LISA MARIE PRESLEY REMEMBERED (2025): A child of her time

Mercer Ellington did it, so did two of Sinatra's kids Frank Jnr and Nancy. Two Lennon's and George Harrison's son Dhani did it too (in fact every Beatle has a kid who's done it).

So did a few Marleys, Judy Garland's daughter Liza Minnelli and Steve Earle's boy Justin Townes.

They all went into the family business.

If we suspend our scepticism about this  and pull back from "nepo baby" comments we'd have to concede it's probably not unreasonable to expect the children of musicians to become musicians themselvces.

Just as siblings can have a rare and unusual harmony (the Everlys, the Bee Gees, all those Jacksons and Osmonds etc) then it's likely something in the genes is passed down.

So it shouldn't have been any surprise really when, in 2003, Elvis Presley's daughter Lisa Marie embarked on a musical career. And remember, she was not only the daughter of the King of Rock'n'Roll but had been married to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

She'd certainly inherited her father's smoldering good looks (although mostly turned it into a sullenness that was frequently unbecoming) and the critical response to her first two albums -- To Whom It May Concern in 2003 and Now What two years later -- was supportive. Especially given she'd written most of the songs herself.

But it was her third album Storm and Grace in 2012 which was widely acclaimed by critics . . . and as with her previous releases largely ignored by a sceptical if not cynical public. The scribes seemed more prepared to give her a fair go, the inverse of what usually happens.

Produced by T Bone Burnett, the songs took Presley into a darker, brooding alt.country area. And she had the lyrics to back it up: "I have to wonder what the hell I did to deserve this . . . I got run over by own parade"; "This here is a city without lights, those are all the people without eyes, churches they don't have no soul, soup for sale without a bowl . . ."

A strong strain of resentment, unpalettable truths and some searing self-analysis ran through the album, but she also acknowledged that -- writing in England -- she'd some strong assistance from the likes of Richard Hawley, Ed Harcourt (as on this posted song) and Fran Healey.

But the sense on the album is that this is Presley to the fore, and making a fine fist of it.

Her melodic range is narrow but that suits the slightly swamp-rock and dark New Wave tone in places.

The first single was You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet (it's a rare lyric which employs "trangressive") however . . . it seems we have.

Storm and Grace was her last album.

Which seems surprising since she had been married to producer/guitarist Michael Lockwood (Aimee Man, Fiona Apple, Carly Simon) since 2006. They divorced in 2021.

Her life was often messy (a few marriages) and she died two days after the Golden Globe Awards which she attended in January 2023.

In many ways she didn't leave much of a legacy, but she did leave Storm and Grace. 

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You can listen to Storm and Grace here.