Celebrity Today

No, Elvis Presley is not alive and well working behind the grill in some greasy diner making his favorite banana and peanut butter sandwiches. His legacy still lives in though. Through his music and through his daughter Lisa Marie Presley. Just in recent weeks, Lisa Marie announced that she was pregnant with twins, one boy and one girl. The girl she will name for her grandmother, and the little boy she will name for the twin brother Elvis had that died. The music of Elvis Presley lives in to this day though. His music is timeless.

Born in January 1935, Elvis Presley pursued a dream of music. He was one of the first performers of a style the became known as rock n’ roll. He had a string of hits, and he even broke into movies as an actor. He had friends both high and low. He also had a number of demons that eventually brought his life to an abrupt end thirty-one years ago today in 1977. Fans to this day still pay tribute to the fallen singer. They hold yearly candlelight vigils both on the day of his birth and today the day of his death. One man touched an entire generation with his music.

Earlier this month, a new CD collection of his music was released to an entirely new generation. This collection marks the fortieth anniversary of one of his best performances ever, his 1968 comeback special. At this point in his career, Elvis was on his way out, but with this one performance taped in June 1968 for release that December, he is said to have performed his best. This collection covers four CD’s and contains four hours worth of music.

We have Elvis classics and some never before released tunes from The King. Each CD contains a different performance that was used to put together the final version aired on NBC in December 1968. Just one listen, and any fan of Elvis will be taken back to an earlier time. Some might even call it a simpler time. I remember my own mother telling me of when she went to see Elvis perform live in Las Vegas, and she said it was something magical. No matter how many years pass, Elvis Presley’s legacy will continue to live on, and his music will affect the music industry for generations to come. Check out one clip from the 1968 special below. The song is one of my Elvis favorites, Lawdy Miss Clawdy.

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