TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS: The Elvis Forum

The jumpsuits were cool 1969-71. After that as Elvis' body changed so should have his attire. I think the cape did it for me in '72. Outright silly. Was he Captain America or a singer? By the time he was 40, forget it, they were ridiculous and I think distracted from the music. Where did the cool Elvis go? I was always waiting for the next album cover to see if maybe we'd get a nice studio pose. No way, as the jumpsuits got worse, so did the album covers. As somene mentioned other stars gave it go when it seemed cool, but then outgrew them. Many people say Elvis was a child inside a man's body who never grew up. Maybe this is just one thing that proves this theory.

Scott, I can't seem to enlarge the article about the dentist enough to be able to read it. Any suggestions?

Thanks for a terrific retrospective.

Thanks for your time and effort of putting together this wonderful post of Elvis visit to Greensboro back in 1975.
I sure wish there was a soundboard recording we all could enjoy some time in the (near) future from this tour.

Lennart E

Folks, with all due respect, many of you appear to be spouting this retail opinion that floats around Elvis forums everywhere that jumpsuits had become silly. 'He should have been wearing the two piece 'flight suits' at his age'.
Ridiculous. Nothing but some homespun revisionism from many that were born or not yet conscience till long after the fact.
The jumpsuits, forty years ago, were his and they were not being criticized in their time & place. Of course this is subjective, but he looked spectacular in this jumpsuit and wowed people everywhere he wore it.
And let's not get this twisted, he wasn't schmucky Englebert, he wasn't Tom Jones, he certainly wasn't Donny Osmond or any list of anybodies- he was Elvis. Far removed and high above all.

Can't agree with you Broadway. I was in my twenties when he started wearing them. At the beginning they looked cool, but after a couple of years quite ridiculous and they certainly were beginning to be criticised.

I'm with John !

He should have dropped them after Aloha !

Or before.

I'm going with Broadway on this one, I can't recall many (if any) contemporary references that are critical of Elvis' stage attire. When you look at others at that time Elvis was certainly not overtly dressed.......

Tom Jones -


Roy Orbison -


Neil Diamond -


James Brown -


Elton John -


Hendrix -


Mick Jagger -


David Bowie -


John Lennon -


His clothes were of the time and of Elvis' taste, at least he was true to himself, unlike someone like Springsteen who still dresses as a blue collar steel worker, in a pathetic attempt to ingratiate himself with 'Everyman' America.

None of the ones you list were in the same class as Elvis !

We're talking about the King of Rock 'n' Roll here !

OK, now I've been a little guilty of revisionism myself. In seeing Colin's 'we're talking about the King of Rock 'n' Roll here' finish, I did write 'he wasn't anybody, he was far above them' and yes, that's celestially, technically and retrospectively true, but in 1975, Elvis was barely on the R&R radar. Elton John was a bigger act. Bowie was a bigger act, JB, Jagger... As a full blown, out of the closet, card carrying Elvis fan in 1975, you could hear the crickets chirp among your peers when it came to Elvis. He was your parents R&R and if you were going to smoke some pot & listen to some records in someone's basement, I didn't have to bring my fresh new copy of Elvis Today with the 'new, big hit T.R.O.U.B.L.E.' because no one wanted to hear it- only me, the kid with the taste levels 'far above and beyond' everyone else's.
So, yes, he was The King, but it's not like he was making relevant music (like most of the others pictured & mentioned) and there'd sensibly be any rush for him to get a new look to trump Mick & Elton. I'd think that if he was going to make changes in 74, 75, etc, his approach to self & music might have been a priority over jumpsuit design.
And again, he looked magnificent in 75. Magnificent in that suit and magnificent in the 'phoenix' suits, in the 'Aztec' suit... and maybe even the 'indian feather' suit. In any event, dressing and looking good were never a problem for Elvis Presley. If he ever needed help with a look, I'll concede perhaps late 76 & all through 77 may have needed an intervention, but in 75? Never.

And PS, someone please produce at legitimate review written in Elvis' lifetime that criticized or questioned his use of jumpsuits before or after the Elvis fan imposed cutoff date of Jan 1973. If you find one, you'd be hard pressed to find another because it just wasn't an issue in his time. I read everything I could get my hands on in the 70's. No one was goofing on the jumpsuits.

Again, the NY Times guy gets it all right and doesn't piss on the (according to the most of the anti-jumpsuit crowd) "ugliest" suit of all.
http://www.elvisconcerts.com/newspapers/press14.htm

I never claimed that the media criticised the suits.

No, you won't find too many instances of that in '75.

Precious few were writing anything about him then !

But, among us 'grass-roots' fans, there was a growing belief that he should drop the jumpsuits & change his look at that time.

