I was never a great fan of Elvis Presley

[OAITW r.2.0]

Except for this moment in 1968. Elvis was pretty much out of the musical picture after his string of bimbo, Col. Parker movies. But this show, which I watched live, really impressed me. Later, Elvis took his schtick to the Kung-Fu extreme and then it ended.

But this show, was pretty goddam impressive. Considering he hadn't been in front of a live music audience in 6 or 7 years....he was a pretty good acoustic and electrical guitarist. I was surprised. It's like the real Elvis emerged that night.

https://music.

&si=al1MlKWZ709tDqK4

[SuzyandPuffpuff]

1. Nice

I saw this a few years ago and had the same feeling. Always nice to b surprised

[Silent Type]

2. That was the musician in him. Never a huge fan, but my parents had a few 45s and one can't deny his popularity.

Lots of my favorite musicians list him as a significant influence.

[OAITW r.2.0]

3. There was the commercially produced Elvis....

then there was this. Changed my mind about him.

[moniss]

4. His list of accomplishments in

records, both singles and albums, is huge. Still to this day the people who saw him on stage before the decline talk about how powerful it was. No singer or performer before or since has had the kind of pilgrimage like Elvis of fans from around the world year after year to his home in Memphis. I'm glad to see you find a part of Elvis career that made a good impression.

I realize that much of his music isn't in the taste of everybody and that is cool but there is good reason they call him The King. He can be criticized for some things but there has never been anybody before or since who had this size or dedication in a fan base. Just a couple of stats:

101 Gold albums ( Streisand is 2nd with 52)

129 albums on the Billboard 200 (Sinatra is 2nd with 82)

57 Platinum albums is Number 1

67 cumulative weeks as Number 1 male solo artist on the Billboard 200

Still one of the most streamed artists decades after his death.

There's plenty more but I put this stuff up because sometimes we don't see the sheer magnitude of what his recording career was. The movies and stuff were sort of mindless fluff but remember that Parker did see using them as promotion for the music at a time when music videos didn't exist and live feed TV didn't really cover concerts. Elvis to his credit pulled away from that and the story of how the song "If I Can Dream" came about in such a short time frame and came out in performance so well is an absolute marvel of his talent and the musicians and songwriters around him.

[OAITW r.2.0]

5. I was born in 53. My folks were Big Band focused.

He wasn't on my radar until I saw this at 15, Whoa, this is Elvis? Good stuff.

But, I went in a different direction and he did too. Such is life.

[stopdiggin]

6. I think that was well put. And pretty much on point.

The musical talent was there.
Didn't always come to the fore ... But - his choice in the end ...
And, thanks for bringing back a chapter serves to remind ... Better times ...

[progree]

7. Hallelujah - much improved acoustics IMHO

If one finds the visual part distracting or worse, just scroll down away from it

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The First Time I ever Saw Your Face