I shared a room with my older brother until I was fourteen. I have a lot of memories of that little red, white, and blue box we used to live in. One thing I'll always remember is sitting on the floor listening to my father's old 45's when we were kids. Those RCA discs, the ones with the little dog listening to the phonograph on the label, had some of our favorite music on them. We used to love "16 Tons" by Tennessee Ernie Ford. By the time we got to listen to them, most of those records were over twenty years old, but that never mattered. We'd still jam to them like they were brand new. And though there were a lot of choices in those little 45 record albums we had, we couldn't get enough of Elvis.Most of my dad's Elvis collection consisted of the old songs... the ones that made him famous. "Jailhouse Rock" and "Don't Be Cruel." "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Hound Dog." Those are the ones I remember listening to the most. When Elvis' "#1's" collection came out a few years back, it brought me back to those days of laying on the bedroom floor... hearing all the pops and cracks as the needle wove its way across the warped vinyl surface. I could sing the words to just about every one of them over thirty years later, much to my wife's surprise and dismay. I love 'em. And it's too bad that Elvis is associated with the cheeseball stature that he cut in Las Vegas near the end of his career. He's been parodied into a joke now, but there's a reason we call him The King. He was the man.
Of all the Elvis selections I could've picked, I went with "Burning Love." Why? I simply love it. It's so fast. It's got this great beat. and some fantastic drumming. Give it a listen and play it really loud. Write me back when your body stops moving.
"Burning Love" can be found on the compilation "#1's". To hear the song, click on the icon in the widget jukebox along the side of the blog.
Great post. I too STILL know almost all his songs. Sarah loved him when she was little as does Katerina as Lilo and Stitch helped educate her on the diversity of the E man.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I don't ever hear too often was the range that Elvis had. For instance, go to Youtube.com and search for his live recording of My Way, the Sinatra standard. The very last line he absolutely destroys with his vocal power. It's pretty amazing with the state of his health and that he did his way, at the end of the show. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGfcf1acU1I