Early October 2003
- Elvis has leapt the building
(Express & Star, October 10, 2003)
[UK] -- Music fans have been eagerly awaiting the opening of a new nightspot today ever since spotting its attention-grabbing outside decor. The Los Angeles Rock Cafe, formerly the Fern and Fallow pub on Stafford Road, Cannock, now boasts a life-size statue of the King of rock'n'roll, Elvis Presley, on the roof. And the sign at the pub has been turned into a giant flying V electric guitar. Venue owner Andy Wallett said: "They are already new landmarks for Cannock. We wanted something that would really attract people's attention. Cannock is an up and coming town for night-life, with people visiting here from Rugeley, Lichfield, Stafford and all the surrounding areas."
"But there really isn't anywhere like this around. "We want to establish this place as one of the main eating and drinking venues in the town," he added. Inside the cafe, the music theme is continued with memorabilia including more than 200 photographs and musical instruments. It will be offering a full, US-style menu including racks of ribs, swordfish steak, steak and lobster, chilli and the aptly-named Huntington Beach Chicken.
It opens at 6pm for drinks today, although food service will not begin until tomorrow. The cafe will be open from 11am to 11pm, with DJs on Friday and Saturday nights. There will also be a programme of live music, talent shows and quizzes at the cafe.
- Elvis impersonator regains world record
(Ananova, October 10, 2003)
A Norwegian Elvis impersonator has regained a world record by singing Elvis songs for over 40 hours. Kjell Henning Bjoernestad, known to his fans as Kjell Elvis, sang 786 songs in 40 hours, 8 minutes and 1 second - the time marking Elvis's birthday of January 8. The previous world best was 30 hours and 10 minutes set by another Norwegian, Stephen Ackles, in August, Aftenposten reported. Bjoernestad was said to be "hoarse but audible" at the end of the singing marathon.
- Norwegian Elvis recaptures record
(Sydney Morning Herald, October 10, 2003)
A Norwegian Elvis Presley impersonator recaptured the world record for back-to-back songs by the King by howling and crooning his way through more than 40 hours of Elvis music. The singer, known by his stage name Kjell Elvis, sang about 100 different Elvis songs including Love Me Tender, Blue Suede Shoes and Hound Dog before running out of breath. Kjell Elvis first won the record in August, but lost it the same month to fellow Norwegian Stephen Ackles, before regaining the crown, and his place in the book of Guinness World Records, yesterday. The rules says that the singer had to wear an Elvis outfit and take no longer than 30 seconds between songs, although he got to take a 15-minute-break every four hours.
- Graceland offers Elvis jumpsuit costumes
(KPTV / Associated Press, October 8, 2003)
Don't know what to be for Halloween? How about Elvis? Graceland is offering Elvis costumes through Elvis.com. Fans can pick up the deluxe eagle jumpsuit costume, the deluxe eagle cape, or the "Jailhouse Rock" costume. There's even a kid version of the eagle jumpsuit.
- This Week's Hot CD: 'Elvis 2nd to None'
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 7, 2003)
ELVIS PRESLEY
Elvis 2nd to None (BMG/RCA Records)
Who wants seconds? As if there weren't already enough Elvis Presley reissues on the table, BMG/RCA is offering another heaping helping of greatest hits by the rock 'n' roll colossus. The dessert at the end of this latest, 30-track feast is a double delight: bonus tracks include a previously unreleased song, "I'm a Roustabout," and a remix of "Rubberneckin' " produced by DJ Paul Oakenfold. The former was recorded for the 1964 movie "Roustabout" but replaced by a different version. "Rubberneckin' " is a thumping, dance-floor masterpiece. The 28 other songs were mixed and mastered from original tapes, resulting in high-quality sound. The album showcases a broad range of Presley material spanning his career. In addition to old favorites "That's All Right," "Blue Suede Shoes" and "King Creole," there are such lesser-known gems as "I Got Stung," "A Mess of Blues," "Bossa Nova Baby" and "Moody Blue." (Gene Stout).
