Some of the best titles for ElvisBlog columns have come from the texts of Elvis reviews in the New York Times. One was “Virtuoso of Hootchie Cootchie,” taken from the Times review of Elvis’ June 5, 1956 appearance on The Milton Berle Show, and there was “Turgid, Juicy, and Flamboyant,” which came from the Times review of the first Elvis movie “Love Me Tender.” You might remember that the Times columnists slammed Elvis pretty hard in both cases.
Well, there is also the Times review of Elvis’ 1973 worldwide TV special “Elvis – Aloha from Hawaii.” That’s the source of the above title for this article. So, what do you think? Did they slam Elvis once again? Let’s take a look.
Favorable opinions about Elvis in the New York Times were rare in his early days, but this column by John J. O’Conner stayed fairly balanced. Perhaps neutral would be a better characterization, as he barely said anything good about Elvis. The most positive line about “Aloha” was this: “Smartly produced and directed by Marty Pasetta, the program maintained an effective and attractive fluidity, not easy with ‘live’ concerts on TV.” That’s not Elvis’ fluidity he’s complementing, it’s the show’s. Not a word about Elvis’ voice or how he mesmerized the live audience of 6000 folks at the Honolulu International Center. At least there was mention that the show was broadcast live by satellite to 1.5 billion people in 40 countries. This was a monumental technological feat back in 1973.
“Shameless, Oldfangled Showmanship” came from the last line of the New York Times review of “Aloha.” Columnist O’Conner was convinced that under the careful orchestration of Col. Parker, 38-year-old Elvis had evolved into a calculated and calculating showman. However, Mr. O’Conner was not saying that this was a bad thing.
He was not at all negative as he presented his ideas why Elvis was pure schmaltz: “His white jumpsuit costume is adorned, in studded jewels, with American eagles. His repertory includes a medley of 'Dixie,' 'Battle Hymn of the Republic,”'and 'Hush Little Baby.”'His fingers are clogged with flashy rings. His act includes tossing scarves, dabbed in sweat from his chest, to aging teeny boppers.”
I love the way Mr. O’Conner summarized what all that meant: “It is pure showbiz in the style of Radio City Music Hall, reeking of apple pie, or more precisely, peanut butter and jelly, distinctly grape.” I’ll bet he was really proud of that line. Reeking of peanut butter and jelly is a good thing, right?
Mr. O’Conner’s most negative statement came in an author aside, when he started a paragraph with the words “Mr. Presley,” but then decided Elvis didn’t deserve the title Mr. He concluded “… no, that sounds downright silly.” Well, excuse me, but your attitude sounds downright elitist. However, Mr. O’Conner tried to recover by saying, “Elvis is a proven entertainment commodity.” Wow, that was really going out on a limb.
Here is what the article says about Elvis’ career: “Bursting out of country music’s relatively youthful strain of ‘rock-a-billie’ around 1960, he bumped his way to national notoriety with such hits as ‘Hound Dog’ and ‘Blue Suede Shoes.'” I have to quibble about a few points, here. Mr. O’Conner shows some ignorance about basic Elvis history. Both songs he referenced came out in 1956, the year Elvis burst on the national scene, not 1960.
The Times review continues: “Appearing on Ed Sullivan’s TV variety show, he was generally restricted to camera shots not going below the belt. Those were the television days of innocence and absurdity.” If Mr. O’Conner wanted to point out the best example of the TV days of innocence, he should have referenced the nation’s mood when Elvis’ performed on the June 5, 1956 Milton Berle Show (camera shots were definitely not restricted to above the belt). And the absurdity was better illustrated in the tidal wave of protest against Elvis in the press and the pulpits around the country after that wild appearance on the Berle show.
Fortunately, Mr. O’Conner followed that with begrudging acknowledgement of Elvis’ continued success: “But Elvis has survived. He is still churning out hit records, and his relentlessly unmemorable movies have made millions of dollars.”
Of course Elvis survived. As he got older he moved away from the wild rebel image and settled nicely into an era of shameless, oldfangled showmanship. In fact, according to polls, this is the favorite Elvis period for the majority of today’s fans. That’s fine for them, but I still favor 50’s Elvis, back when he was turgid, juicy and flamboyant.
