When someone says "Elvis Presley," one automatically thinks of the Ed Sullivan Show - flashy gold suits and blue suede shoes. But if you really think about it, there is a lot of more than that. Elvis Presley was a child at the time that Bo Diddley was singing his brains out, but he picked up on Bo, added Memphis country blues and started a whole new generation of music.

Presley was the beginning of freedom in music. He gave his voice some country soul - which was also new - and he gave chicks sex - which they wanted. He moved his hips, he gave hints and he sang "Heartbreak Hotel" ... and we all identified and said: "Yes, it's like that," All the while our parents were saying "no way." Presley came on as he was, a country boy, making musicand money and being fluid and loose. Now, in 1979, that may sound strange, but when you think back to the middle 1950's, it was a whole new trip.

It was not just his hips and the fact that chicks freaked out over him; there was something new to his music. It meshed black and white at a time when white music was Frank Sinatra, and black music was Louis Armstrong. Of course there was folk, and jazz was growing, but the majority of Americans were not into new music, and youth was not the local point of music trends.

Elvis brought about a rebirth of youth-oriented music, because only the young were demanding music they could identify with. They needed an Elvis and they got one. The All-American Southern boy who truly turned people on.

John Lennon and some of the other musicians picked upon Elvis, he was their introduction into electric freedom. He had his guitar, his back-up groups, his suits - his stamp was on everything he did. He was Elvis and no one else. And today, he is still considered the "King 'n' Roll" by many.

Now comes the resurfacing of the "King." After 14 years, Elvis is going on the concert circuit again. You can easily figure out that it cannot be for the bread, because few people have made as much money as Elvis from films and records - he has 50 million-sellers.

Col. Tom Parker - Elvis' manager since the beginning - has kept a tight control on his product. He has kept Elvis unavailable and thus made him a legend. Elvis has been kept together and unlike all that is now associated with music, he isn't into drugs, chicks, drinking ... he is apple pie America.

According to Jerry Winetraub. a heavy in the music business, "the reaction to Presley is stronger than the Beatles." Maybe he's right, there is a sort of charisma about Presley which has lasted for 14 years... enough to bring the Led Zeplin out of a concert date to see him in Detroit, enough to sell out in Detroit within two hours of boxoofice opening. The same thing happened in Phoenix, St Louis, Tampa and he is almost sold-out here.

He will have two sows in Miami, next Saturday afternoon and evening

Courtesy of Francesc Lopez