Elvis the Pelvis - Part Four: The Fall of Elvis by Dave Jaffe
In the late 1960's, Elvis Presley emerge from hibernation. He went on a publicized tour of the United States. He packed in the crowds, proving that he was still popular. His song 'Suspicious Minds' rose to near the top of the charts. Yet though Elvis was still a legend, he was a sick one. He was still taking many drugs and may have descended into paranoia. He turned out one more hit, namely 'Kentucky Rain' written by a New Jersey native, namely Eddie Rabbit.
Then suddenly he died on August 16, 1977. He was only in his early 40's. It seemed that he may have died from a drug overdose. He surely was taking many drugs though most of them were legal ones. In any case thousands of Americans took to the streets to mourn this legend.
"Elvis is dead," one Vancouver, B.C. woman said at the time when she heard the news. Then she burst into tears. "How could he die?"she said. Others asked the same question. Here was a man who seemed to have it all: Good looks, massive fame and hordes of cash. Now he was gone. Elvis Presley had touched the lives of tens of millions of people around the world. Yet his great fame and privileged position could not shield him from a short life. He died a relatively young man who was totally addicted to so many drugs.
Like James Dean and Marilyn Monroe before him, fame did not make him immune to an early death.
Monday 22 January 2018
Saturday 20 January 2018
Ends and Odds: The Ravings of an Old Man by Dave Jaffe. Chapter Five, part three. Elvis the Pelvis. Part Three
Elvis the Pelvis. Part Three.
In 1958 Elvis Presley joined the U.S. Army. In those days of the Cold War the U.S. draft was in full swing. Millions of young American males joined the armed forces without a protest. Only some male members of a few religious groups were exempt from the draft. All others had to go.
Presley willingly joined the army. He served two years mostly in West Germany where he was promoted to sergeant. He came home in 1960 and a huge t.v. pageant was put on to welcome him back. Yet the decade of the 1960's proved to be very different from that of the previous decade. Soon the U.S. was embroiled in an unwinnable war in Indochina. African Americans took to the streets to win equal rights. New groups from Great Britain like the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones poured out new music. Then Bob Dylan sang songs that were very challenging to conventional tastes. The new music was way different than Elvis's.
As musical tastes changed, so did Elvis. His mother died and that hurt him. He appeared in very forgettable films like 'Blue Hawaii' and sang songs that were saccharine sweet. Presley now lived in a huge home in Memphis called Graceland. Here, Presley partied, did legal and maybe illegal drugs and probably had many women. His fame was still legendary yet he had changed. The Beatles found him somewhat strange when they visited him in the mid-1960's.
In May 1967 he married Priscilla Ann Wagner whom he'd met in Germany. Yet Presley married or single wasn't well. The couple were divorced in 1973. They had a daughter named Lisa Marie who later married another famous and disturbed rock star namely Michael Jackson. In the late 1960's, a cultural revolution was in full swing across the western world. Presley loathed the cultural revolutionaries and the Black Power advocates who praised armed struggle. "Kill your parents," Yippie leader Jerry Rubin told the young people of America. Nor did Elvis have any time for those who burned their draft cards.
"Hell no" young people chanted outside draft office and while taking part in anti-Vietnam war marches. "We won't go (to Vietnam)." Tens of thousands of young men fled to Canada to avoid the draft. Others went to prison. All of this appalled Elvis. "Elvis Presley gave money to George Wallace," yippie journalist Paul Krasner said in effect in 1968. Still, Krasner couldn't prove this. Wallace was a pro-segregationist anti-protestor governor of Alabama. He ran third in the 1968 U.S. presidential election with 16 per cent of the vote.
Republican candidate Richard Nixon won the election just squeaking past Democrat Hubert Humphrey. Presley may not only have supported George Wallace. In the early 1970's he visited president Nixon in the White House carrying to Nixon an anti-drug message. Nixon welcomed the king of rock'n roll for he was under attack from the left. Nixon praised Presley who by this time may have been addicted to a number of drugs. In any case, the support of Presley didn't hurt Nixon's political fortunes.
In 1958 Elvis Presley joined the U.S. Army. In those days of the Cold War the U.S. draft was in full swing. Millions of young American males joined the armed forces without a protest. Only some male members of a few religious groups were exempt from the draft. All others had to go.
Presley willingly joined the army. He served two years mostly in West Germany where he was promoted to sergeant. He came home in 1960 and a huge t.v. pageant was put on to welcome him back. Yet the decade of the 1960's proved to be very different from that of the previous decade. Soon the U.S. was embroiled in an unwinnable war in Indochina. African Americans took to the streets to win equal rights. New groups from Great Britain like the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones poured out new music. Then Bob Dylan sang songs that were very challenging to conventional tastes. The new music was way different than Elvis's.
As musical tastes changed, so did Elvis. His mother died and that hurt him. He appeared in very forgettable films like 'Blue Hawaii' and sang songs that were saccharine sweet. Presley now lived in a huge home in Memphis called Graceland. Here, Presley partied, did legal and maybe illegal drugs and probably had many women. His fame was still legendary yet he had changed. The Beatles found him somewhat strange when they visited him in the mid-1960's.
