It was about this time 27 years ago that Elvis Presley . . .

At least he was a cigar smoker......

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:thumbsup:

Oh yeah, if he HAD been alive, methinks perhaps Michael might not be.

And as for not being able to go out without being recognized, Bill O'Reilly has often made the point that while Elvis felt trapped by that fame, he also couldn't bring himself to go out without his trademark clothes, cape and all. You'd be surprised how well some of the world's most famous people can disguise themselves. It's not that hard.

It's one thing to have to have the bodyguards around, but all he had to do was wear a loose, ratty looking t-shirt, a pair of glasses with DIFFERENT frames than the ones his fans were used to, and perhaps a plain pair of pants or Bermuda shorts and regular old tennis shoes. Put all that together, smush a floppy hat (not the pimp hats that he and I used to wear!!!) down around your head and you're good to go. But nooooooo, God forbid that The King should be caught dead in anything less than all his finery!!! He's got to go out with his best threads on, riding around in all too conspicuous vehicles, etc.

Having been around a lot of small theater group people and some famous showbiz types as well, there's no difference between the no-names and the famous ones. I've also known some no-names who did go on to be famous. When they're alone they walk down the street hoping that nobody will recognize them, but cringing after walking two blocks and discovering no one has recognized them yet. There is a hypocrisy that goes with being that big of a star, and as much as I loved Elvis, he was no different. As much as he might have been "trapped" by his fame, he would have died if he had gone a week of his life without being recognized and fawned over.

They're all the same, none different. This is not to say he wasn't generous or any of those other things that we all admire him for, but he was a consummate superstar. If he was a prisoner of his fame, it wasn't so much because he couldn't go out without being recognized. It was because people like him are afraid to go out and NOT be recognized.

Sure, and Elvis was really no different either, just regular people. But he didn't have to go out like he was dressed to go onstage. He was a really weird, messed up guy from the time he was very young. Being a lonely, melodramatic, incredibly talented superstar who died young was actually a perfect door for someone like him to walk through. It's a shame to us, but he had a nice life, and he's still making us happy.

And on a rather profound note, I told a lot of people after he died that his life was a metaphor for this country, and that we had better watch our asses, because we had collectively fallen prey to what he had fallen prey to as an individual. I think I've seen a lot of that come true, because we are nearly finished because of decadence and immorality.

I also told some people back in '82 that Arnold could be president someday, and now an amendment just might go through someday to create that possibility. Having known him a little from 1973-83, those of us who did are not the least bit surprised that he went on to become a rich businessman, successful movie star and Governor of Kaliforniya. He too has fulfilled his destiny.

Favorite Elvis

He was a breath of ozone-pungent air on the music scene at a time when the pop charts were dominated by eminently listen-able tunes like Nelson Riddle's "Lisbon Antigua" and Les Baxter's "Poor People of Paris." About the most daring songs one one would hear on the airwaves was The Cheers' "Black Denim Trousers and Motorcycle Boots" and "Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Haley and The Comets, and that was primarily because of the natural association with Brando's and Marvin's The Wild One two years earlier and that "sordid" inner city flick about JDs (as we used to call them), The Blackboard Jungle.

Then came Elvis and the Sun recordings with Scotty and Bill, and this boy rocked as no one had ever rocked before.


My life was changed on the spot… and I'd never seen, or even heard about, those "gyrating hips."

And then, just as quickly, it went downhill when RCA Victor got a hold of him, added The Jordanaires, and the rest is mostly crap compared to the early songs!

Sure, there were occasional goodies like "Heartbreak Hotel", "Don't Be Cruel" (good guitar lick there at the beginning) and "Suspicious Minds," but the "native Presley" was never equaled.

All Time Top Elvis Presley Recordings:

1. Blue Moon Of Kentucky[/*:2zd48ubk]
   
2. Mystery Train[/*:2zd48ubk]
   
3. I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone[/*:2zd48ubk]