40 Years Ago This Week

Above, Memphis newspapers announcing Elvis Presley's
 death on display at Sun Studio. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Tuesday, August 16, 1977 was a relatively quiet summer day. It was warm, but humid out as there was a monsoon flow coming up from Mexico into the Los Angeles area.

But the day would turn out to be one of those days where a news event causes people to remember exactly where they were at and what they were doing when the news hit.

I was at home in Hawthorne watching a James Cagney comedy movie, One, Two, Three (1961) that was directed by Billy Wilder. It would be a couple of hours later that I would have to go to work in Redondo Beach. My mother was outside working in the yard.

Above, Graceland mansion. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A news bulletin interrupted the movie. It was announced that singer Elvis Presley had been found unresponsive at his Graceland mansion on Elvis Presley Blvd. in Memphis, Tennessee and was rushed by ambulance to Baptist Memorial Hospital, where efforts to revive him failed and he was pronounced dead.

After hearing the bulletin, I rushed outside to tell my mother, who was a big Elvis fan.

Later, when I went to work, it began to rain. It was strangely appropriate. It was a strange day all around.

This all occurred 40 years ago.

Above, Elvis Presley's grave. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Currently, this year's Elvis Week in Memphis is commemorating the 40th anniversary of Elvis Presley's passing.