WHERE ART THOU, ELVIS?

“MY GOD, I HOPE THEY BRING BACK ELVIS!” – Independence Day

Elvis Presley died in 1977. If Elvis were alive today, he would be about 76 years old; there are many singers, actors, directors, etc, older than that who are still working, so it is feasible to say that Elvis would still be producing material. Whilst it is one thing to ask yourself ‘What might Elvis have produced if he were still alive? What might he have looked like?” it is quite another to ponder “Could he still be alive?” But some do.

The arguments for Elvis still being alive and in hiding range from the plausible (see below) to the downright bizarre – claims that he resides on the moon, for instance. Who hasn’t heard that one?

The website webspawner has a great page on Elvis which you can visit by clicking HERE I have used it for some of this article as it makes a good argument for some of the theories for how and why he could have made himself disappear.

Apparently Elvis acted strangely just before his death.
From webspawner.com:

Two hours after Elvis’s death was announced publicly, a man who reportedly looked remarkably like Elvis purchased a ticket for Buenos Aeries, paid in cash, and used the name John Burrows: the same name Elvis had used as an alias several times before.

Elvis had a few books that were considered to be his most prized possessions. He had a bible, several pharmaceutical books, books on death, and most importantly Chiro’s Book of Numbers and The Autobiography of Yogi which I will explain more about later. After Elvis’s death was announced, these books disappeared and were never recovered.

In the weeks preceding his alleged death, Elvis’s actions were not those of a man who was about to embark on an extensive US tour. He ordered no new suits despite having gained 50 pounds since his last tour, and he bid “adios” at his last show in Hawaii. He had never done this before. Adios, like the French adieu, has the significance of being a final good-bye as opposed to an “I’ll be seeing you on my next tour” kind of good-bye.

Others were intrigued by the King’s decision to sign a lucrative TV deal with NBC that would cover the tour. It was unprecedented for a network to pay such a large amount up front, in cash, for such a deal. Many wonder why Elvis even agreed to the deal since his vanity discouraged him from making public appearances due to his obesity.
RCA showed uncanny (and unbelievable) foresight by mass producing millions of Elvis’s current and previous recordings and merchandise. This is standard practice for an act that is about to go on tour, but the numbers in this case were beyond reasonable expectations. The announcement of Elvis’s death caused record sales to skyrocket.
Elvis did other unusual things that created suspicion. First, he fired several employees that he had relied upon for a long time. Also, two days before his alleged death, Elvis telephoned a friend of his named Miss Foster. He told her that he wasn’t planning on going on the upcoming tour. She asked him if he had canceled it, and he said that he had not. When she asked if he was ill, he said that he was fine, and that she should not ask any more questions or tell anyone anything, and that she should not believe anything she read. He told her that his troubles would all soon be over, and that he would call her in a few weeks.

The author of Elvis Where Are You? writes that Miss Foster took a polygraph test regarding this story, and that she was not lying.
The day after Elvis’s alleged death, a woman named Lucy De Barbon, a former lover of Elvis, received a single rose in the mail. The card indicated that the flower was from “El Lancelot.” This had been her pet name for Elvis, and it was a name that no one else knew. Flowers can’t be sent from beyond the grave. This was Elvis’s way of letting her know that he was not dead, even though he didn’t want to be found.

There is a theory that the body shown in pictures of him in the coffin was actually a wax replica of him.
From webspawner.com:

This argument is very convincing when the facts are considered. Elvis’s coffin required several pall bearers because it weighed 900 pounds. How did the Presley family get a 900 pound, custom made coffin ready for a funeral that was held on the day after his death? It takes a lot of time to build such an elaborate coffin.

And why have the funeral so quickly? Some speculate that the immediacy was intended to make it as difficult as possible for the people who were Elvis’s biggest fans (heads of fan clubs, etc.) to attend the proceedings. It could be a concern that they might recognize the flaws in the wax replica.

Elvis was an 8th degree black belt whose hands were rough with calluses, yet the body in the coffin had hands that were soft and pudgy. The body in the coffin had a pug nose and arched eyebrows (unlike Elvis) and most importantly, one of the sideburns on the “corpse” was loose and falling off. A hairdresser later reported gluing the sideburn back on the body.

Why would Elvis have faked his own death?
From webspawner.com:

Elvis had many reasons to fake his death. Elvis’s life was in danger. He had recently lost $10,000,000 in an airplane/real estate deal with a California based organization called the “Fraternity” that had links to the Mafia. It is speculated that he corroborated with the government to expose the organized crime ring in exchange for protection – perhaps in the form of a new life and identity compliments of the witness relocation program.

In addition, Elvis was a prisoner of his own fame. He had many other reasons to leave his life behind. Because of his incredible popularity, he was the recipient of several death threats, and he was concerned about the safety of his wife and daughter. Sometimes when he wanted to leave Graceland, he would send out look-alikes to distract would be followers. Elvis was also known to ride in the trunk of someone else’s car to avoid detection. Once, when he fell ill in Las Vegas, he couldn’t get proper medical attention because the hospital was overwhelmed by fans.

At the time of his alleged death, Elvis was nearing the end of his career. He was 42, his hair was graying, he was grossly overweight, and his voice was starting to weaken. He was going down hill, and he was too proud to go out with a whimper. He would never want his fans to see him in such an unhealthy condition.

Elvis had shown a fascination with death on several occasions. In the days leading up to his alleged death he was reported to have visited funeral homes at odd hours of the night with close friends. Was he doing research? Elvis once faked his death by setting up an elaborate shooting in which a would be killer fired blanks at Elvis who had a blood pack which he discharged. It was Elvis’s intention to see how the people closest to him would react to his death. Perhaps what he learned convinced him to do it for real.

Finally, one of Elvis’ favorite books is the spiritual Autobiography of Yogi. One of the central themes of this book is the relinquishing of one’s wealth and earthly possessions to achieve spiritual oneness. Elvis could do this, as well as address his other concerns of sanity and safety by faking his death and living in exile.

There is another theory that Elvis continued to perform, but under the alias of Jimmy ‘Orion’ Ellis, although I don’t believe this for two reasons. Firstly, why leave your old life behind and go straight back into performing publicly? And secondly, Jimmy Ellis does not look anything like Elvis Presley. Simple as that.

However what we do know is that the circumstances around his autopsy, and how quickly he was buried are quite suspicious. Further, his life insurance was never collected. Why?
Could Elvis be out there somewhere, like Kate Bush sang “living like a happy man”?

It’s conceivable to believe that he could have staged his death in order to retreat into obscurity although I doubt very much that he’s living on the moon. But perhaps somewhere in American suburbia there is an old man living a nice quiet life – a very private existence – who remembers all those years ago when he used to be the King of Rock and Roll…

One theory is that he was recruited by President Nixon in the war against drugs, as reported http://www.elvis-is-alive.com/

An interview with the author of ‘Is Elvis Alive?’

http://www.classicbands.com/MysteryofElvisPresley.html

Doctor claims he was treating Elvis, now calling himself Jesse:

Last song performed by Elvis roughly 2 months before his death:

My personal favourite Elvis song (Hope he still remembers the lyrics  ):

And because I can, here is Dire Straits singing ‘Calling Elvis’ live: