Slingy bass. The drum. Not the fish.

Thanks for that pic! I knew Elvis played drums a little, but that is the first picture I've seen of him behind a kit.

Yes, I saw the tag on the BD too. But any idea of the vintage? Or the snare?

Scott

Late '50s Slingerland bass, maybe a 12" deep.

Snare looks like a Ludwig and Ludwig from the '20s or '30s.

I'm with Rich, I think he's right or real close. I love competitive drum dating. It beats gaming.

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/elvis/docs/doc2.pdf

Elvis was a wanna-be G-Man !

Elvis wanted to be a Federal Agent in the field of drug enforcement...and then he died of an overdose....hmm...

I know what you mean! Now I’m not being argumentative here but, Elvis likely died from his legal prescription drugs and bad general health. He had doctors. Don’t get me wrong I think he was abusing. I have always been more understanding of the sad situation he was in as a performer at the time of his death. My view is, he was doing Vagas shows for years and the “business powers” then were very demanding of a performer whose shows were worth a ton of money. Elvis was “required” to perform multiple shows per night and was known for high energy presentations so he couldn’t often call in sick, the show must go on. The “business powers” could be a threat if they needed to be and money is what it is all about in Vagas . So Elvis’s energy had to be high every night and he would have to be “relaxed” so he could get some sleep and do it all again the next night and so on and so on. He was middle aged and so it was getting harder by the day to keep pace with Vagas’ demands. We all have heard how difficult it is for a star of Elvis’ magnitude to just go out and do all the things the average person take for granted, he had to remain very shut in to get any relief from the fans reaching hands. Imagine having to hide during all your free time, nothing is easy when it is like that. Well he was getting old and Vagas needed his product to make that big money so those “nice” folks (whoever they were?) helped get Elvis with doctors who could help him “energize” that evening and “sedate” to relax a handful of hours later so he could sleep and do it all again the next day. Sad sh*t. I know sometimes a person can be worth so much to so many, that some will even threaten harm to a persons family and friends to get what they want, again this SUCKS!

I don’t really care for Elvis’ music all that much but I respect him very highly as a performer. I hear he loved his family and friends very much.

Please consider how it was for this first Rock & Roll mega-star should you think of him as just a doper.

Soap Box

http://www.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/nsa/elvis/docs/doc05.pdf

I suspect Elvis was put out by the Beatles success in America and his anti- american rant against the Beatles to Nixon was more about his own loss of success and envy of the Beatles success.

By the time of his meeting with Nixon in 1970, Elvis was now realizing he had been replaced in show business stature by the fab four. He even began looking somewhat silly after a string of bad movies. Soap Box

Photo of G-Man Elvis

I should add :

At the fabled meeting of Elvis and Nixie Boy, Elvis got his DEA identification certificate and a badge

and all he had asked for. The details of this meeting became public during the Watergate hearings. They have

been recounted in several books.

Though Elvis had a G-Man badge etc. he was never a federal officer of any kind.

But by published accounts, Elvis got his stuff that very day. Nixie Boy called whatever office had to be called and had one made up before Elvis left. One source is the Goldman biography that came out in 1979.

Such is the power of the Presidency!

Elvis went to Hazelden for treatment but

walked out? This was about 7 weeks before he died. It was in the

news at the time.