Mid August 2003
- Get Your Elvis Online: Now's all-Elvis service makes more than 2,000 songs by the king of rock 'n' roll available on demand
By Tony Kontzer
(informationweek.com, August 19 2003)
The king lives! Or at least, he can keep you company at work. Digital music service provider MusicNow on Tuesday launched an all-Elvis online radio channel that offers up more than 2,000 songs by one of rock's most enduring legends, available on demand. The channel, called Elvis 2nd To None, after a CD collection to be released this fall, makes Elvis Presley's song library available as streams or downloads. MusicNow subscribers can pay $4.95 a month for unlimited access to more than 40 streamed radio channels or $9.95 to add unlimited downloads from the service's collection of songs from all five major recording labels.
Elvis 2nd To None follows MusicNow's recent launches of channels devoted to Blue Note Records' jazz collection and the music of Quincy Jones. The service uses digital-rights-management software to ensure that rights holders for all the music it distributes are compensated, offering a legal counter to the popular file-sharing services that have been the subject of an aggressive subpoena campaign by the Recording Industry Association of America. ...
- Burning love for Elvis fans
(BBC, August 19 2003)
More than 2,000 Elvis Presley tracks are to be made available for fans online on an internet site dedicated to the singer. They will be able to download, stream and burn the tracks from a digital channel Elvis, 2nd To None. It is a joint venture involving online digital music service MusicNow and Presley's record label BMG. ...
- Unknown Elvis song to be released after 40 years
(Ananova, August 18 2003)
An unreleased Elvis Presley song has been rediscovered after 40 years and will finally go on public sale. I'm a Roustabout, written and recorded for the 1964 Presley film Roustabout, was rejected by producers for being too racey. It contains the line, "Stick it in his ear", which was regarded as being too strong for the time, reports the New York Post. "In 1964, they thought it was somewhat abusive language," said Joe DiMuro, executive vice president of RCA's parent company, BMG Strategic Marketing Group.
The track will be issued on October 7 by RCA on a compilation entitled, Elvis 2nd to None, the follow-up to last year's best-selling Elvis 30 No 1 Hits. A completely different tune ultimately became the title song for both the movie Roustabout and the No.1 album of the same name.
- Hey Willie! Elvis outranks The Babe
[readers' feedback]
By KEN WILLIS
(News-Journal Online, August 18 2003)
HEY WILLIE!
For me, there is no competition between Babe Ruth and Elvis Presley. Elvis is the greatest entertainer and cultural icon of all-time. Babe Ruth is only known in the United States, whereas Elvis is known throughout the world. I rest my case.
BRIAN
HEY BRIAN!
Not having rested my case, I can continue the argument regarding Sunday's column (you, however, are now forced to listen only -- sorry, it's all about jurisprudence or something). The Babe, contrary to your argument, was known west of St. Louis. Don't forget the stories of Japanese soldiers during World War II (the big one) who would try to irritate American GIs by yelling, "(Bleep) Babe Ruth!"
But as for relevance throughout industrialized Europe, yes, Elvis was head and shoulders above the Babe. Then again, if you believe the commercials, so was Slim Whitman. ...
- No go for 'Saddam Elvis' posters: Pentagon nixes colonel's idea to flush out his supporters
By James Hattori
(www.msnbc.com, August 18 2003)
U.S. military officials say posters of Saddam Hussein dressed as celebrities such as Elvis Presley and Zsa Zsa Gabor will not be posted in Saddam's hometown in an effort to flush out his supporters. NBC's James Hattori reports.
U.S. military officials told NBC News that posters of Saddam Hussein dressed as celebrities such as Elvis Presley and Zsa Zsa Gabor will not be posted in Saddam's hometown in an effort to flush out his supporters.
OFFENSIVE STRATEGY?
Yet while the posters might have helped divide locals into the amused and the infuriated, they also ran a serious risk of stoking fury among ordinary Iraqis who may not be pro-Saddam but still will not accept the idea of the Americans poking fun.
One of the posters showed Saddam's head on Elvis's dancing body, a gold crucifix hanging around his hairy chest. Given fears in the Arab world that the invasion of Iraq was akin to a Christian crusade, some Iraqis say U.S. forces would do well to think twice about leaving the cross hanging around Saddam Elvis's neck. "Maybe it is funny for the soldiers, but I think most locals will find it very insulting," said Uday, a 22-year-old working as a translator at the U.S. Army base in Tikrit.
