2020

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Blogs! Blogs! Blogs!

Today, The Mystery Train’s spotlight shines on some of the other Elvis Presley blogs out there in Internetland.

First up, I want to acknowledge a milestone over at ElvisBlog. Phil Arnold today published his 1,000th post! ElvisBlog began back in 2005, and Phil has really kept up with his writing since then. Lately, he has been thinking about retiring from his blog, but I’m happy to report that he still plans to post on occasion for at least the next year or so. Phil was once a contributing writer to the now-defunct Elvis International Forum magazine. He also wrote the foreword to Alfred Wertheimer’s 2010 photography book Elvis: The Early Years. In 2015, Phil published Big E and the Santa Man: A Rock & Roll Christmas Fantasy, a novel about a rock ‘n’ roll singer who gives up his former life and joins Santa Claus at the North Pole. Check out ElvisBlog #1000. Congratulations to Phil.

Speaking of books, Kees Mouwen last month released Elvis Day By Day 2020: The Year In Review, which compiles last year’s Elvis news stories from his Elvis Day By Day Blog as well as features additional content from Elvis Information Network and other Elvis fans worldwide. It is a follow-up to his first book, which covered 2019. Kees was one of the founders of what is now the ElvisNews.com site back in 1999. In 2010, Kees branched off to create the Elvis Day By Day Blog. Since that time, he has published over 3,370 blog posts about Elvis! 2020 ties with 2010 for his highest number of posts at 352. That’s almost one post a day, and it should certainly make for a fantastic read. Congratulations to Kees on his latest book. Find out more over on Elvis Day By Day.

ELVIS DAY BY DAY 2020 (Poplar Tunes Publishing and the Memphis Mansion, 2021) | Click image for full-color version | Original image credit: Kees Mouwen

Incidentally, I am honored to have contributed in a small way to Kees’ book. While some of my past posts have appeared in other Elvis books over the years, this is the first book to include an original piece from me. Thank you to Kees for the opportunity.

Finally, I want to say a hearty “Welcome back!” to Thomas Melin over at Elvis Today Blog. Last month, he quietly returned to blogging after an absence of more than three years. So quiet that I totally missed it until he recently emailed me. Thomas began the Elvis Today Blog back in 2007. By 2012, he had amassed over 500 posts. Though he’s slowed down since then due to other priorities, he says he plans to continue writing a post now and then. That’s the way to do it, and I’m definitely glad to hear he’ll still be around. Thomas published compilations of his first 500 posts on Elvis Today Blog in book form back in 2011 and 2012. Congratulations to Thomas on his return.

I don’t know about you, but I’m impressed by all three of these fellow Elvis fans. Keep up the good work, gentlemen!

Your conductor,
TY

“Pride ends in humiliation, while humility brings honor.”
Proverb 29:23

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2020 Songs of the Year

Thank you for riding The Mystery Train. Welcome to 2021!

Every year at about this time, I like to unleash my analytical side on my digital music data.

According to iTunes, out of 4,797 Elvis Presley tracks in my digital collection, the one I played most often in 2020 across all devices was a live recording of “Mystery Train/Tiger Man” from the August 22, 1969, Midnight Show in Las Vegas, Nevada, as released on Disc 3 of Elvis Live 1969. I played this rockin’ track 17 times, making it my fifth-most played song of the year overall. Here it is on YouTube:

Credit: Elvis Presley channel (YouTube)

I listened to 7,059 Elvis songs on my devices in 2020 (including duplicates). That is an average of 19 Elvis songs a day. I listened to 2,221 different Elvis tracks during the year.

One of 6,454 non-Elvis tracks in my collection, my most played song overall in 2020 was Jesus Culture‘s “Break Every Chain,” with lead vocals by Kristene DiMarco. Featured on the 2011 album Awakening – Live From Chicago, this live recording played 27 times on my various devices this year. Again from YouTube, here it is:

Credit: Jesus Culture channel (YouTube)

The other three songs that beat out Elvis in number of plays in 2020 for me were:

  • “It Is Well With My Soul” by Bethel Music, also featuring lead vocals by DiMarco, Live At The Civic: You Make Me Brave, 2014, 21 plays.
  • “Oh Happy Day” by The Edwin Hawkins Singers, Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord, 1968, 18 plays.
  • “Burn The Ships” by for KING & COUNTRY, Burn The Ships, 2018, 18 plays.

Overall, I listened to 11,650 recordings using my digital devices this year. That works out to 32 songs a day. I listened to 4,621 different tracks during the year.

2020 was a challenging year for everyone, full of surprises. As a new year dawns, I pray that all of you have health, peace, and strength.

Blessings,
TY

“I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
Isaiah 43:19