Just one of the greatest moments in the history of rock and roll. That's all.
Showing posts with label Elvis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elvis. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Friday, January 08, 2010
The One and Only King
You could call this the greatest band in the history of rock and roll, and you wouldn't get an argument from me.
You could call the performances that Elvis gave on this night the greatest performances in the history of rock and roll, and you wouldn't get an argument from me.
Happy Birthday, Elvis.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Elvis
Elvis Presley died 31 years ago today.I've posted this before, but it's worth taking a look at again:
“If love is truly going out of fashion forever, which I do not believe, then along with our nurtured indifference to each other will be an even more contemptuous indifference to each others’ objects of reverence. I thought it was Iggy, you thought it was Joni Mitchell or whoever else seemed to speak for your own private, entirely circumscribed situation’s many pains and few ecstasies. We will continue to fragment in this manner, because solipsism holds all the cards at present; it is a king whose domain engulfs even Elvis’. But I can guarantee you one thing: we will never again agree on anything as we agreed on Elvis. So I won’t bother saying good-bye to his corpse. I will say good-bye to you.”
- Lester Bangs
Monday, August 13, 2007
Warren Zevon and Elvis
The manner of Elvis' demise bugged Warren Zevon; enough so that he wrote a song about it. From "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead," longtime friend and collaborator Jorge Calderon tells the story:
Jorge Calderon:
Another day, I took an old notebook out. I had glued this postcard from Graceland on it and it had a picture of Elvis' TV room, and it had like three TVs. And on the coffee table there was this white, weird-looking monkey with black eyes. He said, "What is that?" I said, "Look, it's a porcelain monkey." And, he just wrote it down and underlined it and said, "That's the next song."
I had seen this movie about the Memphis Mafia guys talking about how they couldn't do anything to help Elvis because they would lose their jobs. So, after he dies, these guys are doing a documentary about how they couldn't help him, but they do a movie about his death, and Warren loved that concept. At one point, I said, "He was an accident waiting to happen..." He wrote that down and then he added, "Some accidents happen at home." Then he wrote, "He should've gone out more often. Maybe he should have answered the phone." Then, later I said - I thought this would be too much - "Hip shaking..." Then, the second verse, which is my favorite, we wrote in front of each other at his house.
He was an accident waiting to happen
Most accidents happen at home
Maybe he should've gone out more often
Maybe he should've answered the phone
Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold lame'
That's how he earned his regal sobriquet
Then he threw it all away
For a porcelain monkey
He threw it away for a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figurine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face on velveteen
From a shotgun shack singing Pentecostal hymns
Through the wrought iron gates to the TV room
He had a little world, it was smaller than your hand
It's a rockabilly ride from the glitter to the gloom
Left behind by the latest trends
Eating fried chicken with his regicidal friends
That's how the story ends
With a porcelain monkey
He threw it away for a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figurine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face on velveteen
Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold lame'
That's how he earned his regal sobriquet
Then he threw it all away
For a porcelain monkey
He threw it away for a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figurine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face on velveteen
- Porcelain Monkey, Warren Zevon and Jorge Calderon
Jorge Calderon:
Another day, I took an old notebook out. I had glued this postcard from Graceland on it and it had a picture of Elvis' TV room, and it had like three TVs. And on the coffee table there was this white, weird-looking monkey with black eyes. He said, "What is that?" I said, "Look, it's a porcelain monkey." And, he just wrote it down and underlined it and said, "That's the next song."
I had seen this movie about the Memphis Mafia guys talking about how they couldn't do anything to help Elvis because they would lose their jobs. So, after he dies, these guys are doing a documentary about how they couldn't help him, but they do a movie about his death, and Warren loved that concept. At one point, I said, "He was an accident waiting to happen..." He wrote that down and then he added, "Some accidents happen at home." Then he wrote, "He should've gone out more often. Maybe he should have answered the phone." Then, later I said - I thought this would be too much - "Hip shaking..." Then, the second verse, which is my favorite, we wrote in front of each other at his house.
He was an accident waiting to happen
Most accidents happen at home
Maybe he should've gone out more often
Maybe he should've answered the phone
Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold lame'
That's how he earned his regal sobriquet
Then he threw it all away
For a porcelain monkey
He threw it away for a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figurine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face on velveteen
From a shotgun shack singing Pentecostal hymns
Through the wrought iron gates to the TV room
He had a little world, it was smaller than your hand
It's a rockabilly ride from the glitter to the gloom
Left behind by the latest trends
Eating fried chicken with his regicidal friends
That's how the story ends
With a porcelain monkey
He threw it away for a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figurine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face on velveteen
Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold lame'
That's how he earned his regal sobriquet
Then he threw it all away
For a porcelain monkey
He threw it away for a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figurine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face on velveteen
- Porcelain Monkey, Warren Zevon and Jorge Calderon
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
One Night
One of the great moments in rock and roll history, bar none. Elvis' 1968 Comeback special, singing "One Night."
Elvis Noir
I'm gonna be out of town without computer on the actual anniversary, so before then I'm gonna throw as much Elvis stuff on here as possible. Long Live the King!Here, courtesy of The Shamus, a great report on his best (only good?) move, King Creole.
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