As if there isn’t enough to love about Elvis, he also had a great sense of humor. Those who knew him talk about how he loved to laugh and to make others laugh. I didn’t know him, of course, but I have seen examples of his funny side in documentaries, concerts, alternate takes of his songs, etc.
A few anecdotes about Elvis:
Ronnie Tutt, his drummer in the seventies:
“…he loved to laugh as much as he loved life. He had a great sense of humor – you could see his eyes sparkle when something funny was going on, which was most of the time if he had anything to do with it, and he usually did. It was great to play music together, but it was also great to laugh together.”
Wanda Hill, who worked in the MGM mailroom in the sixties:
“One day while I was staying at the Hilton Hotel (in the 1970’s), I was outside for some fresh air when I noticed a group of people staring up at the top of the hotel. Curious, I walked over and looked up. Sailing through the air were several little paper airplanes, and way up on the 30th floor was a tiny figure of a man, waving to us below. It was Elvis, curing his boredom flying paper airplanes and watching the people running after them – after all Elvis Presley had touched them!
“What I did not know was that he also put messages on the airplanes, written in baby talk, and he laughed as the people found them and read his messages while he was observing through his binoculars. It was just silly Elvis putting people on again!”
Sam Thompson – Elvis’ former girlfriend Linda Thompson’s brother who worked as Elvis’ bodyguard:
“Elvis even found humor when faced with an assassination warning at the Silverdome in 1975, while being outfitted for a bulletproof vest. ‘If there’s a problem’, I told Elvis, ‘we’re gonna kill the lights, and I’m gonna cover you’. Elvis looked at me funny. I was 6-foot-6 and 270 pounds. ‘I’d rather be shot at than have you jump on me’, Elvis joked. We had a big laugh.”
Some of Elvis’ favorite movies were the Pink Panther movies. He loved Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau and would often quote him. I’m ashamed to admit I’ve never seen those movies. I should definitely watch them since Elvis enjoyed them.
Check out this brief excerpt from a 1972:
I love a man with a sense of humor, and even a man who is not all that attractive becomes more so if he can make me laugh. But Elvis, the most gorgeous man to ever live, AND he was funny??? Sigh…
For the first eight years after Elvis returned from the army, he made movies and records but did no live performances.
I featured his first four movies in an earlier blog post, so the following four movies are next…
G.I. Blues 1960
About: Elvis plays Tulsa McLean, an army tank crewman from Texas whose dream is to open his own nightclub with his buddies, who are part of his singing act. On leave in Germany, he places a bet with his fellow soldiers that he can spend an entire night with ‘ice princess’ a hard to get entertainer played by Juliet Prowse.
Side notes: The 1st Medium Tank Battalion, 32nd Armored was Elvis’ regiment when he was in the Army with the 3rd Armored Division in Germany, so it was used for the film. Also, just my opinion, Juliet Prowse was not nearly pretty enough to play the role of a sought after beauty who turned Elvis’ world upside down.
My favorite song from the movie: ‘The Best I Can’ (I know, it’s odd. I don’t usually like the ‘mainstream’ popular songs as much as I do the lesser known ones)
One of my favorite scenes: Early in the movie, Tulsa is on stage singing and a guy goes over to a jukebox and the camera shows, in the window of the jukebox, ‘Blue Suede Shoes by Elvis Presley’ and the guy (we’ll call him ‘first guy’) hits the button and Elvis’ Blue Suede Shoes begins playing while Tulsa/Elvis is performing. Another guy in the club says “Hey turn that off, the kid’s singing.”
First guy: “I want to hear the original.”
Second guy: “Turn that off.”
First guy: “Turn Tulsa off.”
A scuffle breaks out and Elvis goes up to First guy who is snapping his fingers to the song. Elvis snaps along with him for moment, then punches him and a brawl ensues.
Ha! He punches the guy for playing HIS song. 🙂 Love it.
Elvis and Juliet Prowse on the set of G.I. Blues
Flaming Star 1960
About: Elvis plays Pacer Burton, a half breed Indian who is pulled between his white blood and his Indian blood. When a neighboring family is massacred by the Indians, hostility and mistrust among friends causes trouble for Pacer and his family.
