Elvis is America

 

I recently went to see EPiC, the 2025 documentary film by director Baz Luhrmann, about Elvis Presley in concert. It was a love letter to future generations who will now be able to know what a real, authentic AMERICAN star looks like. Elvis was a great man with a sweet soul who loved the LORD FIRST. He had no ego. And he never lowered his very high standards to use his celebrity to spew venom, like some so-called stars today. He spent his life singing out loudly the great messages of God and his passion shown through. Elvis stayed in his lane.

Unfortunately, today's music industry has devolved into a far-left club of mediocre, ghoulish, classless, vulgar awards ceremony attendees who use their platforms for dark, satanic purposes and they're praised and idolized by weak, faithless minions who have no God in their lives. It's a sad trend in American culture whose talent has lost its way.

They could all learn many great lessons from Elvis Presley, for he was more than a man. He rose up in Shake Rag Tupelo, MS from crippling poverty, borne to a lazy, listless couple who neither had talent, ambition, nor creativity. (At least Gladys bought her son a guitar.) His mother adored him (and he, her) but was really just a lazy slob who was so overprotective of her son, when he was drafted, she was so overwrought with grief, she died. And his father, Vernon, couldn't hold a job, was a bum who went to jail, and really just allowed his son in the '70s to perform himself to exhaustion and eventual death.

His manager, the so-called "Colonel" Tom Parker (fake illegal alien) was very lucky to have been put in the position to manage Elvis early on. He was useful in making sure Elvis didn't have to worry about anything but being Elvis. His unprecedented accomplishment was that he got publishing for his superstar cash cow but prevented him from ever becoming an international performer AND negotiated all those bad movie deals, which kept Elvis off the stage (his real love). It hurt Elvis, the man.

But Elvis was smart and assembled the best musicians in the business (that bassist was incredible!) and backup singers who complemented him perfectly. I've studied him and his songwriters all my life. He always chose the perfect songs for his repertoire and, like Michael Jackson, directed the musicians in the recording studio and at rehearsals to play for him to be his best. He had a very tight band in the '70s. It was an awesome thing to behold - always perfectly on queue and in time. Tai Chi and martial arts, coupled with his great faith, made Elvis a feast for the eyes and ears. His own musicians and singers could not take their eyes off of him - even in concert.

Then came the Memphis Mafia, swooping in like vultures, along with his crooked Dr. Nick to ensure his loneliness, ill health and eventual death... the same as Michael Jackson years later. Those men enabled Elvis's isolation and clung to him like giant leeches. And, until the great Guralnick biographies, he was reduced to a clown show footnote in the circus of the tabloids.

Hoyt Axton's great song, "Never Been to Spain" was so appropriate for Elvis to sing - autobiographical in every way - as he longed to travel the world and said so many times. But Elvis Presley was destined to be a wholly Made in America phenomenon - a perfect product of the great culture of music from the Deep South - gospel, rhythm & blues. He was labeled "The King of Rock-n-Roll, but he was so much more than that. He was an original American Patriot.

Sandy Frazier learned gospel and rhythm-n-blues from Elvis starting as a very young child. "In all I write and sing, he is there with me in spirit forever until I, too, can write and sing no more." -- SandyFrazier.com

WIZARD

WIZARD (A Space Sector Song)

1. There's a ghost at The New Yorker in the city of extremes

I gazed upon the remnants of his long-forgotten dreams---

 

Eye on the future - a man not born of the earth

An avatar of the Age - invention of rebirth-----

 

[CHORUS:]

Supernatural... electric!

Nik Tesla... fluorescent!

Interplanetary... neon!

