November 2001
- The Beatles: Soundtrack of the Sixties
By Paul Majendie
(Excite news / Reuters, November 30, 2001)
From Tony Blair to Bob Geldof the message was the same -- The Beatles were the soundtrack of the Sixties. Their songs, their suits, their mop-top haircuts: four young working class heroes changed the face of pop music forever. No image of the swinging sixties -- a decade that changed so much more than music -- is complete without them. "Their music, the band and the personalities of the band were the background to our lives," said Prime Minister Blair, reflecting on the death of "Quiet Beatle" George Harrison at the age of 58. Fellow musicians remembered a gentle soul who sought meaning in religion once he tired of Beatlemania. "He wasn't a reluctant Beatle. He knew that his place in popular culture was absolutely secure," Geldof said of the guitarist and songwriter. Elvis Presley was the first bad boy of rock. The Rolling Stones followed. But it was The Beatles who took the world by storm. Their mass appeal, which cut across sex, age and state, eluded other pop groups. Like the model Twiggy and actor Terence Stamp, they were working-class icons who broke down class barriers in "Stiff Upper Lip" Britain.
- Nixon Library Publishes Celebrate America! Catalog Selection Features Gifts With Patriotic, Presidential Flair
(Excite news / PRNewswire, November 29, 2001)
In "Patriotic holiday gift ideas in Celebrate America!", the newly published catalog of the Nixon Library & Birthplace's Museum Store, shoppers will find a showcase of gifts themed to America, the Presidency, the White House, and the life and legacy of the 37th President, Richard Nixon. (Orders may be placed, and free catalogs can be requested, by calling 800-USA-8865 or online at www.nixonlibrary.org.) The Elvis and Nixon commemorative collection includes: The President Meets The King: The famous photo was taken December 21, 1970, when Elvis visited President Nixon in the Oval Office. Enjoy this historic moment with a variety of items (including T-shirts: $14.95; mouse pads: $9.95; or watches: $45).
- Lighthearted Holiday Advertising Spots By Blockbuster(R) Feature Elf Impersonating Elvis
(Excite news / PRNewswire, November 28, 2001)
With an emphasis on lighthearted, family- focused entertainment, Blockbuster is rolling out a new series of TV spots for the holiday, built around a new character, an Elvis-impersonating elf. The world's largest video rental chain has produced three 30-second spots featuring the elfin Elvis singing adapted Elvis Presley song material on the snow-covered roof of a Blockbuster store. Lyrics include "Look for the brightest lights in town, that's where the special times are found." "The song is the perfect embodiment of what Blockbuster strives to represent and how we relate to our customers' lives," says Scott Parks, vice president of advertising for Blockbuster. "An elf impersonating Elvis is just the right combination of nostalgia and quirkiness to keep viewers engaged."
- Elvis Presley's 1956, First-Ever Agency Contract Offered for $40,000; Also Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Beatles Rarities
(Excite news / PRNewswire, November 28, 2001)
RECORDMECCA, a premier website for high-end collectible records and music memorabilia is offering for sale Elvis Presley's first-ever agency contract, priced at $40,000.00. The previously unknown contract is one of the rarest Presley documents ever to come on the market. Dated January 31, 1956 -- the day after he recorded "Blue Suede Shoes" and 3 days after his first national television appearance-the William Morris Agency agrees to rep Elvis as an actor. It was so early in Presley's career that the agency's typist mis-spelled his first name, which had to be corrected.
- Ed Enoch, Left, Gordon Stoker, Second Left, and Joe...
Photo by Neil Brake
(Excite news / Associated Press, November 28, 2001)
Caption: - Ed Enoch, left, Gordon Stoker, second left, and Joe Moscheo, right, are congratulated by Elvis Presley Foundation CEO Jack Soden, second from right, during a reception before the gospel Music Hall of Fame Inductions in Franklin, Tenn., Tuesday, Nov. 27, 2001. Elvis Presley is one of the 2001 inductees. Presley, who died in 1977, is being represented by three performers who backed him as part of gospel quartets: Moscheo from The Imperials, Stoker from The Jordanaires, and Enoch from J.D. Sumner & The Stamps.
