ELVIS HAS LEFT THE BUILDING (A Boyd's Eye View)

 Greetings Elvis fans...or non-Elvis fans for that matter.

Here it is August 16th, 2012...35 years since I heard the news that Elvis Presley was dead.  The news came crashing down on me like the waves of the Atlantic Ocean...dragging me under with and undertow...and keeping under with a riptide of emotions.  I was in Florida at the time...and I remember it like it was yesterday.  As the tears flowed over me (I am tearing up right now as I write this), it felt as if my past was in an upheaval.

NOTE:  Picture #1 us a me...having some fun at church...as I come out as Elvis' 5th cousin...twice removed on his mama's side...Cousin Vinnie...from Memphis Tennessee. 
 My earliest memory of Elvis is at a the Starlight Drive In movies...watching Jailhouse Rock from the back of Mom and Dad's car.  Dad would never go to a regular theater...because after he got out of the army...he said he would never stand in a line again...so we went to the drive-in theaters.  I was six years old in 1957...and I was hooked when I first heard Jailhouse Rock.  My first record that I bought for myself...was Jailhouse Rock.  My friends were listening to "Mary had a little lamb"...while I was listening to "The warden threw a party in the county jail." 

NOTE:  Picture #2 is Elvis at the Stokely Athletic Center in Knoxville Tennessee. 
 To say that Elvis had an influence over me is an understatement.  My Mom took advantage of this influence and utilized the Elvis example from everything to combing my hair to setting the moral code in my life.  I remember her telling me that I should never smoke cigarettes...because after all...Elvis does not smoke.  I learned to play the guitar because of Elvis.  I practiced singing as I sang along with Elvis on his albums...closing my eyes...envisioning me as the King of Rock and Roll back in my bedroom.  I remember once being in full fantasy mode...singing Rock-a-Hula Baby...with my eyes closed tightly...and at one point opening up my eyes...and there my Dad was standing in the doorway...with the largest grin on his face (not one of mockery...but of a father's enjoyment).  I remember mowing my Grandmother's yard...and singing at the top of my voice the song Girl Happy...not realizing...that although the lawn mower motor was loud...my voice was louder resounding all over the neighborhood. 

I was an oddity among my schoolmates...but I did not care.  I loved Elvis Presley...even when it was not popular to listen to his music.  When the Beatles invaded...I dug in my heels and would not be unfaithful to Elvis.  Even today, when people say they like Elvis...they usually clarify that they did not like his movie music.  A couple of months ago...I sitting talking to Phil Keaggy and we were talking about Elvis...and how he liked the 50's Elvis.  I told him that I even like the movie soundtracks. 

NOTE: Picture #3 is my worship pastor, brother in the Lord, sonic kindred spirit...Wayne Berry...Elvis...and Wayne's friend Noel Paul Stookey (of Peter, Paul and Mary fame).  It's the little things in life like this that brings a smile to my face.
  In 1967 I was able to meet Elvis on a Sunday afternoon, behind RCA Recording Studio...Studio B.  It was another one of those moments.  When Elvis stepped out of his Elderado...the man, the myth, the legend was standing before me. I was 15 years old...and the guy who shaped who I was...was standing before me.  After autographs and pictures and conversation...he went into the studio to record...we got in the car to go home...and my emotions gushed out my eyes.  I had no idea why I was crying...just it was not out of sadness...but out of pure joy.  I remember in 1968...the Elvis Christmas special sponsored by Singer Sewing Machines...was coming up...and my aunt Christine bought me a Philco colored T.V. so I could watch it in color.  Wow...Elvis reborn in a black leather suit...vibrant...more alive than he had been in years after being lost in a maze of travelogue movies (of which I still watch if they are on T.V.)  Then he started touring again...and I had an opportunity to see Elvis for two shows at the Houston Astrodome.   He was a lean, mean, singing machine.  I saw him again in concert in Knoxville.

NOTE: Picture #4 is of Elvis at the Houston Astrodome concert that I was able to attend.

Fast forward to August 16th 1977...and news of his death. Once again, tears...but not of joy...but of sad unbelief.  Elvis had died...bloated with the excesses of a lonely man surrounded by thousands.  Back in 1970 I became a follower of Jesus Christ (aka a Christian)...and I was convinced by people around me...to burn all of my Elvis albums...which I did because I wanted to be all I could be as a Christian.  In retrospect...big mistake...but at the time...it seemed right.  Here it  is in 2012...35 years since Elvis died...and 42 years since I became a Christian...40 years of marriage to Brenda (my Priscilla)...55 years since I saw and heard Jailhouse Rock...and 61 years since I was born.  Well...Elvis has left the planet...but JESUS IS STILL MY LORD AND SAVIOUR.  Oh yes...I still like Elvis...but the king of Rock and Roll...is superseded by the KING (Big K...Jesus)  of kings (little k). 

"Therefore also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him (Jesus) the NAME which is above EVERY NAME (including Elvis', Rodney, Brenda...fill in the blank of anything and anyone you can think of)...that at the NAME OF JESUS...every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth (where we live out this think called life)...and under the earth and that every tongue should confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD...to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-12)

Love Me Tender Kisses
Rodney "Loving Jesus" Boyd