At 86, he looks great to say the least.
It happens that it gets fat for a couple of days or hours, but very quickly comes back to normal - fresh, vigorous, surrounded by fans, tours around the world, releases new albums.
More and more on vinyl.
Where else can you listen to decent music?
He doesn't have too many remixes, he even without remixes is modern, relevant, quite in the spirit of the times.
It seems at times that this is more of a time in his spirit.
The picture gives some absurdity.
43 years ago Еlvis has left the building.
But replies to letters addressed to him still arrive regularly - no return to sender.
So where is he?
And who is he?
Have you ever wondered why he was born on January 8th?
In the heart of winter.
He loves Christmas, this cheerful Mr. Presley, although he hasn't covered all the Christmas standards.
In this case, venerable showmen like Dean Martin or Nat King Cole, of course, bypassed him.
But here's the incredible spirit of the holiday ...
By the way, what about the spirit?
With an ineradicable childish passion for gifts and bestowing on everyone and everything?
With endless charity, from which both manager Parker and daddy Vernon literally lost their will, fearing to spend the rest of their lives "under the bridge"?
What about that inexpressible feeling that you get when you pick up Elvis' Christmas Album or Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas?
Have you ever wondered why he was born at all?
The twin brother died in childbirth, but he survived.
And he lived for 18 long years in a fictional world that did not exist at all.
In the world of pipe dreams and dreams.
Imagining himself either as the savior of mankind, or as a superhero conquering universal evil.
He lived without a penny in his pocket, with no hope of finishing high school.
He lived every day promising his mother the best house in the world and the most beautiful car in the whole wide world.
Gladys, truly chosen for this mission by the higher powers, listened to her son's words with attention worthy of a Sunday sermon.
She did not dissuade, condemn, ridicule or forbid to dream.
If Gladys did not know, then she foresaw the future with her heart.
A very distant future.
Something that hasn't even come yet.
Therefore, in her only son, an explosive mixture of happiness, laughter, sadness, anxiety, hope and despair appeared and grew stronger and stronger.
Faith and Forgiveness.
Like many, very many heroes of antiquity, he was born to go through trials, the most terrible of which are adoration, reverence and glory.
As if the whole world, all the forces of creation had conspired to unleash an unbearable flame on it, longing to possess the love of millions and millions of living.
Those who left.
Who is here and with us.
Those who will come much later than us.
And he held out.
Even if it lost its physical shell, it was just a condition of the problem.
Who does he look like?
Name at least one, at least the only star of show business!
There are no such stars.
There is no one to compare with Mr. Elvis Aaron Presley.
And here's another thing - there is no one to compare him with, because everyone is playing someone, they want to be someone.
Elvis remained himself all his life.
Sometimes - a redneck, sometimes - a king of kings, often - a shy boy, even more often - a cocky, but not evil street musician, an artist of a traveling circus, traveling around the world.
Forever.
Forever and ever.
In his fabulous robes from the times of Elvis: As Recorded at Madison Square Garden and Aloha from Hawaii: Via Satellite, he became like a mad wizard, Gandalf with a staff and a pointed hat (but not from The Lord of the Rings - from The Hobbit), that appears from nowhere and disappears into nowhere, accompanied by thunderous rumbles, fireworks, magic lights.
Always smiling.
Always reaching out for a friendly shake of a hand.
Adore children.
Shelter.
Hearth.
After all, he, the owner of five spiritual albums, also has Elvis Sings For Children And Grownups Too !, and he has the largest army of children in the world - and you can't fool them.
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Everyone who touched him, who saw him on stage, on the set, became infected with his incomparable authenticity.
And how bitter it is to hear the hackneyed, washed-down "truth" that he was a very mediocre actor and he sang very mediocre songs.
About the first - revisit the early films: Loving You, Jailhouse Rock, King Creole.
Among iconic actors and actresses, including the winners of that ancient Oscar, Elvis looks not just equal - he is a thing in himself, a reflection of each of us, whoever looks into him like in a mirror.
Doubt, fear, insecurity.
Overcoming, pushing through "never can".
Falling in love and love.
Fights and kisses.
Was it all Hollywood invented?
Did the local producers come up with this?
By declaring this, you run the risk of offending the Creator, and jokes with him are bad ...
For centuries, the same play has been performed on the stage of the universe ... Are you always deliberately calm and consistently serious?
Haven't you happened to break into screams and groans?
On stupidity, childishness, girlish tears?
Take a look.
As it happens to us all.
How it was with him.
About the second - oh yes.
Very often in Elvis's repertoire, things turned out to be not just primitive - worthless.
And what?
You listen to them and you will listen further.
And always.
Because once the hand of a wizard touched something empty and inanimate.
And it, previously dead, became alive, filled with feeling and meaning.
