Elvis Is In The Browser

The ‘King’ Gets a Castle in Denmark - ArtsBeat Blog - NYTimes.com

2010-06-17T23:28:00.000-07:00

June 16, 2010
By Felicia R. Lee

Elvis Presley’s Graceland estate in Memphis is being duplicated in Denmark and is set to open in 2011 as part of a Presley museum, Agence France-Presse reported. Workers laid the first brick on Tuesday in the small western town of Randers, which already has an Elvis Presley museum that opened 15 years ago and now receives around 25,000 visitors a year.

The Danish Graceland is an “exact copy” of the Memphis estate, the Presley museum director, Henrik Knudsen, said in an interview with the news agency. It will include some 6,000 of Presley’s possessions, including clothes, boots, guitars, letters and contracts, Mr. Knudsen said. In addition, the new museum will have a shop, a restaurant and a theater that will screen films about Presley on a loop. The town’s tourist office estimated that between 75,000 and 125,000 visitors a year would make the pilgrimage to yet another homage to the King.

Article Source: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/16/the-king-gets-his-castle-in-denmark/

A King's legacy spruces up an office wall

2009-09-02T17:15:00.000-07:00

August 27, 2009
By john mackie, VANCOUVER SUN

Bruce Allen has made untold millions managing the careers of music stars like Bryan Adams, Michael Buble and Loverboy.

But his real musical love is Elvis Presley. I mean, this is a guy who paid $18,000 US for The King's personal barber chair.

Red Robinson is big on Elvis, too. The legendary rock and roll DJ introduced The Pelvis at his Empire Stadium show Aug. 31, 1957, and collected every Elvis record he ever came across - about 400 LPs and 300 45s.

Robinson recently sold his 4,000-square-foot house in Deep Cove and relocated to a 1,500-square-foot condo in Coal Harbour. He needed to do some serious downsizing, and asked Allen if he wanted to buy his Elvis records.

Naturally Allen said yes. But he didn't want to just put them on a shelf, or box them up in his storage locker. So he decided to do The Elvis Wall.

Basically Allen filled up an entire wall beside his office with Elvis records. They're arranged six records high and 28 across in a glass display case, and they make a very impressive sight.

There are familiar records (the iconic 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong), obscure records (the soundtrack to the best-forgotten flick It Happened At the World's Fair) and unauthorized "bootleg" records (Elvis Rocks Little Rock, a live recording from 1956).

Some albums have two covers - the 1966 movie Spinout was called California Holiday in some countries, and Robinson bought both. (They're identical, except for the titles.) The 45 covers are amazing, capturing the movie star Elvis in out-takes from Jailhouse Rock, Kid Galahad, and King Creole.

Many of the records are quite rare, and worth big bucks. There is a bizarre promo 45 called Perfect for Parties, where Elvis chats up records you could play at parties. There is also an odd EP called Elvis Sails, a momento from Elvis' induction into the U.S. Army in 1958.

"NBC went on the troop ship that was taking him to Germany and interviewed him," explains Robinson, who will emcee the Elvis tribute at the PNE Aug. 31.

Robinson thinks the most valuable album in the collection is a mono version of the soundtrack to the 1968 movie Speedway.

"They only pressed 300 and said, 'Hold it, people want to listen to it in stereo,'" Robinson explains. "There were only a few made, and it's worth thousands of dollars."

In the middle of all the records is Andy Warhol's 1963 print Double Elvis, featuring Elvis firing a gun in cowboy garb.

"It's not real, it's a copy," admits Allen, 64. "If you had an original it would be a couple of million bucks."

Robinson declines to say how much he sold the collection to Allen for. But mounting the records on the wall has been a big hit with visitors to Allen's office in the old BC Electric Railway station at Carrall and Hastings.

"People come down and take pictures," Allen notes. "It amazes people when they see all the different covers."

The wealth of covers even impresses Allen's star clientele, which includes Adams, Buble, Martina McBride, Anne Murray and Jann Arden.

"It's pretty funny," says Allen. "When my artists walk down here and look at it, in many ways I think it's quite humbling.

"In another way, if they want to see somebody who was exploited, there was a guy that was exploited, big-time. It's not really something to be proud of, all this stuff up there, cause there was a lot of bad product that RCA put out. The Colonel didn't really protect him."

The Colonel was Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker. After Presley's death, information came out about all sorts of bad deals the Colonel had made for Elvis.

"The repackaging is kind of endless," says Allen. "The most exploited artist of all time, without a doubt."

He points to Presley's Moody Blue album.

"When he died they wheeled that out right away," he notes.

"It's very interesting the difference now between Michael Jackson dying and [Elvis] dying. I talked to the RCA [records] guys and they said they were all at a convention. They came in and they said 'Listen Elvis just died, everybody go back to their offices.'

"And they had trucks just riding around the United States, full of records, to drop them off wherever they could. They just pressed and pressed and pressed and then pressed some more. It was just ridiculous."

Robinson didn't just sell off his Elvis records, he sold off his entire 25,000 record collection. But the 72-year-old still has plenty of memorabilia left from nearly five-and-a-half decades in the music biz.

Much of it can be seen by the public at the Red Robinson Theatre in the Boulevard Casino in Coquitlam. His office is down the hallway from Allen, and is adorned with all sorts of vintage pictures of Robinson with the stars he met, from Elvis and Buddy Holly to the Beatles, Ricky Nelson and Tom Jones.

The niftiest item, though, might be "Little Ray," a 17-inch high "animatronic" doll of the late Ray Charles.

It looks like a giant bobblehead, with Charles in his trademark sunglasses, smiling, clad in a shiny silver jacket that looks like it's made out of alligator skin. Charles is seated at a piano, and when you press a button, his head bobs, his fingers tickle the ivories and the doll plays What'd I Say and America the Beautiful.

It's so ridiculous, it's sublime.

Article Source: http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/King+legacy+spruces+office+wall/1936453/story.html

Steve Brewer's Lonely Street on DVD, with Elvis

2009-09-02T16:11:00.001-07:00

Here's a bonus review of all things a DVD...but it is based on a mystery writer's novel

By Oline H. Cogdill
Mystery Fiction Columnist

Lonely Street: Bridge Home Entertainment, $19.99, 88 minutes running time, Rated: R.

Robert Patrick gives one of the best interpretations of Elvis Presley in the movie Lonely Street since Bruce Campbell showed The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll as a nursing home resident fighting mummies in Bubba Ho-Tep.

This is the same Patrick who as the cyborg T-1000 terrorized Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, who played Col. Tom Ryan in CBS’ The Unit and who portrayed Johnny Cash’s father in Walk the Line. Patrick regularly pops up in movies and TV as either a villain or iron-jawed tough guys.

But Patrick is unrecognizable as any of his signature roles as Elvis – or rather Mr. Aaron -- in the entertaining Lonely Street (Bridge Home Entertainment, $19.99, 88 minutes running time, Rated: R).

Based on Steve Brewer’s first novel in his Bubba Mabry series, Lonely Street is a quirky, humorous film that also stays faithful to the spirit of the authors’ amusing series.

Bubba (Jay Mohr, Gary Unmarried) is a down-on-his-luck Albuquerque private investigator who takes just about any job to pay the bills.

In Lonely Street, Bubba may have the job of his life when he is asked to keep tabloid reporter Hank Tankersley away from a client – “Mr. Aaron,” who bears a striking resemblance to Elvis Presley. Mr. Aaron (Patrick) attributes his survival to downing wheat-grass shooters and practicing tai chi while living in New Mexico for more than 30 years.

When Hank is killed, Bubba tries to find out what the reporter was planning to do with his story as well as prove that he had nothing to do with the man’s death.

The investigation gives Bubba a primer on the music industry, courtesy the scheming pony-tailed record producer Jerry Finkelman (Joe Mantegna) and leads him to the hooker with an agenda Bambi Gamble (Nikki Cox) and tabloid editor, Felicia Quattlebaum (Lindsay Price, Lipstick Jungle).

Mohr shows Bubba’s humor and slacker mentality as well as his innate desire to do the right thing, so evident in Brewer’s novels. Mantegna gives his usual spot-on performance, getting caught in the absurdity and campiness that pervades Lonely Street.

But it’s Patrick with his limited screen time that steals the show, mumbling like Elvis yet also showing a regal quality that made that boy from Mississippi grow up to be The King. Only Campbell in Bubba Ho-Tep can beat Patrick as Elvis.

The short bonuses on Lonely Street’s DVD include a look at how this independent movie got made – which included luck and creative fundraising that falls just short of putting on bake sales and car washes. Mohr also tells how he and Cox (Las Vegas) were married shortly after filming ended more than two years ago.

There are also production stills set to original songs by Elvis impersonator James Brown and a music video.

Lonely Street will make you remember why Elvis was The King; read Brewer’s novels to find out what Bubba did after his brush with Elvis.

Article Source: http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/features/arts/offthepage/blog/2009/08/steve_brewers_lonely_street_on.html

Woman simply has too much Elvis

2009-09-02T15:08:00.001-07:00

by Sarah Schuch Flint Journal
Monday August 31, 2009, 8:00 AM

FLUSHING -- There's been an Elvis Presley sighting in Flushing.

In fact, his face can be seen all over Diane Blower's porch, as it is filled with Elvis memorabilia she needs to part with.

Blower, 70, of Flushing hopes the recent anniversary of Elvis' death on Aug. 16 will spark someone's interest in buying her items.

"(The porch) is the length of the house and both sides are full," Blower said.

Blower, who has been collecting Elvis items since he began singing, has about $1,500 worth of stuff to sell after selling half her collection a couple of years ago. She has moved from a five-bedroom house to a two-bedroom home and can't fit it all anymore.

Blower wants to sell her entire collection for $1,000 to one buyer.

Blower's menage of Elvis items includes movies, postcards, jewelry, Elvis' manager's autograph, calendars, music, an Elvis telephone that plays "Jail House Rock" when it rings, plates, bumper stickers, Christmas cards, lots of pictures, plaques with pictures of his living room and jungle room on them, a porcelain Elvis doll and a travel bag, among many other things.

"I was just crazy about him," Blower said. "If you lived back in the '50s, you would understand."

Blower can't cut Elvis out of her life completely, though. She still has a chair, pillows, purses, shirts and a footstool covered with Elvis' image.

Source Article: http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/08/woman_simply_has_too_much_elvi.html

Elvis' Former Wife Gets Icon Activist Award!

2009-09-01T01:24:00.000-07:00

August 31, 2009

Elvis Presley's former wife, was honoured at the Much Love Animal Rescue's Third Annual Bow Wow Wow Dinner in Hollywood. She was awarded the Icon Activist's Award in front of a star-studded crowd, that included Denise Richard, Tori Spelling, Jerry O'Connell, and Jason Lewis.

Priscilla Presley reportedly became quite emotional as she accepted the prestigious honour, however, while accepting the honour she admitted that she was quite "embarrassed" as there were people in the audience who have done more than her.

She even confessed to having committed the cardinal sin of naively purchasing her three pooches from Bel Air's infamous puppy mill, the very thing the organization has been trying to prevent. Mills are mass operations that keep dogs in cages for their entire lives for breeding purposes only, with very little veterinary care or human companionship.

Once their reproductive ability dwindles, they are generally killed, abandoned or sold to another mill. "I didn't know at the time, but I'm glad I did that because I was able to rescue them, they would have died. It was like having a newborn baby. One was so sick I had it sleeping with me," Fox News quoted her as saying.

She proudly announced: "I've now got rescue horses at Graceland. Especially now with the economy, this has really opened my eyes to what's going on out there. We need to give a voice to these animals."

A source closer to Priscilla said that her passion for rescuing animals had been pivotal in helping her through the dark days after the King's death.

Source: http://living.oneindia.in/insync/2009/elvis-presley-priscilla-animal-rescue-310809.html

Federal grant will spruce up Graceland area

2009-08-28T23:16:00.000-07:00

City match increases pot to more than $1.2 million
By Amos Maki (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Tuesday, August 25, 2009

The City of Memphis got a federal grant Tuesday that will help improve the area around Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion in Whitehaven, one of the city's top tourist destinations.

More than a million dollars will be used to beautify the Elvis Presley Boulevard Corridor from Shelby Drive to Interstate 55. The funds come from a $975,312 federal grant with a local match of $243,828.

"These enhancements will be seen by millions of tourists who come to our city each year to visit Graceland," said Mayor Pro Tem Myron Lowery.

The money will be used to improve the street and walkways, and for utility relocation and upgrades.

This is the first phase of the city's efforts to enhance the Elvis Presley Boulevard Corridor.

Future phases of the project will extend north of Winchester Road to I-55 and south of Craft Road to Shelby Drive.

City leaders and economic development officials have targeted the area for clean-up because of the numbers of tourists who visit to tour Graceland.

Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. has been in discussion with city and economic development officials for more than a year about its plans for a $250 million overhaul of Graceland mansion and the surrounding area.

The Graceland plans include razing the cramped visitor center -- located in a former strip mall across the street from the white-columned mansion -- and replacing it with a facility seven times the size of the mansion.

Graceland spokesman Kevin Kern said Tuesday he didn't have specifics about the grant the city received and was unable to comment.

Article Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/aug/25/graceland-area-get-makeover/

Excellent Elvis related video and article to check out....

2009-08-12T19:02:00.000-07:00

Graceland Style: What's Your Favorite Elvis Fashion?

Emory Magazine took an Elvis fashion book on the road to find out what really are his fans' favorites. Summer 2009

The short clip is a humorous way to explore Elvis’ notorious clothing collection, and you can play along with those interviewed in the video. The link is below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnQ3QY-cqIE

Check out accompanying article -

Long Live the King
From fashion to Facebook, Elvis Presley still leads the way to Graceland
By Mary J. Loftus

http://www.emory.edu/EMORY_MAGAZINE/2009/summer/elvis.html

Feel free to direct any further questions to Nicole Anderson at nicole.anderson@emory.edu.

Weather Causes Damage At Graceland!

2009-08-11T21:24:00.000-07:00

Tree down at Graceland

Last night just after 7, the sky over Graceland got very dark, the winds begun to whip, and the rain fell.

Guests visiting Elvis' grave were asked to evacuate the property but refused. EPE employees exclusively told Elvis Unlimited that it took 15 minutes to get guests to leave the property ( for their own safety) due to the weather conditions. Staff also said, " The fans are passionate. They really love Elvis! And despite the weather, they wanted to stay."

And hats off to the Graceland staff for wanting the fans to come down from the hill until the storm ended. The Graceland staff put safety first. And from the picture shown, you can see why they were so concerned for tourists. A tree on the front lawn fell down during the storm. It fell and broke the original white wooden fence which has been at Graceland while Elvis lived there. I am sure Graceland will have this tree cleaned up and the lawn looking as beautiful as ever ASAP! Luckily no one was hurt not even a squirrel!

http://www.elvisunlimited.com/news.asp?page_id=79&news_id=1534

IMPORTANT: 'Elvis On Tour' release on DVD. Need YOUR help!

2009-08-11T19:44:00.000-07:00

PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU VOTE ON THIS ONE.
& Please pass this on to your Elvis friends.
It has gone up 120 votes since yesterday - but surely Elvis fans can produce a 6,500 votes to get it to number 1?

IMPORTANT: 'Elvis On Tour' release on DVD: With perfect timing for Elvis Week the Turner Classic Movies website has a list of popular films (not available on dvd) that you can vote for to be produced on DVD. Today 'Elvis on Tour' is on the list at only #92.
1958's 'This Angry Age' staring Anthony Perkins is at number one but with only 6448 votes, Bogart's classic 'The African Queen' is at #2.
'Elvis On Tour' has 1206 votes so far.
If everyone who visits this site today CLICKS HERE TO VOTE - we can take 'Elvis On Tour' to the top of the list in one day!
Show MGM that Elvis fans care and really do want to see 'Elvis On Tour' finally released. If we can achieve a stunning set of votes then this will push MGM to release the upgraded 'Elvis On Tour Special Edition' DVD and this will get BMG to finally release the 'Elvis On Tour' CD box-set that Ernst has promised.

To check out the overall MGM movie list click here

or CLICK HERE TO VOTE for 'Elvis On Tour'.

Votes are tallied once a day. Go ahead and vote and let your ELVIS voice be heard!

(News, Source;EIN)

Much Love Animal Rescue Honors Priscilla Presley At Bow Wow WOW Event

2009-08-08T18:11:00.001-07:00

On Saturday, August 22, Priscilla Presley will be honored at Much Love Animal Rescue’s third annual Bow Wow Wow event in Hollywood, California.

The event is being being billed as a “star-studded affair” and will include comedy, festive food and drink (VEG, of course) and a silent auction. The rescue organization is giving Presley a special tribute for “her generosity towards animals, rescuing horses, and other charitable efforts.”

We haven’t received the celebrity roster for this year’s event, but last year’s benefit was attended by stars like Denise Richards, Kate Walsh, Tori Spelling, Kevin Nealon, Paula Abdul, Jamie King, Amy Smart and many more. Fancy!

Interested in attending the bash?

Tickets . To learn more visit start at $200.00 and can be purchased through their website MuchLove.org!

Source Article: http://www.ecorazzi.com/2009/07/29/much-love-animal-rescue-honors-priscilla-presley-at-bow-wow-wow-event

The Elvis Presley Award of Excellence

2009-07-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

THERE IS NO PAYMENT REQUIRED TO SIGN THIS PETITION. STRICTLY AND ABSOLUTELY NON-PROFIT. SIMPLY SIGN AND CLOSE. PLEASE PASS IT ON TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE AND HELP MAKE THIS HAPPEN. TLC "ALWAYS FOR ELVIS"

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/petitionfortheelvispresleyawardf?e

Shawn Klush's Dad

2009-07-15T19:16:00.000-07:00

Shawn's father passed away Monday night after a long illness. Eddie is with God now and has no more suffering. He will be missed by all his family and friends. The Wake will be Thursday evening 5pm- 8pm. The funeral is Friday morning at Saint Mary's Assumption Church in Pittston at 9:30am.

Kizis-Lokuta Funeral Home
134 Church Street
Pittston,PA. 18640
(570) 654-4271

Condolences can be sent to the fan club address:

The Shawn Klush Fan Club
P.O. Box 4264
West Wyoming, PA 18644

Please keep the family in your prayers as they go the grief of losing a loving husband, father, father-in-law, brother, brother-in-law, uncle, and grandfather.

Terri Mueller
Director of Artist and Fan Relations
Shawn Klush Enterprises
P.O. Box 4264
Wyoming, PA. 18644
http://www.shawnklush.net

ETA Mario Cervini has passed away

2009-07-13T19:26:00.000-07:00

I just learned from an email in another ETA group that ETA Maria Cervini passed away on Friday July 10th from cancer. Per an email I read from Richard Rosenthal, Mario participated in the Windsor Elvis Festival since its inception and was able to attend some of this years' Windsor Elvis Fest, but was unfortunately unable to compete.

Here is the obituary that was in the Windsor Star and also there is a link where one can leave their condolences to the family:

Cervini, Mario
CERVINI, Mario Passed away after a short, yet courageous battle with cancer on Friday, July 10, 2009. Together in love with Bonnie Roach for 12 years. Cherished father of Thomas, Louise (Mike), and James. Loving son of Antonietta and the late Angelo Cervini (1993). Dearest brother of Bill Cervini. Loved son in-law of Shirley Roach and brother in-law of Marilyn Roach (John) and Janice Pulley (Richard). Mario will be deeply missed by many aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. He spent 27 years as a dutiful employee of Heinz. Mario gained recognition in the local community as an Elvis tribute artist. His entertainment expertise brought enjoyment to seniors, vacationers and many other community event visitors. He has been a participant in the annual Windsor Elvis Fest since its inception. Mario's family members and friends have benefited from his generous and selfless nature. Visiting at the Reid Funeral Home, 14 Russell Street, Leamington (519-326-2631) on Monday from 7-9 p.m. and Tuesday from 2-5 & 7-9 p.m. Parish Prayers Tuesday at 8 p.m. Funeral Service to Celebrate Mario's life will be held by his family and friends, at the funeral home, on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 at 11 a.m. In lieu of flowers, donations, made by cheque, to the Leamington Hospital Foundation would be greatly appreciated by Mario's family. Family and friends are invited to share their memories and words of comfort at www.reidfuernalhome.ca In the words of Mario (and Elvis), "I did it my way!"

Click: View and Sign Guest Book

Chris Connor new live footage

2009-07-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

NEW FOOTAGE OF CHRIS CONNOR PERFORMING LIVE!

Chris Connor's debut in A Tribute To Elvis was captured on film last weekend. Follow the link below to see a compilation of his performance....

Chris Connor Live in A Tribute To Elvis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6obcVsvkUE4&feature=channel&fmt=18
(If this link does not work, try copying and pasting into your browser)

The shows at Ellesmere Port Civic Hall and Bacup Leisure Hall were both a big success with Steve Preston performing the Vegas rehearsals and Chris Connor performing the Las Vegas Years in the white suit.

See A Tribute to Elvis TONIGHT at...
DEWSBURY TOWN HALL - FRIDAY 3rd JULY
For tickets call: 01924 324 501 (or pay on the door)

See Chris Connor and Steve Preston perform again at Dewsbury Town Hall, This Friday! The doors open at 7pm with the show starting at 8pm. This is the last time Chris and Steve will perform together until the World's Greatest Elvis Tribute Artiste Concerts in August.

ELVIS RADIO'S JIM SYKES PRESENTS THE GLOBAL WORLD PREMIERE OF THE NEW FTD DIXIELAND DELIGHT ON SIRIUS 13 - XM 18

2009-07-02T17:16:00.000-07:00

Elvis Live In Concert- Global World Premiere of Dixieland Delight
Part 1
Friday July 10 @ 8:00 pm ET

This is part one of the brand new Follow That Dream CD release recorded May 31, 1975 in Huntsville, Alabama. Elvis is fresh, enthusiastic and powerful down home in ‘Bama! Next week...part two, the June 1st concert performance.

Rebroadcast: Sun. July 12 @ 12:00 am ET & 10:00 pm ET
Tues. July 14 @ 6:00 am ET

The FTD Dixieland Delight 2 CD release features concert performances from May 31, 1975 and June 1, 1975 in Huntsville, Alabama, this set is released in cooperation with the forthcoming multimedia box set release by Praytome Publishing. Elvis was truly inspired by the superb reaction he received in Huntsville, selling out five shows. It’s the only time in his career that he did so many consecutive performances in one City. Dixieland Delight will be released as a 5" digipack and will be the first such release to include a 4-page booklet.

Dixieland Delight

88697 514822-2

Beginning of Matinee show not recorded. Bonus tracks have been added from Evening performance.

Disc 1

01) Love Me
02) If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
03) Love Me Tender
04) All Shook Up
05) (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel
06) The Wonder Of You
07) Burning Love
08) Introductions
09) Trouble - incomplete
10) T-R-O-U-B-L-E
11) Hawaiian Wedding Song
12) Let Me Be There
13) An American Trilogy
14) Funny How Time Slips Away
15) Blue Suede Shoes
16) For The Good Times
17) Little Darlin'
18) Can’t Help Falling In Love

Bonus Songs

19) Johnny B. Goode
20) Hound Dog
21) I’m Leavin'

Tracks 1-18 recorded May 31, 1975 at the matinee show
Tracks 19-21 recorded May 31, 1975 at the evening show

Beginning of Matinee show not recorded. Bonus tracks have been added from Evening performance.

Disc 2

01) Love Me
02) If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
03) Love Me Tender
04) All Shook Up
05) (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear/Don't Be Cruel
06) The Wonder Of You
07) Burning Love - incomplete
08) Polk Salad Annie
09) Introductions
10) I Can't Stop Loving You
11) T-R-O-U-B-L-E
12) I'll Remember You
13) Let Me Be There
14) Why Me Lord
15) An American Trilogy
16) Funny How Time Slips Away
17) Little Darlin'
18) Can't Help Falling In Love

Bonus Songs

19) I Got A Woman/Amen
20) Release Me
21) Heartbreak Hotel)
22) How Great Thou Art

Tracks 1-18 recorded June 1, 1975 at the evening show
Tracks 19-22 recorded June 1, 1975 at the matinee show

Recorded live May 31 & June1, 1975 at Von Braun Civic Center, Huntsville, Alabama

Dixieland Delight - Elvis Presley FTD CD
Musicians:

Lead guitar: James Burton
Rhythm guitar: John Wilkinson
Acoustic guitar and harmony vocals: Charlie Hodge
Bass: Jerry Scheff
Drums: Ronnie Tutt
Piano: Tony Brown
Electric piano: David Briggs
Vocals: Kathy Westmoreland, Sherrill Nielsen, The Sweet Inspirations and J. D. Sumner
The Joe Guercio Orchestra conducted by Marty Harrell

Album produced and art directed Ernst Mikael Jørgensen & Roger Semon
Mastered by Lene Reidel

Vegas deal tarnishes business' golden boy

2009-06-11T01:29:00.000-07:00

BY ANTHONY EFFINGER AND DANIEL TAUB BLOOMBERG NEWS
Posted on Sunday, June 7, 2009

Robert F.X. Sillerman, the media baron who owns the rights to Elvis Presley, had a great run until he tried to break into real estate.

The 61-year-old Sillerman made a fortune in radio, buying up stations nationwide and selling them en masse for $2.1 billion in 1998. He then rolled up concert venues and talent agencies for the likes of Metallica and basketball star Michael Jordan and sold that business for $4 billion in 2000. A year later, he co-produced the Broadway adaptation of his friend Mel Brooks' movie The Producers.

Sillerman made what may have been his best deal in 2005, when he bought television's American Idol, the talent show that has franchises around the world and has topped U.S. TV ratings.

Then, in 2007, Sillerman rolled the dice on real estate - at exactly the wrong time. He started a company called FX Real Estate and Entertainment Inc. and took over 18 acres on the Las Vegas Strip. He borrowed $475 million through Zurich, Switzerlandbased Credit Suisse Group AG to pay for the property and start developing a resort with an Elvis theme.

