Rob Grayson

Elvis Presley’s manager, Colonel Tom Parker, went into the mid 1960’s with a strategy.  He repositioned Elvis from a singer who made movies to a movie star who made records.  This simple distinction successfully locked in millions of dollars in upfront movie money, and successfully detached Presley from depending on the fickle whims of the demographics which drove disc sales.

Around our house, whenever an MGM movie starts, if my wife doesn’t say it first, I’ll chime in: “You know, that lion came from the Memphis Zoo.” The lion’s name was Volney, by the way, and the roar was in fact recorded in the old Carnivora building at the zoo. He died in 1944.

The title of the article, written by Maureen Cleave and published in the London Evening Standard in early 1966 was “How Does A Beatle Live?” Buried in the middle of quips and quotes were typical brash John Lennon throwaway lines. “Christianity will go,” he said, “it will vanish and shrink.” John added, “We’re more popular than Jesus now.” Virtually unnoticed at the time, the lines were quoted ala carte in an American teen magazine that summer, and the backlash they drew in the states hit its peak right around the time of the band’s appearance at the Mid-South Coliseum.

Elvis Presley left his building, Graceland mansion, in the back of an ambulance heading for Baptist Hospital the afternoon of August 16, 1977.

The paramedics who attended him before departure, and his personal physician who pounded, pleaded and coaxed, knew what we all would learn shortly. An era had ended. Presley had travel plans to head for Portland, Maine to kick off a concert tour that very night, but those dates would be tragically unfulfilled.

In 1965, Memphis bands made their mark on the Billboard charts, with top 5 spots attained by Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs and the Gentrys. Elvis Presley just missed out on the top 10 with “I’m Yours” and “Puppet On A String.” Wilson Pickett came to town and teamed with the folks at Stax for “In The Midnight Hour.”