by Tony Scherman, American Heritage

By the beginning of 1977, when he turned 42, Elvis Presley had become a grotesque caricature of his sleek, energetic former self. Hugely overweight, his mind dulled by the pharmacopoeia he daily ingested, he was barely able to pull himself through his abbreviated concerts. One March night in Norman, Oklahoma, during his second tour of the year, he fell asleep in the middle of dinner, almost choking on his food. “Is there much more time left?” wrote an aide in his diary. At about this time Elvis’s staff drew up a contingency plan for smuggling his body back home to Graceland, his Memphis mansion, in case they needed to cover up a fatal overdose on the road.

In mid-April Elvis flew to Las Vegas; according to his cousin and close aide Billy Smith, the reason for the trip was to get prescriptions from a Las Vegas doctor. The singer had had a tiff with his Memphis physician and chief prescriber, Dr. George Nichopoulos, and was tapping another source.

On April 21 the year’s third tour began, a Midwestern swing. The reviews “ranged from concern for his health to perplexity over how little he seemed to care,” writes Presley’s most assiduous biographer, Peter Guralnick; according to a Detroit journalist, Elvis “stunk the joint out” in that city. Fans, too, Guralnick writes, “were becoming increasingly voluble about their disappointment, but it all seemed to go right past Elvis, whose world was now confined almost entirely to his room and his [spiritualism] books.” And, one might add, to his tranquilizers and sedatives.

When the next tour started, in Knoxville, Tennessee, on May 20, “there was no longer any pretense of keeping up appearances,” Guralnick writes. “The idea was simply to get Elvis out onstage and keep him upright for the hour he was scheduled to perform.” So it went for the rest of that spring, with Presley stumbling and lurching through show after show. One June concert in Omaha was especially bad; to Guralnick, listening to a recording made of the show, Elvis “gives the impression of a man crying out for help when he knows help will not come.” As the tour promoter Tom Hulett said, “It was like he was saying, ‘Okay, here I am, I’m dying, f--- it.’”

From the end of June through July and into mid-August, Presley stayed at home, rarely leaving his bedroom. Sometimes his girlfriend, Ginger Alden, was with him, sometimes not; it was an on-and-off relationship. After sunrise on August 16, he and Ginger went to bed (he kept an inverted schedule). At about 8 a.m. he still hadn’t fallen asleep, and he told Ginger he was going into the bathroom to read. Awaking at about 1:30 p.m., she found herself alone in bed and went to check on him.

Entering the bathroom, she found him lying on the carpet, his face in a puddle of vomit. There was a bathroom intercom; she called downstairs and told a bodyguard that something was horribly wrong. Within minutes the bathroom was crowded with people “surrounding the almost unrecognizable body,” Guralnick writes. “[Presley’s] face was swollen and purplish, the tongue was discolored and sticking out of his mouth, the eyeballs blood red.” An ambulance sped him to Baptist Memorial Hospital, where efforts to revive him were futile. He was pronounced dead at 3:30 p.m.

The autopsy, which began at 7 p.m., was still going on when the Shelby County medical examiner, Dr. Jerry Francisco, told the gathered press that Elvis Presley had died of cardiac arrhythmia. This was the sanitized version, which Francisco would stick to. Meanwhile, Baptist Hospital sent blood and other fluid and tissue samples to Bio-Science Laboratories in California, one of the nation’s top toxicology labs. Bio-Science found 14 drugs in Elvis’s system, 10 in significant quantities. Codeine was present at 10 times the therapeutic level, methaqualone (Quaalude) at a toxic level, and three others on the toxic borderline. The conclusion was clear: Elvis died from polypharmacy, or the simultaneous use of multiple drugs. Actually, as Charles Thompson and James Cole point out in their book The Death of Elvis, “the codeine alone, in lower concentrations than Elvis’s, had put people in their graves.”

