Saturday9: All Shook Up (1957)

 

 

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love to answer the questions, however, and here is today's questions!

  Chosen because January 8 is the anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth.

Not familiar with this song?  Hear it HERE

If you would like to see other offerings from the Saturday 9 crowd, Go HERE

And AWAY we go!

 
1) In this song, Elvis shares quite a list of maladies: he's itching, his hands are shaky, his knees are weak, he has chills ... How are you feeling this morning?  Well, I napped for about 3 hours and it's 2 pm so I must be well rested by now.

2) He also mentions being "tongue tied." The dictionary defines it as, "unable to speak freely, as from shyness." Do you often find yourself tongue tied?  I'm pretty quiet when in company, but when in a group that I feel comfortable in, whether I've known them most of my life or not, I'm generally outgoing.  Most people are this way.

3) Even after he was wealthy, Elvis never lived away from his parents. At one point Graceland Mansion was home to four generations of the family: his grandmother, his father and stepmother, Elvis, his wife and daughter. Have you ever lived in a multi-generational household?  Yes, during WWII my mother and I lived with her parents on their Ohio farm, and with most of her siblings and all the cousins.  We went back to live there for extended stays in two consecutive years when my brothers were born.  Those were the happiest times of my childhood. 

4) Thinking of family, Elvis Presley was a distant cousin of President Jimmy Carter. Both of their family trees can be traced back to the 18th century and Thomas Preslar (before the surname was changed to Presley in the early 1800s). Have you traced your ancestry? If not, is it something you'd like to do?  I have verbal history from my mother and her sisters and parents, and from my paternal aunts and grandmother.  These have been verified by other family members.  And I have DNA history now which supports what they all said.  I just wish I'd had some of that ancestral money! Lol...
 
5) As an adult, Elvis never wore denim (except for a movie role). That's because when he was in school, his classmates teased him for "dressing poor" in jeans and coveralls. Is denim a big part of your wardrobe today? It would be if it was old enough to be flexible.  I don't like stiff fabrics anymore.  I have too many joints that can't be flexed anymore.  Back in the day, this is all we ever wore,  501's straight off the stack.  Girls would nip and tuck them at the waist.  We never EVER were allowed to wear them to school.  This was in the 1950's after all.  We never EVER even were allowed to wear slacks or peddle pushers to school. The 60's was the Great Rebellion!  Huzzah to my 1960's College sisters!

Nice Bod, no?

 
6) Before becoming famous, Elvis drove a truck in and around Memphis. Have you ever had a job that kept you behind the wheel most of the day? No.  Some of my volunteer jobs did but not any paying ones.  Meals on Wheels and Project Wildlife, pick up and transport, involved a lot of driving, but not most of the day for those two, either. 

7) In 1957, the year this song was a hit, the Allstate Mechanical Freight Set was popular, too. Kids would wind up the engine and watch it pull two cars and a caboose around the track. To enhance the realism, sparks would shoot from the engine's smoke stack as it rumbled by. Did you ever play with a toy train? If not, tell us about a childhood plaything you remember fondly.  An Indian Princess Three speed bike. It was sort of an after thought for me to have, since my brother had gotten a new three speed racer for his birthday.  My parents, primarily my mother, managed one for me for a combined Christmas//birthday gift.  If you have a birthday that's right on top of Christmas, that happens a lot.  When I grew up, I realized just how much of a sacrifice that was for my mother to make.  I rode it everywhere.  Before that, my bro and I had a bike frame, two tires, handle bars and a brake. The "Barely There" model of bike. 

8) The best-selling book of 1957 was Peyton Place, a scandalous tale of life in a small New England town. Do you suppose there are enough steamy stories behind closed doors in your town to fill a novel? Of course there are.  When you think about it, there have always been enough "hot" stories, and they are EVERYwhere.  It's the nature of humans, to be this way, even under severe religious repression.  One look at family secrets and their set of hidden trysts is enough to tell that story, let alone set the ears burning and the Church Alter up in flames.

9) Random question: Can you do 10 push ups?  Not anymore,  though I can still do more than 10 sit ups.