This movie took me by surprise. I mean, I’d seen it before, quite a few times, but not in years and years. I didn’t remember loving it as much as I did this time. It was a well-acted, moving, and intense western. Elvis did an excellent job in the role. I cried, a lot. Very sad and emotional. I highly recommend it.
Side note: Elvis was inducted into the Los Angeles Indian Tribal Council for his role in the movie. Barbara Eden co-starred, but she was actually the love interest of Elvis’ brother. The movie poster is misleading.
My favorite song from the movie: Elvis actually only sang one song in this movie, ‘Cane and a High-Starched Collar.’ Not exactly one of his best, so I’ll have to go with the title song, ‘Flaming Star’ (which was originally recorded as ‘Black Star’ and Elvis had to go in and re-record, replacing ‘black’ with ‘flaming’)
A couple of my favorite scenes:
There is a scene where Pacer’s mother has been shot and she needs a doctor. Due to the new hostility against Pacer and his family, the doctor refuses to come home with him and treat her. The doctor’s little girl is playing outside (Pacer has known her her whole life). He grabs her up and tells her they’re going to play a game, but in reality, he is threatening her father that if he doesn’t come help his mother, he’ll hurt the child. Elvis does a great job of threatening the father while at the same time, comforting the child. He tells her, “Grownups don’t know how to play, do they?” She says, “This is a funny way to play, Pacer.” And Elvis says, “You know I won’t hurt you.”
Another scene I love is when he is fighting shirtless. What’s not to love, right? 🙂
Wild in the Country 1961
About: Elvis plays Glenn Tyler, a young man with a troubled past and an alcoholic father, who dreams of being a writer (pretty cool, right?). He beats up his brother (played by Elvis’ long-time friend, Red West) in the beginning of the movie and is sentenced to probation and ordered to weekly counseling sessions with Irene Sperry, played by Hope Lange. He also moves in with his uncle, who wants to marry him off to his daughter, a single mom and wild girl, played by Tuesday Weld. Elvis actually has three love interests in this movie, the third being his longtime girlfriend, played by Millie Perkins. Again, I cried in this movie. Elvis does a wonderful job in this role, and it’s very dramatic and moving.
Side notes: Millie Perkins broke her arm when she had to slap Elvis’ character. The scene was not used in the movie.
The film was originally not going to be a musical, but Colonel Parker insisted that Elvis sing. Millie Perkins claimed that Elvis was not pleased. In one scene where he has to sing while they’re driving along in a truck, she said that Elvis said, “God, this is embarrassing. People wouldn’t do this in real life.”
At the end of the movie, Hope Lange’s character, after rumors of an affair with Glenn and the threat of Glenn going to prison for murder, attempts to kill herself. In the original ending, she succeeds, but that was not received well, so it was changed.
Hope Lange played the ‘older woman’ Glenn fell in love with, but in actuality, Hope was only 13 months older than Elvis at the time.
And, finally, Christina Crawford, daughter of Joan Crawford and author of Mommie Dearest, played a small role in the movie.
My favorite song from the movie: ‘In My Way’ or ‘I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell’
One of my favorite scenes:
Glenn gets drunk and goes with Tuesday Weld to Irene Sperry’s house, demanding that she return his story to him. He ends up spraying down her porch with the water hose while shouting at her to give him his story back. . It’s a very cute scene, with a touching moment. He was so adorable. In this video, clips from the movie are shown while the title track from the movie plays:
About: Elvis plays Chad Gates, who has just returned to his home in Hawaii after two years in the army. His wealthy parents want him to join the family pineapple business, but Chad wants to be independent and he takes a job as a tour guide.
This movie was one of Elvis’ most popular, but it wasn’t one of my favorites, strangely enough. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but not as much as I did many of his others. I think it was partly because I wasn’t crazy about the music in the movie (even though the soundtrack spent 20 straight weeks at #1 on Billboard’s top LP’s and was Elvis’ most successful album) Yeah, I just don’t usually seem to go with the opinion of the masses. Also, there was no romantic conflict. He returned home to his girlfriend and they were together in the entire movie, with a few minor road bumps along the way. Joan Blackman played his love interest, and she was gorgeous.
