Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Celebrate with Elvis Presley, as he sings “Danny Boy.”
Archives for posts with tag: Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley started his phenomenal career in 1954, and two years later had his first number-one hit, “Heartbreak Hotel.” RCA released the record in January 1956, but a few months later, it appears, Elvis was still able to travel by train without getting mobbed. In the photo above, the soon-to-be-icon relaxes with his favorite reading material, an ARCHIE comic. (Photo: Elvis Presley, July 4, 1956, by Alfred Wertheimer.)
With all the distractions and interruptions during public journeying, you want to read something easy to follow — so why not an ARCHIE comic, even for someone Elvis’s age (he was 21 when the top photo was shot)?
Illustration: Cover of ARCHIE comic. May-June 1956 issue.
“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.” MAYA ANGELOU
“Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”
MAYA ANGELOU
Photo: Elvis Presley reading ARCHIE comic book on train (July 4, 1956) by Alfred Wertheimer, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Elvis Presley started his phenomenal career in 1954, and two years later had his first number-one hit, “Heartbreak Hotel.” RCA released the record in January 1956, but a few months later, it appears, Elvis was still able to travel by train without getting mobbed. In the photo above, the soon-to-be-icon relaxes with his favorite reading material, an ARCHIE comic.
I am in no way criticizing Elvis’s taste in reading material — in my younger years, I, too, read ARCHIE comics during my annual train journey from Chicago to St. Louis to visit relatives. (For the record, I identified with Betty, not Veronica.) And I will agree with the Maya Angelou quote at the top of the post — reading comics did help me form a habit of reading.
But there’s a whole other subcategory here — reading material suitable for trains, buses, and planes. Of course, with all the distractions and interruptions during public journeying, you want to read something easy to follow — so why not an ARCHIE comic, even for someone Elvis’s age (he was 21 when the top photo was shot)?
Illustration: Cover of ARCHIE comic. May-June 1956 issue.
EIGHT LINE POEM
by David Bowie
The tactful cactus by your window
Surveys the prairie of your room
Mobile spins to its collision
Clara puts her head between her paws
They’ve opened shops down West side
Will all the cacti find a home
But the key to the city
Is in the sun that pins the branches to the sky
###
Happy birthday to David Bowie, born on January 8, 1947. Yes, music legends Bowie and Elvis share a January 8th birthday!
Photo: “Cactus on Windowsill” by Jenelopy, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Elvis Presley was a favorite subject of folk artist Howard Finster (1916-2001) — and prints of the work (“Baby Elvis,” 1988) shown at right are available (but not cheap) at Skot Foreman Fine Art.
Born on January 8, 1935, today marks the 78th anniversary of Elvis’s entry into the earthly sphere. If you’ve never listened to the King’s version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” take a few moments today to honor a great artist on his birthday — and listen to him sing the song here.
Cheers!
HEARTBREAK HOTEL
written by Mae Boren Axton, Thomas Durden & Elvis Presley
Well, since my baby left me
Well, I found a new place to dwell
Well, it’s down at the end of Lonely Street
At Heartbreak Hotel
Well, I’ll be
I’ll be so lonely baby
Well, I’m so lonely
I’ll be so lonely, I could die
Oh, although it’s always crowded
You still can find some room
For broken hearted lovers
To cry there in their gloom
They’ll be so
They’ll be so lonely, baby
Well, they’re so lonely
They’re so lonely, they could die
Now, the bell hop’s tears keep flowin’
And the desk clerk’s dressed in black
Well, they been so long on Lonely Street
They’ll never ever look back
And it’s so
Well, it’s so lonely baby
Well, they’re so lonely
Well, they’re so lonely, they could’ve die
Well, if your baby leaves you
You got a tale to tell
Well, just take a walk down Lonely Street
To Heartbreak Hotel
Where you will be
You’ll be so lonely, baby
Well you’ll be lonely
You’ll be so lonely you could die
Oh, although it’s always crowded
You still can find some room
For broken hearted lovers
To cry there in their gloom
They’ve been so
They’re be so lonely, baby
Well, they’re so lonely
They’ll be so lonely, they could die
Illustration: “Elvis,” street Art, Berne, Switzerland. (Photo by desatur8.) Elvis stars in street art all over the world. He is universally loved!
Thoughts: Elvis left the third rock from the sun on this day in 1977 — and embarked on an endless rock party across the universe. Blessed with talent, looks, charisma, a killer smile, and about the best voice ever, Elvis graced us with his presence for 42 beautiful years. My favorite Elvis tune is “Heartbreak Hotel,” originally recorded in 1956 — it was his first number-one hit and first million seller. What great lyrics! What a great melody! What a great beat! What great singing! What great guitar work!
Nearly a half century after it hit the airwaves, Rolling Stone magazine declared the tune one of the 500 greatest songs of all time. Keith Richards recalls hearing “Heartbreak Hotel” for the first time: “I’d never heard…anything like it. I’d never heard of Elvis before. It was almost as if I’d been waiting for it to happen. When I woke up the next day I was a different guy.”
Listen to Elvis sing this classic song here.
Folk art legend Howard Finster envisioned American icons — the flag, Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, and other national treasures — in a new ways. Who else would picture George Washington with black hair, as he is portrayed in the upper-left portion of this flag? As a writer, I gain as much inspiration from artwork and photographs as I do from great literature, and I often turn to the folk art of Howard Finster to set my imagination spinning.
A hand-signed screen print of this 1991 painting is available from New York’s Skot Foreman Gallery. Learn more here.
Silver Birch Press 