Monday, January 7, 2019

Happy 84th Birthday, Elvis! #MewsicMovesMe


The theme of this week's Mewsic Moves Me blog hop is "an Elvis song with a switch to another singer/group in the same era as Elvis" in honor of his birthday tomorrow. (I've never had any trouble remembering the King's birth and death dates because he was born the same year as my mom, January 8th is also my aunt's birthday, and he died the year I was born!)

For my Elvis selection portion of the challenge, I chose Mystery Train. Keep reading to find out why!



Now the switch to another singer from his era. My goodness, who will I choose? LOL. I've mentioned before that Conway decided to pursue a music career instead of baseball after being discharged from the Army in 1956 and hearing Elvis for the first time. (For that I am eternally grateful to Elvis!) The song he heard was Mystery Train.

Two short years later Conway was at the top of the charts himself with It's Only Make Believe, a hit in 22 different countries and selling over 8 million copies. This footage comes from the Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show, dated January 17, 1959.



Fast forward to the 1970s when both Elvis and Conway were the kings of their respective genres (although Conway had more than double the #1s on the country charts than Elvis did in rock!) One of my favorite songs from that period is 1976's Love Coming Down...



Conway recorded it in 1979. Not surprisingly, the spoken "I need you baby" he adds at the end (a trademark of his) makes me weak in the knees...



We hope you enjoyed our choices this week!
Who is your favorite singer/group from Elvis's era? 


19 comments:

Mickey's Musings said...

We wish Elvis a happy birthday too even though we kitties do not heat him sing very much.
Purrs Georgia,Julie and JJ

Cathy Kennedy said...

Melissa,

Happy Birthday to your auntie! The year you were born, the year that Presley died is the year DH graduated from high school. I remember sitting in the living room with him in our dating years when the news came across the TV set. I was shocked to learn of his death.

'Mystery Train' is an Elvis song I don't remember. Thanks for sharing! I love Conway Twitty as a rock singer. 'It's Only Make Believe' really shows just how much he sounds like Elvis, I think.

Believe it or not, I prefer Conway's cover of 'Love Coming Down' to the Elvis' original. Conway's version sounded more tender, more heart-felt to my ears.

Thanks for boogieing with the 4M gang today, my friend. Have a good week!

Patricia T said...

Thanks, Melissa! Today’s post was informative and entertaining.

csuhpat1 said...

Great songs and thanks for the information. Very nice.

Cathy Keisha said...

"Mystery Train" is a good choice. You know what TW would have done if a young JMS was walking down that aisle and she had an aisle seat. MOL! He looks like a ball player in that clip.

Eastside Cats said...

My sister named her first born after Elvis, although she denies it now, but I remember when he was born!

Summer at sparklecat.com said...

That is so cool that Conway Twitty was inspired by Elvis to pursue a music career! My human loves learning things like that.

Fr. Tom Fish said...

Speaking for the housekeeper, I'd say there really was no other singer other than Elvis, altho she was more into the Beatles. It's Only Make Believe can only be sung best by Conway, she says, and to add, what coincidences with your mom and aunt and your own birthday!! - Tom x

Glenda Cates said...

I love Elvis but also Conway Twitter and Hello Darlin makes me swoon. I didn't know he was born in that area. But having more songs than Elvis just listen to his voice and you would know why.

The Swiss Cats said...

We learned a lot about Elvis today ! Purrs

Hairballsandhissyfits.com said...

love Mystery Train! You have great taste in music!

pilch92 said...

I knew you would get a Conway Twitty song in there :)

XmasDolly said...

Wow, I never heard Elvis sing Mystery Train ever... totally cool. Holy Cow check Dick Clark out... and just so much where did you find all this? Totally cool my friend. I personally think Conway Twitty sounds kinda like Elvis! Well, I think so. Thank you! Have a great day!

Three Chatty Cats said...

My mom loved Elvis back in the day!

The Menagerie Mom said...

We knew you wouldn't leave Conway out of this! What remarkable music you've shared here, and in this case I'm totally fine if it gets stuck in my head all day. We hope your entire week is filled with great music!

Mark's Mews (Marley, Lori, Loki, and Binq) said...

TBT told us that he was more into California Surfing music back the (whatever that was). But Elvis did some songs that were touching. Like "In The Ghetto"...

Colette S said...

You definitely have a great list.
I usually know the music more than the artist :)
Thanks for the dance.

bookworm said...

Who, Elvis, lol? Yes, I knew you would work in Conway Twitty somewhere and there was the Dick Clark video. I got totally distracted because Dion and the Belmonts were practically neighbors of mine.(Not really, but they were from a nearby part of New York City to where I grew up) and you picked a show with them, and with Fabian...wow. I never knew about Mystery Train until hearing the song on another blog earlier this week. For some reason it reminds me of "Hello Mary Lou". At any rate, you get my applause for that Dick Clark video. Have a happy New Year! Alana ramblinwitham.blogspot.com

Stacy Uncorked said...

What an awesome selection of songs! Some I'd never heard before, so thanks for the introduction! And thanks for the dance! :)