GRADE: B+
- A King's Ransom of Musical Gems
By Glenn Gamboa
(Newsday, October 7, 2003)
In many ways, the second installment in the renovation of the Elvis Presley catalog is more engaging than the first. While the first collection, "Elvis: 30 #1 Hits" featured remastered versions of his most famous songs, "Elvis: 2nd to None" (RCA) is a bit more adventurous. Sure, "2nd to None" includes remastered versions of hits like "That's All Right," "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Viva Las Vegas" that make them sound crisper than ever. But the real attraction here is the sheer number of charming nuggets that the compilation's producers polish into great-sounding gems.
Songs like the playful boogie- woogie of "I Got Stung," the swaggering "Mean Woman Blues" and the Hawaiian guitar lilt of "Rock-a-Hula Baby" show off the King's lighter side. Ballad-lovers don't get short- changed either, as "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You," "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" and "Always on My Mind" gather enough drama to make Celine Dion look like an amateur, er, oh never mind.
And, of course, thanks to last year's global success of the technofied "A Little Less Conversation," producers hand over the little-known "Rubberneckin'" to superstar DJ Paul Oakenfold for modernization and commercial-readiness. The result is not as catchy as "Conversation," though it does sound more like the King and less like some anonymous club singer this time around.
Though it is fashionable (and often times necessary) to criticize the music industry these days, there still are some things the major labels do well, and creating collections like "Elvis: 2nd to None" is one of them. It takes vision - not to mention big bucks - to imagine a project this grand and the artistry to pull it off this well. RCA doesn't need too many kudos, though; the huge sales this will rack up will be thanks enough. ("Elvis: 2nd to None," in stores today; Grade: B) ...
- Elvis Fest says Aloha Indiana; Portage event to celebrate anniversary of the King's Hawaiian concert
By Joyce Russell
(Times Online, October 7, 2003)
[Portage] will have its own little piece of Hawaiian paradise next weekend.
Elvis Presley aficionados will be gathering for the 11th Elvis FANtasy Fest Oct. 10 -12 to recognize the 30th anniversary of the King of Rock and Roll's "Aloha from Hawaii" television special. But, besides the special guests, Elvis bingo, impersonator contest, car show and dealers selling everything from blue suede shoes to replicas of pink Cadillacs, the festival also will be raising money to support one of Porter County's most energetic groups, Special Olympians. Over the past 10 years, organizers of the festival have raised more than $65,000 for Porter County Special Olympians, said Special Olympics Director Lorrie Woycik.
... Woycik, who admits to not being an Elvis fan when she first became involved in the festival, is now one of the biggest fans, along with "her kids."
"I wish more people from Porter County would attend. It is an absolute fun weekend. You don't have to be an Elvis fan to enjoy the music and other activities," she said. ...
- Julie Parrish, TV and film actress, dies at 62
By Joyce Russell
(Gainsville Sun / Associated Press, October 6, 2003)
Julie Parrish, who starred in the 1967 CBS sitcom, "Good Morning World," and appeared in films with Jerry Lewis and Elvis Presley, has died. She was 62. She died Wednesday at Tarzana Community Hospital of natural causes that likely were related to her history of ovarian cancer, said her brother, James Wilbar.
Parrish portrayed Linda on "Good Morning World," which ran from 1967-68 and also featured Billy De Wolfe, Joby Baker, Ronnie Schell, and Goldie Hawn. She also appeared on shows including "Star Trek," "Bonanza," "My Three Sons," and "Beverly Hills 90210." She had roles on soap operas including "Return to Peyton Place" and "Capitol. She was in the film "Paradise Hawaiian Style," with Presley, and in one of the film's best moments held a group of dogs at bay as Presley sang to her in a helicopter. ...
- Lights, camera, paradise on Kauai
By Eric Noland
(u.dailynews.com, October 5, 2003)
It has been a stand-in for South America, Zaire, Australia, Vietnam and countless locales in the South Seas. It has provided romance, adventure, danger - and sometimes all three - for thespians as diverse as Harrison Ford, John Wayne, Mitzi Gaynor, Elvis Presley and Sarah Jessica Parker. Whenever Hollywood's filmmakers need a wild, exotic tropical land, they often look no further than Kauai. ...
- 'Elvis' sightings go on as US Hunt Hussein in Iraq
(Canberra Times, October 4, 2003, p. B7)
They seek him here. They seek him there. They seek him everywhere. But six monthys after Saddam Hussein went to ground as United States forces advanced on Baghdad, he remains at large and, in the view of most intelligence experts, somewhere in Iraq. ... "Elvis" is the nickname American forces have given to Saddam, a sardonic nod to the many far-flung "sightings" over the yeas of Elvis Presley, who died in 1977.
