Elvis (Presley) Website of Mark Summers

Introducing Mark Summers as Elvis Presley.

 Elvis Presley tributes and impersonators don't come as good as Mark Summers. Elvis Presley.  This is Elvis at Presley's best!!!

Elvis Aaron Presley 1935 - 1977

Elvis Aaron Presley, in the humblest of circumstances, was born to Vernon and Gladys Presley in a two-room house in Tupelo, Mississippi on January 8, 1935. His twin brother, Jessie Garon, was stillborn, leaving Elvis to grow up as an only child. He and his parents moved to Memphis, Tennessee in 1948, and Elvis graduated from Humes High School there in 1953.

Elvis’ musical influences were the pop and country music of the time, the gospel music he heard in church and at the all-night gospel sings he frequently attended, and the black R&B he absorbed on historic Beale Street as a Memphis teenager. In 1954, he began his singing career with the legendary Sun Records label in Memphis. In late 1955, his recording contract was sold to RCA Victor. By 1956, he was an international sensation. With a sound and style that uniquely combined his diverse musical influences and blurred and challenged the social and racial barriers of the time, he ushered in a whole new era of American music and popular culture.

He starred in 33 successful films, made history with his television appearances and specials, and knew great acclaim through his many, often record-breaking, live concert performances on tour and in Las Vegas. Globally, he has sold over one billion records, more than any other artist. His American sales have earned him gold, platinum or multi-platinum awards for 150 different albums and singles, far more than any other artist. Among his many awards and accolades were 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received at age 36, and his being named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees. Without any of the special privileges his celebrity status might have afforded him, he honorably served his country in the U.S. Army.

His talent, good looks, sensuality, charisma, and good humor endeared him to millions, as did the humility and human kindness he demonstrated throughout his life. Known the world over by his first name, he is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. Elvis died at his Memphis home, Graceland, on August 16, 1977.

April 25, 1912
     Gladys Love Smith is born.

April 10, 1916
     Vernon Elvis Presley is born.

June, 1933
     Gladys Smith and Vernon Presley are married.

January 8, 1935
     In Tupelo, Mississippi, shortly before dawn, in a two-room house built by her husband and her brother-in-law, Gladys Presley gives birth to identical twin sons. The first, Jessie Garon, is born dead. The second, Elvis Aaron, is born alive and healthy. Elvis would be their only child.

1935 - 1948
     Elvis grows up within a close-knit, working class family, consisting of his parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, who all live near one another in Tupelo. There is little money, but Vernon and Gladys do their best to provide for their son, who is the center of their lives. They move from one house to another in Tupelo. Elvis attends the Assembly of God Church with his family, and the music and preaching register deeply. Other influences are black bluesmen in the neighborhood and country music radio programs enjoyed by his family.

1945
     Ten-year-old Elvis stands on a chair at a microphone and sings “Old Shep” in a youth talent contest at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, held in Tupelo. The talent show is broadcast over WELO Radio. Second prize is $5.00 and free admission to all the rides at the fair.
 

1946
     Elvis’ parents cannot afford a bicycle that Elvis wants, so Gladys talks him into accepting a guitar instead. Elvis’ first guitar costs $12.95 and is purchased at the Tupelo Hardware Company. The bicycle would have to wait until Christmas of 1947.

Late 1948
     Elvis plays his guitar and sings “Leaf on a Tree” for his Milam Junior High class in Tupelo as a farewell. Elvis and his parents pack their belongings in a trunk strapped to the roof of their 1939 Plymouth and move to Memphis, Tennessee in search of a better life economically. Other members of the Presley and Smith clan would follow.

1948-1953
     Elvis and his parents live in public housing or low rent homes in the poor neighborhoods of north Memphis. Life continues to be hard. Vernon and Gladys go from job to job and Elvis attends L.C. Humes High School. Elvis works at various jobs to help support himself and his parents. The Presley-Smith clan remains close-knit, and Elvis and his family attend the Assembly of God Church. The teenage Elvis continues to be known for singing with his guitar. He buys his clothes on Beale Street and he absorbs the black blues and gospel he hears there. He’s also a regular audience member at the all-night white, and black, gospel sings that are held downtown. He wears his hair long (compared to the day’s standards) and slick, and lets his sideburns grow. He’s really different from the other kids, a good-natured misfit.
 