- Elvis fans gather for anniversary vigil
By WOODY BAIRD
(fresnobee.coms / Associated Press, August 17 2003)
Several thousand fans of Elvis Presley capped an annual week of parties, concerts and get-togethers with a vigil at the rock 'n' roll legend's home, lighting candles at Graceland's front gates and walking along a long driveway to the grave. Hundreds of other fans filled four-lane Elvis Presley Boulevard in front of Graceland and waited their turns to join the procession Friday night, ahead of the 26th anniversary of Presley's death. Presley died at 42 on Aug. 16, 1977, and is buried in a small garden beside Graceland. The tourism bureau expected 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. ...
- Will 'Saddam Elvis' insult Iraqis?: U.S. colonel says posters will enrage Hussein supporters
(MSNBCNews, August 17 2003)
Saddam Hussein has his head tossed back, his blonde locks flowing and a filter-tipped cigarette dangling coquettishly between his delicate fingers. Meet "Zsa Zsa Saddam," one U.S. officer's latest ploy in the four-month hunt for the fugitive dictator. In a campaign set to start on Monday, U.S. forces plan to put up posters around Saddam's hometown of Tikrit showing his face superimposed on Hollywood heroines and other stars in an attempt to enrage his followers and draw them out.
- Dead stars' sales live on
By Nick Hasted
(nzherald.co.nz)
Elvis is back, and he's got company. The Paul Oakenfold remix of his 1970 B-side Rubberneckin' out next month in conjunction with the compilation Elvis 2nd to None, the inevitable follow-up package to last year's A Little Less Conversation and 30 ...[as below]
- Rewriting pop history
By Nick Hasted
(Canberra Times, August 17, 2003, Relax section, pp. 4-5)
Tupac Shakur's mother, Afeni, has released five albums and many singles in her son's name. Jeff Buckely's has endorsed three LPs. Even Elvis's career has been revived by his estate. Nick Hasted reports on the stars' families who won't let a good thing die.
Elvis is back, and he's got company. The Paul Oakenfold remix of his 1970 B-side "Rubberneckin'" out next month in conjunction with the compilation "2nd to None", the inevitable follow-up package to last year's "A Little Less Conversation" and "30 No 1 Hits" is one thing. But also out last month was "Close-up", a four-CD collection of 89 unreleased Elvis out-takes and obscurities. Similar "new" boxed sets appeared in 2002 and 2001. Elvis's helplessly prolific output is matched by other cadavers. ... Pop history is, in effect, being rewritten by strangers to pop music. Resting in peace is no longer an option. ... But the striking thing about today's most aggressive and successful post-death careers is that traditional record companies have little to do with them. It is the stars' mothers who are controlling their rebel offspring's iconic afterlives. ...
In this sea of innovative exploitation, Elvis Presley, bizarrely, has been a lone pocket of calm artistic integrity. "Things will continue just as they always have," his rapacious manager, Colonel Tom Parker, famously said, even before Elvis was buried. But though the estate's Elvis Presley Enterprises continues with Graceland's kitsch goldmine/mausoleum, it and RCA records also let a fan and producer, Ernst Jorgensen, assemble three definitive five-CD box sets in the '90s, filleting an output that was erratic and absent-minded in life into monuments revealing his greatness.
Even the many subsequent sets of almost-identical out-takes and live shows have a charm that no other performer would manager, no matter what slop the king had to sing. But, as his fans, too, have started to die, recent precipitous reductions in his sales have led to more ruthless action, agreed by estate and label: remixes, Disney soundtracks, anything to get their boy back on top. Last year, he made it. On the Forbes Dead Stars' Earnings Top 10, Elvis was No. 1. But, as even Elvis faces dilution (the point of "Close Up" is hard to see), it would be nice if doting mothers, desperate labels and deaf fans took a different view: that you can have so much of a good thing, it's no longer good. They should try moving on and get a life.
- Unpublished Elvis song to be on album due in October
([Melbourne] Age, August 17, 2003)
A lost Elvis Presley song recorded by the King of rock 'n' roll nearly 40 years ago has been found by a US songwriter and will appear on an album due out in October, the record company that will release the album said today. The rediscovered song," I'm a Roustabout", recorded in 1964 for the movie "Roustabout", will be on the album "Elvis: 2nd To None". The album is to be released on October 7 by BMG, the music arm of German publishing giant Bertelsmann.