- Blount family helped by United Way
By Linda Braden Albert
(Maryville Daily Times, October 4, 2003)
Christi Oliver is a lovely young woman who does a pretty good Elvis impression and hopes to someday meet Lady Vols Basketball Coach Pat Summitt. She has hugged former President George Bush and has an autographed photograph at home to prove it. Thursday, the Heritage High School senior won a gold medal. Christi also has Down Syndrome. ... "Birth to Three has helped in so many ways,'' said David Oliver, guest speaker at United Way of Blount County's first report meeting Friday at Maryville Church of Christ. ``I hate the thought of what it would have been like without them.'' ...
- CD reviews: Dave Matthews and more
(3rd item)
By Robert Sandall
(Telegraph, October 4, 2003)
2nd To None, BMG/RCA, £14.99
Another year, another Elvis compilation. Touted as a sequel to 2001's 30 Number 1 Hits - which sold an astonishing nine million on the back of a dance remix of A Little Less Conversation - 2nd To None attempts to repeat the trick by leading with Paul Oakenfold's hectic scratch-and-mix version of an obscure 1969.
B-side, Rubberneckin'. To keep the older fans on side, there's the first ever release here of I'm a Roustabout, the original title track of one of Elvis's terrible 1960s movies, which got mysteriously binned despite having been written by one of his best songsmiths, the author of All Shook Up and others, Otis Blackwell. And with both ends of the market covered, albeit scantily, that's it for the unique selling points. The remaining 28 items comprise another chronological trot through The King's catalogue, filling the gaps left by the last one. Pleasant as it is to hear Viva Las Vegas, King Creole and Don't Cry Daddy again, gleamingly remastered for contemporary consumption, you can't help wondering who needs this album, and why. ...
- Lady biker rolls through Maine to aid hospital
By Nok-Noi Hauger
(Bangor Daily News, October 3, 2003)
She was wearing pink lipstick and a black sweat shirt with the number 12,846 Velcroed onto it when she got on her Honda 250cc motorcycle to continue her trek to Memphis. This 68-year-old biker chick, however, is not in search of Elvis or Graceland. She is raising awareness about St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the children who go there for treatment. ...
- PennDOT a no-show at Mills Pointe hearing
By Craig Smith
(Pittsburg Tribune-Review, October 3, 2003)
North Huntingdon Township officials might be thinking it would be easier to catch a glimpse of Elvis than have a face-to-face with PennDOT. Representatives of the state department the township considers a key player in a plan to build a Wal-Mart Supercenter near the turnpike failed to attend a public hearing on the proposal Thursday. Township Manager John Shepherd had invited three PennDOT officials to the hearing to address lingering concerns over traffic and waivers granted to the developer by the department. A table reserved for "PennDOT officials" sat empty.
- Two-day focus
By Jacob Longan
(stwnewspress.com, October 3, 2003)
When it comes time for Regional Tournaments, the Stillwater High softball team has the same motto as Elvis Presley - takin' care of business. ...
- Suspicious Mind: Bruce Campbell and the King
(interview)
By Greg Stacy
(Orange County Weekly, October 3-9, 2003)
You've surely seen Bruce Campbell in action, even if you don't know his name. Over the past few decades, when Campbell wasn't starring in oddball, low-budget genre pictures (the Evil Dead trilogy), he has shown up in supporting roles in more mainstream fare (Serving Sara), guest starred on everything from Ellen to Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and starred in such short-lived series as Jack of All Trades. Campbell's latest role - a geriatric Elvis Presley in Bubba Ho-Tep - is only the latest in the actor's growing gallery of lovable maniacs.
OC Weekly: Was there much method acting involved in this? Did you study old Elvis movies?
Bruce Campbell: Well, you do the requisite research for this sort of thing, but I didn't go back and study old Elvis movies or anything like that. The thing that taught me the most was this amazing documentary - I can't remember the title of it -where they got a bunch of Elvis' former bodyguards together in one room and had them all talk for hours. This was the Memphis Mafia, a bunch of real good ol' boys. They really cut loose; they were cursing and crying, along with the good stuff they had to say about him, and it really gave me a much more complete portrait of the man than I think I would have gotten from something like Clambake. I also spent some time with an Elvis impersonator, apparently one of the premier ones in the country. That only lasted a while before he gave up on me; he said I was just hopeless.
