Where were you when Elvis died?

[IzzyDedjet]

I was about to be 8 years old, sitting on Markie Greene's front porch enjoying my summer vacation.
I'm probably going to blaspheme in a lot of people's eyes here, but I never really liked Elvis.
I'm of one mind with Eddie Murphy.  Elvis couldn't sing or act. 
I can't fault the man for not being able to act.  I can't either.
I CAN, and DO fault him for not being able to sing or play the guitar that he always had.
I do this not to rile anyone up, and not to be contrary.  I fault him for this because he was a musical recording artist and had no real ability to do so.  Much like a large number of today's "artists".
Elvis had one encompassing thing going for him.  His delivery.
His physical delivery need not even be mentioned.  We've all heard mention of Elvis' pelvis and the nick names that accompanied such.
A lot of Elvis' delivery was in his presence.  That's a no brainer.
The rest came from the way he put his songs out.  Much like Johnny Cash (who was actually and literally tone deaf), Elvis could just deliver a song in such a way that you really didn't have much choice but to like it.

Oh well.  Let the flaming begin.

[Allhallowsday]

Green Island, Toms River, New Jersey: I was at my brother's house, and was staying with them that summer.  I was too young to have been of Elvis' first generation of fans (when I was very young, I grew up listening to The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Lou Christie...) and did not myself discover his many magnificent recordings until the 80s when I got into 50s rock... !  Though I don't care for the movies, I love ELVIS !!    

"Them" being David and Gayle.  They have both left the building since I posted this nearly 8 years ago. 

[HappyGilmore]

I wasn't alive when Elvis was.  But I grew up an Elvis fan.  I can say this...Andy Kaufman made a brilliant Elvis impersonator:
Andy Kaufman Impersonates Elvis Presley and Foreign Man on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show

This is probably my favorite Elvis song.  I say 'probably' because it may not be his 'best' but it's one of the first I heard so I'll always hold it highly:
Elvis Presley Jailhouse Rock 1957 colour

[WingedSerpent]

I wasn't alive when Elvis was.  But I grew up an Elvis fan.  I can say this...Andy Kaufman made a brilliant Elvis impersonator:
Andy Kaufman Impersonates Elvis Presley and Foreign Man on Johnny Carson's Tonight Show

I remember hearing some where that Andy's impression of him was Elvis's favorite one.

I wouldn't be born for a few more years when Elvis died.

[HappyGilmore]

I've heard that Andy's "Elvis" was Elvis's favorite as well.

I mean, he really does nail it. 

[FatFreddysCat]

I was seven years old when Elvis died in '77. Most kids my age probably didn't know or care who he was but my Dad was a big fan and I'd heard his records playing around the house my whole life so I was well aware.

On the day the news broke we were on vacation in the Adirondacks in upstate New York, staying in a cabin with my grandparents. There was no TV in the cabin so my Dad found out when he went to town in the morning to pick up the newspapers. I remember my grandma saying it was "such a shame" and she "felt sorry for Elvis." 

We must've been home from vacation by the time his funeral was held, cuz I have vague memories of seeing it on TV, whether it was live as it happened or just a recap on the nightly news, I cannot recall.

[retrorussell]

I was 6, not quite ready to start grade school.  So I was probably sitting around the house in Portland, OR with my mom (dad was working as grocery manager at Fred Meyer department store).  Likely watching game shows or soap operas with mom.  I probably watched the news break about Elvis; I was too young to really comprehend what he meant to the music industry.

[Allhallowsday]

I've heard that Andy's "Elvis" was Elvis's favorite as well.

I mean, he really does nail it. 

I wonder if ELVIS would have known of ANDY KAUFMAN since ELVIS died in 1977... and though ANDY was probably doing his imitation by then for a couple of years, I think ANDY did not become part of the mainstream until after ELVIS' death. 

[HappyGilmore]

I've heard that Andy's "Elvis" was Elvis's favorite as well.

I mean, he really does nail it. 

I wonder if ELVIS would have known of ANDY KAUFMAN since ELVIS died in 1977... and though ANDY was probably doing his imitation by then for a couple of years, I think ANDY did not become part of the mainstream until after ELVIS' death. 

This is true. 

Unless Elvis saw Andy in the clubs or something.  Andy didn't hit the mainstream til around 77, right around when Elvis passed.  A biography on Kaufman on the E! Network stated the Elvis/Andy thing, but that's the only thing I could find.   

[ER]

My parents were together on the day Elvis died, August 16, 1977. It was the summer they met, half a year before they'd defy my grandpa in Ohio and marry, and since it was nearly time for my dad to return to college in New York, they weren't certain they'd ever see each other again. In the near future would come my father leaving school for a semester and going back to Ireland to ask my grandfather for permission to make his oldest daughter his wife, and since my father was a nice Catholic young man with honorable intentions, my grandfather would consent. But my parents didn't know all that was ahead, and the day was already heavy enough with sorrows, so when news came that the most famous American in the world had died, it was a big enough event to generate its own depressing energy. My father is known for some of the lines he spontaneously delivers, and that day he let out a biggie, telling my mom, "Elvis' death will be great for his career." To which Mom replied, "You're so evil to say a thing like that." And they both smiled a moment, despite the gloom of the late-summer evening.

[Trevor]

I was nine and I remember our local radio stations in what was then Rhodesia playing Elvis songs almost the whole day.

[RCMerchant]

But I will never forget what I was doing the day Reagan was shot . . .

Neither will I, cuz I was watching it live as it happened!  

I willtoo-I just got back from NYC,and I was living in my Uncle Ron's basement-watched it on a little black+white TV-I thought it was cool.
Elvis? I was 14. I was more upset because Groucho Marx died.
I was 14-Elvis? HA! I was into Sabbath and Kiss. I liked old horror films-I liked (and still do like) old Laurel and Hardy,Harold Llyod,The Stooges,Buster Keaton...yup,I'm still drunk.

[Alex]

I was 3 when he died and living in Glasgow. So far though the only famous person I can remember where I was when they died has been Freddy Mercury.

[Alex]

I've been fighting the urge to say this all day and just can't fight it anymore.

Elvis isn't dead, he just went home.

[sprite75]

I was a little over two years old when Elvis died.  If I had to guess I was probably taking a nap or just waking up from one when he passed.