Early February 2003
- Elvis Master for Sale on Cooper Owen Auction Site
By GEOFF FOX
(Auctionbytes, February 10, 2003)
For the last 35 years, Graham Knight has had in his possession the masters for Elvis's first ever record and for his last record at Sun Studios. In November 1998, Knight found out that a record he bought in Memphis in 1968 is actually the original master of Elvis Presley's first ever record. "That's All Right Mama". It was recorded on July 5th 1954 by Sam C. Phillips at the Sun Studios, 706 Union Avenue, Memphis and was originally released as Sun 209 on July 19th 1954. "Some American fans have been giving me a lot of hassle about keeping them for so long," Knight said. "So I have put them up for sale by auction! For years I have been hoping to swap them both for a single master by Jerry Lee Lewis but none have turned up."
The Elvis master will be part of the Jimi Hendrix - Rock Legends auction in London on February 20, 2003, at the Cooper Owen Auction Gallery. http://tinyurl.com/5if0. Meanwhile, another interesting Elvis item is up for auction on eBay. Elvis Presley's "Milk Cow Blues Boogie" RCA 45 Acetate was created around 1955 at the time that Elvis Presley was moving from Sun to RCA. Forever Vinyl's president Scott Neuman said it's an acetate cut from the original Sun tapes for RCA, made by an RCA engineer. The eBay auction ends today, February 9.
- Store Teeming With Tunes, Tales, Treasures
By GEOFF FOX
(Pasco, February 10, 2003)
Dressed in a beige T-shirt sporting Elvis Presley's image and the slogan "Mr. Rock 'N' Roll In The Story He Was Born To Play,'' Steve Cors doesn't exactly look meticulous. But the owner of Tunes, Tales & Treasures - who stands taller than 6 feet, wears bushy pork-chop sideburns and once majored in marine biology at the University of Miami - is thorough when it comes to his business.
Cors' 2,000-square-foot store contains more than 51,000 albums and 45s, about 2,000 78s and dozens of eight- track cassettes. The inventory also includes 40,000 used books - almost 28,000 of them paperbacks selling for $1. Each item is stocked in alphabetical order - by artist or author. The merchandise is separated by genre and subject. ``If someone comes in and asks for a song or an album, I don't guarantee I have it, but it only takes me two minutes to see if I have it,'' said Cors, 58, a native of the Bronx, N.Y.
- Chavis, King boys face off again: Teens to testify on kidnapping, sex charges
By Alan Gomez
(Pensacola News Journal, February 9, 2003)
"I think most people understand by now that Derek and Alex killed their father. And the only people who still believe that they did not kill their father are the same kind of people who believe that Elvis is not dead." - Assistant State Attorney David Rimmer.
- Trying to overcome suspicious minds
By PAUL PRONOVOST
(Cape Cod Times, February 9, 2003)
Right between the classified ads peddling a cargo trailer and a computer, Gerri Downey is fishing for someone filthy rich who happens to worship the King of Rock 'n Roll.
CASSETTE: Elvis Presley original "Live in Manhattan" w/his signature. Asking $5 million B/O. 508-775-6709.
That's right, folks. For a mere 5 million clams, YOU can have a hunka, hunka Elvis memorabilia. "In the past I heard a lot of Elvis' things were going for big bucks," says Downey, of Hyannis. "I figure I could get $5 million easy for this because no one else has got it."
Crazy, you say? Don't be so sure. Thanks to the sequined hoopla that surrounded the 25th anniversary last year of the singer's death, there has been a rekindled interest in all things Elvis.
In fact, there's a $250 million market for Elvis trinkets and baubles, according to a Wall Street Journal story last month. Stage outfits, 45s, handwritten lyric sheets, movie posters. If you've got them, chances are better than good someone wants them. At least that's what Downey is hoping. She tried to sell the tape about 10 years ago, but "didn't get any offers."
But that was before last year's anniversary put a new jump in the old jumpsuits. The San Francisco-based auction house Butterfields sold the King's American Express card for $63,000. His sunglasses went for $26,480. And perhaps the most bizarre purchase, an unidentified collector of Elvis memorabilia paid $115,000 for a small jar filled with what is supposed to be his hair, collected by his barber.
... Downey says 20 years ago she was dating a man who was in Elvis' band. She doesn't know exactly when they cut the tape - which apparently is a bootleg of a live concert featuring the King's greatest hits - but she does know it's not something you can find at Strawberries or Borders.
