1993 Elvis Presley Stamp -Watercolor of Elvis by Mark Stutzmamn
As some of you who've been coming to this blog
for awhile know by now, after my family moved
from San Antonio, where my sister and I were
born and my mother grew-up, my family moved
to Memphis in 1965, where we lived for three
years, and where my youngest sister was born.
We moved to South Florida in July of 1968
just a few weeks after Dr. King was assassinated,
following the horrific aftermath in the city.
It was in Memphis specifically, and the Mid-South
in general, on our weekend family drives around
Tennessee, Arkansas and Mississippi -not always
so great in an un-air conditioned car with two
younger sisters!- where I first developed my
deep and enduring love and preference for many
things that still remain with me to this day:
the Mississippi River; rhythm 'n' blues; Al Green;
The Andy Griffith Show; Dusty Springfield;
Petula Clark; St. Louis Cardinals baseball on
the radio in the summertime during their mid-60's
glory era; smoky sweet Memphis-style barbecue ribs;
cornbread, and, of course, The King - Elvis.
To a devout Elvis fan like me, who knows just
about everything there is to know about him,
the good and the bad, the best books ever written
on Elvis -by far- are Peter Guralnick's masterful
"Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis
Presley" and the great follow-up, "Careless
Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley."
Each is written with honesty and empathy,
free of the judgmental cant and analysis that
doomed other books that purport to tell the
tale.
It was also while living in The Mid-South,
that I first became greatly interested in the
American Civil War, following a summer
day-trip to Shiloh, the site of the bloody
April 1862 battle.
It was on that summer day-trip that I had
a chance encounter with a VERY old man
on the battlefield itself.
A man whose own father had actually
fought in the battle -and lived to tell
the tale!
For more info on Shiloh, see
http://www.nps.gov/shil/
Spending a day there is an awesome and
eye-opening experience and really puts
things into their proper perspective,
just as my later trips to Gettysburg,
Harper's Ferry, Winchester,
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania
did as well, after I moved to the
D.C. area.
You'll recall that a few days ago I shared
video with you of Yohanna singing
Don't Save It All For Christmas Day
at En Sång För Hemlösa 2009 in
Stockholm and encouraged you all
to watch the entire TV program if
you could, because it was so well done.
Well, on what would be Elvis' 75th
birthday I return to our talented friend
from Iceland and share a song that she
recorded last year called Butterflies
and Elvis.
I'm choosing today to also write for the first
time here -though some of you know from
emails- about another young singer whom
I know you all have never heard of before,
but whose talent is so obvious that...
well, the first time I heard him, let's just say
that I was just thunderstruck.
Just like I was the first time I heard
Molly Sandén or Yohanna.
Obvious transcendent talent!
A friend in Europe has seen him on the
Idol Sweden program and she sent me
a video of his audition in Malmö in an
email last year that had the simple words,
"Must see!!!" in the subject header.
Wow! Was she ever right!
I'm talking about Calle Kristiansson,
a name you will be hearing a lot more
of in the future, because seeing and hearing
IS certainly believing.
-----
First, the original version of Mark Cohn's song
that you probably first heard sung by Cher.
When the song was incorporated into the
1997 X-Files episode called The Post-Modern
Prometheus, it instantly became my favorite
episode.
See video of it at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CKs8NjusTQ
----
Prepare yourself to be wowed and remember
in the future who first told you about a Swedish
singer named Calle Kristiansson.
Me!
TV4.se
Calle Kristiansson - Walking in Memphis -
IDOL Sweden 2009,
auditions in Malmö
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
-----
Calle Kristiansson - Walking in Memphis -
XL Live Expressen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
See also:
http://www.expressen.se/
and http://www.youtube.com/ExpressenTV
-----
Yohanna -Butterflies and Elvis
from her Butterflies and Elvis CD
See also: http://www.youtube.com/TEAMYOHANNA
and http://teamyohanna.blogspot.com/
plus http://www.myspace.com/yohannamusic
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Bitter cold can’t keep these Elvis fans from his birthday party
By Michael Lollar
January 8, 2010
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/jan/08/bitter-cold-cant-keep-these-elvis-fans-his-birthda/
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