Mid January 2003
- Blue-eyed soul: '60s sensation The Righteous Brothers bring 'That Lovin' Feeling' to Fort Myers tonight
By NANCY STETSON
(Naples Daily News, January 16, 2003)
When Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield started making records in the early '60s, their sound was so unique that radio stations had to make up a new term for them: "blue-eyed soul."
The duo, better known as The Righteous Brothers, were two white guys who "sounded black."
"White audiences definitely were surprised that we sounded as black as we did, and black audiences and radio were very surprised that we were white," Medley says. "The white audiences were surprised by the way we sounded as much by the way we performed, with the energy we performed with. ... "Black radio was playing us in those days, and they had a format of not playing white music, white artists. But when they were playing our songs, they called it 'blue-eyed soul.' That was their way of explaining to the audience, here are two white guys that we're playing on our station. They were telling the audience that these guys are white. "It's amazing; I have a lot of pride that black radio would play us. That was pretty amazing." ... One of the highlights of their career was meeting their idols, he says. "All the guys we loved from the '50s - it was a huge honor and very exciting to meet Ray Charles and Little Richard and B. B. King and all these guys. We became good friends with Elvis Presley. And certainly one of the highlights was working with The Beatles and The Rolling Stones, people like that.
- NASHVILLE SKYLINE: Elvis Country
(CD Review)
by Chet Flippo
(cmt.com, January 16, 2003)
The new CD Elvis: Great Country Songs (RCA) is both a collection of fascinating songs and an insightful history primer. Elvis almost single-handedly killed commercial country music in the 1950s, yet he was also a part of its later resurgence. Presley's career was partly sparked by his 1954 cover version of Bluegrass inventor Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky." Elvis later -- in his one and only appearance on the Grand Ole Opry -- apologized to Monroe for supercharging his song and speeding it up. Monroe was very gracious to Presley -- unlike Opry boss Jim Denny who advised Presley to go back to driving a truck -- and later speeded up the song himself. ...
But when Elvis and rock 'n' roll took the U.S. by storm in the mid- and late-1950s, country music almost vanished on radio. Country stations throughout the South, especially, flipped to rock formats and country crept toward irrelevance and extinction as a radio format. Today's Country Music Association (CMA) was formed as a self-defense against rock Œn¹ roll.
Although much of his work was tinged with country overtones and recorded with country sidemen and backing vocalists, Elvis' first overt country album didn't come until 1971. Titled Elvis Country (³I'm 10,000 Years Old²), it included such country standards as Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away," Bob Wills' "Faded Love," Eddy Arnold's "I Really Don't Want to Know," Jack Greene's "There Goes My Everything," Flatt & Scruggs' "Little Cabin on the Hill" and Anne Murray's "Snowbird." Not to mention the song that inspired the album subtitle: "I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago."
The new collection opens with Presley's first No. 1 country hit, 1955's "I Forgot to Remember to Forget," jumps into the original echo-chambered "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and goes on to include 22 other notable Presley country takes. There are previously unreleased versions of Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through the Night," the Pointer Sisters' "Fairytale," "Just Call Me Lonesome," "There Goes My Everything" and "Green, Green Grass of Home."
If you've never heard Presley's cover of Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart," recorded by Elvis in 1958 with the Jordanaires, you owe it to yourself to savor Elvis making that song very much his own.
This is missing a few essential things I would like to see included, most notably his take of the George Jones hit "She Thinks I Still Care" (which is included on the RCA box set Elvis: Today, Tomorrow & Forever) and the great "There's a Honky Tonk Angel (Who Will Take Me Back In)" from the 1975 album Promised Land.
His last studio recording -- included here -- was the classic Jim Reeves hit "He'll Have to Go," cut on a mobile recording unit in the Jungle Room at Graceland Oct. 30, 1976, less than a year before Elvis' death. The big Elvis voice was still there. The powerful voice that always carried a subcurrent of such urgency that it demanded that you listen.
The package also reprints a 1955 RCA in-house promotional memo, which begins, "In Elvis Presley, we've acquired the most dynamic and sought-after new artist in country music today, one who's topped the 'most promising' category in every trade and consumer poll held during 1955!"
