Beth’s Music Moment: The Case for Elvis

A while back, I was emailing with my buddy Jim. I worked with him at the lab, and he’s the guitarist for Cornerstone Blues Band. If I recall, this was before we went to see the Stones in Chicago, so I was in full-blown Stonesmania. I believe I said something about requesting a Stones song next time we see them play, and he told me they didn’t know any Stones songs, and he was just never that much into them. I was like what-WHAT?! Dude, you play in a BLUES band, how can you not do any Stones songs?! (I believe they have been working on one since then...we shall see if they play it next time we’re out to see them!) He then went on to tell me that he thought Elvis Presley is one of the most over-rated performers ever.

I was like, “Man, are you trying to get me to end our friendship? What’s next, you don’t like Johnny Cash?!” We had a good laugh about it, and of course, I would never end our friendship. But I will work on getting him to come around about the Stones, and with this entry, I’m going to try to get him to see reason on Elvis. This is prompted by a couple of the videos I watched for my History of Rock course today, in which the guy talked about “The Rise of Elvis.” I wish I could include the video here, but it is part of the course and not embeddable or linkable. I’ll try to summarize.

Elvis was basically a super-talented guy who was in the right place at the right time. Born in Mississippi, raised in Memphis, he was influenced by all three musical genres that converged in rock and roll: mainstream pop, country & western, and rhythm & blues. His first record was “That’s All Right (Mama),” a blues song sung with a country twang, and the B-side was “Blue Moon of Kentucky,” the famous Bill Monroe bluegrass song, sung with an R&B feel to it. He was really the first artist to blend these sounds together, paving the way for the explosion of rock and roll. There is a case to be made that he took black music and made it acceptable to whites, but this was not an exploitation of the music. He simply loved the music, and it influenced his style. There is a big difference between ripping off an artist and their music, and genuinely loving the music and having it influence you.

Elvis was the first artist to have hit records on all three Billboard charts: pop, C&W, and R&B. This is a remarkable achievement, and it shows the convergence of these styles into a new and powerful type of music.

Elvis did not write his own songs, so there is some disparagement of him for that. Unwarranted disparagement, in my book. He was emerging from an era in which many mainstream pop artists did not write their own music, and his talent was in being a charismatic performer with a great voice, like Sinatra.

I think it’s important to keep in mind the time frame here, too. Rock and roll was just beginning to be a force; white teenagers were listening to black music; teenagers themselves were finding a new niche as they began to rebel and decided that they wanted to make their own fun. Enter Elvis, with his dark good looks, that mop of hair hanging in his face, that bad boy sneer, the southern drawl, and those swiveling hips. Once people got a look at him on TV, he was an immediate star. His somewhat dangerous, smoldering sexuality made teenage girls swoon—literally. Perhaps his performances seem outdated to some now, but not to me. He has a raw power that just leaps out at the audience. THAT is charisma, and he had a ton of it.

I mean, look at him. Just LOOK at him. Good grief.

This clip of Elvis performing “Hound Dog” on “The Milton Berle Show” is worth a watch. It will make you think, “And people thought Milton Berle was funny because..?” Although I did catch the “You don’t want a girl...you want a Miltown” reference. Miltowns were kind of like quaaludes. Interesting that they got a mention on this show! What is impressive here is that young Elvis just OOZED sex appeal. When he slows down the band and does a raunchy bump n' grind to the song, I guarantee that teenage ovaries were exploding all across America. I bet a few Mom ovaries were exploding, too! He was condemned by parents everywhere for his dancing and performance, which only made him more attractive to America’s youth. He was dangerous. Elvis’s power and ultimate talent was to harness this incredible energy that was emerging in America, and channel it back to the audience in his performances. I honestly can’t watch this without getting chills, because this is basically the birth of rock and roll. Many musical elements converged in rock and roll and in Elvis’s performances, but HE was the one who brought it to the masses. HE was the one who broke it open for subsequent performers, and got radio stations to play this emerging force in music.

I maintain that Elvis was the performer who made it all possible, and brought rock and roll to the forefront of music. No Elvis...no rock and roll. At least not as we know it. And that’s a world I wouldn’t want to live in.

I rest my case.

