One No.1 Hit For Elvis After Beatles Invasion

Elvis Presley only had one No.1 hit after the Beatles invaded America in 1964.

Elvis Presley’s recording career was not going that well before the Beatles landed in the United States in 1964 but their arrival made it even more difficult for Elvis to go to the top of the charts.

He had a No.1 hit in 1962 in Good Luck Charm but wouldn’t have another No.1 hit till 1969 when Suspicious Minds reached No.1.

With the flood of British artists and groups hitting American shores Elvis was still popular but not to the extent when he had 16 of his 18 No.1 hits from 1956-1961.

Elvis made 15 of his 31 movies after the Beatles made their American debut so he was still in the public eye but just wasn’t recording hit songs much.

The Beatles changed music in America along with the other British performers. Clean cut American groups like the Beach Boys became a scruffy looking group after the British invasion.

I can’t recall Elvis having the scruffy look with a beard like most singers back then. He looked the same until he started wearing flashy costumes when he appeared in concerts.

There was still electricity in the air when Elvis was about to hit the stage and I still recall the excitement of seeing him appear in concert in Monroe, Louisiana in 1974 and in Alexandria, Louisiana five months before his death in 1977.

Elvis continued to make new recordings but his time as an artist recording No.1 hits was over except for the No.1 hit of Suspicious Minds in 1969.

This list shows the decline in his No.1 hits over the last years of his recording career:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elvis_presley#Number_one_singles

Elvis Loved To Give Away Cadillacs

One of the pink Cadillacs that Elvis owned parked in front of Graceland.

Elvis Presley spent a lot of money on himself by buying Cadillacs but also gave a lot of Cadillacs to band members, bodyguards, his doctor and complete strangers.

One of my favorite stories is when Elvis was watching a story on the local NBC station in Denver, Colorado about him gaving away cars the anchorman Don Kinney mentioned that if Elvis was watching he wanted a new car too. The next morning a blue Cadillac Seville was delivered to the station to Kenney.

He gave many cars to Charlie Hodge the band member who handed Elvis scarves during the concert because he would give a car Hodge was driving to someone and then buy him another one since Hodge lived at Graceland until the day Elvis died.

Elvis gave Mary Jenkins his maid and cook six cars including three Cadillacs. He also gave his dentist and jeweler cars.

One car dealer honored him by giving him a plaque for being the World’s Best Car Buyer with the names of 31 people he had given cars to.

I think it is safe to say that no other entertainer was as generous as Elvis Presley. I don’t think any other entertainer bought 14 Cadillacs for $140,000 in one trip to an auto dealer like Elvis did two years before his death.

This website has more details about the generosity of Elvis when it came to giving away cars:

http://elviscadillacs.tripod.com/elvis2.htm