Elvis Presley The Searcher

For those of us who weren't around back then, I have some questions about the part in the doc where the established tv hosts seemed to mock him to his face. What was that about? I guess he showed them.

from another thread:

Lots of gay/bi rumors about Elvis. One of his girlfriends (after he and Pricilla split up) walked out of his bedroom one day and exclaimed that she thought Elvis liked guys more than girls. (Wise man).

well?

Weren't there rumors about him and Nick Adams?

That was Steve Allen R1 who hated rock and roll. Ed Sullivan liked Elvis, though.

i often hear him referred to as the first superstar. But weren't there plenty of super famous people before him? Marilyn, Garbo, etc...

they don't make them like him anymore.

you guys suck

I'm not a bible basher but I do love some of his gospel songs. This is great (and great album title):

And this rocks...

swag

Hot.

My parents were big Elvis fans when I was growing up in the '70s. I delved into their record collection and played the shit out of his '50s and '60s albums as a kid. I had a huge crush on him too. He was a very sexy man up until a year or two before he died. I remember watching his Aloha From Hawaii TV-special when I was 8 and I thought he was the most beautiful man I had ever seen. I think that night was my first recollection of having same-sex attraction.

Elvis was my favorite until I discovered Led Zeppelin, The Stones, and Kiss in the mid-70s. I still love his music though.

The show was well done.

Tell us more about Elvis' possible same-sex trysts.

Elvis loved watching two women making out. He seems pretty straight to me.

Elvis and Lee. They both admired each other and had lots in common, apparently...

For all who don’t have HBO and would like to see the Documentary: ELVIS The Searcher HBO will be having a national free preview from Fri 4/20 through Mon 4/23. Elvis Presley: The Searcher will air on Sunday...

I’m obsessed with him since watching this show.

I hear both that he was sleeved out by the gays but then there’s the quote above so I don’t know what to believe.

I’m leaning that he was straight but he was the King after all, so he reads as above terrestrial classifications.

[quote]For all who don’t have HBO and would like to see the Documentary: ELVIS The Searcher HBO will be having a national free preview from Fri 4/20 through Mon 4/23.

Or if you're under 1000 years old, you'll know how to watch it for free on dozens of sites.

What I find interesting is that a certain people will say that they weren’t into him, but then they say they were more into either Sinatra or the Beatles, depending on the generation.

He hit it big in 1954, so if you are younger than 60, then you probably missed the boat.

I don’t think Beatles hold up like Elvis or Sinatra. I know that’s unpopular, but the Beatles songs sound so cheap and whiny in hindsight. They sound like something from the past that wasn’t serious. Almost amateurish. Even unintentionally comical at times.

Sinatra holds up in terms of standard type music and Elvis holds up in a different way. He sounds dated, for sure, but polished. Complete. Professional.

I don’t feel the same way about the Beatles.

The Beatles always sound like they are missing something.

Anybody ever seen him in person?

My favorite Elvis song.

r22 my dad saw Elvis in Las Vegas in the early 70s, when Elvis was still thin and in good shape. My dad said the concert was excellent.

"For those of us who weren't around back then, I have some questions about the part in the doc where the established tv hosts seemed to mock him to his face. What was that about?"

Elvis was hated by all those squares. Steve Allen had him on his show and deliberately tried to humiliate him by having him sing "Hound Dog" to...a hound dog. It was really stupid, but Elvis handled it very well. Elvis was adored and worshiped by his fans; I think people like Allen resented that and were very jealous. He was also very sexual in performance, gyrating and moving around on stage (that was considered such an aberration back then) and that was considered offensive. Steve Allen was such an absolute dick. He later said after Elvis's death that he had no talent. Like I said, he was a real dick.

As for as Elvis "liking boys"...well, he liked their COMPANY better than that of girls. For him, girls were just a decoration, an amusement, something to show off and have sex with. "The guys', as they were called, were his true companions.

judging by the videos online, I would have loved to see him live. I can’t imagine what it was like when he first hit the radio because people just went nuts. They seemed to either love or hate him. That shakey leg was something else.

