August 6-9, 2002
- Record crowd expected for Elvis Week: 'It's about his life'
By Thurston Hatcher
(CNN, August 9, 2002)
The convertible top on Jean Abel's new Chrysler Sebring is blue, for "Blue Suede Shoes." The body is silver, as in silver anniversary. And then there's the license plate: EP-25TH. Abel is a devotee of all things Elvis, and next week she'll be among thousands of Elvis fanatics trekking to Memphis for the 25th anniversary of Presley's death on August 16. "Just knowing that my husband and I will be in the presence of a huge number of Elvis fans from all over the world, and his friends and band members and whoever was associated with him, just overwhelms me," says Abel, who saw Presley perform in 1956. Fans make the pilgrimage to the Presley mansion every year for what's known as Elvis Week, but this year's nine-day event is expected to shatter records.
- A week in books: Elvis lives
By Boyd Tonkin
(Independent, August 10, 2002)
During the second half of the 20th century, which single event changed most lives around the world? The patenting of the Pill? Nikita Khrushchev's denunciation of Stalin? The Sharpeville Massacre? The fall of the Berlin Wall? You might make a plausible case for each, but they all have to compete with one epochal moment on 5 July 1954. A teenage amateur singer, who had paid the boss to cut a track a few months earlier, was fooling around in a small Memphis studio Suddenly this no-account, white-trash wannabe shocked the musicians by launching into a 1946 song by the Chicago bluesman, Arthur Crudup. "That's all right": and so it proved to be, if not for the older Elvis Aron Presley, then at least for a global public who would find in the tangled encounter between black American popular music and its white interpreters or entrepreneurs - a compelling soundtrack for their private and public lives.
Elvis is far too important to be left to the Elvis fans: they mimic their idol's world-denying fixations, each locked in a personal Graceland. The 25th anniversary of the King's death (or transfiguration?) on 16 August 1977 has prompted a predictable slew of cash-in titles, aimed at true believers. But sceptics can take an interest too, even if no new works begin to match the classics: Peter Guralnick's two-part biography, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love; or Greil Marcus's essays in Mystery Train and Dead Elvis. ... [A survey of books on Elvis.]
- Elvis is still everywhere: King of rock 'n' roll reigns supreme 25 years after death
By Todd Leopold
(CNN, August 9, 2002)
Before there was Madonna, before there was Eminem, before there was Flea or Cher or Bono or Sade or Moby or Sisqo, there was Elvis. OK, so Elvis had a last name -- Presley. But to the world, he was simply "Elvis." Elvis in 20-foot-high letters on his 1968 comeback TV special. Elvis on many of his album covers. Elvis on an official U.S. postage stamp. There have been Elvises since -- musician Elvis Costello, New York Times film reviewer Elvis Mitchell -- and probably Elvises before, but there is only one Elvis. He was, and remains, the King. August 10 kicks off the nine days of Elvis Week, the yearly commemoration and media circus surrounding the anniversary of Presley's death on August 16, 1977. This year marks 25 years since that fateful day, and yet Elvis may have never been bigger. [An outline of Elvis' career follows.]
- Bigger than life, even in death: The iconography of Elvis
By Todd Leopold
(CNN, August 9, 2002)
Elvis is everywhere, Elvis is everything, Elvis is everybody, Elvis is still the King" -- Mojo Nixon
When people think of Elvis Presley, they think of many things. There's Swarthy Elvis, the slicked-back teen dream who took popular music by storm in 1956. There's Fat Elvis, the chubby man in the rhinestone jumpsuit and '70s clothes that were embarrassing even then. There's Rock 'n' Roll Elvis, who belted "Jailhouse Rock" and "Hound Dog"; Balladeer Elvis, who sang "Are You Lonesome Tonight" and "Can't Help Falling in Love"; Movie Elvis, who cavorted with Ann-Margret and Stella Stevens; even Crazy Elvis, the firearm-loving drug addict who once allegedly shot out a television showing a "competitor," Robert Goulet.
That's the thing about Elvis. He can be anything people want him to be, says Glenn Gass, a professor of music at Indiana University. "When I ask my classes, 'When you think of Elvis, what comes to mind?' I get an amazing array of answers," he says. "Everybody has their own image of Elvis, and that's really the key. It's like the [postage] stamp -- you could choose between young Elvis and older Elvis. They didn't do that for Lincoln." He remembers one student, an elderly lady, who took offense at Gass' dismissal of some 1960s Elvis ballads. "She said, 'That's the real Elvis,' " Gass recalled. "So I never tread on anybody's Elvis." ...
