FROM 1960 THROUGH 1968, the image that Elvis Presley presented to the public was some combination of boy-next-door and movie-matinée-idol. In fact, the Elvis of these years comes close to realizing the goody two-shoes/mama’s-boy image he was saddled with in some quarters!
Among caricaturists, there isn’t as much interest in re-imagining this Elvis as there is in the Elvis the Pelvis of the ’50s and the jump-suited Elvis of the ’70s. Nonetheless, I found another twelve fantastic pieces of art for this second volume of Elvis in the ’60s—and the sixth volume overall. (The first four were Elvis in the ’50s.)
Some of the images below may not be of Elvis from the ’60s; any corrections would be appreciated.
Artist: Andre Koekemoer
This is how Elvis looked shortly after his return from the US Army in March 1960: naturally brown hair, cut short on the sides, and no sideburns. This is the look he sported on the picture sleeve for It’s Now Or Never—a look that few caricaturists have favored.
Artist: Glenn F.
The image that Glenn E chose to work with is from Blue Hawaii. This drawing could mean that Elvis is now in heaven with the angels, or it could be borderline blasphemous, portraying Elvis as God.
Artist: Ric Machin
This could be an image of Elvis from the ’50s or the ’60s, with the lean face and the red shirt. But if artist Machin intended the streaks in the hair to be gray, well then it could be of an Elvis who lived past 1977.
Artist: Chris Wahl
This looks like the pablum Elvis of 1961-1962 who made Follow That Dream. In fact, the exaggerated bridge on his nose makes it look broken, which would not have been out of place for Kid Galahad.
Artist: Sebastian Kruger
This unique work satirizes the picture sleeve for the 1967 single We Call On Him / You’ll Never Walk Alone. The cross around Presley’s neck accents the caricature’s theme while the smiley faces on the shades call to mind Forrest Gump.
Artist: Pablo Lobato
Mr and Mrs Presley in post-marital bliss. Which may have lasted a day or two and then things returned to normal: he was away in Hollywood fending off groupies; she was home alone. Lobato’s neo-Cubist art is a delight; Presley rarely attracts artists who work in so modern a style.
Artist: unknown
The face looks like ’50s Elvis, but the attire is from the gospel medley sequence in the 1968 NBC-TV special. Great caricature; I spent quite a while trying to find the artist but gave up.
Artist: Hirschfeld
Elvis in black leather for the June 27 or 29, 1968, sessions at NBC’s studio in Burbank. I don’t recall thinking Elvis’s light chest hairs peeking out from his leather top was any big deal while watching the special on December 3, 1968. But it apparently made an impression on Hirschfeld, who chose to exaggerate it so that it’s almost the focal point of the drawing!
Artist: Ron K
This looks like the sleek, tanned Elvis of the ’68 NBC-TV special—especially with the sculpted sideburns—but the high white collar brings to mind the jumpsuits of the ’70s.
Artist: Mick H
Another grotesque rendering of what I assume is a stoned Elvis in his black leather outfit from the NBC-TV special.
Artist: Hassan Ibrahim
Another grotesque rendering of what could be Elvis in his black leather outfit from the NBC-TV special, or an attempt at an Elvis from the ’70s.
Artist: Rob M
Elvis in the “stand-up sessions” on June 29, 1968, at NBC Studio in Burbank. Grotesque but effective.
FEATURED IMAGE: Artist Pablo Lobato created this timeline mural of the 1960s starting with Elvis on the left with the Beatles in the middle and Hendrix at Woodstock on the right.
POSTSCRIPTUALLY, I have planned four volumes of caricatures of Elvis in the ’50s, and two each for the ’60s and the ’70s. There are at least two artists who have done enough high-quality caricatures of Presley to merit a volume of their own, Al Hirschfeld and Alberto “Sting” Russo. Here are links to the volumes:
The First Published Caricature of Elvis Presley
Elvis’ Golden Caricatures Volume 1 (Rockin’ the 50s)
Elvis’ Golden Caricatures Volume 2 (Rollin’ the 50s)
Elvis’ Golden Caricatures Volume 3 (Rattlin’ the 50s)
Elvis’ Golden Caricatures Volume 4 (Shaggin’ the 50s)
Elvis’ Golden Caricatures Volume 5 (Stuck on the 60s)
Elvis’ Golden Caricatures Volume 6 (Wild in the 60s)
Elvis’ Golden Caricatures Volume 7 (Elvis by Hirschfeld)
Elvis’ Golden Caricatures Volume 8 (Love Letters from the 70s)
Elvis’ Golden Caricatures Volume 9 (Aloha from the 70)
Elvis’ Golden Caricatures Volume 10 (Elvis by Russo)
Mystically liberal Virgo enjoys long walks alone in the city at night in the rain with an umbrella and a flask of 10-year-old Laphroaig who strives to live by the maxim, “It ain’t what you know that gets you into trouble; it’s what you know that just ain’t so.
I’ve been a puppet, a pauper, a pirate, a poet, a pawn, and a college dropout (twice!). Occupationally, I have been a bartender, jewelry engraver, bouncer, landscape artist, and FEMA crew chief following the Great Flood of ’72 (and that was a job that I should never, ever have left).
I am also the final author of the original O’Sullivan Woodside price guides for record collectors and the original author of the Goldmine price guides for record collectors. As such, I was often referred to as the Price Guide Guru, and—as everyone should know—it behooves one to heed the words of a guru. (Unless, of course, you’re the Beatles.)