THE LAST CONCERT
On this day in music history: June 26, 1977 - Elvis Presley makes his final live concert appearance at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, IN. Performing before an audience of over 18,000 fans, the forty two year old rock & roll legend looking like a shadow of his former self, appearing significantly overweight, looking pale and weak. Numerous health issues including high blood pressure, glaucoma, and liver damage aggravated by his prescription drug abuse and excessive overeating have caught up with him. Sweating profusely and often forgetting the words to songs that he has performed live for many years, he concludes his seventy three minute set with “Can’t Help Falling In Love” before leaving the stage. The concert is filmed in its entirety, though much of the footage has not been widely seen by the public to this day.
Presley died on the toilet at 42 with months of impacted faeces in his colon and bowel putting a massive strain on his heart, notoriously anti-drug he was a junkie speed freak addicted to prescription downers to help combat the amphetamine he had first started to use while in Germany in the US Army and at Graceland found himself surrounded by men who couldn’t even be bothered to check on him as he had fallen off his commode. The autopsy revealed massive amounts of amphetamines, barbiturates, and opiates in his system in fact fourteen separate drugs in total were found in Elvis' system, ten in significant quantity to bring on a huge heart attack combined with or at least exacerbated by the so called 'Valsalva maneuver' (essentially over straining against prolonged constipation to bring on an attack!)
Some King . . . . . . .this is what unrestrained indulgence will do. No one tells the Emperor he is naked. Several of the Memphis Mafia openly stating they had neither the guts nor the wit to try to contain Elvis' destructive behaviours neither did his last 'partner' Ginger Allen who it was that found him dead.Sad
So sad. I've always thought had he gotten rid of The Colonel after the 68' special, toured overseas, scrapped the shitty songs that were being offered him (though,those pitching the shitty songs to him,normally had a stake in their publishing) he MAY have lived a few more years. It's obvious to me that if The Colonel was left out of the picture, I could see him recording new music with songs written especially for him. I'll bet Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Steve Earle would have given anything to compose songs for him.
ReplyDeleteYou bet I lay a lot more at the Colonel's door than that, not touring and not coming to the UK the damn silly films and losing the perspective after the brilliant comeback of '68 all downhill for there. Parker's responsibility!
ReplyDeleteThanks for dropping by Jobe