Squares indeed.

Frank was much more gracious when he hosted Elvis a few years later.

One Elvis Presley doc and now I’m an expert.

My mom and dad also saw him in Vegas at the International in the 70s. What I remember the most is that they said an audience member was wearing a bikini top that would light up and Elvis got a HUGE kick out of that and kept singling her out.

I saw some of his concerts on youtube and he kissed so many of his fans! Lucky bitches!!!!

Elvis loved God. He was very religious. He was lonely and many times, he brought girls back and just talked about the bible and didn't even want to fuck them etc. Maybe they wanted more than kissing but he didn't fuck them and that's why they said he liked boys more than girls?

He was very generous to his crew. buying them cars and houses. What a friend! constantly gave gold chains and rings away too.

I love elvis and I am still young! He is timeless! American Icon!

Elvis lives!

Elvis on his 1968 comeback special? I think this is when he was at his hottest.

I love Elvis. And I thought what made this documentary great was how it showed his musical interests and roots. It occurred to me that Elvis and Justin Timberlake were both from Memphis. And there couldn’t be two more different talents. But both had rumors of gay bondings. I think both probably rolled in the hay a tad. But the women are all shallow because he was in love with his mama- shit happens. They are living in poverty and they are both lonely and mournful. And she has already lost one child. So an emotional marriage is born.

Elvis was addicted to meeting and becoming infatuated with women and repeated the cycle over and over. Towards the end of his life he was often out of it, which made it hard to have a relationship.

Elvis is a god fearing man, there is no way he is even a little bit gay.

he’s smoking hot at the op pic. I see why they threw their bras at him.

"For those of us who weren't around back then, I have some questions about the part in the doc where the established tv hosts seemed to mock him to his face. What was that about?"

They disapproved and were jealous of him. Steve Allen had him on his show, and he was required to sing "Hound Dog"...to a hound dog. It was really stupid but Elvis handled it very well. Elvis was worshiped and adored by his fans, and squares like Allen resented that. They also disliked him because he was so sexual in performance, gyrating and moving around onstage; that was considered quite an aberration back then. After Elvis died, Steve Allen stated in an interview that he had no talent. Steve Allen was an incredible dick.

As for Elvis "liking boys"....well, he liked their COMPANY better than that of females. For him females were appendages, toys, decorations to be played with now and then, except for Linda Thompson, who really became a kind of surrogate nurse/mother to him. But he really preferred hanging out with "the guys" as they were called. There was nothing gay about it.

Elvis and President Carter are 6th cousins.

His '68 Comeback Special is essential viewing. The epitome of charisma, star power and talent.

It's a shame that Elvis worked hard to get back into shape and sounded so good in the late '60s/early '70s for it all to go to shit again.

He should have fired Colonel Tom Parker but there was probably no way Parker would leave.

Parker only cared about how much money he could make from Presley. Never gave a shit about his growth and evolution as an artist. He wanted to make the fastest buck he could, with no regard for Elvis' future as an artist and probably not as a human being.

>> He hit it big in 1954, so if you are younger than 60, then you probably missed the boat

He had a notable second renaissance, probably 1968-1972, with the string of the tv special, Suspicious Minds, Burning Love, In the Ghetto, Kentucky Rain, and a few others.

Love him!

I'm a Gen-Xer and I LOVE Elvis! Have been to Graceland, and was even lucky enough to get to meet and chat with Elvis' long-time tailor, Mr. Bernard Lansky. It was oddly powerful, shaking hands with a man who knew Elvis so well.

R30 true, he didn't like to sleep alone ever, and many women reported talk of religion in some form or another (he read alot of new ageish too) and also reports that he sometimes just seemed to want to talk with 'normal people' - that he would ask lots of questions about their families, friends, daily lives,.

And then sometimes it was more of course... came a bit close with the video evidence on this 68 special outtake, he was known to have had an affair with this dancer, among others.

Was he boinking Ann Margaret?

