Posts Tagged: elvis presley
For New York City Mayor: Jimmy McMillan
It’s a long time until Election Day in New York City, but clearly the best candidate is Jimmy McMillan of The Rent is Too Damn High Party.
McMillan ran in the Democratic primaries for governor in 2010 but failed, despite strong debate performances, to win the nomination. The problem was that beyond lowering the rent, his major position was to allow people to marry their shoes. It’s an interesting policy innovation, but somehow didn’t seem to directly address the serious problems facing the state.
He’s back, and his video — which seems to be loosely modeled on the training montage in Rocky — does not disappoint. It’s especially impressive considering the fact that McMillan seems to have almost no musical ability.
Beyond the comedy, McMillan is talking about the serious issue of middle class and the working poor surviving in New York City. There is a method — and a reason — to the madness.
Below is Connie Francis’ Nixon’s the One, a well done song from the 1968 campaign. It sound sums up 1960s establishment America perfectly, and the images are very interesting — though they were not compiled by a fan. Elvis and Johnny Cash make cameos.
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Nixon and Presley: A Meeting of Icons
TDMB yesterday marked the 78th birthday of Elvis Presley. Today, it turns out, is the centennial of Richard Nixon.
It is fairly well known that the two icons met in the White House on December 21, 1970. There is a famous photo of the meeting. Above and below are other shots taken by White House photographer Oliver Atkins.
The two others in the photo above are Sonny West and Jerry Schilling. I believe West is next to Nixon. In the photo below (or after the jump inside), Nixon looks at Presley’s cuff links. The third man in the photo is Egil Krogh, who ended up going to jail for authorizing the burglary of Daniel Ellsberg’s psychiatrist’s office.
Here is the text of the letter Presley sent Nixon requesting the meeting. It was written on American Airlines stationery:
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The King Would Have Been 78 Today
Elvis Presley was born on this day in 1935.
I would provide some background on Elvis, but there just isn’t anything on the Internet about the guy. Seriously, here are some nice photos from Elvis’ army days.
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The American Pop Music Hall of Fame Will Have a Great First Class
The site has a news item today that reports the American Pop Music Hall of Fame is seeking input from the public on which group or performer should be in the inaugural class. The story the item is based on has a link to the entire list of candidates.
They are:
Paul Anka, The Beach Boys, the Beatles, the Bee Gees, Tony Bennett, Chuck Berry, Pat Boone, the Carpenters, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Chubby Checker, the Dave Clark Five, Nat King Cole, Perry Como, Bobby Darin, Neil Diamond, Bob Dylan, the Everly Brothers, the Four Seasons, Connie Francis, Elton John, Dean Martin, Johnny Mathis, the Monkees, Ricky Nelson, Roy Orbison, Patti Page, Les Paul & Mary Ford, the Platters, Elvis Presley, Simon & Garfunkel, Frank Sinatra, Smokey & Miracles, The Supremes, Three Dog Night, Bobby Vinton, Dionne Warwick, Andy Williams, Hank Williams and Stevie Wonder.
I wanted to feature one of the acts on the site in addition to the news item. So I took a pen, closed my eyes and pointed to the screen. The Everly Brothers was the closest.
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Another Hall of Fame to Open its Doors
The question of whether or not we need a new hall of fame is a good one.
That isn’t, however, the one being asked by The American Pop Music Hall of Fame, which is setting up temporary shop in Canonsburg, PA. What the group is asking for is input on the first class of nominees.
There are 40 nominees including Frank Sinatra, The Beatles, Elvis Presley assorted other mega stars. Candidates must have had a national hit between 1946 and 1975. Ten of 40 nominees eventually be the inaugural class. The story links to the list of candidates.
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Elvis and Andy Griffith
The passing last week of Andy Griffith led Phil Arnold, who runs ElvisBlog, to post an item on the links between the two icons. He described an appearance of Presley and Griffith on The Steve Allen Show in 1956, which apparently is well known. He noted it was not the first time the two shared a stage:
But, how many fans know that Elvis worked with Griffith a year before they appeared together on the Steve Allen Show? Early in his career, Griffith had some success as a singer. He took his singing and comedic talents on the road headlining his own show. Starting on July 25, 1955, Elvis joined Griffith and other performers for a series of nine concerts in Ft. Myers, Orlando, Jacksonville, Daytona Beach, and Tampa, Florida. Look at the line-up for these two July 31, 1955 shows at the Ft. Homer Westerly Armory in Tampa.
There are some very interesting graphics at the site.
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Elvis Presley: Heartbreak Hotel
The shows Elvis in relaxed mode during his 1968 comeback. The guitarist is Scotty Moore.
Here is a nice bio and a version of Long Tall Sally from 1956.
Peter Guralnick wrote an acclaimed two-part biography of Elvis. The second volume (Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley, 2000) is one of the saddest books imaginable. Elvis comes across as a decent guy who was just unable to deal with what he had become. It gets grotesque, mentally and physically, towards the end. I’m sure the basic themes are similar in the fall of Michael Jackson.
The first volume of Guralnick’s bio is Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley (1995).
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