I'm Itchin' Like A Man On A Fuzzy Tree

From one of his better movies, Jailhouse Rock.

At peace at last, except for all the necrophiliacs taking pictures.

30 yrs. ago today, the once popular B-movie star of the 1960s, Elvis Presley, drug-addled & bloated almost beyond recognition, up & died in the dressing room off his tee vee room in his mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. He made four movies in the late '50s, which were of a higher quality than his later work, but his being drafted in 1958, the death of his mother the same year, and his joining the stable of manager "Col." Tom Parker (actually a Dutch circus promoter & former dogcatcher) seemed to take something out of him, and after his military service was over in 1960, his films (27 from 1960-69) in which he portrayed race drivers, scuba divers, surfers, boxers & the like, were formulaic Hollywood pap, in the musical romp & frolic vein. As he had a fine singing voice, he often portrayed a struggling singer, allowing him to make soundtrack albums to accompany the movies. Indeed, he often portrayed a singer/racer/whatever.

In general these films were a bit better than the "beach movies" of the same period, and were often shot on location in such "glamorous" locations as Las Vegas, Hawai'i, & Acapulco. His last film, 1969's Change of Habit, in which he essayed a more serious dramatic role as a doctor working in the inner-city, effectively ended his film career.

It's little remembered today, but Presley started his entertainment career as a "rockabilly" singer, and achieved some success in venues & on radio in the South. His one non-soundtrack album, Elvis' Golden Records, a compilation of singles, actually is quite good, & has some rocking numbers on it.

One good record.

Performing in the '50s.