 |
- Earnings From The Crypt
By Mei Fong and Debra Lau
(Forbes Magazine, February 28, 2001)
People continue to earn money long after they are dead. In the year 2000 Elvis Presley earned an estimated US$35 million--$15 million of it from Graceland admissions--making him the richest guy in the graveyard. Nipping at Elvis' anklebones is "Peanuts" creator Charles Schultz, who debuted his posthumous career by earning $20 million since his death at age 77 in February 2000. The article lists the 13 highest paid deceased celebrities.
- SEZ WHO
(Cleveland Live / Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 28, 2001)
"I think there's probably more chemistry there than between Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley." Jon Stewart, who hosted this year's Grammy Awards, on the controversial duet between rapper Eminem and Elton John, to the New York Daily News.
- Napster attack launched on behalf of the late Roy Orbison
By Mei Fong and Debra Lau
(Excite news / Reuters, February 27, 2001)
Copyright.net has sent e-mails to Napster identifying more than one million copyright violations of the late rock legend Roy Orbison's songs on the popular song-swap service, triggering enforcement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) (US). Orbison died at the age of 52 in December, 1988. Although he shared the same rockabilly roots as Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, he went on to pioneer an entirely new brand of country/pop-based rock and roll in the early 1960s.
- ELVIS: King of Rock, Man of God:
While white Pentecostalism shaped him, Presley absorbed the style of black Southern gospel music
By CECILE S. HOLMES
(Salt Lake Tribune, February 24, 2001)
The best of Elvis' gospel music will be released in March in Christian bookstores and retail shops through Provident Music Distribution and RCA in the USA. The CD set offers 56 recordings, many of them rare. While white Pentecostalism's rituals and behaviors shaped him, Presley crossed many traditional boundaries, also absorbing the style and ethos of Southern black gospel music. Presley's multifaceted image contributes to the adulation that has survived his death.
- The best, forever
(The Hindu, February 23, 2001)
At New York's Museum of Television and Radio on 25, West 52nd street, you can walk in and see the early shows that one never saw in India, such as Elvis Presley's early appearances on the Steve Allen Show, the forerunner of today's American talk shows.
- Lacking grace: Bloody, long, disjointed caper flick needs steadier direction (film review)
By Joe Baltake
(Sacramento Bee, February 23, 2001)
3000 Miles to Graceland is too long, too cluttered, disorganized and messy, an example of violent amorality.
- Kevin Costner's career may be hounded by this dog (film review)
by Gary Thompson
(Philadelphia Daily News, February 23, 2001)
3000 Miles to Graceland is less a heist movie than a study of dishonor among thieves. The problem for the viewer is finding a reason to give a hoot about any of these people, especially after the bloodshed at the casino, where the Elvises slaughter dozens of cops and civilians. The style is derivative and dull, Elvis impersonators are not intrinsically funny, and the Vegas thing has been done to death.
- 'Graceland' is a shook-up shoot'em-up (film review)
By Mike Clark
(USA Today, February 23, 2001)
3000 Miles to Graceland stars Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner. It is a violent movie about a heist pulled off by a gang of Elvis look-alikes during a Las Vegas impersonators' convention. It "piles up corpses faster than Elvis piled up No. 1 singles in the '50s". Two hours is too long. "The movie nearly matches the Lisa Marie-Michael Jackson marriage for weirdness."
- Movie Review: 'Graceland': 2,999 miles too many
By Marshall Fine
(Seattle Times, February 23, 2001)
There's very little that's welcome about 3000 Miles to Graceland. There are actual Elvis movies that are better. The heist itself is mostly an excuse to blow up slot machines and craps tables and fire a lot of automatic weapons. The script is dull as dishwater.
- Hound-dogging us: Have Elvis impersonators taken over? Or can there never be too many tributes to the King?
By J. Freedom du Lac
(Sacramento Bee, February 23, 2001)
du Lac discusses Elvis impersonators, who play a prominent role in the Kevin Costner-Kurt Russell film, 3000 Miles to Graceland, interviewing various people.
