JSngry

Dude, that's not tragedy, that's redneck melodrama.

Man, you should be the "edgy" one, then!

Dude, that might have been part of the appeal, if you know what I mean... But it's all good with me & Johnny Mathis, for real, and I would suggest that you check out the Dean Martin side in the same vein I mentioned above for a study in all kinds of contrasts. Dean singing (mostly) standards accompanied by only, if memory serves (and it might well not...), Barney Kessell & Red Mitchell. It ain't bad at all, really. Yes, but surely you're aware of the famous underground film of a Hi-Los rehearsal where Puerling, dressed in full biker regalia, ties up Burroughs and whips his naked buttocks until he hits the note that Puerling wants. Judging from the look on Burroughs' face, he could have hit it long before he actually did. Draw your own conclusions... It's all over the internet, that one is. You want that I should post a link?

Edgy? About Elvis? Dude, I am positively mellow about that Great Deceiver now compared to how I used to be. Trust me. About standards, yeah, it's time to move on, which is not the same as abandoning. Not at all. But yeah, time to move on, and if people lose money in the process, oh well. Like I care. Otherwise, this is not a time to remain silent about a lot of things in America. Just as jazz eventually killed itself from within by its "institutions" refusing to move forward in spite of overwhelming evidence its truth and reality had been irrevocably expanded, so does America's collective cultural, moral, and spiritual essence. Elvis is not the answer, nor is Gershwin, nor is the New York Yankees going on a spending binge this off-season. It's all been done, it's all over, and the results are staring us in the face. The weakening of the collective cultural, moral, and spiritual gene pool by so much inbreeding is pretty evident, no? This shit is about to collapse all over itself, and all we can do is run for cover by standing still. Edgy, you say? Not really. I still enjoy me some good ice cream, conjugal bliss, and smiles on children's faces. But them smiles are not for long, I fear, and Elvis for a ten year old in 2010 is not that far removed from Wagner in a concentration camp. But I still enjoy a good joke. Didja' hear the one about the farmer, the goat, and the country lawyer? It's not a "secret" about Mathis, is it? No matter, really. Gene Puerling mined that same androgynous territory for years, and as far as I can tell was a happily married family man. So I think it's more an "emotional character" thing than it is a "sexual orientation" thing. Not that there's anything wrong, etc. Either way, Mathis at his best had some serious skills. Period.

Might as well be off, nothing is going on, but am not.

BTW - there is a similarly themed Dean Martin album on Reprise that, although nothing to stop the presses about, is not unpleasant. There's also the Sammy Davis Jr/Lauriendo Almedia duet album, also on Reprise, but that one tends to not reach me, meaningfully or otherwise.

I like Johnny Mathis. The man had skills. His main Columbia arranger of this era (Glenn Osser, iirc) was kind of generic/lame, but that's all the more reason to get a taste of this one. Bought it out of a Goodwill store somewhere in the 70s, in fact. Even then, in the peak of my jazz militant phase, it was obvious that Mathis was a talent worthy of respect, so his readings of standards were not to be shied away from. Does that answer your question? But what does this mean, exactly? Brave how? Vocally? Coming-out-of-the-closetly? Mary Martin-ly? Just wondering.

Let's play, what do you say, a little game of musical questions. It's a funny little game, we like it a lot, as long as you don't try to put us on the spot!

I don't think the LP sounds too good either. Schlitten didn't get a good sound on that session, period (imo). Too dry, too "in your face", no room/space in the sound.

Not at all (Elvis was his own straw white man, not having any backbone and all...), but Elvis thanks you, too (because a good goat'll do that for ya') and has agreed to loan you some of his DNA to ease your journey. A good goat won't do that for you, but Elvis will. Enjoy the ride!

Elvis thanks you. Again.

Sounds like synthetic division to me,,,

Elvis was a weak human being, and only a marginally stronger actual talent (sorry, "being your own jukebox" is not a talent, it's a parlor game bordering on masturbation...). I will stipualte to him as a great potential talent, but that's as far as it goes. The notion as him as any kind of hero, musical or social, is laughable, and he'll only be a "legend" as long as people believe the lie that the legend is predicated on. If you care to defend the legend, and by extension, the lie be my guest. Elvis thanks you. Me, I think you're a chump for doing so. But you've got plenty of company, if that matters to you. Enjoy the lie! Elvis made George W. Bush possible. How's that for a cultural divide?

That comment reminds me of the time when I was marching in a counter-protest at the Dallas opening of The Last Temptation Of Christ. Some really....concerned citizen ran up into my face and screamed "I BET YOU'D BE MAD IF THEY MADE THIS MOVIE ABOUT MARTIN LUTHER KING INSTEAD OF JESUS!!!!!!!" In other words, are you serious?

