Description: So entrenched was the public perception of Elvis as a hell-raiser, that the announcement he was making a record of Christmas songs sent the world into a tailspin.Released in 1957, 'Elvis’ Christmas Album', showed that Elvis had created a template for all future Christmas recordings: no rock star had ever undertaken such a project and it was Elvis who paved the way…
Over the years, Elvis would always warm-up in recording studios and before live performances, by singing his favourite Gospel songs. But it was not until 1960, with the release of the LP 'His Hand In Mine', that the wider world understood the full extent of their Rock and Roll idol’s fondness for inspirational music. Enjoy this superb 2CD set including 'Santa Claus Is Back In Town', 'If We Never Meet Again', 'Blue Christmas' and many more…
CD 1: Elvis’ Christmas Album: Santa Claus Is Back In Town / White Christmas / Here Comes Santa Claus / I’ll Be Home For Christmas / Blue Christmas / Santa Bring My Baby Back / Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem / Silent Night / (There’ll Be) Peace In The Valley / I Believe / Take My Hand, Precious Lord / It Is No Secret (What God Can Do)
CD 2: 'His Hand In Mine': His Hand In Mine / I’m Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs / In My Father’s House / Milky White Way / Known Only To Him / I Believe In The Man In The Sky / Joshua Fit The Battle / Jesus Knows What I Need / Swing Down Sweet Chariot / Mansion Over The Hilltop / If We Never Meet Again / Working On The Building.
King Creole Book
Due for publication by Routledge in late December, is the 152-page book 'King Creole: The Disputed Territories of 1950s American Youth Culture' by Anthony Thomas McKenna, a Senior Lecturer in Film at Liverpool John Moores University.
Description: The author argues that King Creole's release during the death throes of rock and roll in America helps to position it as an outlier among youth films of the time in three distinct ways.
First, the author demonstrates how the post-rock and roll release of the film allowed for a better harnessing of the star's 'Elvisness.' Second, the author conducts an extensive examination of the film's production records, which show how the film's portrait of youth alienation and delinquency pre-dated America's big screen fixation on these topics, making the film not wholly bound by concurrent youth conventions.
Third, the author challenges the dominant reading of the film as being about intergenerational conflict and asserts that it is about shared grief. This nuanced approach distinguishes King Creole from other 1950s youth-oriented films and explains its enduring critical acclaim despite commercial underperformance.
Rich on archival research and textual analysis King Creole: The Disputed Territories of 1950s American Youth Culture will interest both film studies scholars and students. Beyond film studies, this interdisciplinary text is valuable for scholars and students of popular music, American pop culture, celebrity studies, and social history."
(Source: Not Now Music / Pascal Matteo / Nigel Patterson)