The King is Dead. Long Live The King.
30 years ago today, Elvis Aaron Presley - a.k.a. "The King" - died.As a child, I was a HUGE fan of The King, owning almost every one of his records. His death, a month-and-a-half shy of my 10th birthday (yes, that means I'm almost 40) nearly broke my heart.
In honor of The King, I am linking to an excellent post titled "Five Catholic Facts About Elvis" by Fr. Nicholas Schofield at Roman Miscellany. The post includes a must-see link to an earlier post by Fr. Schofield about Elvis' last movie "Change of Habit", featuring a YouTube scene from the movie showing Elvis as part of a folk group at an interim, pre-Novus Ordo Mass.
UPDATE (17 August)
An oldy-but-goody from The Curt Jester: "Amazing Elvis Truth Revealed"
posted by Pro Ecclesia 9:14 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
The King is dead. I also remember hearing about him dying, and the shots of fans in Europe devastated by the news.
He was really a big kid with basically a good heart. Led Zeppelin made a starstruck "pilgrimage" to Graceland on one of their tours and met with Elvis. Robert Plant expressed his admiration for the King's watch, and Elvis immediately removed it from his wrist and gave it to the stunned Plant. When Plant stammeringly tried to refuse, the King said "Naw--enjoy it."
I've heard several stories like that about how Elvis was very lavish in his gift giving, even to perfect strangers.
Presley was very charitable, especially for anything to do with kids:
"Two entertainers, one already a star and the other emerging as one of the greatest names in music, joined forces in 1957 to help make the world a better place for children stricken with cancer and other deadly illnesses.
Danny Thomas, star of the hit television show Make Room for Daddy, was holding a second fund-raising event in Memphis, Tennessee, to raise funds to support his dream of building St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Star power was needed to bring in the crowds, and in 1957, no one was hotter than Memphis’ very own Elvis Presley.
Presley had burst onto the music scene in 1955, with a rollicking version of That’s All Right, the first jewel in the crown of the man many would ordain the “King” of Rock ‘n’ Roll. By 1957 when he agreed to perform at Danny’s event, Elvis had appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show three times and was filming his third movie, Jailhouse Rock. Thousands of dollars were raised that evening and St. Jude opened its doors in 1962, changing the course of medical history.
This week, thousands of people from around the world will be in Memphis to honor Elvis during Elvis Tribute Week, a week-long celebration of the life of the legendary singer. St. Jude also honors Elvis because of his early support of Danny’s dream.
Elvis continued to support the hospital after the 1957 event. In 1964, the same year the Beatles invaded America, Presley donated a yacht, the U.S.S. Potomac, to St. Jude. The Potomac had served as the presidential yacht, or “Floating White House,” for President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Elvis gave the boat to St. Jude to do with as they saw fit. In a February 13 ceremony that took place in Long Beach, California, Elvis officially gave the boat to Danny. The boat was sold for $65,000 with the proceeds coming back to the hospital."
Presley committed a lot of sins in his life, but I agree he basically had a good heart.
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