Bits and Pieces

Good grief, Billie Joe, what an adorable little punk you are! More on that in a moment.

Got the estimate on Blacky today, and good news! It came in at much less than anticipated, and he is totally NOT totaled! The appraiser knows and has dealt with my cousin and his body shop, and I emailed my cousin to start to figure out what we need to do and when to bring it down. They’re going to start looking for parts now, and we’ll probably take it down on Saturday. The insurance company called after they got the estimate, and the agent was super helpful. She’s going to send out the rental voucher as well as medical forms so that Ken can get reimbursed for new lenses on his glasses. (Got a chip on them from the broken glass...if it had been on the edge, no big deal, but it’s right in his line of site.) I told her that I’ve been really impressed with how quickly they are moving on this. Thank you, Farm Bureau! You guys rock!

What a relief, because we would have dealt with it if we’d needed to, but we weren’t quite ready for a new car yet. Very happy that Blacky can be fixed!

It was a warm day today, so after I did my workout, I did a couple of things and then sat outside and read for a while. There was a nice breeze, and it’s not too bad in here. Tomorrow could be another story, because we’re supposed to get hot and humid again, possibly breaking a record. Urgh!

Late this afternoon, I picked up with my Coursera courses, watching the latest video for the Vaccines course. One of the topics was the polio vaccine. It’s amazing to me how many kids have been saved from this virus, and I hope to see it completely eradicated in my lifetime. We’re getting very close! I watched a couple more lectures from this week’s History of Rock lectures, and enjoyed them very much. I’ll try to spread it out a little more this week, instead of watching them all in one day.

I was listening to “Nimrod” while working out today, and I love the song “All the Time.” I LOVE that opening riff! I like these lines, too:

Wasting time down a bumfuck road
And I don't know where the hell it'll go

Man, if that’s not small town life, I don’t know what is. And really, where DID all the time go?

Salud! TURN IT UP!

Strange Days

The outcome of last night’s ND-Michigan game wasn’t what we wanted, but we had fun watching all the same. I’ve learned to not get depressed about losing. I used to, but life is just too short to let something like a football game dictate your mood, you know? I enjoy watching, I love getting into it, but I don’t mourn when we lose. That’s why I have no regrets about going to the National Championship game last year. We got our asses kicked, but I loved the experience of being down there for the game, and loved being there to cheer for my Irish. So last night, I was like, “Well, damn,” but I didn’t get all weepy or upset. I’m just thrilled to be watching football again and excited about going to more games soon!

Today has been extremely low-key, and we’ve both been just chilling and reading stuff on the Interwebz. A Facebook friend posted an interesting article that wondered if President Obama hasn’t thought all of this Syria thing through with focus on the long-term. That maybe he has a strategy in mind here, and his actions are working to that end. I don’t know if that’s the case or not, but I found it an interesting viewpoint. My original comment was pretty much that, nothing confrontational, just a casual comment on the article. Then there was this:

[One commenter]: So, are we striking Syria or not, Beth?
[Me]: How the hell should I know? I'm not the Decider! But based on what I'm reading, my gut tells me that the House will say no, and the President will go along with that. I don't think anyone really knows what is going to happen, though. It's a very fluid situation.
[Another commenter]: Beth go get some knowledge????? If you can actually read you happen to be wrong. Learn your facts! no hard feelings, but you are a moron!

Well, that just cracked me up. I didn’t respond other than “LOL I see,” because that was just silly. Anyone who knows me knows that I try to stay informed, I’m an avid reader, and I don’t think anyone other than a hater would describe me as a moron. As one friend commented, “The minute they start calling you names, they’ve lost.” Very true. I took no offense at the comment, because it was just so far removed from reality that I could laugh about it.

The “no hard feelings, but you are a moron!” part was funny enough, but what really cracked me up was the “Beth go get some knowledge?????” part, with yes, FIVE question marks. I immediately thought of this, and when I read that comment, I hear it in this voice.



These are strange days indeed, and I’m just hanging on for the ride!

