Elvis's Legacy Will Last Forever

Elvis Presley’s Legacy Will Last Forever! “Before Elvis, there was nothing.” Famously quoted by John Lennon, talk about high praise, by one of rock n rolls legend praising, “The King.” Elvis will forever be linked to the foundations of rock and roll, combining black R & B, with gospel, soul, and country folk blues, Elvis is one of the pioneers in modern music and his platinum selling albums might hold records for as long as there are statisticians. The 1950’s was the beginning of a musical revolution and Elvis was at the epicenter, one could argue that the 50’s was the greatest decade of music in the 20th century with artists like Chuck Berry, Roy Orbison, Ray Charles, Johnny Cash, and Little Richard and that is just with Rock and Roll, when you consider all of the monumental jazz artists, like Dave Brubeck, Thelonious Monk, and Louis Armstrong, the fifties are solid. Everyone has an Elvis story, whether you met him sometime or where you were when he died he had a profound impact on your life. With me, Elvis is linked to my grandmother and I cannot think about Elvis without thinking fond memories of my dear grandmother who would play Elvis tapes and we would sing along with the records and she would coach me on how to dance, I probably was 6, but the memories stand out, I remember my grandmother’s older sister telling me a story of when Elvis came to Little Rock, and she met him and shock his hand and she said she was never going to wash her hand again and that stands out in my mind. For one man to have so much influence and power it truly is mind boggling, Elvis had so much power he brought a weapon in to the White House when he met Nixon, only Elvis could have done that. Back in the mid 90’s my grandparents took me to Memphis for the first time to see the Titanic exhibit and to go to Grace Land, it was one of the best experiences of my childhood it stands out in my mind as an epic adventure, and we all went to the Memphis Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. When we entered there was this old black man wearing a cape and I noticed that he had two much younger white women with him, it turned out that this man was none other than Ike Turner, I met Ike Turner, shook his hand got my picture taken with him and made the Memphis News because there was a news crew from a local station. Memphis just has so much American history both good and bad intertwined you can feel the vibe, an aura of the city, like it is alive, within a place like Memphis Elvis lives and he will continue to live for as long as Memphis is city, which possibly could exist for thousands of years, considering how old the original Memphis is in Egypt. Elvis could be the Ramses of New Memphis and the King’s legacy will live on in the embodiment of the cities living spirit. Imagine Ramses with Memphis, Egypt, that is what Elvis is to Memphis, Tennessee! KG