43 years ago today we lost The King
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CouchCoach
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The day he died, I was in the radio station that made Elvis career happen, The Louisiana Hayride on KWKH in Shreveport, they did the same for Hank Williams. The guy that made it happen was Frank Page and he still kept in touch with the station and was devastated by the news of Elvis' death but the guy that Elvis had stayed in touch with since his career started was the emcee Hoss Logan who created this famous phrase "Elvis has left the building". What was the most interesting part of this was that his first appearance wasn't really successful but Logan decided to take a shot with him because he liked him. The Elvis Rocket took off and Logan looked like a genius.
According to the people within the radio station that knew both of the men, and one of the older DJ's knew them very well, they liked to refer to him between themselves as "their favorite Mama's boy". They feel it was the man, not the singer and future superstar, that sold them on taking a chance with him on a contract.
What was interesting about The Louisiana Hayride was they were the first Nashville outlaw up against The Grand Ole Opry. The same one that shunned Hank Williams. The Hayride was more than happy to help make him The Country Star of all time.
According to the people within the radio station that knew both of the men, and one of the older DJ's knew them very well, they liked to refer to him between themselves as "their favorite Mama's boy". They feel it was the man, not the singer and future superstar, that sold them on taking a chance with him on a contract.
What was interesting about The Louisiana Hayride was they were the first Nashville outlaw up against The Grand Ole Opry. The same one that shunned Hank Williams. The Hayride was more than happy to help make him The Country Star of all time.
CouchCoach
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Favorite E Songs of all time.
And my top E Song of all time and a top 5 Oldie. This was played at my wedding and there were few dry eyes in the house.
And my top E Song of all time and a top 5 Oldie. This was played at my wedding and there were few dry eyes in the house.
Runwildboys
Confused about stuff
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Runwildboys
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"Return the Sender"?
PJTHEDOORS
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lol. I've been an E fan since around late 70's, early 80's.
PJTHEDOORS
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Elvis singing Happy Happy Birthday Baby.
Elvis on piano singing with friends.
Elvis on piano singing with friends.
CouchCoach
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Allow me to bore you with my "Blue Hawaii" story and why Elvis was inextricably a part of our lives as a couple. Yes, it's long but it's mine, what would you expect? I am an old guy with too many words to take with me when I go. And all of you TL;dr rudies will feel guilty.
I met my future wife in 1965, and that is another story for another time but I had seen her two years before ever meeting her and been smitten, and unbeknownst to me, our favorite Elvis movie was "Blue Hawaii' but for different reasons. She'd seen it as a 15 year old girl and already decided that the song "Can't Help Falling in Love" would be in her wedding and had it planned out exactly how that would happen. The lyrics "take my hand, take my whole life too" would be when her husband to be took her hand and it meant a lot to her. And it was also important that her Daddy, and she was a Daddy's girl all the way and they shared a love of Elvis, would release her hand as her new husband would take it. It was the hand off. it was beyond symbolic to her.
Well, we finally meet and she begins to fall in love with me but I am already ahead of her and she never tired of hearing how I fell in love with her from afar and the circumstance of our meeting. BTW, that "there's someone for everyone" was true in my case but only one someone. I proposed, after asking her Daddy for her hand as all good young Southern gentlemen should do, and we married in 1968 in the Baptist church she was raised in, but not without a story similar to "Footloose" unfolded.
Back in that time, the preacher was power in the South and none were more powerful than a Baptist preacher. Just ask anyone raised in Dallas. Until Criswell gave his blessing, it wasn't happening and the odd liquor laws are attributed to his influence. They were like Pope's within the cities and the one in Little Rock was no exception and he wasn't going to allow an Elvis the Pelvis and corruptor of all young girls, song to be played in his church. So he forbade that song to be played in our ceremony and my future wife was not only disappointed, she was mad and so was her Daddy and then her Uncle, the choir leader got mad and we began to look at other venues. This was the church she'd grown up in, knew everyone and I hadn't been church raised but since becoming a member of hers, mainly to get on her Mom's side, I had seen the importance of that and actually was envious of not growing up with that.
Needless to say, I am at a loss. A civil war is breaking out in the church because of a song. The word passed, mainly through her Mom's Church Ladies of the Right and the Revenged and it became a thing. Fortunately, the church had a young assistant minister that had just arrived as the long time minister was retiring that year. My wife to be went to see him with me in tow and I was just along as a presence, I had no part in this play. He was receptive and I think he saw this has an opportunity to establish the break between the old thinking and the new thinking as the church was not growing with young members. He spoke to the old guy and convinced him to let us have that song. The irony of that was the old guy was at our service and came up to my new wife and said he'd been wrong and that was a beautiful part of the ceremony and very meaningful to him as it made him think of his own wife. The man had never heard the song or seen the movie, he just knew that Elvis was bad for young people. I wondered at the time if he knew how E grew up and what he liked singing the most for his Mama?
