1007 - Elvis at 90: A celebration

Today, we’re celebrating what would have been the 90th birthday of Elvis Presley.  There’s been a lot written and said about The King over the years, but in this episode, we’re going to let Elvis do a lot of the talking.  We have some amazing audio from the early years.  Most of these clips are from the mid to late ‘50s – and they capture a lot of the excitement – and the freshness of Elvis

Plus we have clips from the people who were there…

-        his label mate Carl Perkins talks about touring with Elvis and Johnny Cash before any of them were well known. 

-        Dick Clark describes how Elvis was seen as a sort of villain compared to the likes of Pat Boone

-        Ed Sullivan explains why Elvis could only be shown from the waist up on his third visit to his show.

-        His collaborators in the late ‘60s explain the stories behind his comeback hits.

All of these clips are from around the time that these events happened – so they capture history as history was being made. Plus, we’ll hear from some of the people who worked with Elvis over the years who will tell the stories behind some of his biggest songs.

     Also, Tom asks Christopher to explain how a trip to Graceland in 1987 with a bunch of Elvis fans led to the creation of “Black Velvet”, which of course was a massive worldwide hit for his musical partner and friend Alannah Myles. 

     And best of all, we hear from the two people who knew Elvis best – his daughter Lisa Marie (in a 2005 chat) and his widow Priscilla (from 2006).

 

Famous Lost Words, hosted by Christopher Ward and Tom Jokic, is heard in more than 100 countries worldwide and on radio stations across Canada, including Newstalk 1010 Toronto, CJAD 800 Montreal, 580 CFRA Ottawa, AM 800 CKLW Windsor, 610 CKTB St Catharines, CFAX Victoria, AM1150 Kelowna and 91x in Belleville.  It is in the Top 20% of worldwide podcasts based on the number of listeners in the first week.