Hurtstang

We had a good visit with Mom today. She is doing well and seemed upbeat and happy! We did a few things for her around the place, and she was quite happy to have Ken trim the shrubbery. (I can’t use the word ‘shrubbery’ without thinking of the Knights Who Say Ni!) After that we sat out on her porch and enjoyed the breeze and chatted a bit. Now we’re just hanging out at home and watching other college games while we wait for the ND-Michigan game. Oh, and thanks for the horseradish cheese, Mom! We’re going to try some of that tonight!

Ken started the ball rolling with the insurance claim on the car today. The appraiser will be coming on Monday to check it out, and we’ll go from there. Ken got a copy of the police report online, and all culpability is given to the truck that hit him. The police report also estimates the damage at $5,000-$10,000. GAH!

I’m not surprised, though. I took a closer look at it when we got home from Mom’s. (Click on picture to embiggenate.) I’m no expert in how much it will all cost, but I had two uncles who ran body shops for decades, and my cousin still runs one of them. The entire door will have to be replaced, and I’m guessing the rear panel will also need to be replaced, because it’s got a large dent near the door and several fairly deep gouges over the wheel well. The front panel will probably not need to be replaced, but I think they’ll probably still paint it. With all of that, the repair costs could really be up there.

In fact, because there are so many miles on his car, it’s entirely possible that it might be totaled. If that happens, my cousin might not get the repair business from us! But we’re just going to wait and see what we hear from the appraiser. We’ve just been speculating about different scenarios and vehicles, but before we get too deep into that, we’ll have to see what the estimated damage is.

Taking a closer look made me feel a little ill. First and foremost, it really could have been so much worse...for Ken. He came out relatively unscathed. Just a small cut on his hand (he picked a shard of glass out of his scalp this morning), and some generalized aches and pains. He’s been taking Advil to help with that, and he’s okay. He had a little chip on his glasses—thank science he was wearing them, because a piece of glass could have gone into his eye!—and he will talk to the claims adjuster to see if new lenses are covered. I would think they would cover that. It’s not on the edge, it’s right in his line of sight, and that would bother me. It makes you think about how close things can be, and how our mortality is sometimes just inches away. Our friend Lisa expressed something close to that, about “inches and seconds,” and she is so right.

That’s the main thing, and I know that a car is just a car, and can be repaired or replaced. But Mustangs are special. I’m driving my fourth one (“Slick”), and Ken got his (“Blacky”) the year after I got mine. I love Mustangs like no other car, and to see Blacky all scraped up and dented, his side mirror hanging down with its guts exposed...well, it just hurts my heart. Blacky has been a faithful companion and has delivered us safely to Florida several times. He’s been to Chicago, Indianapolis, “Woodbury,” and various other spots near and far. Seeing him all banged up like that just makes me feel so sad. I hope it works out that we can get him fixed up. “We can rebuild him!” If not...well, we’ll cross that bridge IF we come to it.

In the meantime, Team Nutwood is hangin’ tough!

GO IRISH!

Weekend plans and a close call

It’s a low-key weekend for us, as we have no major plans...and I’m good with that!

A visit to my Mom’s tomorrow to visit with her and do a few things for her. I’m happy to report that she is doing well and enjoying her new church, and she is still keeping in touch with her friends at the other church. I have asked her to not make a big lunch for us (we’ll see how that works out!), because in the evening, we’ll be watching the Notre Dame-Michigan game on TV (it’s in Ann Arbor this year), and having a ton of snack food for dinner. I got several more things today, and Ken’s Mom sent some yummy appetizers over for us—bacon-wrapped beef medallions and bacon-wrapped shrimp. Key word there: BACON! Anyway, it’s going to be a ton of food, and I probably got too much, as usual. It’s always fun to do our snack food football evenings, though, and this is our first one of the season!

This game is bittersweet, because it will be the last meeting between ND and Michigan for the foreseeable future. I have no idea what took place behind the scenes, or what negotiations took place in cigar-filled back rooms—like college football is mob-era Vegas. Probably more like it all happened in pristine, sterile lawyers’ offices! But for whatever reason, they are not continuing one of the greatest rivalries in college football, and I’m pretty bummed about it. Many of my fellow Irish fans are bummed about it, too. We’re not that far away from each other, so whether the game is at ND Stadium or at the Big House, it’s packed with fans from the other team. There have been some great games over the decades, and it’s really a shame that this is stopping for now. I hope they get back together soon. We’ll be reunited and it’ll feel so good!