- Golden Oldies a hit for HMV
By Nick Goodway
(This London / Evening Standard, January 16, 2003)
MUSIC-TO-BOOKS retailing giant HMV returned to profit in its first half and then enjoyed what chief executive Alan Giles described as a 'successful Christmas when every one of our businesses performed well'. The UK music market, which is the core of HMV's business, unexpectedly returned to growth, rising by 1%, in the six months to October. New albums from Coldplay and best of releases from the Rolling Stones and Elvis Presley helped to offset a disappointing first quarter, which was hard hit by the World Cup in June.
- No "real" talks yet on BMG, EMI merger-sources
(Reuters, January 16, 2003)
Battered music companies such as EMI Group will consider consolidation this year, but "real discussions" about a merger between EMI and German peer Bertelsmann have yet to resume, sources said on Thursday. The sources dismissed as investment bankers' talk reports in German and U.S. newspapers that negotiations between Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) [BERT.UL] and EMI had already resumed, saying possible deals in the music industry were still months away. ... EMI has tried to merge with both Bertelsmann and rival AOL Time Warner's record label Warner Music in recent years, but broke off talks after European regulators made clear they would not accept mergers between the Big Five record labels. ... BMG said in November it was on track to return to profitability in 2002 through cost savings, job cuts and successful acts such as Santana, Christina Aguilera and recycled Elvis Presley hits, and has become No. 2 in the U.S. behind Universal Music.
- Teenage Elvis track voted a world-changer
(Canberra Times, January 16, 2003, p. 12)
An early Elvis Presley cover version of an obscure blues track has been voted the song which did most to change the world. ... (See below)
- Trash From Toronto Upsets Michigan Town
by DANNY HAKIM
(New York Times, January 15, 2003)
Since the first of the year, 130 trucks have been arriving one after the other every day, bringing all of Toronto's trash to [Sumpter Township] just south of Detroit. A small group of opponents in nearby Dexter, the Network of Waste Activists Stopping Trash Exports, also known as No Waste, has even rewritten the Elvis Presley hit "Return to Sender" on its Web site.
Send us bacon and hockey,
Beer and curling, too.
But if you send us your garbage,
We'll send it right back to you.
And write upon it
Return to sender,
Address unknown.
Canadians are not sympathetic. In 2001, Michigan sent Canada 53,000 tons of hazardous waste, while only 4,000 tons of hazardous waste came the other way. "We in Ontario are receiving your toxic waste," said a Canadian in a posting on No Waste's message board. "Given a choice, frankly, I'd prefer the garbage."
- Private Funeral Held For Bee Gee
(wral.com, January 15, 2003)
Family and friends paid their last respects Wednesday to Maurice Gibb at a private funeral service in Miami. The singer-songwriter of the pop trio the Bee Gees died Sunday after a heart attack. He was admitted to the hospital Thursday for an operation on his intestines. He was 53. According to the British Broadcasting Corp., the only celebrities reported to have attended the service were pop star Michael Jackson and singer Lulu, who was married to Gibb from 1969 to 1973. Plans have yet to be confirmed for a public memorial service in London.
The Bee Gees had nine No. 1 songs in all, wrote dozens of hits for other artists, and sold more than 110 million records -- placing them fifth in pop history behind Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. They shot to superstardom in the late 70s with several hits of the soundtrack to the John Travolta disco film "Saturday Night Fever."
- Sacked for singing Elvis songs
(BBC News, January 15, 2003)
A worker at the giant Nissan car plant on Wearside says he was sacked for singing Elvis Presley songs. Production line worker David Jewers, 37, was suspended after singing along to tribute songs piped through to employees on the radio on the anniversary of the King's death. Weeks later, the married father-of-two, from Gateshead, said he was told never to return to his £26,000 a year job at Nissan's Washington plant, after working there 11 years. An employment tribunal will consider on 22 January whether Mr Jewers was unfairly dismissed.
- Elvis track named world shaker
([Pakistan] Daily Times, January 15, 2003)
Elvis Presley's 50-year-old classic That's All Right has been named the song that shook the world. The track, which was his first release and which many say gave the world rock'n'roll, was chosen by the experts and musicians as the most influential track ever made. The Beatles are the highest-ranking British act for the song which cracked the US, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, which is at number two in the list for a special edition of Q magazine. That's All Right, recorded in 1954, was never actually released as a single in the UK but the Elvis's delivery started his musical career in the US on a high. American music bible Billboard called the singer "a potent new chanter who comes through with a solid performance" in their review of the track, which he recorded for his mother.