"There's nothing more important than getting Elvis," says Gass. As a musician, he points out, Elvis could be transcendent; as a human being, he's ultimately a tragedy.
- Appreciation for Elvis: learned with time
By Chris Porter
(Desoto Sun Herald, August 9, 2002)
I guess I was just born too late to flip over Elvis. By the time I started to become aware of pop music, it was about 1969, and the Beatles, the Stones and Motown were in charge. The King of Rock 'n' Roll, when I was a teen, was a big lummox, lurching around Vegas in a jumpsuit and sweating into a towel while middle-aged ladies swooned. He was more in line with Liberace than Alice Cooper and hardly what I was looking for at the record shop. Those stupid '60s movies I saw him in on TV didn't help his image in my my mind. As a kid, I never owned an Elvis record. When I heard about his death in 1977, I was 15, working as a pool guard at a senior citizen mobile home park in Venice. ... Little by little, though, his '50s recordings started to get through to me. ...
- Portland arena hosts tribute after canceled Elvis concert
By JERRY HARKAVY
(Maine Today, August 8, 2002)
It was 25 years ago this month that the Cumberland County Civic Center was sold out for back-to-back performances by the King of Rock 'n' Roll. But Elvis Presley died on Aug. 16, 1977, and more than 17,000 heartbroken fans were left holding tickets to the Aug. 17 and Aug. 18 concerts. In observance of the 25th anniversary of Presley's death, the Civic Center will present a two-hour musical tribute - "The Concert That Never Happened" - featuring Elvis impersonator Jack Smink.
- Elvis Presley is overrated
By Tom Sinclair
(CNN / Entertainment Weekly, August 8, 2002)
August 16th marks the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death -- a fact that legions of Presley fans no doubt view as highly significant, an excuse for everything from memorial barbecues to day-long blocks of Elvis music. Me, I couldn't care less. As Public Enemy's Chuck D once remarked, ''Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant s--- to me.'' Let me explain. Sure, I understand Elvis' historical significance. He came along at a time when popular music meant Patti Page and Perry Como, and his (then) new-fangled fusion of country and R&B effectively introduced what would become known as rock & roll to mainstream America. A lot of his early records are still exciting (thanks largely to the great sidemen he had playing with him). Props are due. But my problem with Elvis has always been the absurd degree to which this guy -- the bulk of whose post-'50s career was, by most yardsticks, an extended embarrassment -- has been lionized. Jeez, the cat didn't even write his own songs, and he barely played guitar, pioneering the use of tha instrument as pure prop. Stacked up against his contemporaries -- Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis -- Elvis falls short in terms of both artistry and creativity.
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- Where have all the Elvis stories gone?
(Philadelphia Daily News, August 8, 2002)
The supermarket tabloids don't write about Elvis anymore. Could that mean he isn't alive, after all? There was a time when tabs like the National Enquirer, the Star, the Globe, and the Weekly World News paid rapt attention when people reported seeing Elvis buying peanut butter at their supermarket. There was a time when Elvis stories with a mystical flavor were a tab staple. "Photo of Elvis Cured My Cancer." "Elvis refrigerator magnet weeps." "Elvis' grave is empty." "Jimmy Hoffa found in Elvis' grave." And, of course, "Elvis seen at Burger King." The Weekly World News claims credit for launching an avalanche of sightings with its "Elvis is Alive" front page in 1988.
- Elvis the divine
By Rose DeWolf
(Philadelphia Daily News, August 8, 2002)
WHEN NORMAN Girardot first began talking about Elvis Presley as a religious figure, he was accused of sacrilege, of blasphemy, of ... well, being a kook. Girardot, a professor of religion at Lehigh University, remembers it well. "There was a newspaper report about an 'Elvis cult' at Lehigh. Alumni wanted to know what was going on. Thank God I had tenure." In fact, Girardot had - and has - more than tenure at Lehigh going for him. He has the title University Distinguished Professor. He is the author of a forthcoming major work on Chinese religions. Last year he edited the book "Daoism and Ecology" for the Harvard University Center for the Study of World Religions. But, no doubt about it, he gets more publicity for the course he has been teaching for the past half-dozen years titled "Jesus, Buddha, Mao and Elvis." It's a course about communities of people who share deeply held beliefs. It's about the charismatic figures who inspire those beliefs.
