Getting Into It

Hey Ladies and Gentleman,

Thanks for joining me for another week at Graceland Ontario where we talk about the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll and learn the lessons he presented during his life that can help you in yours. Today, we’re making note of ‘getting into it’.

“Getting into what?” you may say… Good question.

‘Getting into it’ is when you put all the passion you can muster behind what you’re doing, when you savoir the very action of your job − when you find the joy in your work.

Really, you can get into anything whether that be a book, a project, or chemistry homework. But whatever it is, there can’t be any half measures − when you ‘get into it’, there’s no turning back.

That’s still a little confusing… To illustrate, let’s turn to my idol, Elvis Presley. Elvis sang a lot of fast songs when he was young. The crowds that flocked to him in the 50’s wanted to hear the fast rockabilly beats he and the Blue Moon Boys were pumping out of Sun Studios and RCA. Elvis would put all his energy into performances. Looking at clips from the Milton Berle Show are evidence of this. He would dance, and twist and jive to the music. He would ‘get in to it’. And people loved the music even more because of that.

But the years went by… Now Elvis is in the International Hotel in Las Vegas. He’s singing a country song called “Just Pretend”. It’s a slow ballad and there isn’t much opportunity for Elvis to swivel his hips. But he ‘gets into it’ all the same. He doesn’t walk around, but he sways to the music, heaving with emphasis at the dramatic parts. And guess what, the Casino audience is silent. Even with the slow song, the energy is still there. Elvis is still ‘getting into it’ and, by doing so, people love the slow song as much as the faster ones.

So, what does this mean for you?

Imagine you do a project for work. You go up and the rest of your company’s looking at you like you have three heads. You feel a little weak at the knees but you know you’re not getting out of this. So, you’ve got a choice: do you slide through it as quickly as possibly without enjoying it, not making the subject dance with your audience, or do you ‘get into it’ and give the presentation your all?

Well, given the Elvis pattern, ‘get into it’. Because as soon as you ‘get into it’ and start enjoying what you’re doing, others will notice it. And even if your presentation is a slow song, like “Just Pretend”, and there isn’t much room for you to swivel your hips, you can still give it your all. And like Elvis, people will see the excitement of what you’re saying and agree with you, probably subconsciously, the presentation will go like a dream and you’ll sell your idea with ease.

Elvis’s Lessons:

When you have a job to do, ‘get into it’; that is, do it with all the passion you can muster. By ‘getting into it’ people will enjoy what you’re doing more because you enjoy it. This may even happen subconsciously to your audience. And when your audience enjoys what you’re saying or doing, they’re more likely to support you, buy from you, over-all be awesome to you… Getting into it’s worth it for so many reasons.

P.S. If you’re interested in seeing Elvis ‘getting into it’ with “Just Pretend” at the International from Elvis: That’s the Way it Is, here’s a Youtube clip of the performance I talked about.

P.P.S. Remember to comment below or send me an email at alexghilson@gmail.com to add your input to this article.

Failing is Not a Reason to Give Up

Elvis and the Blue Moon Boys were a pretty new item on the music market in 1954. Their rockabilly style, mixing country, blues and gospel music together, was new, too. As a result, it required an open-minded person to accept these new styles and not be offended by them. And America in the 50’s was a very easy place to offend people.

Back in those days, the Grand Ole Opry was the largest country show in the United States. Sam Phillips, owner of Sun Records and Elvis’s contract, got the Blue Moon Boys a gig at the Grand Ole Opry, a very unusual stroke of luck for a group so young. They were excited. They were unheard of and now they were on one of the greatest shows in the U.S.

But things didn’t go quite as planned. Apparently the country element of rockabilly wasn’t large enough for the conservative country crowd. The crowd did not respond well to the show put on by the boys and the talent producer of the show told Elvis afterwards that he should go back to driving trucks. Ouch.

The Blue Moon Boys weren’t done yet, though. The Louisiana Hayride was also running at this time and, though not as big as the Grand Ole Opry, it was more open-minded. When Elvis and the Blue Moon Boys showed on their show, they were a big hit and returned many times afterwards. Taking the advice of that Talent Producer at the Grand Ole Opry could have destroyed a perfectly good career because Elvis and his band didn’t fit into that shows niche.

Later, Elvis, now managed by Colonel Parker and working for RCA, went onto the Milton Berle show to play a couple songs. He finished with a crowd favourite, a cover of Big Mama Thornton’s “Hound Dog”. Elvis’s version is much more upbeat and rock ‘n’ rolling. Then it would go into a slow section where Elvis would shake his body to the music and get the crowd going wild. The music of the show is fine. The clip is even good and nowadays most people would smile with Elvis’s energetic movements, but not America back in 1956. Some people were so offended, they wanted to have Elvis banned.

The newspapers tore the Mississippi kid apart. But the Colonel got Elvis on the Steve Allen show, a big show similar to David Letterman’s show nowadays. Allen brought Elvis on after a “he’s learnt his lesson” speech. Elvis was further humiliated by singing “Hound Dog”, the song that had got him in trouble, to a real hound, a moment he would say to the end of his life was his most embarrassing moment.

Working through his imminent failure had done him a favour; Steve Allen’s show beat Ed Sullivan’s show in the ratings that night. Sullivan, known for showing the latest cutting edge acts of the day, was flabbergasted and wanted to get the boy who had outdone him that night on his show.

Elvis was booked for a performance which has since become a legendary moment in that show’s history. Sullivan called Elvis, “a very nice boy” and Elvis’s career was safe and back on track again. Elvis returned to the Sullivan show for a further two, unforgettable performances.

Elvis was still not immune to failure; Elvis and his boys were offered a four week engagement down in Las Vegas. But after a couple weeks of bad reception from the conservative audience, who expected entertainment on the line of Dean Martin or Frank Sinatra, Elvis’s group cut their stay short and left casino town. However well he was doing in the charts, Elvis could not guarantee the love of older fans as well.

Fast forward thirteen years to 1969: Elvis has done his ’68 comeback special and has had his biggest selling hit with “Suspicious Minds”. Elvis wants to return to touring and the Colonel has once again booked him in Las Vegas at the International, later the Hilton, Hotel. It’s hard to imagine the thoughts going through Elvis’s mind. This was the town which had seen one of his greatest flops when he was a national sensation. Now he was still making a comeback. His whole concert tour career might hinge on the success of these shows. What would happen if he failed again, even after the changes of time, and he had to cut his tour down, again?

But times had changed and so had people’s opinions. When Elvis performed in Las Vegas, all these years later, he was warmly received. So warmly that a documentary film Elvis –That’s the Way it Is was done through MGM showing Elvis during that first year back in Vegas. Elvis continued to play successfully at the Hilton until the end of his life and is still associated with that famed hotel in Vegas.

Elvis’s Lessons:

Ø Failing is not a reason to give up. Not everyone will dig your style. Take what you can learn from a situation and move on, continuing to do your best. Who knows, maybe next time you try you’ll be successful.

Ø Given different changes and after being altered by the pass of time, situations that once turned out in failure can be turned around to create success. Elvis could do it in Las Vegas, so can you do it in your life.

P.S. If you're interested in seeing Elvis on the Ed Sullivan Show, this is a clip from his first appearance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsP6fluNoTU&feature=related