Somebody Should Have Stopped It
This will be kind of a weird post for me but, I can’t get it out of my mind. Driving home the other night, listening to Underground Garage on Sirius, a song came on by Elvis. The song was “Clambake.” Not one of his big hits but, a song from one of his crappy movies.
At one time he was considered the King of Rock…It should’ve actually been Chuck Berry but, it was the 50’s and they needed a white guy. I should let you know I wasn’t alive at the time…Yeah, I know, hard to believe…sometimes you people really get under my old wrinkled skin.
What happened was, at the height of his fame, Elvis was drafted and did his stint in the army. When he came back, he had some more big hits but, his manager had bigger and better things in mind.
Despite his talent, Elvis was still a dumb hick from Mississippi. Giving a Carnival barker half of your earnings for your entire life doesn’t get the Mensa people knocking at your door. Letting that same idiot take control of your career is even worse.
You see, the Colonel decided the big money was in making movies instead of recording and touring. He got Elvis a big movie deal that would keep them both rich for the rest of their lives. The problem was, they weren’t good movies. No, the complete opposite. Within a short time Elvis would go from the “King of Rock” to the “King of Schlock.”