Elvis still the King in hearts of adoring fans By Rich Davis

Source: http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/jan/07/elvis-still-the-king-in-hearts-of-adoring-fans/

If Elvis Presley were alive, he'd be turning 74 today, probably taking calls from his grandkids and eating a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich against doctor's orders.

Maybe he'd be squeezing into a rhinestone jumpsuit or sitting down to a Barbara Walters interview.

But this we know. His loyal fans never have forgotten the polite teenager who lived in public housing in Memphis, Tenn., worked as a movie usher and sang rockabilly tunes that blended black and white singing styles before hitting it big as the king of rock 'n' roll.

While many fans of the King gather in Memphis, watching his ex-wife Priscilla cut a cake on Elvis Presley Day, several Tri-Staters will be remembering him in their own way:

n Today in Indianapolis, Rep. Bruce Borders, R-Jasonville, plans to deliver another Elvis birthday cake to Gov. Mitch Daniels, just as he did last year.

Borders, an Elvis impersonator since high school in 1975, still wears the porkchop sideburns while belting out "Jailhouse Rock" or performing the patriotic "American Trilogy."

"I have an Elvis tribute show Saturday and another the following weekend in Terre Haute," he said Wednesday from Indianapolis where the Indiana Legislature was convening. "I do 70 to 80 shows a year."

On his late-night show, David Letterman once introduced the former mayor of Jasonville this way: "Ladies and gentlemen, whenever I go to the polls to vote for a mayor, I always ask myself what is his economic policy, how does he stand on the environment, and can he sing 'Love Me Tender.'"

n On Oct. 24, 1976, Frank Gulledge was an Evansville Police Department sergeant assigned to escort Presley from Tri-State Aero, where Presley's jet had landed, to Roberts Stadium for a concert before 13,000 screaming fans who paid $7.50 to $12.50 for tickets.

They drove in an unmarked police car, with Elvis' girlfriend and his manager also in the back seat.

Gulledge recalls some box lunches (one with a silver tray) being delivered to the jet before Presley disembarked and that Elvis waved to about 200 fans lining the fence.

The singer looked puffy and tired before he walked down the stadium tunnel and stood at the curtain, waiting for his band to prompt Elvis' stage entrance with music from "2001: A Space Odyssey."

"He started bouncing on his heels and toes, like he was getting his motor going," recalls Gulledge. "The place went wild! He put on a heckuva show (65 minutes for $140,000) and then we took him back to the airport where we shook hands and he said, 'Thank you very much.'"

n Sue Everly of Tell City, Ind., sat outside Roberts Stadium for more than 18 hours to get tickets to see the Evansville concert.

Her 14-year-old son, Joe, had staked their spot at the front of the line, then when Everly got off work at Tell City Chair Co., she and others joined him and camped out overnight.

"When the ticket windows opened the next day, people went crazy," says Everly. "We got our front-row tickets, but the crowd wouldn't let us out. We had to push our way through using the lawn chairs."

The next summer she and her husband attended Elvis' final two concerts, in Cincinnati and Indianapolis, but the Evansville show remains special: "We were so close to him (in Evansville). He would put a scarf around his neck during a song, come toward the edge of the stage and let it slide off."

Everly caught a light blue scarf, cutting it in half and sharing it with a friend who also idolized Elvis.

"You can't explain to people the feelings you have for him," she said. "His songs just get to you. I've got grandchildren who even like him."

464-7516 or davisr@courierpress.com