We had some rocky road along the way in our marriage, as many do, but one thing would always come back to me to settle me down. "Take my hand, take my whole life too" weren't just lyrics, they were a promise. I can remember the day he died because I was there where it all began but more than that because my wife called me that afternoon as she sobbed because only she and I knew, along with some Little Rock church folks and family, what he'd meant to us. We cried together because we knew that one of the most significant parts of our lives and our times was gone. We did the same the day John Lennon died.
I met my future wife in 1965, and that is another story for another time but I had seen her two years before ever meeting her and been smitten, and unbeknownst to me, our favorite Elvis movie was "Blue Hawaii' but for different reasons. She'd seen it as a 15 year old girl and already decided that the song "Can't Help Falling in Love" would be in her wedding and had it planned out exactly how that would happen. The lyrics "take my hand, take my whole life too" would be when her husband to be took her hand and it meant a lot to her. And it was also important that her Daddy, and she was a Daddy's girl all the way and they shared a love of Elvis, would release her hand as her new husband would take it. It was the hand off. it was beyond symbolic to her.
Well, we finally meet and she begins to fall in love with me but I am already ahead of her and she never tired of hearing how I fell in love with her from afar and the circumstance of our meeting. BTW, that "there's someone for everyone" was true in my case but only one someone. I proposed, after asking her Daddy for her hand as all good young Southern gentlemen should do, and we married in 1968 in the Baptist church she was raised in, but not without a story similar to "Footloose" unfolded.
Back in that time, the preacher was power in the South and none were more powerful than a Baptist preacher. Just ask anyone raised in Dallas. Until Criswell gave his blessing, it wasn't happening and the odd liquor laws are attributed to his influence. They were like Pope's within the cities and the one in Little Rock was no exception and he wasn't going to allow an Elvis the Pelvis and corruptor of all young girls, song to be played in his church. So he forbade that song to be played in our ceremony and my future wife was not only disappointed, she was mad and so was her Daddy and then her Uncle, the choir leader got mad and we began to look at other venues. This was the church she'd grown up in, knew everyone and I hadn't been church raised but since becoming a member of hers, mainly to get on her Mom's side, I had seen the importance of that and actually was envious of not growing up with that.
Needless to say, I am at a loss. A civil war is breaking out in the church because of a song. The word passed, mainly through her Mom's Church Ladies of the Right and the Revenged and it became a thing. Fortunately, the church had a young assistant minister that had just arrived as the long time minister was retiring that year. My wife to be went to see him with me in tow and I was just along as a presence, I had no part in this play. He was receptive and I think he saw this has an opportunity to establish the break between the old thinking and the new thinking as the church was not growing with young members. He spoke to the old guy and convinced him to let us have that song. The irony of that was the old guy was at our service and came up to my new wife and said he'd been wrong and that was a beautiful part of the ceremony and very meaningful to him as it made him think of his own wife. The man had never heard the song or seen the movie, he just knew that Elvis was bad for young people. I wondered at the time if he knew how E grew up and what he liked singing the most for his Mama?
We had some rocky road along the way in our marriage, as many do, but one thing would always come back to me to settle me down. "Take my hand, take my whole life too" weren't just lyrics, they were a promise. I can remember the day he died because I was there where it all began but more than that because my wife called me that afternoon as she sobbed because only she and I knew, along with some Little Rock church folks and family, what he'd meant to us. We cried together because we knew that one of the most significant parts of our lives and our times was gone. We did the same the day John Lennon died.
ABQCOWBOY
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I remember that day like it was yesterday. I was sitting in the living room, my Mom was in the Bathroom getting ready for work, I think she worked at Tempo then. Special Report came on and announced that Elvis was dead and I heard my Momma crying to herself in the bath room. I walked inside there and she just had her head down, facing the mirro with her arms on the sink. Tears running down her face, mascara running down her cheeks.
I didn't completely get it at the time but I felt pretty low just the same.
I didn't completely get it at the time but I felt pretty low just the same.
Hardline
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He's contributed a lot of material to the thread. It basically is his thread.
Runwildboys
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I'd expect nothing less.He's contributed a lot of material to the thread. It basically is his thread.
cowboyec
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june 23...damn samsung.
JohnnyTheFox
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That's interesting, my Aunt who grew up in Marshall Texas saw Elvis at the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport before he got big. She said he was very nice, and very good looking.
PJTHEDOORS
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Great interview July 1972, must listen. Elvis talks early years, etc.