His Legacy Lives On

Elvis A. Presley January 8, 1935-August 16, 1977

His Legacy Lives On...



Elvis had an identical twin. Born stillborn, the twin was named Jessie Garon and rumour has it that mother Gladys saw the tragedy as a sign that her living twin was destined for great things.

Aron or Aaron? The correct spelling of Elvis's middle name has baffled fans for years. The fact is that Elvis was apparently named Aron (just the one 'a') after his stillborn twin Garon. However, rumour has it that when Elvis wanted to change the spelling to the more traditional Aaron, he found it had always been spelt that way due to a bureaucratic error. Later, knowing that Elvis preferred the traditional spelling, his father chose Aaron for his tombstone.

Elvis's musical talents blossomed when he was given an acoustic guitar for his eleventh birthday. The young Elvis, however, was disappointed - he had wanted a bicycle. However he persevered and taught himself to play a few chords, strumming away to blues and gospel songs, and the legend was born.



Elvis used to be a truck driver, earning $1.25 an hour. His real ambition, however, was to become an electrician and he started evening classes to gain the necessary skills.

Aside from three concerts in Canada, Elvis never performed outside the United States.

Elvis's first public singing performance was made at the age of ten at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, where he sang 'Old Shep' (a song he later recorded.) The young King didn't win.



Elvis once wrote a letter to President Nixon in which he asked to be appointed as an undercover narcotics cop. Nixon gave Elvis a honorary Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs badge - a presentation which, in the light of his death (where heavy drug use was suspected), turned out to be pretty ironic.

Elvis had to pay for his first song recording - forking out a fee of around $4. He had wanted to record to see what his voice was like.

Elvis's legendary manager Colonel Tom Parker was really called Andreas van Kuijk.

Elvis gave money to several charities, each year giving $1,000 or more to each of 50 Memphis-area charities, as well as many other donations in Memphis and around the country. Most of his charitable donations were kept secret.
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Where were you when you found out Elvis was dead? I was sitting outside my house on Westmoreland, taking a break from playing kickball with my neighborhood friends when one of the guys came up to me and told me Elvis was dead. I said so???? I thought he was fixing to tell me another lame joke or something, but he convinced me he was serious. I wasn't really an Elvis fan (a little before my time), but I was sad because I knew my Mom would be sad, as she was a great Elvis fan.

Where were you?