Deflection

This morning I moved from a state park on the east side of Tupelo to the west side, although it was windy and my trailer was getting pushed around. So, regarding the move, I went from zero bars of internet reception to three, so I am typing now.

After lunch, I went Parkway Visitor Center for the Natchez Trace Parkway, and I learned a little information about the parkway and Tupelo National Battlefield, but the battlefield is new incorporated into the city, so there is not much to see there.

Without much going on with the battlefield, I then went to Elvis Presley’s birthday place, and I found that this is a great dedication to Elvis’s life. The house was two rooms, with a bedroom and a kitchen. Since it has been there for ninety years, it seems like it was well built by his dad. Although Elvis was three when his parents sold the house, they left Tupelo when Elvis was thirteen for Memphis. Elvis bought the house in 1957, when he gave a performance in Tupelo. But, after today’s visit to the fifteen acre location, these thirteen years had a big impact on Elvis’s life.

They found the church that Presleys attended and had it move the this location near the house and museum. In side the church, they had a video presentation of what a church service was like when Presleys were attending the church, and they even had a boy sing a song like Elvis would have. This was very moving on how this made an impression on his total life, and, to an extent, the reason that people did not understand some of his motivations.

It is easy for anyone to stand up and state that Elvis found fame at an early age, what about the ramifications that he dealt with as his fame increased? We see this same issue with athletes trying to deal with fame and money. As with Elvis, he had not matured by the time he started recording at Sun Recording Studio (Sun Studio) in Memphis. Although it is stated, today, that a person does not fully mature until they are 25 years. And, by observing Elvis’s behavior, it seems like he was maturing slowly. Elvis did not have a band and state singing in the honkie Tonks like most singers, since his religion would not allow him to sing in honkie Tonks. Instead, he had his voice recorded at the Sun Studio, and came around the sun Studio to see if they would release his songs. People probably did not understand that he would not sing in places of ill repute.

Elvis had a great singing voice. At one point, he sung a song with Johnnie Cash and Merle Haggard. When each of them sang there parts of the song, Elvis out sang the other two, although the others had good singing voices, and this excelled his career.

The real question is what would have a mature Elvis looked like? Before starting a singing career like Elvis’s, he could have evened a degree in business to deal with music agents and investment brokers. He would have been more focused on his relationships in the music industry, especially his music agents. Colonel Thomas Parker had his own interest in mind, and not Elvis’s interest. With Elvis poor background, the so called Colonel, took advantage of Elvis. Elvis should have hired accountants to manage him money. However, no one can blame Elvis’s mistakes, since at the time Elvis got fame, there was no way to educate Elvis to deal with these issues, so Elvis did the best with the background that he had at the time. However, the sad part of this is that Elvis health deteriorated with all of the stress and his feeling that he had to be in control of what was going on in is life. Immature people do have a tendency to take control of their life, without consulting others.

Another question is what would have happened if Elvis would have lived? Basically, it seems like he would have faced the same stressful issues. However, with age, he might have calmed down. But then there is all of the prescription drugs that he was taking. How was he ever going to get over taking those drugs?

Although Elvis did bring joy to many people, including today, but at what cost? In his case, bringing joy to the people cost him is life.

Roger