Sillerman owns the commercial rights to Elvis and a 90-year lease on Graceland, Elvis' Memphis home, through another company, New York-based CKX Inc., which also owns Idol.

The FX investment turned out to be a blunder by a deal maker who, according to business partners and friends, rarely makes them.

"Bob always sees the big picture and knows how to maximize things," said Brooks, 82. "He's one of the brightest people I know."

COMPANY DELISTED

The Vegas project is in default. Plans for a new hotel and convention center at Graceland are on hold. FX Real Estate fell to pennies a share in April from its February 2008 peak of $7.88 and was delisted from the Nasdaq stock exchange.

A separate real estate venture - construction of a resort on the Caribbean island of Anguilla, featuring residences costing as much as $12 million and a hotel with personal butlers - also stands unfinished and in default.

"Some people are mad at Bob because he had the golden touch," said William Huff, founder of W.R. Huff Asset Management Co. in Morristown, N.J., which is the largest investor in FX Real Estate after Sillerman himself.

"I think there was a naive perception of infallibility," Huff said. "Bob is not infallible."

Priscilla Presley, Elvis' wife from 1967 to 1973, said the economy, not Sillerman, is to blame.

"I have a lot of confidence in Bob," she said. "When the timing is right, I'm sure all this will come back on the boards."

Sillerman paid Priscilla Presley $6.5 million for commercial rights to the Presley name.

But he said he got into something he didn't really understand in Las Vegas. "I'm not very knowledgeable about real estate," he said. "I think I've demonstrated that to the world."

There are signs that he has stretched. In March 2008, he took out a $23 million loan from Deutsche Bank AG on his fivestory town house on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, according to property records. Sillerman said the loan was for estate planning purposes and declines to say more.

DEUTSCHE BANK LOANS

He disclosed another loan from Deutsche Bank, for $29 million, in an April filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. It's backed by his 29 percent stake in CKX. If CKX shares fall to $2.50, according to the filing, the loan defaults. CKX was trading at $8 late last week, up more than 90 percent in 2009 after a 64 percent slide in 2008. The loan in the April filing, Sillerman says, was for investment purposes.

CKX is good collateral. Sillerman is chief executive officer of the company, which he formed in 2004 to buy up entertainment properties. It acquired Simon Fuller's 19 Entertainment Ltd., the company that owns American Idol, in 2005, for $161 million plus 1.9 million shares of CKX. There are Idol clones in 100 countries.

"It's the only show that can consistently bring in 24 [million] or 25 million viewers in a telecast," said Brad Adgate, senior vice president at Horizon Media Inc., a New York-based company that buys slots for advertisers.

That audience means News Corp.'s Fox network can charge advertisers, which include Apple Inc., AT&T Inc. and Coca-Cola Co., $650,000 for a 30-second commercial.

Idol finalists have sold more than 42 million albums and 47 million single-song downloads, according to Billboard magazine. Kris Allen, the 23-yearold UCA student from Conway, was crowned this year's winner, with almost 100 million votes cast after his final performance in May.

Sillerman profits from American Idol through his stake in CKX. Revenue from Idol advertising, merchandise sales and touring by its performers rose 15 percent to $96 million in 2008 and accounted for about a third of CKX's $288.1 million of total revenue.

Paul Kanavos, a partner in the Vegas and Anguilla projects, says that if anyone can recover from the real estate wreck, it's Sillerman. "He's the calmest, coolest businessman I've ever met," Kanavos said.

Sillerman has built and sold five public companies, making money for investors - and himself - each time. None of his many friends in the entertainment industry will be surprised if he launches a new public company sometime soon - if only to put the failure of the last one behind him.

Article Source: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/Business/261481/

Elvis' Graceland Stable Opens for Tours; Rescued Horses Helped

2009-06-11T00:28:00.000-07:00

by: Kimberly S. Brown, Editor
June 07 2009, Article # 14312

Sometimes promotion of the horse industry and assistance for unwanted horses comes from unusual places. Did you know Elvis Presley had a stable at his home at Graceland in Memphis, Tenn.? Or that he sometimes rode a horse up to the gates of Graceland to sign autographs? Did you know rescue horses have lived there (and still do)?

The stable at Graceland was recently opened to visitors for the first time, and there are four horses living there!

The stables have housed various horses over the years, and according to an article on elvis.com, "Some were distant relatives of the original horses, while others have been rescue horses."

Elvis' wife, Priscilla, became involved in the Fayette County Tennessee Animal Rescue, according to the article, and some of the horses in the past have come from the rescue.

For current and historic photos of the stable visit photos.elvis.com.

Article Source: http://www.thehorse.com/ViewArticle.aspx?ID=14312

Want Elvis on an iPhone? There's an 'app' for that

2009-05-16T15:35:00.000-07:00

Memphis Commercial Appeal
May 13 2009
By Michael Lollar

In the 1950s, Elvis Presley had one of the first electronic watches. He would have one of the first mobile phones and a media room that let him watch or shoot three TV monitors at the same time.

Beginning today, Elvis will have his own iPhone "app" to keep Elvis fans up to date on the popular "Elvis sightings" feature on the Elvis.com Web site, along with Elvis videos, podcasts and live images from a camera trained on the grounds of Graceland.

"Elvis always had the latest and greatest, and his Web site was one of the first entertainment Web sites on the Internet," said Scott Williams, vice president of marketing for Elvis Presley Enterprises.

During Elvis tribute week last August, about 2,000 Elvis fans competed in an Elvis MySpace karaoke contest for a trip to Graceland to sing an Elvis standard to fans on the lawn of Graceland.

In December, Elvis joined the virtual world as an avatar with Justin Timberlake on Gaia Online, one of the biggest virtual world gaming sites in the country.

"Elvis would have been the first person to buy an iPhone and an iPod. He would have loved the portability and would have been one of the biggest iPhone users ever," said Chris Przybyszewski (pronounced shoo-ber-CHEF-ski), CEO of Resolute Games & Apps, the Memphis company that created the Elvis iPhone application.

The Elvis "app" was activated Tuesday night and goes public today as one of about 40,000 "apps" available to iPhone users. It is free, allowing users to tap into selected features of the Elvis Web site, including podcasts excerpted from Sirius XM Radio and social networks such as Facebook and MySpace pages.

Przybyszewski said his company created the software for the Elvis "app" by writing computer code to draw selected content from the Elvis Web site.

"Graceland controls the content. We give them a window and a controlling device," he said. Each feature from the site is visible within the Elvis "app" as part of the iPhone touch pad.

Resolute also created "apps" for the popular games Thumstruck and Segment.

Like the Elvis "app," they are available by going to the iTunes Web site and selecting "App Store."

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/may/13/want-elvis-on-an-iphone-theres-an-app-for-that/

Elvis’ Circle G tractor set to go on display

2009-05-08T03:47:00.000-07:00

Memphis Commercial Appeal
May 8 2009

Beneath the glitz and glamor of rock and roll there were often rural roots, and beneath the King of Rock and Roll there was sometimes a tractor.

Graceland will remind Elvis Presley fans of Elvis’ roots today when it unveils the newly restored John Deere 4010 tractor Elvis purchased in 1966 when he bought the Circle G Ranch as a weekend getaway in DeSoto County.

After Elvis sold the ranch, he moved the tractor to Graceland to help maintain the grounds. It had fallen into disrepair until Graceland contacted John Deere about restoring it.

The restoration was done at Northwest Mississippi Community College with guidance from John Deere and will be on view beginning at 10 a.m. today in the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum at Graceland. The project eventually will include sales of die-cast metal replicas of the green tractor.

Stand-alone admission to the museum is $10.

— Michael Lollar

Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/may/08/brief-elvis-circle-g-tractor-set-go-display/

Special Deal for Inside Blue Hawaii

2009-05-07T23:41:00.000-07:00

Order Inside Blue Hawaii directly from the writer and receive a box set from the first 200 printed! Price 50.00 plus 10.00 shipping, signed and personalized by the writer!

Check, Money Order or Paypal accepted!
email me directly at MegMadMurp@aol.com
and place your order now!

Inside Blue Hawaii

The foreword is written by song writer, Sid Tepper who co-wrote 5 songs for the film. The DVD contains NEVER -BEFORE- SEEN footage of Elvis on the set of Blue Hawaii. And the recording session photos of Elvis are just stunning among many other surprises included in this box set.

We originally set the release date for this box set for Christmas. We decided to delay the project to include this newly discovered footage and some incredible photographs we obtained. Since it's premiere in Copenhagen, fans have said, it was well worth the wait!

Includes a Lei, DVD, Single, Full Color Book, Certificate complete in deluxe box set.

This is the cheapest price anywhere!

Megan M. Murphy
Editor
www.elvisunlimited.com
"The Colonel covered the nation. Elvis Unlimited covers the world!"

EIN E-Alert #253 ... May 2009

2009-05-07T22:54:00.000-07:00

All the recent Elvis News and more..

http://www.elvisinfonet.com/ealert253.html

The Gates of Graceland

2009-05-04T16:53:00.000-07:00

Article Source: http://www.tylerpaper.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090504/FEATURES01/905030336

Monday May 4 2009
By PHIL HICKS

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- My parents were huge Elvis Presley fans and it was only natural I would become a fan as well.

In fact, my parents thought so much of "The King" they took my brothers and myself to an Elvis concert when I was 10 years old at the Astrodome. They told me someday I would treasure the memory, and they were right.

Thus, visits to Graceland have become part of my routine every few years.

Graceland is a national treasure that fans flock to each year. Some 600,000 fans visit each year.

Graceland

The home of Elvis, who is often referred to as "The King of Rock 'N' Roll," is a 13.8-acre estate with a southern colonial white-columned mansion at 3734 Elvis Presley Boulevard.

It is about 12 miles south of downtown Memphis and some six miles north of the Mississippi border.

It is listed as a National Historic Landmark.

Presley, at the age of 22, purchased the estate in 1957 for about $100,000.

Across the street from Graceland is Heartbreak Hotel and Grace Visitors Center. At the Center, you can purchase tickets. From there you are given headphones and use a shuttle to reach the mansion.

Mansion

The home is built of tan limestone and consists of 23 rooms, including eight bedrooms and bathrooms.

The tour begins with a view of a grand piano in the music room, which is just beyond the living room.

The music room has stained glass peacocks as an entrance. It then winds through the dining area, kitchen, TV room (where Elvis had three TVs -- he got the idea from President Lyndon Johnson), bar and billiards room, and the famous "jungle room," which has an indoor waterfall. He also recorded two albums in the jungle room.

The upstairs remains private.

Graceland was open to the public in 1982, some five years after Elvis' death.

Grounds

Behind the mansion is Elvis' father Vernon's office, daughter Lisa Marie's swing set, a shooting range, and The Trophy Room and racquetball courts, which contains many Elvis artifacts -- including gold records, awards and his famous concert jumpsuits.

You can also see the many automobiles Elvis collected as well as his airplanes.

Meditation Gardens

At the end of the tour, Presley, his parents, Gladys and Vernon Presley, and his grandmother are buried in what is called the Meditation Gardens.

The tour guide said flowers arrive each day from all over the world and some are displayed at the grave sites.

Tickets

There are three types of tours -- Graceland Elvis Entourage VIP ($69), Graceland Platinum ($15-33) and Graceland Mansion ($12-28).

The VIP tour includes: an audio-guided tour of Graceland Mansion; plus a self-guided tour of Elvis' two custom airplanes; Elvis' Automobile Museum; Elvis in Hollywood Exhibit; Elvis Lives: The King and Pop Culture Exhibit; Private Presley Exhibit; 1968 Special Exhibit and a special VIP Only exhibit at Graceland Mansion.

Also, there's front of the line Mansion Access, a special all-day ticket; and a "Keepsake Backstage Pass."

This tour takes about 2½ to 3 hours to complete.

The Graceland Platinum Tour includes: an audio-guided tour of Graceland Mansion; plus a self-guided tour of Elvis' two custom airplanes; Elvis' Automobile Museum; Elvis in Hollywood Exhibit; Elvis Lives: The King and Pop Culture Exhibit; Private Presley Exhibit; and 1968 Special Exhibit.

This tour takes about 2½ to 3 hours to complete.

The Graceland Mansion Tour includes: an audio presentation and tour of Graceland Mansion and grounds only. This tour takes about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

Estate opens its doors for Desert Chapel

2009-05-02T00:27:00.000-07:00

May 1 2009

Benefit was first ever permitted event-home function in the city

The Elvis Presley legend recently scored another first, as his “Graceland of the West” opened its doors for the city's first permitted event-home function.

“We're (permit) No. 001,” said Reno Fontana, president and CEO of the Elvis Presley Estate in Palm Springs.

The opening party, which was a dinner and live-auction benefit for Desert Chapel Christian School, was dubbed “Viva Palm Springs.”

The Rev. Fred Donaldson, a pastor with Desert Chapel Church, said Fontana offered the house to Desert Chapel for either a church or school function free of charge.

Desert Chapel students decorated the pool area outside, and greeted and served guests. One of them even posed as Presley.

“In this economy we really need events like this to keep our school running,” said Nathan Barker, director of Desert Chapel School's fundraising group Eagle's Nest.

Since the city's vacation and event home ordinances went into effect last October, there have been 919 vacation homes registered, said Cindy Cairns with the Palm Springs Finance Department.

The laws seek to limit occupancy, curb loud parties, traffic and overflowing trash bins left by renters.

The Elvis Presley Estate is the only event-home to be registered to date, Cairns said.

Fontana said he and his wife, Laura, have been trying to open the estate to events for five years.

“It's a tough process and rightfully so. We have a commercial license in a residential neighborhood,” Reno Fontana said.

He said neighbors of the estate have been very supportive of his endeavors.

Article Source: http://www.mydesert.com/article/20090501/NEWS01/904300398/1026/news12/Estate+opens+its+doors+for+Desert+Chapel

Legendary Guitar: Elvis Presley’s Gibson J-200

2009-04-18T18:35:00.000-07:00

Gibson.Com
Dave Hunter
April 17 2009

Music historians have thoroughly documented how blues and country came together with an extra shot of energy and a dash of panache to give birth to rock and roll. You could define one of the genre’s biggest stars, Elvis Presley, in precisely the same terms, then turn around and apply the formula to Elvis’s all-time favorite acoustic guitar — the Gibson J-200. Developed as the ultimate punchy, cutting rhythm machine for country stars of the late 1930s, the J-200 (originally, and again today, called the SJ-200) offered the maximum volume and clarity available from an acoustic guitar in its day, while also stepping out in the bold, flashy looks that really helped a performer stand out on stage. Both its look and sound translated perfectly to rock and roll, and Elvis embraced his own Gibson J-200 with a passion that The King rarely, if ever, displayed for a musical instrument.

You can see — and hear — Elvis’s blonde J-200 in the movies Jailhouse Rock, King Creole, and G.I. Blues, as well on surviving concert footage from the period, where he puts it to good use cranking out the rhythm chops in his own inimitable and under-sung style. It’s interesting to consider, though, that this enormous star came to his instrument, very likely, out of his admiration for those who had played it before him, and who had already established it as the pinnacle of its breed. The forefather of the J-200 hit the scene in 1937 when “Singing Cowboy” Ray Whitley ordered a 17”-wide flat-top from Gibson with a unique, rounded profile and deluxe cosmetic appointments. The original one-off was labeled “L-5 Special” for the similarity of its neck and body proportions to those of Gibson’s L-5 archtop, and other early examples of the design were made on a custom-order-only basis. C&W crooners Gene Autrey, Tex Ritter, Roy Rogers and Ray “Crash” Corrigan commissioned their own customized versions of the instrument (some historians believe Corrigan’s to in fact be the first SJ-200 built). The guitar appeared in the Gibson catalog a year later as the Super Jumbo, and was soon known simply as the SJ-200.

Aside from being the grandest looking flat-top on the planet in its day, the SJ-200 had the goods to get these stars heard, too. The prewar model had a solid spruce top and solid rosewood back and sides for a full, rich voice that could really fill a room, partnered with a maple neck and 25 1/2” scale length. After the war, however, the SJ-200 (soon shortened for a time to J-200) returned in 1947 with back and sides of solid maple, and this is the most famous incarnation of the model, accurately represented in the SJ-200 TV made today by Gibson’s acoustic craftsmen in Bozeman, MT. A crucial ingredient of many large-bodied archtops, maple helps to add brightness and definition to a guitar that already produces plenty of warmth from the sheer breadth of its dimensions. (At least one maple-bodied SJ-200 is documented as having been custom-ordered prior to WWII, as is a custom-ordered rosewood-bodied J-200 in the 1950s).

Elvis came into his own J-200 just as he was approaching the early peak of his career, and Presley lead-guitarist Scotty Moore’s memories of those days provide some interesting insight into how his employer acquired the instrument. As Moore tells it, Elvis was given a 1956 J-200 in October of ’56 (actually a J-200N, the “N” denoting the natural finish on this model) thanks to Moore’s own endorsement deal to play a Gibson Super 400CESN. Ever tight on the reins, however, Presley manager Tom “The Colonel” Parker wouldn’t let his star accept endorsements, so Elvis was invoiced for the guitar, and purportedly paid in full (further fascinating details of the story of this guitar and others are available in Scotty Moore’s own words at www.scottymoore.com).

Elvis’s Gibson J-200 quickly became his favorite instrument, and he sought protection for it a year later in the form of a custom-made tooled-leather cover, which the guitar is frequently seen wearing in live concert photos and film footage. Originally a stock-factory model, the guitar received the custom appointments that it was later known for after being sent out for restoration upon Elvis’s return from Army service in 1960. In addition to getting it back into playing condition, the famous “ELVIS PRESLEY” inlay was added to the fingerboard, and the original pickguard was swapped out for a pointy, black custom affair, first prominently seen in the movie Wild in the Country. This is the guitar Elvis again turned to for his live performance comeback of 1969-’71, a period that is well documented in photos and on film—a great proportion of which beautifully shows off his modified 1956 J-200. The guitar is not on display with other Elvis Presley memorabilia at the artist’s Graceland mansion in Memphis, Tenn.

Source Article: http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Lifestyle/Features/legendary-guitar-elvis-417/

Gospel group's roots trace back to 1934

2009-04-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

LedgerEnquirer.Com
by Allison Kenney
Saturday April !8, 2009

For nearly 50 years, Ron Blackwood of the Blackwood Quartet has been mesmerizing audiences with the harmonies of “He Teaches Me,” “Leaning on the Everlasting Arms” and other gospel favorites. He knew Elvis Presley, he’s performed with big names and notyet-big names and he likes to relax by watching Bill O’Reilly.

The oldest child of the late R.W. Blackwood Sr., one of the founders of the Blackwood Brothers, Ron Blackwood says he’s having as much fun in his career as ever.

“I’m telling you, I’m as excited and thrilled as I was when I was 20 years old,” Blackwood said in a phone interview this week from east Tennessee, where he lives with his wife and family.

Blackwood and his quartet will perform a free concert at 6 p.m. Sunday at First Baptist Church. The quartet’s “Super Tour” is keeping a full schedule, performing after Columbus in Kentucky, Indiana and Alabama.

Ron Blackwood’s musical roots began in 1934 in Mississippi. His father R.W. began singing baritone with the group as a 13-year-old. The Blackwood Brothers were Doyle, James and Roy Blackwood. Vardaman Ray and Gene Cartledge rounded out the group, which would evolve into a famous singing family. The quartet moved to Memphis in 1950. Four years later, the Blackwood Brothers lineup of Bill Shaw, James Blackwood, R.W. Blackwood, Bill Lyles, with Jackie Marshall on piano, won a national talent competition.

But tragedy struck just 16 days after the award. Ron’s father died in a plane crash in Clanton, Ala., along with Lyles and a friend who wasn’t in the quartet. Ron had a difficult time for many years following. He was 13 at the time of the crash.

“I hated the world,” he said. “I hated God. Daddy was my hero. I had all that anger. I was unruly,” he said.

Soon after, Ron said, he turned back to God. And turned to another gospel great in his family’s circle, J.D. Sumner.

“He took my daddy’s place when he died. I was an idiot back then. J.D. said to me, ‘I love you no matter what you do; I’m here for you.’ It was a turning point. Time has really helped.”

Sumner took over Lyles’ bass part in the quartet, and R.W. Sr.’s brother Cecil did the baritone part. In the following years, Sumner and James Blackwood became the first to customize a bus for group travel and are the also founders of the National Quartet Convention. Sumner, as well, contributed to the Blackwood Brothers as a songwriter.

Elvis Presley was inspired by the group’s bus. Upon seeing it, he went out and had one made for him. A replica of the early Blackwood bus can be seen at the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame at Dollywood in Pigeon Forge, Tenn.

Ron Blackwood remembers Elvis with affection. While recognizing the late singer’s problems with prescription drugs, he counted him among his friends.

“One time he looked at me and he said, ‘I’d give anything to sing with the Blackwood Brothers.’ Sometime later we were in Vegas and I saw him and said, ‘Elvis, if you sang with the Blackwood Brothers, no one would know who you are.’

“Elvis was a good man.”

Award winners

The Blackwood Brothers teamed up with the Statesmen in the 1960s to form a record label called Skylite. In 1969, they collected nearly 200,000 signatures on a “God And Country” petition in retaliation to the outlawing of prayer in school. They would go on to win Grammy awards (eight), as recently as 1982. They earned another nomination in 2004. James Blackwood won the male vocalist of the year seven times from the Gospel Music Association. (James died in 2002.) The quartet has 27 Dove Awards to its name.

Last summer, Ron and R.W. Jr. were named “Living Legends” by the Music City Gospel Showcase.

Ron Blackwood said he’s frequently asked if his old-style gospel sound, and that of his family, is on the way out — due in part to the rise in recent decades of contemporary Christian music.

“Churches have gone to praise and worship but the pendulum has swung so far. I’m thinking (worship music) is coming back more to a balance,” he said. “I have a saying: ‘No one likes (gospel) but the people.’ ”

Ron Blackwood said he kicks back in a couple of ways: by reading the Bible and by watching Bill O’Reilly.

“I like what he says.” Another hobby is work. He’s been a manager for the late Billy Walker, Hank Williams Jr., and the Stamps Quartet. On Tuesday, he and his group will appear on a national TV concert with Barbara Mandrell, who is being honored in Nashville. They just found out Monday.

In addition to Ron Blackwood, other members of the Blackwood family also use the family banner musically. James Blackwood also had a group late in his life, called the James Blackwood Quartet. Other descendents of the original group also have groups including R. W. Jr., who has the Blackwood Brothers Quartet.

About a year ago, Ron and R.W. Jr., split off into their separate groups but still sing regularly for family specials in the Smoky Mountains.

Terry Blackwood does solo engagements and dates with The Imperials. Mark Blackwood leads the Blackwood Gospel Quartet.

The Blackwood Brothers Quartet can be heard singing on the radio in the beginning of the movie “Walk The Line” about Johnny Cash when Johnny (actor Joaquin Phoenix) was in Memphis. The Blackwood family, Johnny Cash and the Cash family established a friendship that led to appearing together through the years on both recordings and live performances.

Ron Blackwood and his wife, Shelley, have eight children and seven grandchildren between them. Yet the musical genres sometimes compete, even in his own family.

“I just took two of them (ages 15 and 16) to see a Christian rock band,” he said.

Article Source: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/faith/story/690089.html

Best Selling Collaborations Of The 21st Century

2009-03-19T21:02:00.001-07:00

March 19, 2009

A Top 20 of the "Best Selling Collaborations of the 21st. Century" was published in the UK. Elvis Presley's posthumous "collaboration" with Junkie XL is listed at #7 with almost 700.000 sales in the UK. It could have sold more copies, but the single was pulled off the market in favour of another BMG single.

1 Tony Christie – Is this the way 1,195,000 (1,135,000)
2 Shaggy – It wasn’t me 1,190,000
3 Band Aid 20 – Do they know 1,1,45,000
4 X Factor – Hero 760k
5 Eminem Ft. Dido – Stan 750k
6 Nelly & Kelly – Dilemma 705k
7 Elvis vs JXL – A little less conversation 695k (635k)
8 Rihanna – Umbrella 625k
9 Shaggy – Angel 590k
10 Shakira – Hips don’t lie 585k

Source: For Elvis CD Collectors Forum / Updated: Mar 18, 2009

"Elvis never left the building like we thought ; you may not be able to see him at the moment..but if you're quiet,long enough..you can still hear him singing..."

GREAT PRETENDER BILL PASSES

2009-03-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

Old music groups would get new protections from impostors under legislation that passed the state Senate on Tuesday.

But rest easy: Elvis impersonators should be OK.

Senate Bill 226 would hit musicians who perform under another band’s name with fines of $5,000 or more, unless they have permission to do so from at least one member of the original group. The intention is to protect old-time groups from “a sophisticated form of identity theft,” sponsoring state Sen. John Crosby said.

“Unfortunately existing law has failed miserably in this regard,” said Crosby, R-Tifton. “For years imposter musical groups have been duping customers.”

Tribute bands wouldn’t be subject to fines as long as their advertising identifies their performance as a “salute” or “tribute,” the bill states. And the legislation wouldn’t outlaw impersonations of performers such as Elvis, Neil Diamond or Frank Sinatra, Crosby said.

“All they have to do is tell the truth,” he said.

Senate Bill 226 passed 54-0 and moves to the House of Representatives for consideration.

http://www.macon.com/741/story/646021.html

Sharing Link To Elvis Sculpture and his Harley

2009-03-08T20:53:00.000-07:00

You gotta check out all the pictures at this link of a bronze sculpture of Elvis and his Harley..

http://blog.brucerossmeyer.com/2009/03/01/destination-daytona-unveiled-elvis-sculpture/

Incredible!