     While at Humes High, Elvis nervously sings with his guitar at a student talent show. Much to his own amazement, he gets more applause than anyone else and wins, then performs an encore. The acceptance feels good.

Late January- Early March, 1958
     Elvis films and records for his fourth motion picture, King Creole.

 

March 15, 1958
     Elvis performs two shows in Memphis. These are to be his last stage performances until after his army release in 1960.

March 24, 1958
     Elvis Presley is inducted into the U.S. Army at the Memphis Draft Board and is assigned serial number 53310761.

 

March 25, 1958
     Elvis gets his famous G.I. haircut at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas.

 

March 29, 1958
     Private Presley arrives at Fort Hood, Texas for basic training and is stationed there for six months. His parents soon move to a temporary home near the base.

June 10, 1958
     After basic training, while on his first leave, Elvis has a recording session, his last until 1960.
 

July, 1958
     King Creole, Elvis’ fourth motion picture opens nationally and the reviews are the best he will ever have for his acting. Its impressive list of co-stars and supporting cast includes Carolyn Jones, Walter Matthau, Dean Jagger and Vic Morrow. It becomes a top five film at the box office. This Michael (Casablanca) Curtiz-directed movie, set in New Orleans and based upon the Harold Robbins novel, “A Stone for Danny Fisher,” will come to be regarded as Elvis’ finest film, his greatest acting performance, and proof positive of his potential to have become a respected serious actor, though the realization of this desire will remain forever out of his grasp.
 

August, 1958
     Gladys Presley becomes ill and returns to Memphis to be hospitalized with acute hepatitis. Elvis is granted emergency leave and arrives in Memphis on the afternoon of August 12^th. He visits her that night, and the next day and night. A few hours after Elvis goes home to Graceland to rest, she dies in the early hours of August 14 at age 46. Her body lies in state at Graceland that afternoon. Services are at the Memphis Funeral Home on the 15^th, with the Blackwood Brothers singing “Precious Memories” and “Rock of Ages,” two of Gladys Presley’s favorite hymns. She is laid to rest at Forest Hill Cemetery, a few miles down the road from Graceland. Elvis is devastated.

August 25, 1958
     Elvis reports back to Fort Hood.

September/October 1958
     September 19, Elvis boards a troop train to New York, later boards the USS. Randall and sails to Germany, arriving on October 1. He will be stationed in Friedberg for 18 months, maintaining an off-base residence in Bad Nauheim, shared with his father and grandmother, and some friends from Memphis. He finds the fans in Europe to be as enthusiastic as those in America.

January 8, 1959
     Elvis is interviewed off-camera via trans-Atlantic telephone by Dick Clark on his American Bandstand show on ABC-TV. The show commemorates the star’s twenty-fourth birthday. (Elvis never performed on American Bandstand.)

     On a two-week leave, Elvis visits Munich, then goes clubbing in Paris, which includes a visit to the Lido.

     Colonel Parker continues to keep Elvis’ career alive with promotions and hit record releases.
 

November 1959
     Captain Joseph Beaulieu is transferred from Texas to Weisbaden Air Force Base near Friedberg, accompanied by his wife and children, including his fourteen-and-a-half- year-old stepdaughter, Priscilla Ann. (Priscilla is the only child from Ann Beaulieu’s marriage to her first husband, James Wagner, a Navy pilot who was killed in a plane crash when Priscilla was an infant.) Through a mutual friend, Priscilla is invited to a party at Elvis’ home soon after her arrival in Germany. They meet, and the rest is history.

February 1966
     Elvis records the soundtrack music and shoots his twenty-second motion picture, Spinout, co-starring Shelley Fabares.

March 1966
     Frankie and Johnny opens nationally and doesn’t do particularly well. The soundtrack album goes to number twenty.

