Elvis in concert

In the spring of 1974 saw Elvis for the first time at the Civic Center in Monroe, Louisiana. We were fortunate to be only about 20 rows back on the floor level. Elvis was still at his best for this concert. I will never forget the electricity in the air when Elvis walked on the stage. He started the concert singing C.C. Rider. Can't remember too many of the other songs he sang that night since it was 30 years ago. An interesting sidenote was that we passed the newspaper building in Monroe for the News-Star World and decided to put an application in there and had an interview and was hired so Elvis was the only reason I worked at paper there for two years because I wouldn't have even been in Monroe if not for Elvis....Three years later Elvis comes to Alexandria, Louisiana just across the Red River from where we live but the Elvis we had seen was gone and there was a different Elvis....a sad caricature of the Elvis we had seen in Monroe three years earlier. For this concert we had the absolutely worst seats possible at the very last row at top of Rapides Parish coliseum. Still we could tell he was overweight and he was struggling that night with his health as he stopped and let one of the backup singers sing so he could catch his breath. Have heard Elvis sang at the old Jimmy Thompson arena in Alexandria back in the 50's and that he said he would never come back to Alexandria and here it was about 20 years later he was here for two concerts. The ravages of drugs had done their work on Elvis and about three months after this concert he died. I remember it was the same week that the Alexandria Mall was having its grand opening in 1977. To this day no other singer has left a more lasting impression on his fans. Thousands have made the pilgrimage to Graceland in Memphis to see his home for most of his singing life and some have traveled to see his very small house he grew up in Tupelo, Mississippi. Elvis went from having nothing to seemingly having everything but he really didn't have everything because drugs entered the picture and took him away from us at the age of 42. Elvis never lost his love for southern gospel quartet music and even filled in for a quartet before for a few shows. Unlike most stars of today Elvis sang songs of other singers often and usually did them better than the original. To me no singer to come in coming years will ever match what Elvis did. He truly was one of a kind.