47 years ago today The King Elvis Presley died. A southern legend.

quote:

---

700,000 per year still tour Graceland

---

And yet it seems like they are always on the brink of losing it.

And he strangely seems underrated nowadays. Why don’t you hear Elvis more on classic radio stations or just out in the wild?

One of my first vivid memories was my mom telling us.

647

Again you need mental help. Hopefully the police arrest you soon.

Remember it well. Me and a few neighborhood kids were playing football in the front yard that afternoon. Hot as hell that day. My mother came out and told us Elvis had died. We looked at each other and resumed our game.
Over the next few days I realized what a big deal it was with tributes all over the radio and tv.

Never seen a reaction like that to a celebrity death before or since.

Too late to make the evening papers, so newspapers nationwide, especially in the South, printed a special edition. Those sold out in minutes everywhere they had them.

Lead in story on national news of all three major networks. We only had three back then.

I was 18, lying on my bed, while my 21 year old girlfriend sat beside me on the phone with her sister. I was waiting on her to hang up so I could knock some off. I heard her say something about Elvis.

The conversation went:
Me: What about Elvis?
Her: No response...kept yakking with her sis
Me: What about Elvis?
Her: No repsonse..kept talking
Me: WHAT ABOUT ELVIS?
Her: Looking very irritated at me, "HE DIED!" Then went right back to her inane chatter with her sister.

I was like, "WTF? HOW? WHEN? Woman, you don't just just say Elvis died and go back to normal"

I brought that up to her not long ago. She still laughs at my reaction to her deadpan news delivery. Her own mother absolutely squalled when she heard the news.

Is the shitter he died on open to the public?

quote:

---

Is the shitter he died on open to the public

---

No.

The upstairs is off limits except to very, very few people. The bedroom and bathroom are just as Elvis left them. His toiletries are still on the sink. His clothes still in the closets and drawers.

We talked to a woman at Graceland who had been working there nearly 20 years. She had never been upstairs. Getting caught sneaking up there was immediate termination. Those were Lisa Marie's orders.

The woman told us, "Lisa Marie is the boss, but Priscilla is still the queen." Not sure what has changed since Lisa Marie died.

When you walk in the front door at Graceland, you are in a small foyer. Directly above your head is where Ginger Alden found him lying on the bathroom floor.

“And he strangely seems underrated nowadays. Why don’t you hear Elvis more on classic radio stations or just out in the wild?”

Elvis had made his bones in the 50s along with Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, etc. the 60s saw the British Invasion with amplified guitars, hard driving drums, and vocalists like Roger Daltrey, Ray Davies and Robert Plant and the guys from the 50s were pretty much dead as American bands then adopted the more popular British sound. Classic rock was more from the late 60s to early 80s at which time the “Memphis guys” had pretty much been supplanted.

quote:

---

Is the shitter he died on open to the public?

---

No , unfortunately not , so you don't get the full bang for
your buck when you tour Graceland.
He didn't actually die on his toilet , rather fell off of it
after years of a steady diet of cheeseburgers , bacon , peanut butter ,
drugs and Coca Cola.
Technically , it's believed chronic constipation led to the King's
death , straining too hard put a lot of pressure on his heart and aorta.
(Disclaimer: This is not Elvis' toilet , just one used for display purposes.)