Elvis Presley, The King of Rock'n'Roll

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The Death of Elvis Presley

Thursday, August 16th 2007 marked the thirtieth anniversary of the untimely death of Elvis Presley, The King of Rock'n'Roll. He was 42 years old. Since that time, he has continued to be remembered, appreciated and adored by countless millions of fans around the entire surface of the globe.



This work is offered in humble tribute to quite possibly (and certainly in my eyes) the greatest entertainer of all time...


Tuesday 16th August 1977

"The King is Dead," a poem by Gordon Hamilton

It was a Tuesday, summer's night,
A lovely evening, warm and bright,
The TV news, it brought a chill,
Of shock and horror, time stood still.

How I recall my mother's tears,
And my confusion, childish fears,
I couldn't believe how much she cried,
Because some foreign man had died.

At home in Graceland, far away,
The King had died, that very day,
The world it mourned, so much was lost,
One man had died, at so much cost.

He was a man of special fame,
The crown of music, he did claim,
I learned fast, I learned well,
I heard the tales my mum did tell.

I heard the music, felt the beat,
I knew it was a special treat,
To hear his voice, to hear him sing,
Was bliss itself, a special thing.

I'd found a hero, become a fan,
Of this unique and special man,
Now thirty years have come and gone,
The King is Dead, The King Lives On!

Copyright, Gordon Hamilton 2007

The poem above accurately conveys to some extent my experiences of that fateful day. I was only eight years old at the time but I vividly remember the newsreader on the BBC, Robert Dougal, announcing to Great Britain that The King was dead. I also recall my mother's reaction.

It is to my great chagrin that this is the first time I recall hearing the name Elvis Presley. I know that I must have heard him singing prior to that, and seen many of his movies, my mother being such a fan, but I suppose that at the age I was, I had much more "important" things on my mind. It was therefore only following his death that I consciously began to discover the details of the remarkable life and works of this great man and truly become a fan...

The Last Farewell

Footage from the funeral of Elvis Presley

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Guitar Man

It is not my intention via the content of this site to list lengthy facts and statistics regarding Elvis' life and achievements. That has been done by thousands of other people, in many different ways and in many different mediums. The whole point of this production is to celebrate and be grateful for the music and to let it speak for itself. So let's begin our journey back in happier, livelier times...

That's Alright Mama

In the beginning...

Elvis Presley, at the tender age of 18 years, first visited Sam Phillips' Sun studios in Memphis, Tennessee to record My Happiness/That's When Your Heartaches Begin as a gift for his mother's birthday.

When the proprietor himself allegedly later heard the tape, he was impressed. The first public recording/release soon followed...

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A Couple of Elvis Mini-Sites on Hub Pages

Facts, figures, trivia and more

Elvis is So Special!
Thoughts from one too young to remember much of Elvis in life.
A Mixed Bag of Elvis Info
A real range of information, all to do with Elvis.

Heartbreak Hotel

The big breakthrough...

In November of 1955, Elvis bade a fond farewell to his hometown studio and signed to the multi-national RCA. The rest - as someone once said - is history...

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Elvis on eBay

As eBay seems to have everything known to man available for purchase, it is no surprise that it is awash with Elvis related items.

Here is a sample of current auctions...
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Shake, Rattle and Roll

Some of the classics which first created the legend...

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Have you always wanted to learn to play the guitar and never got round to it? Maybe you've kept promising yourself, "some day...?"
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King of the Whole Wide World

The Hollywood Years

When the 1956 film, "Love Me Tender," starring Richard Egan and Debra Paget, first "introduced" a young man by the name of Elvis Presley (first seen ploughing a field!) who could have begun to imagine what was to follow...

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Elvis Movies on DVD

Are those old VHS tapes getting past their best?

