ELVIS AND THE SPHERES
by DanKitti & Catfish
Through the years, there have been hundreds and hundreds of stories about Elvis Presley, all of which are much more interesting than this one.
When Elvis Presley was in his early teens, he was a big fan of Ed McMahon. He dreamed of one day becoming a famous musical performer of some kind, so he could go on the Tonight Show and meet Ed McMahon.
In Elvis Presley’s home town, there were several radio stations. Reading left to right on the dial, there were the all-polka station, the classical station, and the R&B station. After ill-fated attempts at a polka career, and his apocalyptically dismal foray as a classical guitarist, the young Elvis turned once again to his radio for inspiration. Turning past the polka and classical stations, he tuned into the next station. Unfortunately, the Rhythm and Blues station had been off the air that night due to technical difficulties, so Elvis’ would-be fans would have to wait a little longer for him to start his rock ‘n’ roll career. That night, however, was the night that Elvis discovered the music of the spheres.
Even after he went to bed, he still heard that pulsating of quasars and quarks or whatever in his ears. Rhythms filled his body and he convulsed all night, unable to sleep. The radio station was off the air alright, but something else had come through that caught Elvis’ attention and penetrated his consciousness all the way to the bone.
The next morning, Elvis stumbled out of bed and at the sight of his beagle in the den, a spontaneous version of “You Ain’t Nothin’ But a Hound Dog” issued from his being. And after the initial shock had passed, he went back to his bedroom and got his guitar. But this time it came off differently. It was rather like the Elvis of an alternate universe... He had invented rock ‘n’ roll on the first try, but the second time, there was the version that only people who know Elvis after his “supposed” death know. And it is in fact this spacey and cosmic version, which had not been released until recently, that had such a great influence on psychedelic music by groups such as Pink Floyd, Iron Butterfly, and others.
Elvis Presley was so excited about this new discovery, that he took the next plane to Burbank, California, just to play home recordings of himself to Ed McMahon. Ed McMahon thought the whole thing was a joke, so he talked the producers of “The Tonight Show” into writing a sketch about someone playing the worst music in the world. Obviously, Ed McMahon was not emotionally ready for this new and exciting kind of music.
Elvis left “The Tonight Show” depressed and humiliated, and returned to his home in Tupelo to once again try to be inspired. Then all of a sudden he found what he considered to be the ultimate style for him. No, it wasn’t R&B yet, but this was the beginning of an all-new phase in Elvis’ musical development: Broadway Show Tunes!
the end
