I Just Give 'Em Away

Two things that endears me to Elvis are his spiritual roots and love of people. Elvis made a lot of mistakes in his life. But I have too. I choose, like many fans, to focus on the good things in his life and the many lives he touched and still touches through his music.

Because of Elvis' love of gospel music, he had the opportunity to sing with many popular gospel groups in his day. One of those groups was The Imperials. I had the privelege of meeting one of the group's members, Joe Moscheo.

Joe is an incredibly talented singer and author in his own right who recently wrote a book called, "The Gospel Side of Elvis". It was also made into a PBS documentary with the same title. I highly recommend the book and the movie because it shows Elvis in a whole new light and just how much he searched for the Lord and found peace in the music.

One of the funniest stories in Joe's book that I often tell at my shows is the time Elvis bought gold watches for every member of The Imperials. This wasn't just your average gold watch. Elvis never did anything average. These watches were valued at probably $5,000 a piece. And that was in 1969!

Well Joe graciouslly accepted his expensive watch and examined it closely. He couldn't help but notice it wasn't working. Everyone else's in the group worked but Joe's. Now Joe was in a dilema. Should he say anything about it to Elvis or just let it go?