Thursday, August 16, 2007
By myself at my big brother small-town cop's apartment, sneaking nips from bottles he'd "confiscated" from drunk drivers
So, where were you when you learned that Elvis Presley (Jan. 8, 1935-Aug. 16, 1977) had died?
What're your favorites of his?
My favorite movie is "King Creole."
My favorite songs are "(There Will Be) "Peace in the Valley) For Me," and "Heartbreak Hotel," which, even though it was his first hit has not become a cliche, IMHO, and has stood the test of 51 years of play.
The picture, from 1973, when I was 9, is the image in my mind of Elvis.
I was 13 when Elvis died, and just getting into buying my own music (45s and 8-tracks). So, I like his last four singles, too:
"Moody Blue" and its b-side, "She Thinks I Still Care" and "Way Down," which are among my old records at Mama ER's house, and "My Way," which I never owned, but was on the air so much, it being such a great epitaph for the King, that I didn't notice I didn't own it.
By the way, now I know how people feel when I tell them I don't know where I was when President Kennedy was assassinated (because I wasn't born yet).
A colleague just walked by my desk and I asked him, "Where were you when you learned Elvis had died?"
"I don't know," he said. "Picking my nose or something. I was 5."
Time marches on.
--ER
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My family happened to be traveling to Hattiesburg, MS, to attend my older sister's graduation from the University of Southern Mississippi. I was never a big fan of Elvis (in Pulp Fiction parlance, I was more a Beatles kind of guy than an Elvis kind of guy), and I still think his role in the early days of rock and roll are a bit overhyped - he was the great white hope, after all, because the best r-n-r was done by African Americans. I think his later career, in which he became a Vegas-style crooner, with occasional forays into white southern gospel, was more honest than the leather-jacket wearing feaux-rebel of the mid- to late-1950's.
Incidentally, do you recall who else died later that same week? I won't give any hints.
Incidentally, do you recall who else died later that same week? I won't give any hints.
Ooo-ick! Drinking from bottles gathered around town.
:::shaking head in disbelief:::
I was never a big Elvis fan, probably due to big sister comandeering the TV to watch Elvis movies. (Aaaaaaaaa!)
However, I've always liked his version of "I Can't Help Falling in Love." I even sang it solo with the band at a company Christmas party--and I wasn't even drinking! ;)
:::shaking head in disbelief:::
I was never a big Elvis fan, probably due to big sister comandeering the TV to watch Elvis movies. (Aaaaaaaaa!)
However, I've always liked his version of "I Can't Help Falling in Love." I even sang it solo with the band at a company Christmas party--and I wasn't even drinking! ;)
# posted by 
: 10:12 AM
: 10:12 AM
Like your co-worker, I was a little young to take note of such things (three).
And Frenzied, depending on what's in those bottles, there might not be any germs to speak of.
And Frenzied, depending on what's in those bottles, there might not be any germs to speak of.
I was down in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas where my father had recently had a stroke. I was packing up a trailer to bring he and my mother back to Oklahoma.
Can't say as I worried too much about Elvis at the time.
What I first remember about Elvis was collecting the bubble gum trading cards for his first movie "Love Me Tender". Didn't have a record player and the radio wouldn't play his music, so going to the movie was the first time I heard and saw him. I remember I had to pay extra to see the movie, 25 cents rather than the standard dime. Some time in 1957 or 58 KOMA started playing his songs. By my teen years his stuff was on American Bandstand so I heard him there. Mainly he was a "girl thing" among my peers. It took a long time before he became "The King" and much of that came after his death.
Right now, as I write this, there is an Elvis "Cows on Parade" cow on a shelf near by. It will be a gift for a friend of mine who is an Elvis freak!
Long Live The King!
Can't say as I worried too much about Elvis at the time.
What I first remember about Elvis was collecting the bubble gum trading cards for his first movie "Love Me Tender". Didn't have a record player and the radio wouldn't play his music, so going to the movie was the first time I heard and saw him. I remember I had to pay extra to see the movie, 25 cents rather than the standard dime. Some time in 1957 or 58 KOMA started playing his songs. By my teen years his stuff was on American Bandstand so I heard him there. Mainly he was a "girl thing" among my peers. It took a long time before he became "The King" and much of that came after his death.
Right now, as I write this, there is an Elvis "Cows on Parade" cow on a shelf near by. It will be a gift for a friend of mine who is an Elvis freak!
Long Live The King!
Just a thought, if he had died on the 15th, he would have died on the date of the Assumption. Now that would be something.