John, we'll just disagree on the whole notion.
You know no one would expect that you keep reference material from almost forty years back, however we're graced to live in a period where there are any number of concert reviews gathered online for anyone to try and find something to support your assertion.
I don't know where you were in the seventies, are you in the States? The US coverage of post 74 Elvis wasn't particularly kind and while they didn't come right out and 'out' Elvis on what they evidently knew or suspected, they were fast, current and thought nothing of being all over him and his every odd move- not to mention his waistline, his performance and or his sex life. Of course I couldn't have read everything, but I just don't remember anyone picking on what Elvis was wearing. Ever, and I always remember and instantly dislike anyone that picks on Elvis. That's my sickness, of course.
There's no point in getting in a pissing match on who read more, nor do I doubt that you did, but clearly you may have been influenced to your opinion by someone's opinion you read back then or perhaps you're letting your dislike for Elvis' late jumpsuits project on to your memory of the 1970's coverage you've read. It's possible and it's just a thought.

I hear you, Colin, but not then. This is an opinion that materialized, naturally, post 1990, and that's fine too, it was a funny look. However, you can't look back and judge platform disco shoes and afros as something that should have never happened because they look silly by your today sensibilities. Lots of people got laid just fine in silly polyester outfits and gold dangling chains in their day. Very few looked around the room and said, 'Christ, don't we look silly'. If someone had that kind of vision, I hope they went into fashion to make the billions they deserve.

As I said "there was a growing belief..... at that time" !

You can't know when my opinion 'materialised'.................. only I know that.

And I cringed when I saw photos of him in those suits after around '73 !

I'm rubbing my temples now...I'm seeing...uhhh...you're being disingenuous.
Colin, I don't know a real Elvis fan alive who'd see Elvis walk into a room or out on a stage in most anything between 1973 and 1976 that would turn to who they were with and say, 'get a load of this guy! He looks like some kind of pimp from outer space'. Dude, I saw him fairly close for a few minutes at Nassau Coliseum in 75 and was stunned like I was looking directly at God. He was stunning and if you and me were standing together in that spot, I highly doubt you'd be put off by the Aztec, Bear Claw, whatever suit.
'Holy shit, Colin, did you see him'?
"Yeah, I don't know what you're getting so excited about, Chris. He looks silly. A man his age wearing that funny suit. He should be embarrassed...'.
Get out of here!

OK, just a small example of something I do have from then, The Story Of Pop, 1974. No, they don't lay into him, but others did.

I'd already made up my mind long before this that he was turning into Liberace.

Ah - the excitement of actually seeing him on stage would have overcome all reservations about his apparel !

As I said, I was going by photos of him....................

OK, I hear you. You're not a jumpsuit kind of guy, but wait a minute- so you walked out of EOT disappointed? None of that high energy, big arena, dolby stereo, cape wearing, split screen splendor made the (then) new suits fit in? The red suit? The blue suit? None of that excited you?

Nah, not from where I sit........

None of the suits excited me. It was always about the songs for me.

Whilst I see where you're coming from John, I think if you were actually at a show the clothes might add to the overall experience, indeed I'm sure I have read that this was the very reason Elvis chose such extravagant clobber - to give the audience something special, to let them know this was an event, he wanted to impress them.

Well, the songs first & foremost maybe, but for me, Elvis was always the total package !

The look, the charisma, the way-of-life, all contributed to the appeal !

I understand why he did it. Personally, I don't believe it was necessary. I think he looked better in the outfits he wore in 69/70 than the OTT glittery blingy stuff he chose later.

I've seen other acts, some dressed up some not. I've seen Elton John and the fancy clobber did nothing for me, I enjoyed the music and the show.

The best live concert I've ever been to was by Bruce Springsteen back in the late 80s, 3 solid hours of rock 'n' roll. He was in T-shirt and jeans. The strange thing is I can't listen to Bruce on record, but the show was terrific.

Billy Joel was fantastic, no fancy clobber. Paul Simon was brilliant, no fancy clobber. Tina Turner was amazing, she was a bit glittery. Don McLean and Gordon Lightfoot were great, no fancy clobber on either. George Michael was brilliant, no fancy clobber. Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee, Crystal Gayle all put on great shows, none of them in fancy clobber. Carl Perkins did have on a jump suit, he was no more memorable than the others.

There were others. I can't remember one that made it a better occasion for me because of the outfits.

Yes they did. I'm purely isolating the the 70s outfits here. All the rest is fine, including for me, the movies. However, for me, it all started with the songs, If they had been crap, none of the rest would have mattered.

I understand that he had a very broad appeal, I understand that some people prefer a particular Elvis period, style, decade. It's all part of the package. That's why we're all here.