I was a rookie cop, assigned that weekend day, 3 to 11 shift, to one of the 2 foot beats we had in our precinct in bad parts of downtown. But the sergeant pulled us and reassigned us to patrol inside a couple of blocks away, at Elvis' 3 pm and 8(?) pm concerts.
That was Elvis' jumpsuited, druggy period, I was a collece dropout into modern rock n roll -- Rolling Stones, Faces... -- and that day didn't convert me. I mean, I'd already seen both the Stones and Rod with Faces.
Not long after, I read in Rolling Stone Bob Dylan saying he was listening to Elvis' Sun Sessions lp a lot. I wondered, why? But I owned Blood On The Tracks and held Dylan in esteem in that period. So, ok, I'll try it.
Bought and listened to Elvis, Scotty, and Bill's Sun Records recordings made by Sam Phillips in Memphis in 1954 and 1955, released in album form only 2 decades later.
Okay. NOW I get it.
I've understood and appreciated Elvis' place in my favorite music ever since... though I've continued to care little for much that he recoded after 1957. 1954 - early 1957, though, the Sun Sessions and his 1st year or so with RCA, I love it.
And I've been grateful to have been fortunate enough to have seen him live even when I hadn't had any real interest in him. It was just dumb luck, and he was gone not long after.
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