a blog about elvis presley's music and records
WHEN REQUIRED TO POST A PROFILE on the internet, I usually write, “Mystical liberal likes long walks alone at night in the dark in the city in the rain with an umbrella and a flask of 10-year-old Laphroaig.” While this bit of irony works for some readers, others want a little more in terms of personal background information. [Read more] “a little personal background information”
I WAS SITTING AT THE BAR ALONE, sipping bourbon. It was the middle of August, so normally I would be at my job with Luzerne County Roads & Bridges, patching potholes on the county road in Sweet Valley. But I had injured myself and so had a week off to get better. [Read more] “oh, shit! someone died—someone I love”
MY NEWEST ENDEAVOR is writing a column for another blog! The blog is Sixties Music Secrets, an informative audio/visual blog with insight-filled conversations between knowledgeable, curious, and nostalgic readers regarding all things musical from the 1960s. The column is “The Avid Record Collector.”
In this column, I will look at records that were mass-produced in the 1960s and subsequently deleted from record company catalogs. [Read more] “I am writing a new column about records for another blog!”
IT’S NOT JUST ELVIS! Jeff Jampol is an estate representative who handles the “brands” and assets of such stars as Jim Morrison, Janis Joplin, and the Ramones. He tells a story of having dinner with friends in their thirties and forties and asking them to name the titles of three Beatle songs. [Read more] “probably the biggest year in the history of elvis!”
SOME COPIES OF “BURNING LOVE” may be the most valuable commercially-issued Elvis single of the ’70s! Despite its last sale on eBay for almost a thousand dollars, many collectors are unaware of this record’s value or its origin. This article addresses those facts and warns readers that this rarity has been bootlegged and these counterfeit copies are being sold to unsuspecting fans! [Read more] “the most valuable elvis 45 of the ’70s has been bootlegged!”
SO I OPEN UP MY EMAIL and there’s a notification telling me that someone requests my answer to a question on Quora. I tend to ignore these questions as many are idiotic and are just a means for the asker to get some attention on Quora. But the question was “Is it weird that so many people impersonate Elvis?” [Read more] “don’t you think it’s weird that so many people impersonate elvis?”
EXPORT-ONLY RECORDS ARE NOT COMMON in the record business. But in 1974, RCA in the US had to manufacture records by several artists to be exported to England for sale in the UK. Why this occurred while there were British pressings of the same records being manufactured at the same time remains a topic of discussion among record collectors. [Read more] “british pressings of elvis presley’s “my boy” are common in the u.k.”
ELVIS AS A MYTHIC FIGURE has played a part in many Hollywood movies since his death in 1977. Most of these movies treat the man and the myth with respect, humor, and even irony. I am not referring to movies where a Presley track is used as part of the background music but where the “essence” of the Elvis myth/legend is integral to the plot. [Read more] “a double tap of elvis’ pink cadillac in zombieland”
RCA 2458EX IS AN ODD RECORD, one of the oddest in the vast catalog of Elvis records. It was manufactured in the US expressly to be exported to the UK and sold there in 1974. Instead of the usual creamsicle orange label that was the standard for RCA records at the time, this weird record had labels that were as gray as the Incredible Hulk was in 1962! [Read more] “valuable insert associated with elvis presley’s “my boy” may be bootleg!”