Trans7
Kathy Westmoreland writes of Elvis Presley: Her Response to my comments in Trans2
Here's an e-mail sent to me by Kathy Westmoreland on September 15th (the previous e-mail mentioned was only one line, as quoted):
*Dear Dan,
I want to apologize for sending the message, "had a severe bump on the head lately" a few minutes ago. I really did send it with a bit of humour in my "voice", but realize that is not readable on an e-mail. I just find it hilarious and ridiculous that anyone would actually believe or imagine that Elvis had a double performing for him at any time. In all fairness, I suppose I should put myself in the place of a person who is a fan and wants to know what really happened to him. You'd have to have been there to see the daily changes in his looks, his weight going up and down in water retention overnight, back and forth, and back and forth.
The congestive heart disorder he was born with (one side was twice the size of the other side of his heart), and the type of cancer he had (which glands it had affected, etc.) caused drastic weight changes on a daily basis. No one looks like himself in a coffin either.
As to the comments he had made: He jokingly introduced himself as Wayne Newton in 1970! Also as Frank Sinatra (Ol' Blue Eyes is Back). This meant nothing but was intended to get a smile from the audience.
As for his other remarks, he really was trying to tell the audience and those on stage that he was a dying man. No one in that entire group believed him when he said he knew how long he had to live. I did believe him. This has been confirmed by Dr. Ed Owens, who assisted on his autopsy. If Elvis had lived in a glass bubble and lived the most perfect life a human being could live, Dr. Owens said he may have lived TWO WEEKS longer. He was born a dying man...as was his brother, Jesse, and most of his relatives on his Mom's side of the family. He knew exactly how much time he had. When I mentioned to others in the group in 1975 that he would be dead in two years, they laughed at me, assuming that he was JUST ABUSING PRESCRIPTIONS!
Oh, well, enough of this. Hope you forgive my shock at what people imagine. It made me rather emotional, I guess.
I just found your website today on Google and think it is terrific, by the way. Am looking forward to reading more on the site.
Thanks, and PEACE,
Kathy Westmoreland*
John Lennon UFO Sighting: Testimony of Another Witness
After John Lennon saw the unidentified aircraft, along with May Pang, that made such a big impression on him - see his own account in Strange Days Indeed: John Lennon's 1974 Encounter - he found out that other people in New York had reported having seen the same craft.
Now, you can read the personal account of one of the other people who saw it, Posey Gilbert, on his Pieces Of An Enigma website. It is part of an article he's also titled after a line in the chorus of 'Nobody Told Me' - Strange Days Indeed.
All Shook Up: Letter about Elvis Presley published in Record Collector, October 2000
*Dear RC,
I nearly tripped over my own feet speeding towards Elvis Presley when I saw him on the cover of RC 252. But having settled down to read Mark Paytress' review of the "That's The Way It Is" box-set, I found several snide remarks and a completely unnecessary mention of burgers - you just couldn't resist, could you? (Neither could Elvis - provocative Ed). Then there were comments about Elvis' last Las Vegas season: his supposed "faltering voice", lack of "memory for lyrics" and again, the word "fat" affronting my gaze. I suppose you know this was all true, because you were there? Well, it just so happens that I was.
I don't recall Elvis having any problems with lyrics when I saw him on 8th December, 1976. His voice was very powerful - I vividly remember the glasses on the table 20 feet from the stage vibrating to the last note of "Hurt" - and he was anything but "fat". In fact, when I saw him from the front row, he was wearing a '74 jumpsuit that was far too big for him!
Unfortunately, it seems that the man who changed the face of popular music is to be forever vilified rather than praised for his contribution. As for the box-set, your assessment was fair - it left a lot to be desired.
Diane Kirkland, Long Eaton, Notts.
Mr.Paytress will put £1 in the Snide Box forthwith.*