ELVIS GLAM Handfinished and Stencilled - Golden Years
47 x 84cm on 320gsm Fedrigoni Paper with deckled edges
Unique signed handfinished print with stencil spray paint layer
This originally 1" high image of Elvis was found in a memorial issue newspaper published in Elvis' hometown of Memphis, Tennessee the week he died. I remember the day he died clearly because it was the first time I had ever been to visit, London. Still haven't visited Graceland.
Six months before Elvis’s death in August 1977, the King had phoned Bowie up and asked him to produce his next album.
“That was based on Elvis having heard Bowie’s 'Golden Years', and I thought 'Oh my God, it’s a tragedy that he was never able to make that',” said Dwight Yoakam.
“I couldn’t even imagine 1977 David Bowie producing Elvis. It would have been fantastic. It has to be one of the greatest tragedies in pop music history that it didn’t happen, one of the biggest missed opportunities.”
In fact, Bowie was a massive Elvis fan, and was said to have an encyclopedic knowledge of the rock and roll icon's career. Plus, the pair shared a birthday on January 8.
Bowie also said that he had originally wanted his song 'Golden Years' to be performed by Elvis. It has been claimed that he asked his then wife Angie to send the request over, but she was too shy to do so.
Meanwhile, a rare Elvis song titled 'Black Star', which was unreleased for decades after being recorded in 1960 – has been named as a possible inspiration for Bowie's farewell album of the same name.
The song’s lyrics read: “Every man has a black star / A black star over his shoulder / And when a man sees his black star / He knows his time, his time has come.”