- Presley Named to Gospel Hall of Fame
(Associated Press, November 26, 2001)
It was no secret that the king of rock 'n' roll preferred gospel music. "It more or less puts your mind at ease," Elvis Presley once said of the music he first heard as a boy attending the Assembly of God Church. "It does mine." On Tuesday, Presley will be inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame during a ceremony at The People's Church in Franklin, south of Nashville. Already a member of the halls of fame for rock 'n' roll and country music, the gospel addition will give Presley the distinction of being the only entertainer inducted into all three.
- Elvis fans match his generosity with theirs
By GRACE MURPHY
(Portland Press Herald, November 26, 2001)
The True Friends of Elvis fan club held its annual holiday craft fair Saturday at the yacht club to benefit Camp Sunshine in Casco. The fair recognizes the late singer's devotion to children and his love of Christmas while raising money for a worthy cause, club president Dot Gonyea said. Elvis was famous for giving away Cadillacs, cash and jewelry, according to the official Elvis Presley Web site. But he also raised more than $65,000 for the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor; contributed $1,000 each year to each of 50 Memphis charities; and gave financial help to struggling families. True Friends of Elvis has 150 members who also try to help children and their families, Gonyea said. The club auctions off Elvis items each May to buy teddy bears for underprivileged children. And members spend the year making crafts or buying items for the holiday craft fair to help send critically ill children and their families on a retreat at Camp Sunshine.
- Lisa Marie and Cage to marry
By Ed Harris
(www.thisislondon.co.uk, dated October 5, 2001)
Hollywood star Nicolas Cage and Lisa Marie Presley are getting married after just five months together because "life's too short". The family of Elvis's daughter says the terrorist attacks of 11 September had made the couple realise they wanted to be together. Elvis's cousin, the Reverend Rick Stanley, said: "From what I understand, the tragedy in New York and Washington made them both realise there are no guarantees in life. She told me directly: "Nic and I don't want to wait another minute. We're going to get married right away.'" Cage, 37, met Ms Presley, 33, at a party in New York last October and they became a couple in May, when Cage's divorce from actress Patricia Arquette was in its final stages.
- Preview of the week: Elvis still an idol for many
By Andree Coelli
(The Guide: Canberra Times TV Magazine, November 19, 2001, p. 8)
Preview of Elvis, the Great Performances, screening on ABC Television on Wednesday November 21st at 8.30 pm.
[The documentary] reveals the performer, and through this, we get an uncluttered picture of the man. Hosted by the obscenely youthful-looking Priscilla Presley, who provides gentle, even-handed insight, we see some fabulous footage. ... The music comes chronologically, and is interspersed with little clips of interviews, some quite rare, and ends with his evolution to what he called his "Vegas period", and the legendary live performances through the '70s. ... His musicianship, his sheer talent, is incredible and humbling. (This review is positive about Elvis but can't resist ridiculing fans: "There are ... no interviews with the fans who are awaiting his comeback once he returns to this galaxy".)
- Just in From Memphis Elvis Is Getting Lonely
(Excite news, November 17, 2001)
Hard times and a slump in foreign visitors since the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington have turned Elvis Presley Boulevard into Lonely Street. The company that keeps the singer's memory alive in a complex of tourist attractions centered around his grave and home said Friday it has had to lay off 50 people recently, about 15 percent of its work force.
