Among numerous cover versions of the popular wartime ballade The Last Farewell is one by Elvis Presley on his last album From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee. This exquisite song is well suited to reflect the tragic and beautiful life of such a great nice man like Elvis Aaron Presley.
Words & music by Roger Whittaker – R.A. Webster
There’s a ship lies rigged and ready in the harbor
Tomorrow for old England she sails
Far away from your land of endless sunshine
To my land full of rainy skies and gales
And I shall be aboard that ship tomorrow
Though my heart is full of tears at this farewell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
I’ve heard there’s a wicked war a-blazing
And the taste of war I know so very well
Even now I see the foreign flag a-raising
Their guns on fire as we sail into hell
I have no fear of death, it brings no sorrow
But how bitter will be this last farewell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
Though death and darkness gather all about me
My ship be torn apart upon the seas
I shall smell again the fragrance of these islands
And the heaving waves that brought me once to thee
And should I return home safe again to England
I shall watch the English mist roll through the dale
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
For you are beautiful, I have loved you dearly
More dearly than the spoken word can tell
“I wasn’t just a fan, I was his brother. He said I was good and I said he was good; we never argued about that. Elvis was a hard worker, dedicated, and God loved him. Last time I saw him was at Graceland. We sang Old Blind Barnabus together, a gospel song. I love him and hope to see him in heaven. There’ll never be another like that soul brother.” (James Brown)
Elvis Presley was born and raised in the ‘Bible Belt‘ of the USA. He read the Bible and prayed regularly and was very knowledgeable about spiritual matters. In the seventies he started to include more Gospel songs in his repertoire and had the Gospel groups, the Imperials, the Sweet Inspirations and later, J.D. Sumner and the Stamps as his backing singers. He was also known to read passages from the Bible during his concerts. The most beautiful Gospel song Elvis Presley sang is probably Where did they go, Lord?
Elvis Aaron Presley – the most Christian icon of American pop culture – was Jewish.
In 1998, The Wall Street Journal published an article named All Shook Up in the Holy Land exposing Elvis Presley’s Jewish roots. Elvis’ maternal great-great grandmother, Nancy Burdine, was a Jew. Her daughter gave birth to Doll Mansell who gave birth to Gladys Smith who gave birth to Elvis Aaron. According to rabbinic law, which confers Jewish lineage by way of the mother, that makes Elvis Presley Jewish.
The book includes the following discoveries about Elvis’s Jewish background: Elvis always wore a Jewish Chai pendant; he put a Star of David on his mother’s headstone; he spent his teenage years living in a predominantly Jewish Memphis neighborhood; cantorial records may have influenced Elvis’s singing style. According to the authors, Max Wallace and Jonathan Goldstein, Elvis grew up in a Jewish area of Memphis and as a teenager, lived downstairs from a local Rabbi, Alfred Fruchter.
The Rabbi’s widow, Jeanette Fruchter, recalls; “He was about 15 years old then and we got along so beautifully. He was such a nice boy, such manners. He called my husband Sir Rabbi.”
For 50 years: Elvis Presley Induction into the US Army
Elvis Aaron Presley entered the United States Army at Memphis, Tennessee, on March 24, 1958, and then spent three days at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas. He left active duty at Fort Dix, New Jersey, on March 5, 1960, and received his discharge from the Army Reserve on March 23, 1964.
During his active military career Elvis Presley served as a member of two different armor battalions. Between March 28 and September 17, 1958, he belonged to Company A, 2d Medium Tank Battalion, 37th Armor, stationed at Fort Hood, Texas. During this assignment he completed basic and advanced military training.
Presley’s overseas service took place in Germany from October 1, 1958, until March 2, 1960, as a member of the 1st Medium Tank Battalion, 32d Armor. For the first five days of that period he belonged to Company D of the battalion, and thereafter to the battalion’s Headquarters Company at Friedberg.
While in Germany Elvis Presley wore the shoulder sleeve insignia of the 3d Armored Division.
His music lives on, and 30 years after his death, his life and achievements continue to have deep impact on the global culture. Elvis Presley is not only the King of Rock and Roll and an icon of the modern pop culture, but also a great performer of R&B, gospel and country songs and an amazing entertainer on stage.
A trailer of a documentary made by a French producer about the ELVIS phenomenon today. The story of his life before and after his death. Images done for more than five years about the King and the 30th anniversary of his passing away.