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Elvis Presley Blog Posts from Google

What people are saying around the Web about The King

'Elvis Lives' Brings 'Em To Their Feet In Rosemont
Actor and musician Bill Cherry portraying "The King" Elvis Presley in circa 1970s trademark white jump suit tosses scarf to his adoring fans during the sold out "Elvis Lives" show at the Rosemont Theater last Saturday, Feb. 11.
Oscars 2012: Mother Dolores Hart, Former Elvis Co-Star, To Walk Red Carpet In ...
Nearly 50 years after leaving Tinseltown to become a cloistered Benedictine nun, Mother Dolores Hart, who co-starred with Elvis Presley in 11 movies, is returning to Hollywood to appear at the Academy Awards next Sunday. And she'll be wearing her ...
Elvis Presley's Model Teeth to be Auctioned
25, 2012 is this one of a kind piece of rock and roll memorabilia: a model of Elvis Presley's teeth together with a crown made for the star made by former Memphis dentist Henry J Weiss. Weiss, who was Presley's dentist until 1971, affectionately called ...
Kingtinuing: I'm Alive! -- A Massive Hit With Elvis Fans Young & Old
Bob Sherwood former senior executive at Columbia records and CBS/Sony Music International exclaimed, "Elvis's previously undiscovered music?!" The album suggests a wonderfully creative concept that should appeal to the legions of Elvis Presley fans and ...

How Great Thou Art

The Spiritual Side of Elvis

It is perhaps not a widely known fact outwith the circle of those who call themselves fans of Elvis, but he was, throughout his life, a deeply religious man and he recorded a great many classic songs in this genre.

Here are but a few...

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Elvis Sings Gospel

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Own Your Copy of this Classic and Historical Concert!

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Find Out More About Gordon Hamilton, the Author of this SIte

Take a look at his home page, linked to below

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Gordon Hamilton's Latest Blog Postings

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Viva Las Vegas!

On the road again...

And so as the 60's headed inexorably towards the 70's, Elvis wound up his movie career and took back to the open road. It was a refreshed and revitalised Elvis, and the songs just got better and better...

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elvis presley - always on my mind
by silsuper | video info

34,855 ratings | 30,681,559 views
curated content from YouTube

The 70's Collection

These are some of the albums which, for me, feature Elvis Presley at his very, very best...
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Blue Hawaii

In January, 1973, Elvis returned to the scene of one his most famous films to perform for a worldwide audience via satellite in an extravaganza billed as, "Aloha From Hawaii." This is just one of his incredible 70's performances now available to own on DVD and enjoy over and over again for a lifetime...
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Which Elvis is your favourite?

Elvis' career can be largely split in to three sections, defined by the three decades it spanned. Now that we have briefly touched upon them all, let's see which is the most popular.

Although I am a huge fan of all three, I have to state that my favourite period is unquestionably the 70's.

What about you?

50's Elvis

The Rock'n'Roll Rebel2 points

60's Elvis

The Movie Star2 points

70's Elvis

The Jump Suits and Ballads1 point

My Way

And now, the end is near...

The words of this Frank Sinatra hit, perhpas so prophetic of what Elvis was soon to face, will bring a tear to many an eye...
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Find out more...

There are those who claim that Elvis Presley remains the most photographed man in history but there have been quite a few words penned about him too!

Here is some further potential reading material for you.
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Take My Hand, Precious Lord

I have seen countless TV documentaries regarding the life of Elvis Presley and remember hearing in one of them that, on Tuesday 16th August 1977, he sat at the piano and sang "Unchained Melody" and "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain," before retiring to his bedroom to rest...

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The traditional finale...

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Ladies and Gentlemen, Elvis has left the building...

Guestbook

Are you an Elvis fan?

Stumble It!

I very much hope you have enjoyed reading through - and particularly listening to - what I have pieced together here.

Feel free to leave your own tribute to Elvis below...

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Some other works on Squidoo which may be of interest...

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Elvis Souvenirs

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Blog: A Tribute: Elvis Presley, The King of Rock'n'Roll - Get your quick ping button at autopinger.com!

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Gordon_Hamilton

Gordon Hamilton has lived in various parts of the UK, from the West of Scotland, to the East of Scotland, to West London. He is presently back living... more »

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