- Elvis alive and well at U. Penn
(Daily Pennsylvanian via U-WIRE, November 15, 2001)
By Stephanie Ramos
The King may be dead, but that didn't stop renowned History Professor Thomas Childers from lecturing on the hip-gyrating, rock 'n' roll icon. Childers, who currently teaches a class on the Third Reich, gave a lecture on Elvis Presley last Wednesday to a standing-room only crowd in College Hall. "Elvis Lives!" was the third in a series of History Department lectures entitled "Twentieth Century Lives." Earlier this semester, the department sponsored lectures on Sigmund Freud and Woodrow Wilson. It would seem like an odd pairing, but Childers spoke knowledgeably and intimately about his fellow Tennesseean. He cited comments from musical legends such as Leonard Bernstein and John Lennon as evidence of Presley's greatness. Childers quoted Lennon as saying, "Before Elvis, there was nothing." "Well, Bernstein and John Lennon may have exaggerated, but they are not so off the mark as one might think," Childers said. "Like it or not, Elvis Presley's accomplishments in the music world were unparalleled." Twenty-four years after his death, Childers said, Elvis remains a social icon. "In 2001, membership in these fan clubs continues to go up, not drop," Childers said. "It's not just a generational thing with people my age."
- "America The Beautiful" in Billboad Charts
(Elvis News, November 14, 2001)
America The Beautiful" is sitting at Number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 Sales Chart in the US. In the UK, "America The Beautiful" fell from Number 69 to Number 84 in the charts. The chart entry in the UK gave Elvis the longest span since "Heartbreak Hotel" entered the charts in May 1956, 45 years and 6 months ago.
- Hall of Fame to induct seven into 2001 class
By Mike Brehm
(USA Today, November 12, 2001)
Among those being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto is Mike Lange, longtime Penguins broadcaster, famed for sayings such as ''Elvis has left the building'' and ''Scratch my back with a hacksaw.''"
- It's a Jacko freak show: Tomorrow's special scares us silly
By BILL BRIOUX
(Canoe / Toronto Sun, November 12, 2001)
Fans of Todd Browning's classic Freaks won't want to miss Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Special (tomorrow night at 9 p.m. on CBS). Not since Freaks revolted audiences in the '30s has such a collection of nightmarish individuals gathered in one place at one time. ... Jackson is a superb showman, never more so than in his precise spin through Billie Jean, dressed in the same black hat and sequenced glove (although a different nose, lips, eyes, chin and skin colour) that first thrilled audiences during an unforgettable 1982 TV performance. With a new album to promote, Jackson clearly sees this as his comeback special. But the immodesty of it all drowns out what should have been his Elvis moment. Skip the freak show and catch the last half hour.
- All shook up: Jordanaires playing for a new king
By Les Carpenter
(Seattle Times, November 11, 2001)
A comparison is made between the Washington Wizards basketball team, nicknamed "Michael Jordan and the Jordanaires", and the original Jordanaires who accompanied Elvis 40 years ago. Young basketball players don't know what it was like. Gordon Stoker saw it all, though. He sat at the piano in concert halls and arenas all over the country, watching in awe as this shy young man suddenly transformed, shaking and twisting and sending women screeching into the aisles. They kept going, pushing higher and higher until the whole planet exploded into a jangle of noise and they had started a revolution. By then the shy young man was so big, he didn't need to use the last name anymore. Elvis Presley was just Elvis. "And it was a wonderful life," said Stoker of the Jordanaires who for nearly two decades would be immortalized on every record produced by the King as 'Elvis Presley and the Jordanaires.'
The team was anonymous in their 19-victory seasons until the team's part-owner decided he wanted to play. And given that the part-owner is the greatest basketball player who ever played, well they would be forgotten no more. They realize is that their world has changed, exploding in a blast of light from photographers and television cameras and people tromping on their clothes and through the room.