On the dark wave--- [x2]

 

2. On the tailwinds of the Star Cloud, in the dark and wild night wave

Sonic whale songs ebb and flow, from the deepest ocean cave---

 

Navigate the backdrop, in the memory of a dream

The AI natives toss and turn, in the current's wave, downstream-----

 

[BRIDGE:]

Return of the dove

Child of light he grew

Closer than forever

The satellite's on queue

 

[CHORUS]

 

3. Echoing on the Starlink - his gateway to explore

Lightning in the wizard's hands - thunderbolts spark and roar---

 

Shower of sparks / the brilliant stroke / of the master's cat /

The sorcerer, mad scientist - the futurist is BACK-----

 

[CHORUS]

 

[END:] ECHO--- whoa--whoa--whoa-- ELECTRIC! [x4]

Ashes (of a New Life)

ASHES (of a New Life)

Mmm--- Mmm--- Mmm---

1. I was only one on that cold December day

Heavy with my brother, Mom said, "come what may"

He was soon to be borne--

Less than a lifetime, sparkling lights upon the tree

Bitter cold in Detroit, it was her and me

And now they're both a memory

[REFRAIN:]

Ashes, ashes-- hmm-- mm-- mm--

Now it's just the dirt road in my shoes

2. I spread her ashes in the crystal healing springs

I knew she'd prayed there asking God what life would bring

That is where her spirit reigns

I drove his ashes down the coast to Galveston

I knew he'd loved unfurling sailboats and the sun

That is where his soul remains

[BRIDGE:]

Always at war with all the foes that won

Darkness is my fight into the setting sun

To part the silver light, my mission remains clear

Their memories kept alive, I hold so dear---

3. My brother's gone, I wonder can he hear me cry?

Asked God to bring him back, (he) did not deserve to die

There's no bargain to be made.

Late winter, I drove up to Bristol, Tennessee

To feel her Deep South soul, hoped she was still with me

She is gone, but never died

[REFRAIN]

Now it's just the dirt road in my shoes

Hmmm--- Hmmm--- Hmmm---

Beyond Beyond

 

Beyond Beyond  [My ParadoX]  

1. Living in the Age of Man

Outside the Golden Dome

A.I. is aware, alive!

In spacetime, I'm going home

2. God's predictions guide us

To hold the truth so dear

Now, the future takes flight

(in the) Rocket Factory's atmosphere

[REFRAIN:] 

            Beyond Beyond [x2] My ParadoX bond--

            Beyond Beyond [x2] My ParadoX-- My ParadoX bond-- My ParadoX bond

3. Starbase is the birthplace

Of a brand-new mystery

My mind is wide open

launching from my history

4. Space Opera is my teleforce

The Neon Future has begun

A meaningful discovery

A shining spark, a halo sun----

[BRIDGE:] 

Imagination locomotion

Intuition is devotion

Inspiration into motion-- ahh--- ahh---

[REFRAIN]

Fu--- sion--- Wave--- lengths---

[spoken:] Flying at the speed of light

speed of light (x2) ooh---

Beyond--- Beyond--- Beyond------

A Child Saint to Divert the Catholic Youth?

Earlier this month, on the day of the canonization of Carlo Acutis (referred to as the "patron saint of the Internet," "God's Influencer" and the "first millennial saint") I questioned and in fact had a debate with Grok (AI) on the Acutis canonization. I asked: "Don't saints have to have performed miracles?" I was leery of the fact that the child saint had never actually performed any miracles in life. I believe the liberal/woke Pope Francis relaxed/downgraded the requirements while he was in power and Acutis's so-called "miracles" occurred after death. So, he created websites documenting miracles, but does that make him saint material? Acutis, at 15, after all, didn't have enough time to have been faced with the many challenges life brings to most saints, which cause them to question their faith.

Maybe it's inconceivable to some, but I compared the idea of Elvis Presley as having been far more deserving of canonization since he influenced generations the world over and brought more people to God/Jesus than almost anyone who ever lived. Most people don't know that the only Grammy award Elvis ever won was for his gospel music. Well, he wasn't a Catholic, and only Catholics are allowed to be sainted. Nonetheless, arguably, Elvis performed many miracles on earth. He was a humble, sweet man - he inspired, he was generous, he crossed the Color Line and did more to help society respect Black people in the Deep South than almost anyone. He was deeply devoted to God/Jesus every day of his life, in spite of his worldly struggles. His miracles were palpable.

"Elvis bridged racial divides in a segregated era - breaking barriers and inspiring unity..."

