The King And I, And Lessons Learned

 
I wasn’t a huge Elvis fan while he was alive; I was just on the cusp of the shift to the Beatles, and Elvis got left behind for me. I remember with clarity the the day the King died, though: August 16, 1977. I was driving back to New Jersey after graduating college when I heard the news on the radio, in my beat-up old VW Beetle: Elvis is dead. I had to pull over for a minute and catch a breath.

After his death I became a huge Elvis fan, buying up his early albums and swooning to that sweet young voice. And that face, what a beautiful face. I was one year old in 1956 when he recorded Love Me Tender, and in kindergarten for Are You Lonesome Tonight?.  But when I was 22, I “discovered” those old tunes.

When I was a volunteer docent at the Foosaner Art Museum in Melbourne, we had an Elvis memorabilia exhibit. I learned a lot more about his life and his music. And the control he gave up to his manager when he, Elvis, could have had and done everything he wanted. Lesson learned from the King: take charge of your own life and make it real.

The museum displayed old black and white photos like this:

king

What a face; those eyes, those lips. From this Pinterest site.

When I came across this statue of Elvis at a local antiques mall, I knew from the hair it was the later Elvis, the Las Vegas Elvis, the soon-to-be-wearing-jumpsuits Elvis. I still got a kick from getting up close and personal.


I’m wearing one of my favorite summer looks, a full skirt and tank top. This is my skirt from Visible Monday, a dark green eyelet with a scalloped hem. The shoes are my now-beloved Steve Madden sneaker/oxfords, and bear a resemblance to the men’s shoes of the 1960’s.

king

He changed the music world.

 

Enjoy every day, sing a tune, and stay fabulous, xox,

 

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patti

17 Comments

  1. I love your positive posts so much they really uplift and your photos are brilliant : )http://www.bauchlefashion.com/2018/08/decoding-chanel-reissue.html

  2. My father was a big Elvis fan, so I grew up with his music but only the later stuff (mid – 60’s and later) and we would watch his movies whenever they came on TV. I remember being so shocked when he died.
    There is a great 3 hour documentary about his life, his musical influences, and why his music was so popular that came out recently (not the one that Sherry mentions). It is very good, and also very sad when you see how much control of his life had been given over to the Colonel.

  3. Yes Elvis I believe was a religious young boy I think part indigenous too.Bbut I do find I get information about artists twisted at times.lol.i am 56 and just love your sweet site.Makes me believe as I always have dressing up reminds me of 5 years of high school I thrived on.Age is NOTHING to me most don’t know my age except tax lady and government of Canada.I live in a wee conservative city less than 13,000 mostly surrounded by indigenous populations ,a Sikh community that own motels and taxis companies and a variety of peoples whom sought refuge in small communities outside Vancouver British Columbia Canada.Enjoying every moment of this site thank you for being ageless like myself I have been off work recovering from the working world for 14 years now and living on ten percent of my American income as a psychiatrist nurse from Michigan.

  4. My husband was a huge fan of the young Elvis back in the 1950s, and still has all his old singles and albums. I too remember where I was when I heard the news that he’d died: I was in my parent’s living room listening to the radio. As a 16-year old punk, he was, at that time, all we punks rebelled against. I only learned to appreciate him – or at least the young Elvis – much, much later. xxx

  5. I was never an Elvis fan — 60s bands were more my style –but I can share this. Not far from where I live, in Ontario, Canada, the small town of Collingwood hosts “The World’s Largest Elvis Festival”. The whole area is inundated with Elvis impersonators! The festival was last weekend, but you can see what it was all about on their site:
    http://collingwoodelvisfestival.com/

  6. I remember where I was when he died, we heard it on the radio. I was at my friend’s playing Barbies. I was 11. I wasn’t really into Elvis at the time, that happened later when I discovered his movies and more of his music. One of our favourite CDs to play at Christmas is his.

    He was quite the looker. When I met my husband he had that same dark, black, thick hair. VERY attractive!

    Suzanne
    http://www.suzannecarillo.com

    • Love the Christmas music he did. And yes, that thick hair is so good looking! xox

  7. Those eyes, those lips, and that hair!! Elvis was most definitely a swooner–i.e., someone I would swoon for.

    I was nearly 7 when he died and, like you, I remember it vividly. Odd how such things can impact even the very young. But I lived in Arkansas at the time and all the adults around me melted at the news of his death.

    There is a documentary about him going around the circuit. It’s called The King. The documentarian travels around the US in Elvis’s old Rolls Royce while people sing and tell stories about him. My humble opinion is that the film tried to be too many things. It tried to tie Elvis’s influence to the division in the US today but I think it failed there. It also lacked in what could have been a very cool history lesson about one of the most influential singers of all time. Even so, the music, the people in the film, and the video of Elvis himself was worth the time it took to see it. It spurred me later to go read more about The King–things I didn’t get growing up in a world where he was seen as flawless.

    Thanks for the walk down memory lane, you hunka hunka burning love! 🙂 hee hee.

    Hugs,
    Sherry
    http://www.petiteover40.com

    • I haven’t seen that film, but I will. I adore the old footage of Elvis performing and shocking the elders! Don’t you love the jazzy Jail House Rock with the inmates dancing a la Bob Fosse: https://youtu.be/qka6JrKUM5U. xox

  8. Fathom Events and ABG will present “ELVIS 50 th Anniversary Comeback Special” in more than 500 select U.S. movie theaters on Thursday, August 16 and Monday, August 20 at 7:30 p.m. local time (both dates

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