AboutBeverly Taylor Expertise I can answer questions pertaining to his spiritual beliefs,his childhood,his parents,his marriage and reasons for breakup, his relationships and the woment he dated,his life as father to Lisa Marie,his personal struggles, his benevolent side,and the people who he took care of financially over the years, as well as his uncompleted dreams.
Experience I am a psychotherapist by training who has studied and analyzed the life and death of the greatest entertainer of all time.
Organizations Several Elvis organizations and many professional organizations.
Publications Several local and regional
Education/Credentials I have a Masters degree,2 licensures and multiple certifications in my field. I am also a free lance writer.
Question how do people view elvis today?
what do people remember him by?
are there any elvis festivals?
Answer Hey Belinda in New Zealand! Elvis is viewed in a myriad of ways, depending on who you talk to and what you read! So much as been fabricated in the printed word and via myth. Alot has been perpetuated that isnt true..for instance, the myth Elvis was a racist. This started when someone began spreading a lie that he said something about blacks only being fit to shine his shoes. Nobody knows who started this or why; but Elvis was anything but a racist. For a southern man of the time; he was quite accepting and fond of black people and black musicians. There is the myth he stole the black man's music and Big Mama Thornton's bluesy original of "HoundDog". Truth is Big Mama didnt write it..........two white Jewish men from New York wrote it; and Elvis turned it into rocknroll........
I think Elvis is primarily remembered for his music, as a consummate entertainer, for his rich and soulful voice, ie for his talent. It is his music that lives on. Of course, he is remembered as a sex symbol, a boy who made it from rags to riches, a man who loved his mama, a mischievous devilish fun loving guy, and a generous man with a heart of gold who gave money to strangers. He gave more cadillacs and cars away than anyone known.
There are those who unfortunately, relegate Elvis' memory to drug addiction, death by overdose, etc. You have people such as Priscilla Presley, Sonny and Red West, and others who have forever marked Elvis' name in black because of what they have put in print about him that can never be erased. They have profitted off of this.
Elvis will also be remembered as a Patriot for his country...U.S. Army Private First Class Presley, who could have been given special privileges due to his celebrity status when he was drafted; but who instead, begged to be treated the same as the others. He was remembered by those who knew him in the Army as always wanting to help a fellow soldier, giving loans, etc. and never expecting any of it back. He will be remembered as the celebrity who gave a black youth a diamond ring because he admired it. The ring was so conspicuous the youth was arrested and assumed to have stolen it. Elvis was contacted and vouched that he had indeed given this kid he met on the plane his ring. He will be remembered as a man who gave most of his relatives jobs and a place to live. He will be remembered as a man who always loved and honored his parents. He will be remembered as a man who struggled with fame and fortune, and who was misunderstood.....he will be remembered as the man who once asked a fan about this pillow she brought him with a crown on it; and who told her "Honey, I'm no King...I'm just a singer. Jesus Christ is the only King."
He will be remembered as a Ladies' Man as well as a Man's Man.......as a father who loved his "little daughter". He will be remembered as a complicated man who once scribbled on a piece of paper later found in his trash can in Dec of 1976 and eventually purchased by Wayne Newton and put to song, "Help me Lord....."
Elvis will be remembered as the poor Tupelo boy who was born in a two room shotgun shack with no running water, and who never forgot where he came from and always wanted to share what he had.
Tupelo has an Elvis festival every year on his birthday. Elvis Week is very big in Memphis and leads up to the Candlelight vigil in front of Graceland. Behind the image and the icon that is known and recognized, is the man and as Elvis once said "the man and the image are very different." It is my hope that Elvis the man will always be remembered and loved for his God given talent and voice and his unparalled generosity.
Please visit again! How is he viewed in your country? Above all, Elvis Aaron Presley, a surviving twin born prematurely weighing five pounds, will be remembered at the "undisputed King of Rock and Roll!"
Beverly Taylor
