Charlotte, NC

I remember the evening news of August 16, ‘77 almost verbatim:

Bill Walker, former news director and anchor of WSOC-TV’s Eyewitness News on that day, started the broadcast off with a shot of Elvis, saying, “Good Evening. Elvis Presley, the man who almost single-handedly made rock-and-roll the most pop-u-lar music in its field … is Dead tonight. The 42-year-old King of Rock died of an apparent heart attack at his Memphis home …”

Who over the age of 40 doesn’t remember where they were when they heard “the news”? Although we kinda saw it coming (the dude was a heavy ’scrip-drugger, and had gained maxiweight over the year before. Even his performances were beginning to lose their luster…), it was still a shock.
Now, there are a couple of things that, perhaps, we’ve forgotten in the rush to remember Elvis’ “death-day”. Lemme refresh your memory … and if you’ve got anything to add, send it to me in yer comments, okay?:

• Among the mourners lined up to view Elvis’ body were two young ladies in line beside the EP Blvd. fence. Suddenly, a pickup veers outta control, smashes into the fence and kills at least one of the girls. For the parents, this is also the thirtieth anniversary of their death (incidentally, law enforcement officials say that, had Elvis actually staged his passing, he’d be charged with at least one count of manslaughter along with other, white-collar crimes).
• Outside Nashville for some time (perhaps it’s still there?) there was a church whose parishioners actually worshipped Elvis. They shoulda seen this one coming when (again, waiting to view his remains) a woman lifted her hands to the skies and yelled, “Elvis, I’ll pray to you from now on!”

Elvis was readying for another tour — and we were on the itinerary! Some of y’all may still have the tickets you ordered ahead-of-time.

• He finally was found in a South Florida swamp and … oh, waitaminnit … that’s … that’s Elvis, the alligator from Miami Vice. Sorry … he’s still dead.

Any new news on the front?? Yep …

Lisa Marie is gonna be releasing a CD where she’s splicing her voice into one of her daddy’s songs, and overdubbing a little to harmonize with him. Considering how much she looks and (in a female way) sounds like him, it oughtta be interesting.

Because he was willing to make us one of his favorite stops on tours, and because he has such a tremendous fan base; most of all, due to the positive influence he had on rockers for over for decades, we remember …..