The Elvis track disappeared in the private collection of songwriter Winfield Scott after the producer selected another song for the movie. Scott, who composed the song with fellow songwriter Otis Blackwell, found it in the basement of his house in New Jersey. Scott said he was pleased the recording finally will be heard by fans. He and Blackwell wrote the hits "All Shook Up" and "Don't Be Cruel", among Elvis' biggest. BMG, calling the discovery one of the most unbelievable discoveries in music history, said the work is a soulful uptempo pop song.
- Elvis really packs 'em in on the anniversary of his death
By WOODY BAIRD
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer / Associated Press, August 16, 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 Presley's death due 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. ...
- Elvis fans gather for anniversary vigil
By WOODY BAIRD
(Tallahassee Democrat, August 16, 2003)
Several thousand fans of Elvis Presley capped an annual week of parties, concerts and get-togethers with a vigil at the rock 'n' roll legend's home, lighting candles at Graceland's front gates and walking along a long driveway to the grave. ... [as below]
- Elvis Fans Gather for Anniversary Vigil
By WOODY BAIRD
(Gainsville Sun, August 16, 2003)
Several thousand fans of Elvis Presley capped an annual week of parties, concerts and get-togethers with a vigil at the rock 'n' roll legend's home, lighting candles at Graceland's front gates and walking along a long driveway to the grave. Hundreds of other fans filled four-lane Elvis Presley Boulevard in front of Graceland and waited their turns to join the procession Friday night, ahead of the 26th anniversary of Presley's death.
Presley died at 42 on Aug. 16, 1977, and is buried in a small garden beside Graceland. The tourism bureau expected 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 16th, 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.
Henry Nguyen said he joined the vigil to say 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." ...
- Ernst Jorgensen 'Takes Five': Researcher helps keep magic of Elvis alive
(www.jsonline.com, August 16, 2003)
Ernst Jorgensen is the keeper of the Elvis vaults. Saturday marked the 26th anniversary of Elvis Presley's passing, but RCA Victor continues to mine his old reservoir of recordings for new products. This summer, the label released "Elvis: Close Up," a four-CD boxed set of 89 never-before-released alternative takes and concert recordings. Coming Oct. 7 is "Elvis 2nd to None," a new greatest-hits collection of additional songs designed to build on the remarkable success of last year's "Elvis 30 #1 Hits," the biggest-selling rock album of 2002. Producer and researcher Jorgensen manages Presley's back catalog for his old label. He's the man who goes through the mountains of old tape looking for interesting and often unreleased material that might interest hard-core Presley fans or - as in the case of "Elvis 30 #1 Hits" - snag the interest of the general public. Jorgensen spoke to Journal Sentinel music writer Dave Tianen about the challenges of managing Elvis' recorded legacy.
Q. There was a collection of Elvis No. 1 hits available for years before "Elvis 30 #1 Hits" came out. I never expected that to go multi-multiplatinum. Were you surprised?
A. I wasn't surprised that it would sell, but that we've sold 9 million worldwide now, that is a pleasant surprise. The company in general was very bullish about it. There was one guy who stood up and said, "We're going to sell 10 million of this." The rest of us looked at him and said, "I'm glad I didn't say that." He's eventually going to be proven right.
Q. Country Music magazine recently ran an interview with June Carter Cash in which she said Elvis' manager, Colonel Tom Parker, had absolutely no idea what constituted good material or songs. Was he truly clueless or merely indifferent?
A. Parker was never there at the recording sessions. The only way he interfered - and it was a dramatic interference - was through the whole setup of Elvis music and publishing. . . . He fought to convince Elvis to only record songs from staff writers. Elvis was probably a little too nice on that issue, . . . well, not a little bit. The Colonel felt threatened by the great songwriters (Jerry) Leiber and (Mike) Stoller to the point where the Colonel made sure that the two great songs they'd written for "G.I. Blues" got kicked out of the movie.
Q. Was the Colonel an idiot?
A. I don't think he was an idiot, but he was unsympathetic to the feelings that people like you and I have about Elvis. He was all, all business. Where you can criticize the Colonel and Elvis was that it took them until 1968 to realize they had to do something else. They should have realized that in '64, '65. It was obvious at that time that each of those movie albums sold less than the one before. We would not have had to listen to "Frankie and Johnny" and "Harum Scarum" and "Easy Come, Easy Go."
Q. One of the problems you must have is that Elvis Presley recorded more horrendous junk than any other major recording artist - "He's Your Uncle, Not Your Dad," "Petunia the Gardener's Daughter"; we could go on and on. Do you just ignore that stuff?
