Don't find my fascination with Elvis odd. You know I read constantly, and I only like to read things that are of interest to me, and if Elvis isn't interesting material, I don't know what is, man. It's incredible that this guy literally shot out of nowhere and changed the face of America. His influence is felt to this day, in everything from fashion to slang. The three most well-known words on the face of the planet are Coca-Cola, Jesus, and Elvis. We're talking about a guy who died a drugged-up, overweight mockery of himself. And the things surrounding his death, and what he bacame afterwards, are just amazing. He's literally become a god, a mythological figure--a skinny white boy who had the right look and learned everything he knew from blacks. Elvis was in the right place at the right time and he came with the right ammunition, if you can dig it.I became a huge Sinatra fan several years ago for much the same reason. Sinatra was always around, I mean, I knew who he was when I was a kid, and he always had this cool image. He hung out with Sammy and Dean--Sammy was the cool, suave black man with the key to the world, and I liked Dean because he always had a drink in his hand (I admired that). When I began to seriously listen to Frank's music, I discovered what the true meaning of "star" was. This man led a predestined life, he was sent here to do what he did. One of my all-time favorite records is his live performance of "I've Got You Under My Skin", performed in Vegas with the Count Basie Orchestra. He sings with such confidence, he knows he has the audience in the palm of his bejeweled hand (pinky ring and all). You can almost see him, casually taking tokes off his ever-present cigarette as he sings of how he'll "sacrifice anything come what might/for the sake/of having you near". Frank Sinatra INVENTED the term "A Singin' Motherfucker". Listen to this man sing "Strangers In The Night" and tell me you don't feel where he's coming from. "Fly Me To The Moon" actually changes my mood whenever I listen to it or hum the shit in the shower.
I guess some would call my musical tastes strange, but to me, music is music. If it's good, I can groove to it.
There are two performers who are so well-known that you don't even have to put their entire name on a marquee to pull a crowd. Those performers are "Elvis" and "Sinatra" (not necessarily in that order). I'm just interested in discovering what made them so great.
Sidenote: The actor Nicholas Cage is a huge Elvis fan, owning lots of memoribilia and even going so far as to (briefly) marry The King's nutcase daughter. Eddie Murphy maintains an "Elvis Room" in one of his homes. Singer Bobby Caldwell, best known for his beautiful rendition of "What You Won't Do For Love", now performs in Nevada doing a Frank Sinatra tribute act.
The unmistakable voice, whether he was talking or blowing. The swagger, before folk even knew what swagger was. So sure was he of his magic that this black warlock would turn his back on those who came to listen, those enraptured by his sound, his one-sided conversation in which no words were spoken. They would listen to the sounds the way one watches smoke rise from the tip of a burning cigarette, smoke and sound rising freely, mystically, beautifully, like spontaneous art guided by some unseen hand. Again--beautiful. Cool. Cool because he made it so, just by virtue of his being. He took what some thought was dying and breathed new life into it, he brought darkness back, blotting out the light, and then threw up his hands and said, simply, 'So what'.