Of course he was "boinking" Ann Margaret. They had a serious affair while he was living with little Priscilla. Supposedly they were really in love, but Ann Margaret was a star in her own right with a successful career, so of course she was not a suitable mate for Elvis. He married the compliant young Priscilla and attempted to mold her into his perfect woman by having her wear thick heavy makeup and dyeing her hair jet black and teasing it into a foot high haystack. After Elvis got through with his "makeover" she looked like a cheap hooker.

Her look was fierce you got to give her that. Or give him that.

Elvis is the KING, period! Every male star in Rock and Roll, Country, Pop, etc... is still influenced by him or by others who were influenced by him, they are all still held up to the standard he set. There has never been anyone as sexy as him in the 68 comeback special. As a millennial, there are many people I would have loved to seen perform live, Judy, Sinatra, The Beatles, Patsy Cline, etc... But if I was given a time machine and told I could only chose one, it would be ELVIS!!!

Elvis is still the greatest.

Nice to see the appreciation Elvis is getting.

Watched the first part, gave up, was such a hagiography, which is hardly surprising as Priscilla was involved. No mention that she was 13 when they started 'dating', then they even bother to mention his drug bloated end or was it all just ass licking?

If you want dirt, R52, there are plenty of other shows/books/etc... They met when Priscilla was 14. She said nothing sexual happened. I believe her.

R53, not dirt love, just the truth

Isn't the focus on music, love?

R55 little of that

This doc was very well done. It doesn’t go j off I too much detail but it does feel intimate. It is organized around the music, which for people who weren’t around then is helpful.

His butt is amazing in that black leather number from the 68 special.

I watched the doc with my older sister who was a teenager during Elvis’ 50’s heyday. I found it really well done and very focused on his music, which is what I wanted to hear about.

When they got to the part about the ‘68 special and showed the film of Elvis jamming with his band, my sister goes “He looked like a GOD in that black leather”. I did not disagree with her.

Damn shame he didnt get wise to Col. Parker earlier and dump his sorry ass to get out of all those stupid movies. Imagine the artistic growth he could have had with better management.

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Kinky fucker..

Seems he was searching alright.

Before Priscilla and Elvis married they did not have intercourse. But they did...other things. She immediately became pregnant after they finally married and after giving birth Elvis didn't want her sexually anymore. Having sex with a woman who had had a child was anathema to him. It's no wonder she strayed. But the guy she hooked up with was Mike Stone, an ugly karate instructor/competitor. I suppose he had a fit body but Elvis was a million times better looking than him. In Albert Goldman's biography of Elvis he portrays Priscilla as being utterly smitten with Stone, but I think it was just that he was a very convenient candidate for adultery since he and Priscilla both were involved in the karate scene. At any rate, she barely mentions him in her memoir. So much for "the man she really wanted", as Albert Goldman called him.

Tom Petty was one of the narrators. Probably one of the last things he did.

After Elvis, one of the men Priscilla dated was Robert Kardashian.

I have always thought that Priscilla ‘s plastic surgery addiction was due to Elvis controlling her physical look as a young, yearning girl. It damaged forever the way she physically saw herself.

R59 R60 R61 R62 R63 YES all that good real shit, the guy was a total fucking mess and the hagiography totally ignored it all to suck on his balls. Useless

R1 Man, his beauty was truly overrated. Good singer, though.

R68 you're the one who's a total fucking mess. Lord help you if you ever find out what a real motherfucker is. I say Loady please shine some light on this soft-headed brat at table 68 and please feed it some polk salad, yes Load, just shove a whole mess o' polk salad in its mouth... 0 thank you Load.

Here's a treat for your inner hound dog

I dont get the appeal of the Beatles either. Their music doesn't hold up that well imo. Heartbreak Hotel for instance. When you hear that for the first time...The sound of that, the rock 'n roll, the soul on that. The Beatles didn't have soul.

I think John Waters says The Beatles destroyed rock'n'roll. Before them it was exciting and visceral and after it was dull and academic. I agree.