It was not this way 40 years ago. The Jordanaires were little known outside of Nashville music circles, playing ballads behind some of the businesses better stars. Then they met up with Presley and at the time Elvis was just hoping for a shot at a label. And when fame happened, it came instantly in a blaze of lights and concerts and movies and television shows. "Everything we did was exciting," Stoker said last week. "It was wild to be on stage with him. There would be 12,000 to 15,000 people screaming. We couldn't hear him. He couldn't hear us. Neither of us could hear what the other was doing. He'd want us to stay close to him on the stage because he was pretty insecure in general. He never knew if someone was going to throw something at him." Together Elvis Presley and the Jordanaires made countless albums, appeared in hundreds of concerts and even made 28 movies. They stopped only when Elvis began doing two shows a day in Las Vegas, the schedule had become too grueling.
"You know, in the years we worked with him he was timid, a very sweet-natured boy," Stoker said. "Don't believe these things you read about him, it's all garbage. Other stars would yell at you when things went wrong. He never did that and believe me he had plenty of things that would make anybody throw a fit. The way he was treated by some people was horrible."
The Wizards would probably not look upon their Elvis as "sweet-natured." He wants to win too much.
- COMING UP: THEATER
Compiled by Celia R. Baker
(Salt Lake Tribune, November 4, 2001)
Announcement of forthcoming performances in Salt Lake City.
"Watch the Birdie: The Westminster Players, Westminster College's departments of music and theater, and the Westminster Concert Series present "Bye, Bye Birdie" at the Jewett Center for the Performing Arts Auditorium (1250 E. 1700 South). The tuneful satire of the Elvis phenomenon plays Wednesday through Saturday and Nov. 15-17 at 7:30 p.m."
- On dying young: In emergencies, after disasters, youth is a powerful fantasy
By Margaret Morganroth Gullette
(Salon, November 2, 2001)
The author reminisces about her brother Lewis, who died in 1966 at age 22 and was buried on her 25th birthday. "He was a droll, charming, brilliant young man. He stooped a little so he could talk to you at your level, like the nicest tall people I've known. An erstwhile fat kid, he'd grown up to look like Elvis Presley but with a sweeter mouth and kindly direct brown eyes. For a dark-haired person, he had high coloring; he hated it but he blushed. He wore a black leather jacket and rode a motorcycle; at my wedding in 1964 he turned up wearing a red vest with his striped gray pants and black dress jacket."
- MUSE'S 'HOLLOW' SMITHS TRIBUTE
(nme.com, November 2, 2001)
MUSE have covered THE SMITHS' 'PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LET ME GET WHAT I WANT' on their new
single. Their version of the track, which originally featured on the seminal Manchester group's 1985 album 'Hatful Of Hollow', features on Muse's forthcoming double A-side single 'Feeling Good'/'Hyper Music', which is released on November 12. In related news, former Smiths' guitarist Johnny Marr has spoken about his recent recording sessions with Oasis songwriter Liam Gallagher. Speaking in this morning's London Metro newspaper, he said: "I played with Liam on some songs he'd written last winter. He's got a load of really good tunes. He comes up with the weirdest chords, and just writes from the heart really. "It's not easy being him. I respect him because in his mind he thinks Elvis sold out, Mick Jagger sold out and John Lydon sold out and he's going to be the first person in his position to not do that."
- Georgia may crack down on sexy cheerleading
(azcentral.com / Associated Press, November 2, 2001)
The Chatham County school board is set to vote Wednesday on a policy banning "lewd gestures, inappropriate comments and suggestive or vulgar movements" by any student group, from glee clubs to wrestling teams as result of the "sexy" act of Beach High School's marching band. The effort has some parents jeering. "It's the same as whenever Elvis Presley came out in the early days," said Yvonne Holmes, the mother of a 16-year-old cheerleader at Johnson High School. "They said he couldn't move his hips and they could only film himfrom head-to-waist. It's just a different dance they're doing." This coastal city of 131,000 is known for a split personality of Bible Belt religion and bawdy revelry - such as an annual St. Patrick's Day celebration that packs both churches and bars. Around the country, youngsters have borrowed dance moves from the likes of Britney Spears and Janet Jackson, and hip-hop dance trends have moved from the inner city to suburbia.
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