Elvis,

[jb]

Not sure how many of you even remember him, but here's a guy that does a nice job of keeping the memory alive.
Wife and I saw him live one New Years Eve at the Silverdome, he put on a great show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=G8fjHJbF9Es

[LJ3]

This... from a man that makes fun of rednecks.

[BarryBobPosthole]

I met a Flying Elvis once. A guy that parachuted out of airplanes all over the country dressed as Elvis. He was cleaning our carpets. I guess elvising is a tough way to make a living.

BKB

[Buckrub]

JB, did you get one of those velvet paintings??????

[Thumper]

I know I've talked about this before and jokes have been made about it ... but I was actually pretty close to Elvis when I lived in Memphis. Sun Records was just a block or so down the street from the Caddie dealer where I worked and we were the only Caddie dealer in town ... back when EVERYBODY who was anybody drove them (before BMW's and Mercedes became the norm). He was in the dealership quite often and he'd come in every Christmas to buy a ton of Cadillacs for his friends and business associates ... sometimes, even for strangers. I have to say he was one of the nicest guys I've ever met. Actually, I knew Elvis, Pricilla and Col. Parker quite well and was invited to dinner at Graceland numerous times. No clue why I never went. I was always as far from a groupie as anybody could ever get.

He bought a new Cadillac for his mother once (can't remember the year, but it was a mid-50's model). Heck, his mom never even had a driver's license and didn't drive! The dang thing was PINK! After she passed away, he never got rid of it and it stayed at Graceland. He'd call me personally every 6 months and ask me to swing by the house (Graceland) and take it to work with me, do whatever service was necessary and return it when completed. He wouldn't let anyone else drive it, except Colonel Parker. I've never been to Graceland (inside anyway) since he died and have always wondered whatever happened to that car. I'd have to assume it's part of the museum, but I really don't know.

Elvis' step-mother lived next door to my dad (nice apartment building) and actually had a bit of a crush on ol' Dad I think. I always thought she was a bit strange. Everytime I went to her apartment, she had the table all set like she was expecting dinner guests. It always stayed that way. Heck, I can't even remember what her name was.

I'll never forget the night I heard on the news that Elvis had passed away. I was back in Orlando at that time. Seems like it was just yesterday. Lots of fond memories of Elvis, but ya' know what? ... I never once saw a live performance. Odd ....

[Buckrub]

So did YOU get a velvet painting?? :smile-new:

[BarryBobPosthole]

He died on my birthday. Does that count?
BKB

[Buckrub]

Really, wow!

So do YOU have a velvet painting????

[Thumper]

Heck, I don't even have a photograph much less a velvet painting! :(

Man, if I'd been the groupie type and was into photos and autographs, I'd have one hell of a collection! Working the only Caddie dealer in town a block away from Sun Records in Memphis ... I met TONS of recording stars back in the day. Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, B.J. Thomas and Eddie Floyd (he asked me to become his personal limo driver) were regulars. ALL the big blues stars came around that place. I did meet B.B. King and he invited me to the little place on the river front where he was performing ... I went and was treated like royalty and I even got to hold Lucille! I was also the only white boy there. That was when I was really starting to get hooked on the blues and he was a big part of it.

I left Memphis to manage the only Caddie dealership in Hollywood, Ca. That's when I was surrounded by recording types as well as movie types and got to know many personally. (A lot of those people liked dealing directly with management instead of the regular employees) I left there to manage the Limousine Mfg. company in Beverly Hills where many stars bought their limos. After 3-4 years there, I returned to the dealer in Hollywood, so I was surrounded by the "entertainer types" for many, many years. I wasn't crazy about many of them ... but a few were super cool and I actually liked 'em on a personal basis.

Through all those years and all those personal dealings, I never once took (or had made) a picture of any sort. I kind of regret that now ... but at least I have the memories.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Did you tell BB you were black?

BKB

[Buckrub]

Were those the limo's that your dad made in Ft. Smith?

[Thumper]

Were those the limo's that your dad made in Ft. Smith?

I worked at the home office which was in Beverly Hills. We had manufacturing plants in California, Florida, New York, Michigan, Las Vegas and (Ft. Smith) Arkansas. My dad ran the Ft. Smith plant. I oversaw all the plants and did a ton of traveling at the time to meet with the different plant managers. Many times I'd wake up and have to look at the hotel phonebook to find out where I was. That traveling got old after a while.

[Thumper]

Did you tell BB you were black?

BKB

Ha! Nope. In fact, when I walked into that blues joint, he was on stage. When he spotted me, he said, "Hey, here's that white boy from Madison Cadillac ... someone bring him a table and put it right up front here"!

A couple dudes lifted a table and chair over their heads and carried them through the crowd, then set 'em up right in front of the stage!

[BarryBobPosthole]

How did he spot you? I thought he was blind!

BKB

[Buckrub]

You also think Obama has half a brain.

Duh.

[LJ3]

BB King is the most overrated blues guy that ever was. Sorry BB. Truth. Good singer, marginal player, one trick pony, no chops. Very little emotion or energy to his guitar work. Not sure how that whole "Lucille" thing got started but he sure rode the hell out of that pony. Not that I wouldn't do the same in his shoes :)

He seems more like an Electra 225 in a world of Coupe De Villes :D

[BarryBobPosthole]

I met a guy in Roatan who was a backup guitar player in BB's band for several years. He told me BB never allowed him to do anything but play the same three or four chords and that was it. Everything was tightly scripted. every single note. His music is very simple when you listen to it. I think there was enormous talent there when those things were written. they were groundbreaking things he was doing in his youth. But I also think taking his act on the road like he has, has forced him to simplify it to the point where it could be performed considering his age and the diminishing skills he had on the guitar. That's not to take anything away though. I saw him in Tulsa several years back and I loved his show. But seeing a tightly scripted performance is the total opposite of what the blues are all about.

BKB

[Thumper]

I guess that's why he was playin' in a little hole-in-the-wall blues club on the Memphis river front. (NOT the kinda place you wanna be on a Friday night ... ESPECIALLY if you're a white boy!) I never had a problem though and actually took my girlfriend there the next night (Saturday).