Charmaine

Nancy Walters, Blue Hawaii-- needs you

2009-03-08T13:40:00.000-07:00

Hi! Everyone

I received this from a friend who asked me to pass it on. If you remember Blue Hawaii you would remember the character Abigail Prentice who was played by Nancy Walters. Nancy has cancer so I have been asked to let everyone know on my mailing list to send a card if they can. The address for her is below. Thanks you Bobbie FTDP

Elvis Friends ** and anyone who will help.

Darlene Tompkins was at Graceland this weekend. She has ask me to help her out. Nancy Walters (Abigail Prentice) who played in Blue Hawaii is not doing well at all. Darlene says it is only days maybe not even that, (Nancy) she is dying with cancer. They would like everyone to send a card, to help her feel better.

Nancy Walters
C/O Robin S. Perry
4262 Blue Diamond Road
P.O. # 102-250
Las Vegas, NV. 89139

Sneak Preview of Belgium's Elvis Presley

2009-03-06T16:48:00.000-08:00

March 6, 2009

eurovisionary.com
by Serkan Uluçay

Belgian broadcaster RTBF, has announced that Patrick Ouchéne will be representing the country in the Eurovision Song Contest in Moscow this year. Ouchéne will be singing Copycat on the stage in Elvis Presly mode. The song will be revealed on 10th March, but a teaser for the song is available at Youtube.

Forty three year old Patrick Ouchéne has been selected from the band Runnin' Wild, which is popular around Belgium. Patrick Ouchéne is known to be a performer in the style of Elvis Presley.

Ouchéne will be representing Belgium at the Eurovision Song Contest with the song Copycat in Moscow. The song is written by Jacques Duvall, who has written Le Banana Spirit which has sold out more than 2 millions. Ouchénes group, Runnin' Wild, also worked with Duvall in the album I Dressed In Black Today which was released last year.

Belgium will participate in the first semifinal of the Eurovision Song Contest on 12th March this year.

Belgian broadcaster RTBF also announced that Patrick Ouchéne will be revealing his song at a press conferance on 10th March. The broadcaster shares a very short taster video with the fans online via the internet. You can watch it below.

Mini video

A rock n' roll legend will represent Belgium at the 2009 eurovision song contest in Moscow.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXzRHSbCRL4

Source Article: http://www.eurovisionary.com/node/2177

Reflections Contest Site is Up

2009-03-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

Hi! Everyone

Reflections contest site is up and running. Hope you will check it out and let us know if you would like to join us on October 2nd and 3rd in Westfield NY. We are only taking 20 contestants!!! Don't forget we are looking for some good judges.....

http://www.followthatdreamproductions.com/spirit'09.htm

NEW ELVIS PRESLEY picture disc PARALYZED, RWLP NEW

2009-03-02T16:25:00.001-08:00

A MUST FOR ALL ELVIS FANS TO CHECK OUT!!

PARALYZED - a beautiful NEW 12” picture disc album release, limited to just 2000 COPIES worldwide. Rockwell's 3rd Elvis release concluding The King’s studio recordings from 1956. This picture disc is stunning, and highly likely to increase in value and become a valuable collectors item in the future.

Publishing/Production: Roger Akehurt
Direction: Joseph A. Krein (http://www.elvis2001.net/)
Paralyzed © Rockwell Records 2009. Created in England
Manufacture in the EU. All rights reserved
More titles and other formats of this release available.
Visit website for details:
http://www.rockwellrecords.co.uk/

Check out the eBay site for this NEW ELVIS PRESLEY picture disc if you want it:
http://tinyurl.com/dlg8qe

Memphis North Productions - Forum for ETA's and Fans...

2009-02-26T20:26:00.000-08:00

Hello ETA's and Fans,

I would like to inform you about a new site that is under construction and slated to be opened on March 15th of this year. Memphis North Productions.

It's a fresh new forum for Elvis Tribute Artist's and fans alike. Keep up to date on concert listings, daily news, and listen to the juke box jammed with submitted ETA recordings. It will also have a market place for both ETA's and fans to post (for free), Elvis related items that are for sale, trade or just for extra exposure. There will also be an ETA directory (complete with pics, contact info, and web links). An ETA of the month feature bio, as well as a resource centre for all your tribute needs! We are also hoping to launch a concert-review page. Where fans can write their own views on past shows and festivals that they have attended. On March 15th, the site will be located at http://www.memphisnorthproductions.com/ There are a few more special features in store, but we need your help now!

We are calling all ETA's to submit bios, high res pics, mp3's of your recordings, and contact info (by sending this info, you are giving us permission to post all material in good taste on our site). ETA's and fans to write reviews and commentaries on anything Elvis! You be our reporters. If you have something to tell the rest of the ETA community...well here's your chance. We have already recieved some great material about fans actual experiences at past shows, including seeing the man himself in concert. (please send material to address at bottom of message)

We are NOT a booking agency, be assured that we will not forward any material without permission!

We are having a great time putting this forum together. It will only get better with your help. Please pass this email around to anyone who might be interested.

Hope to hear from you soon! BTW...we are in need of ETA promo pictures and sample mp3 recordings. This material will be used in the permanent artwork through-out the site. So please send them out as soon as you can.

******Please send all material to memphisnorthproductions@yahoo.com

Sincerely,
Andy Gascon
Memphis North Productions Staff

2010 Legends (ELVIS ) Cruise on the Carnival Conquest

2009-02-19T22:16:00.001-08:00

Hey Everyone,

This is Debbie & Jeff. Please click on the link below and check out the 2010 Jeff Rainey Legends Cruise onboard the beautiful Carnival Conquest.

It is a 7 day cruise to Grand Cayman, Jamaica and Cozumel with Master of Ceremonies STEVEN DAVID aka SNAPS.

Limited cabins available so reserve now!! Click link below for pricing.

Should you have any questions, please email us at cruise@jeffrainey.net

www.jeffrainey.net/2010_elvis_cruise

Sponsored by:

Elvis still generating big bucks

2009-02-18T05:37:00.000-08:00

Perth Now
Neil Dowling
February 17, 2009

ELVIS Presley's best mate Joe Esposito talks about the man, the money and the memories in an exclusive look at the extraordinary value of Elvis the asset.

Even in death, Elvis Presley can't stop making money. The business of Elvis - Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE) - last year turned over almost $100 million.

EPE is majority-owned by New York Stock Exchange listed company CKX and is growing even when the US economy is faltering.

CKX bought 85 per cent of EPE in 2004 for $US100 million (now about $150 million). The Presley family retains 15 per cent.

CKX owns all of EPE's business activities except the music - Graceland and its tour operations, the Heartbreak Hotel across the street from Graceland, the trademark licenses for Elvis' likeness, songs and name.

CKX also has a similar stake in the name, image, likeness and intellectual property of Muhammad Ali. In addition, it owns the American Idol TV show.

The opening of the Elvis-themed cabaret show in Las Vegas this year which will follow in the lines of the successful ‘Love'’ show based on the Beatles will undoubtedly generate more substantial income for CKX.

CKX also plans to demolish the 128-room Heartbreak Hotel, opposite Graceland on Elvis Presley Boulevard, to build two 400-room hotels, restaurants, an amphitheatre and shops.

In the 2007 calendar year, CKX reported income of $US12.1 million on sales of $266.8 million - a 32 per cent jump on the previous year.

But it's not just the big companies who live on Elvis.

Elvis's long-time friend Joe Esposito - in Australia this week as a consultant to Gold Coast-based beverage distributor Global Beverage Marketers-Daiquiri Group - makes a living off touring the world talking about Elvis.

“It's amazing. He's been dead for 31 years and he's still a big part of my life,'' Mr Esposito said from yesterday from the Gold Coast.

“I have come from England and Ireland and now I'm in Australia, and then I'm in Sweden and France - I love it. I have a lot of answers and people just want to talk about Elvis.''

Mr Esposito (71) retired in December after working as a casino host in Las Vegas.

He first met Elvis in the late 1950’s after they were both drafted in the US Army for duty in Germany.

“I was an office clerk in Chicago and was drafted when I was 20. Most of the guys, including Elvis, were 23. I though getting drafted would change my whole world. It did,” he said.

“I met Elvis, we struck up a friendship and before I left the Army in March 1960, he asked me to come and work for him.

“At my discharge from the Army I was told I had flat feet and a bad ankle. I was also too young. I shouldn't have been in the Army in the first place, yet it was fate. I met Elvis and he changed my life.''

He worked for Elvis for 17 years, was the best man at Elvis' 1968 wedding, was a pallbearer at Elvis' 1977 funeral and went on to manage the Bee Gee's, Michael Jackson and John Denver.

He was sacked five times by Elvis - usually an overnight event because it was forgotten the next morning - and endured the bitterness that came with a tell-all 1976 book “Elvis - What Happened?'' written by former Elvis bodyguards.
“That book crushed him,'' he said.

“It was all he talked about - `why did they say those things?' he would say. It hurt him tremendously.

“The book, with all its negativity, depressed Elvis. He took pills and more pills. I think that 50 per cent of the cause of Elvis' death was that book.''

“I don't care for those people (who wrote the book). They're not Elvis' friends.''

The US has an estimated 30,000 Elvis impersonators, each with a business of unpublished worth and Mr Esposito believes Elvis wouldn't have minded being represented in that way.

“They're doing something they enjoy and I'm sure Elvis wouldn't have been upset with that,'' he said.

Mr Esposito is now charged with helping promote GBM's push to distribute beverages - primarily the German premium beer Krombacher - into the US casino and hospitality sector.

Incidentally, Krombacher was the beer Mr Esposito drank while on duty with the Army in Germany in 1959.

Article Source: http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,25069234-5017965,00.html

Graceland Unveils 2009 Tourism Ad Campaign

2009-02-11T17:29:00.000-08:00

February 4, 2009

Ads Use Humor and a Contemporary Design to Remind Travel Consumers Graceland is a Destination That is Fun for the Whole Family

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. (EPE) unveiled a new advertising campaign today for the 2009 tourism season that will highlight Elvis Presley's Graceland mansion, a National Historic Landmark, as a high-energy and family-friendly music-themed destination. The launch of the campaign comes just weeks before Graceland opens three exhibits, Elvis in Hollywood, Elvis Lives: The King and Pop Culture and the addition of never-before-seen vehicles owned by Elvis in the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum. The campaign will utilize print, outdoor, internet and a new 30-second commercial featuring archival footage of the King of Rock 'n' Roll. In addition to the ad campaign, the 2009 plan for tourism includes an emphasis on marketing within social networks.

Creative for the 2009 campaign, which was developed by Combustion Design from Memphis, utilizes bright, bold stylized images of Elvis to quickly communicate the fun and excitement in a visit to Graceland.

A variety of headlines including “What Happens in Vegas Started at Graceland,” “Jam Sessions Daily,” and “You Had Me at Hound Dog,” will be tagged with the line “Experience Graceland” in print, outdoor and internet ads that will also incorporate images referencing memorable stages of Elvis' career. Additionally, the campaign drives consumers to the free online travel planner on www.Elvis.com.

While online advertising will continue to play a significant role in the Graceland tourism campaign, Elvis' popularity in social networking provides a new component to the media buy for 2009.

“As you would expect, Elvis is very popular on social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and ilike,” stated Scott Williams, VP of Marketing for EPE. “We want to make certain we provide fun tools that allow fans of Elvis to share their love of Graceland with other fans. This year, we're also increasing Graceland's presence online to additional social networking sites including Twitter, Bebo, Eventful, Flickr and others.”

Graceland offers several special themed packages to travel consumers as discounts to various groups including AARP and AAA members. A sampling of the packages available included:

Valentine's Day Package
Girlfriends Getaways
Family Fun Package
Memphis Music Attractions Package

Information about other packages and discounts available throughout the year for group tours, social and religious organizations and schools are available at www.elvis.com. For more information, please visit Elvis.com or call 800-238-2000.

About Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. (EPE) is based in Memphis, Tennessee, with additional offices in Los Angeles, California. In addition to Graceland and its related attractions in Memphis, including the Heartbreak Hotel, EPE is aggressively involved in a worldwide licensing program, merchandising, music publishing, and television, film, video and Internet projects. For more information on EPE and Graceland, visit www.Elvis.com. EPE is a subsidiary of CKX, Inc. (www.CKX.com), a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ National Market® under the ticker symbol “CKXE.”

Article Source: http://www.centredaily.com/231/story/1099095.html

Become Part of A Legend...

2009-02-07T19:14:00.001-08:00

PRESS RELEASE:

CONTACT: Bill & Linda Kinard: at (662)-841-8034

E-mail: elvispresleyheights@gmail.com

Web Site: http://www.elvispresleyheights.com/

Elvis Presley Heights Memorial Gardens Cemetery: We are now available and honored to serve your family’s pre-planning burial request and at-need burial wishes in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Elvis Presley fans can now cement their love and devotion in cemetery near his birthplace in “Elvis Presley Heights Memorial Gardens”, Cemetery, in Tupelo, Mississippi.

Elvis Fans Have Opportunity to Remember the King Forever
Tupelo - A long awaited dream of Bill and Linda Kinard has at last become a reality.

You may write to us at:

Elvis Presley Heights Memorial Gardens and/or
Fans Forever LLC
P. O. Box 376, Tupelo, Ms.
38802

Honolulu, January 14, 1973

2009-01-24T02:29:00.000-08:00

Honolulu, January 14, 1973

At 12.30 am Elvis wrote history with the first world-wide telecasted concert ever. Millions of people in over 40 countries saw Elvis' live concert from Hawaii.

The total earnings of the concert, being$ 75,000 were donated to the Kui Lee Cancer Fund. The original estimate had only been $ 25,000.

The telecast, Aloha from Hawaii, would be watched by more than 1 billion people, worldwide.

The show was the most expensive entertainment special, up to that time, with costs of $ 2,5 million.

Following the show, as soon as the audience had left the building, Elvis recorded 5 songs on stage, to be included in the American version of the special. The special would be aired in the U.S.A. on April 4, 1973.

At the end of the show, Elvis removed this cape and hurled it into the audience. It was caught by Mr. Bruce Sprinks, a reporter of the Honolulu Advisor. The cape is now on display at Graceland.

Elvis’ Bodyguard

2009-01-07T16:20:00.001-08:00

WKRG NEWS
By Jere Hough
January 6, 2008

Jessie Taylor is a gifted artist...and one of his favorite subjects is Elvis Presley. He has many drawings of "The King." He knows a lot about him, too...such as, very early in his career, Elvis was a natural blonde.

Jesse Taylor was a student in Pritchard and explains, "He had blonde hair when he went to Vigor High School, and the Principal, Mr. MacPhearson, and Mr. Faulk would not let him entertain because they said he was vulgar. I have a picture of him leaving, and his hair is just as blond as it could be."
But most of us only ever saw Presley with dark hair.
"Elvis said he dyed his hair because his Mama's hair was black," recalls Taylor.

A few year's later, after service in Viet Nam as a Navy Seal, Taylor was part of Presley's security whenever he came to the Mobile area.
Elvis let him have the guitar pick from one of the Mobile performances. On another night, Presley gave him money.
Taylor quotes the famous singer, "'That ain't no money,' when I told him what I was making, so he gave me a $50 bill and I said, 'Sign it.'"

Over the years, Elvis signed many pictures that Taylor took. There are lots of signed records and posters and some costume items...a scarf that both Elvis and his father signed. Taylor even has Presley's original Social Security Card.

Elvis was known to give away valuable things on the spur of the moment...that's the source of Taylor's diamond ring...Elvis took it off his own finger and handed it to him.
Taylor comments, "Elvis had a big heart. He was a very nice man."

On one visit to Mobile, a woman called about her very sick child at Mobile General (now USA Hopsital). She asked if Elvis could sing something to her child over the phone...she was told it couldn't be done. But that afternoon...
Taylor picks up the story. "We loaded up, went to the Mobile General, and they had all the children put all over the floors, around the child's room, and he sung, and sung, and sung, and when he left, it was really nice...he left the mother a check to help pay for the doctor bills."

At the Magee Farm Museum in Kushla, on Highway 45, Jessie Taylor is displaying his many mementos of Elvis this coming Saturday and Sunday, the 10th and 11th of January. There is a $10 charge for adults and teenagers. For more information call (251) 675-1863

Here to download video interview: http://www.wkrg.com/news/video_download/22377

Article Source: http://www.wkrg.com/countyroad5/article/elvis_bodyguard/22377

Collector finds wiggle room among kings of memorabilia

2009-01-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

theage.com.au
Alyssa Braithwaite
January 7, 2009

AFTER years as one of the highest paid entertainers in the country, retired Yellow Wiggle Greg Page has revealed what he's been spending his money on: Elvis memorabilia.

Page has been outed as the fourth-biggest collector of Elvis Presley memorabilia in the world, the number one collector being Graceland, Presley's mansion.

He became a "passionate and diligent" collector after visiting the home of "the King" four years ago, and he's lending the items to the council of Parkes, in NSW, to establish a permanent Elvis museum in the town.

Visitors to Parkes' annual Elvis Festival, which starts today, will be the first to glimpse the King's Castle collection.

"It was always my goal to put it on display," Page said. "It was just a matter of working out a way to be able to do it. There's no point in me being custodian of all these items if people can't see them and enjoy them."

Among the items in the King's Castle are the first management contract signed between Elvis and his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, the original blueprints for Graceland, two pairs of Elvis' trademark Aviator sunglasses, Elvis and Priscilla's marriage certificate, and one of only two gold lame suits made for Elvis by Nudie of Hollywood (Nudie Cohn).

Page's favourite item is a two-piece leather suit Elvis wore on stage in 1974, and he's trying to get his hands on one of those white rhinestone-studded jumpsuits. The collection is said to be worth more than $1 million, but Page said he could not put a value on it.

"I think from my point of view the value is in being able to tell the story of the life of Elvis and share that with people," he said.

Page donned the yellow skivvy as part of The Wiggles until late 2006 when he retired due to poor health.

Article Source: http://www.theage.com.au/national/collector-finds-wiggle-room-among-kings-of-memorabilia-20090107-7c0y.html

DJ George Klein in wreck

2009-01-07T15:05:00.000-08:00

Escapes with minor injuries

January 7, 2008
Desototimes.com
ROBERT LEE LONG
Community Editor

LAKE CORMORANT -Legendary Memphis disc jockey George Klein, a longtime friend and associate of entertainer Elvis Presley, was involved in a one-car accident at U.S. 61and Mississippi Highway 3 about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday.

According to Mississippi Highway Patrol Sgt. Leslie White, Klein was traveling southbound along U.S. Highway 61 when he lost control of his vehicle and the vehicle rolled over.

White said the highway was slick from recent heavy rainfall at the time of the accident.

His vehicle hydroplaned, causing Klein to lose control.

Klein was transported to Methodist University Hospital in Memphis where he was later treated and released.

Klein later told friends he suffered from soreness and bruises but did not suffer major injuries from the accident.

"Luckily, no broken bones," Klein told the Associated Press. "I spent the whole day at Methodist Central. But I'm really banged up. My back is horribly hurting," Klein said Tuesday evening. "I could've been killed." Klein said he was heading toward Tunica when his car struck a puddle of water, sending him off the road.

Klein, who first met Presley in 1948 when the two attended Humes High School in Memphis together, hosts an hour-long retrospective of Elvis and music from the 50s and 60s on WHBQ.

Presley who died at his Graceland mansion in 1977, would have turned 74 Thursday.

A native Mississippian, Presley was born in Tupelo on Jan. 8, 1935.

Article Source: http://www.desototimes.com/articles/2009/01/07/news/doc4963e6bca6063066771034.txt

Elvis Parent Company Calls Off Plans To Go Private

2008-12-27T16:37:00.000-08:00

December 26, 2008

The publicly traded company that owns 85 percent of Elvis Presley Enterprises has completely called off its attempt to go private.

The notice from CKX Inc. cites “global economic difficulties and related credit freeze” as the reason it isn’t pursuing a merger with 19X Inc. that had been planned for earlier this year.

The merger was to be a factor in a number of plans CKX has for the Elvis brand. That includes an estimated $250 million transformation of Graceland and the surrounding commercial area on Elvis Presley Boulevard between Brooks and Raines roads.

Neither CKX executives nor officials at Elvis Presley Enterprises have talked in much detail about those plans or the impact the credit crisis might have on them.

EPE has been buying up apartment complexes west of Graceland Plaza on the other side of Elvis Presley Boulevard from the mansion. Demolition work started on those complexes several weeks ago.

Off indefinitely

CKX president and chief executive officer Robert F.X. Sillerman, through the CKX 2007 annual report, has said the plans would include Elvis-themed attractions including restaurants, a new hotel and some type of convention center.

Sillerman, along with Simon Fuller, controls 19X. Fuller is best known as the creator of the “American Idol” television program. American Idol is among the properties of CKX, along with Elvis Presley Enterprises.

As 2008 began, Sillerman announced the plans for the merger and a target date of Oct. 31.

In August, Sillerman, in a previously recorded message, told a gathering of Elvis fans in Memphis, “It would be irresponsible to say that the economic climate is not having an impact.

“I don’t think it’s going to slow down what we’re doing,” he said in response to a written question about how the national economy would affect plans for Graceland and the area of Whitehaven surrounding the estate. “We have to modify to some extent those things that we’re going to initiate at first.”

He also told the group of Elvis fans that Graceland itself wouldn’t be changed in an expansion. But he said the Graceland plaza where tourists board buses for the ride up the hill to tour the mansion might eventually move to the same side of Elvis Presley Boulevard as the mansion.

By September, Sillerman and Fuller announced they were terminating the 19X merger because of economic conditions, but also said they intended to pursue an “alternative transaction.”

With the Dec. 18 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Sillerman and Fuller have said “that they no longer intend to actively pursue an alternate transaction at this time for the acquisition of (CKX).”

http://www.memphisdailynews.com/editorial/Article.aspx?id=40108

Check out the new Elvis Beanie Babies..

2008-12-27T14:34:00.000-08:00

November 28, 2008

Ty is offering a new line of Elvis Beanies just in time for the holiday season. These cute, collectible Elvis Beanies make great stocking stuffers and a fun gift for any Elvis fan.

You can choose from the Blue Beanie Shoes Elvis Bear, Bearning Love Elvis Bear, Viva Las Beanie Elvis Bear, Sold Gold Beanie Elvis Bear or Beanie House Rock Elvis bear - or, collect all five.

Click here to see the Elvis Beanie Bears available now at ShopElvis.com. Or, to find a Beanie retailer near you, click here. The Elvis Beanies are also available in the shops at Graceland.

Elvis Presley lives again in an artistic rethinking of a scene from Viva Las Vegas

2008-12-19T07:03:00.000-08:00

Shannon Oksanen's Summerland an exploration of movies and image-making

Kevin Griffin, Vancouver Sun
Published: Thursday, December 18, 2008

What happens when a movie is shown in a theatre? Sitting in a darkened theatre, you look at the moving images on the screen. If it's truly a memorable experience --a 'good movie' -- you forget yourself and become utterly absorbed in what what you're seeing. Unless something goes wrong and there's a disruption in the moving image, you don't pay attention to what's behind you projecting the images. Yet what you're doing amounts to putting yourself inside an big image machine.

At the Contemporary Art Gallery, an image machine of the kind once found in theatres is part of an exhibition by Shannon Oksanen called Summerland. An exploration of movies and image-making, the exhibition includes paintings of Elvis Presley and a remake of a water-skiing scene from the 1964 film Viva Las Vegas starring Presley and Ann-Margret.

In the original, the 30-second water-skiing segment is part of the movie's longer romantic narrative. A classic 1960s date movie full of the era's optimism, it really operates as a series of loosely connected vignettes meant to highlight both Presley's and Ann-Margret's outstanding skills as entertainers.

In the remake, the focus has changed. Now it hones in on how a man and a woman relate to each other while waterskiing. The scene is also much longer at almost four minutes. Not only has the hair colour of the two figures been reversed --the Presley character is blond and the Ann-Margret character, brunette -- more attention is paid to the the speed-boat driver. An additional character is a little girl fishing on a dock.

Both of the two main figures are slalom waterskiing on a beautifully sunny day on a lake situated in an arid landscape. He's wearing baby blue trunks. He's muscley but not muscle-bound. She's in a one-piece red bathing suit that shows off her slim figure.

They glide back and forth across the wake occasionally making googly eyes at each other. Unlike the original, which ends with an embrace and a fall into the water, the two figures in the remake never touch. In their unusual courtship ritual, the closest they get is dangling a hand by their side so that it catches the spray of the water from their water skiis.

Overall, the remake is a 'better' film. In Viva Las Vegas, Presley and Ann-Margret are filmed on a studio set with what looks like a projected background behind them. When the shot cuts to a wide shot of two people water-skiing, the two figures are so distant you can't identify who they are.

In Summerland, the two figures are filmed actually waterskiing in a way that accentuates both their skills and the beauty of the water that sprays when they turn on their skis.

In the CAG, you can sit on a bench to watch Summerland, which is projected onto almost an entire wall. Sitting there, you can hear both the percussive soundtrack as well as the sound of the sprockets of a 35 mm film being fed through a projector. Mounted on a large platform, the projector is a huge, industrial-looking machine of the type that recalls the projectors that would have been used in theatres in the 1960s.

As a title, Summerland suggests an eternally happy place where the sun always shines and everyone smiles.

Summerland as an image machine becomes even more apparent when you look back at the movie from the gallery's other exhibition room. Surrounded by paintings as well as a puppet that depicts Presley as the young man he would have been at the time Viva Las Vegas was made, you can see the projector in front of the moving images. On occasion, when the actual projector appears to be the same size as the moving images of the two waterskiing figures in Summerland, the effect is startling. It looks as if the image machine has become a third figure waterskiing with the moving figures.

