A fun fact, following on the heels of the birthday of the good ‘ole USA, today July 5, marks the 60th anniversary of the recording of Elvis Presley’s first record That’s Alright (Mama), done at Sun Studios in Memphis. Some say that’s the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, so just to make this three-day weekend a little bit more … rock ‘n’ roll, I’ll go with that. Oh and then there’s this… outfits and hair. Mr. Presley did a whole lot to bring long hair into the mix (and yes, his hair was long for his time), and his outfits are very stylish. I do love those days when men dressed; he looks good even in a casual shirt. Plus, there was his dancing, so I’m going to credit him with the birth of … swagger. To invent all of that, well I think that’s alright … for a boy raised in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi. Humm… Mississippi. I remember being a little girl, and I mean a little girl, and my mom taught me to spell that word. We would do that together; recite the double S, followed by a second double S, followed by a double P making that into a rhythm. My mom liked Elvis. Perhaps that’s what all girls of her generation did a decade earlier — recite M- I-SS-I-SS-I-PP-I, like it was a mantra! Yes, Mama, Elvis was alright!

Happy Birthday rock ‘n’ roll; you are … alright!