Recent discussions of Michael Jackson have gotten me thinking about a comparison of Jacko with another musical icon - Elvis; i.e., two pampered, socially isolated megalomaniacs whose musical quality went steadly downhill as each approached middle age; Elvis turned into a karate kicking, jumpsuit wearing self-parody; Jacko has been a self-parody for some time now.
I was recently watching and greatly enjoying a tape I had made of the ABC special on the Beatles, right about the time that the compilation with the song "Free as a Bird" was released; how poignant it was to see George, along with Paul and Ringo sitting around together and discussing old times.
Well, one discussion was about the time the fabs met Elvis; it sounded, from the way that they told the story, that they were pretty high, when they met The King (their onetime hero).
What was interesting, though, was how they were eventually made aware of the fact that, while Elvis may have been a rather gracious host during their afternoon in his house, he held a rather low opinion of them, in the final analysis (perhaps he was jealous, or perhaps they were a symbol of how out of touch Elvis was slowly becomming, 1968 comeback special to the contrary). Yet how gracious and even empathetic Paul and the other Beatles seemed to remain in discussing Elvis, even though it was clear how disappointed they seemed. Of course, though, to their credit, they choose to take the high road, and come out looking better.
Here's one account of what Elvis said to President Richard Nixon, during a meeting they had in the White house, wherein Elvis did a bit of trash talking about the Beatles; Nixon, of course, wanted John Lennon deported. (Please note, though, that while this incident may be interpreted in terms of politics, I am not about to discuss this politics here. As everyone probably knows, though, irony abounds in Nixon making Elvis an honorary "youth advisor" to help in the fight against drug use.)
from "Nixon the Narc"
The Prez and The King
Years later, as President, Nixon had a unique opportunity to meet another world-famous musician, Elvis Presley. In 1970, Elvis wrote Nixon a long, poorly handwritten letter requesting a visit with the President and suggesting that he be made a "Federal Agent-at-Large" in the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs. Elvis claimed to have made extensive study of "drug abuse and Communist brainwashing
techniques," and wanted to help save his country from hippies and communism.
Elvis was eventually received at the White House by Nixon, where the two spent some time in the Oval Office together. Although no transcript of their conversation exists, a summary of their talk written by Nixon's staff indicates that Elvis showed the President his collection of law-enforcement paraphernalia, and then derided the
Beatles, saying they had been a "real force for anti-American spirit."
Nixon clearly agreed with the King's assessment of the Fab Four, as John Lennon was already on Nixon's infamous "enemies list," with a thick FBI file investigating his anti-war activities. Nixon was personally behind efforts to deport Lennon in 1972.
Yet despite Elvis' claim to dislike the Beatles, five years earlier he had hosted them in his Hollywood home. For one enchanted evening, on the night of August 27, 1965, the lads from Liverpool and the King hung out, jammed and swapped stories about life on tour. "We all drank scotch and coke or bourbon and Seven Up," explained Lennon in a memoir of the event. "Elvis only had Seven Up. He didn't touch any of the cigarettes that were offered around, either."
While offering to serve as Nixon's anti-drug spokesman, Elvis was already a heavy user of prescription drugs. Within two years Elvis was admitted to hospital for hepatitis, pneumonia and overuse of prescription drugs. Five years later Elvis was dead at the age of 42, due to heart failure brought on by prescription drugs and poor attention to his personal health.
So basically, this little anecdote suggests that Elvis and Nixon - in spite of seeming to be worlds apart - were perfectly willing to exploit one another, at the expense of others (as well as of their own reputations), and to try to capitalize, socially, culturally, and politically, on their association with one another.
Meanwhile, here is a rather amusing clip, from around the same era, that shows just how willing John Lennon was to stand up for the people and the things that he believed in - a kind of skiffle/jugband version of a song by Lennon's friend (and hippy radical) David Peel. It is a performance that gleefully thumbs its nose at the Nixonian-era establishment, and is certainly one for the time capsule.
No comments:
Post a Comment