Side notes: At the beginning of the movie, Chad is deplaning and if you listen carefully and turn up the volume, you can hear hundreds of screaming fans who were watching the shoot.
Angela Lansbury played Elvis’ mother, but she was actually only nine years older than him.
My favorite song from the movie: ‘Almost Always True’ or ‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’
One of my favorite scenes:
Probably this scene where he’s singing Slicin’ Sand – He’s wearing these tight, white shorts and his body looks amazing, and it shows his fabulous butt. 🙂
Elvis released hundreds of songs over his career, and in the nearly forty years after his death, his songs are still being released. Many are never before heard recordings, some are remixes, some are alternate takes, and some are duets. I am not crazy about most of the remixes and duets. I like the pure, original sound of Elvis’ music. Below I’ve listed some of my thumbs up and thumbs downs.
Thumbs up:
Any song Lisa Marie records of her father’s. I think it’s awesome that she is a singer, and that she loves and respects her father so much. The songs she records with him are beautiful. I’m not certain how many she has done, but I know of a handful: In the Ghetto, Don’t Cry Daddy, and I Love you Because.
I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone, the alternate version – This is an alternate version that was recorded by Elvis in the early years. It’s better than the one that was released. It’s moody and bluesy and gives me chills. They should have released this version, not that there was anything wrong with the one they did release, but this one is phenomenal. Do yourself a favor and listen to it.
This is a rare home recording of Elvis at a friend’s house in 1958 singing Happy, Happy Birthday Baby. Can you imagine sitting around a living room with Elvis while he belted out songs and played the piano?
Thumbs Down:
Lisa Loïs Duet of Love Me Tender – While this is a beautiful version, and the girl has an amazing voice, it gets a thumb’s down simply because when I hear the first few notes as I’m listening to Elvis radio, I can’t help but be disappointed that it’s not an ‘original’ Elvis.
Barbara Streisand Duet of Love Me Tender – The woman has a fantastic voice, and there’s no doubt she’s a superstar, and I love that she and Elvis had a mutual respect and admiration for one another, but to me, she tampers with the pure sound of the original arrangement. And, I’m not sure what those extra lyrics are at the beginning, but they’re not needed.
All of the remixes – Although these releases did well, I don’t care for the addition of the Techno sound to Elvis’s songs. I’m not sure how many were done that way, but a few I know about are Rubberneckin’, Little Less Conversation, and Bossa Nova Baby. Don’t get me wrong, I’d like them okay if I hadn’t heard the true versions, but Elvis didn’t need the Techno sound added. His music was timeless and perfect in its original form.
How about you? Do you agree, or am I way too picky when it comes to Elvis? 🙂
I thought I would share a few facts that I find interesting. If you’re an Elvis fan, you might already know them. If not, then I hope you find them interesting as well.
A Star is Born – A highly successful movie released in 1976 starring Barbara Streisand and Kris Kristofferson. Barbara and Elvis were friends and held one another in high regard. Barbara asked Elvis to co-star with her in the movie, and he was thrilled. He planned to do it, but Colonel Parker nixed it and wouldn’t let him. I think this would have been a huge turning point in Elvis’ acting career, and in his life in general.
Thunder Road – An excellent movie from 1958 starring Robert Mitchum. Elvis was a fan of Mitchum’s and wanted to meet him. When they met, Mitchum asked him if he’d be interested in co-starring in Thunder Road. Elvis was thrilled and desperately wanted the role, but the Colonel refused.
Don’t Cry Daddy – Written by Mac Davis, who also wrote quite a few other songs for Elvis, one of the most popular being In the Ghetto. Mac said that Elvis made some tweaks to most of his songs, and in this one, Mac ended it with ‘another little baby child is born in the ghetto’ and Elvis added ‘and his mama cries’ – which Mac thought was genius. Back to Don’t Cry Daddy, in Mac’s own words, here is the story of how the song came to be: At the time I was going through a divorce. I had my son, Scotty for the weekend and was about to take him home. I had some time to kill, and I flipped on the five o’clock news. Scotty was about five or six years old. It just happened to be the broadcast where they were showing some film of the massacre in Vietnam. It was a very famous horrific incident where some of our guys shot to death some women and children villagers. They were showing some scenes of the bodies, and apparently I started crying and didn’t even realize it. The next thing I know Scotty was patting my back and trying to comfort a grown man going, “Don’t cry daddy.” That’s where the inspiration came from for “Don’t Cry Daddy.” My songwriter’s brain made it totally different. By the time I got Scotty home to his mother’s…on the way back to my house I had the chorus written. Basically that’s where the song came from. It was a combination of him telling me not to cry because of watching this massacre in Vietnam on TV and my own situation having gone through a divorce. I didn’t know at the time that it was a special song. It was just another day in the life of a songwriter. We write songs about our lives and about things that happen to us…I do remember thinking that I should have written another verse for it. But that was me. That’ll be on my tombstone, “I was still working on that last verse.”
