Art News

During ‘Elvis Week,’ Fans Flock to Memphis to Remember Pivotal Year in Singer’s Career

MEMPHIS, TENN (AP).- Elvis Presley fans love an anniversary. Every year, thousands of Elvis devotees flock to Memphis to remember the singer’s death on Aug. 16, 1977. The main event of “Elvis Week” is the solemn candlelight vigil at Graceland, his longtime home, at midnight Tuesday. This year, fans have something else to commemorate. It was 55 years ago — 1956 — when the first two Elvis albums were released, launching an international music career that brought Elvis’ mix of country, rhythm and blues, and gospel to millions of fans around the world. “It’s a documentation of what I think is rock music’s most incredible year,” said Ernst Jorgensen, a music producer and Elvis catalog expert. “Nobody was prepared for Elvis.” To mark Elvis’ breakout year, Jorgensen