Early April 2003
Also in the news: Lisa Marie Presley on Lisa Watch
- Johnnie B. so good
(Canberra Times, April 6, 2003, Relax section, pp. 4-5)
By Robert Messenger
Johnnie Johnson is now universally recognised as the "Father of Rock 'n' Roll" and joined the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001, along with Aerosmith, Steely Dan, Paul Simon, Michael Jackson, and Elvis Presley's and Rick Nelson's guitarist James Burton. Chuck Berry took a lot of the credit that Johnnie Johnson should have been given. Johnson never received proper credit or royalties from Berry for jointly composed Johnson-Berry songs. ... Q [magazine] placed at No 1 Presley's That's All Right, recorded at the Sun Studios in June 1954, saying "Rock 'n' Roll history begins here". But That's All Right had been written by blues singer-guitarist Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup in 1946, and Q admitted the merging of country and western (or hillbilly) music with blues and R & B had started long before even then. ...
- Chance to buy stars' cars lures fans to sale
(Tennesean.com / USA Today, April 6, 2003)
By HOLLY EDWARDS
Opening the door of a sleek, black Cadillac limousine owned by her late husband, Minnesota Fats, Theresa Bell took a step back and said she felt as though she were in his presence. On the back seat lay a small stuffed rabbit, the favorite toy of the pool-playing legend's dog, Side Pocket. ... The 1980 Cadillac Fleetwood was among almost 50 cars - some owned by stars, others simply classic - auctioned yesterday at the Music Valley Car Museum, which is preparing to shut its doors because of declining profits. Some of the more than 200 people who turned out for the auction were museum owners or classic car collectors looking for a bargain. Others were fans of the stars who owned the cars and came to bask in the presence of the stars' treasured possessions.
... Jim Crowell and Jimmy Velvet, both of Michigan and self-proclaimed friends of Elvis Presley, said they traveled to the auction to purchase the 1972 cream-colored limo used in Elvis' funeral procession. Crowell bought the limo for $12,600. Crowell said he also owns the Cadillac that Elvis drove the day he died and still has hair sheared from Elvis' head when the singer was inducted into the military.
- 'Now I have my son back. My boy': Reunion ends 40-year split
By Sorcha McGinnis
(Calgary Herald, April 5, 2003)
Jim Metcalfe is reunited with his mom Kaylene Szabo at Calgary International Airport after 40 years. Jim Metcalfe was only five years old when he sat next to his mother in their Bowness basement watching a black-and-white Elvis Presley on the Ed Sullivan Show. That's the last memory Metcalfe had of his biological mother -- until Friday.
Metcalfe, who turns 46 today, was reunited with Kaylene Szabo mere months after a chance encounter with his sister on the Internet. ... "There wasn't a day in my life when I didn't think about my son," said Szabo, whose three children, including Metcalfe, were seized from her care in 1963 after she was late returning home from a New Year's party.
- Ted Roddy and the King Conjure Orchestra
By TIMOTHY J. O'BRIEN
(Bradenton Herald, April 5, 2003)
Just when you thought there couldn't be another twist on Elvis, Ted Roddy's fertile mind comes up with a new one: Channelin' E, a whole CD of songs that Presley could have recorded -- but didn't. Roddy's frequent Elvis tribute shows focus on the King's Vegas years, and that's the style of songs he put down here. The title is anything but an idle boast as the performance evokes a fit and pharmaceutical-free Elvis performing at the height of his powers. Whether he's pouring out the soul on "River Deep Mountain High," going countrypolitan on "That's How I Got to Memphis" or getting spiritual on the gospel/funk of "Sweet Inspiration," he raises the spirit of E.P. without delving into bland imitation or shlockiness.
- Jackson contractor eyes Memphis for business (3rd item)
By Michael Paulk
(Memphis Business Journal, April 4, 2003)
Tupelo gears up for Elvis Presley Festival
TThe Elvis Presley Festival has announced the complete music lineup for this year's festival scheduled for June 6-8 on the streets of Downtown Tupelo. The festival has inked Bela Fleck & the Flecktones to headline Friday night's entertainment, while Little Richard will headline the Saturday concert.
The Friday concert will also feature nationally renown Elvis tribute artist Travis LeDoyt followed by Elvis' original guitarist and drummer Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana performing with Sonny Burgess & The Pacers. Also performing that night will be the Kudzu Kings and Better Than Ezra.
The Saturday concert will feature Tupelo singer and songwriter Paul Thorn; Ingram Hil and Travis LeDoyt; Little Richard; The Blind Boys of Alabama; and the North Mississippi Allstars.
The three-day event is organized by the Downtown Tupelo/Main Street Association, which has a licensing agreement with Elvis Presley Enterprises to sponsor the event.
