I am realizing Elvis Presley is becoming a distant memory for many people these days, and a name only vaguely recognized by many more. But there was a time Elvis Presley was the preeminent pop idol of the mid-20th century. When he was drafted into the Army it was a full-scale tragedy for the millions of fans who hung on every single he released and every syllable he spoke.

By all accounts, his life as a draftee in the Army was far from typical, but he did manage to stay out of the public eye for the requisite number of months in order to fulfill his military service. So when Elvis was discharged from the Army in March of 1960, he gave an interview for the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service just prior to his leaving Germany (where he was stationed) and coming back to the U.S. I'm sure most fans have heard it, but there are probably a lot who haven't.

So here it is.

(Dewey Phillips - the turbo-charged prototype - radio was never the same)

(as long as you're downloading, chip in a bit?)

As much as history books like to credit Allan Freed as the man who put Rock n' Roll on the map, the real unsung hero has to be Dewey Phillips, whose insane non-stop delivery and ground breaking exposure to white audiences of Rhythm & Blues probably did more to punch through the color barrier than anyone at the time.

Phillips started broadcasting in 1949, right at the crest of the Jump-Blues wave where Rhythm & Blues was fusing with small combo Jazz and the result eventually morphed into rock n' roll. Phillips, and his nightly show on WHBQ in Memphis ran a wall to wall stream of music by the likes of Joe Turner, Mel Walker and Little Esther Phillips, Roy Milton, Amos Milburn, Charles Brown and countless others. Because his show had no format to speak of he ran pretty much what ever he felt like. And it was this free form type of program that appealed to so many kids at the time, and so many white kids who were being exposed to music formerly relegated to rural Southern stations.

Phillips had the distinction of being the first to play Elvis Presley and one of the first to interview him.

Dewey Phillips would eventually be burned by the thing he helped create and by the mid-1950's his brand of free form radio would be co-opted by tight formats and playlists which would eventually give way to Top-40 and tighter playlists.

But for that brief period of time, Dewey Phillips had no peers and this 30 minute slice from November of 1950 gives you some idea of the madness he was all about and why the early days of Rock n' Roll came about because of him.

(There were people who swore the world went straight to hell, did not pass "go", did not collect $200))

It's almost impossible to imagine now, but there was a time when Rock was in its infancy and an endless source of bafflement from mainstream media and an entire generation who just didn't understand what it was all about. We're not even talking about what was then referred to as "race music" and early Rhythm & Blues - this was stuff pretty tame by comparison. Bill Haley and His Comets, Patti Page, The Crew Cuts - these were the acts mainstream America was somehow convinced were taking it's Youth on a one-way trip to hell - or at least, having its collective i.q. reduced to room temperature.

So mainstream America sought to explain it all - sought to answer burning questions. From 1955, well into the early 1960s, hundreds of hours of airtime were devoted in an attempt to explain what the phenomenon was all about. And to the mainstream, it was only a phenomenon; a fad, a passing fancy. Something that wasn't destined to last. And the Big Guns were brought out to help explain it. As in the case of this broadcast, part of the Conversation Series, a weekly Sunday talk program devoted to current affairs, no less than award winning Composer Richard Rodgers was brought on to explain, or at least offer some insight over Elvis Presley. Joining Rodgers was New York Disc Jockey Ted Brown and moderator Clifton Fadiman to talk about just what this strange new music was.

Actually, in retrospect quite funny. It does however point up to just how naive America was in the 1950's and how resistant to anything resembling change we were.

Now does it start to sink in just how big a deal the Civil Rights Movement was back then?

Contrary to what certain people are saying about this being Elvis' birthday . . .'fraid not.

It was August 16, 1977 that Elvis Presley, dubbed The King of Rock n' Roll died at the age of 42.

Here is a clip from CBS Hourly News (9:00 pm PDT) on August 16, 1977.

Just to keep the record straight in case you were planning on sending a card.

A little hard to imagine, and it gives pause to those us lumbering along, that time has no intention of standing still, except in photographs and recordings and even those are suspect to the vagaries of age.

Yes, Elvis Presley turns 76 today. It's difficult to imagine what he would be like if he were still around. But he's not, so we can probably take that level of shock out of the equation. As someone once described as the three stages of life - "Youth - Middle Age and You Look Wonderful", the pained "you look wonderful" would probably be in use today, more as a sad reflection on our own slow trudge South than a celebration on the ushering in of a musical and social movement. We're forever holding our youth up as a benchmark as if we're afraid we'll be lost in the shuffle when newer things roll by. Towards the end, Elvis wasn't looking terribly good and that made us fearful for ourselves, reminding us that yep, things sag, lines form - we crease and fold just like the laundry.

But there's that thing of history - of looking back and celebrating different times - the far from perfect different times, the sometimes ugly and painful different times. But the times when we were sparkling and shiny and the best things on the block, separate from the rest of the world.

And so we celebrate that. And if you aren't there right now, you will be soon enough. Every generation has its Elvis. It always will.

So with that - here is Elvis Presley live at The International Hotel in Las Vegas from August 3rd, 1969. You may or may not have heard this. Elvis purists probably know this one by heart, but I have been told it's not a common recording.

Here is a rundown of the songs:

Elvis Presley
Aug.3,1969
soundboard
International Hotel Las Vegas,Nevada
Track List
01. Opening Theme
02. Blue Suede Shoes
03. I Got A Woman
04. All Shook Up
05. Love Me Tender
06. Jailhouse Rock / Don't Be Cruel
07. Heartbreak Hotel
08. Hound Dog
09. Memories
10. Mystery Train / Tiger Man
11. LIFE STORY (MONOLOGUE)
12. Baby What You Want Me To Do
13. Are You Lonesome Tonight?
14. Yesterday / Hey Jude
15. introductions
16. In The Ghetto
17. Suspicious Minds
18. What I'd Say
19. Can't Help Falling In Love

You can play this loud if you want - or not. In any case, it's our birthday tribute.

On this day in 1978, President Carter returned from a whirlwind seven nation tour and gave a quick assessment of where the U.S. was standing with that part of the world after mending fences and giving a few opinions, particularly to India's Premier Desai on their quickly developing nuclear program. That part of the world was still rumbling though, as border skirmishes were continuing between Vietnam and Cambodia with both sides claiming gains. On the eve of peace talks with Egypt, Israel was discussing settlements in the Sinai and the seemingly never ending questions in that area of the Middle East continued. And January 8th was to be Elvis Presley's 43rd birthday, with fans descending in droves on Graceland and fears among some it was going to turn into a commercial venture (no, really?).

A reasonably quiet day, January 7th 1978, as reported on the CBS World News Roundup.