A. We separate to a great extent between what is available for collectors and what is for the main marketplace. There is a major, major difference between Elvis or Sinatra from the time when you have artists who actually write their own material and thereby keep a consistent level of quality. There are several things that Frank Sinatra and Elvis have in common, but there are two things that are very, very important. One is that they both recorded "Old MacDonald." The second one is that they shouldn't have.
Q. What is it that made Elvis Presley a great singer? Was he a great singer?
A. The magic of Elvis Presley is that he had a very nice voice, but he didn't have the biggest voice in the world. Roy Hamilton had a bigger voice. Opera singers, obviously, have bigger voices. The uniqueness of Elvis was to take a song and make it believable. The best example of that, to me, is "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" If you just read those lyrics off a piece of paper, you'd say anyone who does that lyric is going to die somewhere. That's so over the top as a lyric, but you actually believe him when he sings it, and I think that's the magic of it.
- No need to be lonely, baby: Elvis is everywhere this weekend
By TIM GHIANNI
(Free Press, August 16, 2003)
How are you going to observe the fact that 26 years ago today, Elvis was found dead in his Graceland bathroom?
- Go west on Interstate 40 and stop when you find hundreds of overweight guys with mutton-chop sideburns and jumpsuits. You're in Memphis, where Dead Elvis Week is running full tilt and thousands are at the end of lonely street (aka Elvis Presley Boulevard), offering tithes to the estate.
- Elvis sightings are minimal in Music City, but the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum is offering up some interesting stuff, including a documentary on Elvis impersonators. The best thing to do at the Hall, though, is the Taking Care of Business trivia-laced tour that shows how Elvis is linked to everyone from Jimmie Rodgers to Chet Atkins to Gram Parsons and Emmylou. And, of course, there's Elvis Presley's Solid Gold Cadillac going bumper to bumper with Webb Pierce's Silver Dollar convertible, as well as the gold-leafed grand piano Priscilla gave her hubby as an understated first anniversary gift. Locate Elvis' Hall of Fame plaque. Hint: Find Roy Rogers (that other genre-bending, hip-swiveling icon) and look up.
- Sign up at the Hall for a tour of Historic Studio B. Call the Hall of Fame (416-2096) for prices, including the cost of the Studio B tours, or visit www.countrymusichalloffame.com.
- Hungering for things Elvis? Visit SoBro Grill in the Hall of Fame lobby, where you can choose from a menu that would have made Elvis proud. Or dead. There is the original fried peanut butter and banana sandwich for $4.95 (add bacon for 50 cents) and the chocolate peanut butter pie for $3.50 (bacon probably optional here, as well). Don't try this at home.
- Find Elvis shot glasses and T-shirts at the Hall of Fame gift shop and at other locales, including Ernest Tubb Record Shop No. 1 on Lower Broadway. ''We're gearing up for the influx of tourists, especially foreigners,'' Dave Liston, ET general manager, said the other day as he made sure the inventory of Elvis CDs and oven mitts was ready for the annual assault. ''We see them coming through here while going to or from Memphis. We're a destination stop on their journey.''
- Rent an Elvis movie. We'd recommend Jailhouse Rock for the choreography or Viva Las Vegas for the kitsch.
- Best bet: Stay home, put any of Elvis' hits collections in the CD player. Lean back with an RC and a Moon Pie and remember, as John Lennon said: ''Before Elvis, there was nothing.''
- NAMES AND FACES: Elvis' rejected movie song will finally get its closeup
(Free Press, August 16, 2003)
Elvis is back! Well, he's still dead (for the 26th consecutive year today, if you're still counting). But a never-before-released song recorded by Presley nearly 40 years ago has been unearthed and will be issued Oct. 7 by RCA Records as part of a new collection of favorites from the King. How's that? The song, "I'm a Roustabout," originally was written for the 1964 Presley film "Roustabout," costarring Barbara Stanwyck. It was recorded by Presley, but the song was rejected by producers and never used. completely different tune became the title song for the movie "Roustabout" and a No. 1 album.
Meanwhile, an acetate recording of the original "I'm a Roustabout" sat for decades, undiscovered, in the private collection of Winfield Scott, who composed it with longtime partner Otis Blackwell. Neither of the men ever met Presley, but Blackwell, who died last year, shared credits on some Presley hits. The disc remained stashed away until Scott mentioned the song years later to a reporter. That reporter 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.
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