The name "Elvis" is inscribed on the cassette case, but Downey has never sought to verify it. She trusts the man she dated for years. That might not be good enough for serious collectors, however. The interest in Elvis memorabilia has led to a market of fakes, a proliferation of bogus booty that has angered collectors and put egg on the face of auction houses. Christie's auction house, for example, has refunded about $26,000 to buyers of questionable Elvis items.
So Downey might have a problem on her hands, because she's not interested in letting people take the tape and return it later. The way she sees it, someone could make a copy and try to weasel a profit at her expense.
- PRESLEY WAS THE KING THE LAST TIME BANK RATES WERE SO LOW
By David Clensy
(This is Derbyshire / Evening Telegraph, February 8, 2003)
When the Bank of England announced the lowest interest rates since 1955 this week, experts and amateur City watchers were stunned by the move. But the change, which took the interest rate down to 3.75 per cent, could give a boost to mortgage payers in the county as well as giving a helping hand to Derbyshire industry. Life has changed since 1955. In those days, half of the world was falling in love with Elvis, who was belting out That's All Right on the wireless.
- 10 top Atlanta spots to smooch in Atlanta
By DEBORAH GEERING
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 8, 2003)
In the winter months, even Hotlanta can look like a cold community. With most of its citizens focused on work and errands, metro Atlanta looks more lost in thought than swept up in passion. But certainly on Valentine's Day, even a city too busy to hate can find time to steal a kiss. The area is full of romantic corners and inspiring views, if only its residents would slow down for a smooch or two. Frustrated lovers of Atlanta, come out of the shadows! Here's a look at 10 great places to give your lips some exercise: ... Gracevault at Star Community Bar. Who says you can't find love in a smoky, stripped-down rocker bar? Romance rattles on with a backbeat. Five Points hangout, especially in the Gracevault -- a former bank vault that's been converted into a shrine to Elvis Presley. Just like the spirits at Oakland Cemetery, the essence of Elvis may bring your lust to life. In the secluded viewing area, you and your tattooed honey can light a few candles to the King and swap spit. Address: 437 Moreland Ave., 404-681-9018. Smoochometer: Serious make-out potential.
- Late greats
By R.S. Murthi
(New Straits Times, February 8, 2003)
Though some artistes may be long dead, their music continues to sell millions of records and their popularity and reputation seem to grow with the passing years. R.S. ... almost 29 years after his death, Nick Drake, whose music is turning up on hip TV series and movie soundtracks and is being recommended by cool alt-rockers, has finally become the widely-appreciated pop star he never was and desired to be in his lifetime. ... Drake, whose dreamy, exquisitely melancholy music could be, in his own words, "a troubled cure for a troubled mind" (it was the dominant soundtrack for a time during my teen years), now joins the pantheon of dead pop and rock stars whose passing has only increased their appeal, thanks to a combination of enduring artistic relevance, imaginative myth-mongering and shrewd corporate exploitation.
Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and, most notoriously, rapper 2Pac (Tupac Shakur) have proved that death could well be the definitive career move for any artiste seeking eternal fame. Presley has been dead for over 25 years, yet there's no end to constant repackagings of his recordings. And if sales of the last Presley compilation, 2002's Elvis: 39 #1 Hits which has just been certified triple platinum (over three million copies sold in the US), are any indication, the King is going to keep ruling from the grave for a long, long time.
- Coco Palms owner in talks with buyer
(Honolulu Advertiser, February 8, 2003)
A proposal to convert the old Coco Palms Hotel property into a state cultural park has been shifted to the back burner because landowner Park Lane Hotels said it is negotiating with a buyer. The classic hotel, associated with Polynesian themes and Elvis Presley's "Blue Hawaii," has been closed for 10 years because of damage from 1992's Hurricane 'Iniki.
- Ralph Hood - Shaking up the Hood family tree
(Brunswick News, February 7, 2003)
Well, the truth is out. Elvis and I are both direct descendants of the same man, one Tunis Hood, who is buried only a few miles from my father and mother in North Carolina. Elvis' grandmother, Minnie Mae Hood, married Jesse Presley and the rest is history. This information comes from my cousin, Chris Hood, the unofficial historian of the Hood family. Evidently, he kept these facts a secret until the death of my mother, Helen Hood. Mother was never much of an Elvis fan, and perhaps, she threatened Chris with bodily harm if he exposed the truth in her lifetime. She was even ashamed that Daddy's side of the family was kin to Erskine Caldwell. ...