June 1966
     Paradise, Hawaiian Style is released and doesn’t do well. The soundtrack album peaks at number fifteen.
 

June-September 1966
     Soundtrack recording and shooting for Elvis’ twenty-third motion picture (to be the twenty-fourth released), Double Trouble.

September 1966
     Soundtrack recording and filming for Elvis’ twenty-fourth motion picture (the twenty-third to be released), Easy Come, Easy Go.

November 1966
     Spinout opens nationally and doesn’t do well. The soundtrack album goes to number 18.

December 1966
     Elvis formally proposes marriage to Priscilla.

February 1967
     Elvis buys a 163-acre ranch in Mississippi, minutes across the Tennessee state line from Graceland. He and his entourage and their wives had become interested in horseback riding after Elvis purchased a horse for Priscilla as a gift. The hobby had outgrown the pasture at Graceland. Over the months to come, Elvis and the gang will enjoy spending a lot of time at the Circle G. It becomes a happy diversion for Elvis as his frustration and unhappiness over the state of his career reaches its height.

March 1967
     Easy Come, Easy Go opens nationally and doesn’t do well.

RCA releases Elvis’ second gospel album, How Great Thou Art, which was recorded in mid-1966. It gets very good reviews and goes on to earn Elvis the Grammy Award for Best Sacred Performance from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. This is the first of his three Grammy wins.

February-April, 1967
     Soundtrack recording and filming for Clambake, Elvis’ twenty-fifth movie. It is the third of three Elvis movies to co-star Shelley Fabares.

April 1967
     Double Trouble opens nationally. Although better than some of his recent screen efforts, it doesn’t do well at the box office.
 

May 1967
     On May 1, Elvis and Priscilla are married in a private ceremony amongst a small group of family and friends at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas, just after 9:30 AM. A press conference and breakfast reception follow. The couple honeymoon for a few days in Palm Springs. Elvis wraps up some over-dubbing on Clambake. Then they return to Memphis.
 

May 29, 1967
     Elvis and Priscilla dress in their wedding clothes and have a second wedding reception in the trophy room at Graceland to accommodate family and friends who were not in Las Vegas for the wedding.

June-July 1967
     Soundtrack recording and filming for Elvis’ twenty-sixth movie (to be the twenty-seventh released), Speedway, co-starring Nancy Sinatra. During the production, news of Priscilla’s pregnancy is announced.

September-November, 1967
     Soundtrack recording and filming for Elvis’ twenty-seventh movie (to be the twenty-sixth released), Stay Away, Joe. In this western-themed comedy he once again plays a character who is part Native American. It’s a real departure from the virtually interchangeable plots and characters in most of the films over the past several grueling years. He has fun with this one.

December 1967
     Clambake is released nationally and goes to number fifteen at the box office. The soundtrack album goes to number 40.
January/February 1970
     Some say it is a mistake to go back to Vegas so soon, especially during the slowest season for the city. Can he fill the seats? But, Elvis returns to the International Hotel for another month-long engagement. This time he breaks his own attendance records. Another live album is recorded, On Stage, February 1970.

February/March 1970
     A press conference in Houston on the 27^th. Elvis performs afternoon and evening shows at the Houston Astrodome. Two more shows follow on the 28^th. Two more follow on March 1. A closing press conference and banquet follow, and Elvis is presented an armload of recent gold record awards. The six shows attract 207,494 people and set records. There is speculation among the press and the public that Elvis might tour in concert for the first time since the fifties.

June 1970
     Elvis has recording sessions in Nashville.
 

July/September 1970
     Back to Las Vegas for rehearsals for another month-long engagement at the International. He opens on August 10 and closes on September 7. MGM is on hand to shoot a documentary film called Elvis -That’s the Way It Is that will show Elvis off stage, in rehearsals, in the recording studio, and on stage. RCA will also release an album with the same title.

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September 1970
     From the 9^th through the 14^th Elvis takes his show on a nine-city tour. It is a smashing success, the first tour since 1957, only these days the show is much more elaborate . MGM films portions of the first show on this tour for use in Elvis - That’s the Way It Is.

     Elvis has a recording session in Nashville.