Professional impersonator Doug Church, a past winner of the Worldwide Elvis Impersonator Contest, considers that bad impersonators are doing other impersonators and Elvis a disservice. At the same time, as impersonator manager Nance Fox states, with very few exceptions, impersonators do it because they love Elvis. They work hard, take voice lessons, learn the moves, spend $5,000 on costumes, practice and keep themselves in shape.
Rock historian Glenn Gass warns that there's always a chance the impersonators might cheapen Presley's artistic accomplishments and reduce him "to the level of a joke". But the trend is more likely a sign of just how all-encompassing and significant Presley really was - and still is. Elvis was more than just a musician; he was a cultural moment. According to filmmaker John Paget all the impersonators are needed because none of them by themselves can equal Elvis, but when you add up their best traits, then you get the King.
- Steely Dan Steals Show at Grammys
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY
(Excite news, February 22, 2001)
Discussion of Grammy Awards and Eminem. Comments include: "We can't edit out the art that makes us uncomfortable. Remember, that's what our parents tried to do with Elvis, the (Rolling) Stones and the Beatles". Hill's "Breathe" won best country vocal performance, and her duet with her husband, Tim McGraw, won best country collaboration with vocals. She also won best country album. "I cannot believe this," Hill said. "I would like to thank my mom and dad for allowing me to go to my first concert when I was 8 years old to Elvis Presley".
- GRAMMY AWARDS 2001: Did You Know?
by James Sullivan
(San Francisco Chronicle, February 22, 2001)
Various facts about the Grammy Awards, including: "... Elvis Presley won Grammys only in religious-music categories. ..."
- Replacing racing's Elvis not easy: New Earnhardt tough to find, but new stars might not be
(MSNBC / Associated Press, February 22, 2001)
The death of stock car racing driver Dale Earnhardt has left a void that's hard to fill. "He's the Elvis of NASCAR" ... "Elvis Presley was a one-time deal. The Beatles were a one-time deal. ... Dale Earnhardt was a one-time deal."
- People in the news: Model confirms she's engaged to DiCaprio
By Mick LaSalle
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 21, 2001)
New details keep trickling in on the Tom Cruise-Nicole Kidman split. The story also says that Cruise had been spending lots of time with Lisa Marie Presley.
- BOOK REVIEW: A book of wrongs isn't right
By Nikki Kowbel
(The Daily Cardinal via U-WIRE, February 20, 2001)
"Wrong--The Biggest Mistakes and Miscalculations Ever Made by People Who Should Have Known Better", published by Plume.
' ... Two chapters are devoted to the entertainment industry and are filled with quotes from people like the record producers who rejected Elvis Presley, the editor who thought Dr. Seuss wasn't children's book material and the Universal Studios executive who passed on producing "Star Wars."'
- Pretenders to the Throne: Elvis impersonators are everywhere -- including in a new movie
By Mick LaSalle
(San Francisco Chronicle, February 19, 2001)
On Friday, the heist movie "3,000 Miles to Graceland" opens, with Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner as leaders of a gang of Elvis impersonators that steals $3 million from a Las Vegas casino. They blend right in, since it's "National Elvis Week."
- No, Just Missing the Art of the Song
By JIMMY WEBB
(Los Angeles Times, February 18, 2001)
Musical values have no place in Eminem's world, and while he may not always mean what he says, his words are offensive--not revolutionary. Elvis Presley is always cited as the prime example of a tradition in popular music to incrementally escalate the threshold of revulsion in polite society, but he sang songs.
- Tabloid believers give Presley officer a giggle in Graceland
By HEARNE CHRISTOPHER JR.
(The Kansas City Star, February 18, 2001)
The recent unfounded rumour that Lisa Marie was selling Graceland to Michael Jackson sparked many e-mails to Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. and some amusement.
- This Time, 'Earth' Can Wait (film review)
by Kenneth Turan
(Los Angeles Times, February 16, 2001)
Chris Rock's edgy persona is largely missing in a comedy that revisits Warren Beatty's 'Heaven Can Wait.'
