On the 48th death anniversary of the king of rock and roll, Graceland is celebrating Elvis Presley Week from Aug 8 to 16. If you’re an Elvis fan, here are ways you can celebrate the week
Elvis Presley in one of his iconic moves in the song Jailhouse Rock. Pics Courtesy/YouTube
Watch
Return of the King: The Fall and Rise of Elvis Presley (2024): Jason Hehir’s documentary takes us to a historic moment in the legend’s life: his performance at the ’68 Comeback Special that was aired on NBC. It begins with Presley fumbling on set, and soon rewinds to the year 1954, when the singer’s journey began. We travel through the mid-50s to understand what made him so popular, move into the two years of his life as a foot soldier, and follow him through his subsequent return to music in 1960.
We are then taken to the darker moments of his life, with his foray into Hollywood musicals such as King Creole and Blue Hawaii. His wife and his friends remember the time as a distressful one, embarrassing even, when he was reduced to singing a nursery rhyme in a film. Through insights from his loved ones, we attempt to make sense of who the real Elvis was. The documentary concludes with the ’68 Comeback Special, as we watch his fans hold their breath to find out if their beloved rockstar still had the old ‘Elvis’ charm.
LOG ON TO: Netflix
Listen
You Ain’t Nothin but a Postmark (99% Invisible): In 1847, the US issued its first national postage stamps. In the following decades, the range of these stamps expanded to include portraits of historical figures and significant national events. Putting someone’s portrait on a postage stamp meant government endorsement. We discover what happened when Americans realised that the country’s biggest cultural contributions — rock & roll and jazz — were missing from the envelopes.
A postage stamp featuring Elvis Presley. Pic Courtesy/Etsy.com
When the idea for an Elvis stamp floated, the jailhouse rockers, his fans, came out to vote between the designs of a younger version of the rockstar and an older Elvis. There were 1.2 million votes cast, including those by Bill Clinton, the then-Governor and Presidential candidate, who was seen playing a saxophone to the tune of Heartbreak Hotel at his 1992 campaign.
LOG ON: Spotify; Youtube
Read
Me and A Guy Named ELVIS (Viking Penguin): Talent manager Jerry Schilling (with Chuck Crisafulli) narrates an intimate tale of his friendship with the legend. A confidante of Elvis since he walked into a touch-football game as a 12-year-old boy, where 19-year-old Elvis was playing as a quarterback, Schilling knew the man behind the icon for 23 years. He writes, “As Elvis has become… a figure of legend, I think an appreciation of his humanity has been lost.” He recollects spending some of his most special moments with Presley, growing up with him, living with him in the 1960s, and working in various capacities for him, sometimes as his bodyguard, other times a photo-double or a co-producer. We learn about the most difficult time in Presley’s life: the years he struggled with creative disappointment.
Also read: Peter Guralnick’s Last Train to Memphis and The Colonel and the King
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