Friday, April 08, 2005
Elvis is in the House
Well, “if you’re looking for trouble/you came to the right place.” Leaving aside my horrible rendition, this remains a great Elvis song. As luck would have it, the best place to find some of that trouble is at South Bend’s Center for History on West Washington Street. Right now they have a great exhibit about a key moment in Elvis’ life: when he went into the Army in 1958. You can see his uniform and a host of really cool photos of the day he left the civilian world behind and raised his right hand as he was being inducted. Then you can watch his celebrity slowly being processed by the Army, an institution even larger then him. It’s a fun exhibit that will appeal to all. In fact, all of you baby boomers really need to bring your grand-kids to this show. You can explain to them, with great seriousness, that there once was a force a million times brighter than the silly pop stars on the stage today.
As all histories about Elvis note, his going into the Army was a crucial moment. Most rock critics see it as the beginning of the end of his musical career. John Lennon’s cruel observation that “Elvis died when he went into the Army” has been shared by countless others too. On one level Lennon is right: try listening to the astonishing—and I do mean astonishing—“Sun Sessions” music that a young guy from the deep South made in the mid-1950s, and then listen to just about anything he recorded in the 1970s. How a man could make some of the most powerful and some of the most disgraceful music of all times remains one of the great, sad stories in modern America. In so many ways this rise and fall is quintessentially American. My one quibble with Lennon’s assessment is that he didn’t take into account Elvis’ amazing 1968 comeback special on tv. I recently watched it on DVD and I really can’t think what superlative properly describes it. Sure some of it creeks, and other parts are just flim-flam, but let me also tell you that it is the most super-charged and charismatic performance I have ever seen. Elvis made it clear, at this point in his life anyway, that he still had that something that others could only dream about. The best parts have him simply singing and playing guitar with his original band-mates. The audience is a group of young women and a couple of guys who were probably far more into the Beatles when they went into the studio. But by the end of the evening they have fallen under Elvis’ sway as he pours his heart out through these old songs. If you think you could never listen again to “Heartbreak Hotel” or “Baby Let’s Play House” be prepared to re-think this when watching this show. Look at a man performing in a super-cool black leather outfit and see the outside world melt away as he forces you to gaze and think only about him. I mean the man wasn’t called the King for nothing.
But back to the Elvis exhibit at the museum. In addition to the story of this one day in his life, the curators have wisely added a host of other collectibles that touch on Elvis and his world. My favorite artifact might just be the People magazine cover of Elvis turning 40. It is not a pretty picture. And after looking at a bunch of other photos in the exhibit I can tell you this with great confidence: he sure knew how to work up a sweat. But there are other, sweeter memories of Elvis to be found here too, and they all give you a window into a world that is so different from ours today. In short, the exhibit is a sneaky history lesson, and those are always my favorites.
The museum is also sponsoring a series of talks that deal with Elvis. This Sunday, at 2 p.m., there will be a lecture by an expert on rock history who will be discussing the relationship between Elvis and tv. And then, on May 1, yours truly will be talking about Elvis and his role in ending the cold war. As I see it, the commies never had the firepower or the defenses to withstand the onslaught of an Elvis singing “Mystery Train.” And we still don’t today. So put on your blue suede shoes and come on down to the museum. And if you come to my talk, I promise to keep my Elvis impersonation really really short.
A random selection from more than 300 Michiana Chronicles -- refresh the browser to see another set:
Joe Chaney -- More essays by Joe
Louise Collins -- More essays by Louise
April Lidinsky -- More essays by April
Jonathan Nashel -- Elvis is in the House / More essays by Jonathan
Jeff Nixa -- More essays by Jeff
Ken Smith -- More essays by Ken
Jeanette Saddler Taylor -- More essays by Jeanette
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About the series
Michiana Chronicles is a series of radio essays by Jonathan Nashel, Louise Collins, Joe Chaney, Jeanette Saddler Taylor, Jeff Nixa, April Lidinsky, and Ken Smith.
Michiana is the region of north-central Indiana and southern Michigan roughly centered on South Bend, Indiana.
Michiana Chronicles airs on Fridays at 7:35 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on WVPE (88.1 FM), the home of public radio in Elkhart / South Bend, Indiana.
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Recent pieces
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Doing Algebra -- I’m doing quite a bit of algebra these days, helping our young mathematician solve homework problems. I last took algebra from Mr. Webb way back in the year 19-mumble-mumble, when President Nixon was still lovingly adding names to his enemies list. My strongest memory from Mr. Webb’s class was that he never learned his students’ names. He called everyone Babe. No matter who you were, he’d say, “Babe, put the next problem on the board. Thanks, Babe.” But he must have been a pretty good teacher, because after a quick refresher I can solve a basic problem. And so for the moment I still have a role to play in our teen’s life. By Ken Smith.
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Baby, It’s Cold Inside -- After you see these photos you will probably wonder what we can do to prevent every single last iceberg from melting away and becoming history. Here, I confess, I have no idea. I’ve heard it all before: lower carbon footprints, drive hybrids, recycle with abandon, hate the oil companies, love to read in the dark, you name it. And you know what: none of this is going to bring back these icebergs or grow new ones or do anything to stop our relentless destruction of the earth, let alone quell the naysayers on global warming. I recently heard on NPR that an iceberg the size of Connecticut just broke apart and is melting away. Now, I’ve been in Connecticut many times and I still can’t wrap my head around this little fun fact. What can possibly be the size of a state? By Jonathan Nashel.
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