In Honor of His Belated Birthday, Elvis His Animals and a Recipe

While I am a fan of old style music, I admit I'm not much of an Elvis Girl.  I prefer the songs of George and Ira Gershwin and Cole Porter as sung by Fred Astaire, still I have a healthy respect for Elvis.  He is a kitsch icon and I think he had amazing style.  Remember Diana Vreeland famously said "bad taste is better then no taste at all" and you certainly cannot say that Elvis had no taste.

Just look at his amazing gold and turquoise living room!  Image Source

Apparently Elvis was also an animal lover, after a fashion.  He had many dogs over the years 

 

most famously a Chow named Getlow.

 In typical over the top fashion Elvis did not stop at dogs, his pets included horses, geese, goats, chickens, snakes, myna birds and most misguidededly of all monkeys.  Elvis's favorite pet was a chimpanzee names Scatter, who was his companion throughout his 1960s film career.

Image Source

  Elvis dressed Scatter in clothing and allowed him to drink alcohol, which may have contributed to the poor animal's early death.   Sadly, Elvis did not realize that primates make innapropriate pets and continued to own monkeys until his death in 1977.

Despite his irresponsible pet ownership habits Elvis sang some rather sweet songs about dogs, such as A Dog's Life:

 

If I had my life to live over
I know just what I'd like to be
A pampered pet of a rich brunette
Sitting on my mama's knee
Someone to love me, someone to care
Rubber duck dubble little fingers through my hair

I need a dog's life
What a life, that's good enough for me
That's good enough for me

If I had a bone to be picking
A picking chicken or a steak
Curled up there in an easy chair
Man, that won't be hard to take
I'll always be faithful that's what I'd be
Never bite a hand that feeds me, no siree

Just lead a dog's life
What a life, that's good enough for me
That's good enough for me

I'd find me a pink little poodle
And lose my noodle over her
I chase her 'round all over town
Just to ruffle up her fur
Nuzzle her muzzle, a hole in her paw
Greatest case of puppy lovin' you ever saw

It's called a dog's life
What a life, that's good enough for me
You heard me say it now
That's good enough for me
That's good enough for me

Read more: Elvis Presley - A Dog's Life Lyrics | MetroLyrics

In honor of his birthday, which passed on January 9, I made the Elvis Sandwich, which happens to be one of my husband's favorite recipes.

 Scaled down for two I used 1 banana and 4 tbsp of peanut butter and 2 tbsp pf butter, you can add a few slices of bacon if you wish, which is apparently how the King, ever decadent, liked it.