Like any of our most ordinary moments of life, in which we suddenly remembered, we held ourselves back, realizing the spark of divine providence inside.
About the spark of providence.
All kinds of people loved and love Elvis.
Sometimes we are surprised by what they do.
But there is an explanation for everything.
John Carpenter, the king of "standard horror", the one who directed "Halloween" and "Vampires", and at the same time wrote the music for them, like for most of his films, unexpectedly for everyone, a year after Elvis left, he shoots a semi-fiction-semi-documentary about him - about Presley.
And he invites Kurt Russell to the main role, who, in turn, when he was 11, played a cameo role of an impudent boy in It Happened at the World's Fair, where he portrayed a fight with Elvis according to the script.
Carpenter, of course, always admired the King, Russell fell ill with Elvis and rock and roll on the set at 11, but then, so that both of them would come together in such a tape ...
But this is already mysticism.
Especially how Russell looks like Elvis in some of the scenes.
How he speaks, like the real Presley, with his shadow - with his twin brother who died at birth.
Mysticism in the movements, and in the fleeting "hits" of the camera (exactly in the top ten, it already takes a shiver), in the voice acting of songs by Ronnie McDowell, who, by definition, cannot, but by some kind of super-effort "reaches" Elvis.
Mysticism in everything.
And on New Year's holidays too.
Let's say the 2018 Christmas Chronicles (Netflix), directed by Clay Catis and Chris Columbus.
The most simple Christmas-pop film.
As if.
But with Kurt Russell as Santa.
And so cool Santa Russell that, having got to the police station, he, endowing all the detainees with musical instruments, talent and voice, with all the foolishness, wriggling and dancing, sings Santa Claus Is Back in Town.
Ha!
Ho ho ho !!!
Why isn't the reincarnation of the King into Santa?
Rumor has it that Netflix is not doing well right now.
And they supposedly grab at any straw.
They came up with an idea to shoot a cartoon blockbuster about Elvis, a super agent, a fighter against dark forces and drugs, Agent King.
I guess this is not the very last straw ...
And also this year we will see the premiere from Baz Luhrmann - the full-length film "Elvis", where Tom Hanks will play Colonel Parker.
It doesn't matter who exactly will play Elvis there.
The point is this - Elvis radiated all his life, and now he continues to radiate joy.
The pure equivalent of joy if it is somewhere in the form of a chemical compound.
In the form of mental waves.
Elvis Presley.
Two words.
Acts like a spell.
Like a simple children's counting room.
And this is how real magic works.
The king quite confidently turns into a mythical immortal hero, Santa, Gandalf, Santa Claus.
Everything to help him - childish spontaneity, a bunch of mistakes and stupidity (and where without them?), Generosity and unheard of wealth that are distributed right and left.
“I don’t consider the treasury to be mine, but all the good is not scarce ...” This is also about him.
It will take 10, 15 years. Maybe a little more.
And Mr. Presley, having passed his first centenary, will absolutely naturally look in red robes trimmed with furs, with a bag of gifts on his back, in a stylish sleigh that looks like a pink Cadillac Fleetwood at the same time, and a spaceship with a built-in jukebox instead of a control panel.
Madness?
Only at first glance.
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His secret is simple - everything that he does (just like that, and only in the present tense), he does with his heart.
Therefore, Elvis is incredibly young at 86, wildly popular with archaic, fossil music, is relevant today, 43 years after leaving for his planet.
"To my planet."
We can't believe it.
We do not want.
And this is the only correct decision.
Do you remember that he has a wonderful CD Elvis Country (I'm 10,000 Years Old) both in terms of music and design?
What else is needed?
What other mysticism can you add?
A strange story.
And there will be many.
He's just getting started.
Just getting ready to go on stage.
He is only trying to become and be himself in full force.
"We love him not only for what he was, but also for what he wanted to become!"
"If you haven't seen or heard Elvis alive, you haven't seen or heard anything!"
The more impenetrable the darkness of the void that surrounds us, the brighter its Flaming Star shines.
All these endless futile efforts of the "supergiants" of "modern music" to gather a crowd! ..
How he probably laughs at us.
However, it is not evil at all, otherwise he would not have been Elvis Aaron Presley, who so imperceptibly and so rapidly turns into a kind wizard with wonderful gifts.
Today is January 8th.
His birthday.
In Memphis, as always, madness, Babylonian pandemonium.
Graceland is full of visitors and guests.
Tourists are everywhere.
Everywhere in the clear winter air - his melodies.
So out of date.
As reliable as ancient spells like Jingle Bells.
Santa Elvis is on its way.
ON TOUR.
Today - and your city.
Oh, it's Christmas time, pretty baby
And the snow is falling on the ground
Well you be a real good little baby
Santa Claus is back in town.
The author's point of view may not coincide with the position of the editorial board.