In Search Of Elvis: A Journey To Find The Man Beneath The Jumpsuit
Since his death in 1977 Elvis Presley has become an even greater cultural icon than when he was making records and consuming deep-fried peanut-butter-and-banana sandwiches. In Search of Elvis sees Charlie Connelly set off on a journey to discover what makes Elvis so significant today and how his spirit is being kept alive more than half a century after he changed popular culture for ever.
Charlie’s odyssey takes him to places such as the frozen wastes of Finland to meet an academic who performs Elvis songs in Latin and ancient Sumerian while wearing a kilt; Canada to find the orthodox Jewish Elvis tribute artist, Schmelvis; Uzbekistan, where he ends up performing an Elvis song live on national television completely by accident, as well as Scotland, Israel and Germany, not to mention a Barry Manilow concert in Las Vegas and far too many public renditions by the author of Blue Moon Of Kentucky than is good for anyone.
Hilarious yet informative, and written with Charlie Connelly’s customary wit and charm, this book will appeal to Elvis fans of all ages, plus the many travel-book aficionados who delighted in Attention All Shipping.
A wonderful book, written with humour and credibility.
Charlie digs below the distilled caricature of Elvis portrayed by the media to reveal small nuggets of the musical gold which went on to form the bedrock of popular music and the world which Elvis inhabited.
I felt like I was along for the ride with an old friend.
Just read the book and quite liked it as many comments struck a cord. Elvis did have something that was hard to define. Certainly not what the tens of thousands of “impersonators” think it was. I wonder what he would make of it all if he was still around.
As an aside a small country town in NSW Australia called Parkes has a weekend festival on Elvis’s birthday. Its becoming quite popular and good for a laugh. The best part is the Sunday Service which is too big for any of the churches in town. Worth a visit if you are down this way and a fan of such things.