2007年VOA标准英语-30th Anniversary Nears of the Death of Elvis Pr

By Deborah Block
Memphis, Tennessee
13 August 2007
 

For many people it is hard to believe that it has been 30 years [August 16^th] since the death of rock-and-roll legend Elvis Presley.   Every year, 600,000 people from around the world visit his home, Graceland, in the U.S. southern city of Memphis, Tennessee.  VOA's Deborah Block recently went to Memphis and Graceland, and spoke¹ with three people who were close to Elvis. 

Elvis Presley

In the mid-1950s, Elvis Presley played a new kind of music, fusing² country and rhythm-and-blues with a new rock-and-roll style.  He swiveled his hips³ on stage, mimicking⁴ the moves of black entertainers.  At first, many people did not know what to think about him.  But it was not long before young people went crazy over his music and flocked⁵ to his concerts.  Elvis became known as the king of rock and roll.

Bernard Lansky met Elvis when he was in high school.  Lansky owned a clothing shop in an African-American neighborhood with clubs where black singers performed.  Elvis would stop to admire the clothes in the window.  One day Lansky asked him to come in.

"He said, 'I don't have money but when I get rich I'm going to buy you out.' I said, 'Do me a favor, don't buy me out, buy from me, I'd appreciate it’," Lansky recalled⁶.

Elvis wanted clothes that would make him stand out.  Lansky gave the young man some clothes on credit⁷.  Soon after, Elvis sang on national television and became a star.

Elvis became a life-long customer. Lanksy made a coat to match Elvis' pink Cadillac and designed shirts for him in unusual color combinations⁸ – shirts Lansky still sells today.

"I used to turn up the collar on them, and he said, 'That's messing up my hair and I said, 'Don't worry about it,' and he said, 'That looks good, real nice,' and I said, 'That's different, you've got to have something different.'"

George Klein also met Elvis as a teenager and they became fast friends.  "I miss Elvis immensely and I think of him every day.  He was the best friend I ever had."

Graceland

Klein was part of a group of people known as the "Memphis Mafia" that traveled with Elvis and kept him company at his Graceland home.  Elvis lived at his beloved⁹ estate¹⁰ for 20 years until the day he died.  The 1970s décor is a mixture of cutting-edge and traditional decorating styles.

"He felt relaxed in there,” said Klein. “It's a comfortable home, it really is.  When you walk in you feel comfortable, you feel safe and everything." 

Klein says Graceland was Elvis's escape, since he could not go anywhere else without being noticed.  He says they often partied with women they met. "We'd get the girls up at Graceland and play music and watch television and have a great time.   We'd start at 10 o'clock and maybe break up at four in the morning."

Elvis was often photographed with women in show business.  But those he dated were usually not part of the entertainment world.

Klein says, "He liked ladies who were normal, everyday girls away from show business."

Memphis schoolteacher JoCathy Brownlee Elkington dated Elvis for a few months in 1975.  On their first date he surprised her with a brand new car. "And Elvis said to me, 'Honey, I hope this one is OK.  It is the best I could do at two o'clock in the morning’," she remembers.

As rock music changed over the decades, Elvis adapted and had at least one top 40 hit on the music charts every year.

"He could sing anything,” says former friend Klein, “and he always said, 'As long as my voice doesn't fail me I know I'll be in show business.' "

Despite his many hit songs, Elvis won only three American Grammy music awards – all for gospel albums.  At a young age Elvis began singing gospel music at church.

"It was gospel music, Elvis's favorite music to relax with and to enjoy when he was by himself," explained Klein.

Elvis showcased his music in more from 30 films.  Klein says although Elvis had a lucrative¹¹ movie career, he hungered for better roles. "Halfway¹² through Elvis's career he became disenchanted with his movies. And I'd ask him, 'What's the new movie about?' He'd say, 'Same story, different location. I beat up the guy, get the girl and sing 12 songs.' "

JoCathy Brownlee Elkington says that after nearly 20 years of fame, Elvis still found it unbelievable that he was a household name. "He said to me one time, 'You know, that's so unreal to me that they're talking about me,' and if you mention his first name in a remote part of Africa people would know who he was."