The oil on linen paintings are all in soft pastel-like colors. While they don't pack the same kind of visual punch as the Summerland movie, they do work as companion pieces to the film. A little ghostly, the paintings are like memories that fade over time -- like the once bright Metrocolor likenesses of Elvis Presley created by the image machine.

Shannon Oksanen's Summerland continues to Jan. 19 at the Contemporary Art Gallery, 555 Nelson St. Vancouver, BC. The gallery is open Wednesday to Sunday. During the holidays, the CAG will be closed Dec. 25, 26 and Jan. 1.

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/westcoastlife/story.html?id=7a231893-5ce5-4b4c-9b13-3cc23aeef966&p=1

Woman claiming to be half-sister of Elvis drops case, plans new plea to be named heir

2008-12-15T20:15:00.000-08:00

By Lawrence Buser (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Monday, December 15, 2008

A woman seeking to be declared the daughter of Vernon Presley -- and the half-sister of Elvis -- on Monday voluntarily dropped her effort in Probate Court to be named as an heir to the father's estate.

But Eliza Presley, 46, a divorced mother of four from Washington state, more than likely will plead her case in another court.

"The issues are still alive and well," said attorney Kathleen Caldwell, adding that Monday's dismissal was a procedural move. "It's not over by a long shot."

Eliza Presley, who changed her name this summer from Alice Elizabeth Tiffin, initially filed the claim in October, saying DNA from a still-living Elvis Presley showed her to be a relative.

Her mother, former Memphian Florence Sharp Clark of Oregon, said she was part of the Elvis social circle for a period, but that she had no child by Vernon and that the father is another Memphis man.

Clark also has suggested that her daughter has undergone plastic surgery in an effort to bolster her claim of kinship.

Eliza Presley insisted Monday that she can support her claim and said her mother is not to be believed.

"I would love to have these thousands of dollars I've allegedly spent," she said. "I have never had plastic surgery of any kind."

Attorney William Bradley Jr., who represents Elvis Presley Enterprises and Lisa Marie Presley Lockwood, said her case has no merit and that over the years there have been a dozen or more people claiming kinship to Elvis, including several Elvis Jrs.

Vernon Presley died June 26, 1979, at age 63. According to common belief, Elvis died in 1977.

Article Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/dec/15/woman-who-claims-presley-link-may-drop-case/

Elvis Presley's 'biological son' will not be able to appeal conviction

2008-12-11T21:36:00.000-08:00

*Now people this has to be the most ridiculous article I have yet to share... get your laughs.. lol* huugs Charmaine

By Linda Thomson
Deseret News
Published: Thursday, Dec. 11, 2008 4:44 p.m. MST

The Utah Court of Appeals has declined to hear an appeal from a man who believes he is Elvis Presley's biological son and who was convicted of making threatening phone calls to 3rd District Court judges.

Ernest John Young, who also is known as Jason Presley, was sentenced in 2007 to zero-to-five years in prison for one count of retaliating against a judge, a third-degree felony. Young pleaded guilty, but later tried unsuccessfully to withdraw his plea.

In his appeal, Young claimed that he had not entered into the plea bargain knowingly and willingly, and cited the law regarding plea bargains and withdrawing a guilty plea after it has been entered.

However, the appeals court in a brief ruling issued Thursday said that Young in his appeal, "makes no effort to analyze the facts in his case based upon the law he cites."

The ruling said "it is not the court's responsibility to scour the record looking for facts and arguments to support an appellant's broad assertions."

At his sentencing, Young's lawyer, Brook Sessions, said that Young had not been taking necessary medication and had been drinking heavily when he made threatening phone calls to two judges in 2006, insisting that they pursue people whom Young said had conspired to murder Presley.

Young also insists that the is the heir to the vast Presley fortune. Among other things, Young has previously filed court documents regarding Presley's daughter, Lisa Marie.

One document Young filed in federal court alleges that Lisa Marie Presley was involved in kidnapping triplet children by helicopter from the University of Utah Hospital as well as conspiring to commit other crimes, including several murders.

The case involving the threats against the state district judges was moved from the state's 3rd District to the 4th District to avoid any conflicts of interest.

Sessions at the time of sentencing asked 4th District Judge Gary Stott to give Young probation and have him monitored in the community by a mental health court. But a pre-sentence report drawn up by Adult Probation and Parole said Young was not a good choice for community-based services and supervision, and Young was subsequently sent to prison.

Article Source: http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,705269833,00.html

He Was Nothing but a Hound Dog

2008-12-01T18:49:00.000-08:00

December 1, 2008
by Richard Horgan

Fifty years after the father of Elvis Presley ruined the life of an American soldier stationed in Frankfurt, Germany, that soldier’s son has turned their tale of friendship, adultery and betrayal into the screenplay for his second feature film. The fact that writer-director D. Edward Stanley, after these events went down, would go on to become Elvis’ stepbrother (at age four) and eventual bodyguard (at age 16!) only adds to the intrigue of how Vernon Presley proved to be no friend of Master Sergeant William J. Stanley.

Titled Restoring my Father’s Honor, the flashback drama chronicles the efforts of Stanley Jr. to right the story of how Vernon, after befriending Stanley Sr.overseas in 1958 and starting an affair with the latter’s wife Dee, relied on the trappings of his celebrity to squash the distraught husband’s attempts to expose the adultery. Instead of flushing out Vernon as a scoundrel, Stanley Sr. wound up in a padded room at Walter Reed Hospital in Washington and saw his wife go on to marry Elvis’ dad in 1960, just as the truth about the sordid love triangle was finally being exposed.

The idea that Stanley Jr., after living at Graceland from 1960 through 1977 and making a 2006 feature about his bodyguard days titled Protecting the King, is now engaged in the business of vetting Vernon (pictured above right, circa 1959 with Dee) as vermin to today’s audiences cannot help but elevate this project above the usual indie fray. Especially when you add the fact that Stanley Jr. did not attend his biological father’s funeral in 1991 and only really started to learn about what went down in Germany in the late 1950’s via dad’s unpublished memoirs, which he received posthumously in the mail.

In terms of Elvis lore, Stanley Jr. is perhaps best know as the earliest and most vocal proponent of the theory that the King’s death was in fact a suicide. These allegations first came to light in 1990, when the now Dallas based filmmaker shared his theory in a Life Magazine interview article written by Presley biographer Albert Goldman.

Source Article: http://www.filmstew.com/showBlog.aspx?blog_id=1460

Elvis collector is considered an expert

2008-11-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

* My good friend Rockin' Robin Rosaaen sent me this article and I wanted to share it with you all. Enjoy :) Charmaine

Willow Glen News
From Archives November 15 2006
Photograph by Vicki Thompson

Devoted: Robin Rosaaen of
Willow Glen has 40,000 Elvis
Presley items in her extensive
collection. One of those pieces
is a pair of Elvis slippers. She
also has a rare Elvis leather
jacket.

By Laura Rheinheimer

Fifty years ago, The King of Rock 'n' roll debuted in his first film, Love Me Tender, to the delight of Elvis fans across the nation.

As a 9-year-old in San Lorenzo, Robin Rosaaen went to see the film, which premiered in New York City on Nov. 16, 1956, and immediately fell in love. Today Rosaaen's home is a testament to the man who ruled rock 'n' roll.

"Rockin' Robin," a nickname given to her by The King himself, has one of the largest private Elvis Presley collections in the world, according to James Forsher, who recently published The Love Me Tender Diary. Her two-bedroom Willow Glen apartment is covered floor to ceiling with everything Elvis.

Rosaaen estimates she has 40,000 Elvis items, including records, 600 books, scarves he wore on stage, shirts, pins, playing cards, figurines, documents and knick-knacks. She also has his life documented in 80,000 photographs, some of which are extremely rare, including personal messages from Elvis to Rosaaen. Included in her extensive collection are 13 scarves, some of which Elvis gave her during his concerts.

Among her prized possessions is a sweater from the 1962 film Kid Galahad, starring Elvis as a boxer, and pants he wore in the movie Frankie and Johnny.

Throughout the years Rosaaen has collected Elvis items by going to auctions, and buying from fans and celebrity shops. She even lays claim to his dental records, his divorce papers signed by Elvis and Priscilla Presley, and an Elvis Presley leather jacket she purchased in 1988.

Ultimate fan

Rosaaen has been a collector and an Elvis fan since she was a child, but it wasn't until her early 20s that she combined the two passions. She was living in Los Gatos and rediscovered The King while watching his 1968 comeback special on television.

As her fascination grew, Rosaaen sold off her other pop collections, which included the Beatles and the Beach Boys, in order to work on preserving Elvis' memory.

In early 1970, she drove to Las Vegas for her first live Elvis concert. It became a bi-annual ritual, and Rosaaen became a regular front-row face at performances.

It took hard work and dedication, and a bit of cash, to stand out among the throngs of fans, but her persistence paid off during one concert at the Sahara-Tahoe Casino in 1974. That's when Rosaaen became known as "Rockin' Robin."

Rosaaen says she bribed her way to the front row and held up a bumper sticker that read, "I want your body."

Elvis came over and grabbed the sticker and said, "You got it!" Rosaaen reached for his scarf, but he stopped her and said, "Let me do it," and wrapped the scarf around her neck.

Later in the performance, Rosaaen says, "He came over and pointed at me, and said, 'Rockin' Robin.' "

The entire incident is documented in a series of photographs, Rosaaen's most sentimental piece of Elvis history--and her own.

Rosaaen continued to attend his concerts whenever possible and kept track of Elvis' travels.

"I used to write Elvis when I knew he was home," she says, and that correspondence included pictures for him to sign.

It wasn't an obsession, she insists. It was "more of a passion for Elvis the man and entertainer." When the reply letters came, Rosaaen says, her neighbors and friends would marvel at the return address.

"He enjoyed the rapport he had with his fans," Rosaaen says. "In those days, you respected the pleasure entertainers gave you."

Rosaaen was present at his last three shows in 1976.

"He was vocally strong," she says, "but he didn't appear well."

When he died in 1977, Rosaaen decide not attend his funeral at Graceland.

"I wanted to remember him as I last saw him on stage," she says.

After the initial shock wore off, Rosaaen kept his persona alive by visiting Graceland and keeping in touch with other Elvis fans.

She lent photographs and collectibles for book projects, most recently Rockin' Down the Highway: The cars and people that Made Rock 'n' roll, which is available in local bookstores. In 1996, part of her collection appeared in an "Elvis and Marilyn" exhibit at the San Jose Museum of Modern Art, and was on display at UC-Berkeley and the 1996 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Her Elvis collection even made it into a picture book geared toward children. All the King's Things earned Rosaaen fame among Elvis fans around the world, according to various experts.

Over the years as Rosaaen built up her collection, she developed an eye for what were genuine Elvis collectibles. She considers herself a connoisseur of Elvis memorabilia and knows a fake from the real thing. Talk show hosts such as Geraldo Rivera, Oprah Winfrey and Joan Rivers considered her an Elvis expert.

"I never dreamed back in the '60s that being an Elvis fan would get me on to all these talk shows," she says.

Hobby turned job

In 1997, Rosaaen started working at eBay as employee number 41, opening envelopes in customer services. But she couldn't get Elvis off her mind, and pitched the idea of an Elvis trade page and virtual museum on eBay's website to management.

She worked nights and weekends to create the Elvis webpage and named it after the book, All the King's Things.

The idea proved so popular the company made Rosaaen the category manager of the Elvis page.

"My hobby became my job," she recalls.

She served as the Elvis official in the "ask the expert" section, and still answers emails sent to elvis@ebay.com. As part of her job, she checked for fraud and pulled fake items off the site within five hours of their postings.

Rosaaen says the items that are tops on the fraud list include fake autographs and "rare" photographs that are actually copies. Rosaaen's expert eye can tell immediately if an autograph is fake.

Her job at eBay helped refine her own collection. She collected an array of new items, from Christmas cards to an Army pocket guide from his service days that included handwritten margin notes.

Then eBay had major layoffs in 2001, and Rosaaen decided to continue on her own.

She had already made a name for herself among Elvis fans, and found a way to earn a living by offering her Elvis collection and expertise to companies.

She recently worked out a deal with PressPass, a hobby company, to purchase a shirt and a scarf from her Elvis collection, which will be cut into small pieces and included in selected trading cards in the Elvis Lives series that will be sold at Target and Wal-Mart.

"People always wanted a part of my collection," Rosaaen says. "Now they can get it."

Rosaaen's dream is to open a gallery on Lincoln Avenue where she can show and share her extensive collection with the public and Elvis fans.

"Elvis will live on even after the original fans are gone," Rosaaen says. "If I can pass on the pleasure Elvis gave me as a fan, that's kind of the purpose."

http://www.community-newspapers.com/archives/wgresident/20061115/news4.shtml

Fans ready to take Phillips stamp pleas to Congress

2008-11-29T13:59:00.000-08:00

By Russ Corey
Staff Writer - TimesDaily.Com
November 29, 2008

FLORENCE - After three years of gathering signatures and testimonials with the ultimate goal of getting Sam Phillips' likeness on a U.S. postage stamp, Liz Scott is ready to take her effort to another level.

Scott is president of a local Elvis Presley fan club, Alabama Fans TCB for Elvis, and the coordinator of the Sam Phillips Commemorative U.S. Postage Stamp Campaign.

Phillips, a Florence native known as "the father of rock 'n' roll," died July 30, 2003, at the age of 80.

Phillips was born in Florence and at the age of 28 moved to Memphis, Tenn., and formed a musical legacy that shows no sign of disappearing.

Phillips founded Sun Records in Memphis and launched the careers of rock 'n' roll pioneers such as Presley, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Roy Orbison, Sonny Burgess, Johnny Cash and Charlie Rich. He was also instrumental in promoting blues artists such as B.B. King and Howlin' Wolf, not to mention country legend Conway Twitty.

"The campaign has been running for three years now and it's time to move on to the next level: Congress," Scott said.

She said the paper and online petitions will remain active until Dec. 31.

"I just want to give people one more chance to get their signature on the petition," Scott said.

"I could keep doing this for another year, getting the signatures, but that's not going to get us a stamp."

The campaign has gathered more than 10,000 signatures, including 1,403 that were placed on a Web site dedicated to the postage stamp effort, Scott said.

"The response from the fans worldwide has been amazing and it has been a lot of fun getting to know some of them," Scott said.

Former Florence councilwoman Angie Pickens has been helping Scott get petitions into people's hands and encouraged city officials to support Scott's effort.

"The stamp is important to the heritage of Florence and Sam Phillips' roots," Pickens said.

"What better way to commemorate his life and accomplishments than with a stamp?"

Kelvin Holly, a guitarist for the local rhythm and blues band The Decoys and rock legend Little Richard's touring band, called Phillips an innovator akin to Albert Einstein or Thomas Edison.

"He gave us the first rock star, really," Holly said. "There might not have been a Beatles or a (Jimi) Hendrix if it hadn't been for Sam Phillips. He really is the father of rock 'n' roll. Sam was the real deal."

Scott said she wants to end the petition drive so she can put together a final count of the names and focus on the trip to Washington, D.C., to speak to Congress.

"We need the U.S. Congress on our side; that's very important," Scott said.

"Congress tells the U.S. Postal Service if a stamp is approved or denied. This is our chance to be heard."

Scott said if the request is denied, any subsequent effort would have to begin from scratch, including the gathering of signatures.

The online petition is available at gopetition.com or myspace.com/samphillipsstampusa.

Article Source: http://preview.tinyurl.com/6ggb4z

King comes to museum

2008-11-25T18:11:00.000-08:00

Chris Rhatigan • Iowa City Press-Citizen • November 24, 2008

The Herbert Hoover Presidential Museum has been temporarily taken over by The King. An exhibit at the museum, "A Very Elvis Christmas," opened Saturday.

The exhibit features 20 Christmas trees that pay homage to the life and career of legendary musician Elvis Presley.

The entrance to the exhibit is a white Christmas tree with red ornaments that is a replica of the trees Presley favored at his Memphis, Tenn., estate, Graceland.

Facts about Presley's life and career are scattered throughout the display along with explanations about the decorations on each tree.

There also are photographs of Presley and three cases of memorabilia, including album covers, Pez dispensers, commemorative plates and dolls.

Deena Moyle of Cedar Rapids came to see the exhibit Sunday. She is the president of the fan club of Illinois-based Elvis impersonator Junior Talley.

"I sent an e-mail to the entire fan club. ... I hope to get them all here to see this," Moyle said.

She said even as a big fan of Presley, she learned new things from the exhibit.

"It goes into great detail about his life," she said.

The trees are themed around different parts of Presley's life. The "Army Elvis" tree features ornaments that highlight his service in the military.

Some are based on Presley's films, such as the "Oceans of Fun" tree and the "Love Me Tender" tree.

The exhibit runs until Jan. 4. The museum is in West Branch just off of Exit 254 on Interstate 80.

For more information, call 319-643-5301 or go to http://www.hoover.archives.gov/

DNA lab owner: Elvis is not dead

2008-10-11T20:15:00.000-07:00

By Lawrence Buser (Contact), Memphis Commercial Appeal
Saturday, October 11, 2008

Supports woman's claim to be Presley's half-sister

The head of an Arizona DNA lab who supports a woman's claim that she's the daughter of Vernon Presley said Friday there's something even more interesting about the case.

Elvis is alive.

"I think the DNA taken from the person named Jessie can only be DNA of Elvis Presley," said Donald Yates of DNA Consultants in Scottsdale. "It's from a live person because the DNA is recent. There are a lot of Elvis impersonators, but I don't think you can imitate DNA. It's hard to get your mind around this story."

Eliza Presley, a 46-year-old Washington state woman who recently changed her name from Alice Elizabeth Tiffin, said in Probate Court this week that she based her Presley kinship claim in part on a DNA sample sent to her from a Jessie Presley.

When asked by attorney William Bradley Jr. if Jessie believes he is Elvis Presley, Eliza replied, "No, actually (he is) Elvis Presley."

She did not elaborate and could not be reached Friday.

Judge Karen Webster reopened Vernon Presley's estate Wednesday at the request of Eliza's attorney, but made no other finding and did not set another court date.

Bradley, however, repeated his assertion that the case has no merit.

"After hearing her testimony in court, I'm not at all surprised about her most recent revelations," said Bradley, who represents Elvis Presley Enterprises and Lisa Marie Presley Lockwood. "Many individuals who claim to be related to Elvis Presley have vivid imaginations."

Eliza Presley's mother, former Memphian Florence Sharp Clark of Oregon, said she was part of the Elvis social circle for a period, but that she had no child by him or his father.

Elvis, who is commonly believed to have died in 1977, would be 73 today.

Yates, who has a doctoral degree in history but none in science, said he concluded Eliza is the daughter of Elvis' father, Vernon Presley, and that Jessie is actually Elvis by comparing his DNA with a Presley cousin, a cousin from Elvis' mother's side, Eliza's and several control samples.

He said neither he nor Eliza has met the man they believe to be Elvis, but that Eliza has talked to him and that he lives at an undisclosed location in the United States.

"I'm an historian and I've never known of a story of a famous person dying and then of rumors being sustained for 25 years that he's still alive," said Yates, who said he also is a former public relations man for Alka Seltzer. "Not throughout human history has a situation like that existed. Jesus Christ died, but he came back pretty quickly."

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2008/oct/11/dna-lab-owner-elvis-is-not-dead/

Exclusive: Lisa Marie Gives Birth to Twin Girls

2008-10-10T20:57:00.000-07:00

October 10, 2008

Lisa Marie Presley has given birth to twin girls, Star has learned. The 40-year-old daughter and heir of Elvis Presley had her babies on Friday, Oct. 10, at Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center in Thousand Oaks, Calif.

Her husband, musician Michael Lockwood, 47, was by her side "the whole time," a friend of the family tells Star.

Lisa Marie’s two older children, Riley, 21, and Ben, 16, from her first marriage to Danny Keough, were also present for the twins' arrival.

“Lisa Marie is mom to four now! She’s feeling good, a little tired too,” a friend of the family tells Star. “She is so happy and Michael is ecstatic. He’s wanted to be a dad for so long. This is his dream come true.”

The birth went along without a hitch. “There was no drama. The babies are healthy and beautiful. Ben was seen pushing them down the hall in their cart and cooing to them,” the friend says.

Article Source: http://www.starmagazine.com/news/14713?cid=RSS

Judge Allows Case of "Elvis Half Sister" to Move Forward

2008-10-10T01:33:00.000-07:00

October 9, 2008

Eliza Presely claims Vernon Presley is her father and says she has DNA evidence to prove it.

A Memphis judge says a woman claiming to be Elvis Presley's half sister can make a claim to Vernon Presley's estate. A woman who changed her name to Eliza Presley testified in court Wednesday that she has DNA evidence that Vernon Presley, Elvis' Father, is her father. Eliza Presley's attorney said the DNA evidence has been tested in and retested by various labs and proof is conclusive. Eliza Presley testified about the DNA. But she said she got Elvis' DNA from an envelope given to her by a person named Jesse.She says Jesse is Elvis. Eliza Presley's mother Florence Clark said the story is not true, that she never had a relationship with Elvis or Vernon Presley. The attorney for EP Enterprise says even if Eliza Presley could make a claim to Vernon Presley's estate, the estate isn't worth anything because all the assets are now in a trust to benefit specific family members.

http://www.wrecradio.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=185284&article=4377916

Woman Claims to Be Elvis Presley's Half Sister, Says He's Alive

2008-10-10T01:23:00.001-07:00

October 8, 2008
Fox News

Woman Files Court Petition to Open Estate of Vernon Presley

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WHBQ FOX13 myfoxmemphis.com) -- A Memphis probate judge reopened the estate of Vernon Presley, father of music icon Elvis Presley, after a 46-year old woman filed a petition claiming to have DNA evidence that she is Vernon's "love-child," making her Elvis's half-sister and a legal heir.

But wait, there's more.

The DNA evidence provided by Eliza A. Presley - who just recently changed her name from Alice Elizabeth Tiffin to her alleged namesake - is an envelope mailed to her that was licked by Jessie Presley, the assumed name used by Elvis Presley. That envelope was allegedly sent to Eliza and processed earlier this year, which implies that… the King did not die in 1977.

The probate judge made the ruling Wednesday morning, stating that the ruling was only to reopen Vernon Presley's estate and not a validation of Eliza's claim.

Eliza Presley also claims to have additional DNA evidence that proves her parentage, evidence that was processed by a DNA testing firm in Arizona.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/3nmjyy

Got a gig for you...

2008-10-10T00:57:00.000-07:00

Hey,

We've got a gig for you January 8, 2009 in Tampa, FL if you are interested.

It would be like a promotional appearance where you would be available for photos and mingling etc and a few songs with tracks. You wouldn't need PA or anything...just you and your suit and a CD. About an hour all totaled. Just not sure exactly what time yet.

If you are available and would be interested in doing it...send me your price. Be reasonable - but it should include all costs and you should itemize such.

Please get back to me as soon as possible, we have sent this request to several ETAs... Send email to email@elviscontest.com

Thanks,

Jack James
Elvis Extravaganza

The Making of Elvis Presley Christmas Duets

2008-10-07T23:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.elvis.com/news/full_story.asp?id=1599

and from this site you can also pre-order the CD.

I will be going to my local HMV and purchasing it probably within the forthcoming week or so, it appears to be a must to add to my collection! :)

Hugs Charmaine

Love Me Tender Day Charity Project Appreciation Award

2008-10-07T18:41:00.000-07:00

I would like to share with you all this most incredible video.
This is a video of myself receiving an "award" from Elvis Tribute
Artist "Gary Elvis Britt", in Montreal Quebec at the "2008 Montreal
Performers Showcase on October 4th, 2008.

This award is in appreciation for my contribution towards working
with Gary Elvis on the "LOVE ME TENDER DAY CHARITY PROJECT" 7 seven
years ago.

I do hope that you all enjoy this video, and please feel most free to add your comments at the video site.

Thank you so much for checking out this video.

Charmaine Jensen-Voisine
ELVIS IS IN THE BROWSER BLOG MODERATOR

Former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi announces retirement

2008-09-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

September 27, 2008

TOKYO — Former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi, known for his flamboyant style and love of Elvis Presley, says he's retiring from politics.

The 66-year-old was Japan's third-longest-serving post-Second World War leader.

He told his supporters Saturday that he would give up his parliamentary seat in the next elections, which could take place as early as November.

Kyodo news agency reported that Koizumi's 27-year-old second son, Shinjiro, would run for the seat from his father's constituency in the next elections.

During his five years in office from 2001 to 2006, Koizumi enjoyed stellar public support and took major policy steps.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hmPmxx09btpYb0_d2ZVPZh0Mh-5g

Good karma comes with coffee name change

2008-09-23T05:28:00.000-07:00

Karma Coffee’s Tara Smith-Hodgson, Wendy Keating, Marti McLeod, Stephan Guy and

Leta Smith-Hodgson toast the arrival of Midnite Espresso, replacing the old name, Elvis Espressoly.

By Steven Heywood - Parksville Qualicum Beach News
Published: September 22, 2008 4:00 PM

Elvis has left the building.

His fans didn’t want to see him go, but you see, he had contractual obligations. The kind a major U.S. corporation likes to hold its clients to. Never mind that the King is long gone and that his name is synonymous with rock and roll.

The name Elvis is, however, no longer synonymous with coffee beans — more specifically, the Elvis Espressoly brand of coffee by Coombs’ Karma Coffee.

This week it’s being rebranded as Midnite Espresso — the same beans, just a different name and still available in local stores.

Karma Coffee owner Melanie van der Stock said they were contacted last March by a lawyer out of New York, representing CKX Inc., owners of the exclusive rights to all things Elvis (and America Idol, even). Despite van der Stock and her partners having bought Karma Coffee in Sept. 2007 — including the Canadian trademarked name Elvis Espressoly — they saw the writing on the wall and could not fight such a large entity. An e-mail interview request to CKX has so far gone unanswered.

