Okla-homey
8/16/2007, 05:51 AM
August 16, 1977: ELVIS PRESLEY DIES
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9734/0010um.jpg
Memphis -- A Memphis funeral home hearse removes Elvis Presley's body from the Baptist Hospital on Tuesday night, August 16, 1977. (AP Wirephoto)
Presisely 30 years ago today, popular music icon Elvis Presley died in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 42. The death of the "King of Rock and Roll" brought legions of mourning fans to Graceland, his mansion in Memphis. Doctors said he died of a heart attack, largely brought on by his addiction to prescription barbiturates, but some labeled it suicide.
For many of us, the occasion markes one of those significant life events during which we remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news.
The precise circumstances of EP's demise appear to be he was on the throne (the white porcelain one) when he suffered some sort of attack, fell off and died on the throne room floor. It couldn't have been pretty.
Elvis Presley was born a poor white child in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jesse, died during the birth. Elvis grew up dirt-poor in Tupelo and Memphis and found work as a truck driver after high school.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9619/cd20elvis20presley20story2019z.jpg
Baby Elvis flanked by his parents. They are buried next to him at the singer's estate in Memphis.
When he was 19, he walked into a Memphis recording studio and paid $4 to record a few songs as a present to his mother. Sam Philips, the owner of the studio, was intrigued by the rough, soulful quality of his voice and invited Presley back to practice with some local musicians.
After Philips heard Elvis sing the rhythm-and-blues song "That's All Right," which Presley imbued with a "rock-a-billy" flavor, he agreed to release the rendition as a single on his Sun Records label. The recording went to the top of the local charts, and Presley's career was launched.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/7954/elvis20presley20poster4gg.jpg
During the next year, Elvis attracted a growing following in the South, and in 1955 Sun Records sold his contract to a major record label, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), for a record $40,000. His first record for RCA was "Heartbreak Hotel," which made him a national sensation in early 1956.
He followed this up with the double-sided hit record "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel." In September 1956, Elvis appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, a national variety television show, and teenagers went into hysterics over his dynamic stage presence, good looks, and simple but catchy songs. Many parents, however, were appalled by his sexually suggestive "pelvic gyrations", and by his third appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, Elvis was filmed from only the waist up.
http://img276.imageshack.us/img276/1480/sullivan6wj.png
EP on the Ed Sullivan Show
From 1956 through 1958, Elvis dominated the music charts and ushered in the age of rock and roll, opening doors for both white and black rock artists. During this period, he starred in four successful motion pictures, all of which featured his soundtracks: Love Me Tender (1956), Jailhouse Rock (1957), Loving You (1957), and King Creole (1958).
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/8149/untitled9qj.png
In 1958, Presley was drafted into the U.S. Army and served an 18-month tour of duty in West Germany in an armored division. Teenage girls were overcome with grief, but Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, kept American youth satiated with stockpiled recordings that Presley made before his departure. All five singles released during this period eventually became million-sellers.
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/4420/yycolone5hj9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Elvis' manager, "Colonel" Tom Parker
After being discharged as a sergeant in 1960, Elvis underwent a style change, eschewing edgy, rhythm-and-blues-inspired material in favor of romantic, dramatic ballads such as "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" He retired from concerts to concentrate on his musical films, and he made 27 in the 1960s, including G.I. Blues (1960), Blue Hawaii (1961), Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962), Viva Las Vegas (1964), and Frankie and Johnny (1966). In 1967, he married Priscilla Beaulieu, and the couple had a daughter, Lisa Marie, in 1968.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/4682/elvispriscillalisa8jd.jpg
The Presleys, circa 1972.
By the end of the 1960s, rock and roll had undergone dramatic changes, and Elvis was no longer seen as relevant by American youth. A 1968 television special won back many of his fans, but hits were harder to come by. His final Top 10 entry, "Burning Love," was in 1972. Still, he maintained his sizable fortune through lucrative concert and television appearances.
By the mid 1970s, Elvis was in declining physical and mental health. He divorced his wife in 1973 and developed a dangerous dependence on prescription drugs. He was also addicted to junk food and gained considerable weight.
In the last two years of his life, he made erratic stage appearances and lived nearly as a recluse. On the afternoon of August 16, 1977, he was found unconscious in a bathroom in his Graceland mansion and rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
He was buried on the grounds of Graceland, which continues to attract fans and has been turned into a highly successful tourist attraction.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9366/020505201520usa20tn2020memphis.jpg
The last surviving link to EP's life at Graceland still residing there died in 2005.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/4729/ebonysdouble0lg.jpg
"Ebony's Double", a Tennessee Walking Horse was Elvis's last surviving animal. He died on Presley's birthday in 2005 at age 32.
As a perhaps interesting aside, According to some close friends, late in his life, Elvis decided on the spur of the moment to give Scientology a try. It didn't go well:
One day, in L.A., we got in the limousine and went down to the Scientology center on Sunset, and Elvis went in and talked to them. We waited in the car, but apparently they started doing all these charts and crap for him. Elvis came out and said "F**k those people! There's no way I'll ever get involved with that son-of-a-bitchin' group. All they want is my money."
Of course, both his ex-wife Priscilla and their daughter Lisa Marie ultimately wound up belonging to the cult. In September 2002, Priscilla lamented that Elvis hadn't joined: "I wish that he knew what Scientology was before he died." She added that it could have "helped Elvis a lot" with his drug problem. Sure Priscilla. Whatever.
