There was a succession of unusual events in the life of Elvis Presley during late 1970 and early 1971. A visit to Tupelo, dropping in at the White House, and several other happenings indicated a man who was becoming increasingly restless with life. In the midst of this, on 16th January 1971, Elvis attended very special ceremony in Memphis. He had decided to accept an award as one of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of 1970, made by the prestigious Jaycee's organisation. He'd been nominated before but had turned down the honour, not wanting to draw further attention to himself. His friend Jerry Schilling persuaded him to accept the award, this being the last year he could be shortlisted because
Some musical stars are so talented and successful they come to define their musical genre. In effect, as far as the public is concerned, they become the physical embodiment of their music. For country music, the iconic figure was and is Hank Williams. So overwhelming is Hank's image, it's hard to work out if Hank actually invented the role of the wasted loner for himself, or whether he simply fulfilled an existing role suggested by hundreds of my-baby-done-left-me hillbilly songs. But there was always something of the tragic about Williams. There was a sense that his time on earth was limited, and when he died in the back of a car on New Year's Day 1953 aged twenty-nine, it did not come as a
