HEARING OF ELVIS' DEATH WAS A MOMENT THAT SEEMS FROZEN IN TIME.Byline: Amy Dawes Daily News Film Writer Some events are fixed in our collective memories, pinpointing an instant in time when each of us reacted, wherever we were, to momentous news. President Kennedy has been shot. Men have landed on the moon. John Lennon Noun 1. John Lennon - English rock star and guitarist and songwriter who with Paul McCartney wrote most of the music for the Beatles (1940-1980) Lennon has been gunned down. Elvis Presley is dead. The death of Elvis, coming at a time when he no longer reigned at the center of pop music, is a vague memory for some, a vivid one for others. I was working as a waitress at a pancake house in Alabama when a fat, florid-faced man wearing a loud sports jacket walked in, clapped his hands together, and announced to all the waitresses, ``Ladies, get out your handkerchiefs. The King is dead.'' Below, other L.A. residents cast their memories back to Aug. 16, 1977, and answer the question, ``What were you doing the day Elvis died?'' Dale Alan Bailes, English instructor at Moorpark College Moorpark College is a California-state funded community college located on a 134 acre (542,000 m²) property reclining on a hill in Moorpark, a town in Ventura County, California. in Ventura and author of the one-act play ``What Were You Doing the Day Elvis Died?'' ``I was running a bar and music hall in Folley Beach, S.C., outside Charleston. I was doing many of the same things that Elvis was doing, but fortunately, I came to my senses before he did. I was opening my bar and cleaning up from the night before when I heard the news on the radio. It was kind of stunning. It was a momento mori - that's Latin for a reminder that you're mortal. I was getting close to middle age, so it kind of shook me up. I can remember being in the 10th grade in St. Petersburg, Fla., and hearing that this cat Elvis was going to be playing at a theater there. I had seen a couple of other rock 'n' roll rock 'n' roll: see rock music. groups, but I just didn't make it to the show. Then later I was baby-sitting for these people who had a few records. I remember one was by Harry Belafonte Harold George Belafonte, Jr. (born March 1, 1927) is an American musician, actor and social activist. One of the most successful Jamaican musicians in history, he was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style in the 1950s. . Another one was by this cat Elvis. It had `Old Shep' on it, and `Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again.' I played it, and I just went nuts.'' Bill Bentley William John "Bill" Bentley (born October 21, 1947 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire) is an English former professional football player. He played as a left-back. Bentley is now a window cleaner in his hometown.[1] Notes 1. , writer and music publicist at Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . Reprise Records Reprise Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group, operated through Warner Bros. Records. Company history Reprise was formed in 1958 by Frank Sinatra in order to allow more artistic freedom for his own recordings. in Burbank. ``I was in a record store in Austin, Texas - it was Discount Records on Guadalupe Street - and somebody in the store said it had happened. The clerk immediately put on one of his records. I think it was his greatest hits, and people just started crying. It was a record store full of crying people. And it struck me that he had played in Austin a year or two before that and I hadn't gone. As a kid, I had been a huge Elvis fan. He was like a superhero su·per·he·ro n. pl. su·per·he·roes A figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon, endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime. to me. When I was 6 or 7 years old, I saw him on `The Ed Sullivan Show.' In those days, they sold singles at the grocery store, and I made my mother buy me his records every time we went. The first one I got was `Hound Dog.' I think Elvis' genius was that he captured the freedom of rhythm and blues rhythm and blues (R&B) Any of several closely related musical styles developed by African American artists. The various styles were based on a mingling of European influences with jazz rhythms and tonal inflections, particularly syncopation and the flatted blues chords. and made it available to a wider audience.'' Danny Uwnawich, Elvis impersonator An Elvis impersonator is someone who impersonates or copies famed American musician Elvis Presley, either as a hobby, a career in entertainment or occasionally for fun. Elvis impersonators can range in ethnic background, size and talent. and owner of a $1.5 million Northridge mansion that he built as a replica of Graceland. ``I