Elvis Devotees Trek To Memphis
Henry Nguyen joined several thousand other fans Friday night for a visit to Elvis Presley's grave. It was his way of saying thanks.
Nguyen, who fled Vietnam as the country was falling to the communists in 1975, credits Presley with helping him learn English and ease his resettlement in a new country.
"When I was in Vietnam I learned his songs in English. I don't understand what it is so I try to contact American GIs and that helped build communication with American soldiers," said Nguyen, 60, of Houston. "It helped me have enough confidence to work and live happy with Americans."
Presley died at 42 on Aug. 16, 1977, and is buried in a small garden beside Graceland, his Memphis residence. To cap an annual week of parties, concerts and get-togethers, fans held a vigil Friday night, lighting candles at Graceland's front gates and walking along a long driveway to the grave.
Hundreds of other fans filled four-lane Elvis Presley Boulevard in front of Graceland waiting their turns to join the procession.
Nguyen, a retired oil company engineer, and his wife Tania, who have taken American first names, joined the crowd and displayed a hand-printed sign: "Hello from Houston, Texas/Vietnam."
Kenneth Bollermann, 52, of Manasquan, N.J., said he was making his first nighttime visit to the grave, spurred by a dream he had a decade ago.
"I was standing at the back of Elvis' grave and could have sworn he came out of his grave and stood right in front of me," said Bollermann, a kitchen worker at a retirement home. "I'm not going to say that will happen. It probably won't."
The tourism bureau expected more than 30,000 people to visit Memphis during the anniversary week. Some visitors stay a day or two, while others remain the whole week.
The graveside procession, which grew from a spontaneous fan gathering the year after Presley's death, has been run by his estate since Graceland opened to the public in 1982.
Graceland and its complex of shops and museums now draw more than 600,000 visitors a year.
The graveside vigil runs into the early morning of the 16th, the anniversary of the day Presley was found unconscious on a bathroom floor. He was pronounced dead, succumbing to drug abuse and heart disease, a short time later.
While waiting for the vigil, fans shopped for souvenirs and listened to karaoke performances of Presley imitators under a large tent in a shopping center parking lot.
Anyone could take the stage and sing two songs. Performers ranged from those in ordinary street clothes to others with jet black pompadours and full Elvis-style attire.
Vocal talents varied, too.
"You get all kinds," said show manager Danny McCorkle. "Some, well, let's put it this way, some are not as good as Elvis."
Nearby, Sherry Padgett, 41, waited her turn to meet Scotty Moore and D.J. Fontana, two of Presley's early band members.
"D.J. Fontana and Scotty Moore, that's history," said Padgett, of Orleans, Ind. "That's awesome when you can meet somebody who helped start rock 'n' roll."