- Canvey: 'Elvis' set for island gig
(This is Basildon, February 7, 2003)
An Elvis Presley impersonator could return to Canvey by popular demand after wowing guests during a charity evening. Fans of The King have already flooded the organisers of the bash - which took place at the Monico Hotel, on the island's Eastern Esplanade - with requests for the impersonator to be booked again. Councillor Dennis Williams, chairman of the regeneration group Canvey 2000, said the event was a massive success with more than 150 turning up. He said: "We are already looking into booking the Elvis Presley impersonator for another evening maybe in March. "He was fantastic. It was just like Elvis being alive again, he sounded just like him."
- Elvis tribute conjurs look, sound of The King
By David T. Farr
(Sturgis Journal, February 7, 2003)
If you unscramble the letters in Elvis Presley's first name, you can make the word "lives." That might be stretching the legendary status, but for Elvis fans his memory will live on forever. Irv Cass makes a living out of making sure Elvis Presley's legacy is not forgotten. He is one of the world's top Elvis impersonators, winner of the Worldwide Images of Elvis Impersonation Competition held during Elvis Week in Memphis. The six-day affair features anywhere from 100 to 150 Elvis wannabes.
- Olympics begins Friday
By David Paulsen
(Marshfield News-Herald, February 7, 2003)
Skating, skiing, snowshoe races and Elvis will be the main attractions this weekend when Wausau hosts its 14th annual Special Olympics Winter Games. At least three Elvis impersonators will perform their renditions of the King's signature tunes during opening ceremonies as part of the games' "Love Me Tender" theme. The theme originated with one of the Special Olympics staff members, who has donned an Elvis costume at several recent Special Olympics events. "The athletes just went crazy over it," said Kelly Kloepping, director of marketing and communications for the Special Olympics of Wisconsin. "Elvis has made quite a few appearances in the last year." The sports competitions will feature 200 to 300 athletes this year and are expected to draw a total of more than 1,000 people to several sites in and around Wausau.
- Gracelands [sic] brings John to tears
(This is Leigh, February 7, 2003)
THE sight of the Gracelands memorial garden proved too much for life-long Elvis fan John Turner. Former Olympic wrestler John, of Leigh Road, Leigh was reduced to tears. John couldn't believe it when his partner, Lynne, won a dream holiday to his idol's home in Memphis. His interest in the King of Rock 'n' Roll spiralled when he moved into his Leigh Road home 20 years ago and the supermarket competition prize took John and Lynne on a week-long holiday to Memphis where they stayed at the Heartbreak Hotel. They visited Elvis' birthplace at Tupelo, his school Humes High, Sun Studios, Launderdale Courts, Lansky's Restaurant and the unforgettable Gracelands. John said: "It was all amazing and ended far too soon. His house was tremendous, we saw his cars, his motorbikes. His suits were stuffed and displayed, I had goose bumps on my goose bumps when I saw those. And when we stood at his memorial garden I broke down in tears, it was so emotional." A regular member of Tonge Moor Rock 'n' Roll Club for 25 years, John's pride and joy is his own Elvis bar, packed with authentic 1950s memorabilia -- including two original Juke boxes, a talking monkey, a custom-made Elvis guitar and an original Elvis autograph.
And now, since his holiday of a lifetime, John has spent the last two weeks redecorating other parts of his house to remind him of the wonders of Gracelands.
- Black Like Me: Eminem, Elvis and Greg Tate's Everything but the Burden
By Baz Dreisinger
(laweekly, February 7-13, 2003)
THERE IS AMPLE REASON NOT TO BEGIN A DISCUSSION of "Everything but the Burden: What White People Are Taking From Black Culture" with Eminem. In light of the recent war of words between rapper Benzino and Em, so much critical scrutiny has been bestowed upon America's most overdetermined rap star, it's a wonder he hasn't buckled under the weight of all that intellectual ink. And yet here he is, hugging the headline. Where else could he be, when the very notion of cultural theft has become synonymous with this surly poster child for wiggered-out America? The Source magazine deemed him "part of a dangerous, corruptive cycle that promotes the blatant theft of a culture from the community that created it," and urged readers not to "sit back while our culture is raped and pillaged." Dramatic words, but hardly shocking. The Eminem-as-modern-day-Elvis paradigm has become a cliched, enlightened way to dismiss Slim Shady. It goes hand-in-hand with a second well-circulated Eminem cliche, which mitigates the first: Eminem's class status is his license to blackness, elevating him above wiggers du jour like Justin Timberlake (whose whiteness is far more absolute than Em's). 8 Mile milks this notion: a white-man-as-victim fantasy of the Falling Down variety, in which the whites emerge from the black rabble, where they never belonged in the first place.