Hollywood has a habit of taking charismatic, even transgressive performers and putting them into tepid popular entertainments. Examples are Elvis Presley and Richard Pryor. The story of this film about a man who dies before his time and returns in a different body is an unlikely combination of what befell the brilliant Pryor and, a decade earlier, the King. Like many of Pryor's movies "Down to Earth" takes pains to soften and bland out its star's more scabrous characteristics. And like all of Presley's efforts, "Down to Earth" is best when it stops its plot cold and allows the performer to do what he does best.
- Unamazing Graceland
by William S. Klein
(Christian Science Monitor, February 16, 2001)
Klein, who is an "Elvis agnostic", went to Graceland and found it very boring.
- Man dressed as Elvis must stay away from San Francisco mayor
(Court
TV, February 15, 2001)
Mayor Willie Brown has won a temporary restraining order against a San Francisco man who allegedly stalks him, often dressed as a tuxedo-clad Elvis Presley.
- Capital Times: Your Tops
by Robert Macklin
(Canberra Times, February 14, 2001. p. 3.)
In response to the recent British top-10 list of the most influential music makers of all time, a Canberra Times reader suggested: (1) Louis Armstrong; (2) Bessie Smith; (3) Robert Johnson; (4) Duke Ellington; (5) Frank Sinatra; (6) Hank Williams; (7) Elvis Presley; (8) Bob Dylan; (9) Ray Charles; (10) the Beach Boys.
- WEB MAP: Valentine's Day
by Kim Clark
(US
News, February 12, 2001)
Romantic sites online for Valentine's Day include www.littlechapel.com.Ý
"This Las Vegas chapel will host and webcast a wedding for as little as
US$304.Ý The video looks as if it were shot through a dark fish tank,
but friends and strangers will thrill as an Elvis impersonator (for another
$200) croons to the newlyweds."
- OBITUARIES: Hal Blair, 85, songwriter, actor
By Linda Stasi
(The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution / Associated Press, February 9, 2001)
Hal Blair, who co-wrote songs (including
''I Was the One'') performed by Elvis Presley, Della Reese and others, died Friday. He was 85.
- THE DARK SIDE OF THE OSMONDS
by Linda Stasi
(New
York Post, February 5, 2001)
Review of the TV movie "Inside The Osmonds", screening 8:00 p.m. on
WABC/Ch. 7, contains the sentence:Ý "The only thing better than the
old man's Sans-a-Belt slacks in this flick are the Osmond Brothers' Elvis
white-jumpsuits, and karate moves".
- All shook up in Elvis chat
(Canberra Times, February 7, 2001, p. 14)
Elvis been reincarnated as one of several celebrity chatbots (talking robots). You can exchange messages with him at http://elvis.alicebot.com/~acraig/index.htm.
(Article starts with derogatory remark: "This is not another case of a deluded fan ... ")
- TABLOID HELL
(NME.com news, February 2, 2001)
ELVIS has been spotted on the moon during the recent lunar eclipse [Northern hemisphere].
- Oh, what a tangled Web they wove when first they attracted fans by droves
(PioneerPlanet, February 2, 2001)
Since the days of Elvis Presley, pop music fan clubs have served as clearinghouses for merchandise that could be considered gold or garbage, depending on whether you were the starry-eyed teen or the disapproving parent. Today, a lot of that garbage has turned into gold. ...
Fans join clubs for priority tickets to shows. www.usfanclubs.com is a clearinghouse for fan clubs listing both official sites and those run by fans.
- Elvis Still Looms Larger Than Life: The King's coming to Flint Center
by James Sullivan
(San Francisco Chronicle, February 1, 2001)
Elvis - The Concert comes to the Flint Center, 21250 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino.
- The King' Lives on in Poetry Book
(Excite news, February 1, 2001)
The King lives on in an anthology of poetry the University of Arkansas Press plans to release this month. The anthology of poems about Elvis Presley "invites readers to experience the connection between the historical and mythical status of the King on the one hand and the poetic imagery of him on the other".
-
Two Men Who Would Be King: Bill Clinton vs. Elvis Presley vs. America (book review)
by Paul A. Cantor
(Reason Magazine,
February 2001)
"Double Trouble: Bill Clinton and Elvis Presley in a Land of No Alternatives", by Greil Marcus, New York: Henry Holt, 248 pages, $25
|
