James Wolcott at Vanity Fair for his appreciative shout-out to my Elvis posts. It makes me happy, thank you so much. I have been having so much fun and it’s so nice to share the love with other Elvis fans, brand-new and old.
All Elvis Presley posts can be found HERE.
Hi Sheila
Beautiful post about Are You Lonesome Tonight. Besides the awsome video, of course.
Have you read Elvis in the Dark? http://livinginstereo.com/?p=293
Great stuff about that song and how Elvis came to record it. Never thought about Elvis coming from Germany to ask his fans “do you miss me tonight?”.
Cla – I can’t thank you enough for the link to that piece. It was thrilling to read, and no, I had never read it. Wonderful stuff and I agree wholeheartedly. It is that quivering baritone Dean martin sound that signals to me Presley growing as an artist (I wrote about it before somewhere) – a bravery, a courage, a launching himself into another phase … If he had tried to keep singing like his untrained raw self in 1954 not only would it have failed but he would have been a flash in the pan like anyone else. He had an incredible voice – he started to experiment with it, stretching it, testing it … at 18 he didn’t even know the HALF of what it could do. I so appreciate that he had the balls to keep stretching it, trying new stuff.
It’s a brilliant instrument.
Thanks again – I really enjoyed reading that piece.
My pleasure, Sheila! Have a great day!