It was 30 years ago today....

peewee · Post by **peewee** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 1:30 am

...that we lost Elvis Aron Presley. Hard to believe that it's been that long. I was just a skinny little kid 7 weeks shy of my 14th birthday when the news came. I really didn't give a damn back then, but just a few years later I really started to appreciate his body of work and just what an impact he had on the evolution of Rock & Roll.

Let's hear your takes on The Big E and what you remember about 8/16/77. TCB, baby.....in a flash!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:20 am

I remember driving around with my then girlfriend in one of my cars that afternoon, just taking a drive through the local towns. I got home about 4 in the afternoon and saw the news on TV. We mustn't have had the radio on. I was very surprised as many people were, I didn't know that he was on drugs (I was not exactly a straight arrow at that time either) and hadn't really been following his career that much at that time. I was conscious however that we had lost a big one, how very big I didn't realize for a little while. Even at that time he was credited with starting it all or at least being the symbol for the music. Was a tragedy.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:23 am

Mike, I feel the same way. I was a Beatles generation guy so his death didn't hit me personally, but I knew it was a huge loss.

I love his early stuff, but the later 'White Jumpsuit Elvis' didn't do much for me. Still, his huge contribution to rock is there for sure.

brammy · Post by **brammy** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:30 am

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sun_Sessions
This is a GREAT record...

qwezirider · Post by **qwezirider** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 5:48 am

I was 11 when he died. His music from about the "Aloha From Hawaii" album through "Moody Blue" was a big chunk of what was played in out house. So for the first time in life I had a pretty good sense of the gravity of someone's death when we heard it on the radio that stormy Michigan afternoon driving down the road.

Living in Tennessee for 18 years, this was always a good week to stay away from Memphis. I can only imagine what this week is like with the insane weather they're having there.

peewee · Post by **peewee** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:03 am

Kent, I'm like you; a Beatles freak and a product of growning up in America during Viet Nam and Watergate. I recall watching the Eisenhower funeral on TV in '69 and trying to grasp just what was happening. I also remember the riots in DC just after the assassination of MLK in Memphis in 1968; you could see the glow of the fires on the horizon from our house in Alexandria.

You never really comprehend the complexities of life and death until there's a defining moment for your generation. For me, that moment was December 8, 1980 when John Lennon was murdered. That was when my eyes were opened to how quickly things can change in the blink of an eye and how senseless acts are just part of the human experience. When Lennon died, that signaled the beginning of the end of an era for me.

BTW - The Sun Sessions was the LP that made me realize just how hip E was back in the day!

rictified · Post by **rictified** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:29 am

I like the early RCA stuff up until he went into the army, some stuff after is good too. The Sun stuff is good too, but not my favorite. I like his ballads like Love Me, I'm playing for Keeps, and I Want You, I need You, etc. that was Lennon's favorite Elvis tune, mine also. I also like stuff like Too Much, Jail House rock (of course), Heartbreak Hotel, his early rock.

jwr2 · Post by **jwr2** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 8:33 am

I swear I saw him just last week in a 7-11 ...

peewee · Post by **peewee** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 10:03 am

Elvis is everywhere...........

johnallg · Post by **johnallg** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:50 pm

He lives just down the street from me here in Kalamazoo.

"I talked to one woman who had driven up to a pet store in Kalamazoo. She lives there. She noticed a blue metallic van, with a gorgeous dog sitting behind the wheel. She went in the store and asked who owned the beautiful dog out there. The man turned to her and said, "It's mine." She looked at him and he had a lot of grey in his hair. The voice is what captured her. She didn't tackle him. She doesn't carry a finger print kit. She did a double-take. And this is before all the rumors were rampant. He just got uncomfortable when she kept looking at him. He then left in the van. She said it just dawned on her who it might be."

http://www.classicbands.com/MysteryofElvisPresley.html

red_rob · Post by **red_rob** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 3:25 pm

There are two kinds of people in this world: Those that love EAP and those that don't love him YET.

expomick · Post by **expomick** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 4:57 pm

"We" lost him when he had to join the U.S. Army.

sloop_john_b · Post by **sloop_john_b** » Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:01 pm

There are two kinds of people in the world: Those that love EAP and those who don't love him YET.

Boy, am I dreading that day...

lyle_from_minneapolis · Thu Aug 16, 2007 6:16 pm

red_rob · Post by **red_rob** » Fri Aug 17, 2007 8:32 am

John mate - I'm shocked!

But be prepared, because the Elvis love is heading your way some day and it's gonna hit you like:

"a hunka hunka burnin love <aaaaaaaaaaaah>
a hunka hunka burnin love <aaaaaaaaaaaaah>"

etc