- McCartney Buys Rights to Carl Perkins' Catalog
(Yahoo! News / Reuters, April 4, 2003)
Former Beatle Paul McCartney's music publishing company has obtained rights to 23 classic rock 'n' roll songs composed by the late Carl Perkins, including "Blue Suede Shoes," "Honey Don't" and "Matchbox." Under the long-term music publishing deal announced Friday, McCartney's MPL Communications Inc. will be responsible for worldwide administration of the Perkins catalog. No financial terms of the deal were disclosed. "Carl Perkins was one of my earliest influences; I am quite simply a fan of his," McCartney said in a statement. Perkins, the "Rockabilly King" who died in 1998 at age 65, is considered one of the most influential singer-songwriters of his era, penning hits for such greats as Johnny Cash ("Daddy Sang Bass"), Patsy Cline ("I Was So Wrong"), the Judds ("Let Me Tell You About Love"), Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
He recorded his own hit version of "Blue Suede Shoes" before Presley turned it into a smash record for himself. Three songs in the newly acquired catalog were recorded by the Beatles -- "Honey Don't" and "Matchbox" with Ringo Starr on lead vocals, and "Everybody's Trying to Be My Baby" with George Harrison singing lead. McCartney also recorded "Matchbox" as a bonus track on his DVD release of "Back in the U.S." Other rockabilly standards in the Perkins collection include "Dixie Fried," "Boppin' the Blues" and "Cat Clothes."
MPL, founded by McCartney in 1971, boasts one of the largest privately owned collections of music publishing rights, which includes the catalogs of such composers as McCartney himself, Buddy Holly (news), Jerry Herman, Frank Loesser and Meredith Wilson.
- GUIDE: Musical genres and their offshoots
(Myrtle Beach Online, April 4, 2003)
Rock
Born as rock 'n roll, fusing blues, country and R&B, and popularized by Elvis Presley, the term was shortened to rock sometime after the prominence of The Beatles. It's nearly as all-encompassing as pop, but characterized by simple chord constructions and rebellious energy ...
- Elvis Presley's guns up for sale and auction
By Todd Wilson
(wkyc.com, April 3, 2003)
Some of the guns owned or given away by Elvis Presley will be auctioned off this weekend.
At his shop in Burton, Scott Weber is preparing for his monthly gun auction on Saturday morning.
But this time, he has guns Presley once owned.
"We tracked down who had two of them. Then another guy sent me one up from Florida. A pistol," said Weber. "Then Sunny West, the bodyguard, is sending one."
Weber has a rifle, shotgun and a .45 automatic hand gun. Some will be for auction and some will be for sale.
There will be 300 guns for sale, but Weber says Presley's collectibles are the money makers.
"We've already got absentee bids from all over the country," he said. "We've got bids from Alaska."
Bids running into the thousands for Presley's guns.
The gun auction will take place Saturday morning at 11 a.m. at the Century Village Bond Building in Burton.
- Party fulfills woman's final wish
By STACY D. STUMBO
(wkyc.com, April 3, 2003)
Kathleen Guze has always understood the importance of having a good time. Facing the end stages of terminal lung cancer, the 58-year-old Roseburg woman was recently asked by Mercy Hospice care givers and Curry Manor employees if she had any wishes they could fulfill. "Just one," she told them. "A 1950s party." Wednesday afternoon, she got her wish. A group of almost 30 of her family and friends gathered at Curry Manor on Quail Lane to eat Guze's favorite dishes, participate in Hula-Hoop and bubble gum blowing competitions and watch while an Elvis Presley impersonator serenaded her with "(Ain't Nothin' But A) Hound Dog." ...Nancy Sheiner, a nurse with Mercy Medical Center and a hospice worker, helped coordinate the event designed to celebrate her friend's life. "My grandson got a guy to be Elvis," she said. "She just loves Elvis... We're creating a memory book for her and she has all of her family around. It just couldn't be more perfect."
- Blue Suede Cruise will embrace Elvis and autos
BY GARY PERILLOUX
(Daily Journal, April 3, 2003)
Trade the saltwater waves of the Gulf of Mexico for the rolling vistas of The Hills and you can reproduce one of the nation's hottest tourism events. That's the blueprint for the inaugural Blue Suede Cruise, slated May 2-4 at the Tupelo Automobile Museum and BancorpSouth Center.
- Pop svengali: my Zeta Jones blunder
(icwales.co.uk, April 3, 2003)
POP Svengali Pete Waterman is kicking himself. His refusal to sign Oscar-winner Catherine Zeta Jones as a singer when she was an emerging actress has added the Welsh star to a list of famous rejects. ... The Beatles were originally turned down by Decca A&R man Dick Rowe early in 1962 when he signed Brian Poole and the Tremeloes. Even Elvis Presley was rejected by numerous record producers. Fans of the King claim he was also rejected by his high school Glee Club. However, his record company RCA might have been sensible turning down Lisa Marie Presley with the excuse it was not fair to sign her just because she was Elvis's daughter.
