The year was 1973. I was just turning seven years old. Granddad took me to the Woolco in Sydney to pick out my birthday present. We got out of the car, he took my hand and said “What do you want for your birthday?” I told him that I wasn’t sure.

Granddad went on to tell me that I could pick out anything I wanted in the store. We walked in the door and he started to head towards the toy department. But no, I had other plans. Something had just caught my eye. There it was, directly ahead of me…a stand of records. And not just any records, not records that would catch the interest of a newly turned 7 year old girl…but this record…this one right here…

“Elvis Forever” – a Deluxe 2 Record Set for $6.99. Almost 47 years later, and I am still not sure what made me want this. But want it, I did! I remember it like it was yesterday. I looked over at the stand of records and tugged on Granddad’s hand. I pointed (Yes, I pointed…I was 7 and excited. Didn’t have time for good manners.)

Granddad tried to convince me otherwise, suggested I get a doll or a game or even some books (which I already had millions of). But no…this is what I wanted. Something was telling me that this record set was going to be a treasured item for a long time to come. So what could he do? He gave in and bought me the album.

The very first time I listened to my new record, I was hooked. I fell in love with Mr. Elvis Presley. Something in his voice made me feel wonderful, made me feel like he was singing directly to me…like I was someone important in the world. I’m sure I didn’t understand most of the lyrics as they were written for someone much older, but some of the songs made me happy, some of the songs made me cry. To this day, “In the Ghetto” still makes me cry whenever I hear it.

Over the next few years, I collected many of his records. People who knew I collected would give me them for birthday and Christmas presents. My 7 year old’s feelings of happiness had matured into my first rock star crush. My very first puppy love was Elvis. In my heart I knew that Elvis was going to be my boyfriend when I grew up. Perhaps I would even marry him!

The summer I was 11, was the one of the worst times in my young life! August 16th, 1977 is forever scored into my mind as the day my first love died. When I heard the news, I was devastated. I didn’t want to believe it. I hid in my room and played his records over and over and over. I remember sobbing because my heart was breaking. I would never have the chance to meet Elvis when I was old enough. I would never have the chance to see him playing live and singing just for me. How could I go on….

Eventually, my heart started to heal and I got on with my life, but my love of Elvis would never completely go away. As I got older, I started to collect his movies as well as his music. My music and movie tastes diversified over the years, but to this day, I still watch his movies and play his music. And when I do, my heart still flutters a little bit when I hear his voice. I still get all dreamy and shush everyone in the room so I can sing along…..

Today, January 8th, 2020, would have been Mr. Elvis Aaron Presley’s 85th birthday….Love you Elvis!

Happy Birthday to the King of Rock and Roll!

On this day, eighty five years ago, a legend was born.

Elvis had a rocky start to life; his twin brother, Jesse Garon, was delivered 35 minutes before him, stillborn. In the early years, Elvis became close with both his parents, Vernon and Gladys, but formed a special bond with his mother. For the first three years of his life, they lived in a two-room shotgun house that his father built, but in 1938 they lost the house when his father went to jail for eight months for altering a cheque. Elvis and his mother had to move in with relatives.

There wasn’t a lot of money, but there was love, religion and music.

The family attended an Assembly of God church and this is where his initial musical inspiration came from. (Throughout his career, Gospel musical would play a big part.)

In October, 1945, Elvis was encouraged by a schoolteacher to enter a singing contest held at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show. This was his first public appearance. He was dressed as a cowboy and had to stand on a chair to reach the microphone; he sang “Old Shep”…and he placed 5th…

A few months later, Elvis received his first guitar for his birthday, even though he was hoping for a bicycle or a rifle. Two of his uncles and a Pastor at their new church gave him lessons over the next year or so.

In the fall of 1946, Elvis started at a new school for 6th grade and he was thought of as a “loner”. The following year, he started to bring his guitar to school on a daily basis. He played and sang during the lunch break and was teased and called a “trashy” kid who played hillbilly music. Elvis became a devotee of Mississippi Slim’s show on the Tupelo radio station WELO. Slim’s younger brother, who was one of Elvis’ classmates, often took him into the station which resulted in Elvis being scheduled for two on-air performances. Stage fright cancelled the first time, but he succeeded in performing the following week.

The teen years brought more exposure to the world of music.

In 1948, the family moved to Memphis, Tennessee. In eighth grade, Elvis received only a C in music and his teacher told him that he had no aptitude for singing. This led him to bring his guitar in the next day and sang a recent hit in an effort to prove otherwise. A classmate recalled that the teacher “agreed that Elvis was right when he said that she didn’t appreciate his kind of singing”. In 1950, Elvis formed a loose musical collective with four other boys including Lee Denson and future rockabilly pioneers Dorsey and Johnny Burnette. This group played frequently around home.

In his junior year, Elvis began to stand out among his classmates. He grew his sideburns and styled his hair with rose oil and Vaseline. It was during this time that his love of flashy clothing began. By his senior year, he had created his style and then became popular after entering a talent show and showing what he could do.

Making a gift for Mama….

