As I said yesterday, this week is Elvis' birthday. In yesterday's post I talked about the first song I ever heard Elvis sing - Can't Help Falling In Love With You - and what it meant to me personally.Today I would like to talk about the beginning of the legend. Among Elvis fans there is great debate about which Elvis is the best Elvis - young or mature. Most Elvis impersonators model themselves after the older Elvis, the one with the sideburns, capes and flamboyant stage costumes, and this is probably why this is the image that has become iconic. Those gold framed sunglasses, the high collars, the sequin and rhinestone outfits, the famous black hair complete with sideburns as long as the Mississippi and that karate chop move - all very easy to emulate and ideal for taking on the mantel of The King.
But my preference has always been for the raw and pure Elvis of his early years. I still think he is one of the sexiest men ever to grace rock and roll. Those brooding eyes, that slightly crooked smile, the shyness that hid beneath a giant talent and one of a kind personality. Though I was still a youngster in Elvis' heyday I was not immune to the charms of that voice, I would stand or sit outside my sister's door as she played his records and I still can spend all day listening to Elvis - thanks to all the Elvis channels on satellite tv, cable and Elvis Sirius Radio I can do that. Only The Beatles stations can compete with enough songs to fill a whole day and it took four of them! Don't get me wrong, I love my Beatles too, but even they were huge Elvis fans!
So, today I would like you to enjoy some Elvis that shaped my musical tastes when I was still playing with dolls and too young too appreciate all that Presley sex appeal. This was a time in my life when his voice and the music alone captivated me. Tomorrow I'll talk about his comeback era - when I was mature enough to grasp just how sexy and alluring this man was, but today I give to that voice and the pure rock and roll that was Elvis:
Heartbreak Hotel
Love Me Tender:
Blue Suede Shoes:
Jailhouse Rock:
Don't Be Cruel:
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