- Military moms have questions for president
By Nevy Wilson
(Bradenton Herald, April 3, 2003)
President Bush arrived in Tampa last week with all the pomp and circumstance of a world leader and all the flash of a rock star. Like Elvis Presley or Mick Jagger, he came in a private jet, was surrounded by body guards and shuttled around MacDill Air Force Base in a black limo. When Bush took centerstage, the crowd roared and he was surrounded by highly decorated members of the military, and local elected officials lined up to shake hands with the leader of the free world. And like most rock stars, he probably didn't meet some of his biggest fans - the super-supportive parents of U.S. troops fighting in Iraq, each of whom had questions and praise for the commander in chief.
- Harrison administrator remembered for wit, wisdom
By Matt Holsapple
(Lafayete Journal and Courier, April 3, 2003)
"Elvis has left the building," was all Kym Kelley could say. Kelley, Harrison High School's administrative secretary, on Wednesday was one of many students and staff members who remembered and mourned Steve Schetzsle, a man loved for his compassion, sense of humor and Elvis Presley impressions. Schetzsle, Harrison's assistant principal and dean of students, died Tuesday afternoon after collapsing in his office. ... "Right before they found him, he had been doing his Elvis impression for us in the office," Lehnert said. "I'll always remember him being upbeat. He was always the fun one to cause trouble and tease you."
- Soul Comes Home for the Stax Museum of American Soul Music Grand Opening
Source: Soulsville, USA
(Yahoo! Finance / PRNewswire, April 2, 2003)
For music lovers the Soul place to be in 2003 is the grand opening of The Stax Museum of American Soul Music. Slated for April 29, 30 & May 1 the celebration will appropriately take place in America's music mecca -- Soulsville, USA, Home of the Blues and the Birthplace of Rock n' Roll - Memphis, Tennessee. ... On the original site of Stax Recording Company's studios, the museum will house the definitive archives and over 2,000 artifacts of the musical influences and international legacy of the legendary Soul music label and its artists. ... any made and planned pilgrimages in search of the essence of Stax's original, raw and gritty soul. The Beatles scheduled then cancelled a recording session, a young Elton John visited and even Elvis recorded at the Stax studios. ...
- Silver Hair Ministries celebrates 10 years of performing at local nursing home
By MICHAEL BOYLAN
(The Citizen, April 2, 2003)
The difference between being a good person and a great person can sometimes be hard to see, especially for the person who is doing great things. Bill Stephens, better known as Mr. Bill from Fayetteville, celebrated the 10th anniversary of his Silver Hair Ministries performances on Saturday, March 21 at the LaFayette Nursing Home in Fayetteville. Friends and family got to see how much Stephens and his wife, Mary Jo, touch the lives of the residents at the nursing home and got to share in the joy of the program.
The program started because Stephens was upset that old hymns were being replaced with more contemporary music in church. He enjoyed singing the old hymns and knew that other people enjoyed them as well. He had played what he describes as "hillbilly music' with friends in high school and decided to dust off his old guitar and start playing these songs.
... One of the biggest crowd pleasers is when he sings some of the same gospel songs that Elvis Presley sang. He even sings "Crying in the Chapel" from time to time, but, despite the pleas of some, does not wiggle like Presley.
- Cold Chisel reform for Sydney gigs
(Bangkok Post, April 2, 2003)
Australian rockers Cold Chisel will come together for only the second time since they disbanded 20 years ago for a series of intimate Sydney concerts. The concerts will be held in the round at Sydney's Hordern Pavilion in June, allowing the audience an unprecedented 360 degree view of the band. The furthest seat is less than 30 metres from the stage. ... The idea came from the small stage six-song bracket the band performed during its Last Wave of Summer tour in 1998, and was partly inspired by Elvis Presley's 1968 comeback TV special, staged in a similar setting.
- A musical career that's gone full circle
By Erik Ernst
(Journal Times Online, April 1, 2003)
Roger McGuinn is back to where he started. After a long, successful musical career, which included founding the Byrds, one of the 1960's most popular groups, McGuinn, 60, is again a solo artist. As lead guitarist for the Byrds, along with original members David Crosby, Chris Hillman, Gene Clark and Michael Clarke, McGuinn recorded hits that helped to musically define the decade, like "Turn, Turn, Turn" and "So You Want to Be a Rock 'N Roll Star." The Byrds also had the distinction of being first musicians to find success with an electric version of a Bob Dylan song when they released "Mr. Tambourine Man" in 1965, just before Dylan's debut electric performance at the Newport Folk Festival. The band's harmonious vocals and catchy guitar riffs caught the ears of fans across the country and earned them an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. ... "Eventually, I came back to my roots," he said. "When I was younger, I was inspired by Elvis Presley, and later Pete Seeger, both as solo artists. When I first saw Pete Seeger live, I was amazed at how he was able to capture an audience."
Go to earlier articles
|
