Mid August 2003
- Elvis Parade Rocks Downtown KC
(Kansas City Channel, August 16, 2003)
Downtown Kansas City was invaded temporarily by dozens of Elvis impersonators Friday afternoon. The 16th Annual Elvis Parade marched down 12th Street and Central. A local radio station sponsored the parade. Entrants varied from serious Elvis impersonators to pickup trucks and cars playing Elvis' music on stereos. Many people taking part in the parade sported fake sideburns. Paradegoers didn't go home empty-handed -- everything from candy, T-shirts and visors were thrown to people lining the streets. The parade is a benefit for the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Kansas City.
- Thousands gather for vigil at graveside of Elvis on death anniversary
(Montreal / canada.com, August 15, 2003)
Henry Nguyen joined several thousand other fans Friday night for a visit to Elvis Presley's grave. It was his way of saying thanks. Nguyen, who fled Vietnam as the country was falling to the Communists in 1975, credits Presley with helping him learn English and ease his resettlement in a new country. "When I was in Vietnam I learned his songs in English. I don't understand what it is so I try to contact American GIs and that helped build communication with American soldiers," said Nguyen, 60, of Houston. "It helped me have enough confidence to work and live happy with Americans."
Presley died at 42 on Aug. 16, 1977 and is buried in a small garden beside Graceland, his Memphis residence. To cap an annual week of parties, concerts and get-togethers, fans held a vigil Friday night, lighting candles at Graceland's front gates and walking along a driveway to the grave. Hundreds of other fans filled four-lane Elvis Presley Boulevard in front of Graceland waiting their turns to join the procession.
Nguyen, a retired oil company engineer and his wife, Tania, who have taken American first names, joined the crowd and displayed a hand-printed sign: Hello from Houston, Texas/Vietnam. Kenneth Bollermann, 52, of Manasquan, N.J., said he was making his first nighttime visit to the grave, spurred by a dream he had a decade ago. "I was standing at the back of Elvis's grave and could have sworn he came out of his grave and stood right in front of me," said Bollermann, a kitchen worker at a retirement home. "I'm not going to say that will happen. It probably won't."
The tourism bureau expects more than 30,000 people to visit Memphis during the anniversary week. Some visitors stay a day or two, while others remain the whole week. The graveside procession, which grew from a spontaneous fan gathering the year after Presley's death, has been run by his estate since Graceland opened to the public in 1982. Graceland and its complex of shops and museums now draw more than 600,000 visitors a year. The graveside vigil runs into the early morning of the Aug. 16, the anniversary of the day Presley was found unconscious on a bathroom floor. He was pronounced dead, succumbing to drug abuse and heart disease, a short time later.
While waiting for the vigil, fans shopped for souvenirs and listened to karaoke performances of Presley imitators under a large tent in a shopping centre parking lot. Anyone could take the stage and sing two songs. Performers ranged from those in ordinary street clothes to others with jet-black pompadours and full Elvis-style attire. Vocal talents varied, too. >
- Fans brace for visit to Elvis' grave
(Reno-Gazette/Journal, August 15, 2003)
It was a dream that led Kenneth Bollermann to join thousands of other Elvis Presley fans Friday for an anniversary visit to his grave. Presley died at 42 on Aug. 16, 1977, and is buried in a small garden beside Graceland, his Memphis residence. To cap a week of parties, concerts and fan get-togethers staged each year for the anniversary, fans holding lighted candles line up to walk past his grave.
Bollermann, 52, of Manasquan, N.J., longed to join the candlelight vigil for his first nighttime visit to the grave because of a dream he had a decade ago. "I was standing at the back of Elvis' grave and could have sworn he came out of his grave and stood right in front of me," Bollermann, a kitchen worker at a retirement home, said of his dream. "I'm not going to say that will happen. It probably won't."
The city tourism bureau estimates more than 30,000 visitors have come to Memphis this year because of the anniversary. Some stay a day or two, while others remain the whole week. The graveside procession, which grew from a spontaneous fan gathering the year after Presleyıs death to drug abuse and heart disease, has been run by his estate since Graceland opened to the public in 1982. It now draws more than 600,000 visitors a year. The graveside vigil begins on the night of the 15th and runs into the early morning hours of the 16th, the anniversary of the day Presley was found unconscious on a bathroom floor and pronounced dead a short time later.
