ELVIS: Legend in a Cage

~
"The most notable event that occurred in the course of their stay was that Red and David Stanley and several of the other guys beat up a land developer from Grass Valley, California, who showed up drunk and disgruntled outside the suite after paying a security guard to gain admittance for hmself and his date. A number of fans witnessed Elvis simply standing there and observing the fight without doing anything to stop it, as four guys held the developer down, according to his later complaint, and the rest beat him to a bloody pulp."

-- Peter Guralnick, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley

That scene goes with the last years of Elvis' life, when he was struggling in vain with a soul-suffocating ennui and a crippling drug addiction, and when he was also unable to deliver his solid show for his fans, being barely able to even stand at times, as he toured the smaller venues again almost desperately seeking the cash to maintain the profligate lifestyle to which he, his family, and entourage had grown accustomed.

No gods ever walked the earth. Elvis was a man. But a legend was made and that magic keeps rockin' and rollin'. Below is an excerpt from a review of the '68 Comeback Special. It was printed in the CD that Monk bought in the mid '90s, being curious about how he might take to Elvis music after having left Elvis behind as a toy of his childhood. Needless to say, he had Monk at "Looking for trouble?" Last night he watched his Deluxe Edition DVD of the Comeback Special to mark this twenty-eighth anniversary of the King's death.



( Like a Caged Animal )

ELVIS: Legend in a Cage

~
"The most notable event that occurred in the course of their stay was that Red and David Stanley and several of the other guys beat up a land developer from Grass Valley, California, who showed up drunk and disgruntled outside the suite after paying a security guard to gain admittance for hmself and his date. A number of fans witnessed Elvis simply standing there and observing the fight without doing anything to stop it, as four guys held the developer down, according to his later complaint, and the rest beat him to a bloody pulp."

-- Peter Guralnick, Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley

That scene goes with the last years of Elvis' life, when he was struggling in vain with a soul-suffocating ennui and a crippling drug addiction, and when he was also unable to deliver his solid show for his fans, being barely able to even stand at times, as he toured the smaller venues again almost desperately seeking the cash to maintain the profligate lifestyle to which he, his family, and entourage had grown accustomed.

No gods ever walked the earth. Elvis was a man. But a legend was made and that magic keeps rockin' and rollin'. Below is an excerpt from a review of the '68 Comeback Special. It was printed in the CD that Monk bought in the mid '90s, being curious about how he might take to Elvis music after having left Elvis behind as a toy of his childhood. Needless to say, he had Monk at "Looking for trouble?" Last night he watched his Deluxe Edition DVD of the Comeback Special to mark this twenty-eighth anniversary of the King's death.



( Like a Caged Animal )