On Sept. 20 Karma Coffee relaunched those same, popular beans as Midnite Espresso, having been given six months’ grace to come up with new labels and marketing for the change.

Despite losing the name of their most popular brand for almost 10 years, the owners and staff at Karma Coffee are taking it in stride and are enthusiastic about their beans. They are roasted in small batches at their roastery in Coombs. A few days a week gives them the beans to fill orders up and down Vancouver Island and over to the mainland. Sales manager Marti McLeod said they are doing well in stores like Quality Foods and Thrifty Foods, as well as some smaller stores in the region.

The last bag of Elvis Espressoly will not pass without a bit of fanfare.

Production manager Tara Smith-Hodgson said it will, in all likelihood, be sold to Karma Coffee’s previous owner — Michael Clarke — and the proceeds will be given to charity.

In an e-mail to The News, owner van der Stock stated the change will spark others at Karma Coffee — including a new look to the bags. More details can be found at www.karmacoffee.com .

http://www.bclocalnews.com/business/29379364.html

New CD - One Night With You

2008-09-23T04:40:00.000-07:00

Click to enlarge the above image

Film About Child Rape Becomes a Cause

2008-09-23T02:17:00.000-07:00

Director of 'Hounddog' Finds Parallels Between Real Life and Film's Character

By LUCHINA FISHER
Sept. 19, 2008

It became known as the "Dakota Fanning rape movie."

Hijacked by controversy for the one scene in which Dakota Fanning's 12-year-old character is sexually assaulted by a teenager, the movie "Hounddog" finally lands in theaters today, nearly two years after it was first screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

The controversy was brought on by a disgruntled producer who went to the media before shooting wrapped with a false report that Fanning was naked in the film and had shot a graphic rape scene. That night, CNN was asking its viewers whether a 12-year-old actress should be doing a rape scene.

Soon after, the film was being debated by Sean Hannity and protested by evangelical groups, including the Catholic League, which urged the Justice Department to investigate whether any child pornography laws had been broken.

"I was totally thrown off by it. I had no idea it was coming," said Deborah Kampmeier, the film's writer and director, about the media storm. "I was not making this film to create controversy and social commentary. I was writing this story from my heart, in hopes that it would touch someone else's heart."

The film, a Southern gothic tale set in 1959, is about a motherless 12-year-old girl named Lewellen who finds solace in the music of Elvis Presley. In exchange for two tickets to a Presley concert, she agrees to do a seductive dance for a teenager who robs of her innocence.

Kampmeier asked the district attorney's office in Wilmington, NC, where the film was shot, to do its own investigation. After viewing the film and interviewing cast and crew, the DA found no grounds for prosecution, she said.

In the completed film, the rape scene lasts less than one minute. To shoot it, Kampmeier said there was no simulation of a sex act. Instead she shot closeups of faces, hands and feet. She stood a foot away from Fanning's face and told her when to hold her breath, when to gasp.

"I have a daughter, I am a daughter, I care about the soul of girls," Kampmeier said. "If Dakota had been harmed in any way, if this had been exploitative, it would have betrayed the reason I made this film."

Instead, Fanning was "dancing on the bridge" after she shot the scene, "because she knew she had just hit the zone," Kampmeier said. "She was exquisite."

That didn't seem to matter to the people making death threats at Kampmeier or signing petitions demanding that she and Fanning's mother, Joy, be arrested for child pornography.

By January 2007, when Kampmeier arrived at Sundance, with bodyguards in tow, the FBI was standing by just in case any threats were carried out. Instead it was the film that got flayed by critics and booed by the press. Any possible distribution deals vanished.

"The problem with all this international controversy the film garnered is that it's really a small, small film, too small of a film to carry all of this controversy and hype," said Scott Franklin of the Motion Picture Group, which raised funds to complete the film. "It really raised expectations for this film. It's an intimate film and it got as much press as 'War of the Worlds' did."

Kampmeier took heart from the response she got from the Sundance audience: "lines of women, sobbing and thanking me for making the film, one man in his 60s who hadn't cried his whole life and said the film helped him face something in his life he had never faced."

At Sundance, Fanning spoke out about the scene at the heart of the controversy. She told USA Today that the people attacking the film "were attacking my family and me, and that's where it got too far. Pretty much everybody who talked about it attacked my mother, which I did not appreciate. That was extremely uncalled for and hurtful."

Kampmeier said, from the beginning, Fanning was one of her greatest allies, along with the film's other star, Robin Wright Penn, who signed on as an executive producer in 1996, when Kampmeier first showed her the script.

"There was a connection that happened between us that was so deep, so wordless, and it came out of our love of this character," she said about Fanning. "It was as if we both reached across the table and took each other by the hand and walked through this difficult world together and didn't let go until it was done."

By the time Kampmeier had signed Fanning, she had already seen financing for the film fall through four years in a row and made another film, her award-winning debut "Virgin," also with Wright Penn.

"It would always fall through because investors wanted the rape scene taken out," Kampmeier said. But she refused to take it out.

"I couldn't have done this film without the scene, but that's not what the film is about," she said. "The film is about so many things: motherlessness, healing, art, female sexuality, finding your true voice and the most important things, what the character Charles said in the movie, taking that which can poison you and changing it into something good."

After Sundance, Kampmeier recut the film to show how Lewellen goes from being silenced after the rape to ultimately connecting to her true voice.

Empire Film Group purchased "Hounddog" in March for a $1 million advance but has struggled to book it in theaters, including the three major chains, according to the New York Times. The film, which is rated R, opens today in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago and rolls out nationally over the next three weeks.

Kampmeier was surprised to find that her real-life journey had begun to parallel Lewellen's in the film.

"It's a story about a girl whose voice is silenced and that's what was happening with this film," Kampmeier said. "I can't ignore the politics of being a woman filmmaker. Ninety percent of the stories on screen are being told by men. The silencing of this story, of women's voice in general, is so disturbing."

Instead of running from the controversy, she has embraced it, enlisting prominent figures like Gloria Steinem and advocacy groups, such as Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), to support the film.

"It's become a controversial film," she said, "and I'm trying to embrace that and bring light to an issue that's been silenced in our culture. Dakota is giving voice to millions of silent women and girls. This is an epidemic in our country, and it's so courageous of Dakota to take on this role. It's a story of triumph and hope in the end."

According to Justice Department statistics, one in six women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime and 44 percent of sexual assault victims are under age 18.

Jennifer Storm a survivor of child sexual assault and the author of "Blackout Girl: Growing Up and Drying Out in America," is looking forward to seeing the film.

Raped at 12, and again at 17, Storm said the assaults "stole my voice, took away my childhood first and foremost, changed me from a vivacious girl who loved school to a dark vacant numbed-out person. Only drinking made me feel better and that led me further down the path of destruction."

She said films like "Hounddog," when done right without sensationalizing rape, can break the national silence on this subject. "It sounds like it's going to create some much-needed awareness and create a dialogue that needs to happen at the dinner table," Strom said.

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/Story?id=5834895&page=4

YouTube - ELVIS PRESLEY - Baby Let's Play House (Spankox Re:Version)

2008-09-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

SonyBMG official 2008 Elvis release: new Elvis Presely remix of classic "Baby Let's Play House". Remix by DJ Spankox.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eguwpx6UNVE

I personally really like this "REMIX"...

What are other's opinions of this, I am interested in hearing them.

Charmaine

Elvis lends autistic youngster Henry Kay a helping hand

2008-09-20T03:28:00.000-07:00

*Had to share this as it touched home with me in a personal way,
my son is 21 years old and he is autistic, he has had many
challenges in life since the day he was born, until I found the
perfect place for him that makes him happy and comfortable.
Also one where he is able to learn daily life-skills. Charmaine
**********************************************************

September 18, 2008
by Tony Collins - Birmingham Mail

THE parents of a boy of four diagnosed with autism have turned to Elvis to launch a fundraising campaign aimed at providing the youngster with the special help he needs.

Penny and Warwick Kay, from Sutton Coldfield, have taken the step of educating their son Henry at home with the aid of a specialist learning programme.

And to help fund the programme, they have organised a charity event to be held at Pier 39 in Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield, on November 20.

Called One Night With Elvis, it involves tribute artist Kevin Paul, who was runner-up in a GMTV Elvis competition.

Henry is being educated with intensive one-on-one sessions in a specially adapted room in the family home, designed to allow minimal distraction.

Developed in America by other parents of autistic children, the Son-Rise programme aims to empower parents to develop their child’s social skills of eye contact, communication, flexibility and interactive attention span.

Henry’s parents said he had made amazing progress in the last few months, including an increase in his vocabulary from just 20 words to 500.

But, after failing to obtain financial support from the local authority for Henry’s home-education, Penny and Warwick are now embarking on a fundraising campaign with the help of their two daughters Isabelle, aged ten, and Maddy, six.

Penny said: “We have seen such an amazing change in Henry that we feel we cannot give up just because we can’t get funding.

“We are committed to raising the money and hope the community will get behind our cause in any way they can.”

Warwick, a graphic designer, has set up a website, www.helpinghenry.co.uk . Tickets for One Night With Elvis cost £35. To book, call 0121 355 1465 or visit the website.

http://www.birminghammail.net/news/birmingham-news/2008/09/18/elvis-lends-autistic-youngster-henry-kay-a-helping-hand-97319-21845919/

The King and Cash

2008-09-20T02:27:00.000-07:00

Saturday Oct 11th
Fine Kettle 'O' Fish
Legends Concert Series
Dinner 7pm Show 9pm
'The King and Cash'
with Eddy Prince & Ricky 'D' Cash
3641 Portage Rd. Niagara Falls ON
(905)371-3474
Dinner and show $25, Show only $10
Choose from four show stopping entrees!
MENU
1-Haddock Dinner, prepared Boston style, pan fried, baked or grilled. With your choice of baked or mashed potato, french fries, or rice.
2-Chicken Parmesan, with linguinne and vegetable
3-Sirloin or Chicken burger with your choice of potato
4-Chicken Nuggets and fries in a basket
Limited seating-make your reservations today! 905-371-3474

Elvis Has Landed in Cocoa Beach

2008-09-19T01:23:00.000-07:00

Come join us in Cocoa Beach for one of the first
ULTIMATE ELVIS CONTESTS
of the 2009 Season!

October 17, 18, & 19, 2008
Cocoa Beach Hilton
Cocoa Beach, Florida

Special evening perfomances each night by

Jack Smink
Donny Edwards
Shawn Klush
and the LST Band and Vocalists

See attached flyer for more details
and check out
www.elvishaslanded.com
or email
elvis@elvishaslanded.com

Sincerely,
Karen
Visit Jack's New Website!
http://www.jacksmink.com

Check out www.ElvisHasLanded.com
Yahoo Groups: JackSmink-MemoriesOfElvis
The Jack Attack Building
www.myspace.com/JackSmink

LST Productions now accepts VISA & MasterCard at all show sites

Click to enlarge

Latest news

2008-09-18T20:14:00.000-07:00

----- Original Message -----
From: Emma Oldham
Sent: Monday, September 15, 2008 3:25 PM
Subject: Latest news

Hi Everyone,

I have attached some of the official photos of the Bolton Arena Concert for you all to enjoy!

The website (http://www.elitetributes.com/) is soon to feature a FANS PAGE. So if any of you were taking pictures at the Bolton concert (especially the after-show party) you could soon find yourself featured on the website! Simply email your best pictures either to me or directly to enquiries@theworldsgreatestelvis.co.uk. Please include your comments on the show plus your name and location.

Here is the latest news from the website....

NEW YEARS EVE
Announcements concerning an Exclusive New Years Eve show starring Shawn Klush in the North West of England are expected very soon. Availability is expected to be very limited but there is still time to put your name on the waiting list before the show is announced publicly. Simply send your details and state how many tickets you would like to reserve to enquiries@theworldsgreatestelvis.co.uk

BOLTON ARENA DVD
The DVD is underway but is still expected to be several weeks until it is made available.

MAJOR 2009 UK ARENA MOVES A STEP CLOSER!
Successful preliminary talks were held today with a major UK Arena to host The World’s Greatest ETA Concert in 2009 with further talks expected later this week.

Thanks everyone, take care.

Kind regards,

Emma Oldham
Fan relations
The World's Greatest Elvis Tribute Artiste Concert
http://www.elitetributes.com/

Elvis' Desk For Sale!

2008-09-14T18:54:00.001-07:00

Elvis' Desk For Sale!: Elvis' office desk is for sale on Ebay for current bid US $25,000.00 with the reserve not met. Following on from our previous news stories about Elvis' Meditation Garden windows (see below) designer Bernard Grenadier's son is selling Elvis' original desk.
As reported: "Elvis commissioned Bernard to build a futuristic wood desk for him to use in his study. A desk that would represent Elvis’s style and the grandeur of Graceland. Elvis wanted a desk that brought to life his creative vision of how electronics would be married into our everyday world.
The desk would hold a radio, television, 8 track player, telephone directory and calendar to mention several of Elvis’s futuristic ideas. Elvis and Bernard drew out on a piece of paper their thoughts for this desk. Bernard took the drawings to RCA and asks them to build a television that would fit into the design. At the time RCA said that it was impossible. When Bernard went back to Elvis with the response from RCA, Elvis stated impossible is not an option! Bernard went back to RCA again and convinced them to rethink their decision. Bernard told them “money was no problem” - so the vision began to take form. RCA took the diagram to their research and development department to build the small television to fit into the console of the desk.
Elvis was so pleased with the design of the desk that he requested not one but two desks to be built. He used and enjoyed both desks for a long time.
Elvis decided after Bernard had turned down many gifts over the years from motorcycles to cars, that he would give Bernard the second desk as a token of their friendship. Bernard accepted and treasured the desk for many years.

After my Dad died (Bernard Grenadier) in the mid 80's the desk was left to me. I have enjoyed the desk ever since. It has always given me true joy to sit at Elvis’s desk and do my work, just as Elvis did many years ago. It has allowed me feel close to Elvis, and know that he worked on this desk – it is a special feeling that I will never forget.
This is truly a unique treasure. The sister twin to this desk is on display at Graceland and is viewed by millions of visitors who tour the grounds of Graceland yearly.
I am presenting the desk for auction in the hopes of finding someone that will feel as my Dad and I have, and cherish this special part of Elvis Presley’s everyday life. The first 2 pictures posted are of the sister desk located at Graceland. The fourth picture is of a memorial plaque in the meditation gardens. It has my fathers name listed as the designer and builder of the gardens." Go here for details. (News, Source;EIN)

Christmas Madness

2008-09-14T17:24:00.001-07:00

Click to enlarge

Christmas Madness: Three Elvis christmas albums all out in the next 3 weeks. 'Christmas With Elvis' with 12 tracks from Pegasus Entertainment due out 11 Oct 2008. 'Christmas With Elvis Presley' with 18 tracks (including Love Me Tender) from the Xtra label due out 6 Oct. 'Elvis' Christmas Album' from Hallmark with the regular 12 tracks due out 15 September. (News, Source;Santa)

New tribute song: Elvis... Just To Have You Back Again

2008-09-14T17:03:00.000-07:00

New tribute song: Elvis... Just To Have You Back Again (Source: Anne Maree Burgess)

Lyrics:

Elvis we all miss you so much

You were our true hero, we loved you so

We were so sorry you had to leave us this way
Our memory will always stray to the great and happy times
When we all saw you show your magic on stage
Now all the places where you performed
Leave us haunted with the thought
With the thought we`ll never see you again
Our hearts are filled with pain
Wish that you could come back again
Dear Elvis we all miss you so very much

Our hearts are filled with pain
Wish that you could come back again
Dear Elvis we all miss you so very much
You were magic, your life was on the stage

With each show you gave us your very best
We all fell in love with you at first glance
You sung your songs so beautifully
And you never missed a cue
Suddenly though you seemed to change
And you acted a little strange
Why didn`t we know, why were't we told
Elvis if only we knew all the strain you were under
If only we knew all the pain and suffering you endured

Our hearts are filled with pain

Wish that you could come back again

Dear Elvis we all miss you so very much

Elvis we would have rather that you cancelled all your shows
To have you well again, in body, mind and soul
Than us going on in life without you
Now the stages are all bare
As we are all standing there

With emptiness in our hearts and our souls

Now that you are gone
If only you could come back to us
And see the curtains raise again for you
What joy this would bring
To our hearts and our souls
Oh Elvis wish that you could come back to us once again.
Repeat chorus

Listen to "A Song for Elvis" from Anne Maree

Elvis Presley - 2CD Special Edition

2008-09-14T16:25:00.001-07:00

Elvis Presley: Released September 11, 2008 is the budget double CD simply entitled "Elvis Presley".
It was released on the Proper Records label. (News, Source: Elvis News)

Detective won’t let case of murdered Elvis die

2008-09-08T12:59:00.000-07:00

By Abigail Goldman
Mon, Sep 8, 2008 (2 a.m.)

Tribute artist, girlfriend were shot 15 years ago in Vegas ‘Mini-Graceland’

Dana MacKay was a successful Elvis impersonator looking to leave the business. His girlfriend was a pageant queen, a divorced Mrs. Nevada, living with the King in a fixer-upper Vegas mansion they called “Mini-Graceland.”

When police arrived at the house, they found the couple dead on the floor, shot after coming home with groceries — laundry detergent, T-bone steaks, bananas and a box of Junior Mints.

The steaks had gone bad. MacKay and his girlfriend, Mary Huffman, had been dead for a day or two.

Police concluded the couple had walked in on a burglary and had died for it. Fifteen years later, a different cop disagrees.

“I don’t believe it,” homicide Detective George Sherwood said. “Somebody was lying in wait for them.”

And only one important item, as far as anybody can tell, was missing.

•••

Dana MacKay looked an awful lot like Elvis. When he sang, he sounded like Elvis. He had a backup band, and he didn’t lip-sync. When his slaying was splashed across the tabloids, they called him “America’s first Elvis impersonator.”

He was the kind of celebrity impersonator who bristled at the title. In his mind, he was a tribute artist. He played the Dunes before it was dusted. He was the first to play Elvis in “Legends in Concert” at the Imperial Palace. He played a 35-year-old King in the movie “This Is Elvis,” considered one of the better documentaries on the subject. It was rereleased last year in a special two-disc collectors’ edition. But sweating and grinding in rhinestones isn’t the easiest way to make ends meet. MacKay had been working as an impersonator for years, and though he was good at it, he wasn’t happy enough to spend the rest of his life onstage, squeezed into a white jumpsuit. He had other plans — palm trees.

MacKay had a landscaping business on the side — not driving around in a pickup truck with a lawn mower, but designing and planting large tracts for high-end homes and hotels, friend Danny Koker remembers. MacKay had an in with a guy in California who raised quality palm trees and sold them at a discount to the Elvis impersonator. This is clear when you look at aerial crime scene photos of Mini-Graceland, his Spring Valley stucco home: The place is covered in palm trees, a foolish number of them — a sort of Vegas desert answer to Greek columns.

The house needed work, though. MacKay, known for being clever with his hands, was in the middle of remodeling the place, which had a recording studio on the top floor with picture windows that overlooked the Strip. And someone looking down on Las Vegas Boulevard at that time, the early ’90s, might have noticed something: no palm trees.

MacKay thought this was his chance. Las Vegas and Clark County officials were looking, his friends and family remember, for someone to line the Strip’s median with palm trees. It was a big contract, and one MacKay thought he could win. He had the trees, but he didn’t really have the financing. So he brought in a friend — Tim Stone-

street, of the now-defunct auto dealer Stonestreet Motor Cars.

With Stonestreet providing the financial backing, the friends formed Paradise Palms Co. in December 1992. They bought expensive toys, about $100,000 worth of landscaping equipment — a backhoe, a 40-foot storage trailer, crane equipment, the works. Together, friends recall, the two were determined to get the Strip contract.

The partnership was dissolved five months later. The ex-partners quickly ended up in court, fighting over the company’s equipment. MacKay represented himself. Stone-

street hired an attorney from Goodman and Chesnoff, the firm co-owned by the man who would go on to become Las Vegas’ mayor.

Things were bitter. In one of MacKay’s court filings, he wrote: “In retrospect it appeared that all Tim was trying to do was obtain my contacts for trees, learn my expertise and establish his own palm tree company.”

MacKay didn’t want to part with the equipment, even after Metro Police were dispatched to his house to remove it. They were unsuccessful, and MacKay was optimistic. He told his pal Koker he had information that would help him win the case. But before he could go to court with whatever that information was, MacKay was dead. The tabloids described it as a “gangland-style execution.”

Roughly two weeks later, Stonestreet was awarded the dissolved company’s assets.

•••

Robbers don’t leave guns behind. This is common knowledge to police, homicide Detective Sherwood said. They don’t typically leave behind jewelry, either. And when the person you’re robbing has cash and a wallet openly on his person, as MacKay did when he died, failing to snatch it up is just another sign that you’re a lousy robber, or not a robber at all.

The couple died near the front door of their house — shot several times at close range. Rumors floated that MacKay was involved with drugs, was hanging with a rough crowd, but the coroner’s report reveals there wasn’t a single illicit substance in his body.

“His friends said he didn’t even drink very often,” Sherwood said.

The detective has been working Metro’s cold cases for the past two years. He has been in homicide for going on eight. He’s planning to leave the section in a few weeks, but he’s so certain he can solve the Mac-

Kay killing, he’s taking the case with him.

“I’m not going anywhere,” he said.

His new boss will read this. Hopefully he won’t mind. Sherwood is the kind of guy who lets a thing eat at him. He has been chewing on the MacKay case for months, has conducted a dozen interviews, traveled out of state several times. He has visited a few jails, had a few behind-bars conversations with a few persons of interest. Next he’s going to the police DNA lab to see what they can squeeze from the available evidence. That’s about all he’s going to tell you, too.

Well, besides this: “This case is solvable.”

The only item of interest that was taken from the Mac-

Kay house was a manila folder the Elvis impersonator carried with him everywhere. Koker, who had plans to get into the palm tree business with MacKay when Stonestreet was out of the picture, remembers him dragging it out every time they talked business, which was often, and flipping through the pages. He kept everything too. He was a meticulous Elvis.

Sherwood is a meticulous detective. He drags out the cold case file, which consists of two hulking black three-ring binders, and flips through the pages.

“Dana always kept a file with him that outlined all his business, whether it was his musical endeavors, the palm tree business, his home and personal information, his life finances. And that was the only notable thing that was missing,” he said. “Somebody wanted that folder, and somebody wanted Dana.”

Several hundred black binders line Metro’s cold case shelves. Sherwood opened this one because MacKay has a daughter, a girl who saw her father during the summer and remembers the last time she saw him: at a family funeral, with a Marilyn Monroe impersonator for a date. Then he was killed. On a whim a few months ago, his daughter, Misty Vargas, searched for her father’s name online, found a blurb about his case, discovered it was being called a burglary gone bad and flipped out. She called Metro, and from there, they started poking around. At the time of the killing, Koker came out hard against Stonestreet. He brought America’s Most Wanted right to the front door of his house, knocked on the front door, and let the cameras roll while Stonestreet said he had no comment.

Stonestreet said the same thing, through his attorney, John Spilotro, to the Sun last week. He refused to meet with Sherwood as well. At the time of the slaying, it’s widely known, Stonestreet was out of town. Police cleared him of any wrongdoing when the case was first investigated.

Sherwood says he’s following up on about three angles, working just as hard to eliminate bad information as to confirm the good. He’s not a divulger of details. MacKay’s remaining family, Misty’s grandparents, have come forward with a reward, $25,000, for anybody who knows anything useful about the killing of the King and his beauty queen at Mini-Graceland.

His palm trees are still there. Someone else’s are up and down the Strip.

Article Source: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/sep/08/detective-wont-let-case-murdered-elvis-die/

Jailhouse Rock Assistant Director New Book and Appearance

2008-09-04T15:25:00.000-07:00

Book Soup to host Robert E. Relyea on September 10

Producer Robert E. Relyea, a fifty-year veteran of the movie industry and assistant director on Elvis Presley's most iconic film, Jailhouse Rock, will appear at a world famous book store on the Sunset Strip this month to promote his new action-packed autobiography.

The two-hour signing will take place 7 p.m. Wednesday, September 10 at Book Soup, 8818 Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood. Relyea will be signing copies of Not So Quiet On The Set: My Life In Movies During Hollywood’s Macho Era, which promises to become a must read for anyone who yearns to know the “real” stories about the movies.

Co-authored by son Craig Relyea, Not So Quiet On The Set provides a fascinating behind-the-scenes, first person look into Hollywood’s movie-making landscape during the turbulent pre-and post-Kennedy years in America. The book also chronicles Relyea’s relationship with Elvis Presley on the set of Jailhouse Rock and Kid Galahad.

Tidbits include:
– When Relyea rushed Presley from the MGM soundstage to Cedars-Sinai Hospital because the singer had swallowed a tooth cap.
– A behind-the-scenes look at the famous dance sequence that became Presley's most enduring image on celluloid.
– How Presley won over the film's veteran cast and crew with his polite manners and sincerity.
– Relyea's take on Presley's romance with co-star Judy Tyler, who died in a tragic automobile accident shortly after Jailhouse Rock was finished.
– Having fun with Presley and the Memphis Mafia on the set of Kid Galahad.

The 348-page work includes candid photos of Relyea on the sets of epic films and presents rare insights into the mechanics and politics of film making, defining a dynamic period in motion picture history. A unique collaboration between father and son, Not So Quiet On The Set not only illustrates how the movie industry really works, but also provides a revealing portrait of Hollywood’s loss of innocence.

For more information, go to http://www.booksoup.com/ or http://www.notsoquietontheset.com/

Musician, actor Jerry Reed dies at 71

2008-09-02T20:48:00.001-07:00

September 2, 2008

Jerry Reed, country music’s howling virtuoso and a star of stage, studio and screen, died Sunday, Aug. 31, just before midnight, at his Brentwood home.