- Elvis song rocked world like no other
(IOL / The
Star, January 15, 2003)
An Elvis Presley cover version of an obscure blues track has been voted the song which did most to change the world. ... (See below)
- Elvis track voted 'song that changed the world'
(ABC News Online, January 15, 2003)
An Elvis Presley cover version of an obscure blues track has been voted the song which did most to change the world. Song "That's All Right" was recorded by Elvis as a teenager in 1954 during an experimental jamming session in Memphis. The track launched the King's career and is regarded by many as marking the start of Rock and Roll. A panel of music journalists, commissioned by Britain's Q Magazine, put "That's All Right" top of a list of "100 ground-breaking, world-altering songs that changed music and the world forever". It beat dozens of better known tracks including The Beatles' "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" and "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys.
- Million-Dollar Limo Highlights Philly Auto Show: 'The King's' Car Puts In An Appearance
(nbc5i.com, January 15, 2003)
An appearance by a limousine once owned by Elvis Presley highlights the opening of the 2003 Philadelphia International Auto Show, which is now under way in Philadelphia. The limo is worth about $1,000,000, according to the organizers of the show. It is being displayed by Eastern U.S. Concours D'Elegance, which says the vehicle is a special 1969 Mercedes Benz Pullman 600 SWB Limousine.
- Elvis to Headline Clinton Exhibit
(Gainsville Sun / Associated Press, January 14, 2003)
The next Clinton library preview exhibit, "America Presents: A Collection of Gifts and Books From the Clinton Presidency," will include a special Elvis Presley display. "Clinton's Secret Service code name was Elvis, and we have a huge collection," said Clinton Foundation President Skip Rutherford. "So there will be a special section on Elvis." The exhibit, which also will include books, folk art and sports memorabilia, will run from Nov. 24 through Jan. 3.
- Third peek at Clinton library collection in the works
By ELISA CROUCH
(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, January 14, 2003)
In Little Rock, Christmas 2003 will ring with Bill Clinton and the King. A third preview of the Clinton presidential collection will showcase collectors' books, gifts from all 50 states and a sample of Elvis Presley memorabilia. ... The former president's Elvis collection tops several hundred pieces - gifts from friends and other folks who heard Clinton was a big fan of the Memphis Flash. "I have some great pictures, including the famous one of Elvis on the train from Tupelo to Memphis," Clinton told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in November 2001. "I also have a scarf he autographed at a 1971 concert." Other items include an Elvis Presley phone, a book of Elvis recipes, the King's cookie-jar piano and a clock featuring Presley in a blue plaid shirt, blue pants and blue suede shoes.
- Elvis Presley Reissues Chronicle Phases of his Career
(Launch, January 13, 2003)
To coincide with Elvis Presley's recent 68th birthday, RCA/BMG Heritage has released four essential Presley reissue compilations that chronicle various phases of his career. Longtime Presley friend Diamond Joe Esposito explained that the most important thing to remember about Presley is his music. "Overall, the most important thing that I want people to remember Elvis about is his music and how he made them feel when he sang," Esposito said. Each of the reissue discs represents a key segment of Presley's musical career--seminal early tracks are included on Elvis 56; love songs make up the tracks on Heart And Soul; Hollywood hits highlight Can't Help Falling In Love; and classic country is heard on Great Country Songs.
- ELVIS SONG 'MOST INFLUENTIAL'
(Teletext, January 13, 2003)
Elvis Presley's half-century-old classic That's All Right has been named the song that shook the world. The track, the King's first release which arguably gave the world rock 'n' roll, was chosen by experts as the most influential track yet made. The Beatles are at number two with I Wanna Hold Your Hand in the list for a special edition of Q magazine.
- Canadian Sales Fit For A King
By Tamsen Tillson
(Reuters, January 13, 2003)
Fans who gathered at Graceland to celebrate the 68th anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth on Jan. 8 learned that as far as album sales go, the King is most loved, actually, by the Great White North. On a per capita basis, Canadian fans have bought more copies of "Elv1s: 20 No. 1 Hits" than the citizens of any other country, including the U.S. The King's annual birthday celebration included a ceremony marking album sales by nation, with 27 territories going gold or better. None beat Canada, where the hits album has gone platinum six times over since its September release. The U.S .and the U.K. were next, each with triple-platinum sales. BMG plans a follow-up disc next year.