- Little hellions kids feeling rebellious/Embarrassed their parents still listen to Elvis/They start feeling like prisoners helpless' - Eminem
By JIM PATTERSON
(Yahoo! News / Associated Press, August 8, 2002)
The reigning king of rock 'n' roll or an easy punchline? [As below]
- New Generation Keeps Elvis Alive
By JIM PATTERSON
(Yahoo! News / Associated Press, August 8, 2002)
The reigning king of rock 'n' roll or an easy punchline? [As below]
- 25 Years After Death, Elvis Is King
By JIM PATTERSON
(Yahoo! News / Associated Press, August 7, 2002)
The reigning king of rock 'n' roll or an easy punchline? Twenty-five years after his death, Elvis Presley continues to be an enormous pop culture presence - both as a beloved musician and an easy laugh. White jumpsuits, big ol' sideburns and "Thankyouverymuch" make easy marks. Presley, once the symbol of beautiful, rebellious youth, didn't help himself much near the end. There's the specter of the pill-popping superstar crooning "My Way," or falling off the commode and dying at 42. But Presley's role in ushering in a cultural revolution also reverberates. Many performers credit him as an inspiration. His worldwide album sales are estimated to top 1 billion, and his music continues to be reissued to reach younger listeners. As for the old fans, tens of thousands are still expected to file into Graceland, Presley's home-turned-tourist-attraction in Memphis, to mark the 25th anniversary of his death on Aug. 16. For them, he's no joke. "Why are media people surprised every time they see this?" says Dave Marsh, a music critic and Presley biographer. "Forty-seven years after 'Heartbreak Hotel,' and they still don't get it, or still think it's going to go away."
- Big-ticket renovations planned for Elvis birthplace
By M. Scott Morris
(Daily Journal, August 7, 2002)
Officials with the Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation in Tupelo see little point in celebrating a death anniversary. "We'll celebrate the birthday Jan. 8 because that's what happened in Tupelo," said Henry Dodge, chairman of the foundation. "The death celebration - if you can celebrate a death - is something they have in Memphis."
- 25th Anniversary Tribute: I saw ELVIS in concert 20 years after his death!
By Joanne McKenna
(Take5, August 14, 2002, no. 33, pp. 14-15)
Australian Elvis fan Mandy Squair, who has been a fan since the 1973 Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii telecast, met Priscilla Presley in Sydney in 1996, visited Memphis with her family in 1999 and attended Elvis the Concert in 2000. "For me, Elvis is without a doubt the greatest singer of all time".
- 25th Anniversary Tribute: sweet 16 and mad about THE KING
By Joanne McKenna
(Take5, August 14, 2002, no. 33, p. 16)
Elvis fan Shea Foster appeared on Prime Television with other fans in August 1995 to commemorate 18 years since The King's death and was a devoted fan by the time she was 11.
- Elvis friend: The King was 'the absolute best'
(CNN, August 7, 2002)
Talking Vegas, Cadillacs, growing old on 'Larry King Live' - Elvis Presley had his excesses -- he loved junk food, once bought 34 pickups for his ranch and developed a drug abuse problem that contributed to his death at age 42. But, said longtime Presley friend, best man and pallbearer "Diamond Joe" Esposito, the King of Rock 'n' Roll was never one to skimp on giving of himself. He was "the absolute best" entertainer, Esposito said Tuesday during an appearance on CNN's "Larry King Live." "He just was so at ease onstage. He loved performing," Esposito said. Even when Presley was just among friends, he would perform, Esposito said. "He'd sit in his house for hours on end by himself at the piano and just play songs and sing," he said.
- All shook up? Give us your Elvis stories
(News Daily, August 7, 2002)
Are you crazy about Elvis? Are you nothin' but a hound dog when it comes to Elvis memorabilia? If so, we'd like to talk to you. Send your stories and contact information to ttrice@news-daily.com for a future story.
- Elvis Presley tracks restored for new album
(Ananova, August 7, 2002)
Elvis Presley's "live" radio performances from the mid-'50s have been restored for a new album release in the US. Elvis Presley/Roots Revolution: The Louisiana Hayride Recordings will be released through Tomato Records on August 13. It marks the 25th anniversary of Elvis' death. The mix includes renditions of That's All Right, Mama, Baby, Let's Play House, Blue Moon Of Kentucky and Maybellene.
- Elvis is alive and well
(Evening Post, August 6, 2002)
Elvis, the puppy stolen from Bristol Dogs' and Cats' Home, has been returned safe and well - thanks to the Evening Post. Staff were shocked after the seven-month-old pomeranian cross went missing last Wednesday afternoon. They issued an appeal in the Evening Post, and on Friday the animal centre received a call from a woman who had bought him and had called him Fluffy. Realising he had been stolen, she telephoned the RSPCA and Elvis was returned to the home.