November 1970
     Elvis, That’s the Way It Is, Elvis thirty-second film, opens in theaters to good reviews and good box office. Documentaries traditionally do not do well at the box office, but this one makes a respectable showing. It, like other Elvis movies will go on to have a life on television and home video in years to come. An album of the same title is released, but only one song, I Just Can’t Help Believin’, is actually from a stage performance included in the film. The other songs are studio recordings, some of which Elvis performs live on stage or in rehearsal footage in the film.

     Elvis does a successful eight-city concert tour.

December 1970
     Elvis’ famous visit with President Richard Nixon at the White House occurs.

January 16, 1971
     Elvis attends a day of functions culminating in an evening awards banquet. He and nine others accept the honor of being named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation by the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce (The Jaycees). He is nervous about his acceptance speech. He is touched, excited and deeply proud. This national honor has been given each year since the late 1930’s and recognizes young men who have made great achievements in their field of endeavor, illustrating the opportunities available in the free enterprise system. It also applauds humanitarianism and community service. Scientists, inventors, performers, film makers, politicians bound for the Presidency, and men of greatness in all fields, have been selected for this award over the years. For Elvis, a man who grew up poor, and, in his early career knew the sting of ridicule from the Establishment, who, through the years has known criticism of his work, this is one of his proudest moments. It is a sign that he has achieved acceptance, recognition, and respect for his work and for the kind of person he is.

Late January/February 1971
     Elvis plays another month-long engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas.

March 1971
     Elvis begins a recording session in Nashville, but cancels it due to pain and inflammation in an eye. He is treated at a Nashville hospital where he is diagnosed with secondary glaucoma. This eye condition will plague him from time to time in varying degrees for the rest of his life.

May 1971
     Elvis is featured on the cover of Look Magazine, which carries an installment of the forthcoming biography on Elvis by Jerry Hopkins. Many books and articles have been written over the years, but this is the first in-depth, serious biography. The book Elvis : A Biography will be released in October.

     Elvis has recording sessions in Nashville. Much of the work is for his forthcoming album Elvis Sings the Wonderful World of Christmas.

June 1971
     The two-room house Elvis was born in opens to the public for tours, having been restored by the East Heights Garden Club in Tupelo. Elvis has more recording sessions in Nashville, this time mostly for an upcoming gospel album, He Touched Me.

     A long stretch of Highway 51 South, part of which runs in front of Graceland, is officially renamed Elvis Presley Boulevard. The first of the new street signs will go up in January of 1972.

     Various albums and singles continue to be released to various degrees of success during this period.

July/August 1971
     Elvis plays a two-week engagement at the Sahara Hotel in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

August 9 - September 6, 1971
     Elvis plays an engagement in Las Vegas at the International Hotel, which has been renamed the Las Vegas Hilton International Hotel. He sets another attendance record and tops himself once again.

     During the engagement an award is presented to Elvis in his dressing room. It is the Bing Crosby Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (the organization that also presents Grammy awards). This award is a special means of recognition from NARAS and is named for its first recipient. The award is not given every year as a rule. It will later be re-named the Lifetime Achievement Award. Elvis is 36 years old.

November 5-16, 1971
     Elvis goes on a 12-city concert tour.

Late 1971, Early 1972
     Elvis and Priscilla separate. She moves out on her own with Lisa Marie.

January 26 - February 23, 1972
     Elvis plays another successful engagement at the Hilton in Vegas.

March/April 1972
     In April MGM films Elvis in a Hollywood recording studio, then films on and off stage during his 15-city concert tour, which is a big success. MGM will use the footage for another theatrically released documentary, Elvis on Tour.

     In April the gospel album He Touched Me is released to good reviews. The album will go on to win Elvis his second Grammy Award, this one for the category of Best Inspirational Performance.

June 1972
     Elvis continues touring in concert, beginning with a press conference in New York on the 9^th. MGM is on hand to film the conference for use in Elvis on Tour. Elvis makes entertainment history by performing four sold-out shows at New York’s Madison Square Garden. John Lennon, George Harrison, Bob Dylan, David Bowie, and Art Garfunkel are among the music stars spotted at the shows.

