As most of you know, today is the 30th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley and anyone who's known me for very long knows what a huge fan I am. I was raised on his music –Granny said his voice was "pure music". Mama and I have made 2 pilgrimages to Graceland, bith have been amazing and bordered on religious experiences. Being there with Mama was perfect. The first trip we spent my birthday at Graceland and the second trip was for her birthday.
I was 4 years old and I can actually remember the newsbreak making the announcement. I used to think that when you heard someone singing on the radio, they were actually at the radio station. So when I heard him on the radio the next day, I was sure that everyone had lied to me. That's when I learned the cold hard truth – that the dj's were playing records just like I did, I was crushed – he was really dead.
I guess my favorite Elvis song (if I had to pick one) is the American Trilogy. Being Southern to the bone, it's an obvious choice, but it's more personal. I always loved how the song "sounded" like Elvis; born in Mississippi in January (For Dixieland, that's where I was born/Early Lord one frosty morn), died in Tennessee (…to live and die in Dixie). He was so patriotic and as Ronald Regan said "He epitomized America".
Oh I wish I was in the land of cotton~~Old times there are not forgotten~~Look away, look away, look away Dixieland~~Oh I wish I was in Dixie, away, away~~In Dixieland I take my stand to live and die in Dixie~~For Dixieland, that's where I was born~~Early Lord one frosty morn~~Look away, look away, look away Dixieland~~Glory, glory hallelujah~~Glory, glory hallelujah~~Glory, glory hallelujah~~His truth is marching on~~So hush little baby~~Don't you cry~~You know your daddy's bound to die~~But all my trials, Lord will soon be over
Another reason I love this song so much is that it's always played during the July 4th shin-dig downtown and Uncle Hollie and I were usually perched on the back of his truck in lawn chairs with a cooler of Dr. Pepper between us and, much to the dismay of our family, would sing our hearts out. About the only time Uncle Hollie and I didn't fight is when we were listening to music – usually Elvis, usually loud and we were usually singing. One night in particular, my Mama and baby cousin Katrina were walking back to the truck and heard us singing (from quite a distance I might add) and looked up at Mama and said, "Aunt Jan, do we have to go back over there now?" Mama told her no. It was during this song that we sang the loudest and the only time I ever saw my uncle get "misty" or shed a tear. I imagine he's tailgating with The King and Brother Ray.
Here are some quotes by and about Elvis…
Elvis Quotes
"When I was a child, ladies and gentlemen, I was a dreamer. I read comic books, and I was the hero of the comic book. I saw movies, and I was the hero in the movie. So every dream I ever dreamed has come true a hundred times...I learned very early in life that: 'Without a song, the day would never end; without a song, a man ain't got a friend; without a song, the road would never bend -- without a song.' So I keep singing a song. Goodnight. Thank you."
From his acceptance speech for the 1970 Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation Award. Given at a ceremony on January 16, 1971.
"You only pass through this life once; you don't come back for an encore."
"Ambition is a dream with a V8 engine."
"I've never gotten over what they call stage fright. I go through it every show. I'm pretty concerned, I'm pretty much thinking about the show. I never get completely comfortable with it, and I don't let the people around me get comfortable with it, in that I remind them that it's a new crowd out there, it's a new audience, and they haven't seen us before. So it's got to be like the first time we go on." -From a 1972 taped interview used in MGM's documentary "Elvis on Tour.
"Man, I was tame compared to what they do now. Are you kidding? I didn't do anything but just jiggle." -From the press conference prior to his record-breaking Madison Square Garden shows in New York City, 1972.
"I ain't no saint, but I've tried never to do anything that would hurt my family or offend God...I figure all any kid needs is hope and the feeling he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world." -Elvis commenting to a reporter, 1950's.
Quotes About Elvis
"He epitomized America, and for that we shall be eternally grateful. There will never be anyone else like him. Let's all rejoice in his music."~~ Ronald Reagan
"He was the firstest with the mostest." ~~Roy Orbison
"There is something magical about watching a man who has lost himself find his way back home...He sang with the kind of power people no longer expect from rock 'n' roll singers." John Landau~~Review of Elvis, (1968 TV Special).
"So what it boils down to was Elvis produced his own records. He came to the session, picked the songs, and if something in the arrangement was changed, he was the one to change it. Everything was worked out spontaneously. Nothing was really rehearsed. Many of the important decisions normally made previous to a recording session were made during the session. What it was was a look to the future. Today everybody makes records this way. Back then Elvis was the only one. He was the forerunner of everything that's record production these days. Consciously or unconsciously, everyone imitated him. People started doing what Elvis did." ~~Bones Howe, Recording Engineer, AS Elvis, A Biography.
"Elvis is the greatest cultural force in the twentieth century. He introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it's a whole new social revolution - the 60's comes from it." ~~Leonard Bernstein, 1960s.
"A lot of people have accused Elvis of stealing the black man's music, when in fact, almost every black solo entertainer copied his stage mannerisms from Elvis." ~~Jackie Wilson
"Elvis Presley's death deprives our country of a part of itself. He was unique, irreplaceable. More than twenty years ago, he burst upon the scene with an impact that was unprecedented and will probably never be equaled. His music and his personality, fusing the styles of white country and black rhythm and blues, permanently changed the face of American popular culture. His following was immense. And he was a symbol to people the world over of the vitality, rebelliousness and good humor of this country." ~~President Jimmy Carter, 1977. His official statement following Elvis' death.
"He was an instinctive actor...He was quite bright...he was very intelligent...He was not a punk. He was very elegant, sedate, and refined, and sophisticated." ~~Walter Matthau, who co-starred with Elvis in King Creole (1958). From a 1987 interview.
"Elvis was the king. No doubt about it. People like myself, Mick Jagger and all the others only followed in his footsteps." ~~Rod Stewart
"It's rare when an artist's talent can touch an entire generation of people. It's even rarer when that same influence affects several generations. Elvis made an imprint on the world of pop music unequaled by any other single performer." ~~Dick Clark
"I remember Elvis as a young man hanging around the Sun studios. Even then, I knew this kid had a tremendous talent. He was a dynamic young boy. His phraseology, his way of looking at a song, was as unique as Sinatra's. I was a tremendous fan, and had Elvis lived, there would have been no end to his inventiveness." ~~B.B. King
"Describe Elvis Presley? He was the greatest who ever was, is or ever will be."~~Chuck Berry
"Without Elvis, none of us could have made it."~~ Buddy Holly
"Elvis Presley is like the 'Big Bang' of Rock 'n' Roll. It all came from there and what you had in Elvis Presley is a very interesting moment because, really, to be pretentious about it for a minute, you had two cultures colliding there. You had a kind of white, European culture and an African culture coming together - the rhythm, okay, of black music and the melody chord progressions of white music - just all came together in that kind of spastic dance of his. That was the moment. That's really it. Out of all that came the Beatles and the Stones, but you can't underestimate what happened. It does get back to Elvis."~~Bono of U2
"If life was fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead."~~Johnny Carson
"Nothing really affected me until I heard Elvis. If there hadn't been an Elvis, there wouldn't have been the Beatles."Before Elvis there was nothing."~~ John Lennon
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