[quote]I don’t want to say I hate the Beatles. I don’t own any of their records. They ruined rock and roll. They put Motown out of business. So I never bought a new record ever until punk came out. The Beatles led to the Monkees. And it was a little hard hearing Lennon sing about "no possessions" when he was living in the Dakota. I was a yippee. Hippies got on my nerves. We made fun of hippies. I didn’t know it, but I was waiting for punk. And so that’s what I mean about the Beatles. I know they were amazing songwriters and all that, but I liked the Rolling Stones. I would’ve rather been at Altamont than Woodstock.

The Monkees are awesome, btw.

Elvis was born in Tupelo, Mississippi not Memphis, TN.

Ann Margret talks about Elvis on Charlie Rose.

I suspect the Elvis hater is also the Meghan Markle hater on the Harry pre-nup thread and the Audrey Hepburn + Grace Kelley hater on Grace's thread.

Amazing that Tom Jones just sang for the Queen last night.

Funny how Elvis never struck me as very sexual. He gets the same reaction from me that "sexual gods" Robert Redford and Paul Newman get from me and they all come across as very asexual.

That pic of Elvis during his military physical examination reminded me of the process I went through at my Army induction back in '64. He is expected to drop those drawers and get bare nekkid as Army doctors go from man to man in the line and "finger" them all. Balls are manhandled and then you have to turn around and spread 'em. Presenting hole is the last step before you are allowed to pull up the undies and stop cringing from embarrassment. Poor Elvis had to stand there dick out for a considerable length of time and you just know that every set of eyes went directly to his crotch to see how he measured up to being the "king." He looks like he was tragically average. I was average too, but after glancing around, I was elated to realize that a lot of the 50 or so guys with me were less than average. Sadly, that made me feel better.

The process may have changed after all this time. That was over 50 years ago.

It was not just Elvis' hip swiveling but his pink clothes, his voluminous trousers and his eyeshadow that armed critics with what they called "evidence" of his power to destroy the morals of American youth.

Elvis, are you out there somewhere, looking like a happy man? In the snow with Rosebud and King of the Mountain!

The doc was great. I was a waiter many years ago. Whenever Elvis played on the speakers, ALL THE WOMEN in the restaurant would slowly start to groove a little in their seats. Looking around the room, you would see a sea of women rocking in their seats with smiles on their faces. Next time to hear the big E on public speakers, look around.

"James Dean was a genius."

R78

But did she throw her panties at him?

Nick Adams, Robert Conrad

The Beatles suck.

R86 is retarded. And by the way, the Beatles did not "destroy rock and roll (did John Waters really say that? If he did than he's even dumber than I thought). They SAVED it. Rock and roll was dying until the Beatles rejuvenated it. Elvis was in the army, Buddy Holly was dead, Chuck Berry was arrested, Little Richard dropped out of his career to became a preacher....rock and roll was in its death throes until the Beatles came along. Their music was fresh and full of energy, not "dull and academic" by a long shot. No "dull" band would have incited the hysteria that they did. Rock and roll was in the toilet until the Beatles came along to reinvent it.

[quote]Their music was fresh and full of energy, not "dull and academic" by a long shot. No "dull" band would have incited the hysteria that they did. Rock and roll was in the toilet until the Beatles came along to reinvent it.

The "dull and academic" bit wasn't Waters, that was mine, sorry. He did say he thought they destroyed rock'n'roll, though. Hmm, wasn't the excitement and hysteria that made The Beatles such huge stars down to their early, more straightforward pop and rock'n'roll songs, though. The "dull and academic" shit came later, I think. I do admire The Beatles but it's hard to ever really like them and I've noticed that anyone who defends them almost always does so on academic and intellectual grounds, rather than anything visceral or emotional. Rolling Stones fans talk about how the music makes them feel and how "raw" they were, for example; Beatles fans talk about how "important" they were, etc.

The Stones and the Beatles were way before my time, and I have a ton of Stones songs but not even one Beatles song. I think the Stones carried down to later generations much more than the Beatles did.

Elton/Bernie blows the Beatles out of the water, not to mention the Rolling Stones.

