Remembering Elvis

Today marks the 40th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. He is iconic and there is little I can add to the conversation but my own personal feelings. I have had conversations with friends who are interested enough to talk about rock and roll about Elvis and I have expressed my feeling that Paul Simon had Presley in mind when he wrote the lyric "Every generation throws a hero up the pop charts" in his song Boy in the Bubble. We did that to Elvis and then reveled in watching him fall and in some cases, fail. My favorite books on Elvis are Mystery Train (the Presliad chapter) by Greil Marcus and Peter Guralnick's  Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love. There are many others, but in my opinion these are the most insightful. When I lecture about Elvis in my rock and roll course it always makes me sad. Maybe it's because I know how it ends, but regardless it makes me sad. Most performers would make a career of the year that Presley had in 1956. It was remarkable. Check out the documentary Elvis '56 to see what this young man had to endure. I will confess that I did not have a proper appreciation for Elvis with the exception of the Christmas album until I started teaching rock history. The Sun years were a revelation. Col. Tom Parker was a monster. Elvis got lost so often as his career progressed. Elvis died 40 years ago at age 42. 15 years young than my current age. In end it was not a happy life.

Happy Birthday Elvis. You are missed.

Elvis Presley-1956