While waiting for the vigil, fans shopped at the complex of souvenir shops across the street from Graceland. Presley imitators performed in a shopping center parking lot, and former Elvis associates signed autographs for fans lined up outside a souvenir shop.
- Never-released Elvis song to appear on new album
By STEVE GORMAN
(Houston Chronicle / Reuters, August 15, 2003)
More than a quarter-century after his death, Elvis Presley has something new to get his fans all shook up. A never-before-released song recorded by Presley nearly 40 years ago was recently unearthed and will be issued this fall by RCA Records as part of a new collection of favorites from the King of Rock 'n' Roll, the label said Friday.
The announcement comes on the eve of the 26th anniversary of Presley's death, on Aug. 16, 1977, at age 42. The song, I'm a Roustabout, originally was written for the 1964 Presley film Roustabout , co-starring Barbara Stanwyck, and was even recorded by Presley, but the song was rejected by producers and never used. A completely different tune ultimately became the title song for both the movie Roustabout and the No. 1 album of the same name. Meanwhile, an acetate recording of the original I'm a Roustabout sat for decades, undiscovered in the private collection of songwriter Winfield Scott, who composed it with longtime partner Otis Blackwell. Neither of the men ever met Presley. Blackwell, who died last year, also shared credits on such Presley hits as All Shook Up and Don't Be Cruel, as well as Great Balls of Fire for Jerry Lee Lewis.
Scott, now in his 80s, said in a telephone interview with Reuters that he happened across the unmarked recording of I'm a Roustabout in the basement of his New Jersey home several years ago but didn't think much of it. "I know it sounds strange, but I had actually forgotten about it. It was just laying around, along with a whole slew of other demos and a couple hundred songs," he said. "At the time, I said, 'Well gee, I wonder why (Presley) never released it?' And then I just put it back with the rest of the demos until later on." The disc remained stashed away until Scott mentioned the song years later to a reporter. That reporter in turn mentioned it in an interview with RCA producer-researcher Ernst Jorgensen, who later contacted Scott, listened to the disc and arranged for the label to obtain the recording.
The song will now be included in an upcoming RCA release, Elvis 2nd to None, due out on Oct. 7. It's a follow-up to last year's compilation album ELV1S 30 1 Hits , which topped the sales charts in the United States and 26 other countries and sold 9 million copies worldwide. Among the hits from that album was the No. 1 dance remix of the previously obscure 1968 Presley tune, A Little Less Conversation .
The latest Elvis set will feature additional No. 1 hits from the King and lesser-known classics such as his first recorded single, That's All Right, and a remixed version of 1969 song Rubberneckin , given a contemporary treatment by leading DJ Paul Oakenfold. Hoping to repeat the success of last year's Little Less Conversation remix, which climbed to No. 1 on both sides of the Atlantic, Rubberneckin will be released to radio Aug. 25 and as a commercial single on Sept. 9.
- Governor, that's not Elvis
(Washington Times / United Press International, August 14, 2003)
The governor of Illinois modeled a sweat-stained jumpsuit he thought belonged to Elvis Presley -- but he was wrong. Gov. Rod Blagojevich told the Chicago Sun-Times he tried on the sequined suit Tuesday, purchased 20 years ago for $20,000. The governor said the legs were too long and he just assumed the King was taller than he thought. Its owner, Don Bassford, modeled the suit for Blagojevich to mark a Tuesday concert at the Illinois State Fair by Elvis' daughter, Lisa Marie Presley.
Later, Blagojevich hosted longtime Presley friend Joe Esposito at the governor's mansion. Esposito was an Army buddy of Elvis who later became his best man and business manager. It didn't take long for Esposito to break some bad news to the governor. "Joe knows all those suits. And he could tell right away this one wasn't real," Blagojevich said. "It was a replica of a suit that Elvis never actually wore."
- Legend of Elvis keep building
By GEOFF CALKINS
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer / MEMPHIS COMMERCIAL APPEAL, August 14, 2003)
Although Elvis Presley died 26 years ago Saturday, he remains king of the intersection of rock 'n' roll, sports and American and global pop culture.
Plenty of people are dead. So why is it Elvis Presley who always shows up at sporting events? Albert Einstein is dead. He doesn't wear Frank Wycheck's jersey and cheer for the Tennessee Titans. John Belushi is dead. He doesn't run in the Boston Marathon every year. Sammy Davis, John Lennon and Spiro Agnew -- all dead. None of them are regulars in stadiums across America.