Born Jerry Reed Hubbard, Mr. Reed suffered from emphysema and was in hospice care. He was 71, and he leaves an unparalleled legacy of laughter and song.

“All of us pickers owe him so much,” said recording artist and guitar player Brad Paisley. “Jerry Reed’s instrumentals are required learning if you want to play country guitar. And every move he made was to entertain, and make the world more fun. Because he was such a great, colorful personality with his acting and songs and entertaining, sometimes people didn’t even notice that he was just about the best guitarist you’ll ever hear.”

By the time Mr. Reed came to popular attention as Burt Reynolds’ truck-driving sidekick “The Snowman” in the Hollywood trilogy Smokey and the Bandit, he was already a musical deity to the guitar players who admired the syncopated flurries he unleashed with a casual gleam. He was also a hit-making singer-songwriter by then, having topped the charts with “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot” and “Lord, Mr. Ford,’ and having written songs for Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Porter Wagoner, Brenda Lee and others. Then there was his work as session guitarist for Presley, Waylon Jennings, Bobby Bare and many others.

Mr. Reed enjoyed his comedic Hollywood roles (which included a part in the 1998 Adam Sandler film, The Waterboy), and he often smiled when movie fans would ask for an autograph without realizing that he was a singer and guitarist of significance. Music was most important to him, though. Asked by interviewer Frank Goodman which facet of music he preferred – songwriter, solo guitarist, session man or entertainer – Mr. Reed said, “Hey, that’s like trying to pick out your favorite leg.”

“There’s nothing on earth as powerful as music, period,” he told Goodman. “I mean, it’s pretty hard to fight and hate and be angry when you’re making music, isn’t it?”

As Mr. Reed’s health declined in recent years, he focused on spiritual studies and on bringing attention to veterans’ issues.

“For 50 years, all I’d done was take, take, take,” he told The Tennessean’s Tim Ghianni in 2007. “I decided from now on it is going to be giving. And I’m way behind. We’re all way behind. We live this life like what’s down here is what it’s all about. We’re temporary, son, like a wisp of smoke.”

“Nothing else made any sense.”

Mr. Reed was born in Atlanta, Ga., on March 20, 1937. He was the son of cotton mill workers Robert Spencer Hubbard and Cynthia Hubbard, who divorced in their son’s first year. From fall of 1937 until 1944, the boy lived in orphanages and foster homes. He rejoined his mother when she married mill worker Hubert Howard in 1944.

Already transfixed by music, Mr. Reed listened to the Grand Ole Opry on the radio each Friday night, jumping around on a woodpile in lieu of a stage, and playing a hairbrush as if it was a rhythm guitar. Noticing his enthusiasm, Cynthia Howard bought a used guitar from a neighbor for $7, presented it to her son and taught him two chords. He began striking the strings with a thumb-pick, a practice he continued throughout his career. When a guitar teacher told him to discontinue that method, an already headstrong Mr. Reed dropped the teacher rather than the pick.

Hearing finger-style guitarist Merle Travis play “I Am A Pilgrim” caused young Mr. Reed to aspire to something beyond simplicity.

“I thought when I heard it, ‘Boy, there it is! That man is walking with the big dog. He knows where the bodies are buried, and I want some of that,’” Mr. Reed told Bob Anderson in a 1979 interview.

Another hero was banjo great Earl Scruggs, and Mr. Reed ultimately arrived at a guitar style that fused Scruggs’ rapid torrents of notes with the rhythms heard in Ray Charles’ “What’d I Say.” That is the style that made Mr. Reed an inspiration to generations of guitarists. Though he would not fully realize his signature sound until the 1960s, he spent his high school years honing his musical and performing chops and displaying a talent and magnetism that set him apart from others at school.

In 1954, he played a self-penned song called “Aunt Meg’s Wooden Leg” for Atlanta publisher and radio host Bill Lowery, who began managing and booking the young man. A 30-day tour opening shows for Ernest Tubb and the Texas Troubadours ensued, and the experience was enough to convince Mr. Reed that high school was of little use to him.

“I knew what I was going to spend my life doing,” he later said. “Nothing else made any sense. Nothing else made any difference.”

“It really broke his heart”

In 1954, a 17-year-old Mr. Reed played a show in Atlanta in honor of country star Faron Young, who had been discharged from the Army. Ken Nelson, who ran Capitol Records, attended the Atlanta show. Lowery, who had hired Mr. Reed as a disc jockey at Atlanta’s WGST, told Nelson that Capitol could do worse than to sign the cotton mill boy from Georgia.

Reluctant to sign such a young act to Capitol, Nelson acquiesced. He told Mr. Reed to wait until his 18th birthday before recording, and in October 1955 the men entered a Nashville studio and made a record. First single “If The Good Lord’s Willing And The Creeks Don’t Rise” did not make any great commercial waves, and neither did follow-up single “I’m A Lover, Not A Fighter.” And neither did any others of Mr. Reed’s Capitol recordings, as he flailed about for a form that rang true. He moved through country, pop and rockabilly, to little avail.

“My records were selling like hot cakes: About fifty cents a stack,” he often joked in later years.

In 1958, Mr. Reed ended his association with Capitol. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1959, the same year he married Priscilla “Prissy” Mitchell. Army brass thought Mr. Reed’s talents better suited for a stage than a battlefield, and the would-be warrior became a member of the army’s Circle A Wranglers band.

Brenda Lee — a member of both the country and rock ’n’ roll halls of fame — remembered that Mr. Reed was in full military uniform when he saw her at the Atlanta airport and mentioned that he had a song that would be good for her. That song, “That’s All You Gotta Do,” was a Top 10 pop hit for Lee, and it was the “flip” side of Lee’s wildly popular single “I’m Sorry.” That success was a change for the better, as was a 1961 military discharge and the development of a unique guitar-playing method that would later be called “Claw style.”

“If (Merle) Travis’ thumb and index finger picking style was first generation, and Chet Atkins’ use of thumb, index and middle finger was second, Reed’s use of his entire right hand to pick (the famous “claw” style) was the wild, untamed and dauntingly complex third generation,” wrote historian and journalist Rich Kienzle.

Mr. Reed switched from a steel-stringed acoustic guitar to a nylon-stringed Baldwin model, with an electronic “pickup” that allowed the guitar to be heard above a full band. He signed a Columbia Records contract in 1961, but that deal yielded no hits. His songwriting and session playing proved more lucrative, as he performed on hits for Bobby Bare and he penned Porter Wagoner’s 1962 No. 1 hit, “Misery Loves Company.” And Mr. Reed attracted a high-powered fan in Chet Atkins, the guitar star who ran Nashville’s branch of RCA.

“Chet and I had got friendly, and he told me, ‘You ain’t never going to have a hit recording what’s not you. Just go in there and be what you are.’ Chet thinks I’m funky,” Mr. Reed told Morton Moss of the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner.

Atkins expressed interest in Mr. Reed signing to RCA, and Mr. Reed broke the news to a Columbia Records executive that he would like to go to RCA. “It really broke his heart,” Mr. Reed recalled, later. “Took him about 30 seconds to let me go.”

The only way to sound like Jerry Reed…

Atkins was determined to record Mr. Reed as an atypical artist rather than molding him into a pre-established model. In his guitar work and in the songs he wrote, Mr. Reed revealed a humor and a wit that set him apart from other performers and endeared him to audiences.

The key was capturing that in a way that didn’t dull spontaneity or intelligence, and Atkins figured quite correctly that he knew how to do this. Rather than asking Mr. Reed to write or record for a particular audience demographic, as he’d done on Capitol and Columbia, Atkins insisted that Mr. Reed be Mr. Reed.

“I owe almost every bit of success that has come to me to Chet Atkins,” Mr. Reed told the Associated Press in 1999. “He’s a nonconformist, and he suggested that I just play my guitar and sing my songs and he’d release singles.”

The first best result of Mr. Atkins’ prodding was instrumental showcase “The Claw,” so named because of the way Mr. Reed’s hand looked when playing in his intricate style.

Then, Mr. Reed came up with “Guitar Man,” which showcased his guitar work, his voice and his storytelling ability. “Guitar Man” was followed by “Tupelo Mississippi Flash,” which became Mr. Reed’s first Top 20 hit, in 1967. “Tupelo Mississippi Flash” was a funky laugher that poked fun at an industry executive who didn’t understand the power and reach of Elvis Presley.

In fact, Presley recorded two songs from Mr. Reed’s pen, “U.S. Male” and “Guitar Man.” Presley was unhappy with others’ attempts to recreate Mr. Reed’s guitar sound, and Mr. Reed received a telephone call from producer Felton Jarvis, asking how he did what he did. Mr. Reed told Jarvis that the only way to get the Jerry Reed sound was to have Jerry Reed on the session, asserting that most studio players are “straight pickers,” while, “I play with my fingers and tune that guitar up all weird kind of ways.”

Jarvis, and Presley, took note, and Mr. Reed performed on the Presley sessions. It all made sense: The only way to sound like Jerry Reed was to be Jerry Reed.

A gentle “wild man”

Mr. Reed wrote “Alabama Wild Man,” a Top 50 country hit in 1968 that gave the native Georgian a fun but geographically incorrect nickname. Anyway, Bare said the only thing wild about Mr. Reed was his onstage persona.

“He was actually the opposite of the ‘wild man’ thing,” said Bare, who spent hundreds of hours fishing with Mr. Reed on placid lakes where wildness isn’t in demand. It should be noted that Mr. Reed, the product of a broken union, stayed married to Prissy Hubbard until his death.

“Jerry was as funny as the day is long, but he was a gentle, kind, sweet family man,” Lee said. “He was precious.”

A breakthrough career moment for Mr. Reed came in late 1970, when the funny, funky and swampy “Amos Moses” landed in the Top 10 of the pop charts and in the Top 20 of the country charts. An instrumental with Atkins won a Grammy in 1971, and the following year Mr. Reed won a best country male performance Grammy for his first No. 1 country smash, appropriately titled “When You’re Hot, You’re Hot.” Two years later, he hit No. 1 again with the modern times lament, “Lord, Mr. Ford.”

During this time, Mr. Reed was also appearing regularly on friend Glen Campbell’s Goodtime Hour, and television types took notice of his charisma. In 1974, he played a joke-cracking role in W.W. and the Dixie Dance Kings. His best-loved film role came in 1977, when he starred as Cledus Snow, a.k.a. “The Snowman,” in the Reynolds’ flick Smokey and the Bandit. Mr. Reed co-wrote the movie’s theme song, “East Bound and Down,” which spent two weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard Country singles chart.

“We were fishing out at Percy Priest Lake and Jerry told me about a movie coming out called Smokey and the Bandit,” Bare said. “I didn’t think too much about it at the time. We were chasing rockfish. But when I watched him on the screen, I realized he was a really good actor.”

The Hollywood success and country hits provided smiles for Mr. Reed’s casual fans, but musicians also took notice of the staggering virtuosity behind the records. Brent Mason, now a top session musician in Nashville, calls Mr. Reed “my favorite guitar player of all time.”

“He called himself a ‘guitar thinker,’ not a ‘guitar player,’” Mason said. “He would find new ways to play things, and you can play his songs over and over and hear something new inside them every time. I’ve been stealing from Jerry Reed for years. It was extraordinary, brilliant playing.”

Mason and scores of others sought to decipher the secrets behind Mr. Reed’s rocket-fueled licks. As Guitar Town struggled to catch up, Mr. Reed notched another No. 1 hit with “She Got The Goldmine (I Got The Shaft)” and a No. 2. effort with “The Bird,” in which Mr. Reed displayed his spot-on impressions of Willie Nelson and George Jones.

In terms of chart runs and guitar innovation, that was it. Mr. Reed had no Top 20 hits after 1983, and his triumphs following that were limited to live performance and movie roles. But the sound he got out of his guitar in the years between 1967 and 1983 is an influence that is more than temporary, more than a wisp of smoke.

“Like Django (Reinhardt), Chet and a few others, Jerry Reed created a unique style of guitar playing, one which will be carried on by admirers for generations to come,” said musician David Hungate. Scholar John Knowles told Thomas Goldsmith, “His playing has the complexity of classical music but the rhythmic sense that comes from country, rock and gospel.” And bass man Henry Strzelecki, who played on “Amos Moses,” “Lord, Mr. Ford” and other Reed hits, said, “Jerry brought rhythm and blues and country together, and it came out funk. He’s one of the finest talents we’ve known. And he made people happy. You couldn’t be sad around Jerry.”

Mr. Reed’s own assessments of his career involved smiling, head-shaking disbelief.

“I got to write hit songs,” he told interviewer Calvin Gilbert in 2005. “And I got to be on phonograph records… I’m a cotton mill boy, and I got to go to Hollywood. Can you imagine that? Why, yeah, my goodness gracious. Go figure.”

There were plenty who never knew of Mr. Reed as anything more than “The Snowman,” or as the coach in The Waterboy. He was funny, and an entertainer, and in terms of movie-making that was enough. He fully understood that most of the general public didn’t know that he was one of the most compellingly original guitarists of all time, and he fully understood that many session guitarists not only understood it but also attempted to replicate his feel and technique. And he was fine with all of that.

In the end, Mr. Reed sought neither acknowledgment nor celebration, to the point that he requested a quick and private funeral. He was buried Tuesday afternoon in Nashville, and he is survived by wife Priscilla Hubbard, by daughters Seidina Hinesley and Charlotte Elaine “Lottie” Stewart and by grandson Jerry Roe and granddaughter Lainey Stewart.

Mr. Reed’s only regret regarding the guitar was that his declining health meant he could no longer play. Making music would have been a comfort in his final months. Instead, he enjoyed the company of family, and the visits from old friends like Lee and Bare.

They told stories and jokes, and Reed sometimes got to laughing so hard that he had to pause and try to be serious in order to catch his fragile breath. They talked about the good times and the dumb luck, and the fullness of some lives. And on an August day, Reed told Bare something he’d been thinking a lot about: the fact that everything he’d ever dreamed had come true.

Article: http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080902/TUNEIN/80902039/1005/ENTERTAINMENT

Elvis Presley '68 Comeback Special 30th Anniversary Sculpture - AVAILABLE SOON!!

2008-09-01T22:24:00.000-07:00

Also available soon is the Elvis Presley '68 Comeback Special 30th Anniversary Sculpture. The King is in the building! Standing approximately 17 1/2 inches tall, this limited-edition piece captures Elvis during his defining 1968 comeback performance. The King of Rock and Roll is entirely hand cast and hand painted to capture every realistic detail. As depicted here, Elvis stands ready to blow the audience's socks off, poised with a corded microphone. The piece features a hand-numbered base with his replica autograph in gold script. This 30th-anniversary Elvis collectible is licensed and authorized by the Presley estate. This is a perfect piece of Elvis memorabilia. Better yet, it would make a perfect gift for an Elvis fan. Strictly limited to 2008 pieces.

Welcome to Graceland

2008-08-31T22:57:00.000-07:00

August 31, 2008
by Alanna Nash

Link to this article http://www.americanprofile.com/article/28656.html
* there are beautiful pictures to the mansion and etc. *

When the King of Rock ’n’ Roll died Aug. 16, 1977, his ex-wife, Priscilla, was overcome with emotion—and doubts. She worried not just for her daughter, Lisa Marie—Elvis’ only child—but also for all the people around the globe to whom he meant so much. “How is this world,” she wondered, “going to survive without Elvis Presley?”

Thirty-one years later, Presley’s faithful followers keep his memory alive, especially when they visit Graceland, making the ultimate pop-music pilgrimage to one of America’s top five most-visited historic homes. Each year, more than 600,000 people tour the 17,000-square-foot residence on Elvis Presley Boulevard in the Whitehaven section of Memphis, Tenn. Some, like Nancie Craft, 52, of Houston, come twice a year: in January for Elvis’ birthday, and in August, around the anniversary of his death.

“It’s so nice to go somewhere where you do not have to explain to anyone why you’re an Elvis fan,” says Craft, president of an Elvis Presley fan club. “Why all of us want to know so much about this one man is still a mystery to me. But we go because it’s like a family reunion, and we all just feel closer to Elvis at Graceland.”

Built for a doctor
The “mansion,” as the home is commonly referred to, was built in 1939 for Memphis physician Dr. Thomas D. Moore and his wife, and dubbed Graceland for Mrs. Moore’s great-aunt. But today, everything about it, from the famed music-themed gates to the stained-glass peacocks in the living room and the “TCB” (Taking Care of Business) lightning bolts painted on the walls of the TV room, reflects Elvis and his often eclectic decorating tastes.

Presley bought the property for $102,500 in March 1957 as a home for himself and his parents, Gladys and Vernon. Visitors taking Graceland’s “audio tour”—available in eight languages—even hear Elvis’ voice as they walk through the home, grounds, outbuildings and the Meditation Garden where Presley and his parents are buried.

“It’s the most unique historic home tour you’ll find anywhere in the world,” boasts Kevin Kern, media relations manager of Elvis Presley Enterprises. “At other historic properties, you might hear someone impersonating the voice of a president, but our tour offers you the opportunity to hear from the people who lived there—not only Elvis, but also Priscilla and Lisa Marie. And you can listen to recordings of Gladys and Vernon and Elvis singing. When you’re actually hearing the people who lived and breathed inside those walls, it becomes a very real place.”

And how. In this perfectly preserved time capsule of the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s, it’s easy to imagine Elvis cutting up with his friends in the Jungle Room, instantly recognizable for its “fur”-covered, Polynesian-style furniture and lime shag carpet. And in Elvis’ parents’ bedroom, where time stopped with Gladys’ death in 1958, you can almost see her getting ready for the day, with her colorful dresses lined up in the open closet as if she’s trying to decide which one to wear.

Entrance prohibited
The mansion tour also includes the dining room, music room, poolroom and kitchen. But not every room of this White House of Rock ’n’ Roll is exhibited. A downstairs apartment is off-limits to the public, as is the upstairs, including the bathroom where Elvis died. According to Kern, the private living quarters of Elvis, Priscilla and Lisa Marie “will never be opened up,” as “very few people were invited to that inner sanctum” even when Elvis was living. While Priscilla and Lisa Marie do not stay at Graceland when in Memphis, they do enjoy personal time there.

“When the ladies are in town, if they wish to come out to the house, they give the staff advance notice,” Kern says. “We’ll take down the ropes and roll out the white carpet to cover up the black tour path, take the protective coverings off the things in the kitchen, and the house becomes a home again. If it’s Christmas, Priscilla and Lisa Marie will sit on the furniture in the Jungle Room and open presents. This is where Lisa Marie grew up, so it’s very much a special place for her.”

Still, there are changes from when Elvis lived in the home, but most of them are in the outbuildings and grounds, where a horse grazes in the pasture where Elvis once rode Rising Sun, his registered palomino. Presley’s racquetball building now is used to display his floor-to-ceiling gold records, and it houses the piano where Elvis sang his last song, “Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain,” on the morning he died. And his famous gold lamé suit, still an eye-popping wonder after 50 years, holds center court in the now-rechristened trophy building, which Elvis originally had designed to accommodate his sprawling slot-car racetrack.

Room to grow
Graceland comprised about 14 acres of towering oaks and farmland when Elvis, barely 22 years old and not long out of public housing, originally bought it. But the New York-based CKX Inc., which controls 85 percent of Presley’s name, image, and likeness (Lisa Marie owns the remaining 15 percent, along with the house and its artifacts), has, over time, acquired more than 100 acres on the same side of Elvis Presley Boulevard as the mansion. The company’s immediate plans are to build a new 80,000-square-foot visitor center, high-tech museum and convention hotel, at a cost of $250 million. No timetable has been announced for the expansion.

Meanwhile, on acreage across the street, fans can tour Presley’s car museum and his two airplanes, and see exhibits such as 56 of his bejeweled jumpsuits; “Private Presley,” which focuses on Elvis’ U.S. Army years; and “Elvis ’68,” a salute to the TV special that marked his comeback.

In one of many shops, fans can spend $100 to play pool on the table where Elvis and the Beatles squared off in 1965 when the British band visited him. Elsewhere on the grounds is a chapel where couples can marry, and then check into nearby Heartbreak Hotel. You’ll find it down at the end of, yes, Lonely Street, or so says a small, tongue-in-cheek road sign.

The cultural shrine of Graceland—the most famous rock ’n’ roll residence in the world—fascinates celebrities, too. Bruce Springsteen famously jumped the wall while Elvis was alive, and in recent years, Loretta Lynn stood in line and bought a ticket like everyone else.

Many fans take in Memphis’ other tourist treasures—Sun Studio, Beale Street, the National Civil Rights Museum, among them—on their visit. But Jackie Reed of the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, confirms that Graceland is by far the top area attraction. And it’s no surprise.

“You may have the other seven wonders of the world,” Reed says. “But we’ve got number eight right here.”

Story by Alanna Nash of Louisville, Ky.

An expert in Elvis wear

2008-08-14T14:40:00.000-07:00

While attending university, she never imagined being in this line of work

August 7, 2008
Darrell Bellaart, The Daily News

Eleanor Von Boetteicher never planned to be one of the world's main suppliers of Elvis Presley costumes. It just happened that way.

A former political science major at the University of Toronto, it was while pursuing her masters at Dalhousie University in Halifax that something reminiscent of her childhood interest in sewing caught her attention. She signed up for the costume studies certificate program.

After university she and husband Timothy ended up back in Toronto where she made costumes for the National Ballet and various theatre companies and even circuses.

They decided to move west and wound up in Calgary in the late 1990s where there was no shortage of work. He built movie sets and she went to work making movie costumes.

It was there that she met Will Reeb, an Elvis tribute artist - they dislike the phrase Elvis impersonator - who was looking for some help putting together suits for other Elvises.

"He had started to make his own suits and he had other Elvises looking for suits as well so he was really the instigator for the business," she says. "He was looking for someone o help sew the suits and he put all the studs in himself."

When Reeb eventually found other interests, she kept on making one or two costumes a month under contract.

They moved to Vancouver in 2003 and the work followed her. She made costumes for blockbuster movies such as I, Robot, X-Men and Catwoman, all the while continuing her profitable Elvis costume venture on the side.

Then in 2005 they moved to Nanaimo and she made ProElvis Jumpsuits her full-time business. Today she makes suits for Elvis tribute artists all over the world.

"I ship them anywhere, so it's handy to be close to a post office," she says, laughing. For her customers, who are in North America as well as Ireland, Holland, France and Germany, the first step in placing an order is usually a visit to her website, proelvisjumpsuits.com . She can't imagined how she could survive without the Internet.

She communicates by e-mail and by telephone, although she often finds telephone a less than effective means to communicate, due to scheduling conflicts and time zone differences.

Clients start out the process by downloading a fitting form from her website rather than filling in their measurements. The measurements have to be accurate, so she gets them to take the form to a local seamstress, then they send the numbers to her. Next she sets to work making a pattern, which she ships to the seamstress, just to make double sure the fit is accurate.

"It makes it a little bit time consuming," she says. And clients usually want the suits as soon as possible.

Like now, the client who called the other day, wondering if she could rush the costume, with the anniversary of Presley's death just over a week away.

She has a lot of repeat customers who buy a new outfit every year. But quality can't be rushed. "I say a minimum of eight weeks."

Elvises come in all shapes and sizes. Her biggest suit was for a man in Surrey who stands six-foot-four. Her smallest was for a man with a 32-inch waste.

Lately she's wanted to use a web cam to do costume fittings, but not a lot of her clients are ready for such technology.

"I'm dealing mostly with guys who are in their mid-40s and up."

She does about 30 suits a year, and would prefer to spread that work around the calendar. But the bulk of her orders arrive in the latter part of the year.

"It's geared to gigs," she says. "If people get a lot of gigs, they get money rolling in. And a lot of these guys love putting on their outfits and it's nice to have a set of new clothes."

Her suits start at about $900 and run as high as $2,500 for the King of Spades version, a replica of the original Elvis' most intricate stud-covered jumpsuit. Capes range from $250 to $950.

The 40-year-old stay-at-home mom tries to match them as closely to the originals as possible, although the gabardine-wool mixture the king of rock 'n' roll preferred to wear is no longer available.

With approximately 8,500 Elvis tribute artists in the world, she has a steady stream of clients.

And the business keeps growing. She recently had her website translated to German and soon it will be in Japanese.

"A lot of these guys do two or three shows a week and they want to do a costume change or two during the show."

She builds the costumes to last so her clients get good value. But at $1,000 or more per costume, she would strongly advise that they watch their weight.

"You really can't alter them because of all of the studs on them."

Von Boetteicher was too young to be a true Elvis fan. She was nine when he died, on Aug. 16, 1977. But she loves her Elvises.

"I really enjoy the people I work for. They're all very nice people - helpful, and they love what they do."

Article Source: http://www.canada.com/nanaimodailynews/story.html?id=4bcd4c79-0b1a-42b9-8b8b-17508c01a4e2&p=2

Comeback performance in ’68 saved Elvis

2008-08-14T10:56:00.000-07:00

On anniversary of death, fans remember TV special as highlight for the King

August 13, 2008

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - When Elvis Presley made his TV special in 1968, he was coming off a string of forgettable films and a long dry spell on the charts, and the rock ’n’ roll music he’d helped pioneer had given way to the Beatles and Jimi Hendrix.

It was a tough time for a comeback, but Presley, looking fit and tan in black leather, pulled it off with one of his best performances ever.

“You can argue that it was the highlight of his career. He had been treading water for eight or 10 years,” said Alan Stoker, a historian at the Country Music Hall of Fame, where Presley has been a member since 1998.

The 40th anniversary of what’s known among Elvis aficionados as “The ’68 Special” is getting attention as fans gather in Memphis this week to mark the anniversary of the singer’s death from heart disease and drug abuse on Aug. 16, 1977.

Presley’s Graceland mansion has opened an exhibit dedicated to the program, RCA has released a boxed set of all the music, and Steve Binder, the TV show’s producer and director, has published a book, “’68 at 40: Retrospective.”

