Elvis and the Beatles

On August 27, 1965 Elvis Presley received a visit from the Beatles at Graceland. Because he couldn’t tell them apart and didn’t know their names he addressed each of them individually as “Beatle.”

At age 30, Elvis was the elder statesman of Rock 'n' Roll, the King, the Pope, the Dalai Lama, the Maharishi of Pop. One pictures the youngsters kissing the hem of his garment and only half ironically. Elvis appears nine times in A Book of Ages, John and Paul several times each.

Graceland

On this day in 1977, Elvis Presley died on the floor of his bathroom. He was 42.