Kentucky
Kentucky by Heart: Looking back at ‘The King of Rock and Roll’ Elvis Presley and his Ky. connections
By Steve Flairty
NKyTribune columnist
Elvis Presley is, in fact, one of the recognizable names within the historical past of leisure. Rising up in Kentucky, I seen these round me usually spoke of Elvis as if he was considered one of our state’s personal celebrities. Now on the current forty fifth anniversary of his 1977 loss of life, I puzzled what real-life connections he, actually, did have with the Bluegrass State.
I figured the thought deserved some analysis, and what I discovered I’ll supply to my readers.
Barbara Tate’s Elvis-themed quilt (Photograph courtesy Ralph Tate)
To begin, I used to be pleasantly stunned to search out Mila Raque’s article in Louisville As we speak speaking in regards to the crooner’s connection to town. She reported that he carried out thrice in Louisville, as soon as on the Jefferson County Armory in November 1956, and twice at Freedom Corridor, on the Kentucky Exposition Middle, in June 1974, and Might 1977, about three months earlier than his loss of life.
Be aware: In keeping with songkick.com, he carried out at Freedom Corridor on July 5 in 1976 however not in 1974. Nonetheless, my spouse claims she attended the Elvis live performance in 1974, and I’ve by no means recognized her to be fallacious about something (a lot, anyway). The web site additionally exhibits the favored heartthrob was in live performance on the Rialto Theater, in Louisville, in December 1955.
Apparently, although not associated to Kentucky, I discovered that Elvis’s very earliest performances had been usually at excessive colleges, and one was even at an elementary faculty.
An apparent state connection is a few Elvis’s songs, “Blue Moon of Kentucky” (written by Invoice Monroe and the official bluegrass music music of Kentucky), together with “Kentucky Rain” (written by Eddie Rabbit).
Raque additionally shared some Elvis-related names of varied native restaurant meals selections round Louisville, together with The Presley (peanut butter, banana, and so on.), The Fats Elvis (milkshake with peanut butter and banana flavors), and The Elvis Sundae, and The Elvis Waffle.
One other Elvis tidbit talked about within the article was about his grandfather Jesse Presley, who was a Mississippi resident. Jesse moved to Louisville in 1943 the place he remained the remainder of his life. He and his spouse Vera (whom Jessie married after divorcing Elvis’s grandmother) are buried at Louisville Memorial Gardens. I additionally discovered a YouTube sequence known as The Spa Man that exhibits a documentary about Jesse, together with different Elvis connections to Kentucky.
For a celebratory Elvis leisure occasion in our state, one is likely to be interested by 2023’s “Elvis and Legends Fest Kentucky,” to be held July 20-22 on the Paroquet Springs Convention Middle in Shepherdsville, Kentucky. The gathering will characteristic an assortment of entertainers taking part in tribute to Elvis and different musical legends.
And, I need to make point out of Jonathan Rader, a former scholar of mine, now a teen, from Jessamine County. He has grow to be fairly a “mover and shaker” by portraying Elvis. You will discover out about him by visiting his website at www.jonathanwilsonrader.com.
Gloria Strassner’s tickets to the Rupp Area live performance that by no means occurred (Photograph courtesy Susan Gall)
After which, what about that Elvis live performance that DIDN’T occur? He was scheduled to look at Rupp Area, in Lexington, on the evening of August 23, 1977. However to the heartsick dismay of legions of his followers, he died one week earlier than the date, on August sixteenth. An instance of an “all shook up” individual is Gloria Strassner, who had tickets for the live performance. She now resides in Largo, Florida, however then lived in Lexington. “I used to be terribly disillusioned,” stated Gloria, “as I used to be an enormous fan of Elvis and that’s the reason I all the time saved these tickets. It was the closest I ever acquired to seeing him in individual.”
Barbara Tate, lately deceased, additionally had tickets for the Rupp live performance. When she and her husband, Ralph, moved to Port Richey, Florida, she acquired busy making an “Elvis quilt” in tribute to The King. The quilt turned a success because it was proven round. It gained a number of quilting present ribbons and has been considered by over 100,000 followers all around the southern U.S., all the time drawing monumental opinions and reward. Barbara made positive that others knew she had tickets for the Rupp present by creating facsimiles of them on the decrease right-hand nook of her quilt.
Looks like a “sample” of Kentucky and Elvis togetherness, doesn’t it? This probably solely skims the floor. Hope you’ll e-mail me YOUR connections to the icon… sflairty2001@yahoo.com.
Sources: youtube (The Spa Man, Grandfather Jesse Presley); Louisville As we speak, Aug. 2022; etafestivals.com/kentucky; Paraquet Springs Convention Middle, Shepherdsville (interview with supervisor); interview with Susan Gall