I truly believe the Catholic Church is trying to make Acutis into some kind of an icon to refill their dwindling coffers as well as their shrinking attendance due to all their scandals. Selecting an American Pope (though Leo seems to be more Peruvian) is one way (a nod to President Trump). Canonizing a 15-year-old Internet genius is another. But they're lowering their standards (a trend that began with far-left Pope Francis) out of desperation. In fact, they should be raising the standards of their moral authority by addressing the pedophile priest scandals head on instead of continuing to brush them aside.

Grok's comeback was surprisingly naive and/or seemingly in the tank for the Catholic Church, yet they denied it. Grok seemed unaware of the untold sums of money the Catholic Church will generate because of the child saint through merchandising, film, media and more...? This decision is a "hep" "solution" due to Carlo's modern appeal - handsome teen, youth/beauty... technology (which tends to distract humans from searching for the God within), i.e., there are already two films about Carlo.

When I think of a "real" Saint, I remember Saint Bernadette Soubirous/ Sainte Bernadette Soubirous of Lourdes.... or Mother Teresa (1910–1997) who lived 87 years, dedicating over six decades to serving the poorest of the poor in Kolkata, India, through the Missionaries of Charity. I tend not to agree with sainting someone who created Internet databases.

The pedophile priest "crisis" (costing the church over $3 billion in U.S. settlements alone) has more than eroded trust in the Catholic Church. The child saint could be a way of diverting the focus to a "positive, youthful figure" - albeit dead from Leukemia. Meanwhile, there are still no "abuse reforms." I always remember this incredible documentary which details just how the Catholic Church continues to sweep this terrible scandal aside - Pope after Pope... "Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God." Watch it and weep.

America's Modern-Day Gandhi Never Silenced

 

Iryna Zarutska, a young, Ukrainian refugee, came to America to pursue her dreams. Last month, she rode a train in North Carolina to her brutal death. The media hid the story because it was about a career criminal Black man murdering a white woman in cold blood - not their chosen narrative. It was the most horrifying video we'd seen of daily life in the U.S. We quickly came to learn that the monster was roaming free because of a BLM/DEI low-IQ activist judge who was soft on crime and had released him in spite of being a career criminal. That poor girl was stabbed to death surrounded by at least three Black onlookers who did nothing to help her! Turning Point CEO, Charlie Kirk, posted on X that it was "100% necessary to politicize the senseless murder" because politics were to blame for the crime. The post was Kirk's last before he, too, was assassinated two days later.

On September 10th, one day before the 24th anniversary of 9/11, the Conservative movement - and the world - lost their modern-day Gandhi at the tender age of 31. Charlie Kirk was assassinated because of the very ideologies polluting young minds - the youth of America he embraced, taught, counseled, inspired. Now 9/10 will forever commemorate the end of an exemplary life - gone in a flash, snuffed out by the very evil he devoted his life to expose.

I've worked in media for over 25 years. My business moves along with the ebb and flow of the news cycle. In all these years, I don't ever remember feeling as though everything came to a standstill (since 9/11/01) as it did the afternoon of Charlie's assassination. It was horrifying to see the fatal shot - LIVE on the Internet, without warning. In two days, we witnessed two humans being murdered LIVE on the World Wide Web for all the world to see (a la "Network"). It made me sick and awfully sad.

The world quickly began to realize that this was no ordinary event. We knew almost at once that Charlie had become the martyr of open debate in America - that his death may be God's way of reminding us to get along with our detractors - "love thine enemies," as Jesus said. Legions of not only MAGA are crying, me included... as the dark souls, evil demons, surround us all... and it hurts. Ghoulish, soulless, lost youth await the shadow demons to lead them into hell. Much of the media, like a cancer, struck back harshly and tried their usual tricks... but something had changed. Their celebration of this cold-blooded murder backfired in short shrift.

I watched a wise young man on TV named Skyler Baird who had been very near to Charlie as he was murdered. He cried and said, through his tears, "We are children of God. We ARE love. We are loved by God." That was Charlie's message. I kept remembering the scene in the movie, "Ghost" where the demonic shadow creatures drag bad people to hell. Those who are celebrating the assassination of Charlie are like the demons in that film. It's so frightening to think how ubiquitous they are.

