January 17, 2001
The King's Birthday
The sideburns are gone and the hair is considerably lighter...and thinner.
Although the weight is more than in his peak “mean and lean” period, he doesn’t look as bloated as he did in the last couple of years of his public appearances.
There were no rhinestones and no capes and no turned up collars. A polo shirt, nice slacks and a baseball cap are the everyday attire. Tinted eye glasses with modest style rims. The only real flash was the choice of cars: A sleek BMW roadster. I even got to drive it around town.
Despite the temptation of getting to take a multi-million dollar picture, I kept my word and left the camera at home. After all, the man trusted me like he has trusted no other human being since he reportedly “left the building” for good more than 23 years ago.
We spent the day in and around Tulare County, dining twice. Lunch was at a modest café where peanut butter and banana sandwiches can be had if you know who to ask and are careful enough to only whisper the order into the correct ear. As an extra precaution, I ordered the sandwich and "The King" called for a burger and fries. We switched after the veteran waitress delivered our meals.
Mind you, I can’t be too specific about our day but I can give some “facts” which really are quite funny in light of some of the things which have been written and talked about since "The King" reportedly died Aug. 16, 1977. A few of those “Elvis sightings” were real but I will go to my grave without telling which ones. And there are quite a few real photographs of "The King" taken when he really looked like himself. Three National Inquirer front page photos are real. None of the stories are more than 25 percent true.
Up to about 10 years ago, "The King" played himself in Las Vegas and nobody ever knew. Although he now can laugh about it, Elvis told me he never finished higher than fourth in any look-a-like contests since his “death” at Graceland. The trauma of not being able to look enough like himself nearly caused him, as he put it, “to really, really leave the building.”
On the other hand, "The King" beamed with pride and his eyes recaptured that sparkle as he told me he actually won four karaoke contests including one which won him an all-expenses paid trip to Graceland and a seven-day Caribbean cruise.
The return to Graceland was, as "The King" put it, “like Alice walking through the mirror in Wonderland. I was seeing myself in my own home with so many of my personal items and yet I couldn’t touch any of them or sit in my favorite chair or strum a few chords on my favorite guitar.”
Of course he went dressed like himself so he could fit into the crowd which filed through his mansion.
That encounter naturally prompted me to ask Elvis about his love life, (love after-life?)
According to "The King," the first few years after he “died” he nearly killed himself taking care of heart-broken female fans who flung themselves at any guy even closely resembling him. Some of his kiss and tell stories even made me blush. Again I thought to myself, “if only they knew.”
It was a swell day and one I won’t soon forget. I admit it will be tough not to tell anyone some of the things "The King" told me.
We may meet again but it will be at his discretion. I have no idea where he lives.
The final thing I will say pholks is if you see someone who looks like Elvis, it ain’t him.
But, if you were in a Goshen service station late one night 20 years ago and took a picture of a guy who dressed like and looked like Elvis who drove away in a late 60s pink Cadillac, don’t throw that photo away. Call me.
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