In 1953, Elvis went to Sun Records to pay for a few minutes of studio time to record a two-sided record with “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin.” This was meant to be a gift for his mother and possibly to find out “what he sounded like”. In January of 1954, he cut a second record there – “I’ll Never Stand in Your Way” and “It Wouldn’t Be the Same Without You”, but nothing came of it. In April of that same year, Elvis began to work as a truck driver.

After several disheartening rejections with bands in the area, Elvis finally caught a break. It was at the end of an unsuccessful recording session with Scotty Moore and Bill Black, where Elvis just grabbed his guitar and started singing and jumping around. Moore and Black jumped in with the same kind of enthusiasm. Sam Phillips, who was recording, told them to back up and start over. He taped what they were doing and three days later, popular Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips played their recordings on his Red, Hot and Blue show. This lead to many live bookings and more radio exposure.

On TV and on to stardom!

January of 1956 brought Elvis to his first national TV appearance. He was booked on CBS’s Stage Show for six appearances over two months. RCA released Elvis’ self-titled debut album on March 23rd and it became the first rock n roll album to top the Billboard chart…and held the position for 10 weeks.

Elvis went on to appear on the Milton Berle show, where his trademark hip swings began, the Steve Allen Show and the Ed Sullivan Show. There was a lot of controversy over these appearances, but Elvis stated that he wasn’t going to let the criticism change the way he proformed.

1958 to 1960 brought on Elvis’ military service, his beloved mother’s death and his first meeting with his future wife, Priscilla Beaulieu. Elvis thought that his sprint in the army would wreak havoc with his career, but armed with a substantial amount of unreleased material, a regular stream of successful releases was put forth.

During the first seven years of the 60s, after his honorable discharge from the army, Elvis was focused on films with several soundtracks thrown in as well. It was common knowledge among his close friends that Elvis thought most of the soundtrack song material was so bad that the he felt like he couldn’t sing it. It seemed to be written by men who didn’t understand his style…But he powered on and gave it his all.

Just before Christmas in 1966, Elvis finally proposed to Priscilla Beaulieu. They married on May 1, 1967 in Vegas. Elvis’ only child, Lisa Marie, was born nine months later on February 1, 1968. During this time, Elvis had become severely unhappy with his career. He was slipping further and further down the charts.

The 60s end with a bang!

December 3, 1968…The 68 Comeback Special as it came to be known, featured lavishly staged studio products and live songs performed with a band. In these live segments, Elvis dressed in tight black leather, sang and played his guitar in the style of his early rock and roll days. This performance showed an Elvis that had lost himself and finally found his way back home. He played and moved with a power that was previously lacking. 1969 brought the single “If I Can Dream” to #12 on the charts and the soundtrack from the special hit the Top Ten!. Elvis was back and ready to pick the songs that he believed in.

The 70s arrive…

1970 – Elvis performed at the International and the Houston Astrodome. It was during this time that the trademark jumpsuit became part of his live act. During one of the engagements at the International, Elvis was threatened with murder unless $50,000 was paid. The FBI took the threat seriously and stepped up security for the next two shows. Elvis performed with a derringer in his boot and a .45 pistol in his waistband. Fortunately the performances went smoothly with no incidents.

At the end of 1970, December 21, Elvis met with President Richard Nixon at the White House. He believed he could reach out to the “hippies” and help to tamp down the drug culture of the times. The President expressed a belief that Elvis send a positive message through his music.

In 1971, Elvis was named as one of the “Ten Most Outstanding Young Men of the Nation”. Shortly after that, the City of Memphis named the stretch of highway on which Graceland is now locate as “Elvis Presley Boulevard”. This same year, Elvis became the first rock and roll singer to be awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.

After becoming increasingly distant in their marriage, Elvis and Priscilla separated on February 23, 1972. They filed for divorce in August. This was a blow from which Elvis never really recovered. Five months later, his new girlfriend, Linda Thompson, moved in with him.

The first concert to ever by aired globally was performed in January 1973. Elvis’ “Aloha from Hawaii” aired live via satellite to prime-time audiences in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Australia, and New Zealand as well as U.S. servicemen based across Southeast Asia. Elvis wore his now famous jumpsuit with the American Eagle cape during this performance. The accompanying double album “Aloha from Hawaii Via Satellite” went to #1 and sold over 5 million copies in the U.S. This was Elvis’ last U.S. number-one pop album during his lifetime.

By the end of 1973, Elvis’ health was declining and his divorce from Priscilla was finalized. Over the next few years, he was still recording and doing live performances, but his popularity was declining along with his health. There were no more major pop hits, but five albums entered the top five of the country chart and three went to number one.

The end is near…

Elvis and his girlfriend, Linda Thompson, split in November 1976 and he started seeing Ginger Alden. Elvis proposed to Ginger and gave her an engagement ring two months later. It was during this time period that Elvis started to miss performances and cancel shows due to the deterioration of his health and possible overuse of prescription drugs. His final concert was held in Indianapolis at Market Square Arena on June 26th.

Tuesday evening, August 16, 1977, Elvis was scheduled to fly out of Memphis to begin another tour. His girlfriend, Ginger, found him in an unresponsive state that afternoon. Attempts to revive him failed and his death was officially pronounced at 3:30 pm. The world had lost a monumental treasure.

There will never be another Elvis. He truly changed the musical world and many people’s lives.

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