"He's just so high-profile," says George Klein, a longtime friend of Presley's. "I never see anyone dressed as John Wayne or Jimmy Dean or Marlon Brando." Uh, George. Marlon Brando is still alive. Though he just might fit into one of Elvis's later uniforms. But that's not the point. The point is, 26 years after his death, Elvis has become a fixture in the sporting landscapeHe's at the Masters and the majors. At the Super Bowl and the World Cup.
Other fan fads come and go. The Wave. The Macarena. Leaping out of the stands to beat up players and umpires. Elvis -- no matter what people tell you -- refuses to leave the building. The guy has more staying power than Roger Clemens. Or, because the King never had much use for baseball, George Blanda. Remember when Jerry Glanville left tickets at the Astrodome for Elvis? That was nearly 20 years ago. But Elvis will be back in stadiums again this year. Which fits, really. Because the guy loved sports. Especially for someone who was chased off his high school football team. That happened his senior year at Humes High. Presley went out for wide receiver. "The coach, Rube Boyce, was an old-school guy and he kept giving Elvis a hard time about his hair," Klein said. "Elvis said, 'I don't need this,' and quit." And that was that. Football's loss was rock 'n' roll's gain.
Two years later, Elvis cut his first record. But he remained a fan, a lunatic fan who might have reminded you of, well, you! He liked the Cleveland Browns best. Then the Chicago Bears and the Pittsburgh Steelers. "Every year, we'd ask those teams to send their highlight films," Klein said. "He'd sit there at Graceland, dissecting them." Elvis had three televisions in his den. Why? "So he could watch three games at once," Klein said. Naturally.
He snuck into World Football League games at the Liberty Bowl. Once, he went in a city bus so he wouldn't get mobbed. He sat with the owner, John Bassett, and asked for Bassett's autograph. He played touch football whenever he could. In Memphis, he'd get a friend to turn on the lights at Whitehaven High and play with Memphis players like Billy Fletcher and John Bramlett. In Los Angeles, he'd lead his Memphis guys against a team that included Clint Eastwood and Ricky Nelson. He loved boxing. He even made a boxing movie, "Kid Gallahad." But the highlight of his fight career might have been the day he met Muhammad Ali after a concert in Vegas. Elvis told Ali he had a black belt in karate. Ali held up his fists and asked Elvis to show him his stuff. "So Elvis does this karate move and knocks Ali to the ground," Klein said. "There was silence for a second. Then Ali gets up, kisses him on the cheek and says, 'You gotta show me that.' " It was perfect Elvis and perfect Ali. Two men, each larger than life, taking pleasure in meeting someone his own size.
"Ali sent Elvis a robe that he wore in the (Ken) Norton fight," Klein said. "It said, 'Man of the People.'" One odd fact about Presley: He never went to a Memphis basketball game, despite Klein's best efforts. "I worked on him, but I could never get him to go," Klein said. "But he would go today. He would have loved (University of Memphis coach John) Calipari's personality." It's entrancing to play this game, of course. What would Elvis have thought of the modern sports world? Would he have stuck with the Browns when they left for Baltimore? Or would he have switched to the Titans? Would he have a fantasy-league team? Or an actual one? Would he get ESPN's NFL package? Sit courtside at the Grizzlies? Oh, and would he use his heft to pull off the logical Sacramento-Memphis NBA name swap? California really does have Grizzlies, after all. And Memphis was the long-time home of a certain monarch. The Memphis Kings. It has a real ring to it. Is the NBA ready for sequins?
- 'It's Elvis!' Nope, just Midtown flash mobbers
By PHIL KLOER
(Atlanta Journal-Constitution, August 14, 2003)
At 7:33 p.m. Wednesday, about 50 people gathered at the corner of 10th Street and Piedmont Avenue in Midtown and all pretended that they had just seen Elvis Presley. "It's Elvis!" they yelled. "He's alive!" After two minutes of cheering and shouting, they all walked away, as passers-by wondered what had happened. It was the very model of a modern flash mob: whimsical, pointless and a bit bizarre. And in this case, timely, as Saturday is the 26th anniversary of Presley's death.