     Nine days after it is recorded, RCA rush-releases a live album from one of the shows - Elvis as Recorded at Madison Square Garden. Elvis tours to seven more cities.

     Elvis’ Vegas and concert tour career is hot, hot, hot during the early to mid-seventies. He breaks attendance records in cities all over America. Record releases also continue.

July 1972
     Elvis and Priscilla’s separation is formalized. A divorce is to come. Elvis has begun seeing Linda Thompson, who will be his main female companion until late 1976.

August 4 - September 4, 1972
     Elvis plays a month-long engagement at the Hilton in Vegas.

September 5, 1972
     Elvis participates in a press conference in Vegas announcing plans for a television concert to be broadcast via satellite around the world from Hawaii. It is predicted that the show will reach the largest audience in television history and that the live album will be a big hit.

October 1972
     Elvis has a number two pop hit with the single Burning Love, one of his biggest records in recent years.

November 1972
     Elvis on Tour opens to good reviews and good box office performance in theaters. Later, its producers will receive the Golden Globe Award for Best Documentary of 1972. Like other Elvis films it will have a life on television and on home video.

     Elvis tours seven cities in concert. The last is Honolulu, Hawaii, where he does three shows at the Honolulu International Center Arena, the same venue that will host his satellite special in January. Elvis appears at a press conference in Hawaii regarding his upcoming satellite show. It is announced that it will be a benefit for the Kui Lee Cancer Fund.

January 1973
     Elvis makes television and entertainment history with his Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii - Via Satellite special. Performed at the Honolulu International Center Arena on January 14, 1973, broadcast live at 12:30 AM Hawaiian time, beamed via Globecam Satellite to Australia, South Korea, Japan, Thailand, the Phillipines, South Vietnam and other countries. It is seen on a delayed basis in around thirty European countries. A tape of the show will be seen in America on April 4^th on NBC. The live broadcast in January attracts 37.8% of the viewers in Japan, 91.8% in the Philippines, 70% in Hong Kong, and 70-80% of the viewers in Korea. The April showing in America will attract 51% of the television viewing audience, and will be seen in more American households than man’s first walk on the moon. In all, it will be seen in about forty countries by one billion to 1.5 billion people. Elvis commissions an American Eagle design for his jumpsuit for this show, his patriotic message to his worldwide audience.* Never has one performer held the world’s attention in such a way. Elvis is in top form physically and vocally. This is probably the pinnacle of his superstardom, one of the all-time great moments of his career.

     Audience tickets for the January 14 concert and its January 12 pre-broadcast rehearsal show carry no price. Each audience member is asked to pay whatever he or she can. The performances and concert merchandise sales are a benefit raising $75,000 for the Kui Lee Cancer Fund in Hawaii. (Kui Lee was a Hawaiian composer who had died of cancer while still in his thirties.)

     On stage with Elvis is an orchestra and his current show cast: Joe Guercio (conductor), J.D. Sumner & the Stamps (vocals), The Sweet Inspirations (vocals), Kathy Westmoreland (soprano vocals), Charlie Hodge (guitar/vocals/on-stage assistance), James Burton (lead guitar), John Wilkinson (rhythm guitar), Jerry Scheff (bass guitar), Glen D. Hardin (piano), and Ronnie Tutt (drums).

     The soundtrack album is soon released and goes to number one on the Billboard pop album chart, and stays on the chart at various positions for 52 weeks. The show will later have continued life on television and eventually home video.
 