This is not about music, pop or otherwise, although the lie is/was played out through music. Sorry if you're not getting that. Besides, this is an Elvis thread, isn't it? so let's talk about Elvis, and let's talk about The Lie as Elvis so perfectly manifested it. As far as The Devil goes, Jerry Lee Lewis was an honest man. Elvis was not. Elvis is a lie.

That we are poor white rednecks with limited skill sets, that we don't have much hope in this world to become anything else, that we are tired of our lot (or not, as the case may be), and that whatever else, we will stand or fail, progress or devolve, engage the rest of the world or disengage from it, from a standpoint of stength, intelligence (native and learned), and integrity towards ourselves and others. Instead, we got the reality that all you gotta do is show up, look pretty, and do what the man says at all times. You'll be taken care of. The message, however, was that The Dream Can Come True. Bullshit. Elvis is a lie.

Have you ever been to America? For that matter, are you aware that your arguments are old?

Again - poor Elvis. Always being enabled. What's compelling is that they proffer up the admittedly intoxicating and seductive notion that you don't really need a skill set to become a person of note, you just need to play at it. And hey - it works, not least of all for the reason that the notion of being something other than we really are without really getting in there and doing the soul-work needed to effect a real transformation is one of the oldes tempations in the book. Not so sure that there's any ultimate difference, other than financial gain & commercial popular "support" between this type of foolishness and the type of post-Ayler "revolutionary" jazz made by people who were all/strictly about "feeling". Sure, it cuases a tingle, but where does it lead, and do you still have a house in 30 years? None of the clowns involved in this circus had an idea what they were dealing with other than the money men. And none of them ever woke up enough to take it back for themselves, assuming that they knew enough at some point to realize that they had something to take back. It was a money man's game from the beginning, it still is, and it always will be. God bless those who wake up and figure it out. Elvis, not being one of those, did not get that blessing, nor do/did those who followed his "dream". The only "magic" in the Elvis Sun sides is that of seeing The Devil at work unimpeded, giving everybody exactly what they ask for. Like all things involving The Devil, it feels really really good until it becomes apparent why it does, which is always waaaaay too late. Elvis is still a lie.

The "context of the times" was simple - America was living a set of lies, not the least of which was that you could "be" anything you wanted to be. The simultaneous brilliance and tragedy of the Southern redneck culture from which Elvis sprang was that they knew better. They knew that their skill set was a limited one, as were their options, and they proceeded accordingly. Darkness and beauty both deep in those souls... But Elvis swallowed the lie, hook, line, and sinker, because he was weak, a classic momma's boy. And once he swallowed the lie, he made no effort to tell the truth. Again, no character, always taking the easy way out. Result? Generations of people thinking that they could be "accepted" in a world bigger/different than theirs, irregardless of what they brought to it. Much frustration when it turned out not to be so (DUH!), and now...rednecks, guns, Wal-Marts, nice. Very nice. You also got a new breed of wannabes, people who think that they can somehow achieve Cosmic Redneck status by "absorbing" Elvis and others, because, hey, Elvis transcended who he was, I can too! This too is a lie, Elvis didn't transcend shit, he just went along on somebody else's rides, but like all lies, there is a market, and no end of people more than glad to sell the lie to people more than willing to believe it. Lies, all of it. Lies that hold people back from the truths of who they are. Lies that prevent real transformation, individual and collectively. Lies that kill the human spirit while pretending to inspire it. Lies for suckers, and suckers for lies. Thanks, King. Thanks a lot.

The question is whether or not his shoulder will allow him to be on...

This is a post-racial world, or at least on its way to becoming one (in spite of the current mega-resistance being put up by many gatekeepers of the status quo for many reasons), so please try to find a new relevance. The old "Elvis was a just a thief" line is not true, and would no longer be particularly relevant if it was, and has nothing to do with my extreme lack of respect for him. Elvis believed in a lie, sold a lie, and continues to attract people with his lies. On top of that, he had no - no - conscience about taking ownership of his talent. He was a punk and he got punked. Elvis was a hero to most, etc. Say it loud.

Yeah, there's multiple versions of that on You Tube, but this is the one where Younce really hits the zone, I think.

You really think it's a "white" thing? Nonsense. Black folks can, did, and do suck too! BIG Time!!! It's that the guy was the ultimate Use Me Like A Tool redneck who didn't do anything but show up at the right place at the right time begging to be used, and he more than got his wish. Hero? Icon? Musical Savant? None of the above. Liar, Fool, Ho' and Hack, that's what he was. Agreed, and what's not to love? Hovie (hell, all the Statesmen) had skills, principles, and backbone.

I don't know, man, The Lion was an astute observer. He made note of the intrinsic Jewish influence in Ellington's compositions at a time when this had pretty much gone unnoticed by everybody else. (I'm serious - it's on the RCA talking record)

Rangers sign Brandon Webb to a one-year dice roll: http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20101226&content_id=16368886&vkey=news_tex&c_id=tex