R90 = Bernie Taupin

There's a good recent biography of Elvis by Ray Connolly, "Being Elvis: A Lonely Life." It's pretty good, very staight forward. Anyone interested in Elvis should give it a read. I think the title is derived from a headline on the front page of the Memphis Press-Scimitar after Elvis's death. Connolly said that it stated "brilliantly": "A lonely life ends on Elvis Presley Boulevard."

I wasn't around back then, but I've heard that you didn't really hear much about Elvis in the several years before he died. He was kind of a has-been and not in the news much. Is that true?

Elvis had sex/affairs with other women who had had children, such as Barbara Leigh. There was something else going on there with Priscilla, whether it was because she'd had 'his' child and he expected her to behave like his mother had, or other relationship issues, or the paranoia Parker had always stoked about how he'd lose his female fans if he married. He'd certainly told enough people that he didn't want to marry her, even though he eventually went through with it (as he'd promised her father years prior). He may have carried resentment, especially after he was back in the spotlight. Elvis married in Vegas on May 1, 1967 and Ann Margret then 'eloped' to Vegas herself on May 8, 1967 and married... He reportedly asked Ann if they could resume their relationship anyway.

Priscilla's story has generally been that she largely expected him to stay home and have a normal suburban family life - that wasn't going to happen. Yet she was always ambitious for herself, that's how she ended up Graceland in the first place - nothing in Memphis was likely to have satisifed her ambitions long term. She seemed very disconnected from his career and wanted her own next mountain to climb (nothing wrong with that). Even in the documentary she notes that she only "finally got it" when she saw him open in Vegas, after they'd been together for years. It would have been exceedingly difficult for him to have had a happy marriage with just about anyone regardless,; certainly nothing really indicates they were a good marital match beyond the early years.

I was surprised Elvis was supposed to make his film debut in the rainmaker with Katharine Hepburn but the colonel talked him out of it and talked him into a bunch of garbage he hated doing.

What a shame. He had acting talent.

I'm watching it now. Will come back to this thread for juicy info.

[quote]but the colonel talked him out of it

Been there.

By around 1963 Elvis was considered old hat... very uncool.

His 1968 special appealed to people who were teens in the 1950s. He's wearing a black leather jacket with greased hair... it had nothing to do with what 1968 was all about.

And then a year later he came out with "Suspicious Minds" and that changed everything. His later work was his best.

It a shame he went the kitschy Las Vegas route. He should have evolved into a more Johnny Cash type.

""Suspicious Minds" is one of the all-time great pop songs.

And I love his "Always on My Mind". Makes me cry.

[quote]The "dull and academic" shit came later, I think. I do admire The Beatles but it's hard to ever really like them and I've noticed that anyone who defends them almost always does so on academic and intellectual grounds, rather than anything visceral or emotional. Rolling Stones fans talk about how the music makes them feel and how "raw" they were, for example; Beatles fans talk about how "important" they were, etc.

The years leading up to the Beatles were all about Frankie Avalon, Fabian, Bobby Vee, Bobby Rydell, Connie Francis, Annette Funicello...for God's sake. Bobby Vinton (!) had massive hits with things like "Blue Velvet".

Novelty songs were top 10 hits: the Chipmunks, Lorne Greene (LOL)... dance songs like "The Twist" were the rage too. And also light-weight "Hootenanny" type acts.

It was a disaster. The Grammy Award for best song of 1963 was given "Deep Purple" by Nino Tempo & April Stevens. Listen to it.

The girl groups, the Beach Boys, The 4 Seasons were fun and are still fun to listen too...but the only really quality stuff was coming from Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Roy Orbison, but few others.

And as another poster mentioned: rock was dead.

The Beatles actually revived rock in 1964 and their later cerebral work was another step pop music need to take.

Pop music went from Fabian to "Abbey Road" in just a few short years and the Beatles spearheaded those changes.

...sorry for all the typos...

Wiki says the 68 Special was watched by 42% of the television audience, topped the ratings for the week, and was the most watched show of that tv season. The album reached #8 on Billboard. So it did get at least a decent audience at the time, uncool or not.