     In the special, Elvis’ recording of the theme song from his 1965 movie Paradise, Hawaiian Style plays over the opening credits and scenes of Elvis’ helicopter arrival at the airport and his walking among the fans who are there to greet him. The concert opens with Elvis’ band playing his traditional introduction for his seventies concerts, Theme from 2001. He sings See, See Rider, Burning Love, Something, You Gave Me a Mountain, Steamroller Blues, My Way, Love Me, Johnny B. Goode, It’s Over, Blue Suede Shoes, I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry, I Can’t Stop Loving You, Hound Dog, What Now, My Love, Fever, Welcome to My World, Suspicious Minds, I’ll Remember You (A Kui Lee composition Elvis sings after announcing the sum raised for the Kui Lee Cancer Fund.), Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On, An American Trilogy (Elvis tosses his belt into the audience), A Big Hunk o’ Love, and Can’t Help Falling in Love (Elvis tosses his cape into the audience). The show is one hour, including commercials. After the show, Elvis and his bandmates come back out on stage in the empty arena and videotape performances of the songs Blue Hawaii, Ku-u-i-po, and Hawaiian Wedding Song which he had first done for his 1961 hit movie, Blue Hawaii, plus Early Morning Rain and No More. All but the song No More will be inserted into the American broadcast with Elvis seen on a montage screen with footage of Hawaiian scenery.
 

     A Little History on Elvis’ Costume: Elvis told Bill Belew he wanted the jumpsuit for this special to say “America” to the worldwide viewing audience. Bill told Elvis that, except for the American flag, he could think of nothing other than the American Eagle. Elvis said “I like it.” And that’s how one of Elvis’ most famous costumes came to be. Elvis had been wearing jumpsuits on stage since 1970, and they had become quite elaborate by the time of this show. For the past year or two he had been wearing studded, hip-length capes and heavy studded leather belts with his jumpsuits. For the American Eagle jumpsuit, Bill first designed a huge calf-length cape. During preparations for the show, Elvis tried working with this cape, but it was just too cumbersome to use. So, out went the emergency order for another cape in the usual size.

January 26 - February 23, 1973
     Elvis plays an engagement at the Las Vegas Hilton.

March 1973
     Elvis and the Colonel sell RCA the singer’s royalty rights on Elvis’ entire recording catalog up to that point.

April 4, 1973
     The Aloha special is seen on American television for the first time.

Late April 1973
     Elvis goes on an eight-city concert tour.

May 4-16, 1973
     Elvis plays an engagement at the Sahara Hotel in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

May 1973
     The Aloha from Hawaii concert album hits number one on the Billboard pop album chart. It is his first number one album since Roustabout soundtrack album in 1965. It will also be his last number one album on the pop chart.

June 20 - July 3, 1973
     Elvis goes out on concert tour.

July, 1973
     Elvis records a few songs at the Stax Recording Studio in Memphis - his first time to record in Memphis since 1969.

August 6 - September 3, 1973
     Back to the Vegas Hilton for another engagement.

October 9, 1973
     Elvis and Priscilla make a court appearance together and their divorce is granted. They will continue to be close friends. Though Priscilla has custody of Lisa Marie, there will be no formal schedule of visitation for Elvis, and he and his daughter will spend time together regularly.

October 15 - November 1, 1973
     Elvis is hospitalized in Memphis for recurring pneumonia and pleurisy, an enlarged colon, and hepatitis. Elvis has been battling health problems for some time, including an increasing dependency upon prescription drugs. It will get worse. He also battles his weight.

December 1973
     Elvis returns to the Stax Recording Studio in Memphis for a week of sessions.

January 26-February 9, 1974
     Elvis plays the Vegas Hilton again.

March - July 1974
     Elvis is on tour through much of March. In March he returns to the Houston Astrodome and sets a one-day attendance record with his two shows. Also in March he plays Memphis for the first time since 1961 and does four shows in two days to meet the demand for tickets. Another live album results from the excitement in Memphis, Elvis Recorded Live On Stage in Memphis, recorded at one of the shows. Included is a live performance of How Great Thou Art that will go on to win Elvis his third Grammy award. He resumes touring in May and plays the Sahara in Lake Tahoe May 16 -26. He’s back on tour in mid-June and takes a few weeks off, starting in early July.

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August 19 - September 2, 1974
     Back to the Hilton in Vegas for an engagement. During this engagement Barbra Streisand and Elvis discuss his playing the male lead opposite her in her remake of the film A Star is Born. Elvis is excited by the prospect of returning to the screen in a serious film. He still has aspirations to become a serious actor. He is growing weary of the road, his health is worsening, his performances are suffering, and he needs a new challenge. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work out for various reasons.