I had just arrived in Germany the month before for a year-long school exchange, I was 14 and walking down the street of the village I was staying in - it's as clear as day, I can still feel myself walking - when someone came up and said he had died.
I used to love the one about the tragedy of poverty, another baby being born...can't remember the name.
I used to love the one about the tragedy of poverty, another baby being born...can't remember the name.
# posted by : 2:33 PM
: 2:33 PM
Well, I was watching a fine episode of "Ironside" when NBC news broke in to say Elvis had died. And drlobojo, I have a collector's tin with three Elvis-headed Pez dispensers in it -- one in military garb, one has a young Elvis head on it and the final one has the "Live in Las Vegas" looking head on it. I bet we are giving our Elvis gifts to the same Elvis friend.
Dr. ER said, "I bet we are giving our Elvis gifts to the same Elvis friend."
Most probably. There sure are some kitsch Elvis stuff out there.
Most probably. There sure are some kitsch Elvis stuff out there.
As the snow flies
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
'cause if there's one thing that she don't need
it's another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto
People, don't you understand
the child needs a helping hand
or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
are we too blind to see,
do we simply turn our heads
and look the other way
Well the world turns
and a hungry little boy with a runny nose
plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto
And his hunger burns
so he starts to roam the streets at night
and he learns how to steal
and he learns how to fight
In the ghetto
Then one night in desperation
a young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car,
tries to run, but he don't get far
And his mama cries
As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
face down on the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto
As her young man dies,
on a cold and gray Chicago mornin',
another little baby child is born
In the ghetto
On a cold and gray Chicago mornin'
A poor little baby child is born
In the ghetto
And his mama cries
'cause if there's one thing that she don't need
it's another hungry mouth to feed
In the ghetto
People, don't you understand
the child needs a helping hand
or he'll grow to be an angry young man some day
Take a look at you and me,
are we too blind to see,
do we simply turn our heads
and look the other way
Well the world turns
and a hungry little boy with a runny nose
plays in the street as the cold wind blows
In the ghetto
And his hunger burns
so he starts to roam the streets at night
and he learns how to steal
and he learns how to fight
In the ghetto
Then one night in desperation
a young man breaks away
He buys a gun, steals a car,
tries to run, but he don't get far
And his mama cries
As a crowd gathers 'round an angry young man
face down on the street with a gun in his hand
In the ghetto
As her young man dies,
on a cold and gray Chicago mornin',
another little baby child is born
In the ghetto
I was barely a year old when Elvis went out, so I don't have a memory of that event.
But I remember my mom's reaction to John Lennon's death vividly.
But I remember my mom's reaction to John Lennon's death vividly.
That's the one! Even after years of academia, I still like it!
So who did die the same week ?- didn't the Jonestown suicide happen that year, or within 12 mos?
So who did die the same week ?- didn't the Jonestown suicide happen that year, or within 12 mos?
# posted by : 5:23 PM
: 5:23 PM
Oh, and THANKS Frenzied. Until this moment, it never occured to me that people the "confiscated" bottles came from had drank FROM them. Pbhtht! Phbhtthth! Phththththtththtthth!!!!!
Hey, I was 13 -- and WAAAAY more redneck than erudite then! :-)
Hey, I was 13 -- and WAAAAY more redneck than erudite then! :-)
The other death that week was . . . Groucho!!! We were in New Orleans when I heard the news; picked up a copy of the Times-Picayune and saw the headline. I always thought it sad that Elvis' death overshadowed Marx's. Jonestown happened in 1979 or 1980.
Dadgum. I kinda thought that's who you meant -- but I kept gettin' images of Hawkeye Pierce with fake cigar AND 'stache in my mind. :-)
ER, you've been watchin' too much M*A*S*H.
Wait.
That can't be true. One can never watch TOO MUCH M*A*S*H.
Wait.
That can't be true. One can never watch TOO MUCH M*A*S*H.
I don't remember where I was when Elvis died, never was that much of a fan. I was probably in some herbal induced stupor -- it was after all the 70s and we did inhale!
My favorite song, though, like drlobojo, is "In The Ghetto".
My favorite song, though, like drlobojo, is "In The Ghetto".
Elvis even overshadows an important Catholic day. Mother Mary asscended bodily into heaven without dieing according to Pope Pisus on August 15th. Thus the King of Rock N' Roll is interfering with the Queen of Heavan.
Hey ER, I make everybody feel young.
Hey ER, I make everybody feel young.
I was training on the Big City Newspaper's very first computer system when someone ripped the report from the teletype and came in hollering "Elvis is dead!" This was in the old building downtown.
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