LETTERS: The King
To the Editor:
I couldn't help but think of my Marion days when in the past couple of weeks the contemporary music world went bonkers over the death date of Elvis Presley.
Twenty-five years have passed since Elvis passed! In the late '50s rock and roll music was taking the teen world by storm and modern music (and our USA) was never to be the same again.
In Marion County, Kansas, this historic moment may have passed last week without too much fanfare. I can say with some confidence there were some of you Marionites who quietly, if not secretly, remembered Elvis with some considerable fondness.
It was late February, 1958. My family and I were preparing to move from Marion to the farm in southeast Kansas. I was spending the last night in Marion with my friends: Tim Williams, Tom Good, Dennis Pankratz, and Dennis Schroeder. We were at Schroeder's house. He had an Elvis record, one of those little 45s, the one with the big hole in the middle. On one side was "Hound Dog," and I don't remember the other side. We played that thing over and over that night, on into the morning.
I left Marion with Elvis wailing in my head. Maybe that overload was the reason Elvis never impressed me. I have to confess I never thought the guy could sing. Still don't think he can sing.
There is no doubt Elvis impacted the contemporary music part of our unique culture, even the world music culture, if you will. He has become a modern "icon," who receives considerable worship from a mass of our sisters and brothers in this time of ours.
I also have to confess Connie and I took in Graceland in Memphis, when we stopped through there a few years ago.
And, I must confess, I can sing along with old Elvis as I drive in my work. Maybe I'm more infected than I think!
Most importantly, remembering Elvis 25 years later helped me remember that night 44 years ago when friends shared a last time together, celebrating the goodness of those golden years as young teens who, together, had grown into a new time in our lives.
We probably didn't realize in those late '50s what kind of new era was dawning just then which would change not only the modern music world, but the world. It all was changing in ways we're still trying to figure out.
Maybe part of this is why Old Settler's Day brings us back to Marion. Remembering. And, for better or worse, hanging on to something good from our past which we have figured out. See you at Old Settler's.
Jan Hayen
Parsons