- Elvis-fest leaves Parkes all shook up
By Ron Cerabona
(Canberra Times, January 13, 2003, p. 2)
More than 100 Elvis Presley lookalikes of various shapes and sizes descended on Parkes at the weekend for the town's 2003 Elvis Revival Festival. The King may be dead, but his legend lives on in Parkes each January on the weekend after his birthday - he would have turned 68 last Wednesday. The 2003 Elvis Revival Festival was the 11th in succession. Tourism coordinator for Parkes Shire Council Kelly Atkinson said, "It went fantastically, from what everyone's said it's the biggest so far." People from Belgium, the United States, England and New Zealand came to this year's festival, as well as the usual contingent of locals and people from around Australia. Ms Atkinson said that the street parade and outdoor concert attracted thousands and gospel church service was filled to overflowing. Australian music legend Normie Rowe performed on Saturday night, incorporating a few Elvis songs like It's Now Or Never in his set ... the show was topped off by an eight-year-old Elvis impersonator from Gulgong who came on to perform a couple of numbers - including Wooden Heart in German.
- Maurice Gibb, member of disco sensation the Bee Gees, dead at 53
By ADRIAN SAINZ
(nj.com / Associated Press, January 12, 2003)
Maurice Gibb, who with his brothers built the Bee Gees into a disco sensation that ruled the charts in the late '70s with hits like "Stayin' Alive" and "More Than a Woman," died Sunday at the age of 53. ... The brothers had nine No. 1 songs, wrote dozens of hits for other artists, and sold more than 110 million records -- placing them fifth in pop history behind Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney. ... Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Glen Campbell and Jose Feliciano recorded Bee Gees songs, as have newer acts such as Celine Dion and the Fugees.
- Stolen Beatles tapes get back to where they belong
By Adam Sherwin
(Times Online, January 11, 2003)
A PRICELESS haul of 500 original Beatles tapes stolen in the 1970s and containing unreleased tracks has been found after police cracked a major bootleg operation. The reel-to-reel tapes of what have become known as the "Get Back sessions" disappeared from the Twickenham studio where the group had been recording in 1969. They were uncovered yesterday in a town near Amsterdam after a series of raids in West London and the Netherlands that led to five arrests. ... There are dozens of Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Elvis Presley songs, and some humorous moments including McCartney's version of Hello Dolly!
- Elvis impersonator disqualified for charity pledge
(Ananova, January 11, 2003)
An Elvis Presley impersonator was thrown out of a contest for promising to donate his winnings to charity in memory of his mother. Tom Green told the crowd at the Elvis impersonator contest in Milwaukee he would donate any winnings to fighting breast cancer. But judges of the contest, held in a Potawatomi casino, said this gave him an unfair advantage and disqualified him. His mother, Florence Green, died of breast cancer five years ago. "I was trying to do something good with the winnings instead of buying another jumpsuit," Green told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
"I never thought that kind of gesture would be a reason to disqualify me."
Potawatomi spokeswoman Linda Sowell said: "We try to make it so everyone has a level playing field. It is very competitive."
- A weekly pop culture watch: A little Elvis between HBO news (4th item)
(kentucky.com, January 10, 2003)
Entertainment Weekly's readers know that its critics can be as cranky as all get-out. That makes it all the more pleasant to note that EW reviewed Kentucky author Bobbie Ann Mason's new book, Elvis Presley, and gave it an A-. Writes Ken Tucker: "Mason portrays Presley as a decent man doomed by insecurity, a feeling of unworthiness, and a desire to please everyone close to him. In the end, Mason finds, Presley was a revolutionary artist who died thinking he was a trapped indentured servant to show business."
- Hundreds celebrate Elvis Presley's 68th birthday
(Houston Chronicle / Associated Press, January 10, 2003)
Christine Lewis wrapped herself in the flag -- an Elvis flag -- to celebrate what would have been the king of rock 'n' roll's 68th birthday. ... (Same as entry for January 8th under "Fans Celebrate Elvis Presley's Birthday".
