Elvis: Thats the way it is

[johnnie]

Great Elvis show. It sounds good on Surround sound too. Anybody ever see it?

[buycitgo]

1. simply divine

[Bat Boy]

2. Thank you.

Thank you very much.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

3. Awww, man. I could've done without that pic.

That's just plain wrong. It will haunt me all night.

[elperromagico]

4. Boss Hogg in "The Elvis Presley Story." n/t

[buycitgo]

5. camel toe!

god....that's pure ART!

[buycitgo]

6. I'll see your Elvis, and raise you mine

[Bat Boy]

10. Ooooh!

Right click...Save Picture As...

Gold. Comedy gold.

[johnnie]

7. It's not even funny

This is Elvis, not those asses you show.

[ForrestGump]

8. Yep -- and it'd possibly change the preconceived

opinions of the smug SOBs who spuriously think that they know what Elvis was about in the '70s. Any one of them would kill for a mere hint of the personal charisma that man had, let alone his voice and his physical presence.

The 'fat Elvis' of the '70s is just another case of the media and the build-'em-up-tear-'em-down American public blowing out of all proportion the last two or three yeaqrs of his life. Even then, his weight went up and down markedly -- in the last year it was apparent that it was primarily oedema, not just overweight -- and he put on some great concerts.

Sure it was a shock to see Elvis as he became in the last part of his life, and the focus on his appearance is understandable because he was ELVIS (and held up to impossible standards...maybe some even felt betrayed by his physical ailing), but in the fattest nation on Earth it's outright hypocrisy to perpetuate judgement of the man based on his weight. It's also just not nice. It's also, as I said, stupid because Elvis was in great shape for most of his too-short adult life. And in August, 1970, he was a god.

[johnnie]

9. Amen Gump

He was "The fat Elvis" for like two minutes. He sold more records than any other person in the history of music, he has had more top singles, he has had more top albums and he charted 25 years after his death. People just don't get it.

[ForrestGump]

11. Their loss

They may know "Heartbreak Hotel," but have they ever really listened to it? And if they never know such gems as "I'll Hold You In My Heart" (kind of typical of Elvis that this transcendent track was a studio jam, run through just once with Elvis at piano), "Long Black Limousine," "Good Time Charlie's Got The Blues," and all of those excellent studio songs from the '60s (a decade most critics even seem to beleive ws nothing but soundtracks for Elvis), then tough for them.

Besides, once Elvis' body began to once and for all give up on him, he still knocked out some great performances, in the studio and live. Greil Marcus labeled his 1976 "Hurt" as "apocalyptic" and his excellent Pittsburgh concert on 12/31/76 (when he was slimmer than he'd been since '74) capped a short tour in which every show was among the best of his latter career. And in '75, the first year in which he was significantly overweight all year, every tour and each of the Vegas seasons were higher-energy than most of his shows since the early '70s.

Here's Elvis at 40, two years short of death, knocking them out on tour:





Yeah, gotcha Fat Elvis right here, f***ers. In 1975, 40 was considered far less youthful an age than it is today. And, of course, we didn't have septugenarian rockers around like we do now.

[johnnie]

12. The Pitts show rocks

I have it on Video. I talked to Cricket, and she was there, and said it was the best of her 500 plus shows.

[ForrestGump]

13. Cricket of Sue and Cricket?

I think it was John Wilkinson (Elvis' rhythm guitar player, if anyone else is reading this) who said that the Pittsburgh New Year's show was the best Elvis did in the '70s. I don't know about that -- it was (along with the other December tour shows, with honorable mentions for some from March, October, and November) perhaps the best of 1976 -- but it was truly excellent. He really was "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" for that whole tour and looked great, too (still a bit heavy, but closer to slender than he'd been since June of '75 and just looking and sounding really happy for a change). It was the attack of the Hyper-Elvis. Who had less than eight full months left to live...hard to believe when you watch the fans' video footage.