An Elvis Story!

No, you're not reading the wrong blog....This is Keith's Space as far as I can tell.  It's been awhile since I've written anything about me....I've mostly been pouring fire on the the right wing, the tea party and republican policy (or lack of ) in general.

Today however, I decided to give them all a break...It is after all the thirty fourth anniversary of his death.  The fact that I remember the day he died and what I was doing really has nothing to do with the fact that a month ago...I toured Graceland in Memphis while on my family vacation...It's just that I have an oft told funny story behind it that I plan to share with you.

It was August 16,1977....I was 19 years old and riding with my father down the highway of South Jersey... I don't know where we were coming back from..but I know we were headed back to Philly and he had his foot through the floor of his 1969 Buick....The roads weren't as improved and sophisticated as they are now and he was cutting through all of these small towns, taking what I suppose were short cuts....

He looked over at me and said "Cut the radio on."  I did and they were playing "Blue Christmas" by Elvis Presley.... We both looked at each other..."Blue Christmas " in the middle of an August Heatwave??

"I'll have a Blue.....


Woo woo woo wooooooooooooooo


Christmas....Without youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." sang Elvis...

We kept driving....Then they played one of my favorites...."Jailhouse Rock"  It was recorded three years before I was born...but I saw the movie on Television one Saturday afternoon....

We kept driving...Now this is significant because  what happened next was a bit phrophetic...They played Elvis's signature song...

"You ainnnn nothin but a hound dog...cryin all da time...


   "You ainnnn nevah caught a rabbit, and you aint no friend of mineeeeee." he sang...

Just then this huge dog that looked like a combonation of Scooby Doo and Marmaduke dashed out into the street in front of my father's speeding car.... His car hit the dog with a huge THUMP! that I'll never forget!!! The dog went flying up in the air and landed in the street behind my father's car, which skidded out of control for a minute.,...

A huge crowd of white people came running out of the woodworks....they were pointing-

"He did it..That guy in that green car!"

My dad ,who was far wiser to the ways of the world than I was then...Floored it!  We took off faster than the Batmobile!!!

I was stunned...I pointed out.... "Heyyyy, you just killed that dog!"

Mt Father looked at me and said-"Do you want to stop and explain things to those people?"

I looked at the crowd that was now running after us and throwing things....I'm pretty sure the word "nigger" was flying off of some of their tongues...I looked at that crowd and I understood my Father's wisdom...And we took off and soon out distanced them...

Surprisingly, there wasn't a cop in sight!   While we were driving an announcement came over the radio-

"In case you haven't heard and have just turned your radios on....Elvis Aaron Pressley, the king of rock and roll was found dead earlier today in his home in Graceland..."


My Father and I looked at each other....Now we understood why they played three Elvis Pressley records straight....We nodded and we drove the rest of the way to Philadelphia without incident.

Neither of us mentioned the incident to my mother and brother and I never repeated the story until the night after my father's funeral in 2002....I don't know why I waited twenty five years to tell the story but it was just something neither one of us ever discussed again.  It was a funny enough story even then when it happened....It's funnier now that I remember it...