Monday, December 8, 2008

Leave Elvis Alone

"There have been a lotta tough guys.  There have been pretenders.  And there have been contenders.  But there is only one king."  Bruce Springsteen

I heard a new version of "Blue Christmas" where Martina McBride sings "with" Elvis Presley.  With all due respect to Miss McBride, if I wanted to hear her sing, I would buy one of her CDs.  When I was at Target today, I saw that some genius has released a new CD called "Elvis Christmas Duets" where various singing artists perform Christmas songs with Elvis.  Just seeing this gave me a pain deep inside my head.  (I am deeply disappointed in Wynonna Judd, who is one of my idols and a very talented artist, for participating in this recording.)  

Elvis was an immensely talented man who left behind a great body of work that is timeless.  He was used by people he considered his friends through most of his adult life.  He was exploited by his manager.  He became lonely and addicted to junk food and prescription drugs.  He was very ill, and he died alone.  He was the poster boy for the sorrows of superstardom.  

He continues to make his heirs wealthy.  So, I just don't understand why someone would agree to do this to his music.  

It's just my opinion.  

Don't get me started on people who colorize black and white movies.  Leave perfection alone.  

"If life were fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead."  Johnny Carson  

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