Viewpoint From the Ridge

By

Morris Heldt

August 16, 2004

 Today is the 27th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death.  Not unlike the assassination of President John F. Kennedy I can remember the precise place and time I heard the news. Another passage in my life and a point in time for reflection. 

 My wife and I just recently attended an Elvis Presley tribute concert at the Cannery Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada. The stage show was proceeded by a panel discussion with some of Elvis Presley's friends, co-workers and former employees. The panel consisted of Patti Parry, who claims to be the only female member of the "Memphis Mafia" along with two actresses, Cynthia Pepper and Darlene Tompkins, who co-starred with him in the movies, Kissin' Cousins and Blue Hawaii.  Also on the panel were two of Elvis' body guards, Dick Grob and Sam Thompson, and a couple of members from Elvis' backup gospel group, The Stamps Quartet. In addition there was Al Dvorin who will always be known for his deep voice and making the statement, Elvis has left the building. And finally, Ed Bonja known as the official photographer for the Presley tours.

A couple hundred people attended the panel discussion. The audience was asked to write out questions about Elvis on a card and the producer of the event, a woman named Kathy, asked the questions of the panel. This was done after each panel member spoke about their personal relationship with Elvis and what he meant in their life. They all agreed that Elvis was a humble man, and very giving man. They also all agreed that his image was not truly who he was. "Why did this star stuff happen to me, why not Jerry Lee, or Roy Orbison, or even Carl Perkins?," one of the panel members said Elvis asked him many times.

Elvis Presley has been dead for 27 years now and people still flock to his tributes and stand in line to speak with people that have personal knowledge about him. What was it about this entertainer that still lingers in the hearts of millions of his devoted fans. Perhaps Elvis’ life in many ways is a reflection of many of us. I studied the crowd at both the Q&A session and tribute concert. Although some were what I might call "over-the-top" fans, dressed in the Elvis T-shirts, wearing the Elvis hats, etc., however, most I found to look and act like ordinary American Folks. So why were they there? Elvis Presley had not done anything new in 27 years.

Possibly Elvis represents for a lot of us what we grew up thinking was the "American Dream" come true. As a poor boy from the South he was able to catapult himself into super star status, but always holding on, as we believed in our hearts, to his sense of down to earth decency and love for his roots. In the 27 years since his death we have learned many things about Elvis Presley, how in fact his life was not the "American Dream" come true, or was it? Has the American Dream always been somewhat self-destructive?

In fact, as Americans, given the abundance of opportunities in this great country do we not have the proclivity to over indulge on the good things? Every person born into this world is unique with his/her own thoughts, dreams for success and degrees of determination to succeed. As Americans we are lucky inasmuch as we have had years of the world literally being at our doorstep, and that accompanied with some natural God given talent, a determination not to waiver, many Americans have taken their dreams to reality. However, it is a new day and the world is much smaller than it was. Whether it is good, or bad, the Western World, and its culture, has permeated the rest of the world. 

It occurred to me that perhaps Elvis Presley is symbolic of a good portion of the successful people of our society, becoming so self-indulgence that they question why they exist and don't understand that reality is simply an outgrowth of one’s place in time. Perhaps we should not question so much of why it happens, but to ask what can we do to make one's dream happen for everyone. Granted, not everyone can be Elvis Presley, not everyone has that kind of talent he had, however, everyone does have dreams, hopes, and wishes for a better life. Instead of questioning why something good has happened to you simply reach back and help the next person get to your place.

Can you imagine had Elvis Presley decided he did not want one child going to bed hungry at night? Can you imagine everyone that attended his concerts, purchased his records, saw his movies had to bring food for the hungry? (I am not advocating our entertainers become more politically active. In fact, I wish our entertainers would simply entertain—not use their platform of work as a place to express their political views. In private, any entertainer has the right to speak his or her opinion, but when working, I wish they would simply work.)  However, with that said, what kind of difference would Elvis had made instead of giving someone a new car, or a diamond ring, to justify his personal success, just simply try to make the world a better place to live in.

As I watched the crowd of people being entertained by a nice looking young man imitating Elvis on stage, singing his songs, I couldn’t stop thinking what if these people, with all their devotion to Elvis decided to make the world a better place. As I said before, I suspect most of these people were sincere, honest, hard working folks. They were there to be entertained, and be reminded of a time gone by when a man sang from his soul, and for whatever the reason represented them just a little. I admire that, I respect that, but I also question that after all these years perhaps Elvis Presley needs to represent more than just a man that achieved a status that many only dream about. As it has been said before, no man is an island onto himself. It is sad that Elvis never reached the age of reflection, and understood the pitfalls of his dream. He never was able to reach back and pull the next one up, explaining the nuances of dreams becoming reality. Perhaps he would have found that as rewarding as his initial success. And maybe, just maybe, that is what we should take from his life--not what he did, but what he didn't.  We should learn from that.

                                                           (c) 2004 by Mopam Publishing