“Man kann einen Mensch nur korrumpieren, wenn er korrumpierbar ist.” Graham Greene, aus Dr. Fischer aus Genf oder die Bomben-Party
Elvis Imitator Cem Özdemir beim Parteitag der Grünen
Der wahre Elvis: sah besser aus, konnte singen, hatte keine Leiche im Keller, und hatte mehr als 2 Drittel der Mehrheit…
Kläglich gescheitert im eigenen schwäbischen Wahlkreis für den heiß begehrten Platz als Direktkandidat für die Bundestagswahl 2009 (Politikerdiäten machen bekanntlich Hunger auf mehr…nachdem er sich jahrelang im EU-Parlament aufgrund der peinlichen Miles-and-Moritz-Affäreverstecken musste), lässt sich Cem Özdemir nun als Parteivorsitzender der Grünen küren, während Amtsvorgänger Reinhard Bütikofer sich einen warmen Sessel im EU-Parlament sichert (End- oder Zwischenstation für gescheiterte Politiker bzw. Lebensversicherung, da ohnehin keine Kontrolle von den Bürgern vorhanden ist). Merkwürdiges Verständnis der Demokratie seitens einer Partei, die sich als bürgernah präsentieren will… und gleichzeitig das eindeutige Nein der Basis zur Özdemirs Kandidatur ignoriert. Ethik ist für die Grüne Parteiführung offensichtlich ein Fremdwort. Ist der Ruf erst ruiniert…
Die Grünen beabsichtigen vermutlich mit diesem vorweihnachtlichen Schmierentheater (Advent, Advent, der frisch umgeschulte Erlöser aus Ankara kommt…) die Minderheiten erneut zu instrumentalisieren – eine Konstante dieser “Partei” von Straßenkämpfern und Studienabbrechern, die Schwule, Ausländer und Frauen politisch missbraucht, um an die Macht zu kommen.
Roberto Blanco wäre eine bessere Wahl gewesen: wie der Kindergärtner Cem Özdemir, versteht der Schlagersänger aus Bayern wenig von Politik, aber er ist ja schwarz und zumindest witzig, das ist “cool”. Der PR-Coup wäre zudem erfolgreicher gewesen, weil die Grünen sich die Stimmen aller Schlagerfans sichern hätten können, und das macht in Deutschland mehr als zwei Drittel der Mehrheit aus, angesichts der von den Medien gefördeten Volksverblödung, die unserer Ansicht nach nicht weit genug geht: bitte gleich das Topmodel der Emanzen-Lobby Alice Schwarzer als Bundespräsidentin und den schwulen Aktivisten Volker Beck (der einst als rechtspolitischer Sprecher der Grünen – obwohl er nicht einmal ein Semester Jura studiert hat – die Freigabe der Pädophilie forderte) als Kinderbeauftragter der Bundesregierung vorschlagen.
Yes we can: die Wähler mit “Migrationshintergrund” (schreckliches Neuwort, klingt wie eine ansteckende Krankheit) und gleichzeitig das Volk für dumm verkaufen.
Der Vergleich mit Barack Obama ist allerdings für den neuen gewählten US-Präsidenten unsäglich, wenn man bedenkt, dass Cem Özdemir weder über Charisma noch über eine weiße Weste verfügt.
Der Opportunist Cem Özdemir ist und wird definitiv kein Barack Obama sein, sondern hoffentlich bald als Frührentner in die politische Wüste geschickt werden, von uns aus wieder ins EU-Parlament auf Kosten der Steuerzahlern, damit er zumindest sein überdimensionalesEgo und seine Koteletten à la Elvis weiter aufpolieren, und seine Memoiren unbeschwert schreiben kann.
Ein letztes und ermunteresWort an die gegenwärtige verzweifelte Jugend, die vergeblich nach Vorbildern sucht: Haste kein Abi und keine Skrupel? Wenn Du äußerlich zu hässlich fürs Fernsehen bist, mach Karriere bei den Grünen, schreib Deine Memoiren über Frankfurter Straßenschlachten oder Claudia Roths Frisur, und schnell endest Du als teurer Redner an einer amerikanischen Uni wie der schlaue Onkel Joschka oder Du verkaufst gleich Deine Seele an die Müllabfuhr, kannste Vorträge über Recycling halten oder selbsternannter Experte in Sachen Global Warming werden. Macht Spass und bringt Geld, und vor allem gutes Gewissen.
Anmerkung der Redaktion: HIRAM7 REVIEW distanziert sich ausdrücklich von diesem unverschämten Artikel, der natürlich nicht die Meinung des Herausgebers widerspiegelt. Cem Özdemir ist selbstverständlich ein großartiger Politiker mit Format und Anstand, der Deutschland, Europa, die Welt und das Universum grundlegend verändern wird. Durch seine gepflegte Koteletten, die er mutig zur Schau trägt, hat er bereits dazu beigetragen, dass auch in Zeiten von Wirtschaftsabschwung das Friseurgeschäft wieder floriert, und die Erinnerung an Elvis Aaron Presley aufrecht erhalten bleibt.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
April 2008 marks the 40th anniversary of both the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (he was shot April 4, 1968, on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis), and the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1968 (also known as the Fair Housing Act), which prohibits discrimination in the sale, rental and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, sex and family status.
President Lyndon Baines Johnson signing Civil Rights Bill, April 11, 1968
In a 1967 speech he urged Americans to be “dissatisfied until slums are cast into the junk heaps of history, and every family is living in a decent sanitary home.” From 1966-1967 Congress considered but failed to pass the Fair Housing Act. When Dr. King was assassinated, President Johnson urged for the bill’s quick passage and it was signed into law seven days later, in time for Dr. King’s funeral.
