Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite - Presley, Elvis (CD 1998)

Let's face it, Elvis is the greatest rocker of all time, and I was around back when it took four guys to knock him off. It was back when Elvis was doing those crappy movies and the Beatles invaded the country. WINS-AM was conducting an on-radio poll and the Beatles just managed to topple the King. The history of rock kinda changed after that, and Elvis slunk off to lick his wounds.

It didn't seem possible back around '54 when Elvis ruled the roost in the new genre Alan Freed called Rock and Roll. His heartthrob Creole looks and his gyrating stage style broke open the floodgates for dozens of black musicians who had been considered 'too controversial' before Elvis came along. Despite the enormous impact of all the great stars on the horizon, Elvis alone remained King of the Hill until he was called into military duty by the Army.

Like his contemporary, Muhammed Ali, it caught him at the peak of his career, when we might have seen so much more had he not been distracted from his life mission. Elvis returned to rock and roll with a new outlook, choosing to honor the Lord with his great ability. It was a grand and noble gesture, but his feral power as a rock star seemed to have hit a plateau. Uninterested in contemporary music, he faded further and further away until, in the late 60's, Colonel Parker realized he had to risk burning down the castle in lighting a fire under his protege. Elvis soon responded in force, and Aloha From Hawaii was the explosion heard around the world.

We continue to draw parallels between Elvis and Ali as two American legends in cultural history. Ali spouted Islamic theology as he kicked and screamed all his way to Federal prison for tax evasion. Elvis humbly accepted his fate and became one of the boys during his military stint in Germany. We secretly admired Ali for his unbending integrity, but openly lauded Elvis when asked about his opinion of Vietnam: "I won't discuss politics, I'm an entertainer." Both of these American icons returned to their respective arenas for one last bid for glory, digging deep to see what Father Time had left them with. For Ali it was Foreman in Zaire; for Elvis it was the Public Eye in Hawaii. They both emerged victorious, carving their names in the annals of history and going on to write greater chapters in the story of their fantastic lives. We were just as exhilarated when Elvis got up on that stage and blew us away as we were when Big George hit the canvas in the sixth round in the wee hours of the morning in Africa.

Elvis returned on network TV in a worldwide live satellite broadcast that reminded us all what it was all about. He combined his stage presence with demagoguery that never once let us forget the heights which he had attained during his career. J.D. Sumner and the Stamps provided the driving rock and roll energy support he needed, and Kathy Westmoreland and the Sweet Inspirations brought the heavy R&B atmosphere along for the ballads and gospel tunes.

He opens with Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme From 2001: A Space Odyssey), which also worked wonders for "Nature Boy" Ric Flair in the pro wrestling world years afterwards. "See See Rider" and "Burning Love" bring us right back to where it all began, and "My Way" was his attempt to go one up on Frank Sinatra, an effort paralleled only by the great Sid Vicious years later. "Johnny B. Goode" and "Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On" is yet another powerful blast from the past; "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Hound Dog" a tour de force, Elvis at his best. "Suspicious Minds" is where he kicks ass so hard that even the most jaded anti-Elvis critic has to stand in admiration. "American Trilogy" is where it all comes to full cycle, a stirring reminder of where he was, where he'd been and where he eventually went.

Elvis opened his soul to us that night. He was the rock and roll rebel, the definitive prototype who inspired Brando, Dean, Lou, Iggy, Sid, and all the rest of us; he was the born-again Christian who dared to praise the Lord in a rock concert as no one before or since; he was Elvis at thirtysomething who showed us that life actually begins at thirty despite the propaganda of the Hippie Generation. In cheering him on we watched him reaffirm our own faith in rock and roll and in ourselves. Elvis had not died, and neither had we. The Beatles had mutated into something that was not quite the Fab Four; Elvis was still Elvis, and for that we joined him in thanking God on that incredible evening.

It's hard to believe I've lived long enough to see Elvis looked upon by the X'ers the way I once looked upon Sinatra and Bing Crosby. Well, hell, there's enough Boomers left to sympathize with me. Buy this CD and you'll realize why so many media organizations around the world named Elvis as the Greatest Entertainer of the Century. Baby, there just ain't no one else.