In May 1967 he married Priscilla Ann Wagner whom he'd met in Germany. Yet Presley married or single wasn't well. The couple were divorced in 1973. They had a daughter named Lisa Marie who later married another famous and disturbed rock star namely Michael Jackson. In the late 1960's, a cultural revolution was in full swing across the western world. Presley loathed the cultural revolutionaries and the Black Power advocates who praised armed struggle. "Kill your parents," Yippie leader Jerry Rubin told the young people of America. Nor did Elvis have any time for those who burned their draft cards.
"Hell no" young people chanted outside draft office and while taking part in anti-Vietnam war marches. "We won't go (to Vietnam)." Tens of thousands of young men fled to Canada to avoid the draft. Others went to prison. All of this appalled Elvis. "Elvis Presley gave money to George Wallace," yippie journalist Paul Krasner said in effect in 1968. Still, Krasner couldn't prove this. Wallace was a pro-segregationist anti-protestor governor of Alabama. He ran third in the 1968 U.S. presidential election with 16 per cent of the vote.
Republican candidate Richard Nixon won the election just squeaking past Democrat Hubert Humphrey. Presley may not only have supported George Wallace. In the early 1970's he visited president Nixon in the White House carrying to Nixon an anti-drug message. Nixon welcomed the king of rock'n roll for he was under attack from the left. Nixon praised Presley who by this time may have been addicted to a number of drugs. In any case, the support of Presley didn't hurt Nixon's political fortunes.
Friday 19 January 2018
Ends and Odds: The Ravings of An Old Man By Dave Jaffe Elvis the Pelvis; Chapter Five. Part Two
Elvis the Pelvis. Part Two.
No one in the U.S. of A. needed to worry about Elvis Presley's politics. He was as clean as they come. he loved America, didn't do drugs, at first anyway, was polite to nearly everybody and posed no danger at all. He even paved the way for African American singers to appear. Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Fats Domino started to make real money after Elvis became famous. They were just as wild on stage as Elvis was.
White imitators soon popped up in England like Cliff Richards and Johnny Halliday became a famous French rock'n roller. Yet neither of these two or more watered down American imitators like Fabian or Ricky Nelson could match Elvis's raw sex appeal. The British group of Bill Hailey and his Comets made an impact but still weren't in Presley's league.
Millions of young men now grew their hair long, just like Elvis and combed it backwards into what was called 'a duck's tail', exactly like Elvis did. Others set up quartets to copy or sing Presley type songs. Rock and roll now started to sweep the world, outside that is of communist countries where the youth longed to hear it but couldn't.
What Elvis Aaron Presley did was in some ways incredible.He had helped create a new music and a new industry based on rock music. Neither he nor his very clever manager had asked for government subsidies like the energy industry or some NGO's do to-day. Presley just sang music, like rock'n roll but also gospel music, Christian hymns, country music and even operatic arias. His music helped push the recording industry to new heights.
Of course Presley couldn't have done this alone. The aforementioned record industry was part of the 1950's infrastructure that helped him. Also out there in 1950's America was radio, television. the phonograph, newspapers and magazines. Nearly all these parts of the mass media were thriving. Without these building blocks, Presley's career would never have taken off as it did. With their help, Presley became a super star who sent rock'n roll all over the non-communist world.
"He was a genius," one Vancouver musician said about Presley many years later. "He was 'The King' who sold over 20 million records." In fact Presley may have sold over a billion records. Even to-day fifty years after his death, Presley remains an American icon and deservedly so.
No one in the U.S. of A. needed to worry about Elvis Presley's politics. He was as clean as they come. he loved America, didn't do drugs, at first anyway, was polite to nearly everybody and posed no danger at all. He even paved the way for African American singers to appear. Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Fats Domino started to make real money after Elvis became famous. They were just as wild on stage as Elvis was.
White imitators soon popped up in England like Cliff Richards and Johnny Halliday became a famous French rock'n roller. Yet neither of these two or more watered down American imitators like Fabian or Ricky Nelson could match Elvis's raw sex appeal. The British group of Bill Hailey and his Comets made an impact but still weren't in Presley's league.
Millions of young men now grew their hair long, just like Elvis and combed it backwards into what was called 'a duck's tail', exactly like Elvis did. Others set up quartets to copy or sing Presley type songs. Rock and roll now started to sweep the world, outside that is of communist countries where the youth longed to hear it but couldn't.
What Elvis Aaron Presley did was in some ways incredible.He had helped create a new music and a new industry based on rock music. Neither he nor his very clever manager had asked for government subsidies like the energy industry or some NGO's do to-day. Presley just sang music, like rock'n roll but also gospel music, Christian hymns, country music and even operatic arias. His music helped push the recording industry to new heights.
Of course Presley couldn't have done this alone. The aforementioned record industry was part of the 1950's infrastructure that helped him. Also out there in 1950's America was radio, television. the phonograph, newspapers and magazines. Nearly all these parts of the mass media were thriving. Without these building blocks, Presley's career would never have taken off as it did. With their help, Presley became a super star who sent rock'n roll all over the non-communist world.
"He was a genius," one Vancouver musician said about Presley many years later. "He was 'The King' who sold over 20 million records." In fact Presley may have sold over a billion records. Even to-day fifty years after his death, Presley remains an American icon and deservedly so.
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