MICKEY NEWBURY was one of the most important American songwriters with songs recorded by hundreds of diverse artists including Ray Charles, Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Andy Williams, Joan Baez, John Denver, Carol Channing, as well as virtually everyone in the ’80’s and ’90’s Nashville Country and Western scene.
His songs have been sung and become hits by the likes of Ray Charles, B.B. King, Bobby Blue Bland, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson and Joan Baez, and even one of them appeared in the soundtrack of The Big Lebowsky. I suppose there is no worrying about the size of his royalty check, but it seems that, as a performer since the late 60’s, he is an obscure figure in American music.
I “discovered” Newbury in the early nineties when I bought a double CD titled A Celebration Of Texas. There was only one of his songs there, Willow Tree, that also appears in this double CD. I played this song so many times I bought another copy of it. At that time I tried to buy a Newbury CD, just to find that there was only one out-of-print “Best Of” collection that appeared on the Curb label in 1988.
So, I started buying used LP’s, the last LP’s I actually looked for until 1995. I remember buying them in London for $15 and even more, sometimes even buying two copies so that one will play well.
Remember? That was vinyl. In 1994, Nights When I Am Sane appeared in the Winter Harvest label. Then Mickey Newbury himself, with some help from his friends started his label Mountain Retreat and they have released all of his output, as well as some unreleased live material. The cream of the crop is The Mickey Newbury Collection, an eight-CD boxed set, which includes all his LP’s from the 60’s and 70’s—all of them masterpieces.
I wondered why one of my favorites In A New Age wasn’t included in the boxed set. I just thought there might be some kind of copyright problem. But that was not the reason. With the release of It Might As Well Be The Moon, we now have the In A New Age CD with a 70-minute live performance from the same period. But, is this a reissue? As anything else with Newbury, the answer is not simple. The vocals and violin has been left intact, but more instrumentation has been added. I got used to the old sound, and now this seems like a different record altogether for me. These songs were rerecorded for this project in 1988, probably because most of his Elektra LP’s were out-of-print back then. But Newbury has rerecorded his songs many times, some songs appear in five or more of his CD’s. When you see this, you might ask yourself if you need another version of the same song. The answer is yes. Newbury actually revisits his classics periodically, and he gives them a completely different angle when he rerecords them.
Newbury has been often described as a somber songwriter, often writing about the depressing side of life. Personally, listening to him just fills me with joy and hope. There is something deeply religious in his songwriting and singing, remindful of a prayer. Even when he is speaking of a child whose father is going to die, there is a big compassion in Newbury’s voice and words.
His singing reminds me of Frank Sinatra, if Frank was born in Nashville or Texas. This is folk, yes, but it is jazz, blues, and pop, as well. What you hear is mostly Newbury’s strong and imposing voice in front of very delicate acoustic instrumentation and, almost always, the sound of rain between songs. This is Newbury’s trademark.
Wish I was a willow tree
leaning on a lazy breeze
Moving like a midnight train through crazy Georgia
Wish I was a grain of sand
laying in my baby’s hand
Falling like a diamond chain into the ocean
This quotation is from Willow Tree (also titled Wish I Was and Wish I Was A Willow Tree in other recordings). It shows how deep Newbury’s philosophy and art of living can go.
This is a double CD. The first disc is a reissue of sorts of Newbury’s 1988 release In A New Age, with added players and percussion. The result sounds more theatrical than on the original, more intimate-sounding, LP. All the songs on this CD appear in previous LP’s from the sixties and seventies, but here they are different versions of the same songs. I find it very hard to talk of better versions, since Newbury has made a habit of revisiting his own songs every 5 years and singing them from a different angle.
The second CD is his fifth live CD. The live approach also brings different versions of the same songs, and some appear in the first disc, as well as on the second disc. I think that for the newcomer It Might As Well Be The Moon is a good introduction to his music. It’s impossible to talk about better CD’s than others in Newbury’s career. He has created a body of work in the last four decades incomparable to any other singer-songwriter. If you like this collection, the natural step, if you can afford it, would be to buy the 8-CD boxed set.
If you’ve never heard of Mickey Newbury, and there are probably a few readers who have not yet, and you are interested in singer-songwriters, folk, jazz singing, great singing or great songwriting, you can’t afford to skip this great artist.
Believe me, you will ask yourself how did you live until now without knowing about Mickey Newbury?
Oh I wish I was in the land of cotton
Old times they are not forgotten
Look away, look away, look away Dixieland
Oh I wish I was in Dixie, away, away
In Dixieland I take my stand to live and die in Dixie
For Dixieland, that’s where I was born
Early Lord one frosty morning
Look away, look away, look away Dixieland
Glory, glory hallelujah
Glory, glory hallelujah
Glory, glory hallelujah
His truth is marching on
So hush little baby
Don’t you cry
You know your daddy’s bound to die
But all my trials, Lord will soon be over
Glory, glory hallelujah
Glory, glory hallelujah
Glory, glory hallelujah
His truth is marching on
His truth is marching on
Posted by David Berger 
hiram7.wordpress.com 