August 16, 2005

Elvis.

28 years ago Elvis died. August 16th isn't a date I keep in my head, but I was driving in my car, listening to the 50s channel and they were playing Elvis's Sun recordings and saying it's been 28 years. They played "Mystery Train." Very beautiful on a summer night.

I got to thinking about that night 28 years ago. I had gone to bed early and was listening to the radio and heard that Elvis had died. I got up and got dressed and came out into the living room to say "Elvis died!" They looked at me like they thought I was stupid and said who cares?

And I just thought you make me so lonely... I could die.
Posted by Ann Althouse at 8:55 PM
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18 comments:

ZaMoose said...

I have some very good friends who just happen to be twins born August 14th, 1977. Their mother has always told them that Elvis died because he knew he couldn't keep living in a world where the two of them existed simultaneously.

Try that one on for size - your parents blaming you for The King's death!

8/16/05, 10:23 PM
Rick said...

its my birthday!

8/16/05, 10:27 PM
chuck b. said...

I was almost 8. I remember it seemed like the biggest news story EVER. Before that, it was Patty Hearst. And after that, it was John Lennon.

8/16/05, 10:41 PM
Away From The Brink said...

My experience was somewhat different: click here.

8/16/05, 10:48 PM
Countertop said...

I was 8 years old and playing a pickup game of baseball in Rockaway with some friends when Thurman Munson died. He and Gregg Nettles were by far my favorite Yankees and as a little kid brought the dream of major league magic to my imagination. That 1970s Yankee Dynasty died in that plane crash. They went on to one more World Series where tommy Lasorda and Fernando Valenzuala clobbered them. It would be almost two decades before the Yankees tasted success again.

For me, baseball has never been the same.

As for Elvis, I came downstairs to the TV room to witness my mother crying. I asked what was wrong and she said Elvis died. As a girl growing up with him, he had shaped her life. His death was a shock to her.

8/17/05, 12:28 AM
Contributors said...

I'd completely forgotten. My thoughts are here:

http://gopvixen.blogs.com/gop_vixen/2005/08/evis_died_today.html

8/17/05, 12:52 AM
Beth said...

Ziemer,

Where's the love? Jerry Lee cared when Elvis died, I betcha.

I'm going to bridge the gap by listening to my copy of Elvis and Jerry Lee singing "Why Don't We Have a Little Talk with Jesus."

8/17/05, 1:59 AM
Unknown said...

Forget about the bloated version; remember the lean and mean in his black leather, making them Beatle boys look like girls.

And Zeimer? Stay away from Thurman. The Captain WAS Elvis in Pinstripes. Reggie was just Jerry Lee: i.e: some clown screwing around. "countertop" got it right: an entire team died that night.

And don't act like a Yankee fan. A boy of the Bronx would list Sparky before Goose. Gossage was insurance. Sparky made Tug McGraw look small.

And a fan would never snob out about the Zoo Crew as being the be-all lineup. They were roaringly nuts, for sure. Which, as you semi-noted, the city needed then, since it seemed between the power out and Son of Sam, we were all doomed to burn or get blown away.

But if you are "hard pressed" to remember the guys that made the run post 9-One-One, then you are a tool, fool. They did just as much--maybe more--as Guliani to make NYC say "it's gonna be okay."

They had damn near no business being there, and they went to the end of Game Seven. You are "hard pressed" to remember that squad.

Climb off the bandwagon, skippy.

8/17/05, 3:22 AM
Charlie Eklund said...

As John Lennon said upon hearing of the King's death, "Elvis died when he went into the army".

Listening to Elvis' pre-army stuff and that which he recorded, and filmed, once he got out, I have to agree with Lennon...who died when he moved to New York.

8/17/05, 7:22 AM
Ann Althouse said...

Eddie P: My mother told a very similar story. The experience of being quite old and still knowing only one President was unique, more like the feeling of having a king, I would think. (Not intended as a reference to Elvis being "king," something kids my age scoffed at in the 60s. It used to bug us that the Beatles would say Elvis is still the king.)

8/17/05, 7:57 AM
amba said...

Sounds like you were in the wrong house, in some ways, anyway.

8/17/05, 9:30 AM
Ann Althouse said...

Amba: Yeah. Too bad when I was young, I tried to adjust after negative feedback like that. If I could have blogged then....

8/17/05, 10:09 AM
Laura Reynolds said...

On a road trip during summer break from college, with a buddy and heard it on the radio just outside Casper, Wyoming. Not a big deal to someone my age, I was much more affected by John Lennon's death especially the way it happened. I quickly started comtemplating Physical Chemistry and Igneous Petrology and the prospects for girls that fall.

8/17/05, 10:22 AM
Randy Cadenhead said...

Elvis is NOT dead. I didn't believe it when I heard that afternood pulling into my driveway, I still don't and I never will. Long live the King.

8/17/05, 10:47 AM
KoryO said...

A good friend of mine will never forgive him for dying on her 8th birthday and wrecking her party. ;)

There were only two pictures my immigrant Grandma had up in her apartment. One was JFK and the other was Elvis back in his skinny days. Mom said she had a crush on him from when he first started out. She had to have been his oldest fan.

8/17/05, 10:55 AM
Gina said...

It was back in 1978 in august and it was in the late evening when I was driving home when I heard them say on the radio that Elvis was dead , no I didnt want to believe it at first , ( hopeing it was one of those gags but it was true ... i was only 20 yrs old at the time so counting back it has been that long ...

8/17/05, 1:32 PM
Charles Malik said...

This might sound a bit odd, but I used to date things in my mind by Elvis' death. In my youth, the death of Elvis was the end of an era.

8/17/05, 4:37 PM
Václav Patrik Šulik said...

I got my first speeding ticket that day. I was in shock and actually passed a State Patrol car on the Beltway.

But I wasn't in shock about the death of Elvis -- I wasn't aware of it at that point.

I had gone to pick up my girlfriend and her next door neighbor had killed his mother, then committed suicide and tried to burn the place down.

I remember it was Elvis' D-day because we watched TV that night trying to find out about the neighbor, but it was all Elvis.

Weird Day...

8/22/05, 11:40 AM

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