The Blues Had a Baby

Elvis Presley's Sun Sessions is the sound of rockabilly's accidental birth.

- JIM CAMPILONGO

EVERY MORNING I get a croissant at the bakery a few doors down from where I live. It's a nice way to start the day. With a 7 a.m. opening, some mornings I wait for the croissants to come out of the oven, and on these morning the wait is filled with small talk. One of the bakers is a huge guy, kind of a John Candy type. One morning, I asked what his name was. He told me, "My name is Elvis." I was strangely uncomfortable with his answer and started talking. I told him I dated a woman who's ex was named Elvis. There is also Elvis Costello (whose real name is Declan McManus), and there was an NFL quarterback named Elvis Grbac. He looked at me curiously. I wondered if I was making too big a deal out of his name? Or maybe I just knew more Elvises then he did?

Well, kind readers, there are a bunch of Elvis Presleys. There's rockabilly Elvis, Memphis Elvis, bad movie Elvis, leather-clad comeback Elvis, narco agent Elvis (partnered with Richard Nixon) and rhinestone-jumpsuit bloated Vegas Elvis, to name a few.