Flash mobbing is a phenomenon that has swept the world in the last few weeks, as crowds gather to do something weird, then quickly disperse. Organized by e-mail and Internet message boards, the mobbers represent an oxymoron: organized spontaneity. In a Toronto public square, dozens of people played leapfrog. In New York, mobbers packed a toy store and knelt down in front of a huge dinosaur display, pretending to worship it. In a Denver mall, about 250 people split into two groups, with half yelling "Ping!" and the other half responding "Pong!" Similar events have played out in Berlin, London and Amsterdam, Netherlands.
"It sounded very novel, a social prank in a good-natured way," said Andrew Alonzo, 22, a programmer for Turner Classic Movies who helped yell for Elvis. Flash mobbing, which falls somewhere on a continuum that includes performance art and college students cramming into phone booths, has its roots in Japan, where teenage girls use wireless text messaging when they spot a celebrity in public. As word spreads quickly through the adolescent grapevine, crowds quickly gather to gawk. ...
- Bad Nauheim festival celebrates memory of Elvis' time in Germany
(Stars and Stripes (European edition), August 14, 2003)
A four-day festival celebrating the music and memories of Elvis Presley begins Thursday at several sites in and around Bad Nauheim, a village north of Frankfurt, Germany. The second annual festival, which runs through Sunday, takes place where Presley roamed as a 3rd Armored Division soldier from October 1958 to March 1960. Assigned to the 1st Battalion, 32nd Armor Regiment, Presley spent the majority of his service time at Ray Barracks in nearby Friedberg.
Due to security concerns, however, two noontime events scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Ray Barracks have been canceled, said Petra Adolph, a marketing and tourism official for the town of Bad Nauheim. Nonetheless, several other events are planned. The three main ones are scheduled for Friday and Saturday nights. At 8 p.m. Friday, a concert led by Ted Herold, a buddy of Elvis, will rock the theater near the Kurpark in Bad Nauheim. That venue hosts another performance at 7 p.m. Saturday, when Elvis impersonator Paul Casey takes the stage. ...
- Heartbreak hotel: Guv's Elvis suit not the real thing
By DAVE MCKINNEY
(Chicago Sun-Times, August 14, 2003)
For two months, Gov. Blagojevich had what he thought was a prized memento tucked away in a closet at the Executive Mansion -- a sequined jump suit worn by his idol, Elvis Presley. Illinois' biggest Elvis fan even tried on the suit, supposedly purchased 20 years ago for $20,000 by a friend of the mansion's curator and loaned to Blagojevich. The governor said the legs were too long, and he assumed the King was taller than he thought.
The jump suit came out of hiding again this week -- and the story behind it soon began to unravel. Its owner, Springfield resident Don Bassford, modeled the suit for Blagojevich to mark a Tuesday concert at the Illinois State Fair by Elvis' daughter, Lisa Marie Presley. Later, Blagojevich hosted longtime Presley friend Joe Esposito at the mansion. Esposito was an Army buddy of Elvis who later became his best man and business manager. It didn't take long for Esposito to break some bad news to the governor.
"Joe knows all those suits. And he could tell right away this one wasn't real," Blagojevich said. "I asked [Bassford], 'Where'd you get that suit?' He said, 'I had it made up.' All of a sudden, he changed his story and was trying to give me a whole bunch of baloney that that thing was real. It wasn't. It was a replica of a suit that Elvis never actually wore." Turns out, the King's jump suits are all stored at Graceland..
- Graceland the focus for Elvis anniversary
(www.stuff.co.nz, August 14, 2003)
MEMPHIS: Elvis Presley might have become a decent actor if manager Tom Parker hadn't been so eager to cash in on a string of lacklustre movies, says the legendary songwriter who created music for some of the films. Mike Stoller and partner Jerry Leiber, authors of the title song for the movie Jailhouse Rock, wrote more than 20 songs recorded by Presley, including his number one hit Hound Dog. With Stoller handling the music and Leiber providing the lyrics, they also contributed many songs to the Presley movie soundtracks. ... [as previous]
- In Tennessee, Elvis will not leave the building
(Star-Tribune / Associated Press, August 13, 2003)
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- A peregrine falcon named Elvis will keep his posh perch on the downtown Hilton Hotel. For years the falcon has used the hotel's logo - particularly the letter ``H'' - as a butcher's block for plucking and devouring its prey. From the 18th floor, the falcon hunts starlings, pigeons and even an occasional duck on Fort Loudoun Lake. It's an adult peregrine, most likely a male, and the hotel staff has nicknamed him Elvis because the black streaks on its cheeks resemble sideburns. ...