This premise is shaky at best: That for artists, authenticity of self, which is acquired via the "right" kind of upbringing (literal and metaphorical proximity to black people), ultimately produces authenticity of art or performance. So, Vanilla Ice's wack performance was a product of his inauthentic self, and Justin's work can't possibly match Eminem's. But what if Vanilla Ice simply sucked because he sucked, not because he was really from the 'burbs? And if the art sounds bona fide, does it matter whether the artist grew up with N' Sync or D-12? Why, in other words, elevate persona above performance?
Let's not forget that Elvis and much of his audience were not clueless cultural pirates. "A lot of people seem to think I started this business, but rock & roll was here a long time before I came along," Presley told Jet in 1957. "Let's face it: I can't sing it like Fats Domino. I know I can't." His fans, not to mention countless radio DJs, knew it too, which is why, by 1956, DJs like Alan Freed refused to play white covers of black R&B tunes, white teens were scouring record stores for original versions of their favorite hits, and white-power patrols panicked about the music that was "mongrelizing" airwaves and dance floors. Ultimately, of course, black artists were never paid in the way that white cover artists were. And in the end, Elvis and others could pay homage until the cows came home, but rock & roll's white fruits eventually obscured its black roots. ...
So in the end, is it possible for Eminem - or Elvis, or any other white devil - to steal black culture? What's missing from Everything but the Burden is an exploration of this question. Culture, after all, is not a monolithic entity: It's the product of interaction between people. And it's important to draw the (often blurred) distinction between influence and appropriation, theft and hybridity. Look at "Hound Dog," a song penned by two Jews (Leiber and Stoller), handed to a Greek man who passed as African-American (Johnny Otis), sung first by a black (Big Mama Thornton) and then by a white (Elvis). Who, in the end, stole from whom?
- Developers unveil visions for MSA site
By Matthew Tully
(Yahoo! News / Indianapolis Star, February 6, 2003)
It's a parking lot now. But the former Market Square Arena site someday could be filled with apartments, condominiums, retail shops, restaurants or even a cultural arts center. Six development groups are bidding for the opportunity to breathe new life into an area that was the site of Elvis' last concert and 25 years of Indiana Pacers games. The proposals -- made by groups that include Realtors, investors and developers -- call for investments ranging from $42 million to $140 million.
- DFW Airport Turns Express Parking Into a 'Love Lot' on Valentine's Day
Source: DFW International Airport
(Yahoo! Finance / PRNewswire, February 6, 2003)
If you've ever left DFW Airport on your honeymoon and your trip was the most romantic ever or had you laughing so hard you couldn't carry your spouse or your luggage over the threshold, we want to hear from you. Beginning today, DFW is soliciting your best travel nuptial stories at www.dfwairport.com, and fellow travelers will vote online for the most romantic and hilarious stories. Then, on Valentine's Day, the Airport will team with radio personality Tara and 99.5 The Wolf and award two prize packages in DFW's new Express Parking North Lot. Voting will conclude Wed., February 12 at 5:00 p.m. "After we launched Express Parking with Elvis impersonators last November, our passengers told us they never thought they could have that much fun in an airport parking lot," says Joe Lopano, executive vice president of marketing at DFW. "We know DFW is a starting place or connecting point for the married lives of many of our guests, and we thought it would fun to hear their travel tales and send two couples on another trip and a few dates on us."
- Anne Goldman, former Times features editor
(Obituary)
By CRAIG BASSE
(St Petersburg Times, February 6, 2003)
When Elvis Presley came to town in August 1956, he drove the cops nuts, caused teenage girls to faint and nuzzled Anne Goldman's ear. Mrs. Goldman was then Anne Rowe, a young reporter for the St. Petersburg Times. She interviewed Presley in advance of his local appearance and reported to her readers that he "seemed to us like a real regular guy." Although she went on to play a major role as an editor and pioneer at the Times, she maintained fond memories of the Presley visit. For years, a giant photo of her and the singer had a prominent spot on the wall of her home. Mrs. Goldman died on Wednesday after a long battle with leukemia. She was 66.
- Long live the King: Elvis is alive and living in Canberra, well, at least in the hearts of many
By Ron Cerabona
(Canberra Times, February 6, 2003, Times Out section p. 16)
Elvis Presley is not dead. While the man himself might have left this life just over 25 years ago, there are thousands of people around the world who ensure that his legend, and his legacy, continue to thrive. And many of them are in Canberra. Whether you're a casual, or serious, Elvis fan who doesn't mind an occasional night out with like-minded people, or someone of more scholarly bent who would like to delve deeper into just what it was that made Elvis Presley a phenomenon both within, and beyond popular music, there are opportunities for you to do so. ...
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