On the evening of August 16 the body was taken to Memphis Funeral Home for burial preparations. The next morning Presley was brought back to Graceland, where 50,000 people had already gathered outside the gates. Thirty National Guardsmen, 80 policemen, and 40 sheriff’s deputies were there to control the crowd, and three police helicopters hovered overhead. South Central Bell asked Memphians to keep phone calls to a minimum; the circuits were overloaded. A viewing was scheduled for 3 p.m., to last until 5. The open coffin sat in Graceland’s foyer, just inside the front door, and fans filed past four abreast. Several mourners fainted beside the coffin; outside in the 90-degree heat hundreds more fainted. “Many, revived with rubber gloves filled with ice, staggered back into the crowd and fainted again,” said a wire-service report. At 5 p.m. the viewing was extended for another 90 minutes. At 6:30 an estimated 10,000 fans were still waiting to view the body, but the police closed Graceland’s gates. The crowd thinned, though thousands remained overnight.

The funeral service was held at Graceland at 2 p.m. on August 18. Presley was eulogized by C. W. Bradley, a local minister, who said, “Elvis would not want anyone to think that he had no flaws or faults. But now that he’s gone, I find it more helpful to remember his good qualities, and I hope you do, too.” Then a 49-car cortege, including 17 white Cadillacs, accompanied the body to Forest Hill cemetery. The road was lined with at least 15,000 fans. After a brief service the body was interred. Eleven days after the funeral there was a bungled attempt to steal the corpse, and in late October both Presley and his mother, Gladys, were reburied at Graceland, where they remain.

So many millions of words have been written about the trajectory of Elvis’s life that it’s impossible to say anything really original. Contemplating his depleted final months, one’s mind inevitably turns to the vibrant music of his youth, “That’s Alright,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” and dozens more, or even to the less assured but passionate songs of his brief reflowering, circa 1968 to ’70, “Suspicious Minds,” “If I Can Dream,” and so on. We have these recordings forever, and the sad later stumblings and sordid death can never erase them, or dim the brightness they radiate.

Not that remembering past glories necessarily consoled the forty-something Elvis, who must have lived with an especially acute sense of how far he had fallen. But surely, escaping now and then from his unhappiness, his narcotized fog, he found some fugitive moments of pride in the way he had so effortlessly tapped into our unconscious yearning for freedom and redirected the path of modern American culture.

The King and Dr. Nick What Really Happened to Elvis and Me (Book Review): Dr. Nick's long awaited memoir was recently released. After three decades of being often maligned by the media and an unforgiving public Elvis' personal physician finally has his say. In conjunction with interviewing Dr. Nick, EIN's Nigel Patterson spent time exploring Dr. Nick's side of the story. What EIN found: sheds great light on Elvis' medical conditions; provides facts around several contentious issues; is a memoir written with honest caring and compassion; and a memoir which will challenge the views held by many fans! In order to establish the truth, Dr. Nick deserves to be heard and his memoir is a fitting way for him to clearly state his case. (Source: EIN, Feb 2010) Read EIN's full review

The Death of Elvis Presley? - DNA evidence flawed: In an absorbing major article, EIN today presents the findings of its investigation of the DNA evidence supporting the contention that Elvis did not die in August 1977. EIN's inquiry, undertaken with the assistance of a professional investigation company, exposes the flaw in the DNA claims, provides a timeline of the "Is Elvis Alive?" conspiracy story, and looks at various other strands to the conspiracy theory. ( Conspiracy, Source: EIN)

Dr. Nick - Medically Irresponsible or Misunderstood?: EIN has always thought Dr. Nick receives an unfair rap!  So we thought it was time to present a range of information about him, hopefully allowing readers to, in the clear light of day, freshly reflect on each side of the story and determine a reasonable and balanced consideration of Dr. Nick's role and intentions in the complex, and often easily biased, Elvis story! (Source: EIN, 5 June 2009)

"The Elvis Cover-Up" - Geraldo Rivera 20/20 documentaries: EIN recently obtained a copy of the unofficial DVD release of the "20/20" investigations into Elvis' death. Based on a "leaked" copy of the toxicology report on drugs in Elvis' body when he died, and the book, "The Death of Elvis What Really Happened" by Thompson & Cole, the original hour long special (September 1979) plus several follow-up stories are enlightening 'tabloid' viewing. Rivera exposes the role of Dr Jerry Francisco in going public with a cause of death (cardiac arrythmia) at odds with the official autopsy findings (polypharmacy). The 20/20 investigations were instrumental in leading to the indictment of "Dr Nick". Also featuring a lucid Ginger Alden, the DVD is compelling viewing. In a follow-up to the most controversial article EIN has ever pubished (the Beeny DNA evidence), EIN examines the iconic Rivera reports. (Source: EIN, September 2006)

