1977
Jan 1. Elvis ended his new year's eve show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Civic Center Arena
Jan 2.
Jan 3. Elvis, Ginger Alden and 15 members flew to Harrison, Arkansas to attend Ginger's grandfather funeral.
Elvis and Ginger Alden, along with a 15 man entourage attended the funeral of Ginger's Grandfather. Elvis had Ginger's family flown in to Harrison, Arkansas where they drove 20 miles to Jasper, Arkansas for the services which took place in a very small church. Elvis used Ginger's white Lincoln Continental during this 24 hour visit.
Excerpt from Ginger Alden’s book, Elvis and Ginger
“It was a small church with only six pews on each side. We quietly took seats in the back. The Reverend Maddox stepped forward and began singing “How Great Thou Art.” There was a hint of nervousness in his voice until suddenly, Elvis began singing along, and then Charlie joined in. I was initially surprised that Elvis would sing, but he did it softly, not trying to take over the service, and the reverend’s voice grew in power as Elvis subtly nodded his head at him.”
“The Reverend Martin Villines and the Reverend Guy Jones, both friends of my grandfather, handled the rest of the service, with the Reverend Villines giving the eulogy. Near the end, Elvis leaned my way and, with his eyes fixed on my grandfather’s casket, said under his breath, “Son, you’re on your own.”
It was a line I remembered from the film Blazing Saddles. I wondered if he was trying to make me laugh. At times, Elvis dealt with tension by injecting humor, and in a strange way, hearing him say this did lighten my mood for a moment.”
“I thanked Elvis once we were alone again at Graceland. His tremendous act of kindness in attending my grandfather’s funeral, especially given all of the effort it had entailed, would forever hold a special place in my heart.”
Excerpt From
Elvis and Ginger
Ginger Alden
Jan 4
Jan 5 Elvis and Ginger flew to his Palm Spring home for vacation
Jan 6-11
Jan 12. Elvis returned to Memphis aboard the "Lisa Marie"
Jan 13-21 Elvis was at Graceland
Jan 22 Elvis flew to Nashville with Ginger Alden, and reserved an entire floor at the Sheraton South Inn. Meanwhile a recording session was scheduled at Creative Workshop studio starting at 10.00pm the following night. Elvis stayed at the hotel listening demostration tapes with his producer Felton Jarvis.
Jan 23 some eyewitness accounts report that Elvis walked into the studio through the back door, looked in and in anger knocked a pizza box off one of the studio speakers onto the floor, turned around and left. Ginger Alden said in her book that Elvis said that had a problem with his voice.
His cousin Billy Smith said that Elvis told him: "I'm not going to do it. If I have to, I'll say that I'm losing my voice". According to Billy Smith he was getting back at Colonel and RCA.
In this old interview with Felton Jarvis , he confirms what Ginger has said, Elvis had a sore throat and that is why the session was cancelled.
Felton Jarvis (Elvis’s record producer at RCA)
“The winter before he died, he was supposed to recorded in Nashville. He got sick because he had come in from Palm Springs and it was below zero here. The change in climate caused him a real sore throat and he couldn’t sing, so that was exactly what happened. I know there’s lots of stories and all that kind of stuff, blown out of proportion, but they had rented a motel for a week thinking his voice would get better. The first night he got here (Nashville), he got off the plane and it was freezing, below zero, and he went to the hotel. The next night he listened to songs.... he liked a bunch of songs, and said, “O.K., let’s go to the studio.” Then he said, “You know, my throat is feeling funny, ticklish,” but he added, “ Go on over, I’ll be all right. Go on over and start on these songs.” I went over to the studio then he called me and asked me if I knew a throat specialist; he wanted to get somebody to look at his throat. I said yes, and we called the specialist; The doctor looked at Elvis’ throat and told him he shouldn’t sing, that his throat was raw and advised him that if he rested for a day or two, it should be alright. So we waited for four nights, and it never did get any better. I told Elvis we had people here from the west coast, and I thought we ought to just call it off. I told him it would give him some time to heal his throat, because we had been waiting four days, and it didn’t look like it was going to get better. I told him I thought it would just take a little time, and it would be better for him if he got out of this climate. So that’s what we did....we just cancelled and everybody went home. There are so many ridiculous stories.” (Interview published in Elvis International Forum)
Jan 24. Elvis flew back to Memphis
Jan 25.
Jan 26. Elvis proposed marriage to Ginger Alden and gave her an engagement ring
Jan 27 - 31
