"Image Scrimmage"

Hey Guys,

Have you ever been told that you have great hair? That your eyes are bright and beautiful? That you’re so tall or so small? Well, all these things contribute to one thing about you, and no, I’m not talking about self-esteem. I’m talking about image.

“Image scrimmage… why should I care about that?”

Because it’s what makes you unique. And people remember others who are unique or original. People who look normal will be treated like normal people − they’ll be ignored. Someone who’s different, on the other hand, stands a good chance of being remembered. Being remembered by new acquaintances, being remembered by new business opportunities, being remembered when they get read about in the press.

So, let’s go back to our pal Elvis Presley. He really had an image, and knew who to swing it. Let’s examine parts of this image, shall we…

Sideburns

Sideburns were not very popular in the 50’s. Take a look at ninety percent of the movies coming out Hollywood at the time (minus the Elvis ones) and you’ll notice the leading men, including Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, James Dean and Frank Sinatra, did not sport sideburns. Hollywood’s portrayal of most attractive, modern men did not wear them, as they hadn’t in the 30’s or 40’s, as well. Elvis took a piece of facial hair that was out of fashion and by wearing it made himself unique while taking sideburns to a whole new level of interest. I mean, how many men inspired by Elvis grew sideburns in his example. I did…

Voice

Nobody talks like Elvis, but a lot of people attempt to. Elvis had such a versatile voice, which is probably why he was such a good singer. He could hit those low notes with such power while at the same time belting out the high ones. He could be mumble out an old 50’s ballad or yelp out “Burning Love” and still sound good, still sound like Elvis. And when he talked, he had that unique southern accent; fun loving but conservative − soft but full of expression. With the advent of the Elvis Impersonator (now, commonly, the Elvis Tribute Artist (ETA)), that voice has been heard more times than ever before. But we know one thing; every time we hear that sweet southern accent, it represents one man − Elvis Presley.

Clothes

Elvis had pretty typical suits in his youth. There was the time when he wore a ‘suit with tails’ on the Steve Allen show, or the time he wore the Tupelo Gold suit, but on the whole it was those popular 50’s sack suits. But wait until 1968, and in his comeback special came the birth of the Elvis jumpsuit. It was tight and black and leather, well fitted to the king’s curves and giving him full range of motion while he sang. It was such a hit that the white cloth one replaced it in the early 70’s in films like Elvis: That’s the Way it Is. Later on, they got fancier with more gold and jewels like the jumpsuits seen in Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii and all the way to the end of the King’s career. These outfits were so unique. Nobody used them but Elvis and when people did start taking to them, it was obvious who they copying. The jumpsuit became such a symbol of Elvis that it is still uniquely Elvis’s, even all these years after his death. People still associate it with him. That’s how strong an image can be.

Elvis’s Lessons:

• Get yourself an image! It’s not as hard as it might seem as in many cases it’s only emphasizing what you already have. For me, people notice my brown curly hair, my height, my eyes and my English accent. You can use anything essentially: hat, clothes (as Elvis did), hair, eyes, facial hair (as Elvis also did), a habit (such as running or reading), ANYTHING! But once you have a couple, people will remember you for what you are associated with (the image) as well as what you are, perhaps more so. You’ll become more distinctive than ever before, people will bear you mind and since people tend to be friendlier (or meaner, given the reputation) to people they now of, your success will be influenced by your new, distinctive image.

P.S. If you want to see Elvis sporting his sideburns, voice and jumpsuit, here's a Youtube link to Elvis singing "I'll Remember You" from Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii.

P.P.S. I would love to hear your ideas and memories as well as any feedback you have to my posts. Please make full use of the comment section!

It's Quicker with Experience

Hey Guys,

Coming back at you from Graceland, Ontario, this week’s article is in some ways the opposite of last week’s article, but both are essential to your success. Last week, I talked about having a standard and going over something until it reached that standard, however long it took. An example of this being the 31 takes it took Elvis to record the single version of “Hound Dog”. Though it might be empowering to think that you are good enough to have a standard, it’s daunting to constantly be going over things, proofreading for the rest of your life instead of enjoying the exciting, creative part of your work.

This is the second part of this lesson. Like the previous one, it seems simple but people too often overlook it to escape short term pain. They worry that they will always be on the wire and instead they start letting things go, dropping their standard. And they become inferior.

In 1959, three years after “Hound Dog” was recorded, Elvis went into the studio to record “Big Hunk O’ Love”. Elvis was still in the army but these recording sessions during his leave were his way of staying in the record-buying public’s radar while he was in army fatigues. The final take of the song is full of rock ‘n’ rolling energy. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks. It was a big hit.

And how long do you think it took Elvis to record? Considering the amount of time he put into “Hound Dog”, was it 40 takes? 50 takes? 100 takes!?

Nope.

It took Elvis four takes. The final recording was a splicing of the third and four takes. And though perhaps not as iconic as “Hound Dog”, it did well. It did very well.

Then, years later, in 1968 during his comeback from the movies to the music industry, Elvis walked into the recording studio with a different track; an older, more mature Elvis with larger sideboards went in with a different track. Elvis sang the song that changed his mind about music, his comments being that, “I'm never going to sing another song I don't believe in”.

Francis K. Green, a reviewer of Elvis’s ’68 TV Special, mentioned Elvis’s “…three unflagging takes of "If I can Dream"". The song that changed Elvis’s mind about the music he would sing for the rest of his career was done in three takes. Impressive.

Even “Suspicious Minds”, possibly Elvis’s most well know single of the sixties was recorded in six takes. Not 31, six. Both “Hound Dog” and “Suspicious Minds” are examples of Elvis’s best music but the recording he did all those years later took so much less time than the earlier one.

So, what am I saying? Elvis had to put a lot less effort to achieve the standard he wanted later in his career than earlier on. Sure, people will say that technology played a part in this, and it’s true. But Elvis recorded “Big Hunk O’ Love” only three years after “Hound Dog”, not much time for technological innovation to take root. And he recorded the former track in 27 less takes.

Experience does count for something, even in the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’s case. The more he practiced recording in a studio, the less effort it took to achieve the same results. And boy, could Elvis create results.

So, are you going to give up on your dreams because of the amount of time it takes to enjoy them at the moment? Hell no, because you know that it’s getting better. It’s getting better all the time and the more you do it, the easier it gets.

Elvis’s Lessons:

Ø After years of practice, life gets easier (or at least work gets done quicker). Experience does count for something. Take it from Elvis.

P.S. If you're interesting in hearing the original recording of "Big Hunk O' Love", here's a link to it on Youtube.