“He said he was fearful of doing television, because aside from the ‘Ed Sullivan’ exposure, television had been a fiasco for him,” Binder said in an interview. “He said, ‘Television is not my turf. I’m not comfortable in a television studio.’ I said, ‘Why don’t you make a record and I’ll put pictures to it.”’

And that’s pretty much what they did for the hourlong show, which aired Dec. 3, 1968, on NBC.

The original idea, the one Elvis’ manager, Col. Tom Parker, had in mind, was a Christmas special with Presley singing holiday favorites.

But Binder wanted Presley doing his own songs and doing them alone instead of with guest stars — a departure from Christmas specials of the day.

The real breakthrough, though, was offsetting the big-production numbers with a loose, in-the-round performance — raw and unscripted — before a small audience.

“We’d start shooting at 9 or 10 in the morning and go until we were done, then he’d go into his living quarters and invite friends and they’d jam to all hours of the morning,” Binder recalled. “I was amazed by all the energy, enthusiasm and fun going on after a hard day’s work. And it was like looking through a keyhole at things you were not supposed to see. I thought, ‘This is better than what’s going on on-stage with the pre-planned numbers.”’

Parker hated the idea, but Binder persisted until Parker allowed him to recreate the backstage jam session for the camera, bringing in Presley’s longtime guitarist Scotty Moore and drummer D.J. Fontana and other friends to help make him comfortable (it had been seven years since Presley last did a live concert).

“There was no plan at all. I mean absolutely nothing,” Moore recalled. “He didn’t know what he was going to do. I knew he was going to pull out some of the old songs we’d done, that kind of thing. But that was it.”

Only part of the improvisational footage appeared in the TV special (RCA released a full uncut version later), but it was the highlight. At 33, Presley was handsome and in fine form, telling stories and joking with the musicians.

At first, he seemed nervous. “This is supposed to be like an informal section of the show where we faint or do whatever we want to do, especially me,” he cracked before his first number, “That’s All Right.”

But by “Blue Suede Shoes” he was in control, swapping his acoustic guitar for Moore’s electric and stomping his feet through bluesman Jimmy Reed’s “Baby What You Want Me to Do.”

Moore said Presley knew what was at stake.

“Because he hadn’t been touring — he had gotten into the movie thing — I know his feeling was ’I’m getting back before the public this way,”’ he said.

The show started a golden era for Presley that included his hits “Suspicious Minds,” “In the Ghetto” and “Kentucky Rain,” as well as a run of successful Las Vegas concerts and a January 1973 TV special, “Aloha From Hawaii,” his last big artistic statement.

By the mid-’70s Presley had become a caricature of himself. But that night in ’68, he was a young man fighting to re-establish himself.

“I think it was the honesty,” Binder said of the show’s success, “the fact that he wasn’t controlled, wasn’t reading prepared lines. It was raw and it was powerful, and I think it was who he really was.”

Article Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26176633

Are you hungry tonight?

2008-08-13T22:25:00.000-07:00

Rock n' roll superstar Elvis Presley may be known for the body of work he contributed to the music and film world, but he also is remembered for his love of food - especially fried dishes he helped make famous.

Presley died 31 years ago on Saturday. Fans in West Tennessee and around the world will commemorate his death in many ways this week, including preparing and serving the foods he reportedly ate often - thank you very much - or that honor his memory.

Traditional cake

Three readers submitted a recipe for Elvis Presley cake. Though there are slight variations in the ingredient lists, all three versions call for punching holes into the top of a simple yellow or white cake, then pouring in a boiled mixture of pineapple and sugar.

After the cake cools, a mixture of cream cheese, powdered sugar and nuts is spread on.

Christie Bradshaw of Brownsville describes her recipe for Elvis Presley cake as "really rich, but really good." She thinks Elvis would have liked it because it is so sweet and said, "You for sure need a sweet tooth to eat (it)!"

With the pineapple component, she said it makes a good summertime recipe, but she also is considering baking it at Christmastime this year.

Others who submitted cake recipes are Pat Cunningham of Camden and Dawn Sisco of Jackson.

Sisco said the cake, which she called "rich and moist," was one of Elvis' favorites. She has made it numerous times and said it is a good choice for family reunions and church functions, noting it will keep several days in the refrigerator.

"(The cake) is sure to get you lots of compliments," Sisco said.

Sweet sandwich

Barbara Cleek of Humboldt, who describes herself as "a true Elvis Presley fan," shared a recipe for a fried peanut butter and banana sandwich that she said was one of the Elvis' favorites.

Simple to make, it calls for preparing the sandwich with white bread and then frying it.

Cleek, who grew up "in the country" in Obion County, said she never saw Elvis perform live, but she has been a fan since she was a teenager.

She describes him as "a country boy like the rest of us (who) liked country food."

"I loved his music," said Cleek. "I just thought he was a wonderful person in that he contributed to a lot of good causes. He shared (with others)."

Cleek also submitted recipes for basic fried chicken and chicken gravy. All three of her recipes, she said, are from the book, "Are You Hungry Tonight?: Elvis' Favorite Recipes," by Brenda Butler.

Biscuits and dip

Darlene Figard of McKenzie has not made the recipes she submitted but is confident they are good because she got them from a book she bought at Elvis Presley's home in Memphis, Graceland - Dean Clark's "Elvis' Greatest Hits: Recipes & More From Graceland."

Figard said the Tennessee angel biscuits recipe was a favorite and that the cheese crab dip was served as an appetizer at his wedding to Priscilla in 1967.

When it comes to Elvis and food, Figard said she thinks of him "sitting in his dining room (at Graceland) munching down on cheeseburgers."

A serious Elvis fan, Figard said she loved the way he sang and moved.

Figard says Elvis kissed her at a concert in Memphis in 1973. He noticed her, she said, because she was sitting close to the stage on the back of her chair - to see over a lady in front who would not remove her hat.

Figard recalls what she was doing the day Elvis died in 1977.

"I was delivering Jackson Sun newspapers in Camden," she said. "When (the news) came over the radio, I stopped the car and cried."

Soup and stew

Two similar recipes that include vegetables were submitted by Wanda Calvert and Pat Little, both of Jackson.

Both call for 2 pounds of stew meat, to which vegetables are added. Little's recipe is "Elvis's favorite homemade vegetable soup."

Calvert made the other recipe, "Elvis Presley's favorite stew," on Jan. 8 this year to celebrate his birthday.

A longtime fan, Calvert said she saw Elvis in concert in Memphis in 1976. Remembering his death in 1977, she said, "My husband I were off work, so we drove to Memphis and were some of the few thousand allowed into Graceland to file by his casket."

Little said she is "not a cook by any means," but is "definitely a big Elvis fan" with one room in her house "totally dedicated" to his memory.

He gave her his guitar pick at a concert in 1974, she said.

Little said she owns many books about Elvis, including cookbooks.

"Anything I can get my hands on regarding Elvis, I pick up," she said.

While Little has not prepared the soup recipe, she said, "I submitted (it) primarily because it was one that was prepared by (Elvis') personal cook. If she made it, that means he loved it. That's enough for me."

Little thinks the recipe is easy to make.

"At least, it's one you couldn't mess up on," she said. "Everyone loves vegetables soup, and it is something you can heat and reheat in this fast-paced world."

As for what to eat with it, Little suggests cornbread.

"I bet that's what Elvis did."

Elvis Presley cake

Recipe from Christie Bradshaw, Brownsville

1 (18.25-ounce) package white cake mix

1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple with juice

2 cups white sugar

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese

1/2 cup butter, softened

4 cups confectioners' sugar

1 t. vanilla extract

1 cup chopped pecans

Prepare cake according to instructions on package. Bake in a 9x13-inch pan. Allow to cool.

Combine pineapple and sugar in saucepan. Bring to a boil. Spoon over cooled cake. In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add powdered sugar and beat until smooth. Add vanilla. Add pecans and mix well. Spread cream cheese frosting over cake.

Elvis Presley cake

Recipe from Dawn Sisco, Jackson

1 box yellow cake mix

1 can (20-ounce) crushed pineapple in juice

2 cups sugar

For the icing:

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

1 pkg. (8-ounce) cream cheese, softened

1 box (16-ounce) powered sugar

1/2 cup chopped pecans

Make cake according to package directions, baking in a greased and floured 9x13-inch pan.

Boil crushed pineapple (with juice) and the sugar for three minutes. While cake is still warm, punch holes in top and slowly pour pineapple mixture over cake. (Pour a small amount and let in soak in. Continue until all syrup is used.) Allow cake to cool completely before icing.

To make icing, cream butter or margarine and cream cheese. Add powered sugar and beat until creamy. Add nuts and continue beating until it is of spreading consistency.

Spread over cake.

Cook's note : This cake is very moist. Cut into squares, and serve directly from pan. Refrigerate any leftovers.

Elvis Presley cake

Recipe from Pat Cunningham, Camden

1 box yellow or white mix

1 large can crushed pineapple

1 1/2 cups sugar

Bake cake as directed or box. Mix pineapple and sugar in saucepan. Boil for one minute. Punch holes in cake and pour this mixture over cake.

For the frosting:

1 box powdered sugar

1 stick softened butter

8 ounces softened cream cheese

1/4 cup nuts

Mix softened butter and cream cheese. Slowly add powdered sugar and then nuts. Frost cake.

Cheese crab dip

Recipe from Darlene Figard, McKenzie

1/2 cup Roquefort Blue Cheese

1/3 cup cream cheese

2 T. mayonnaise

1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce

1 small garlic clove, finely chopped

1 t. lemon juice

1/2 cup crab meat (fresh, canned or frozen)

Mix the cheeses until soft. Add remaining ingredients. Place in a serving bowl on a large tray or plate and surround with vegetables or cracker dippers.

Fried peanut butter and banana sandwich

Recipe from Barbara Cleek, Humboldt

1 small ripe banana

2 slices white bread

3 T. peanut butter

2 T. butter

Spread peanut butter and mashed banana between two slices of bread. Melt butter over low heat in frying pan. Place sandwich in pan, and fry until golden brown on both sides.

Basic fried chicken

Recipe from Barbara Cleek, Humboldt

1 fryer cut into serving parts

1/2 cup flour

1 t. salt

1/4 t. pepper

Corn oil

Combine flour, salt, pepper in a paper bag, Rinse chicken in cold water, and pat dry with paper towels. Drop two to three pieces of chicken at a time into flour mixture, and shake to coat well. Heat oil one-half-inch deep in large heavy frying pan over medium high heat until a drop of water sizzles when added to the oil. Place chicken pieces skin side down into hot oil, being careful not to crowd them. Cook until golden brown. Turn pieces over to reduce heat to medium-low. Cover pan and cook until the chicken is tender - about 30 minutes. Drain chicken on paper towel, and serve with gravy.

Chicken gravy

Recipe from Barbara Cleek, Humboldt

3 to 4 T. flour

1/2 cup milk

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. black pepper

Using three to four tablespoons of the fat, stir 3 tablespoons of flour into drippings. Brown and stir until golden. Slowly pour milk into skillet, stirring constantly. Stir in salt and pepper. Continue stirring until the gravy is creamy and comes to a boil (about 3 minutes). Serve hot over mashed potatoes or with biscuits.

Elvis Presley's favorite stew

Recipe from Wanda Calvert, Jackson

2 pounds stew meat

5 cloves garlic

1 cup onion

1 cup bell pepper

1 can tomatoes

2 boxes mixed vegetables

2 cups corn

2 cups okra

2 potatoes

1 cup ketchup.

Cook the first three ingredients for one hour. Then add the mixed vegetables, and cook one-half hour. Then add the final four ingredients, cooking until done.

Elvis's favorite homemade vegetable soup

Recipe from Pat Little, Jackson

2 pounds stew meat

1 small onion

1 small green pepper

1 small clove garlic

3 15-ounce cans mixed vegetables

5 medium potatoes, cut up

1 15-ounce can okra

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tablespoons sugar

In a large pot, cook the stew meat, onion, bell pepper, and garlic until the meat is almost brown. Add the mixed vegetables, potatoes, okra, salt and pepper. Cook until the juice becomes thick. Add the sugar. Allow to simmer for about two hours and 30 minutes. Serves 10.

Tennessee angel biscuits

Recipe from Darlene Figard, McKenzie

1 pkg. active dry yeast

1 1/2 cups warm water with a pinch of sugar

5 cups flour

3 T. sugar

1 T. baking powder

1 t. baking soda

1 t. salt

3/4 cup shortening

2 cups buttermilk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Dissolve yeast in warm water with a pinch of sugar.

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut in the shortening until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in yeast and buttermilk. Knead just enough to hold together. Turn onto a floured board and pat to one-half thickness. Cut with a two- to three-inch biscuit cutter, and place on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Bake about 12 minutes or until light brown.

Makes 24 biscuits.

Article Source: http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080813/LIFESTYLE/808130309

Actress Talks About Her 1968 On-Screen Kiss With Elvis

2008-08-13T17:19:00.001-07:00

Memphis, TN -- Elvis Week is well underway and the King's fans packed into the Cook Convention Center in Downtown Memphis, Wednesday, August 13, 2008, for the "Elvis Expo".

People had the chance to browse through 35,000 square feet of Elvis memorabilia, while Eyewitness News Everywhere found one of Elvis' movie co-stars.

Celeste Yarnall shared with us what it was like working with Elvis in 1968 on the set of the movie "Live a Little, Love a Little".

Before Yarnall had ever met Elvis, a producer on the set told her that Elvis was dying to meet her. Remembering that experience she told us, “I turned around and there was Elvis. I thought I was going to have a heart attack."

She told us she’ll never forget his sapphire blue eyes and how nice he treated her and others.

Yarnall has many pictures of Elvis and her together. She says the connection they had was something special.

“The chemistry between us was…if we both hadn't of been married, I tell you the chemistry was unbelievable,” said Yarnall.

Not only did Yarnall say there was chemistry between the two of them, but she also told us about some romantic movie scenes. She says they kissed many times for the movie. She says those kisses were the best she’s ever received.

Yarnall also says face to face was the best way to take in the beauty of Elvis Presley.

“You had to see this man in person. The skin, the nose, the profile, the eyes, he was just beautiful,” said Yarnall.

She says Elvis' good looks and charm weren't the only qualities he had.

“He was very down to earth. The fabulous thing about Elvis was that he was more interested in you than trying to be interesting himself,” said Yarnall.

The Elvis Expo also showed off Elvis Presley's 1969 Mercedes Benz limousine. It is loaded with all kinds of extra amenities like a sunroof, telephone and television.

In remembrance of Elvis, the usual candlelight vigil will be held Friday, August 15, 2008, at 8:00 p.m. This is where fans can walk up his driveway at Graceland to Elvis’ gravesite with a candle in remembrance of him.

Article Source http://www.myeyewitnessnews.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=8c823feb-99c1-413e-bd8f-fbfb3c360ed2

Love me tender

2008-08-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

Elvis tributes and help for hopeless cooks
By Anita overcash

AUG. 16 -- You can enjoy eats off the menu at Jonathan's of Matthews, but the real entertainment comes from "A Tribute to the King," a benefit show to honor the king of rock 'n' roll, Elvis Presley, on the day he died (31 years ago). The tribute artists include Chuck Ayers, Wayne Euliss, Joe Clough and Jeff Collins. Proceeds of the event will go to Presbyterian Hemby Children's Hospital. $12, for the show only. 6 p.m. Jonathan's of Matthews, 10630 Independence Pointe Parkway, Matthews, NC. (Matthews) For reservations call 704-847-8911.

Source: http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/love_me_tender/Content?oid=344207

Rockmount shirts set the fashion in the West

2008-08-10T20:14:00.000-07:00

August 10, 2008

DENVER (AP) — Its Western shirts have been worn by everyone from Elvis Presley in "Love Me Tender" to Heath Ledger in "Brokeback Mountain."

Actor Clark Gable and singer Bob Dylan also sported Rockmount Ranch Wear shirts, and when the Democratic National Convention rolls around, each member of Colorado's House delegation will have his or her own custom-made shirt.

"The bottom line is, we are unique," said Steve Weil, Rockmount's president and the grandson of 107-year-old Jack A. Weil, the company's founder, fondly known as "Papa Jack."

"We are the last domestic manufacturer of our type of product," Steve Weil said.

Rockmount is a family-owned business that has stayed competitive in the global market.

Papa Jack was the first to design Western shirts with snap buttons. Their sawtooth pockets and diamond button snaps are the longest-running design in the U.S., Steve Weil said.

"It's been said New York has Barneys and Denver has Rockmount," he said. "We feel we exemplify what's special about Denver, and we get visitors from all over the world."

Weil calls his grandfather the company's "secret weapon." He still goes to work every day and is the oldest CEO in the world.

"He does what he likes and he loves what he does," Steve Weil said. "I liken my grandfather to shirts what Henry Ford is to cars."

Jack Weil was born in Evansville, Ind., and came to Denver in 1928. He founded Rockmount in 1946 and has kept its headquarters in the same brick building on Wazee Street in Denver's Lower Downtown. Belts, cowboy hats, colorful ties and the ever-popular shirts adorn the first floor.

With his 100th birthday, city officials changed the name of Wazee Street to "Jack A. Weil Way," a tribute to the man who put Western fashion on the map in Denver.

On the Net:
Rockmount Ranch Wear: http://www.rockmount.com

Side Note:

Steve Weil, one of the owners of Rockmount Ranch Wear, holds a western style shirt and a copy of a logo for the Democratic National Covention in his downtown Denver store on Wednesday, Aug. 6, 2008. Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette has purchased similar shirts with the logo for members of Congress attending the Democratic Convention. There is talk of the road to the White House running through the West, and Denver will be a major way station along that route when the Democratic National Convention comes to town Aug. 25-28

Article Source: http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hP0gdYmYPMQ1A88TDShJfTYzQcCgD92FH7LO0

In Elvis's Footsteps Press Release

2008-08-09T12:03:00.001-07:00

CLICK TO ENLARGE TO READ

Above letter is embed into the e-mail -

Anders Karlstedt
website: www.elvis4u2.se
e-mail contact: elvis@4u2.se

CYBILL SHEPHERD - SHEPHERD HAUNTED BY PRESLEY

2008-08-09T11:18:00.000-07:00

July 31, 2008

Actress CYBILL SHEPHERD is haunted by her ex-lover Elvis Presley - because she wishes she could have saved him from his destructive lifestyle.
Shepherd dated the late rock 'n' roll legend shortly before his death in 1977 from a heart attack. He had been addicted to amphetamines at the time.
And the Moonlighting star is often haunted by the vision of Presley as she believes she could have helped him beat his demons.
She says, "I don't feel him (Presley) in a way that I feel I have to call Ghostbusters, but I've been haunted by the sense that when I knew him, he was very sweet but also seriously into drugs.
"So I've been haunted by wishing he could have lived longer because I'm from Memphis and I've had the fame thing, too. Maybe I could have helped him."

Article Source: http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/article/shepherd%20haunted%20by%20presley_1075956

Elvis Presley tote bag range

2008-08-06T19:25:00.001-07:00

Whether you're a fan of clean-cut early Elvis or showbiz-style Vegas Elvis, there's a bag for you in the Elvis Presley tote bag range.

Both bags are made of canvas, are vegan-friendly and are sized at 16 inches x 14.5 inches. The Jailhouse Rock tote bag is in khaki green with an image from that particular flick, embroidered details, a mobile phone pocket and a small zipped pocket. The Viva Las Vegas bag packs the same detailing, but goes for a bright and bold Elvis image with a pop art slant.

The Jailhouse Rock bag retails for $33, while the Viva Las Vegas bag sells for $32, which is around £16 each.

Find out more at the Plasticland website

For more of the same with a contemporary twist, check out our newly-launched Switched On Set website .

Article Source: http://www.retrotogo.com/2008/07/elvis-presley-t.html

Group to save, spend Elvis Fest profits

2008-07-24T16:55:00.000-07:00

BY CARLIE KOLLATH
Daily Journal

TUPELO - The Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association has decided to squirrel away half of its profits from the 2008 Elvis Presley Festival.

DTMSA President Camille Sloan said the exact numbers aren't in yet from the June event, but the organization expects profits to be around $80,000. It's a big turnaround for the festival, which lost about $46,000 last year.

In addition to putting money in a rainy day fund, Sloan said the board of directors approved spending up to 25 percent on a "tangible, visible investment" in downtown Tupelo and up to another 25 percent on a new position at Main Street.

If profits do come in at $80,000, Main Street's allocations mean $40,000 will be put in savings while up to $20,000 will be spent downtown. Up to $20,000 more will be devoted to a new position on the DTMSA staff.

Sloan said the organization has not decided what the "tangible, visible investment" will be, but said she has received multiple suggestions.

At the organization's board meeting earlier this month, members discussed options that included hanging flower baskets, adding green spaces or sprucing up current ones, renovating the facade of the DTMSA office on Broadway and installing benches and trash cans.

Article Source: http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=276475&pub=1&div=News

Family-oriented changes for Elvis Festival

2008-07-24T00:34:00.000-07:00

June 23, 2008
By SHARON WEATHERALL, ENTERPRISE BULLETIN SPECIAL

Serious Elvis partiers will be shakin' their booty in a new, bigger venue this year. The big beer garden is moving over from the Pine Street parking lot to Ste. Marie Street parking lot to make room for a new family venue. The St. Marie Street venue has room for up to 2,500 people -- 300 more than Pine Street.

The change is in conjunction with the festival's major sponsor, Sirius Satellite Radio, and a plan to highlight Canadian talent while creating more free and inexpensive activities for families and for every budget.

Festival general manager Rosemarie O'Brien said the Pine Street parking lot will feature a 'Canadian Star Stage' all weekend, with a mixed bag of entertainment including martial art demonstrations, Canadian bands and performers.

On Friday night it will serve as a practice stage for the performers and Saturday, there will be non-stop Elvis performances from noon until 6 p. m. as part of the free Family Venue Tour of performers. From 8 p. m. until midnight, Mike Cadillac and the 88's from New Brunswick will perform; this is tribute artist Mike Bravener's actual band which plays a lot of music from the 1950s and '60s.

On Sunday the Canadian Star Stage will feature the Youth Talent Showcase from 9 until 11 a. m., and the Family Venue Tour of performers from 11 a. m. until 5 p. m.

O'Brien says the Youth Talent Showcase may include some Elvis related acts but they don't have to be.

Young people can register on-line for the showcase, at the municipal office this week or register the day of. It costs just $10 and each performer will receive a goodie bag filled with products donated by local businesses.

The new Ste. Marie Street venue will feature a giant beer garden all weekend, with a Street Party Video Feed on Friday night. This year, 133 tribute artists are expected to perform and the festival begins with each one performing on the Hurontario Street Stage beginning at 1 p. m. on Friday.

On Saturday the St. Marie Stage will feature the qualifying round of the competition from 11 a. m. until 6 p. m. There will be a $5 gate charge for this venue. Sunday features the semi-final competition round for tribute artists. The finals take place in the Eddie Bush Memorial Arena later that evening.

Back by popular demand is the 'Mountainview Revival Stage' at the end of Hurontario Street. This stage and beer garden will feature 'The Champions Tour' Friday and Saturday night, with a special afternoon show Saturday featuring Ray Guillemette Jr. with general admission seating for $25.

Festival venues include the Curling Club, Eddie Bush Arena, Gayety Theatre, Olde Town Terrace, Collingwood Legion, Village at Blue, Cranberry Resort, and Georgian Manor for shows or performances on the Venue Tour. Regional venues feature Saturday night performances by Anthony Von at the Meaford Opera House, and Gino Monopoli at the Wasaga Beach RecPlex.

There will be two VIP's at the festival this year. Cynthia Pepper, co-star of Elvis' movieKissing Cousins, returns to Collingwood to do a meet and greet on Saturday at the Gayety Theatre between noon and 1 p. m., which will be followed by a free showing of the movie. All are welcome. The second festival VIP is Patti Parry -- the only female member of the 'Memphis Mafia', Elvis' personal friends and staff members. The Memphis Mafia was a nick-name given to the group by the King himself.

Beginning Thursday night, the Gayety Theatre will be host Spending an Evening with Elvis performances, twice each evening at 7 p. m. and 9:30 p. m. Each show will feature four different champions for just $10 admission. Don't miss 'Inspirational Elvis', the Gospel Competition on Sunday at Eddie Bush Arena -- this is the fourth annual event featuring invitation-only contestants. This event will be hosted by the 2007 Gospel Champion Anthony Von.

For tickets and information call 1- 866-444-1162 or visit: www.collingwoodelvisfestival.com .

Article Source: http://www.theenterprisebulletin.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1125766

Haslingden Elvis selling the King's cigar lighter for charity

2008-07-24T00:17:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Emma Cruces

AN ELVIS impersonator is giving up a cherished cigar lighter that ‘The King’ himself once owned to raise charity cash in memory of his mum.

Steve Preston, of Meadows Avenue, Haslingden, had the piece bought for him at a Las Vegas auction 14 years ago.

Steve is regarded as one of the world’s leading tribute acts to Elvis,whose first single release was That’s All Right (Mama).

The lighter, bought in 1994 for £900, will be raffled in memory of Steve’s mother Virginia Ljeva and his mother-in-law Edna Gorton, at an upcoming concert in which he and three of the world’s other top Elvis tribute acts will perform.

All funds raised will be donated to kidney research at Hope Hospital in Salford which cared for both women, who died within the past three years after suffering from kidney failure.

Steve said: “The work the hospital does has stayed with me, really.

“When my mother-in-law was there, the hospital was great, but her machine kept breaking.

“I just remember thinking they could do with another one. There’s no telling how much this raffle will raise.”

The ex-Haslingden Secondary Modern pupil has had a career spanning more than 20 years impersonating Elvis on stage.

