a blog about elvis presley's music, movies, and more
MY BABYBOOK states that my favorite song in 1956 was “Sh-Boom.” As I turned 5-years-old that year, that makes sense. But I don’t remember it that way: my aging gray matter tells me that “Hound Dog” has been my favorite record since as long as it has translating my experiences into memories and storing them within its folds. READ MORE
TO RAISE FUNDS FOR HIS AIDS CHARITY, Elton John sold his record collection through a Sotheby’s auction in 1993. The collection contained more than 70,000 items, including singles, albums, 8-track tapes, cassettes, and compact discs. Proceeds from the sale went to the Elton John AIDS Foundation, which remains an ongoing concern that has raised more than $400,000,000 over the past quarter-century. READ MORE
SPOILER ALERT for record collectors! I am about to divulge information that could forever change the way you look at collectable records. And if you wheel and deal in old records, it might affect the way that you buy and sell those records. At least, it might change the way that you look at ads offering Elvis Gold Standard singles for sale, which seem to be a permanent part of the internet. READ MORE
KIRI TE KANAWA is not a name familiar to most pop music fans, including those of Elvis Presley. Nonetheless, she is one of the most famous opera singers in the world and should be known to Elvis fans. She was born in New Zealand in 1944 into a family that was too poor to be able to afford to even keep her, making her family considerably poorer than the Presleys during Elvis’ youth. READ MORE
WHEN RCA VICTOR STRUCK GOLD with Elvis in 1956, the only medium that mattered to the people most likely to buy his records was the 45 rpm single. In the first twelve months after signing Presley in November 1955, the record company released an unbelievable sixteen singles in the United States! These 45 and 78 rpm records sold over 12,000,000 copies, with approximately 90% of those sales being 45s. READ MORE
WHILE I CONTINUE TO SLAVE AWAY over the rewriting of the nine previously published articles (with discographies and price guides) for the Elvis Gold Standard Series catalog, I do occasionally take a break and pay attention to other things. Such as Quora. The question that just appeared there is “How many Elvis albums are there.” Believe it or not, that is a rather difficult question to answer. READ MORE
COMING SOON!
TO A SCREEN NEAR YOU
An all NEW series of updated and rewritten articles about the Elvis Presley Gold Standard Series of 45 rpm singles and EP albums!
NEW discographies – NEW labelographies – NEW photos of some really rather rare records!
Plus an all NEW, up-to-date price guide!!!
I have been busy completely revamping the series of nine articles I wrote about Elvis’ Gold Standard singles and picture sleeves and the new articles will be so, so, so much better:
More complete. READ MORE
WIKIPEDIA’S ENTRIES ON ELVIS and other music-related matters are not the most trustworthy sources for accurate information. In fact, visiting the site to look up anything about Presley can be a bit of an adventure. While adventures can be fun and even rewarding, some writers might not enjoy being made fools of when they discover that the Wiki-derived information on their blog is outrageously incorrect! READ MORE
THE QUESTION IS OLD: “Who gave (fill-in-the-blank) her big break in country music?” or “Who gave (fill-in-the-blank) his big break in the major leagues?” Those questions are asked about singers and bands and baseball and basketball players, among others. It usually comes from someone who has never been a big success in any field of endeavor, let alone ones as demanding as entertainment and sports. READ MORE
DO I WANT TO OPEN THIS ARTICLE by making a statement (“Elvis pops up in the most unexpected places”) or by asking a question (“Just how good can one record be?”)? Last night we slipped the Coen Brothers’ Intolerable Cruelty into the DVD player and sat back to enjoy George Clooney as Miles Massey (handsome, charming, amoral) match wits with Catherine Zeta-Jones as Marilyn Rexroth (beautiful, inscrutable, equally amoral). READ MORE
IF YOU AIN'T NOTHIN' BUT A HOUND DOG, CRYIN' ALL THE TIME . . .
. . . then read this blog regularly and you'll be a friend of mine!
