Mid June 2003
- Celebrity scrapbooks have fans, too
By Peggy Welch Mershon
(
Mansfield News Journal, June 20, 2003)
Fans (not the paper kind) and collectors have the obsession gene in common, so it's not surprising that celebrity has spawned many collections. ... The final meld comes when the person becomes the obsession, not the person's work, and when that person achieves enough widespread publicity to generate collectibles beyond his work.
... For example the King of Celebrities, living or dead, is undoubtedly Elvis Presley. It will probably remain that way until the last fan passes from one state to the next. So, it isn't surprising that a 65-page Elvis scrapbook sold on-line for $800, mainly because of the content and provenance. It was compiled in the 1950s by a Memphis, Tenn., fan who "discovered Elvis before the rest of the world." She met him before he was a star, and early memorabilia is always the most desirable.
The scrapbook spans 1954 to 1958 and includes such obscure items as a newspaper clipping from when his lawn furniture was stolen as well as ticket stubs from a 1956 Memphis concert. By comparison, memorial magazines published after his death are a dime a dozen.
By the way, the Elvis fan says the album was "well cared for." Condition always counts. Some collectibles "experts" claim that memorabilia ceases to have value at the point when their fan base dies off.
- When Elvis was king
By Jessica Foster
(
Forest Lake Times, June 18, 2003)
Before Mark Sandmon showed his dad a classified ad for a candy apple red 1957 Chevy, the Forest Lake man never really yearned to call such a classic cruiser his own. "The truth of the matter is I never liked the '57 Chevy," Rod Sandmon, Forest Lake, said. But for whatever reason, he went and checked it out. "Red is my favorite color and the kid backed it out of the garage and I knew I was caught," he said. It was eight years ago when the Forest Lake man bought the car of his son's dreams. Of course, he did always love the 1950s, always loved the King - Elvis Presley.
- Developments can be a Monet -- or an Elvis on velvet
By Newman Cross
(
Memphis Business Journal, June 16, 2003)
... This part of Memphis reminds me of the old joke -- a camel is a horse designed by committee. Germantown Parkway North is a commercial area built by a committee without an overall long-term conceptual plan.
Before you get apoplectic, remember that I make my living working for a real estate developer and broker. You'll be hard pressed to find someone more pro real estate than I am. But facts are facts. Germantown proper is much more attractive than the parkway that bears her name.
Memphis/Cordova had a clean and fresh pallet from which to paint a masterpiece when Wolfchase came along. Unfortunately, some works there remind me more of Elvis on velvet than the Monet or Renoir they were capable of becoming. ...
- As Elvis, he makes people happy
(
Sun Herald, June 16, 2003)
On a recent Friday afternoon, Elvis Presley impersonator Rick Hammond was working a tough crowd. Dressed in a wig and the white suit with tassels and beads that "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" wore in the early 1970s, Hammond was trying to bring a smile to the faces of his audience. He opened with "That's All Right," one of Elvis' most readily identifiable numbers, but it failed to get the crowd jumping. So he switched to something a little slower: the hymn, "Oh Blessed Mother." "This is dedicated to all the Catholics who are here today," Hammond told the two dozen elderly residents of Harbour Healthcare who sat in their wheelchairs, watching him perform in the nursing home's dining room. While some gazed blankly and a couple snored, most watched Hammond with a mixture of curiosity and befuddlement, as if uncertain what they were actually seeing.
- From Mendips to Memphis
By Sophie Baines
(
ic Liverpool, June 15, 2003)
ELVIS Presley's enormous influence on The Beatles and the whole Merseybeat scene is legendary. John Lennon was so taken with the King that he had posters of him on his bedroom wall, named his cat at his home Mendips after him and said that Elvis was the driving force behind him leaving Liverpool.
In 1965 The Beatles actually met their hero in LA where they chatted, watched television and jammed together. So, in a fitting tribute to this special relationship, the team behind The Beatles Story attraction is opening the Fingerprints of Elvis exhibition on 14th June 2003 in the Albert Dock.
In the only dedicated exhibition of Elvis Presley's personally owned memorabilia outside the USA, is an actual set of Elvis' fingerprints taken for his gun licence application. Alongside the fingerprints is an original Elvis Harley Davidson, plus a vast variety of the King's extraordinary jewellery, stage costumes and his gold Mercedes. A guided audio tour will be narrated by David Stanley, Elvis' stepbrother, and gives an insightful perspective on Elvis' fascinating life.
- Elvis's record collection included Chuck Berry and Canada's Anne Murray
(
cp.org / Associated Press, June 12, 2003)
From Chuck Berry to Bobbie Gentry, the King liked them all. Graceland and Elvis Presley Enterprises have catalogued Presley's record collection with 1,000 albums and singles filling up a 24-page list. Elvis Presley Enterprises, which owns the rights to all things Elvis in the United States, allowed only a cursory look at the list.
A partial copy of the list will be released this month as a perk for members of the Elvis Presley Collectors Club, formed by Graceland as an insider's view of the King's things. "He used to say, 'I can appreciate the best of everything,' " says Elvis friend and disc jockey George Klein, who once asked Presley why he liked opera stars Mario Lanza and Enrico Caruso. There is only one opera recording (by Lanza) in the Elvis collection, which Graceland spokesman Todd Morgan says "leans heavily to black rhythm and blues and to black and white gospel."
Graceland archivists catalogued the recordings by title and last names of artists, so exact numbers in each category aren't readily available. That's because many who began as gospel singers crossed over into pop and R&B and later returned to their gospel roots.
But Elvis' friends said they didn't need a list to know that gospel recordings were his favourites and the music he most often played for friends. "He loved close harmony," says Red West, a former member of the Memphis Mafia, the nickname given to Presley's closest group of friends. He says Presley's favourite groups were the Harmonizing Four and Golden Gate and his favourite gospel singers included Jimmy Jones, Jake Hess and Mahalia Jackson. It was that close harmony that also made him a big fan of the Ink Spots and The Platters, especially love songs, says West.
There are relatively few female singers in the record collection, but friends say his favourites included Anne Murray, Vicki Carr, Jackson, Della Reese, Dionne Warwick, Gentry, Leslie Uggams, Timi Yuro, the Andrews Sisters, the McGuire Sisters and his former backup group, The Sweet Inspirations.
- Elvis me morabilia to go on display
(
MSNBC News, June 11, 2003)
One of the largest collections outside the United States of personal Elvis Presley memorabilia, including a set of fingerprints and his favorite motorbike, is to go on display in Liverpool Saturday. The show was set up by the team behind the Beatles Story museum due to Elvis's influence on the Liverpool group.
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