Thursday was a solemn day, at least in my mind, as it marked the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death. He died at age 42 in 1977, which means he would have been 72 this year.
Back in 1977, Elvis was already something of a sad joke. He was heavy. He loved his guns. He was an eccentric recluse who maintained control of his entourage, which was known as the Memphis Mafia.
In fact, he was sort of the Michael Jackson of his day ... without the child-molestation accusations.
I remember when he died. I cut out all the newspaper articles I could find. I stapled and tacked them on the bulletin board in my room. And I read and reread the articles every night before I went to bed.
I remember how sad I was because I knew how important he was to music.
My aunt (the same one who taught me how to sing the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" when I was a toddler), loved Elvis Presley. And by hanging around her, I also learned to love the man known as the "King" of rock 'n' roll.
One of my prized possessions is the Sun Records box set, which features an original remaster of Elvis' first U.S. single, "That's All Right." The song, according to Billboard Magazine, was released July 19, 1954, on the Sun Records label. A year later, Elvis signed his contract with RCA, and the song was reissued.
From there, Elvis took a ride on the whirlwind and ended up looking a lot different from a down-home country-blues pioneer, eventually becoming a rhinestone-studded glam-flash.
While it was a shame he died when he did, one does have to wonder what he would have been like today if he had survived the drug abuse and weight issues.
I wonder what he would think about the current state of the music industry. And I wonder if there would still be the slew of Elvis impersonators if he would have survived.
I remember seeing a taped broadcast of his Hawaii concert, which was released as "Aloha From Hawaii" in March 1973, in which he sang "My Way." I remember he had to read the lyrics at the beginning of the song — but that didn't take away from the performance. Although he looked tired, he gave it his all.
I cried back then. And when I catch glimpses of the performance on YouTube, I still get goose bumps. Remembering that he would be dead four years later makes the song even more emotional.
These past few weeks have been full of Elvis celebrations. Tribute concerts were scheduled all over the world, and fans have flocked to their mecca, Graceland, in Memphis, Tenn., just to get a glimpse of the King's grave.
Even Hershey's Reese's Peanut Butter Cups have created Elvis Cups — Peanut Butter & Banana Creme Cups — in honor of Elvis' love for peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches.
In fact, Hershey is running a contest through December 2007, during which specially marked packages of Elvis Cups give people a chance to win various memorabilia — and the grand prize is a 1957 Cadillac custom hot rod inspired by Elvis' original pink Cadillac.
I wonder what Elvis would think about that?
E-mail: scott@desnews.com