Every year as death week rolls around somebody (and usually several somebodies) in the mainstream media asks the self-answering question, “Is Elvis still relevant?” Invariably some super-hip journo tries to prove that the mainstreamed Las Vegas-era Elvis covered the rebellious Sun Studios-era Elvis in peanut butter, ate the poor guy, became incredibly fat, and died on the pot trying to void himself of — well — himself. As these sorts of stories go, a recent article by Robert Seltzer of San Antonio Express News is unique because it initially paints Elvis in broad strokes on black velvet, but ultimately makes him sound like the great unsung hero of the civil rights movement. Yes, it goes too far in both directions. Of course — as the King once famously crooned — that’s all right.
Elvis, Hot or Not?
Every year as death week rolls around somebody (and usually several somebodies) in the mainstream media asks the self-answering question, “Is Elvis still relevant?” Invariably some super-hip journo tries to prove that the mainstreamed Las Vegas-era Elvis covered the rebellious Sun Studios-era Elvis in peanut butter, ate the poor guy, became incredibly fat, and died on the pot trying to void himself of — well — himself. As these sorts of stories go, a recent article by Robert Seltzer of San Antonio Express News is unique because it initially paints Elvis in broad strokes on black velvet, but ultimately makes him sound like the great unsung hero of the civil rights movement. Yes, it goes too far in both directions. Of course — as the King once famously crooned — that’s all right.