What did he say you were doing wrong?
Well, these guys take it all very seriously, you know. I just wasn't approaching it the right way, as he saw it.
Were you an Elvis fan before this picture?
No, I wouldn't say that. See, I graduated from high school in '76, and at that point, Elvis just seemed like this sad, bloated joke, not the sort of thing I would have been into at all. I've grown to appreciate him since then. ...
- Gala calendar: Elvis Tribute for Children's Hospital
(first item)
By Eve Lopez
(Seattle Times, October 3, 2003)
"Remembering the King" concert with five Elvis singers, door prizes, food and drinks; 21 and over only. Proceeds benefit Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center. 7:30-10:30 p.m. today, Ballard Elks Club, 6411 Seaview Ave. N.W., Seattle, $15 per person/$25 per couple. 206-367-3587.
- Elvis flips his lid: free CD's at area Regal Cinema theaters
(Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 3, 2003)
Beginning Friday, moviegoers at Regal Cinemas in Western Washington and across the country can get a free, limited-edition Elvis Presley "mini enhanced" CD with any large fountain drink. The Elvis Lidrock promotion -- the CD is actually embedded in the drink's plastic lid -- includes two digitally remastered Presley songs, "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Trouble," from the new album, "Elvis 2nd to None," due in stores Tuesday. There's also a bonus music video of "A Little Less Conversation." Lidrock will give away 300,000 of the mini discs at movie theaters.
- Specs, rugs and rock'n'roll: An acclaimed chorus of elders is about to raise the roof in Melbourne
By Michael Dwyer
([Melbourne] Age, October 3, 2003)
There was a time, Elaine Fligman recalls, when "the whole pop scene of New York was in my house rehearsing". Picture it. The Strokes lugging their gear into the garage, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion rewiring a blown amplifier, Debbie Harry scribbling lyrics in the kitchen. Thing is, though, Elaine Fligman is 80 years old. What she means by "pop" is more akin to the Andrews Sisters than the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Frank Sinatra was pioneering the whole pop-star shtick when she was singing Gilbert and Sullivan on the Catskills resort circuit in the 1940s. "I liked Perry Como better," she says with a classic Brooklyn accent that invites no debate on the subject.
These days, her big show tune is Stairway To Heaven. It's a long, long way from her debut as a child, perched on the soda fountain of her grandparents' Brooklyn candy store singing La Marseillaise for a group of French sailors in the 1920s. An operatically trained Broadway singer, Fligman was no fan of Elvis Presley or the musical era he ushered in when she was in her 30s. It's not surprising, then, that she'd never heard Led Zeppelin's epic rock'n'roll head-trip before it was presented to her by Bob Cilman, the director of mature-age Massachusetts choral group Young @ Heart. "I didn't like it then and I still don't," she says flatly. "Well, there's a couple of lines in it that are ..." she stops to trawl her memory. "Yeah, right. I'm not gonna go through it all cause it's a laaawng sawng. 'There's still time to change the road you're on.' That's one line I like." It's these kind of lines, the ones that hold firm and sometimes even strengthen with the passage of musical fashion and age, that make the Young @ Heart Chorus click.
Founded by social worker Cilman at a low-income meal service for the elderly in 1982, the group specialises in matching songs of the rock era - anything from Presley to the Clash and beyond - to vocalists up to six times the material's age. It may sound corny, but the results, according to gobsmacked reviews from New York to Norway, are devastating. By all reports, this show is a bona fide emotional roller-coaster that makes most modern rock acts look like shamelessly contrived and ego-driven cash-in opportunities.
... In a case like Stairway to Heaven, meaning can be a stumbling block, especially for a performer trained to approach a song from a deep, emotional perspective rather than the abstract, often medically enhanced tangents favoured by many songwriters of the late '60s.
