Elvis is IN the building!

Ever since the new year began, Elvis has been keeping me company.
He's my Teddybear, loving me tender in the garden and in the ghetto, while Kentucky rains keep falling on blue Hawaii.
Quite a life we lead, I tell you!

Poor fellow, it's about time he was able to strut his stuff! He's been languishing in the Ocean Room for almost three years.
Three years.
I am so glad to have freed him from cellophane bonds!

You see, 2016 is promising to be the year of Elvis!
Sixty years ago, on June 25th, he was alive and well and performing in Savannah, Georgia. The city was part of a tour circuit to promote the new singer's work, prior to his September appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, when his music, and his hips, rocked the nation.
We would all never be the same.
Elvis Presley was only 21 years old.
That same year, a photographer five years his senior was following him everywhere, capturing his life. As it would turn out, Alfred Wertheimer was the one and only photographer ever allowed that privilege.
Now, those photographs of one young man, taken by another young man, will come to this town. Titled "Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer", the exhibit will be at the Jepson Center for the Arts in April, lingering for multiple viewings until October.
Elvis on the train. Elvis in the pool. Elvis with his family. Elvis with his fans. Elvis in the recording studio and on television.
Elvis, not as The King of Rock and Roll he was to become, but as an ordinary young man, not yet discovered by the world at large.
I intend to visit that stage of his life often. I intend to try looking at him as my mother did, as a contemporary young person of Southern origin, with a gospel background.
She was only 18 years old then.
No wonder she fell in love with my father, with his Southern charm and dark, wavy hair. By the time Elvis came to Savannah, Mama and Daddy had already been married for almost two months.
I wonder if Elvis' tour had taken him through Augusta? I wonder if Mama had a chance to see Elvis live and in person on that 1956 tour?
I wish I could ask her.

This year, I plan to attend the Georgia Elvis Festival again, too, down in Brunswick.
It's been three years and that seems to be one of my periodicity factors for such things.
Three years between my trips to Las Vegas.
Ten years between my trips to Italy.

I'll look forward to seeing Austin Irby again in Brunswick.
This Elvis Tribute Artist rocked my world when I saw him before, as he so beautifully represented the 21-year-old singer. Such a great shimmy shimmy shake!
Now, he'll be three years older.
I hope he'll still be able to capture the romantic innocence of that young man, just venturing onto the world's stage, not quite aware of his effect on the music scene, still dreaming of things to come.

Of course, I'll look forward to seeing ETA Michael Chambliss, too. He represents the Las Vegas-era Elvis and does so amazingly well! In fact, he was the 2013 Georgia Elvis Festival Champion! I saw him in several of the competition rounds and found him to be quite impressive. Yes, quite impressive!
I'll look forward to meeting Tim 'E' Hendry, too. He's the 2015 Georgia Elvis Festival Champion. I don't recall him at the 2013 events, nor is he mentioned in any of my photos from then, but perhaps he was one of the early performers before the final two days. An older ETA, he represents the Elvis most of us these days know and love.
I'll have to remember to pack a couple of Peanut Butter Elvis Melts for the trip. Or maybe the university will make some for me...
Maybe they will!
(smile!)