“It’s Now or Never” by Elvis Presley is one of those songs that I loved as a kid. Based on an Italian melody, “O Sole Mio,” with new lyrics, it was inevitable that I’d love it. My mother’s side of our family is Italian, and I’d heard that melody many times before.

Today, August 16, marks the anniversary of the passing of Elvis, at age 42, in 1977. As a lover of oldies music, I couldn’t let this day slip by without mention of The King. To be completely honest, I was not a big fan of  Elvis Presley. What few songs I’d heard by him prior to 1960 weren’t really appealing to me musically. I’d never seen the now-famous Ed Sullivan television broadcast, so I really had no conception of the magnitude of his celebrity and talent.

To put it frankly, I simply didn’t like tunes like “Hound Dog” and “Jailhouse Rock.” I know, in retrospect those songs have taken on almost mystical proportions. Today, they’re treasured classics in oldies music and beyond. But as a kid of 10 or 11 at the time, I had no idea of their greatness, nor that of Elvis Presley himself.

Historically, now, I can appreciate that Elvis Presley was probably the greatest single performer and star of the post World War II era. But as a brat back then, if it weren’t for “It’s Now or Never,” I would likely have dismissed him as just another rockabilly singer. If I’d known then what I know now…

“It’s Now or Never” was the first of several Elvis Presley songs I would truly enjoy over the next few years. Not long after, he released another song, “Surrender,” also based on an old Italian melody, “Torna a Surriento” (“Come Back To Sorrento”).

Other Elvis recordings I consider personal favorites, as well as classic oldies, are “Marie’s The Name (Of His Latest Flame), written by Del Shannon, “Return To Sender,” “Blue Hawaii,” and “Wild In The Country.” The latter two are from two of his movies with the same titles, which I think were among his best.

Recommended:

All of Elvis Presley’s #1 Hits (Listen/Download)

Read more about Elvis Presley:

1. Graceland Vigil Marks 33 Years Since Elvis’ Death (Article)
2. The Ultimate Guide To Elvis
3. Elvis Presley on Wikipedia

Elvis In Print: Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The King

“Only The Lonely” by Roy Orbison is one of those songs that grabbed me and never let go. It was another of those songs I first heard during those couple of weeks I was home sick from seventh grade. It has always been one of my all-time favorites.

From the first strains of that famous “dum dum dum dum dee doo wah” intro, it struck a chord that would set the criteria by which I’d judge what I considered good pop music for years to come. Add in Roy Orbison’s incredible vocal range and the emotion it both portrays and elicits, and “Only The Lonely” becomes an instant rock ‘n’ roll classic.

Now, I have to say that perhaps, beyond the greatness of the song itself, “Only The Lonely” may have affected me on another level. The particular night I first heard it, I was alone in the house. My parents and younger brother had gone out to a Cub Scout meeting of some sort. It was the first time in my young life that I’d been left alone at all, and here it was at night. They weren’t going to be gone long, of course. But when you’re twelve years old, at night, in a big, old three-bedroom house, it can be a little disconcerting.

Although the lyrics of the song are really about a guy who’s lonely in his love life, that night I was feeling lonely myself, and the song just seemed to be talking to me. It comforted me, and made me feel like I wasn’t really alone after all.

There’s a bit of a chuckle tucked away in this, too. I heard Roy Orbison before I’d ever heard Elvis Presley. The first time I did hear The King, my first thought was that he was a Roy Orbison sound alike! That probably sounds odd, since Elvis was all over the place in those days, but that’s how it worked out.

“Only The Lonely (Know The Way I Feel)” – the full title – was Roy Orbison’s first hit for the Monument Records label. Roy passed away on December 6, 1988.

Enjoy Roy Orbison:

1. 1. The Essential Orbison (Purchase/Download)
2. 2. Roy Orbison: 16 Biggest Hits (Purchase/Download)
3. 3. Roy Orbison: A Black & White Night (Purchase/Download)
4. 4. Roy Orbison: The Soul Of Rock & Roll (Purchase/Download)

Recommended Reading:

Roy Orbison: Invention Of An Alternative Rock Masculinity (Sound Matters)

Elvis Presley is a legend of rock.

It’s to the point that he can never die. To this day, people claim to have seen him walking the streets of their home towns; performing in their favorite haunts.

If you read my About page, you’ll know that I never heard any of Elvis Presley’s material until I started listening to rock ‘n’ roll radio in 1960 – long after he’d already made a name for himself.

But, even in 1960, early R ‘n’ R radio had its “oldies,” and music from just 4 or 5 years previous was already “golden.” So, as I listened to Roy Orbison, The Ventures and Del Shannon, I was hearing the golden tunes of Chuck Berry and Elvis Presley.

Today, Elvis is legendary. Back then, he was a star. I’ve loved a LOT of his music over the years, and still do. There’s a reason they call him “The King.”