Beautiful weather, busy as busy can be, with all kinds of projects, personal and professional. I’ve been in a Sam Cooke phase, this song in particular.
Categories
Archives
-
-
-
-
Recent Posts
- 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- “I don’t represent anything.” — Liz Phair
- “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- “Some syllables are swords.” — Metaphysical poet Henry Vaughan
- “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- “All I need to make a comedy is a park, a policeman and a pretty girl.” — Charlie Chaplin
- “As a cinematographer, I was always attracted to stories that have the potential to be told with as few words as possible.” — Reed Morano
- “Even though I’m writing about very dark material, it still feels like an escape hatch.” — Olivia Laing
- “It’s just one of the mysteries of filmmaking that sometimes you do something that you don’t even think it’s important, then it turns out to be.” — Lili Horvát
- “Ballet taught me to stay close to style and tone. Literature taught me to be concerned about the moral life.” — Joan Acocella
Recent Comments
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Scott Abraham on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Scott Abraham on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- Mike Molloy on 2026 Shakespeare Reading Project: Much Ado About Nothing
- sheila on March 2026 Snapshots
- sheila on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- Jessie on March 2026 Snapshots
- Helen Erwin Schinske on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Maddy on “I don’t really know why, but danger has always been an important thing in my life – to see how far I could lean without falling, how fast I could go without cracking up.” — William Holden
- sheila on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Helen Erwin Schinske on “To me, music is no joke and it’s not for sale.” — Ian MacKaye
- Joseph Pedulla on Susan Hayward Sleeps Raw
- sheila on “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
- P Nickel on “The realization of ignorance is the first act of knowing.” — Jean Toomer
- Melissa Sutherland on “For I am of the seed of the WELCH WOMAN and speak the truth from my heart.” — Christopher Smart
- Bryce on The Books: “Nine Stories”- ‘The Laughing Man’ (J.D. Salinger)
-
Peter Guralnick did a great biography of him…”Dream Boogie.” Did you read his books on Elvis? “Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love”?
// Did you read his books on Elvis? //
You’re new around here. :)
Yes I have read them. And I have beefs with volume 2, as I have expressed elsewhere. I actually take issue with his “take” on Elvis in general, which I have also written about elsewhere. But I do appreciate both of those books – it is a biography the man deserves, respectful and humanizing. However: I think Guralnick is way off in many respects, due to his own blind spots.
Haven’t read his bio on Sam Cooke though. I will check it out. Loved Guralnick’s Lost Highway. An amazing book.
I’m not TOO new…I just forgot lolol.
I respect Guralnick’s abilities…but I don’t love his take on Elvis either…that he thinks Elvis never was better than his Sun days, for example. He’s a purist. I find it hypocritical that many rock critics praise Elvis’ honesty and purity and artistry…and then put him down for doing styles of music THEY don’t like. I don’t like that Guralnick tends to hold Elvis to his (Guralnick’s) own personal, idealized Elvis.
For Elvis biography, I like Dave Marsh. I like Greil Marcus’ “Presliad” in “Mystery Train.” (Still the best book I’ve ever read on American music.) And W.A. Harbinson’s “The Illustrated Elvis” is a really interesting read.
Tracey – I feel exactly the same way about Guralnick!! That’s it exactly. He can’t really get behind the 60s Elvis or the 70s Elvis (even the way he divided the book shows that.) It’s a shame. I love some of the 60s and 70s stuff.
Just had a great conversation at a party about Mystery Train!
Not that it takes much, but, upon listening, I may have just entered a Sam Cooke phase myself!
God, what a voice!
Amen sister!
This was a classic book about the King with lots of pictures and lots of information about Elvis Presley.