you gotta give the movie star something to do)

yeah i think even the beale street/memphis fairground stuff kinda kicks it into gear but the comeback/vegas stuff for sure killer

butler’s 1/4 profile is ridiculous- there are times you’d swear it was E himself (aside from the irl footage i mean)

that first Vegas show was like ~dayum~
plus giving the cadences of a couple of the songs, the vibe of all of it is so perfect

The music overlays are the most obvious problem. I can live with pretty much everything else and feel that this is as about as good as it was gonna get.

I mean if the Colonel really spoke with an accent like that he'd have been deported before he even met Elvis, but on the whole the film was fun and kinetic and captured a lot of Elvisness

Ha, exactly.

yeah i agree

i dont even have much of a problem with what hanks did as parker - like it’s too broad for sure but the irl parker was only slightly less broad imo lol

my main gripe such as it is is that E gets off too lightly given that he was violent w almost every woman in his life incl priscilla but i expected as much since the estate is involved

but overall i am super impressed by the story they’ve told here & butler’s perf is insanely legit

Also the film focuses on Elvis's rocking uptempo material and downplays his balladry (iirc). So there's a lot about his black music influences, but nothing about, say, his deep respect for the stylings of Dean Martin. But I was fine with that. It's a feature length film, not a miniseries, and you have to make choices like that.

yeah there’s nerdy shit i wish was included, like how DJ Fontana used to play strip joints & worked up the beats that Elvis could time his wiggles to

or how much he liked talking abt music w musicians

or that Streisand opened his first Vegas show, or that Tom Jones used to hang out w him in Vegas

i lost it when they cut to the irl footage at the very end though. that rapid city (?) footage fucks me up, hell anything from those shows tbh

Other than Butler's performance in every respect and his set pieces, I don't know what to think. Some of the montages make such strange connections that I laughed out loud at their offense. But!

the performance scenes are what stick with me the most. whatever story Luhrmann was trying to tell about Elvis and the Colonel, or whatever points he hoped to make about Elvis's sincere engagement with Black musical culture, the movie's most compelling achievement is cutting through all the impersonators and Elvis jokes and Weekly World News updates i grew up with, and restoring to Elvis his life as a performer. every one of those live show scenes was electric, barnstorming, fire.