Help Me – An Elvis song written by Larry Gatlin. Elvis recorded a few of Larry’s songs, my favorite of them by far is Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall. I heard a brief interview with Larry Gatlin on Elvis radio recently. He said that he was struggling financially, and he and his wife were at home, wondering how they were going to keep their house. He received a call from a mutual friend of his and Elvis who told him Elvis was recording his song. Larry hung up the phone and said to his wife, “Honey, we can keep the house.”
Here is Elvis’ rendition of Bitter They Are. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a live version.
Heartbreak Hotel, recorded in January, 1956 – Elvis’ first million selling record was co-written by Mae Boren Axton, mother of singer/songwriter Hoyt Axton. She was an English teacher and a songwriter. A steel guitarist, Tommy Durden, read an article about a man who killed himself and left a suicide note that read “I walk a lonely street.” He showed the article to Mae and the two collaborated on the song. Mae took a position as a part time public relations secretary for Colonel Parker, and when she met Elvis in 1955, she said that he had everything it took to be a star except a hit song. She told him, “You need a million-seller, and I’m going to write it for you.” And, that she did.
Game show host Wink Martindale started out in radio, and he was around when the Elvis phenomenon was just beginning. I’ve heard several interviews with Wink and his wife, Sandy, on Elvis radio. They both adored Elvis and have the utmost respect for him.
Wink was part of a historical day in 1954. Here is an excerpt from an interview with Wink about that time:
“My dream was to work at WHBQ radio and do the morning show called ‘Clockwatchers’ — all the teenagers listened to that.”
His dream came true in 1954, when he auditioned and got the morning gig when he was just 19 years old. It was also the year he met Elvis Presley, with whom he was friends until the King’s death in 1977.
“I happened to be at the radio station one night showing a group of former football buddies from high school around the radio station,” Martindale recalls. “It was at night when there was a show called ‘Red Hot & Blue’ with a guy named Dewey Phillips. He played black music for white kids. All of a sudden I hear a commotion going on. The phones were lit up and I went into Dewey’s control room.”
It so happened that was the night that Sun Records founder Sam Phillips walked into Phillips’ control room with an acetate recording of Presley’s “That’s All Right Mama.”
“Dewey put it on the turntable and the switchboard lit up. He kept playing it over and over. Sam gave me Gladys and Vernon Presley’s telephone number and said get them on the phone and ask them where Elvis is. I was the one who made the call and gotGladys on the phone.”
Martindale told Presley’s mother that Dewey Phillips wanted to interview him that night at the station. His parents got into their truck and found their son at a movie theater by himself catching a western double bill.
“He got into the truck and went down and sat in front of the microphone,” says Martindale. That was the beginning of Presley mania. I think of that as the night when the course of popular music changed forever.”
Just a few years later, Jul 4, 1956,Wink would interview Elvis. Elvis was performing a benefit concert for at Russwood Park in Memphis for The Cynthia Mil Fund and the Variety Club’s Home for Convalescent Children. I love that Elvis was not only charitable, but that most of his charitable acts were to help children.
Colonel Parker did not want Elvis to appear on television without getting paid, but Elvis did so anyway. This is one of the first ever televised interviews of Elvis.
The beginning of Elvis’ unprecedented career is rich with history and momentous events. Yet, even as it was happening, and even up to the day he passed away, he really wasn’t aware of the impact he had on the world. He was often afraid that his popularity would fade, that people would forget him. I imagine he would be blown away to see how his legend has lived on, how his life and career are still celebrated.
