avatarDarren Richardson

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Abstract

ccurred to me that he was playing a joke on his fans. Elvis was lip-syncing to a recording of a song I did not recognize, a song I had never heard before and never want to hear again.</p><p id="7c4a">About the time this insight dawned on me, Elvis stopped the song, leaned into the microphone with his lip-twitchy smile, and quipped in his best Mid-South Memphis accent: “Y’all didn’t expect that, did you?”</p><p id="fc3f">The crowd laughed hilariously, and the next thing you know, the band kicked into gear, and Elvis got the gig underway for real with that famous opening to “Blue Suede Shoes.”</p><p id="1543"><i>Well it’s one for the money two for the show three to get ready now go cat go …</i></p> <figure id="9e0b"> <div> <div> <img class="ratio" src="http://placehold.it/16x9"> <iframe class="" src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FO6BbL4DrrBo%3Ffeature%3Doembed&amp;display_name=YouTube&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DO6BbL4DrrBo&amp;image=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2FO6BbL4DrrBo%2Fhqdefault.jpg&amp;key=a19fcc184b9711e1b4764040d3dc5c07&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=youtube" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="480" width="640"> </div> </div> </figure></iframe></div></div></figure><p id="60a2">At that point in the dream, I knew my sister was rushing back to her seat and that all was well.</p><p id="0e86">Unfortunately, though, I woke up before Elvis was able to make it clear that under no circumstances were we to step on his blue suede shoes.</p><p id="e86c">I woke up laughing, shaking my head at how ridiculous and unpredictable dreams can be — and pretty impressed with Elvis’s sense of humor. He really had the crowd “all shook up” (groan) with that little vocal misdirection of his, but it all seemed somehow just right as my mind reoriented itself to the waking world.</p><p id="d7b2">Of course, I called my sister later in the day to tell her about the dream, and of course, she found it hilarious. “That sounds like something he would do,” she said of his opening prank, and we both had a good laugh.</p><p id="ab9d">Now, as bedtime approaches, I’m hoping against hope that I’ll be able to rejoin the concert in progress. I’m even going to put in a special request for one of my favorite Elvis songs, an obscure number called <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTSVDKgG8Uw">“I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago.</a>”</p><p id="a45f">Why not? As Elvis sang with such earnest fervor, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-pP_dCenJA">“If I Can Dream.”</a></p><p id="5fbb">After all, I’m the guy who once saw the Grateful Dead in a dream-conjured dive bar that seemed to be located somewhere near Paducah, Kentucky. They opened with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvPe4CEkSbE">“China Cat Sunflower,”</a> by the way. Things got pretty weird after that, but hey, it was a Dead show. What do you expect?</p><p id="5863">Rock on, dear readers, rock on — and never give up on your dreams!</p><p id="6b1e"><i>More music-inspired musings from this writer:</i></p><div id="679a" class="link-block"> <a href

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I Saw Elvis Presley in Concert Last Night (in a Vivid Dream, That Is)

He had a sense of humor and looked a lot like he did in the ’68 Comeback Special — and he was having a real good time

Elvis Presley, somewhere and sometime in the past. (Uncredited, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

Since I gave away the punchline in the headline, I’ll start with a storyline that will give readers the back story.

I’m the youngest of five children. My oldest sister was already 16 when I was born in the mid-1960s. She loved Elvis when she was a teen and I was a toddler, and she loves him to this day. One of my earliest memories is dancing with her as she played 45s on a little mobile record player that sat in the middle of the floor. I even remember the song we danced to: “His Latest Flame.”

So it’s really not that strange that I would find my dream-self in a concert venue that called to mind one of those bijou-type theaters that were so common before the age of the multiscreen cineplex.

I had plenty of other dream people there to keep me company — it was a full house, with concertgoers fidgeting in their seats in happy anticipation of the King’s appearance — but the seat to my right was empty.

It was reserved for my sister.

“Where is she?” I thought. “Elvis will be starting soon!”

And sure enough, he did. With no introduction, Elvis walked out from behind a curtain like he owned the place. I don’t remember a band taking the stage with him, but they were there when he started to sing.

But wait — his voice sounded nothing like the voice that we all know and love, the voice that led Deep Purple’s Ian Gillian to describe him as the greatest singer who ever lived. His voice, in fact, sounded awful. Absolutely and unequivocally awful.

A discomfiting unease fell over the crowd. What was going on? Was he washed up? Had he been huffing helium backstage? Was this really an Elvis impersonator, and a bad one at that?

As the man on stage continued in a scratchy, discordant voice more like what we’d hear from Granny on “The Beverly Hillbillies” trying to sound like Elvis than the king of rock and roll himself, it suddenly occurred to me that he was playing a joke on his fans. Elvis was lip-syncing to a recording of a song I did not recognize, a song I had never heard before and never want to hear again.

About the time this insight dawned on me, Elvis stopped the song, leaned into the microphone with his lip-twitchy smile, and quipped in his best Mid-South Memphis accent: “Y’all didn’t expect that, did you?”

The crowd laughed hilariously, and the next thing you know, the band kicked into gear, and Elvis got the gig underway for real with that famous opening to “Blue Suede Shoes.”

Well it’s one for the money two for the show three to get ready now go cat go …

At that point in the dream, I knew my sister was rushing back to her seat and that all was well.

Unfortunately, though, I woke up before Elvis was able to make it clear that under no circumstances were we to step on his blue suede shoes.

I woke up laughing, shaking my head at how ridiculous and unpredictable dreams can be — and pretty impressed with Elvis’s sense of humor. He really had the crowd “all shook up” (groan) with that little vocal misdirection of his, but it all seemed somehow just right as my mind reoriented itself to the waking world.

Of course, I called my sister later in the day to tell her about the dream, and of course, she found it hilarious. “That sounds like something he would do,” she said of his opening prank, and we both had a good laugh.

Now, as bedtime approaches, I’m hoping against hope that I’ll be able to rejoin the concert in progress. I’m even going to put in a special request for one of my favorite Elvis songs, an obscure number called “I Was Born About Ten Thousand Years Ago.”

Why not? As Elvis sang with such earnest fervor, “If I Can Dream.”

After all, I’m the guy who once saw the Grateful Dead in a dream-conjured dive bar that seemed to be located somewhere near Paducah, Kentucky. They opened with “China Cat Sunflower,” by the way. Things got pretty weird after that, but hey, it was a Dead show. What do you expect?

Rock on, dear readers, rock on — and never give up on your dreams!

More music-inspired musings from this writer:

Elvis Presley
Dreams
Humor
1960s
Rock And Roll
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