- North York Elvis is king
By Justin Skinner
([Toronto] Mirror-Guardian, August 13, 2003)
North York's leading Elvis Presley tribute artist is now the top-ranking Canadian in his chosen craft. Gino Monopoli, who bears an uncanny resemblance to The King, got judges "all shook up" at a couple of high-profile national contests over the past couple of weeks and now holds all the major titles on the Canadian Elvis festival circuit. Two weeks ago, he took the crown at Collingwood, and just last weekend won another competition in Penticton, B.C. These victories, paired with an earlier win in Cloverdale, B.C., gave Monopoli the title at the three Canadian competitions officially sanctioned by Graceland. ...
- Fans Gather in Memphis to Remember Elvis
By WOODY BAIRD
(News Day / Associated Press, August 12, 2003)
Elvis Presley might have become a decent actor if manager Tom Parker hadn't been so eager to cash in on a string of lackluster movies, says a songwriter who created music for some of the films. Mike Stoller and partner Jerry Leiber, authors of the title song for the movie "Jailhouse Rock," wrote more than 20 songs recorded by Presley, including his No. 1 hit "Hound Dog." With Stoller handling the music and Leiber providing the lyrics, they also contributed many songs to the Presley movie soundtracks.
Stoller, 70, met with Elvis fans who crowded into the Presley estate's Beale Street club Monday night to watch "Jailhouse Rock" and begin a weeklong observance of the 26th anniversary of the death of the King of Rock 'n' Roll.
Presley longed to be a serious actor but Parker, who adopted the title "Colonel," did nothing to help him, Stoller said. "Unfortunately, the Colonel had the golden goose and he wanted him to keep cranking it out," Stoller said. Presley starred in 31 movies between 1956 and 1969, each a work only Elvis fans could love.
Stoller said he never understood why Presley gave Parker so much control over his life and career. Many of Parker's decisions appeared to be more for his own benefit than for Presley's -- taking 50percent of the star's income for management fees, while the industry standard was 10 to 20 percent. "The Colonel's only interest was the Colonel's," Stoller said. "Elvis was merely a vehicle for the Colonel's greed."
Presley was 42 when he died Aug. 16, 1977, [allegedly] of drug abuse and heart disease at his Memphis residence. The house, Graceland, now draws more than 600,000 tourists a year. Graceland is the center of an annual string of parties, fan get-togethers and memorials focused on the death anniversary. Over the week, estate managers expect up to 4,000 people a day to tour Graceland and for even more to shop at its complex of souvenir stores and museums.
The week's highlight is a candlelight procession past Presley's grave in a garden beside Graceland. Beginning on the night of the 15th and running into the next day, it often draws 15,000 to 20,000 fans.
This year, the fans also will celebrate the 35th anniversary of Presley's 1968 TV special "Elvis," which marked his return from Hollywood to the concert stage. It's also the 30th anniversary of his 1973 TV special broadcast around the world, "Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii."
Leiber and Stoller, 1987 inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, wrote hundreds of songs for a long list of entertainers. They got a major career boost and their first contact with Presley after he recorded "Hound Dog," which Leiber and Stoller originally wrote for rhythm and blues singer Big Mamma Thornton. Stoller was on vacation in Europe when Presley recorded "Hound Dog." On Stoller's return, Leiber greeted him at the New York harbor. "He said, 'Hey man, we've got a smash hit,'" Stoller said. "I said 'Big Mama Thornton's record?' He said, 'No, some white kid named Elvis Presley.' I said, 'Elvis who?'"
- 'Elvis' to marry couples mid-air
(CNN / Reuters, August 11, 2003)
Love is in the air. Ten couples intend taking wedding vows in mid-air Monday night aboard a plane flying from Orlando to Las Vegas. More than 100 passengers will witness the in-flight ceremony, to be conducted by a minister dressed as Elvis. One bride, Donna McDaniel, 39, of Longwood, Florida, said she and her fiance, Arvis Irvin, 54, had hoped to have a small civil wedding ceremony after dating for five years. "He still hasn't told anybody, but I have," McDaniel said of Monday's nuptials. "I'm an Elvis fanatic." The ceremony will take place on a Boeing 757 operated by Song, the four-month-old low-fare unit of Delta Air Lines.
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