... Octogenarian Joe Benoit, on the other hand, encounters no such semantic difficulties when he sings All Shook Up. It may come with a slightly different spin than Presley's original, but the feeling the song describes probably takes hold of 80-year-olds today in much the same way it did teenagers in the '50s. "I didn't like rock'n'roll personally, but I like it better now," says Benoit, who started his musical career as a drummer with the Second Armoured Division Band while serving in World War II. He currently juggles Young @ Heart with a barbershop quartet called the Springfield Chordsmen - and no, he hasn't seen that Simpsons episode. ...
... An avid child of the rock'n'roll revolution, the chorus director is spoiled for choice when selecting material, but he knows it's more than a nostalgic celebration of his own taste. ...
The Young @ Heart Chorus performs at the Arts Centre Playhouse from next Thursday, October 9, to Saturday, October 11, at 7.30pm, Sunday, October 12, at 5pm, and Monday, October 13, at 11am.
- Wesley Willis made an indelible mark on rock music
By ALLEN SCAIFE
(Freelance Star, October 2, 2003)
The list of music's great martyrs grew by one on Aug. 21. Wesley Willis died of heart failure resulting from leukemia, and joined Elvis Presley, Tupac Shakur and Barry White in legend. ...
- Wanda Jackson: Heart Trouble
By Charlotte Robinson
(Pop Matters, October 2, 2003)
It's always heartening to witness legendary artists come back in a big way, and I don't mean in that Santana this-is-selling-well-but-really-it-sucks-and-why-is-Rob-Thomas-here kind of way. I'm thinking more of Johnny Cash with his back-to-basics American recordings, Dolly Parton's neo-bluegrass albums for Sugar Hill, and now original rockabilly hellcat Wanda Jackson with her first studio album in 15 years, Heart Trouble. With Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley gone and Cash's health waning, Jackson, at 65, is one of the few '50s country/rock fusionists remaining who still tours on a regular basis and sounds just about as good as she did back in the day. ...
- The King's hidden treasure: A Jerseyan's song, recorded by Elvis, finally comes to light
By Tom Walter
(nj.com, October 1, 2003)
Better late than never. Especially when you're talking about the release of music by the King of Rock 'n' Roll. Four decades ago, Elvis Presley recorded a song called "Roustabout." Tuesday, it will finally be available to the public. Co-written by Winfield Scott and Otis Blackwell, it was going to be the theme song for Presley's 1964 movie of that name. It was rejected because it contained a phrase -- "stick it in his ear" -- that was deemed potentially offensive. Presley recorded another song named "Roustabout," by another songwriting team. Scott and Blackwell didn't dwell on the strange turn of events. "There's a lot of songs that you write and submit, and they don't get recorded," says Scott, 78, of Union Township . His other credits include the Presley hits "Return To Sender" and "One Broken Heart For Sale" (both co-written with Blackwell, who died last year), LaVern Baker's "Tweedlee Dee" and Connie Francis' "Many Tears Ago." "You don't agonize over a (rejected) song," continues Scott, who still writes regularly. "You move on. You say, 'Well, they didn't do that. I'll write three more.'" Scott did keep an acetate copy of Presley's original "Roustabout," and it's a good thing he did. It's now the only known copy of the song, and will come out Tuesday -- with a modified title, "I'm a Roustabout" -- on a new Presley anthology, "Elvis 2nd To None."
Ernst Mikael Jorgensen, who co-produced "Elvis 2nd To None" for the RCA/BMG label, says this had been Presley's only studio recording for RCA that couldn't be located. (Presley was on RCA from 1956 until his death in 1977. Previously he had been on Sun; some of his Sun recordings have never been found either, Jorgensen said.) "This was like a miracle," says Jorgensen. "This was like the missing piece of the puzzle." "I'm a Roustabout" is more than a historical curiosity. It's a boisterous, catchy song that easily could have been a hit had it been released in 1964. It will appear on "Elvis 2nd To None" as one of two bonus tracks; the other is the Paul Oakenfold remix of "Rubberneckin' " that recently topped Billboard magazine's Singles Sales chart, and now stands at No. 2. Other songs on the CD, devoted to key Presley material not included on last year's "Elvis: 30 #1 Hits," include "That's All Right (Mama)," "Blue Suede Shoes" and "Viva Las Vegas."
Scott was given a finder's fee for the song and will split songwriting royalties with Blackwell's estate. He's happy about the song's rediscovery, of course, but he's not about to make a big deal about it." ...
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