Sir Stewart Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Of course, it's possible things could've turned around for E. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Of course, it's possible things could've turned around for E.It is possible, except things were moving pretty fast in 1977 and Elvis was clearly old school at that point. Surely he could have gotten a jump start to his career a la Johnny Cash and American Recordings, but if the Col Parker had still been around, that would not have happened either. If the first half of Peter Guarlnick's bio is enlightening and a revelation about Elvis, the second half is every bit as distressing and depressing as one can imagine. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
boywiththorninside Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Dying was Elvis' best career move. He was totally washed up when he died, a joke at best. Most of us didn't even care about him at that point; I will even admit to not even being interested in him at that point either; now I am. Most people even on this board would not have been interested in him in 77, since there were far more interesting things happening at that point. As with many musicians, dying helps. LouieB I'm with Sir Stewart on this one. Would Dylan (or his audience) have been better off with him dying in the mid-80's when he was making slick sounding crap that no one really cared about? I'd like to think Elvis could have possibly cleaned himself up and had a late career resurgence like Dylan had. Or like Johnny Cash had. Rick Rubin could have picked some tunes for Elvis to cover and some magic could have happened. As messed up as he was physically, Elvis' voice was never diminished. I think he could have pulled another comeback off. 1968 (when his crap movies had once before rendered him a joke) all over again. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Elvis: That's the Way It Is The show in that film is pretty kicking - may be somewhat slick, but still - full of energy. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sir Stewart Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I still haven't brought myself to read Guralnick's second Elvis book - knowing what's coming would ruin the feel-good story of the first book. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I have never read any Elvis books - except for one I have that is a book of short stories that all feature Elvis in them. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
boywiththorninside Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 Elvis: That's the Way It Is The show in that film is pretty kicking - may be somewhat slick, but still - full of energy. I just watched that yesterday. The best part is "Love Me Tender" when he walks into the crowd. He must have kissed about 25 different women during the song. I hope no one had a cold. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 There are some outtakes out there on various BT sites. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I'm with Sir Stewart on this one. Would Dylan (or his audience) have been better off with him dying in the mid-80's when he was making slick sounding crap that no one really cared about? I'd like to think Elvis could have possibly cleaned himself up and had a late career resurgence like Dylan had. Or like Johnny Cash had. Rick Rubin could have picked some tunes for Elvis to cover and some magic could have happened. As messed up as he was physically, Elvis' voice was never diminished. I think he could have pulled another comeback off. 1968 (when his crap movies had once before rendered him a joke) all over again.I don't disagree with this at all, but both Dylan and Cash were lucky enough to not kill themselves. Neither had the drug problem that Elvis did, although certainly Johnny came close. It took Johnny a couple decades to re-emerge as a force in music. Some people think Dylan never has had much good going on since the 70s and even he feels like there were some fairly fallow periods during the 80s and 90s. Elvis continued to pack them in to his shows no matter how falling down/fucked up he was and no matter how short his sets were. The core base of fans never left Elvis, but he was certainly not considered very hip in 1977. Maybe with a complete makeover in the late 80s or someone like Rick Rubin at the helm he may have rebounded, but all this will remain speculation forever. Even the comeback in 68 was partial. He did a nice show, but never took much of it on the road (never went to Europe) and ended up with long engagements in Las Vegas. I mean live from Hawaii was something I suppose, but kitchy as hell. Luckily he still had some good songwriters working for him in those later years. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I still haven't brought myself to read Guralnick's second Elvis book - knowing what's coming would ruin the feel-good story of the first book.The first book is a masterpiece, the second is a tawdery tragedy as you would expect. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Analogman Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I forgot - I did read an Elvis book that had photos of his camping stove and various things in it - when I was at Ms. Viatroy's house last time. I guess they never threw anything away. When I was at the R$RHOF, they even had the TV he shot there. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
LouieB Posted August 17, 2007 Share Posted August 17, 2007 I forgot - I did read an Elvis book that had photos of his camping stove and various things in it - when I was at Ms. Viatroy's house last time. I guess they never threw anything away. When I was at the R$RHOF, they even had the TV he shot there.I saw that at the HOF years ago. The funniest thing about that exhibit was the security system that kept saying "step away from the exhibit". It also had Elvis' report cards from school and other such stuff. LouieB Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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