Anyway, RIP Elvis, the Worlds Greatest Hillbilly
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9678/insane7zo7sg.jpg
http://img101.imageshack.us/img101/9734/0010um.jpg
Memphis -- A Memphis funeral home hearse removes Elvis Presley's body from the Baptist Hospital on Tuesday night, August 16, 1977. (AP Wirephoto)
Presisely 30 years ago today, popular music icon Elvis Presley died in Memphis, Tennessee. He was 42. The death of the "King of Rock and Roll" brought legions of mourning fans to Graceland, his mansion in Memphis. Doctors said he died of a heart attack, largely brought on by his addiction to prescription barbiturates, but some labeled it suicide.
For many of us, the occasion markes one of those significant life events during which we remember where we were and what we were doing when we heard the news.
The precise circumstances of EP's demise appear to be he was on the throne (the white porcelain one) when he suffered some sort of attack, fell off and died on the throne room floor. It couldn't have been pretty.
Elvis Presley was born a poor white child in Tupelo, Mississippi, on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jesse, died during the birth. Elvis grew up dirt-poor in Tupelo and Memphis and found work as a truck driver after high school.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9619/cd20elvis20presley20story2019z.jpg
Baby Elvis flanked by his parents. They are buried next to him at the singer's estate in Memphis.
When he was 19, he walked into a Memphis recording studio and paid $4 to record a few songs as a present to his mother. Sam Philips, the owner of the studio, was intrigued by the rough, soulful quality of his voice and invited Presley back to practice with some local musicians.
After Philips heard Elvis sing the rhythm-and-blues song "That's All Right," which Presley imbued with a "rock-a-billy" flavor, he agreed to release the rendition as a single on his Sun Records label. The recording went to the top of the local charts, and Presley's career was launched.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/7954/elvis20presley20poster4gg.jpg
During the next year, Elvis attracted a growing following in the South, and in 1955 Sun Records sold his contract to a major record label, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), for a record $40,000. His first record for RCA was "Heartbreak Hotel," which made him a national sensation in early 1956.
He followed this up with the double-sided hit record "Hound Dog"/"Don't Be Cruel." In September 1956, Elvis appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, a national variety television show, and teenagers went into hysterics over his dynamic stage presence, good looks, and simple but catchy songs. Many parents, however, were appalled by his sexually suggestive "pelvic gyrations", and by his third appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, Elvis was filmed from only the waist up.
http://img276.imageshack.us/img276/1480/sullivan6wj.png
EP on the Ed Sullivan Show
From 1956 through 1958, Elvis dominated the music charts and ushered in the age of rock and roll, opening doors for both white and black rock artists. During this period, he starred in four successful motion pictures, all of which featured his soundtracks: Love Me Tender (1956), Jailhouse Rock (1957), Loving You (1957), and King Creole (1958).
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/8149/untitled9qj.png
In 1958, Presley was drafted into the U.S. Army and served an 18-month tour of duty in West Germany in an armored division. Teenage girls were overcome with grief, but Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, kept American youth satiated with stockpiled recordings that Presley made before his departure. All five singles released during this period eventually became million-sellers.
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/4420/yycolone5hj9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Elvis' manager, "Colonel" Tom Parker
After being discharged as a sergeant in 1960, Elvis underwent a style change, eschewing edgy, rhythm-and-blues-inspired material in favor of romantic, dramatic ballads such as "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" He retired from concerts to concentrate on his musical films, and he made 27 in the 1960s, including G.I. Blues (1960), Blue Hawaii (1961), Girls! Girls! Girls! (1962), Viva Las Vegas (1964), and Frankie and Johnny (1966). In 1967, he married Priscilla Beaulieu, and the couple had a daughter, Lisa Marie, in 1968.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/4682/elvispriscillalisa8jd.jpg
The Presleys, circa 1972.
By the end of the 1960s, rock and roll had undergone dramatic changes, and Elvis was no longer seen as relevant by American youth. A 1968 television special won back many of his fans, but hits were harder to come by. His final Top 10 entry, "Burning Love," was in 1972. Still, he maintained his sizable fortune through lucrative concert and television appearances.
By the mid 1970s, Elvis was in declining physical and mental health. He divorced his wife in 1973 and developed a dangerous dependence on prescription drugs. He was also addicted to junk food and gained considerable weight.
In the last two years of his life, he made erratic stage appearances and lived nearly as a recluse. On the afternoon of August 16, 1977, he was found unconscious in a bathroom in his Graceland mansion and rushed to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
He was buried on the grounds of Graceland, which continues to attract fans and has been turned into a highly successful tourist attraction.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9366/020505201520usa20tn2020memphis.jpg
The last surviving link to EP's life at Graceland still residing there died in 2005.
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/4729/ebonysdouble0lg.jpg
"Ebony's Double", a Tennessee Walking Horse was Elvis's last surviving animal. He died on Presley's birthday in 2005 at age 32.
As a perhaps interesting aside, According to some close friends, late in his life, Elvis decided on the spur of the moment to give Scientology a try. It didn't go well:
One day, in L.A., we got in the limousine and went down to the Scientology center on Sunset, and Elvis went in and talked to them. We waited in the car, but apparently they started doing all these charts and crap for him. Elvis came out and said "F**k those people! There's no way I'll ever get involved with that son-of-a-bitchin' group. All they want is my money."
Of course, both his ex-wife Priscilla and their daughter Lisa Marie ultimately wound up belonging to the cult. In September 2002, Priscilla lamented that Elvis hadn't joined: "I wish that he knew what Scientology was before he died." She added that it could have "helped Elvis a lot" with his drug problem. Sure Priscilla. Whatever.
Anyway, RIP Elvis, the Worlds Greatest Hillbilly
http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9678/insane7zo7sg.jpg