Elvis - 30 Years Ago Today, RIP

I have always maintained that you cannot truly understand America until you've been to Graceland. About halfway through the tour, when we were ushered into one particularly ridiculous room (among many impressively ridiculous rooms), I started laughing uncontrollably and feared that I would be beaten to death by the huge posse of solemn pilgrams who were staring darts at me.

Chas, make the trip and you will see what it means to be young, rich, gifted and stupid. The guy could sing, he could exude both rebellion and sex, and he personified a certain kind of American dream that was shared by the youth of the country in the late '50s. It's an eye opener.

Marty

BTW, I saw one of Elvis' last concerts (in Ann Arbor, Mi) during my college years (late '70's). There were some recreational chemicals involved and Elvis was certainly well into his terminal (bloated) stage as a performer, but my memory of the show is his charisma. Even in this phase, which approached self-parody, he commanded the room. He was at once silly and riveting - an enigma, at that time. At an earlier time, when he was at his peak and the country was a bit more innocent, it's easy for me to understand how he was a mega-star.

Marty