Sunday we’re just sticking around here, barbecuing some ribs and enjoying football. This might be one of the last weekends we can barbecue, so we wanted to make sure we do that. Not giving up hope for subsequent weekends, but the weather this weekend is supposed to be great, so we’ll take advantage of it while we can!

The close call came tonight when Ken was on his way home from his Mom’s place. He got sideswiped when going over some railroad tracks. He called to let me know that he was okay, but he might be a while, as he waited for the cops. The guy in the other vehicle hit and run! BASTARD! A couple of witnesses saw what happened and were kind enough to stick around and tell the cop what had happened and give their names and numbers. Thank you, Citizens!

I was reassured to know that Ken was okay, but when he got home (sooner than expected), I skedaddled out to look at the car...and holy shit. Really bad damage. It’s amazing that Ken wasn’t hurt, and I am so relieved that he is okay. It could have been so much worse, and I’m still feeling weird and agitated. His poor car! But cars can be fixed or replaced, and what a relief that he wasn’t hurt. He took his shirt off out on the deck, and a few pieces of glass fell out of his shirt. He had no cuts other than a tiny one on his hand—thank you, Ford engineering!—and he took some Advil when he got home in case he has some muscle issues, which he probably will. You tense up from something like that, and he already had a headache from the tension by the time he got home.

SO...good outcome to what could have been something very very bad. Heavy sigh of relief!

Welcome, Davenport!

The new furniture was scheduled to be delivered between 8 and 11 am today, so I made sure I was up at 7:30, so I had a few minutes to wake up and clear the cobwebs—the cobwebs of my mind, that is. I wasn’t about to do a cobweb run for a couple of furniture delivery guys that wouldn’t care one way or the other! I had set the alarm just in case, but I didn’t have a great night of sleep, so I was up before the alarm went off.

I didn’t have to wait super long. They got here about 9 am, and everything was unloaded, unpackaged, and in place by 9:30. I got things situated where I wanted them, moved the tables back into place, and let Sheeba out of the back bedroom so he could check it out. He wasn’t quite sure what to make of the new stuff at first, but he got bored quickly and headed back to the bedroom for a nap. As did I. I went back to bed and slept for a couple of hours! I wasn’t sure I’d be able to sleep, but I had no problem. I’m glad I did, because I felt much more energetic when I got up, and got my workout done, as well as a few things around the house.

I’m very pleased with my experience with Elder-Beerman (thanks to my brother-in-law, Tom!) and with their delivery service. (Their parent company is Bon Ton, which includes Carson’s.) I was still shutting the doors after the delivery guys left when I get a phone call with an automated survey asking about my delivery experience. High marks all around!

I love the furniture. It sits a bit taller, so it looks a little bigger, but it’s not as long, so our walkways are bigger. The width is a little bit more, so it sits further into the living room, but that’s okay. It’s nice and firm, not mushy, and I’ll sit up higher for watching TV and movies. I love the color, and the material seems sturdy. We bought the extra guarantee on it, so if we run into problems down the road, we can get it replaced easily. It has a little more mid-century modern feel to it, and I’m looking forward to choosing new curtains soon.

So who wants to come over and hang out and watch a movie?

One last thing on couches. We donated the old couch and loveseat to Drew and the State Theater to use as he wanted. They have some couches and chairs in the theater, just some cozy spots to hang out. We said that if he couldn’t use them, feel free to donate them to a local charity, or whatever. Today he posted this picture of Ol’ Green hanging out on the sidewalk in front of the State, and wrote that people were welcome to come by and hang out and enjoy the beautiful day. I don’t know if he’ll end up keeping it or not—it’s still in fairly good shape structurally—but it made me grin to see my old couch sitting out in front of a great theater in fabulous downtown South Bend! It started its life as a city couch, when I lived in Indianapolis. Then it moved with me and became a country couch, and now it moved on up and is back to being a city couch again. Thanks for many years of companionship, Ol’ Green. I hope you’ll meet lots of new friends in your new digs!



I couldn’t help but think of this!