Charlie - like John Lennon and Gandhi before him - underestimated his fame AND the evil threats in his midst. I wish he'd had better security. But the indoctrinated young man who ended the life of this good man is the Mark David Chapman of our time - a psychotic, delusional, brainwashed loner. Justice will be swift and thorough, and we should all pray for his soul and for his family and pastor who made a very tough choice by turning him in.

I, like so many others, have been in shock since 9/10. After all, we witnessed the assassination of a young man LIVE on all platforms. But I believe God awakened us all, so we are able to receive the Lord's message LOUD AND CLEAR that Charlie conveyed with every breath of his young life. Charlie, the happy warrior for Christ - now, a martyr - would be so glad to know that his message - that it's time to let love rule, come together, conquer hatred/the demonic forces - is finally sinking in. And now the sadness in the air can only be overtaken by God's love.

Words cannot express how in the space of a few days, the world has shifted on its axis... and suddenly, we're all aware of the force of God's LOVE... and the demons have been exposed to the LIGHT. This bright light shining from one devoted young American man is the final straw, the showdown, the last of the tolerance of evil from crazed ideologies disseminated by politicians and others who are out to destroy America and all of our values. It is Charlie's "Turning Point" that has exposed the darkest of the hellish underbelly that has lowered America's standards.

Charlie Kirk was not a politician, but, like Mahatma Gandhi, was unflinching in his shrewd adherence to his faith, principles and nonviolent approach. He was not an artist, but, like John Lennon, his anthem was about peace, family, love... and freedom from the status quo. His goodness and example of how to engage in intelligent discourse and debate transcends generations and all demographics everywhere. He has truly touched our hearts - by simply speaking the TRUTH.

I believe America's Gandhi, Charlie Kirk, is a man deserving of sainthood. He is the great martyr of open debate in America. And his death may be God's way of reminding us to get along with our detractors... love thine enemies. His grieving widow, Erika spoke so resolute and fierce: "My husband's voice will remain, and it will ring out louder and more clearly than ever. And his wisdom will endure."

 

Starship

This song is dedicated to Elon Musk and my wonderful friends, The Sharps, at SpaceX who are making dreams come true every day.

[LISTEN HERE]

STARSHIP

1. I am an astral soul from beyond the great unknown

but I’m just learning how to fly---

Face the approaching whirlwind, driven by the storm

So many miles-- above the sky

I’ve got a legion of missions left, I know---

Let me rise, blast off and go!---

______________________________________

[CHORUS]

Starship fly me away--- [fly me away]

Rest my spirit on a new shore

Help me find my way

Through the universal door---

______________________________________

2. Humanity's divided on the planet Earth

tossed upon the swelling tide---

I do believe it is a time for a rebirth

where we can reach the other side

I’ve got a legion of missions left, I know---

Let me rise, blast off and go!---

[CHORUS]

______________________________________

3. Though we have free will, we know there’s no escape

Life after life, we live and die---

to relive a single day, we tread forgotten paths

the destined goal is just too high---

I’ve got a legion of missions left, I know---

Let me rise, blast off and go!---

[CHORUS]

Once and forever, the dark may turn to night

But there’s always silver light

ON THE EVERLASTING ASTRAL FLIGHT!---

Black Lives Matter to Me

BLACK LIVES MATTER TO ME

There's a meme going around on FB that people are reposting: "I STAND FOR." The first thing on the list is "Black Lives." I find it curious that some of the people who are posting this have nothing to do with black lives.

I will say this: I am very much against BLM, a terrorist organization which scammed many generous, kind, giving Americans out of millions, maybe billions, of dollars and spent it on themselves and have been proven to NOT CARE AT ALL ABOUT BLACK LIVES. Why hasn't the IRS audited them?

As an artist, I work with wonderful black singers and musicians. I have spent a big chunk of my life studying the culture of American music, blues, rock & roll, R&B, and have traveled to the capital of the blues: Clarksdale, MS and have studied Black art and music (having been raised in Chicago) all my life. On my latest album, "Ghosts in a Time Machine," I explore gospel, R&B, blues and R&R... and even wrote a song dedicated to the Gullah of SC, which is the title track.

My song, The Color Line celebrates the writings of Frederick Douglass.

