Elvis - how he could have been greater

Elvis was and is indisputably one of the true greats of pop and rock music. But for all his greatness, Elvis didn't reach his full potential: he could have made many more great records.

There were various reasons for this:

(a) he wasted a lot of time on films (which generally weren't that great anyway). Elvis actually wanted to be a film star more than a rock star, and he and his manager believed rock and roll would not last, so he was trying to build a career in films instead (for when the rock and roll dried up - yes, that's what Elvis and his manager thought would happen !).

(scene from 'Jailhouse Rock' - one of Elvis' good films)

(b) he didn't move with the times. Despite his wild, rebellious style, he was very much a Southern conservative, both musically and in his social views. So the Sixties didn't mean much to him: neither the new music nor the counter-culture. Even in the 1970s, he had very few post-1965 records in his collection. The emerging social revolution was alien to him, though ironically he may have helped to kick-start it. As a result, he fell behind a bit, as you can see from his 1970s concerts - although great, they're out of step with the 70s music scene, belonging to another era. To continue to appeal to the contemporary market place, one has to be able to relate to the current scene - it's certainly one way of continuing to challenge oneself and keep developing as an artist.

(c) he didn't push himself to the peak of his expressive powers on records. It was too easy to come into the studio and rattle off another set of songs in the usual style. The album generally regarded as his best (From Elvis In Memphis, 1968) was partly the result of a producer pushing Elvis to the limit and not settling for second best.

So, what else could Elvis have done ? Well, he wasn't a creative songwriter or musician: his genius lay as a compelling performer and masterful interpreter, and he certainly laid on many outstanding concerts. Where he could have produced more would be in performing covers of many more good and great songs in the canons of pop, rock, country, gospel, blues and soul, and of any new songs composed, and leaving many more memorable recordings.

(scene from Elvis' early '70s concerts, with Elvis in trademark tailor-made white jumpsuits: although his 70s stage-costumes are sometimes regarded as over-the-top, Elvis made some of his best music about this time)

But, in Elvis' defence, he was the first major rock star, and so moved in territory no-one had yet ventured into. He had to make it up and guess his way forward, with no other careers to draw on as role models. It's easy for us, with the knowledge of many later pop and rock careers, to be wise with hindsight.

And finally, it's worth remembering Elvis did produce lots of great music and set the mould for how to do pop and rock. For many, he is still the original and best rock star. To some extent, most or all subsequent pop performers follow aspects of his style. As Madonna once said, 'Without Elvis, you're nothing'.

Anam Cara by John O'Donohue

Anam Cara (Irish Gaelic for 'Soul Friend') is a beautiful and profound work of reflection and poetic prose, by the late John O'Donohue, priest and philosopher. It is a truly great book - one of those rare books whose greatness you sense on reading only a few lines or pages.

the book - rather a small image !

I've discovered this work late. Published in 1997, I actually bought it several years ago, and struggled to make sense of it, because I couldn't place O'Donohue's worldview and frame of reference. Was he coming at the subject from a Christian, or a pagan, or a secular point of view ? Well, I picked the book up again a few weeks ago, and this time it all made sense (which possibly shows I've moved on in the interim.)

John O' Donohue

O'Donohue is painting a picture of human personhood, or being a human: how each person contains a great well of creativity, being and expression; how each person relates to the world and nature; and how we connect with the world in friendship, work and living. He spent many years studying this topic in academic circles, but also no doubt in his daily life as a priest.

The vision set out is that of the Celtic world, embraced by both pagan and Christian, with its sense of the sacredness and timelessness of everything and of the profundity and natural beauty in all things. He contrasts the shallow modern obsession with 'relationships' with the Celtic appreciation that true friendship was like a circle which is mysteriously completed when two people recognise each other, and it is best not analysed.

Celtic landscape

The quality of the writing is stunning: lines of prose read like poetry in their quiet sensitivity and colour of expression:

'The world rests in the night. Trees, mountains, fields and faces are released from the prison of shape and the burden of exposure. Each thing creeps back into its own nature within the shelter of the dark.' (p 22)

'Love is also a force of light and nurture that liberates you to inhabit to the full your own difference. There should be no limitation of each other; no need to be defensive or protective in each other's presence. Love should encourage and free you fully into your full potential'. (p 53)

Anam Cara stone

Likewise, the insights into all manner of aspects of human experience are breathtaking in their depth.

'Once the soul awakes, the search begins and you can never go back.' (p 28)

'A friend is different from an acquaintance. A friendship is a deeper and more sacred connection .... A friend is a loved one who awakens your life in order to free the wild possibilities within you.' (p 41)

'Your face is the icon of your life. In the human face a life looks out at the world and also looks in on itself .... The face always reveals who you are, and what life has done to you.' (p 68)

'People are often exceptionally careless in their style of belonging. Too many people belong too naively to the systems in which they are involved.... The heart of the matter is, you should never belong fully to something that is outside yourself .... You should belong first in your own interiority. If you belong there, and if you are in rhythm with yourself and connected to that deep unique source within, then you will never be vulnerable when your outside being is qualified, relativized or taken away.' (pps 181-2)

'Anam Cara' is wonderful spiritual food for anyone reflecting on what it means to be human, a magical and mystical blend of poetry, philosophy and observation. Highly recommended.

an Anam Cara plaque

Reading: 'Anam Cara: Spiritual Wisdom from the Celtic World' by John O'Donohue, 1997.

A snowy UK from space !

On 7 January 2010, the UK was completed covered in snow, and the moment was captured by a NASA satellite.

It's a great sight, beautiful and magnificent, and in fact it's the first time it's been photographed, since it's very rare for the UK to have so much snow.

The Eiffel Tower - then and now

Apparently many people thought the Eiffel Tower was a modern monstrosity when it was built.




How times and tastes change. Now it is - an icon of Paris !