Still in bed this morning (we had a lot to chat about) I was remarking, as you do when you’re in bed, that I thought one of Leonard Cohen’s backing singers, who had an incredibly high voice (Ain’t no Cure for Love), might have been the same backing singer that Elvis Presley used when he sang “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” – the laughing version.

“How funny you should say that!” Chris began, “Because, only yesterday, I was reading that Elvis wasn’t laughing at the lady singing in a high-pitched voice (as we had previously conjectured), but at a man in the audience, whose wig was pushed off by women rushing to the edge of the stage for kisses. Apparently the bald man made a joke of it and set Elvis off…”

Now, I don’t buy that explanation. A short while ago I checked out Elvis on YouTube and it would appear that Elvis was well-known for his little jokes, and he made the same joke – “Do you gaze at your bald head and wish you had hair?” – on more than one occasion. And he had his eyes shut for most of the time, perhaps because of the strong lights, so he wouldn’t have been able, surely, to see shenanigans in the audience. Also, it is apparent in the laughing video, that Elvis finds the lady’s singing bizarre; “Sing it baby!” he says, laughing all the more.

I fancy that Elvis must have been totally bored with singing the same old song and he gave way to his great sense of humour. We, the rebellious children at Sunday School, used to have fun when we sang the song, “I’m in the Lord’s Army”; it should have been:

“I’m too young to Fight with the infantry, Ride with the cavalry, Shoot with the artillery, but I’m in the Lord’s army!”

We used to sing:

“I’m too young to fight with the infantry, Ride with the cavalry, shoot with a 303!”

We always sang the wrong bit with tremendous gusto and we laughed so much that we could hardly sing the other parts. Oh so very rebellious!

Elvis finished his rendition of “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” and added, “That’s it man, fourteen years went down the drain, fourteen years just shot right there, man. I’ll tell you.” That clip continues to amuse, entertain and endear people to Elvis all these years after his death. If you want a laugh just click on the YouTube link below. Chris says that this clip has been doctored – he can tell because the soundtrack comes from a 1969 concert but the film shows Elvis at a much later date, when he was rather more portly. Therefore, I shall add the YouTube sound only version of the same.