As everyone knows by now, in my opinion, Elvis had it all.
He was insanely gorgeous and sexy. His voice was phenomenal, magical. He could dance, he could act. He was generous and down to earth. And, people who met him said he had this special charisma that was impossible to put into words, impossible to resist.
And, Elvis did things that no other entertainers will ever do. Can you imagine performers of today; Justin Bieber, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Bruno Mars, and others like them, taking two years away from their careers to serve in the armed forces? (I guess these are good examples of the currently popular male singers. Either way, you get my point. :))
Elvis was so special, that my sister, Ruth, and I had to make a ‘deal’ when we played barbies. Instead of having actual Ken dolls (we didn’t have a lot of money, so we had to make do with just the Barbies themselves), we would have imaginary guys for our Barbie boyfriends. However, since we would both want Elvis, and neither would give in, and it would be unfair for either of us to have him for our BB’s (Barbie Boyfriends), we struck a bargain. Neither of us could pick Elvis. He was just too untouchable, off limits. 🙂 Instead, we had to settle for guys like David Cassidy, Donny Osmond, Bobby Sherman, and so forth. Somehow, we made do.
Elvis generosity is legendary. He purchased FDR’s Yacht in 1964, intending to donate it to March of Dimes, but they refused the gift, saying the upkeep was too much. He ended up donating it to St. Jude’s Children’s Research hospital. I’ve heard stories, although I’m not sure how many of them are true, about his giving nature. One story is about a man who saw Elvis and a friend in Memphis one day. Elvis was searching his pockets for a dime to make a phone call. The man gave him a dime, andElvis asked for his address so he could send him a thank you note. A few weeks later, the man received a letter from Elvis with the news that he’d paid off his mortgage. Of course, the stories about his giving away cars is almost as well-known as Elvis himself. One of my favorites is the story about the black lady who worked as a housekeeper at a hospital in Memphis. She was walking down Union Avenue and saw a stretch limo in front of a dealership with its doors open. She stuck her head in to look inside and commented on what a beautiful car it was. Elvis was in the car, and he instructed the man with him to order her one just like it. I also heard that, In 1975, he bought an electric wheelchair for a poor woman in East Memphis, and that he picked her up and personally sat her in it. The woman’s teenage daughter told Elvis she liked his car. He gave it to her and even gave her boyfriend a job. Even if some of these stories are exaggerated or fabricated, enough has been documented about his philanthropic nature for me to be certain he had a kind and giving heart.
Who is your ultimate celebrity? Why? Is it mainly because of their talent and appeal, or does it go deeper than that?
I have always been fascinated by the fact that Elvis was born a twin. The other baby, Jesse Garon, was stillborn. Can you imagine, what if Jesse had been born? Would they have looked alike? Would Jesse have been able to sing like Elvis? Would he have been an entertainer as well, or would it have changed Elvis’ course in life, and maybe he wouldn’t have become an entertainer at all? Throughout his life, Elvis was also fascinated about his twin. Those close to him knew just how much losing Jesse Garon affected him.
Here is a great article by Elvis’ hairdresser and friend, Larry Geller. He talks about how intrigued Elvis was about the fact that he had a twin brother.
I love it when other celebrities talk about Elvis, and this definitely caught my attention. I saw Robert Plant, lead singer of Led Zepplin on Jimmy Fallon recently. Plant is a huge Elvis fan. He speaks with Jimmy about meeting Elvis in 1974. Elvis said he’d heard that Robert sound checked to one of his songs and asked him which one. Robert said “Love Me.” They were leaving and headed down the hallway. Elvis turned around and started singing “Love Me” and Robert Plant sang with him. Plant said, “I could have packed up, quit and gone home right then.” (I paraphrased). Even though I’ve basically quoted the entire interview, here it is if you want to check it out:
Lastly, I have a new release out, and as I’ve stated before, I try to mention Elvis in all my published works. Here is a little snippet from Without Mercy:
China’s house was too quiet. She put on an Elvis Presley CD—finding comfort in the music she and her aunt had listened to when she was growing up—and turned the volume up as loud as it would go. She was heading up the stairs when it occurred to her that the music would mask the noise of an intruder.