His love of Elvis has taken him from the working men’s clubs of Lancashire to the Royal Variety Performance where, alongside stars such as Cliff Richard and Olivia Newton John, he became the first tribute act to perform for the Queen.

It was his fame as an Elvis tribute artist, which led him to own the treasured cigar lighter During the pilot episode of 90s TV show Schofield’s Quest, Steve was presented with it by Phillip Schofield after London Weekend TV made the winning bid during an auction at the Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas.

The lighter, which has been authenticated by the Presley family, was bought in Germany by Elvis himself, during his time serving as a G.I between 1958 and 1960.

It will be raffled before 5,000 Elvis fans at the event at the Bolton Arena on August 9.

Article Source: http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/3226402.Haslingden_Elvis_selling_the_King_s_cigar_lighter_for_charity/

Lordsvale secures Elvis rights

2008-07-23T22:38:00.000-07:00

22nd July 2008
By Helen Fletcher

Mike Ansell of Lordsvale has secured the rights to produce a dedicated Elvis Presley UK-style pool table and a US-style table for the European and US markets.

Lordsvale has appointed pool table manufacturer Excel Leisure to produce the tables for the UK and European markets and discussions are taking place for the production of a table in the US.

Initially, the tables will be produced in non-coin versions but will be available as coin-operated products in the near future. The pool table has high quality graphics covered with a strong laminate for long life and will be ideal for Elvis fans and themed locations. There will also be a range of Elvis Presley themed accessories, cues and cloth.

Commenting on the agreement, Ansell said: "It has taken some time to conclude the licence agreement with Elvis Presley Enterprises but we are delighted to have procured the deal and look forward to working with Excel Leisure in getting the tables to market."

Stan McKenna of Excel Leisure added: "We have worked closely with Lordsvale on this project and are excited at the prospects for the product over the coming years."

Article Source: http://www.intergameonline.com/intergame/news/1552/lordsvale-secures-elvis-rights/

'She Is The King' playing Memphis and Australia with her brand new show

2008-07-19T23:34:00.001-07:00

'She Is The King' playing Memphis and Australia with her brand new show: She Is The King's brand new show is "Packed with dynamic surprises offering something very new & exciting" according to her management. If you are tired of seeing the same old male Tribute Artists singing the same songs, then this will be a breath of fresh air. Backed by a tremendous live band 'The Magnificent Seven' along with the 'Southern Soul' backing singers and brass section, the sound will really pack a punch. The concert is of course "Inspired by the Music and Legacy of Elvis" and there will be plenty of Elvis surprises along the way. While this will include a heartfelt Gospel segment and some stunning new costumes, this won't be the all-too-familiar jumpsuit performances that fans have seen too many times. The Tour kicks off in Balmain, Sydney July 26th before she leaves for Memphis. Don't miss out on a great Elvis live musical experience. Go here for more info.

(News, Source;SITK)

Elvis Week Expo Celebrities

2008-07-19T23:09:00.000-07:00

Elvis Week Expo Celebrities: During Elvis Week the Elvis Expo will feature 65 booths and plenty of Elvis celebrities:
It runs from August 13 & 14: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m at the Memphis Cook Convention Center.
Among the celebrities currently scheduled to make an appearance in the Elvis Expo:
Steve Binder (producer), Joanne Cash (sister of Johnny Cash), DJ Fontana, Joe Guercio plus actors Edward Faulkner, Susan Henning, Celeste Yarnall, Francine York, Darlene Tompkins. Also appearing are composer Mike Stoller, The Imperials, Dixie Locke Emmons (Elvis' early girlfriend), comedian Sammy Shore, Elvis' friends Sandi Pichon and Jerry Schilling plus Wanda Jackson, Italian remix DJ Spankox as well as author of 'Elvis '57' Alan Hanson. For full EPE details click here. (News, Source;EPE/EIN)

ELVIS PRESLEY & PAT BOONE Rockin' Rivals

2008-07-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

ELVIS PRESLEY & PAT BOONE Rockin' Rivals (2008 UK Region 0 NTSC DVD: This DVD is described as an entertaining & insightful one-hour look at the friendly rivalry between Mr. Blue Suede Shoes and Mr. White Buck Shoes; included are rare film, TV & newsreel clips plus revealing interviews with such luminaries as Dick Clark, Tom Jones, Glen Campbell, Kenny Rogers, Phyllis McGuire, Bill Medley, Arlene Dahl, Joe Esposito, Shirley Jones, and the legends themselves).

Available from Amazon

Lost Concert Series - Presley & Cash

2008-07-19T22:36:00.000-07:00

Lost Concert Series - Presley & Cash: Due for release August 5, 2008 in the "Lost Concert Series" is the DVD "Presley & Cash Roadshow". This version is coded Region 1.

This DVD was released as Elvis Presley & Johnny Cash The Road Show Interstate in Australia.

(News, Source: Elvis News)

'ELVIS! ELVIS! ELVIS! An American Triology' Australian Tour 2008

2008-07-19T21:12:00.000-07:00

'ELVIS! ELVIS! ELVIS! An American Triology' Australian Tour 2008: In September 2008 Australia will have the unique chance to witness for the first time anywhere in the world, Donny Edwards, Max Pellicano and Shawn Klush live in concert in Elvis! Elvis! Elvis! – “An American Trilogy”. A truly rare combination of talents, this can only be described as the ultimate Elvis tribute show. See Donny in the ‘50’s gold lame suit, Max recreating the ’68 Comeback Special and Shawn reliving the ‘70’s Vegas concert jumpsuit era. It doesn't get any bigger, more authentic or closer to Elvis than this.
This will be the main concert event for 2008!
Sept 4th- Penrith Joan Suth Centre
Sept 5th- Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Sept 6th- Melbourne Palms Crown Casino
Sept 7th- Melbourne Palms Crown Casino
Sept 9th- Newcastle Wests Leagues
Sept 10th- Newcastle Wests Leagues
Sept 11th- Brisbane Qpac
Sept 12th- Gold Coast Seagulls
Sept 13th- Sydney State Theatre
Sept 14th- Perth Burswood Casino

Click here for more details

(News, Source;EIN)

Elvis At Madame Tussauds In Germany

2008-07-19T21:07:00.000-07:00

Elvis At Madame Tussauds In Germany: A new wax museum has opened in Berlin, Germany. This museum, located close to the Brandenburger Tor, features a new statue of Elvis as a G.I.. There were already wax statues of Elvis in London (68 Special), Las Vegas (68 Special & Vegas Elvis), Amsterdam (50s Elvis) and Hong Kong (50s Elvis). Madame Tussauds, Unter den Linden 74, 10117 Berlin.

(News, Source;ElvisNews)

How long live the King? - The future of Elvis

2008-07-19T20:03:00.000-07:00

How long live the King? - The future of Elvis: The July / August edition of BusinessTN magazine features Elvis on the cover with inside an article by Donnie Snow on the possible future of EPE entitled "A Little More Action".

A Little More Action: When celebrated deejay Junkie XL remixed a lesser Elvis Presley hit into a 2002 smash, it returned the long-dead king of rock 'n' roll to the spotlight of mainstream pop music. "A Little Less Conversation" was the first relevant blockbuster splash featuring Presley since before his untimely, unseemly death in 1977.

And despite an attempt by bona fide deejay royalty Paul Oakenfold to copy Junkie XL's success with a laudable yet forgettable remix of "Rubberneckin'" the following year, Presley hasn't had a new original hit since. (At press time, a remix of the Elvis classic "Baby Let's Play House" by Italian DJ Spankox was released digitally by Sony BMG Music Entertainment.)

But give the guy a break — he's been dead more than 30 years.

This August marks the 31st anniversary of Presley's passing, and since the JXL remix, the biggest U.S. headlines involving the King included Presley losing his top spot in 2006 on Forbes' morbid richest dead celebrities list to iconic grunge rocker Kurt Cobain (though he regained it the following year) and a flurry of announcements in the financial pages, beginning with the sale of his estate by daughter and sole heir Lisa Marie Presley to billionaire Wall Street wunderkind Robert F X Sillerman in 2004.

Sillerman's acquisition took the cherished "family" business public, and since then he has released several statements relating to the expansion of the Elvis brand—be it in the form of casinos and cruises or hotels and touring shows—and plans for major financial stake in the economic development of the dilapidated Whitehaven neighborhood that surrounds Graceland. With the possible exception of some of the locals who live near Graceland, most believe the brand has been under-commercialized. Lisa Marie Presley said as much when she sold the stagnating company. Sillerman, renowned for building billion-dollar media companies, can mine capital for fuel, but ultimately, it's still the world's first rock star who will power the ship, which begs the question: How long can Elvis float in the famously fickle pool of pop culture?

Fame, Fortune & the Future: Since Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE) went public, there has been little action, despite a lot of talk (or rather, a lot of announcements), and the corporate culture around Graceland has become much less interactive with the press. (Not unexpectedly, EPE declined to participate in this story.) According to analysts, the long wait should have been anticipated. "One thing I didn't fully appreciate is the time it takes to develop the sort of large-scale projects they have planned," says Mark Argento, senior research analyst at Craig-Hallum Capital Group.

"Developing anything that can drive big revenue and big profits will take a while," he continues, pointing out that the deal Sillerman's company, CKX, is hammering out with French Canadian circus troupe Cirque du Soleil has taken more than a year. "The planning that goes into it—the lead time is significant. They expect very little increase in revenue in 2008 and 2009, with it really kicking in in 2010 and 2011."

The original deal CKX made with Lisa Marie was announced in December 2004. CKX paid $114 million for an 85% interest in Elvis Presley Enterprises. Lisa Marie, who retained the remaining 15%, was paid $50 million in cash plus $26 million in CKX common and preferred stock. CKX also paid $25 million in EPE debt. Sillerman got a 90-year lease on Graceland, rights to Elvis' name, likeness, image and trademark, publishing rights to 650 songs and royalty rights to the few songs Elvis recorded after 1973, as well as to two dozen Presley movies.

Sillerman also paid $6.5 million to Elvis' ex-wife, Priscilla Presley. Fortune reported that CKX didn't have to pay Priscilla anything, but that doing so would make her more agreeable to appearing at grand openings and the like. It seems just that Priscilla would share in the sale, given that she was among the brain trust that turned the floundering, bankrupt estate into a trailblazing company—and Graceland into the most-visited private residence in the world. Barry Ward, former general counsel to the Elvis estate, was also in that management group, which included long-time family accountant Joseph Hanks; Jim Roscoe, trust officer at the National Bank of Commerce in Memphis; and Jack Soden, hired to head EPE. Ward helped appeal a court decision that denied Presley's estate rights to the rock star's name, likeness and image. This paved the way for the creation of the Elvis Law, the groundbreaking precedent that awarded celebrity estates control of intellectual property and trademarks after death.

"From where I sit, the Sillerman acquisition helped immensely, giving the estate the capital to ratchet up to a new level," Ward says, echoing a common refrain about the deal. When announced, Lisa Marie admitted that EPE could only grow so much and that it needed a bigger player to monetize future interest in Elvis.

"That's the amazing thing about the Elvis estate: just how many things they haven't done over the past 30 years," says longtime rock critic Stan Soocher, an entertainment attorney and associate professor of music and entertainment industry studies at the University of Colorado-Denver.

Elvis is one of the few examples in pop music of a star whose fame hasn't flagged, says Soocher, who is currently finishing his book, They Fought the Law: Rock Music Goes to Court, containing coverage of Elvis Presley's estate. (The book will be published in early 2009.)

"The CKX buyout is the most important financial development in the structure of the estate since it was founded," he says.

"Elvis Presley didn't do any international tours," he continues, "and because he's been so popular in England, it seems there is a pent-up demand to exploit." Soocher has a point: Presley's re-mastered No. 1 singles, which EPE released one at a time over the last couple years, tore up the British charts, which leads Soocher to think an international virtual, multimedia tour would likely reap large revenues.

But there's much more to the Elvis brand than music.

"Rockabilly may resurge, but it's never going to be mainstream rock again," Soocher says. "This whole other level [of enterprise] is so important to maintaining the Elvis brand."

He points to the proposed casino as one aspect of enterprise, as well as Elvis-themed destination venues around the world, à la Hard Rock Café.

"Domestically, there's a ton to do" says Argento, "but internationally, the opportunity to take the Elvis brand into a foreign market could dwarf the opportunities in the U.S. Put a casino in Macau or Dubai, put a replica of Graceland in Tokyo—the opportunities are huge. It would be epic for the Elvis brand."

The Mansion that Elvis Built: No kidding. Presley's estate has already earned far more than Presley did while he was alive, but Graceland in Tokyo? What would that do to local commercial and tax revenue streams? Most, including EPE and CKX, believe expanding the brand in such a way will increase interest and revenues in Memphis. According to Fortune, Sillerman's stake in the Presley estate exceeds its worth. Yet the company has announced a commitment to developing Graceland and its 120-acre campus. Plans include building one or more hotels and developing the surrounding neighborhood to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars—not that many checks have been written yet.

"I believe they are still gathering information on the project building specifications," says Harold B. Collins, the city councilman for Whitehaven. Collins says funds have been appropriated for improved cityscape to assist the development of a mile-plus stretch along the Brooks Road corridor, which will coincide with Memphis International Airport's ambitious "Aerotropolis" redevelopment plan.

"We're excited that they are getting ready to move on it," he says, adding that he hopes to see ground broken before the end of the year. "I think Mr. Sillerman knows how important this is to our city and is as eager to get it off the ground as we are." Well, maybe not as eager.

Last summer, news broke on a looming CKX buyout by 19X, a privately held company led by Sillerman and American Idol creator Simon Fuller (the "X" is a Sillerman signature). But in mid-May, the company lowered its buyout offer from $13.75 to $12 per CKX share. Sillerman said in a statement that the private company "remain[s] committed to completing the acquisition of CKX at a price that we believe reflects the continued outstanding performance of the company and which provides a substantial premium above the current price to the company's stockholders. [The price] also takes into account the seismic shift in the buyout world since the time we originally entered into this transaction."

The companies are reportedly working to close the deal by September.

"[The deal] should not have any effect on the economic development [in the area]," Argento says. "One of the reasons to take this private now is that it's a pretty attractive time, especially before the redevelopment gets underway. The bigger risk is the broader credit market—access to capital will probably be the bigger issue."

Most locals involved in the area's development are not giving too much thought to Graceland's goings-on; some view the Graceland makeover and build-out as only a piece of the overall vision.

"[Graceland's] development to come is part of the dynamic of building out what is currently the only fledgling Aerotropolis in the United States," says Arnold Perl, chairman of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority. "When Elvis Presley Enterprises announces and develops the initiative they're working on, it will provide a significant boost to America's Aerotropolis.

There is no official word from Sillerman or local EPE officials on when Sillerman's real estate spin-off, FXRE, might commence the grand reawakening of the King. But Memphis isn't the only city laying claim to Elvis, and it isn't the only city in which Sillerman is spending money on Presley-related properties. In addition to dealings on Elvis Presley Boulevard, FXRE also has plans in the works involving several acres on Las Vegas Boulevard for a hotel and casino, as well as entertainment, retail, commercial and residential development. It would all feature Presley, perhaps in conjunction with Muhammad Ali. (Sillerman also owns 80% of Muhammad Ali Enterprises.)

Elvis: the Next Generation: But despite all the effort, there remains the question: How Long?

Elvis is undoubtedly the most parodied person in history—Google search "Elvis Tribute Artist" if you don't believe it—and his place in the record books still looms over contemporary stars. In April, at age 38, Mariah Carey finally surpassed Presley for second most No. 1 singles on Billboard with 18 (the Beatles lead with 20), and Madonna, who turns 50 in August, finally passed Presley for the most top-10 hits with 37.

But can Presley reach a new generation that has grown up with Elvis the image, not Elvis the man?

"I think the story is timeless," Ward contends. "America cast's its heroes away very begrudgingly."

For Sillerman, this likely is just the buildup before the big bonanza deal, given his modus operandi of buying media properties at low prices, maximizing the brand, packaging them and then unloading at a higher price. He did it in 1989 with radio stations, which he sold to what is now Viacom for $389 million, and again in 1997 to Hicks Muse for more than $2 billion. Three years later, he sold a bundle of concert venues to Clear Channel for $3 billion.

One can only wonder if/when he will sell EPE—and what it will look like when he does.

Soocher doesn't believe it will happen any time soon.

"You have to kind of figure out where's the sweet spot for the sale," he says. "With Ali and the Elvis estate, you would think Sillerman would want to build up the brands—and they haven't hit the ground running.

"I don't think, as an investor, you would think they would be much more valuable together than apart."

Soocher argues that a more modernizing match would be some entity from the current list of stars that appeals to the younger fan base—and that, essentially, means hip-hop. Coincidentally, Rap mogul and entrepreneur Jay-Z just signed a 360 deal with an SFX spin-off company—the concert venue company Sillerman founded before selling to Clear Channel. The deal essentially turns Jay-Z into a property for commoditization, which is what Sillerman is currently doing with Elvis Presley.

Says Soocher: "I think the younger music fans are used to seeing music come at them from all possible ways, so they don't look at that as a violation. Fans are much more accepting today."

Nevertheless, what's unique about the Presley situation is that despite being dead, he is still a towering performance figure in pop music. The Presley estate may have outgrown the man, but it can never seemingly outgrow the performer. Unlike other industry personalities whose businesses can theoretically run without his or her explicit presence—an Oprah Winfrey or even Jay-Z come to mind—can you imagine a Presley industry without Elvis in the spotlight? (Sale of EPE Archives , Source: BusinessTN magazine)

WHEN ELVIS ALMOST DID A BOWIE

2008-07-19T19:53:00.000-07:00

WHEN ELVIS ALMOST DID A BOWIE: According to the Memphis Mafia's LAMAR FIKE, in his forthcoming memoir, AN UNCOMMON JOURNEY: ON ELVIS PRESLEY BOULEVARD (co-written with celebrity-bio man MARK BEGO), "In 1976, David's then-wife Angela, visited us all at the now-defunct International in Las Vegas, and she brought with her a song David had written especially for Elvis, 'The Prettiest Star'. She was a bit under the weather so she didn't get to stay for the show, but gave me the song to give to Elvis. We were terrifically excited to get something from one of the new emerging acts on the music scene. Elvis was always very much aware of the next thing, and, at that point it was Bowie."

Fike has also written a film treatment to accompany the book entitled '57-60: One of the Boys.' "The screenplay is out to a several film companies in N. Y. and L. A. I expect we'll be able to announce a deal in 90 days." (News, Source: David Salidor)

EIN's recent interview with Lamar Fike

Read EIN's recent interview with Mark Bego

Come support Stephen Freeman in the Official Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest

2008-07-19T01:06:00.000-07:00

Stephen Freeman was selected as 1 of 15 contestants in the Official Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest sanctioned by Elvis Presley Enterprises to be held July 24, 25, and 26. Many fan club members have already made arrangements to come, so come join the fun next weekend at Harrah's Cherokee Casino in Cherokee, NC. Details and information provided below:

Come out and support Stephen Freeman in the
Official Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest

Contact Harrah's Cherokee Casino Resort at 828-497-7777 for more information. Many of Stephen's fan club members are coming, so join us for a great weekend of fun!!!!

Thursday, July 24

Free Admission
4pm-6pm Round 1 Casino Floor
9pm-11pm Round 2 Casino Floor

Friday, July 25

Free Admission
11am-1pm Round 3 Casino Floor
4pm-6pm Round 4 Casino Floor
9pm-11pm Round 5 Casino Floor

Saturday, July 26

There is a charge for the finals
9pm-11pm Final round Top 5 finalist Event Center

Elvis Presley Enterprises is is looking for the Elvis tribute artist that "best represents the legacy of Elvis Presley." Tribute artists will receive the opportunity to compete in preliminary rounds of the competition in various locations around the world for their chance to win a spot in the semi-finals that will take place in Memphis during Elvis Week 2008 in August. Only winners of official preliminary rounds of the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest will be able to compete in the semi-finals for their chance at the title. The winner of the 2008 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest will receive the title of Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist of 2008 and be officially recognized by Elvis Presley Enterprises. In addition, the winner will receive the opportunity to sign on to a 12-week paid performance contract to appear with Legends in Concert. in its numerous locations including its permanent locations in Myrtle Beach, Branson, Atlantic City and Seattle.

No more cold feet for Elvis fans;

2008-07-19T00:32:00.001-07:00

By SHARON WEATHERALL, ENTERPRISE BULLETIN SPECIAL
July 18, 2008

In past years, fans who watched Elvis tribute artists performing in the Eddie Bush Arena were curling their toes by the end of a show -- but it was not from watching the King. Sitting on temporary plywood flooring gave many people 'cold feet' and created condensation in the venue.

Thanks to $75,000 from Celebrate Ontario this year, everyone should be as snug as a bug in a rug. The entirety of the grant is being used towards a brand new, insulated interlocking floor for the arena. The new floor snaps together in half the time it took to install the old plywood flooring, which not only held the cold but required a small army of strong volunteers many hours to lay out.

Rosemarie O'Brien, general manager of the popular Collingwood Elvis Festival. says the 'EventDeck' flooring will make a huge difference when it comes to efficiency and the comfort of literally tens of thousands of fans who attend the event each year.

"The new flooring is very lightweight and won't damage the ice surface at all. Because it is insulated it's going to be a lot warmer for the fans, artists and volunteers," said O'Brien.

"The old plywood flooring was really heavy -- we needed a lot of male volunteers who took about six hours to lay it down. The event-deck flooring will only take about three hours and the best part is the company will come and install it the first year which is a real bonus for us. After they fit it properly the first time and the number all the pieces it will be easy for us to put together in years to come."

The Elvis Festival has turned out to be a very positive thing for the Eddie Bush Arena. Not only will the town be able to utilize the new flooring to host concerts or other public events if it so chooses, but other renovations are being considered that will greatly enhance the facility. O'Brien says festival organizers hope to put new bleachers in the arena next year through Celebrate Ontario grant funding.

"Almost every year someone that has attended a show in the arena has come and complained about broken seats -so replacing them will create a more comfortable venue for the fans and everyone else that uses Eddie Bush," said O'Brien.

Another enhancement for the Elvis Festival and the Town of Collingwood this year was the installation of permanent power upgrades to the Ste. Marie parking lot.

This not only benefits the festival but all future users of the site. For the festival is has alleviated the need for costly annual generator rentals -- a bonus this year considering the main beer garden venue is being relocated from the Pine Street parking lot to the St. Marie Street location. O'Brien says the latter venue will be bigger and easier for police to control.

"Installation of permanent power to the St. Marie venue lot provides a betterment of town services which can be used for other things besides the Elvis Festival," said O'Brien.

"For us, it means huge savings in that we will no longer have to rent generators which have cost about $15,000 every year in the past. In just two years most of the $35,000 it cost for the hydro upgrades will be recovered."

The Sirius Satellite Radio Collingwood Elvis Festival 2008 takes place from Thursday July 24 to Sunday July 27 this year. For information on tickets, schedules and events visit the official web site: www.collingwoodelvisfestival.com

Article Source: http://www.theenterprisebulletin.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1119347

In search of Elvis, and beyond

2008-07-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

Bartell brings Orbison, Cash and others to Copia
By RICH FREEDMAN/Times-Herald staff writer

July 18, 2008

Michael Bartell has been Elvis Presley for 30 years. Heck, the real Elvis was Elvis Presley for only 42 years.
The King apparently isn't only in the building, he's still in demand. And, though Elvis may be Bartell's bread and butter, it's not his only entree.

Take the 23-year Novato resident's Sept. 4 performance at Copia, part of the Napa venue's Outdoor Concert Series.

Bartell features his versions of Roy Orbison and Johnny Cash, augmenting a stable of characters that includes Wayne Newton, Louis Armstrong, Neil Diamond and Tom Jones.

"Elvis is still the supreme. He's the most popular," Bartell said. "But we thought it might be nice to create a variety show we can do."

Doing other celebrities "gives our regular customers an option," said Bartell, who did his Elvis presentation at Copia's Outdoor Concert Series last summer.

"It's nice they liked to have us, but didn't necessarily want the same show from the year before," Bartell said.

The effort investment into a character varies, Bartell said.

"It depends," he said, believing it's easier to impersonate "if I'm really into the character and like their music. If I like it, it's only a mater of learning a few more lyrics."

Bartell uses his home "vocal booth" to test his talents.

"Practice, practice, practice," he said. "And, hopefully, I can nail it. It takes effort. It's not something that comes easy. For some guys, it's easy. For me, it takes studying and listening how the voice goes."

Bartell said the only voice he could do "right off the bat" was Wayne Newton while there's only one voice - the late Jim Croce - that Bartell couldn't swing.

If you go ...

• What: Copia's Outdoor Concert Series

• When: Through Sept. 4

• Where: Copia, 500 First St., Napa

• Admission: $25 each concert

• Contact: www.copia.org

Article Source: http://www.timesheraldonline.com/thearts/ci_9921629

New outlet for tickets Rick Alviti's Aug. 30th Show

2008-07-17T22:07:00.000-07:00

Update on Rick's Show

Tickets are also available on sale at:

Always A Party 2577 Military Rd

(across from K-Mart) Niagara Falls NY 14304 716-297-1971

Limited Seating.........so get your tickets early !!!

August 30th Saturday That's The Way It Was! A Magical Tribute To Elvis Dinner Show featuring Rick Alviti & the Rick Alviti Showband (Bandmembers ,Mark Perricelli, Rob Thurman, Bart Cincotta and Joe Lucenti ) Tickets $50.00 each for Dinner & Show Show only $35.00 Doors open 4:30pm Dinner 5:30pm Show 7:30pm Doors open for Show only 7:00pm Cash bar 50-50 raffle To benefit FVFC Frontier Volunteer Fire Co 2176 Liberty Dr. Niagara Falls NY 14304 Hurry and get your reservations as there is limited seating....Call 716.990.2150 or email RickAlvitiShowNF@aol.com