ELVIS

Today is Elvis Presley's birthday!  Some people may not care about this, but to me, it's like a holiday haha.  Elvis Presley is my favorite singer/artist/entertainer, whatever.  It all started when I was thirteen years old.



During the summer of 2002, I saw a preview for the NEW Disney animated film, Lilo and Stitch.  One of the songs in the preview really caught my attention.  It sounded like a woman singing it, but I couldn't tell haha (I later found out it was Wynonna Judd).  I didn't hear the song again until I was getting ready for my first day of 8th grade, listening to the oldies station as usual (I've always been an oldies nerd, even at a young age).  I heard the song again, but this time Elvis was singing it! I had no idea what the name was, though, and I couldn't even remember any of the words - just the tune.  So I thought I'd never find it.  I hadn't really been an Elvis fan before then, but Full House was always my favorite TV show, and there are a ton of Elvis references and "appearances" since the character of Uncle Jesse was Elvis-obsessed.


 

Anyway, a few weeks after I heard the song on the radio, I was birthday shopping with my mom (since my 14th birthday was on the way), and I saw an "Elvis Number Ones" cd and thought to myself, "I bet my mystery song is on that cd." So I told my mom I wanted it.  I think she wondered why a 13-going-on-14-year-old would want an Elvis cd for her birthday.  I honestly didn't care about Elvis; I just wanted that one song.  Little did I know...

So I opened the cd on October 30, 2002, and listened to the first few minutes of every song til I figured out which one was my mystery song.  Wouldn't you know it was song number 29 of 31.  I looked at the song list - my song was "Burning Love!!!" Ever since that day, that has been my absolute favorite song.  And within a week, I had fallen in love with every song on the cd.  All 31 of them. 

Since then, I've grown a deep appreciation and love for Elvis's music and a fascination with his persona.  I've been to Graceland, obtained numerous Elvis albums, met his step-brother (who is a wonderful evangelist and servant of the Lord), and collected countless Elvis memorabilia because I've gotten a reputation for being a little obsessed with the king.  Haha.

So today, millions of Elvis fans are celebrating the king of rock & roll and the legacy he left behind.  He was such a versatile artist, with music ranging from country to rock to Gospel. And I love it all! He won a Grammy award for his Gospel music.  How many mainstream artists would record a Gospel album and put their career in jeopardy?



Elvis loved America and even served in the army.  How many of today's artists would leave their career to go overseas and serve their country? I don't know...

Most of y'all can probably tell from my blogs that I really appreciate the generations and decades before us.  I don't really enjoy a lot of today's music, and I think that the world as a whole was a little better in previous decades (30s - 70s).  But that's just me.

Anyway, I really like what one girl commented on the Elvis Facebook page:

"Dedicated to a man who was born with a beautiful timbre, who could sing any style of music, who brought black and white people together, who influenced style and our way of life, and who brought happiness to countless people all over the world...Happy Birthday, Elvis!"


Song of the day: Burning Love!!

Who's your favorite artist / obsession? Haha




eBa