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Friday, June 22, 2012

I Dreamed Of Elvis

If you're an Elvis fan like me, I bet you have, in your sleep, dreamed of Elvis. Maybe about seeing him on stage or even meeting him after the show. I know I have. Many times.

Last night I had a dream involving Elvis that was a bit different. In the dream, I sat with my headphones on, listening to Elvis rehearsing songs for an engagement in Las Vegas. Maybe it was the upcoming FTD album From Hawaii To Las Vegas that was spinning on my CD player, maybe it was something else.

Suddenly Elvis started singing, of all songs, “Frankie And Johnny.” On the one hand, it sounded very much like the soundtrack version from 1965, but on the other hand what I heard was something completely different, Elvis giving the song his undivided attention.

I couldn't believe I was hearing this, so I looked at the cover in my hand, browsing through the track listing but finding no mentioning of “Frankie and Johnny.” So what I did was hitting the rewind button on the CD player, and true enough, there was Elvis singing “Frankie and me we were lovers...” once again.

Then the strangest thing happened. Right there in front om my eyes, all of a sudden I could see Elvis on stage at the Las Vegas Hilton, performing the song, urging band and orchestra along. And like I've seen him do so many times in That's The Way It Is and On Tour, dramatically turning around towards Ronnie Tutt on drums, and by wild arm movements evoking some frantic drumming while (not featured in those movies!) pouring his heart out, singing “I'm your man, I know I done you wrong...”

So why did I dream a thing like that? Seeking an explanation, I think the reason for it was that I the day before had read an article in the latest British fan club magazine about Elvis rehearsing for his January 26, 1972 opening show. In that particular magazine there was also an add for the From Hawaii To Las Vegas album, so that probably had something to do with it as well.

But why Elvis chose to rehearse the title song from his twentieth movie Frankie And Johnny in my dream I have no idea. It's not like it's one of my favorite numbers, and I'm pretty sure it wasn't one of Elvis' either.

2 comments:

Taylor Savvy said...

AMAZING!
In all my years as an EP fan, I've never had Elvis appear to me in a dream... and your story had me howling with delight! I'll try out my lucid dreaming techniques again and focus on the king....

But Frankie and Johnny???
Although it opens the pandora box of imagination: what if Elvis went through his entire soundtrack repertoire with his killer 70's band on tape? So many gems which deserved better status in the Elvis live canon.... but perhaps the movie years soured Elvis on the material....

In any case, thanks for the article, and thanks for your incredible website. It always brings a smile as I read.

If I Can Dream,
Taylor Savvy

Thomas said...

Thank you Taylor, glad you enjoyed my dreamy post :-) I hope your dreaming techniques bring out the king, but that he performs something other than "Frankie And Johnny." Maybe "Edge Of Reality?"