8th (Elvis' birthday)

Although many equate this popular song with the birth of Elvis' career, it is one he cannot take credit for. It was neither written by him nor was it a song that had not been publicly performed by others before.*

Just the same, I can't help but to wonder if he thought about the lyrics when it came to some of the shady dealings perpetrated on him in his life. We all know Colonel Parker, his manager, was a con artist in his dealing with Elvis. But, I'm going to tell you of another raw deal he had with some of the "finer" people in Tupelo, Mississippi, (the place of his birth and where he had grown up.)

I lived almost a decade in Tupelo and its surrounding small towns located throughout the county. I raised (or "reared" is a more proper term) my children there, as well, after we left Louisiana. When we lived there, the sheriff of Lee County was Harold Ray Presley. For us, he was almost as big as Elvis. He was respected. He did not play around with criminals. He was known for kicking down doors in drug raids. He was a huge man in stature, and it literally, was no problem for him. He and Elvis were something like second or third cousins. (I am including a copy of his obituary because I don't want this Presley to be forgotten, either!) And all the Presleys have some shade of blonde hair. Did you know that Elvis dyed his hair black? Well, yes, in fact, he did. As with all Presley's, (Harold Ray, Elvis, et all) each were known to be "rough and rowdy" in younger days. Anyway, my children and I were well acquainted with the Presleys and their children, and we still consider them to be our friends. Probably because we were a bit rowdy, too. But back to Elvis! **

"The background is that on September 26, 1956, Elvis returned home to Tupelo Mississippi to perform two shows at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair & Dairy Show. During that trip, Elvis told the Mayor “I saw the house I was born in and 15 acres for sale. I want you to take this check back and put it to build a park for the kids of East Tupelo.” A year later, on September 27, 1957, Elvis returned once again to his hometown of Tupelo to perform at the fairground in a show to benefit the planned Elvis Presley Youth Center. It was during this trip that Elvis donated $14,000 for a youth recreation center to be built. He felt that the kids growing up in East Tupelo needed a place to congregate and play without having to go to West Tupelo where they were scorned." ***

"(Fast forward to February 1, 1961, of Elvis Presley visiting the site of "The Elvis Presley Youth Recreation Center" that was to be built in Tupelo near his birthplace home. Elvis travelled down to Tupelo from Memphis after returning from Hollywood where he finished filming Wild in the Country. Joe Esposito and Anita Wood accompanied Elvis that day, and they were all surprised that not much progress had been made--in fact the sign had fallen down! The contact sheets emanate from the Eddie Fadal estate, and Eddie's stamping is on the reverse of several of them with his company name "E.W.F. Enterprises". It is unclear is Eddie actually shot the film or just took the images from a copy of the film at a later date. Regardless, we have 15 images from what was several minutes of footage of Elvis laughing off the state of the project." ***

He may have laughed, but Elvis vowed to NEVER donate to Tupelo again. Yet, somehow they (Tupelo Convention & Visitors Bureau) in the website, fail to mention this fact, having the audacity to entitle it, "How Tupelo Made Elvis: A Timeline of Key Events." ****

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

* https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/kidspost/blues-singer-big-mama-thornton-had-a-hit-with-hound-dog-then-elvis-came-along/2021/02/23/60c36a04-6764-11eb-8468-21bc48f07fe5_story.html

** https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23379/harold-ray-presley

*** https://rockhurstauctions.com/1961_Elvis_Presley_Tupelo_Youth_Center_Photographs-LOT6724.aspx

**** https://www.tupelo.net/blog/how-tupelo-made-elvis-a-timeline-of-key-events/#:~:text=At%2021%2Dyears%2Dold%2C,the%20children%20in%20East%20Tupelo.