September 27 - October 14, 1974
     Elvis is on tour again. Plays the Sahara-Tahoe October 11-14.

     Record releases have continued through this period with varying degrees of success.

January 29 - February 14, 1975
     Elvis is hospitalized with health and prescription problems again.

March 1975
     Elvis’ live recording of How Great Thou Art from the album recorded at one of his Memphis concerts in 1974 wins the Grammy for Best Inspirational Performance. This is Elvis’ third and final Grammy win out of fourteen nominations (one nomination posthumously). All three Grammy wins have been for his gospel music.

March 18 - April 1, 1975
     Engagement at the Hilton.

April - July, 1975
     Elvis tours in concert.

August 18 - September 5, 1975
     Elvis opens in Vegas but ends his engagement on the 20^th and is hospitalized in Memphis until September 5.

November 1975
     The renovation of a Convair 880 jet Elvis bought earlier in the year is complete, and he takes his first flight on the Lisa Marie jet.

December 2-15, 1975
     Elvis returns to the Hilton in Vegas to make up for the shows that were canceled during his previous engagement.

December 31, 1975
     Elvis performs a special New Year’s Eve concert in Pontiac, Michigan and sets a single performance attendance record of 62,500.

February 1976
     Elvis has a week of recording sessions in the den at Graceland, with RCA bringing in mobile recording equipment. Songs from this will comprise the forthcoming album From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee (which will hit number one on the country album chart in May) and over half of the forthcoming Moody Blue album.

March 17-22, 1976
     Elvis tours in concert.

April 21-27, 1976
     Elvis tours in concert.

April 30 - May 9, 1976
     An engagement at the Sahara Tahoe in Nevada.

May 27- June 6, 1976
     Elvis tours in concert.

June 25 - July 5, 1976
     Elvis tours in concert.

July 23 - August 5, 1976
     Elvis tours in concert.

August 27-September 8, 1976
     Elvis tours in concert.

October 14-27, 1976
     Elvis tours in concert.

October 29-30, 1976
     Continuation of recording in the den at Graceland.

Early November, 1976
     Elvis and Linda Thompson, his steady girlfriend since 1972, split up.

Late November, 1976
     Elvis meets Ginger Alden who will be his steady girlfriend until his death.

November 24-30, 1976
     Elvis tours in concert.

December 2-12, 1976
     Elvis plays the Hilton in Vegas for what will turn out to be the last time.

December 27-31, 1976
     Elvis tours in concert, ending with a special New Year’s Eve concert in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

February 12-21, 1977
     Elvis tours in concert.

March 23-30, 1977
     Elvis tours in concert.

April 1-5, 1977
     Elvis is hospitalized in Memphis and tour shows scheduled for March 31-April 3 are canceled.

April 21- May 31/June 1-2, 1977
     Elvis tours in concert.

June 17-26, 1977
     Elvis tours in concert. Shows on June 19, 20, and 21 are recorded by RCA for an upcoming live album and are videotaped for an upcoming CBS-TV television special. (Footage from the show on the 20^th is not used in the special.) The special will be called Elvis in Concert. It will first air on October 3 after Elvis’ death in August. The camera gives a shocking picture of Elvis’ poor health in his final days, but his voice is strong.

June 26, 1977
     A concert at Indianapolis, Indiana’s Market Square Arena. This will turn out to be his very last concert performance.

June 27- August 15, 1977
     Elvis relaxes in Memphis and prepares for the next leg of touring for 1977.

August 16, 1977
     Shortly after midnight Elvis returns to Graceland from a late-night visit to the dentist. Through the early morning of the 16^th he takes care of last minute tour details and relaxes with family and staff. He is to fly to Portland, Maine that night and do a show there on the 17^th, then continue the scheduled tour. He retires to his master suite at Graceland around 7:00 AM to rest for his evening flight. By late morning, Elvis Presley is dead of heart failure. It is announced by mid-afternoon. In a matter of hours the shock registers around the world.

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