The former girlfriend remembers a sweet, caring person.  But she also recalls¹³ a man who was overweight and had been abusing¹⁴ prescription¹⁵ drugs for years. "He would either be really, really up or really, really down. That was sad to me. You never knew what kind of mood he was going to be in."

On August 16, 1977 Elvis Presley died at Graceland at the age of 42.   He was buried in a white suit – designed by Bernard Lansky. "And he was a gentlemen,” said Lansky. “A real gentlemen."

And George Klein was one of the pallbearers at the funeral. "He was like a brother to me."

About half the visitors to Graceland are under the age of 35 and were not even born when Elvis Presley died.  His music is still immensely popular worldwide.   If Elvis were alive today, he would be 72 years old, but to his fans he is forever young. 

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 fusing   

熔融，熔化

参考例句：

• Manufactured glass is made by fusing various types of sand. 人造玻璃是将各种不同类型的沙子熔合在一起制成的。
• Interspecific hybrids are obtained by fusing two different cell types from the one species. 种内的杂种细胞是通过同一物种两种不同类型细胞融合而得的。

3 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 mimicking   

v.（尤指为了逗乐而）模仿( mimic的现在分词 )；酷似

参考例句：

• She's always mimicking the teachers. 她总喜欢模仿老师的言谈举止。
• The boy made us all laugh by mimicking the teacher's voice. 这男孩模仿老师的声音，逗得我们大家都笑了。 来自辞典例句

5 flocked   

v.群集，成群结队而行( flock的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Crowds flocked after the popular singer as he left the theater. 这位红歌星走出剧场时，成群的人尾随着他。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The crowd flocked into the church. 人群涌入教堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 recalled   

回忆起( recall的过去式和过去分词 )； 使想起； 使想到； 勾起

参考例句：

• I recalled that he had mentioned the problem once. 我回忆起他曾经有一次提到过这个问题。
• The sight recalled the days of childhood to me. 那情景使我回忆起童年。

7 credit   

n.信用，荣誉，贷款，学分；v.归功于，赞颂，信任

参考例句：

• I credit him with a certain amount of sense.我认为他有一定的见识。
• He got the credit,and we did the dirty work.他得荣誉，我们做不讨好的工作。

8 combinations   

n.合作( combination的名词复数 )；密码组合；联合体；排列

参考例句：

• The music students are learning how to score tunes for various combinations. 学音乐的学生把曲调改编为各种器乐组曲。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some antigens, or combinations of antigens, are much more potent than others. 某些抗原或者联合抗原可比其它抗原作用强得多。 来自辞典例句

9 beloved   

adj./n.受爱戴的，敬爱的；爱人，被心爱的人

参考例句：

• She longs for the early return of her beloved.她盼着心上人早日归来。
• She is Tom's beloved wife.她是汤姆的爱妻。

10 estate   

n.所有地，地产，庄园；住宅区；财产，资产

参考例句：

• My estate lies within a mile.我的地产离那有一英里。
• The great real estate brokers do far more than this.而优秀的房地产经纪人做得可比这多得多。

11 lucrative   

adj.赚钱的，可获利的

参考例句：

• He decided to turn his hobby into a lucrative sideline.他决定把自己的爱好变成赚钱的副业。
• It was not a lucrative profession.那是一个没有多少油水的职业。

12 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

13 recalls   

回忆起( recall的第三人称单数 )； 使想起； 使想到； 勾起

参考例句：

• The sight recalls the days of childhood to me. 那情景使我想起了童年。
• Moreover, extensive use of voluntary recalls can undercut agency accountability. 此外，大量利用自愿撤回会削弱行政机关的责任心。

14 abusing   

v.妄用( abuse的现在分词 )；虐待；辱骂

参考例句：

• Stop abusing the child. 住手，不要伤害这孩子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was always abusing people. 他老爱骂人。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。