Ravinia 2026 Issue 6

good looks—along with tender charm and animal magnetism—that elevated them as sex symbols, aided by their close-fitted stage costumes and wild movements in their performance styles. Both would host widely watched televi- sion programs and specials. Both were singers, rather than songwriters, who cut across a wide range of musical styles, and both were driven by ambitious managers (Col. Tom Parker for Presley and Gordon Mills for Jones). Elvis was “The King.” Tom was “The Swing.” When Elvis Presley returned home in 1960 from his two-year Army hitch in West Germany, Sgt. Presley retreated from laborious studio recording and chaotic concert touring, instead follow- ing the less demanding and glitzier path of a movie star. His new image wasn’t the ragged, rugged, rebellious rocker of 1956 but the more “safe,” manicured Hollywood leading man of 1960. During Presley’s government-issued hiatus, the music business cooled its former hormonal appeal with clean-cut crooners like Pat Boone, Fabian, Frankie Avalon, Neil Sedaka, Bobby Vinton, Bobby Rydell, Ricky Nelson, and others. Swivel and sex were replaced with sweetness and syrupy songs. But in 1964, The Beatles brought back the real shock of rock and its fans’ “El- vis-like” ear-shattering shrieks, though early “Beatlemania” created crushes rather than sensuous responses. While pubescent girls wanted to hold John, Paul, George, and Ringo’s hands, mature ladies were conjuring up provocative replies to Jones’s suggestive query, “What’s new pussycat?” With his tight, unbuttoned shirt exposing his then-styl- ish hairy chest—and even-tighter pants accentuating his “contours”—Jones took up the standard for sex appeal from a decade earlier that Presley had aban- doned. At the same time, he offered appealing, hook-filled pop music for the masses—with a hint of naughtiness. Though Presley influenced almost everyone who came after him, a closer look shows that when Elvis’s popularity was waning in the late ’60s, he may have reacted to Jones’s growing popularity by “borrowing” a few aspects of his act. For instance, while women threw their un- mentionables at Jones on stage, Presley did the converse and handed his sweaty scarves to women from the stage. Fatefully, the two became good friends. Jones related in a 2015 Rolling Stone interview that when meeting Elvis the first time, Presley pressed, “ ‘How the hell do you sing like that?’ And I said, ‘Listening to you, for one thing.’ ” Five years ago, Jones reflected on his career, motivations, and legacy to DIY Magazine , “I would like to be regarded as a hell of a singer. … [When] you’re on stage, you think, what can be better than this? And I still feel the same way now as I did then. “People used to ask me when I was young, how long would I like to sing to? And I said, ‘Until I’m 97.’ ” It’s a sure bet that Jones can swing those 11 years. James Turano is a freelance writer and a former entertainment editor, feature writer, and columnist for national and local magazines and newspapers. He has written official programs for eight Elton John tours since 2003 and is also a Chicago radio personality and host on WGN 720AM. RAVINIA.ORG • RAVINIAMAGAZINE 15 KYLEDUNLEAVY/RAVINIA