Elvis is Still Dead

Not exactly breaking news, but there are those out there who still think Elvis and Jack Kennedy are hanging out together somewhere. Elvis departed the mortal coil 29 years ago today, and the fans are gathering at Graceland:

Once, it was a symbol of his success; now, it has become a beacon for the faithful.

Thousands filled the street in front of Graceland Tuesday twinkling candles to the heavens as they waited to pay their respects to the King of rock 'n' roll, 29 years after his untimely death at age 42.

I actually saw Elvis in person one time, but not at an Elvis concert. I had gone to the old Long Beach Auditorium for a gospel concert, and one of the artists on the program that night was J.D. Sumner and the Stamps Quartet, who at the time was a backup group for Elvis. Elvis was in Los Angeles that night, and came to the concert. At one point J.D. introduced him and Elvis came out and took a couple of bows. This was around 1973 or 1974 and Elvis was still in pretty good shape at that point.

A friend of mine was backstage that night and said Elvis spent most of the concert sitting just offstage surrounded by his surly bodyguards. He was a big fan of gospel music and used to spend hours singing with friends around the piano at Graceland. A number of gospel artists were invited to sing at his funeral.

What a lot of people don't know is that Elvis tried out for a gospel quartet before he hit the big time in rock-and-roll. They turned him down because they didn't think he was a good enough singer.