Elvis

[Art Hovey]

No argument about the vocalization etc, but that final piano lick with his hand up in the air was quite a trick.

[Biggs]

I've listened to Elvis on-and-off for years (his gospel/spiritual recordings are my latest interest), but have done very little watching of him in concert for fear that what I'd see would be too depressing, given his later-in-life demons. I'm floored by the fact that the guy talking for the first 1:20 of that video is the same guy doing the singing. This performance, to me, is bona fide proof of the existence of so-called 'natural' talent; in spite of how sick/addicted/generally crappy everything else about him was, his vocal ability was still obviously, unconsciously strong.

thanks for posting this!

[Heavy_Metal]

Wow. In spite of everything mentioned previously, he gave the Righteous Brothers a run for their money on this.

[tbn.al]

The way music works inside the human brain is amazing. On a different but similar note, I've had a couple of old folks in my church orchestra with dementia who could hardly speak, but put an instrument in their hands and prepare to be amazed. I'm sure many of us have been surprised when playing or singing at old folks homes when the seemingly wasted join in. We may never get smart enough to understand what makes us so smart in spite of our shortcomings. The king's problems certainly were not old age but his musical mind was certainly better than his walking around one.

[bort]

Yikes. I would have been better off not watching that...

[Kory101]

drugged-out
worn-out
messed-up
could hardly think or talk
sweating profusely
very near death (less than two months)

In spite of all of that, AMAZING vocalization !

He is most definitely lip-syncing

[iiipopes]

Likewise. Before he passed a few years ago, I had the privilege of playing in a community band with a trombone player who was so far gone with dementia that he did not even know where he was a lot of the time. But put the trombone music in front of him, show him where the director was standing, and the most incredible music came out of that bell that I have ever heard.

[iiipopes]

He is most definitely lip-syncing

Think again. Analog-to-digital conversion can be very difficult to sync because of the different positioning of the different heads in the analog playback.

[deholder]

The ending speaks volumes.

He was one of the greatest, and dang, that voice.Awesome.

[MackBrass]

He was one of the greatest ever. Its a shame he died at such an early age, I can remember it like it was yesterday.

[bort]

I would love to see Elvis wearing a shirt that says "Elvis" like that.

[Leto Cruise]

I find the comparison of Elvis to Justin Bieber to be extremely offensive. Elvis was The King back in his respective day, while Justin Bieber is a mere peasant in retrospect. One would not compare Ella Fitzgerald to Miley Cyrus, or Pavarotti to Eminem.

Leto "for the good of the common logical welfare" Cruise

[tofu]

...and, fwiw, that "Elvis is dead" crap is really getting to be tiresome.

He was broke and washed-out in '77. My family nursed him back to health, paid his rehab bills, and (after getting him back on track) I trained him and gave him a job at the woodwind bench. He does absolutely *beautiful* clarinet and flute work. Saxes...so-so (but don't tell him I said so...He thinks sax work is his "specialty".)

So Elvis joined the great Memphis exodus and moved to Blokeville
where the livin' is easy and the fish are jumpin'

[tbn.al]

...and, fwiw, that "Elvis is dead" crap is really getting to be tiresome.

That pic is not bad but I like this one better.

elvisat80.jpg

[circusboy]

The Kang.

[Heavy_Metal]

I find the comparison of Elvis to Justin Bieber to be extremely offensive. Elvis was The King back in his respective day, while Justin Bieber is a mere peasant in retrospect. One would not compare Ella Fitzgerald to Miley Cyrus, or Pavarotti to Eminem.

Leto "for the good of the common logical welfare" Cruise

Who's Justin Bieber?