Debating for just a moment, she decided the silence was worse, and left the music on. “Danny Boy” blasted around her as she reached the top of the stairs.
Her house was a multi-level, thirty four hundred square-foot Tudor with five bedrooms, a pool, sauna and hot tub. The front was secluded by an overhang of trees, and the back yard opened up into a wooded area. The home was much more elaborate than she could possibly afford on her salary. There were months she could barely make the utilities, and last summer she hadn’t opened the pool because she couldn’t afford the upkeep. But at least she didn’t have to pay a mortgage.
She’d always counted herself lucky that Gary had left her the house as compensation for his abandonment. But now it felt like enemy territory, and the spacious rooms seemed to be nothing more than good hiding places for intruders.
In the bathroom, she turned the shower on as hot as it would go and stripped, stepping quickly inside. Steam surrounded her, the spray so strong, it stung her skin. But that was okay. It meant she was alive.
She wasn’t sure how long she’d been standing under the water. It had turned cold, yet she remained. The strains of “Love Comin’ Down” penetrated through the closed door. She considered getting out, but the cold water was starting to numb her, and that was what she needed. To forget, not to feel for a while.
“China?” A man’s voice bellowed her name at the same time the bathroom door flung open, slamming against the wall. She screamed as the shower curtain was yanked back.
Thought I’d share some fun facts about Elvis. How many of these tidbits did you already know?
In 1974, Elvis bought the entire stock of Lincoln Mark IV’s from Schilling Motors in Memphis and gave them all away as gifts.
George Klein became friends with Elvis when they were in eighth grade at Humes High in Memphis. They remained friends throughout Elvis’ life and George currently has a radio show on SiriusXM Elvis Radio. Elvis valued friendship very highly and many members of the so-called ‘Memphis Mafia’ that surrounded him throughout his career were guys he’d known from the early days.
There has been a great deal of speculation about the spelling of Elvis’ middle name, whether it was Aron or Aaron. George Klein explained on his radio show that Elvis told them how that came to be. It was always intended to be spelled with one ‘a’ but in the excitement during his birth—when his twin, Jessie Garon was stillborn—they spelled it with only one ‘a’. Later, Elvis wanted it changed to the biblical spelling with two a’s and Vernon wanted to honor Elvis’ preference, and that is why it is with two a’s on his tombstone.
Elvis’ 1973 concert, Aloha from Hawaii was a benefit where all proceeds went to cancer research. Rather than charging for tickets, those who attended were only asked to pay whatever they could donate.
When Elvis first started making movies, he tried not to smile much, because he was afraid to show his teeth, afraid the studio executives would want to ‘yank them out and replace them with movie star teeth.’ Which was insane, because his teeth were beautiful.
Lisa Marie was born 9 months to the day after Elvis and Priscilla married at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas on May 1, 1967. (There has been a lot of talk about Elvis bringing Priscilla to live with him at Graceland when she was just a ‘child’ but she was 18 when she moved to Graceland in 1963)
Elvis’ granddaughter, Riley Keough, is an actress, but she chose not to use the Presley name to help her career and chose instead to make it on her own. (She most definitely has the Presley ‘look’)
Many people said that in Elvis’ later years, his voice had begun to fail and that he couldn’t sing the way he used to. Some of his most beautiful songs, some of the most difficult to sing, were recorded in 1976, a year before his death, in the Jungle Room at Graceland, which had been turned into a studio. Here is Danny Boy from those sessions. When I was younger, this was never one of my favorite songs, but now, I love it. His voice is so beautiful, so haunting. I actually get emotional now when I hear it. Enjoy…
Elvis has been quoted many, many times over the years. In some of the quotes, his vulnerability and insecurity come through. In some, his wisdom, and in others, his love for his fans. Those who were close to Elvis emphasized how much he loved and appreciated his fans. In spite of his unparalleled success, he never forgot how it came to be.
Elvis has been quoted many, many times over the years. In some of the quotes, his vulnerability and insecurity come through. In some, his wisdom, and in others, his love for his fans. Those who were close to Elvis emphasized how much he loved and appreciated his fans. In spite of his unparalleled success, he never forgot how it came to be.
Author Alicia Dean 