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Reviews
Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii (1973)
The King never looked better!
It irritates me no end when people refer to Elvis Presley's rhinestone-studded jumpsuits. They are demonstrating their ignorance because Elvis never wore rhinestones. The spectacular American Eagle jumpsuit he wore on January 14, 1973 was studded with jewels (not rhinestones)and weighed in excess of 70 pounds. The jeweled cape he wore for the closing number (which he then flung into the crowd) weighed 40 pounds and cost $8,000.00 alone. I have never heard what the jumpsuit cost, but one has to figure that it was even more expensive. The belt that he tossed into the audience after singing An American Trilogy was a replacement for the original. Elvis' costume designer, Bill Belew, had to hurriedly make a new belt in time for the show. Elvis had impulsively given the first belt to Jack Lord's wife a day or two before the Aloha telecast. Elvis' personal jeweler had to fly back to the States for more rubies before Belew could complete the new belt. Also, regardless of what you have read or heard to the contrary, Elvis was in superb shape for this show. He looked great and was in good voice, particularly on What Now My Love and An American Trilogy. If he seemed a bit distant or preoccupied at times, it could be due to the fact that he had filed for divorce from Priscilla less than a week earlier. Due to the time constraints of a live telecast, Elvis could not be too spontaneous. The only real complaint I have of this show is the perfunctory rendition of Hound Dog. Elvis had always hated the song and recorded it in 1956 only at the urging of then RCA president Steve Sholes. He performed it grudgingly and his ambivalence is evident when he performs it live. He also hated Burning Love, which was a recent hit for him at the time of the Aloha concert. Almost every other recording artist saves their most recent hit for the end of the show. Elvis did Burning Love at the very beginning of Aloha, right after C. C. Rider (which opened the concert). Perhaps he wanted to get it out of the way. I suppose he hadn't had time to loathe Burning Love as much as Hound Dog, because he actually gave it a decent effort here. All in all, this performance shows Presley at his finest. His decline started soon afterward. The 1977 CBS TV special is a testament to how far Elvis had fallen, and is truly heartbreaking to witness.
The Monkees (1965)
Why aren't these guys in the Hall of Fame?
I was 9 or 10 years old when The Monkees debuted on NBC. I have been a fan ever since. I even saw them in concert during the summer of 1967. I was very peeved at not being able to hear them due to the screaming girls. I thought girls must be the dumbest creatures on earth, but of course I changed my feelings before long. They were still dumb as far as I could tell, but they were cute, too. I saw the Monkees again when three of them (minus Nesmith) reunited in the mid-eighties and late nineties. The Monkees have been unfairly ostracized for decades. "They don't play their own instruments", their critics complained. They were not allowed to play on their first two albums. Don Kirshner, their egomaniacal producer, wanted total control. This ultimately got him fired by the band. He released More of The Monkees without permission from the band. If that weren't bad enough, the album's liner notes were pure Kirshner. Kirshner's egomania is all too apparent. He shamelessly name drops and barely mentions The Monkees at all. Michael Nesmith put his fist through a wall when the band met with Kirshner later. According to Micky Dolenz, Nez snarled, "That coulda been your face, motherf-----!" In any event, that was it for Kirshner as far as The Monkees were concerned. They finally had creative control of the music. For their third album, The Monkees Headquarters, they played on every song with minimal outside accompaniment. They credited the extra 2 or 3 musicians in the liner notes, something other bands (Beatles included) were not so forthcoming about. Micky Dolenz has never gotten the credit he deserves as a great rock vocalist. Just listen to No Time, Randy Scouse Git, Going' Down, Words, Pleasant Valley Sunday, etc. Each Monkey had talent. Micky had a great voice, Mike Nesmith was a good singer and musician, Peter Tork played about a dozen instruments, and Davy Jones was a superb showman and a pretty good singer. About 20 years ago, there was talk of a Monkees TV special. Davy was explaining how it would be set up. "Mike would produce, Micky would direct, and Peter would be in charge of the music." "But what would you do?" Davy was asked. "I would be the star, of course, and get all the girls!" When I see some of the acts who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (the Sex Pistols?!) there is no doubt The Monkees deserve to be enshrined. They certainly are more deserving than many who are already in.