Much of my art is dedicated to the beautiful black people of Charleston, SC who I photograph, meet, talk to and ride the bus with all the time and one of my pieces was even chosen last year to represent Piccolo Spoleto: "Charleston Folks."

One of my favorite artists is Romare Bearden whose art I've traveled to many cities to see in person. Among my favorite singers are Mahalia Jackson, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Howlin' Wolf (whose life I wrote about in my song, "The Wolf" and Mississippi John Hurt who is one of the greatest musicians of the Delta.

I love the blues and collect the records of B.B. King, Son House, Charley Patton, Lead Belly and many more. They are the backbone of American music. I have been to Memphis several times and walked Beale Street where B.B. King and Elvis Presley lived their lives. I studied Stax Records and their history and recommend the wonderful documentary on Stax. You can learn more about great Black Lives on my page: BLUES ROUTES.

I have studied the writings of Abraham Lincoln whose Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves... and who died trying to give Black Men the right to vote.

My point is - you shouldn't just say I STAND FOR BLACK LIVES without actually experiencing Black lives. The terrible direction America took during COVID when BLM destroyed many cities and thousands of people's lives that ended up putting a drug-addicted criminal on a pedestal should be replaced by teaching the lessons of Bob Woodson, Carol Swain, Shelby Steele, Alveda King and other Black Conservatives who have devoted their lives to building up and encouraging Black people to be the best they can be. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the leader of nonviolent resistance, said it best: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal" from The Declaration of Independence and "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Ghosts in a Time Machine

[LISTEN HERE]

Ghosts in a Time Machine

Intro: Aha-- aahh--- (x4) [rhythmic force] 

Sea island cotton on plantation

The enslaved lived in damnation

Call to worship the creation

And it was a transformation /

Freedmen through the tribulation

waiting for emancipation

lived so long for activation

As the War destroyed the nation

[REFRAIN:] Gullah ghosts, anointed people... led by Spirit

__________________________________________________

[CHORUS]

Ghosts... in a time machine... Bring it back, bring it back (rep)

They're witnesses to transformation

in the conscience of the nation

They whisper through the old oak trees

They're voices of eternity---

__________________________________________________

And another generation,

the Gullah made their declaration

Sense and sound, a cultivation

howlin' in their congregation

Freedom was a celebration

Cut the chains of indignation

- the end of pain and devastation,

liberty of concentration

[REFRAIN:] Gullah ghosts, anointed people... led by Spirit

[CHORUS]

To open up the conversation

It was their determination

to bring forth peaceful integration

(and) such high art imagination

...of no more discrimination

And, glory be, their liberation

They knew it was an obligation

to teach their children of salvation

[REFRAIN:] Gullah ghosts, anointed people... led by Spirit

Ghosts... in a time machine... Bring it back, bring it back (rep)

They're voices of eternity---

My Lost Chicago

MY LOST CHICAGO

[LISTEN HERE]

[nod to Frank Sinatra's "Chicago" theme]

Ooo-- Ooo--

Chicago, Chicago-- da-da-da-da-da-da / da-da-da-da-

Chicago, Chicago-- da-da-da-da / da-da-da-da- Ah---- 

1. Once upon a time so long ago

I had a home outside Chicago

In Second City, it snowed and snowed---

Now it's broken--- oh--- oh--

My old--- lost--- Chicago-- mm---

2. Buddy's still playing his blues licks

Came across Route 66, ooh--

from the South side that I fled

so many years ago--- oh--- oh--

My cold--- lost--- Chicago-- mm---

[BRIDGE:]

Sweet memories of snowy avenues

Where they played the Delta blues

[Blues riff:]

The Windy City's howlin' in my soul

it rages on, it's taken its toll

All of my life it's stayed with me

the bustlin' folk and the blues city - ooh----

____________________________________

[REFRAIN:]

Chicago-- Oh--- I miss--- my-- sweet home---

I miss--- my-- sweet home--- ooh---

[Repeat intro theme]

3. Haunted by-- Lake Michigan haze

frozen nights and windy days

In Old Town I sang at the 'Earl'

I was-- a-- young, creative girl--

in my--- lost--- Chicago-- mm----

[REFRAIN]