Althouse: The Rock goes to Graceland.

February 18, 2023

The Rock goes to Graceland.

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21 comments:

Kate said...: Now we know where Althouse was flying to!; 2/18/23, 6:22 AM
rhhardin said...: Elvis never made it into my household. But we all agreed that it was funny when George Gobel blacked out his hips when performing some guitar play and sing on TV.; 2/18/23, 6:33 AM
farmgirl said...: I love kindred spirits…; 2/18/23, 7:41 AM
Birches said...: That was a very good advertisement. I've been interested in visiting Graceland, especially after the Baz Lurhman movie, but this was a very big hook.; 2/18/23, 7:41 AM
Dave Begley said...: Our next President.; 2/18/23, 7:56 AM
richlb said...: "Elvis was a hero to most but he never meant shit to me...."; 2/18/23, 8:10 AM
Barbara said...: The Rock rocks!; 2/18/23, 8:23 AM
Lem the artificially intelligent said...: Rock would rather go to Graceland than sit down with Rogan.; 2/18/23, 9:03 AM
Ice Nine said...: Graceland is a gigantic bore. An unremarkable house with some grotesque furnishings and some Elvis memorabilia scattered around. A long line for a tedious tour that we couldn't wait to be over - so we cut out early. And we're Elvis fans.; 2/18/23, 9:05 AM
JaimeRoberto said...: Graceland is interesting. It's tacky and cheesy, but also kind of sad. It's a time capsule of what a country boy thought of as luxury, and it seemed to touch the visitors who were big fans of The King. It might be less interesting these days as there are ever fewer visitors who remember Elvis when he was alive.; 2/18/23, 10:20 AM
Narr said...: I've lived in Memphis all my years, but never been in Graceland. OTOH I can walk to his previous home in ten minutes without leaving a nicer neighborhood. The Mike Curb Institute of Rhodes College had invited the neighbors to visit a few years ago--right before it burned.
It has been restored but no repeat invites have been made.

I was friends with a guy who owned that property for a few years, but that was before we were close and before my wife and I moved to this neighborhood.

Not a huge fan of the King or the Rock, and only learned of the latter's Memphis connection recently.; 2/18/23, 10:21 AM
n.n said...: Nice tribute: gracious in Graceland.; 2/18/23, 10:47 AM
MadisonMan said...: I visited Graceland in 1980 I think. Don't recall much of it. Not even sure if I went inside.; 2/18/23, 10:50 AM
Roy Lofquist said...: Elvis was a big part of my life. I remember his first TV appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. I ran into a couple of guys in Germany who had been in the same outfit. I am particularly partial to his gospel music. The recent biopic "Elvis" was a nostalgia overload.

Here is a cover of his last #1 hit, Suspicious Minds. Totally different than his version, but a true tribute none the less.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTbKhkceR00; 2/18/23, 11:34 AM
rehajm said...: rhhardin said...
Elvis never made it into my household. But we all agreed that it was funny when George Gobel blacked out his hips when performing some guitar play and sing on TV.

George Gobel to block...; 2/18/23, 1:23 PM
traditionalguy said...: The poor Mississippi red neck kid was The King of singing beautiful songs. And thanks to today’s digital music sites, he still is.; 2/18/23, 1:26 PM
Spiros said...: I wonder what an Elvis/Beach Boys collaboration would have sounded like.; 2/18/23, 2:31 PM
Dude1394 said...: I couldn’t find any mention of him living in Memphis.; 2/18/23, 5:07 PM
rcocean said...: I went to Graceland 35 years ago. It was, as someone said, Tacky. Not all of it. But some of it. The House decoration was something a young Guy from 40s/50s Mississippi would like. There wasn't a woman's touch. Or taste.

But I was touched at how many of the crowd LOVED Elvis. Graceland was their shrine, and they'd come to pay homage to the King of 50s Rock and Roll. Even more nice, were the members of Elvis' family that talked to visitors about the house and gravesite.

Poor Elvis. He made a certain amount of money, but like his black contemporaries, he was ripped off the Record Industry Execs. And he was conned by his greedy manager "Colonel" Tom Parker.

If Elvis been a 21st Century King of Music, he'd have been worth $billions. As long as 21st Century Elvis didn't cross "The Jews", who as we all know, do NOT control anything. As Ye found out.; 2/18/23, 7:32 PM
Molly said...: (Eaglebeak)
One of the things that makes Elvis so touching as a person and an artist is that he was a poor redneck kid from Mississippi, the first in his family to graduate from high school, raised a Pentecostal (what snobbier Christian denominations called "Holy Rollers")--he lived his whole life (and now his afterlife) being made fun of and looked down on, and yet he was able, by virtue of his prodigious talent and his genuine love for people, to fire the imagination of the world. And still does.

Oh--also--as to "The Jews": Elvis was part Jewish; his maternal great-great-grandmother was apparently Jewish--that's what Gladys told her son Elvis, but she told him not to tell anyone. However, the grave marker he had made for her, which can be seen at Graceland, has a Star of David on it as well as a Cross.; 2/19/23, 2:49 PM
Narr said...: Elvis wore a David's Star necklace on occasion, and in reality some of his oldest and closest friends and associates were Jewish. This isn't even up for debate.; 2/19/23, 3:31 PM