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© 2008 Philip R Arnold, Original Elvis Blogmeister All rights Reserved www.ElvisBlog.net
ELVIS COMMENTARY MINI-NUGGETS — # 11
The Missing Elvis Star: There is a website where an aspiring screenwriter can post a synopsis of his script in hope that an agent or movie producer will take an interest in it. Recently posted on www.newenglandfilm.com was The Missing Elvis Star, by Scott Andrews. Here is his plot summary:
“Elvis Presley’s Star is stolen off the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame by three French tourists on the 4th of July. The President issues a state of emergency and makes it a priority for his Presidential legacy to recapture the missing Star. The Star is found with Elvis Presley alive. Both are brought back to America with a five-million person parade in D.C. and Hollywood, with 80 year old Elvis replanting his own Star on the Walk of Fame.”
Writer Andrews calls his creation an action, comedy, block-buster hit movie. Sounds like a long shot to me. I wonder who could play 80 year old Elvis.
Calvin and Hobbes and Elvis: Hopefully you are familiar with the comic strip “Calvin and Hobbes.” In an old strip, everyone in Calvin’s class at school was assigned to read and summarize a newspaper article. What article did Calvin pick? It was the tabloid classic, “Space Alien Weds Two-Headed Elvis Clone.” I mentioned this title in Mini-Nuggets – 9, and I never thought it would appear again. I guess you never know when it comes to Elvis.
Minus-Zero on The Elvis Scale: During the 1992 presidential election, some of the press corps started comparing Bill Clinton to Elvis. Clinton wore black sunglasses and played “Heartbreak Hotel” on sax on the Arsinio Hall Show, and his campaign plane was nicknamed “Air Elvis.” One of his opponents in the primary was Massachusetts Senator Paul Tsongas. Tsongas was a much duller personality than Clinton, and columnist Molly Ivins rated Tsongas “minus-zero on the Elvis scale.” So, which of today’s candidates do you think rates highest on the Elvis scale? For my money, it is Sarah Palin. What do you think?
Back When They Were Called Elvis Impersonators: Now that Graceland has conferred legitimacy on Elvis Tribute Artists, and the best of them are truly fine showmen, there is much more respect given to this growing group of entertainers. Surprisingly, a recent article in http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk stated that there were between 37 and 150 working Elvis Impersonators back in 1977 when he died. Now they say there are over 30,000 ETAs in the US alone.
My Pastor Told Me This One: The Pastor at my church has a great sense of humor, and he often tells jokes. The other day, he called to tell me he heard a cool answer to the Jeff Foxworthy line: “You know you are a redneck when….” It was: “when you have an Elvis Jello mold.” I resisted telling Pastor that I didn’t find that too funny. However, consider this. EPE has licensed all sorts of weird Elvis stuff, but I have never seen a Jello mold shaped like Elvis’ face. I hope I never do.
Letterman Top Ten List: David Letterman has included Elvis in his famous Top Ten Lists at least three times that I am aware of. Thoughtful reader Arleen Scharf e-mailed me this one: Top Ten Most Polite Ways to Say Your Zipper is Down. #6 was “Elvis is leaving the building.” I like that much more than #1, which was “I always knew you were crazy, but now I can see your nuts.”
Pappy and Elvis: In 1966, Warner Brothers released a Merrie Melodies cartoon titled “The Dixie Fryer.” Mel Blanc provided the voices of main character Foghorn Leghorn as well as two chicken hawks named Pappy and Elvis. Foghorn travels to the deep-south and encounters the chicken hawks who crave a delicious chicken dinner. He needn’t worry. The chicken hawks are portrayed as ignorant rednecks, and Elvis is a total air-head. Many years later, the PC police at the Nickelodeon network edited out a scene with a squirrel rifle and another with “dueling pistols.” I wish they had also changed the idiot chicken hawk’s name to something besides Elvis.
Cher Turned Down Elvis?: Website www.pcpages.com/elvistimes/news.htm recently mentioned an interview in which singer/actress Cher talked about Elvis. She said she once received a phone call from Elvis, and he expressed how much he admired Cher and her music. Then he invited her to spend the weekend with him. Cher said she just didn’t have the nerve to do it and turned Elvis down. Now, she says she couldn’t believe she did that. I don’t believe it either. Cher had a chance to go from Sonny Bono to Elvis, but she turned it down. No way.
(C) 2008 All rights Reserved Philip R Arnold, Original Elvis Blogmeister www.ElvisBlog.net
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