was living in New Orleans. I had just bought a new Corvette corvette, small warship, classed between a frigate and a sloop-of-war. Corvettes usually were flush-decked and carried fewer than 28 guns. They were widely employed in escorting convoys and attacking merchant ships during the great naval wars of the late 18th and , and I was outside washing it, and the radio was on, and I heard that he died. I thought it was a joke. Then I heard it again, and I started crying. My cousins were there, and they were crying. In my family, we all felt like Elvis was a member of the family. We all loved him. We cried about it for months. The next morning, I jumped on a plane and went to Graceland. Thousands of people were there. I was one of the lucky ones who got through the gates and into the house. They had him laying out in the foyer, and I passed by the coffin. I took it pretty hard.'' Little John, a Winnetka resident who was working for ``The King'' at the time of his death. ``I was in a hotel room in Memphis, and I heard it on the radio. I rushed up to the house, and of course it was all jam-packed. It was just a sad thing all the way around. I guess everybody has a sad memory of that day. At the time, I was a gofer (language) Gofer - A lazy functional language designed by Mark Jones <mpj@cs.nott.ac.uk> at the Programming Research Group, Oxford, UK in 1991. It is very similar to Haskell 1.2. for Elvis and they were using me as his decoy DECOY. A pond used for the breeding and maintenance of water-fowl. 11 Mod. 74, 130; S. C. 3 Salk. 9; Holt, 14 11 East, 571. . They used to put glasses on me and put me in a car and run me out of the shows one way, and sneak him out another way. People say I look like him, and oh yeah, they'd follow me. After that, I did an Elvis tribute show at the Dunes in Las Vegas. There was only one Elvis, and that's all there ever will be, but to create that magic for people, it gives me a rush.'' Patti Thornton, Los Angeles music promoter and psychic. ``I certainly do remember what I was doing on Aug. 16, 1977. I'll never forget it. I was working at a store in Venice, when this guy came in who knew how much I liked music, and he came up to the counter and told me the news. His face was so dead serious that I knew it was true. After that, I never liked seeing him, because it was a reminder of that day. Elvis was such a big deal when I was growing up in New Orleans. My mom kept us informed about all his activities. It was like he was our third cousin. I knew when he met Priscilla. I knew when he was going into the service. The Times-Picayune had a picture on the front page of him getting his hair cut off. The album he released when he got out of the Army, `Elvis Is Back,' is my favorite Elvis record of all time. About 10 years after he died, I went to Memphis, and I told my girlfriend that we had to drive by Graceland as soon as we got there. I warned her that I was going to start crying. I don't think she thought I was serious, but I did. To this day, I still have dreams with Elvis in them.'' Posthumous Elvis There are lifelines. Call this a deadline. Aug. 16, 1977 Elvis found dead in a Graceland bathroom. Jan. 8, 1979 Elvis Presley Chapel in Tupelo, Miss., his birthplace, is dedicated. Aug. 15, 1981 Film ``Elvis and the Beauty Queen'' is released, starring Don Johnson as the bloated Elvis. June 7, 1982 Graceland opens to the public Aug. 16, 1987 More that 500,000 fans visit Graceland for the 10th annual Candlelight Service. Feb. 7, 1988 ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. airs ``Elvis and Me'' miniseries based on Priscilla Presley's 1985 book. May 24, 1988 Elvis reportedly spotted at Felpuasch's Supermarket in Vicksburg, Mich. November 1991 National Park Service lists Graceland on its National Register of Historic Places This article is about the U.S. Register. For the National Register of Historic Places in Canada see Canadian Register of Historic Places. The National Register of Historic Places . Jan. 8, 1993 (Elvis' birthday) U.S. Postal Service The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) processes and delivers mail to individuals and businesses within the United States. The service seeks to improve its performance through the development of efficient mail-handling systems and operates its own planning and engineering programs. issues 500,000 stamps featuring the Young Elvis. October 1994 ``Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley'' by Peter Guralnick is published. A persuasive portrait of a pivotal artist. June 15, 1997 RCA Records releases ``Platinum: A Life in Music,'' a four-disc set that celebrates Elvis the musician. CAPTION(S): Box Box: Posthumous Elvis (see text) |
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