The grieving that follows the death of a famous musician is universal, yet also personal. The funeral for the famous musician stopped the city. Thousands of people packed the streets, sharing their grief and love for the man who was gone. They followed the casket, which was festooned with flowers, and then, together, started singing one of the musician's most popular songs. Never before had so many voices joined in glorious harmony. When did this happen? Forever Elvis - A commemorative Spotlight:

Elvis at 75: Can we ever again see the performer, not the punch line?; One of the best articles EIN has read about "Elvis at '75". From Mark Feeney of The Boston Globe. Begin with two facts. First, he was once beautiful, astonishingly beautiful, and that fact contributed so much both to the rapidity of his rise and the awfulness of his decline. Beauty was almost as important to his success as race was. Same voice, same talent, same songs sung by a white Fats Domino? The impact would have been nothing like what it was. Music created and drove the phenomenon that was Elvis, but it was only part of what made that phenomenon so overwhelming..... Continue here to the full article & images. (Spotlight, Source;Feeney/EIN)

Go here for other relevant EIN interviews: EIN interview with Elvis' Father Vernon Presley Linda Thompson EIN interview special Jerry Schilling Interview with EIN: Sonny West talks to EIN: Red West Interview:  Marty Lacker Talks to EIN in 2008 & answers your questions: Lamar Fike talks to EIN: Billy Smith, Elvis' cousin, opens up to EIN

Quote:

"Elvis Presley is the supreme socio-cultural icon in the history of pop culture"

(Dr. Gary Enders)

Quote:

"Elvis is the 'glue' which holds our society together....which subconciously gives our world meaning"

(Anonymous)

Quote:

"Eventually everybody has to die, except Elvis"

(humorist Dave Barry)

Quote:

"He is the "Big Bang", and the universe he detonated is still expanding, the pieces are still flying"

(Greil Marcus, "Dead Elvis")

Quote:

"I think Elvis Presley will never be solved"

(Nick Tosches)

Quote:

"He was the most popular man that ever walked on this planet since Christ himself was here"

(Carl Perkins)

Quote:

"When I first heard Elvis' voice I just knew I wasn't going to work for anybody...hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail"

(Bob Dylan)

Quote:

"When we were kids growing up in Liverpool, all we ever wanted was to be Elvis Presley"

(Sir Paul McCartney)

Quote:

"You can't say enough good things about Elvis. He was one of a kind"

(Johnny Cash)

Quote:

"And don't think for one moment he's just a passing fancy....he's got enough of it to keep him on top for a long time"

(R. Fred Arnold, Fury magazine, Aug 1957)

Quote:

"It isn't enough to say that Elvis is kind to his parents, sends money home, and is the same unspoiled kid he was before all the commotion began. That still isn't a free ticket to behave like a sex maniac in public"

(Eddie Condon, Cosmopolitan)

Elvis records reaching #2 & #3 on the Cashbox Pop Singles chart:

#2: A Fool Such As I (1959)

#2: A Big Hunk Of Love (1959)

#3: Hard Headed Woman (1958)

#3: One Night (1958)

#3: (You're The Devil) In Disguise (1963)

Elvis Facts:

Tickets for Elvis' show on March 29, 1957 in St. Louis cost $2.00 to $2.50

While in Germany Elvis was hospitalised with tonsillitis in October 1959

Despite being an illegal immigrant, photographic evidence shows Colonel Tom Parker traveled to Canada with Elvis in 1957

Elvis strongly believed there weren't enough good songs in King Creole to justify releasing a soundtrack album. RCA initially agreed, releasing two very successful EPs from the movie. A soundtrack LP eventually followed

During the 1960s Elvis had his own football team, Elvis Presley Enterprises, which played in the Memphis touch football league. In the 1962 final, EPE narrowly lost to Delta Automatic Transmission, 6-13

In Clambake, (Elvis) Scott Hayward's driving licence shows February 23, 1940...taking 5 years off Elvis' real age

In the 1970s Elvis was offered $5m to stage a concert in front of the Pyramids in Egypt. When the Colonel declined the offer, Saudi billionaires raised the offer to $10m