Memphis becomes a crowded city in mid-August each year with Elvis fans flocking to Graceland to pay tribute to their beloved King of “Rock ‘n’ Roll who died on August 16, 1977.
Not only does one not need to mention his last name, Presley, or his middle name, Aaron, to communicate who one is talking about, but even his nickname, “the King” may be enough to ring a bell depending upon whether or not one is discussing music or basketball.
In fact, Elvis has one of the most recognizable names on the planet, and one of the most recognizable voices in the history of American music, one with a deep and soulful tone. Unlike Willie Nelson’s voice, but recognizable in the same way, the voice of Elvis remains just as easy to recognize after the first few words of a song.
Unlike most famous celebrities, Elvis is celebrated by his fans on the day of his death each year rather than on the date of his birth. Born in Tupelo, MS on January 8, 1935, during The Great Depression, Elvis had become a world icon by his mid-twenties.
What was it like before Elvis hit America’s music scene the way the Beatles did several years later, causing a frenzy with teenage girls flocking to concerts where they screamed and sometimes fainted?
Television was quickly overtaking radio and the film industry in importance as a media, and TV appearances on such shows as “The Steve Allen Show” and “The Ed Sullivan Show” helped made Elvis the talk of the land, especially after Sullivan had the cameramen refrain from showing Elvis’ swiveling hips and gyrations by filming him from the waist up only.
In 1954, Elvis recorded “That’s All Right Mama,” and that year was my first year as a teenager. By 1955, at the age of 20, Elvis’ career began to blossom, and he recorded “I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone” and “I Forgot to Remember to Forget.”
I began my teenage years as Elvis’ began his rise to stardom, and by 1956, he blew the top off the entertainment industry, landing his first movie role in “Love Me Tender,” that he was paid $15,000 for acting in after his recording of “Love Me Tender” soared to “Billboard’s” number one. Debra Pagent and Richard Egan were cast as the film’s stars, and Egan showed his jealousy by complaining that Elvis was being billed as a star in his first film. The credits wound up with the tag, “And Introducing Elvis Presley” rather than “Starring Elvis Presley.” It was the only film Elvis appeared in that he did not receive top billing.
Little could Egan have known that Elvis was soon to become one of the highest-paid movie stars in Hollywood, reaching $100,000 for his role in “Wild in the Country” when he played opposite Hope Lang in his seventh film in 1961.
Remembering the way some teenage girls at McDowell High School would cry during Elvis’ songs made an impression on me, and like many teenage boys who were my friends during the time, many wished that they had the kind of magnetic impact on the girls their age as Elvis did.
One modern, hit country song today written by Hal Ketchum features Elvis as an allusion, “There’s an Elvis movie on the marquee sign that we’ve all seen at least three times.” Writers continue to refer to Elvis in lyrics of songs, and numerous movies have been made about entertainers who have built their careers by dressing in costumes designed like the ones Elvis wore and paying tribute to “the King” by performing his hit songs.
Also, thousands of Elvis tribute artists continue to keep the visual image of Elvis alive, in addition to his music, his mannerisms, his sayings and his gyrations while singing some of his more lively songs such as “Jailhouse Rock.”
For example, Michael Hoover, winner of the 1988 International Elvis Impersonators Contest in Memphis by defeating 99 other performers, has become a member of The Virginia Opry, Virginia’s official Opry, and he set the box office record for The Virginia Opry in August of 2018 on stage at The Historic Masonic Theatre in Clifton Forge when patrons purchased $4,558 worth of tickets to attend his “Memories of Elvis” tribute.
In 1956, Elvis’ “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel” joined “Love Me Tender,” as number one smash hits. Also, Elvis recorded “Blue Suede Shoes,” a song Carl Perkins, the rockabilly star, first recorded, and it proved to be an even greater hit for him.
I recall attending “Love Me Tender” in the Martin Theater in Martin, Kentucky, my birthplace, after the movie was released on Nov. 15, 1956. I was 15 at the time, and during the scene the character Elvis was portraying died, I recall that vicarious experience that brought tears to some of the teenage girls sitting in the dark, responding as though Elvis had actually died.
Little did I dream that one day I would be introduced to Elvis’ wife while she was separated from Elvis and dating my karate instructor, Mike Stone, Elvis’ karate instructor as well. Stone was an undefeated middleweight at the time who was the winner of 96 black belt karate matches. Sadly, I was present in the Long Beach Arena in Long Beach, Ca. when his winning streak came to an end after he injured his shoulder and the doctor stopped the contest with Mike ahead on points.
Stone, who served as the guest speaker at my Marina High School Vikings’ baseball team’s awards banquet at the Huntington Beach Harbor Yacht Club in 1972, introduced me to Pricilla Presley one night in Belmont Shore. In fact, he introduced her as Pricilla, but I did not realize that she was Elvis’ wife until he told me so several weeks later.
At any rate, Elvis’ music continues to sell worldwide, and it is estimated that more than one billion of his songs have been sold. Of the 149 Elvis songs that appeared on Billboard’s Hot 100 Pop Chart of America, 114 reached the Top 40, 40 reached the Top 10 and 18 reached Number One.
During Elvis’ singing career, he only performed three concerts outside of the USA, all three in Canada, but his popularity soared around the world. Emily “Cissy” Houston, Whitney Houston’s mother who won two Grammy Awards of her own which is just one less than Elvis won during his career, served as a backup singer for Elvis as did The Jordanaires, the group that spent 16 years performing with Elvis on his albums and in his movies.
Appalfolks of America, the nonprofit organization that I founded in 1985 in Clifton Forge in order to promote the literary and performing arts, will present The Virginia Opry featuring Michael Hoover and his Band with Glen Shelton opening the show and emceeing it at the Historic Natural Bridge Hotel in Natural Bridge on Friday, October 15, at 7:30 p.m. Hoover has shared the stage with such stars as the late Charlie Daniels, Reba McEntire, John Conlee, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Jordanaires and Perkins.
Indelible in my memory is the picture of Hazel Elliot, one of my high school classmates, crying in our high school’s auditorium during lunch hour as she listened to Elvis on the radio singing “Blue Christmas,” one of Elvis’ number one hits in 1957.
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