Parker's behavior around the special was true to form in how he viewed and treated Elvis. Parker told NBC he would be responsible for getting fans in for the tv show tapings, distributing the tickets. And then he did nothing, just sat back and waited for disaster. He wanted to publicly humiliate Elvis for rejecting Parker's 'big plan' to perform only Christmas songs. And he wanted to show Elvis he was wrong to listen to anybody but Parker, show him that nobody else was competent. He was always manipulative and vindictive. And he pulled similar stunts later when Elvis wanted to work again with Binder (the tv show producer) and Moman (the Suspicious Minds producer), and similar earlier to get Elvis away from Leiber & Stoller. Not surprising in the end to find that Parker was discharged from the army as a diagnosed psychopath.

One thing I noted about the HBO doc, it really misled on the issue of the original contract with Parker (that Elvis's parents had to sign because he was a minor). Elvis's mother didn't want them to sign it, she didn't like or trust Parker. Parker convinced singer Hank Snow and Elvis's parents both that Snow would be co-managing, had Snow talk Elvis's mother into the deal (she liked Hank Snow) and screwed them all by leaving Snow's name off the final contract signed by the Presleys.

Why did Elvis never fire that loser Colonel Parker as his manager? All those shitty, embarrassing movies and songs! Elvis could've had a respected film career like Sinatra if he'd wanted to.

[quote]The Beatles actually revived rock in 1964 and their later cerebral work was another step pop music need to take.

It was a dead-end. What did Lennon or McCartney do post-Beatles of any lasting value? "Imagine"!? The Rolling Stones continued making great albums throughout the 70s, primarily because they weren't trying to appeal to the chin-kneaders. And Motown was still at a peak well after 1964. The idea that rock'n'roll and pop were dying before the Beatles saved them isn't true. They fucked everything up. But again, defense of The Beatles is, as always, made on academic grounds, rather than emotional. I'm amazed by how much boring filler is on even supposedly classic albums like Sgt. Pepper's. "Blue Velvet" is still considered a classic song, isn't it? So this revolution that apparently wiped away all this bad music doesn't seem to have been very lasting.

The Velvet Underground formed in 1964, which came primarily out of the New York scene. Stax and Chess were also producing great work around that time and throughout the '60s. Dylan went electric in early '65. Dylan's been credited with influencing The Beatles by freeing them from the conventions of pop music, btw. There was a lot going on in the mid-sixties that had nothing to do with The Beatles.

The Rutles are much better, of course.

Also, one final thing: it's impossible to overstate the importance of Brian Epstein and George Martin to The Beatles success. Their first hit single was "Please Please Me", but the early version Lennon and McCartney recorded was a boring slow affair, which no one would have bought. Martin told them to re-do it and speed it up; they weren't keen but did as they were told... and the rest is history. He also had a huge influence on their later, more arty farty stuff. The genius production on "Tomorrow Never Knows" is probably all George Martin, for example.

Anyway, The Beatles is boring. Let's talk about ELVIS!!!

That's another point where the documentary misled, R103. Elvis did fire Parker at least once, in 1973. Parker responded by sending him a likely bogus bill for several million dollars and a demand for future revenue. Believe it or not, Elvis's father did Elvis's books, he was the 'accountant' (the IRS did Elvis's taxes at Parker's instruction!), and Vernon reportedly freaked out and told Elvis there was nothing they could do, that they couldn't afford to fire Parker.

Elvis didn't have, or seek, competent, professional advice, nobody outside he trusted; he was so isolated after all the time with Parker and his own father's fears and some of his own 'buddies', per some accounts being paid extra by Parker to keep him isolated and report to Parker. Due to Parker's manipulation of events, Elvis believed he'd been abandoned by people like Binder, Leiber & Stoller, and he lacked outside business contacts. When Sam Cooke was killed, Parker fed him dark tales of the mafia, how they'd better not piss off the Vegas mob, stick to his contracts, don't ask for more money, don't rock the boat. It all fed into the narrative he kept hearing from Parker,, and his own insecurities.

Parker was eventually fired by the probate court after Elvis's death when the books were finally examined. They charged him and RCA with collusion, negligence, malfeasance, etc. Priscilla though had wanted to keep Parker on. In the documentary she talked like she saw through him but if so, it took decades. She's always talked him up until this film.