- P.O. enveloped in controversy
(Kanakakee Daily Journal, January 9, 2003)
"Return to sender. Address unknown. No such number. No such zone." To residents of Aroma Park, the lines from this Elvis Presley tune have taken on a personal meaning -- at their post office. Aroma Park Mayor Norm Grimsley hosted a forum Wednesday for 24 residents, postmaster Cindy Blanchette and two other post office representatives to discuss mail issues. "We're here because you have concerns about how your mail is getting to your boxes. We want to go over what is appropriate and what isn't," said Lolita Rice, acting manager of post office operations.
- Elvis fans snarl up roads near 'shrine'
By Bridget Ballance
(Express & Star, January 9, 2003)
Dozens of Elvis Presley fans caused chaos on a Staffordshire road by unexpectedly arriving at a house to admire memorabilia in time to celebrate his birthday. Around 85 fans of the rock 'n' roll legend blocked roadways leading to Eunice Fitch's house in Danby Drive, Rawnsley, near Cannock. Although she has no idea where they came from, she was not surprised to see the mob as people visit her house and garden regularly, day and night, to admire the shrine. The property is well known across the area and with Elvis fans country-wide. For years she has been collecting memorabilia with a clock, picture and book among items she received as Christmas presents this year.
But the group that visited on Monday is the largest number of fans she has seen at any one time.
"My tummy turned when I saw them," she said. "I looked out of the window and there were all these dots at the bottom of my garden.
"I do not have a clue where they came from but they were all middle-aged and some had walking sticks.
"They did leave about £15 in donations," she said.
To celebrate his January 8 birthday, she has organised a fundraising concert by the Mark Lay Front Line Band, which will be held on Saturday from 7.45pm at the Working Mens' Club in Edward Street, Chadsmoor.
- Inspired by "King's" musical legacy
By JOY FOX
(Cranston Herald, January 9, 2003)
What is it about Elvis Presley? In an effort to answer that question the Herald turned to Big John Bina, on air radio personality for B101-RI's oldies station. Over the last year, Bina, who is also a Cranston resident, has grown particularly fond of the king of rock 'n' roll. He has worked on three Elvis projects since last May. On Wednesday "The King" would have celebrated his 67th birthday. In August Elvis's hometown of Memphis, Tennessee, hosted a 25th commemorative anniversary. He passed away Aug. 16, 1977. People traveled in droves to Graceland then, and undoubtedly some die-hard fans will visit Memphis this week, too.
But why? According to Bina, quite simply because Elvis's footprints are just about everywhere in the music world. ... the Elvis "life force" captured him last May. It started with a phone call from a friend. The message was that an Elvis movie/documentary was in production at Foxwoods Casino in Connecticut. The production was entitled Sighting in Graceland. The producer, Ron Dillard, who also acted in the film, recorded footage at Elvis's grave in Memphis. This footage would become the film's central feature. "There is a vision of Elvis's face on the grave," said Bina, while being interviewed in the B101 studios overlooking Route 95 in Providence. ...
- Piano that belonged to Elvis is sold
(Gainsville Sun / Associated Press, January 9, 2003)
A white Knabe grand piano once owned by Elvis Presley sold this week for $685,000. Memphis guitarist-music producer Robert A. Johnson and partner Larry Moss sold the piano Monday to Michael Muzio, chairman of Blue Moon Group Inc. Muzio said he hopes to put the piano on a casino-sponsored promotional tour and then use it for an exhibit at a proposed rock museum in Walt Disney World.
Caption: A young Private Elvis Presley is shown at an upright piano
in the recreation hall, Headquarters Company, Third Armored Division,
in Friedberg, West Germany, spring 1959.
- The King lives on
By Ron Cerabona
(Canberra Times, January 9, 2003, Times Out section, p. 3)
The town of Parkes goes a touch crazy this time every year for a weekend of Elvis, Elvis and more Elvis. Last August was the 25th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. Yesterday the rock legend would have been 68, and this weekend the 2003 Elvis Revival Festival - in Parkes, in central west NSW - celebrates the life and music of the King, as well as its own 11th anniversary. For more than a decade the Presley fans in Parkes have used the weekend after his birthday to commemorate and celebrate their idol in a range of ways. ... Kelly Atkinson, tourism coordinator for Parkes Shire Council, says that there will be dress ups - with prizes for best Elvis, Priscilla, Lisa Marie and Little Elvis - look-a-like, sound-a-like and move-a-like contests, stalls, a parade down the main street, buskers, and concerts by Elvis impersonators, including one on Friday night at the aptly named Graceland's. ...
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