- New Elvis Presley CD, Roots Revolution, Sonically Restores the Legendary Louisiana Hayride Recordings
SOURCE: Tomato Records
(Yahoo! Finance / ENTERTAINMENT WIRE, August 6, 2002)
On August 13th, Tomato Records releases Elvis Presley/Roots Revolution: The Louisiana Hayride Recordings, a 16-track edition of the historic Elvis Presley "live" radio performances from the mid-50s. Undergoing a complete sonic restoration, the original recordings have been brought back to life allowing the magic of a 19-year old Elvis Presley to shine through. Commemorating the 25th Anniversary of Elvis' death, Roots Revolution is a testament to the enduring impact Presley and his music have had on the world. ... The results are nothing short of magical, as Elvis' voice cuts through crystal clear roaring through groundbreaking performances of "That's All Right, Mama," "Baby, Let's Play House," "Blue Moon of Kentucky," "Maybellene" and more. It truly was a roots revolution. Music would never be the same, and some might argue that it would never be better.
- Songwriter Joe Allison Dead At 77, Wrote For Elvis & Patsy Cline
(Yahoo! News, August 6, 2002)
Songwriter Joe Allison--whose songs were recorded by Elvis Presley, Patsy Cline, Jim Reeves, and others--died of lung disease in Nashville on Friday (August 2) at the age of 77. Allison's biggest hit came in 1960 when Jim Reeves recorded the crossover hit, "He'll Have To Go," which spent 14 weeks at Number One on the country chart and three weeks at Number Two on the pop chart. ... In addition to his songwriting, Allison worked as a recording executive, radio personality, song publisher, and record producer. He was a founding board member of the Country Music Association (CMA) in 1953, and he was inducted into the Country Disc Jockey Hall Of Fame in 1976 and into the Nashville Songwriters Hall Of Fame in 1978.
- Greatest Elvis impersonation was as actor
By Jack Mathews
(New York Daily News, August 6, 2002)
For those who aren't sure how important directors are to the performances in their films, the brief, overheated screen career of Elvis Presley offers a dramatic case in point. The three movies in which the rock idol gave credible performances were directed by talented veterans Michael Curtiz ("King Creole"), George Sidney ("Viva Las Vegas") and Don Siegel ("Flaming Star"). ... At the risk of committing heresy on the eve of the 25th anniversary of Presley's death, I'll state flatly that he didn't have a speck of acting talent when he started making movies in 1956, and had gained only a false confidence by the time he quit making them 13 years later. ... Judging by his work in the 1958 "King Creole," in which Presley played a naive young nightclub singer introduced to the corrupt New Orleans underworld, it's conceivable he might have developed a passable dramatic range. And he showed flashes of emotional depth two years later under Siegel's direction in the Western "Flaming Star," playing a half-Indian with conflicted loyalties. ... Then, in 1964, cast opposite the irrepressible Ann-Margret in "Viva Las Vegas," he raised his energy and interest levels enough to show us what a musical actor he might have been if Col. Parker hadn't made sure he never worked with such talent again.
- It's all Elvis
By GARY KIRKLAND
(Gainesville Sun, August 6, 2002)
The Elvis grandfather clock ticks in the corner, its guitar-shaped pendulum keepingthe beat. Her table is set with Elvis dishes, atop an Elvis tablecloth. The easy chairs have Elvis headrests, another chair has an Elvis slipcover, while the couch has Elvis throw pillows modeled after the commemorative postage stamp. Down the hall is the Elvis bathroom. The piano is topped with Elvis sheet music, and the entire side of the refrigerator is plastered with images of the late rocker. It's all Elvis, all the time at Tiger Harper's home, so it should be no surprise where she'll be spending Elvis Week 2002, which will run Aug. 10--18 in Memphis, to mark the 25th anniversary of Elvis' death.
- New DVD By Blue Suede Films Reveals Elvis Overpopulation Threat
SOURCE: Blue Suede Films
(EWORLDWIRE, August 6, 2002)
It started when the real Elvis died on August 16th, 1977. The King of Rock 'n' Roll's untimely death inspired a legion of impersonators, and today the Elvis population has exploded to over 35,000. In fact, according to a new documentary film on the subject, by the year 2020 one out of every three people on the planet will be an Elvis impersonator. Almost Elvis, the first documentary to explore the cultural phenomenon of Elvis impersonation, will be released this month on DVD to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death.
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