[quote]It was a dead-end. What did Lennon or McCartney do post-Beatles of any lasting value? "Imagine"!?

We were talking about the "Beatles"... not post Beatles.

Lennon/McCartney as a TEAM wrote standards like "Yesterday", "Something ", "In My Life", "And I Love Her", "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away", "Here There and Everywhere".... songs that the greatest singers have covered.

In fact: they are the most covered songwriting team in pop history.

[quote]The idea that rock'n'roll and pop were dying before the Beatles saved them isn't true.

No , you're wrong, rock'n'roll was dead. Here's a list of 1963's top 100 recordings.

And no one said pop was dead... but take a look at the top 10...pop was in very bad shape.

[quote]There was a lot going on in the mid-sixties that had nothing to do with The Beatles.

You don't quite get how the Beatles started a cultural shift.

Actually we're talking Elvis.

r107 thanks for that explanation. Wow, I had no idea of the technicalities. What a snake Parker was, and obviously Elvis was not smart at all when it came to the business side of things.

I adore him.

Truth be told, I'd drop to my my knees, and have his cock in my mouth in under a minute, if I could.

I suspect that Col. Parker had blackmail material on Elvis being bi-sexual -- a sex film or audiotape. Elvis was rumored to have had a threesome w/ Robt Wagner and Natalie Wood.

All age groups watched Elvis TV comeback concert. He looked damn hot in his black leather outfit. Too bad he gained so much weight and started wearing the aviator glasses and those awful Superman Cape Jumpsuits.

30-something here. I didn’t get the appeal of his music when I was a kid. I was introduced through the (terrible) movies and assume his reputation rested on his extraordinary good looks. I preferred the Beatles.

More fool me. I understand his musical genius and the importance of the physical carnality in his performance now.

I heard Priscilla speak recently and she said she liked the Colonel. I was a little taken aback.

It’s thought Elvis didn’t tour internationally because of him. It was discovered in later years that Parker was an illegal immigrant and was afraid to go through customs. It’s infuriating to think of how wasted his talent was due to that con artist.

[quote]It’s infuriating to think of how wasted his talent was due to that con artist.

So true, especially all the crap Elvis did in the 60s. The embarrassing movies and terrible songs. If Elvis had had better management, he easily could've been a respected film star in prestige movies.

Could someone start a Beatles thread? And, leave this thread for Elvis? Thank you.

Was Jerry Lee Lewis his rival or were they different enough?

JLL was an interesting cat. It’s a shame what happened and all.

Yes, someone please take r117’s suggestion so I can rip into John Lennon.

Looking forward to that.

More on Pricilla and the colonel. You would figure she would not like him. It was her money too, at least later.

r119

Jerry Lee Lewis, that crazyunprepossessing hillbilly, was never a thread to Elvis despite what that incredibly stupid movie "Great Balls of FIre!" would have you believe. Elvis had looks, talent, charisma; Jerry Lee Lewis had some talent as a performer but he was nothing compared to Elvis.

Imagine what Elvis could have achieved if he'd had a GOOD manager. It boggles the mind. Parker was all about money; artistry meant nothing to him. The crap he did was unbelievable. He refused to let Elvis tour abroad. He contracted him to do all those dopey movies that made him look like a fool. And he wanted the 68 comeback special to be Christmas themed, old fashioned and hokey. Thank God that didn't happen but he did insist the special be closed with a Christmas song. But then a song was presented to Elvis that seemed to sum up the times people were living in then; "If I Can Dream." Parker heard it and said nope, that's not Elvis's kind of song. Elvis heard it and when when Parker nixed it he mumbled agreement but it was an act. Elvis rarely overrode Parker but he did in this case. And of course the song turned out to be a show stopper; Elvis, in a white Edwardian suit, against the background of a giant neon sign declaring "ELVIS", singing his heart out. It was unforgettable, one of his greatest performances.

Here's a DL thread from the other year.

The story at OP & R1 is intersting

That was juicy