GT12's Nod To Elvis

By '64 he was no John Lennon. '65 is when I got hooked on the Beatles. Elvis was always 'old' music. By 1977 he was no more Rock than The Starland Vocal Band.

Nothing changed my mind on this until maybe the 90's when I grew to appreciate those pre-Army Sides. But compared to the stuff coming out of Atlantic at that time? No contest.

Peter Guralnick's books did nothing to change my mind.

Anyway ... Above is the most popular picture in the United States Archives. I picked up a coffee mug with the photo on it a few years ago and it has been my constant companion at work ever since.

Nothing really says more about how bizarre and pathetic both of these men had become.

I love it.

Warren Zevon may have written it best:

He was an accident waiting to happen

Most accidents happen at home

Maybe he should've gone out more often

Maybe he should've answered the phone

Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold lame'

That's how he earned his regal sobriquet

Then he threw it all away

For a porcelain monkey

He threw it away for a porcelain monkey

Gave it all up for a figurine

He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas

And his face on velveteen

From a shotgun shack singing Pentecostal hymns

Through the wrought iron gates to the TV room

He had a little world, it was smaller than your hand

It's a rockabilly ride from the glitter to the gloom

Left behind by the latest trends

Eating fried chicken with his regicidal friends

That's how the story ends

With a porcelain monkey

He threw it away for a porcelain monkey

Gave it all up for a figurine

He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas

And his face on velveteen

Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold lame'

That's how he earned his regal sobriquet

Then he threw it all away

For a porcelain monkey