Mid March 2004
- Music pours through region
By RAY REYES
(Hernando Today, March 15, 2004)
... Dunnellon-based Will McLean Foundation ... Even though the 14th Annual "Willfest" (as it's called by dedicated folk and acoustic music fans) featured over 60 singers, musicians and recording artists from all over the state, spontaneous bursts of songs from average Joes and Janes -- like Daniel's -- broke out through the festival grounds throughout the weekend. ... The festival was founded in honor of Will McLean, Florida's "Black Hat Troubadour" who died in 1990. McLean was regarded as the state's premier folk song writer.
... And as for the future of folk music in the state? "It's secure," Kay says. "More and more people are writing songs about Florida heritage." Wendell Daniel, the former welder, admits he's one of those people. He's written a song called "English Town," about the area around Crystal River. Daniel says it's inspired by the time Elvis Presley visited Florida in 1961 to film the movie "Follow That Dream." Daniel says he played an orphan in that film when he was 9 years old, and had a chance to meet The King. "I wrassled with him," says Daniel, now 51, with a meandering drawl. "It was awesome."
Meeting Elvis inspired Daniel to play music. "I started toting a guitar around after that," he says. "I thought I was going to be a rock star." Even though he followed a dream that wasn't meant to be, Daniel says he continues playing and writing original songs, in the spirit of Will McLean himself. "Most of my life has been hard," Daniel says. "But I got music in my heart."
- Police surveillance of music industry is same old song
By EVELYN McDONNELL
(Miami Herald, March 15, 2004)
The Herald's recent report that police officers are monitoring the activities of hip-hop stars and their associates is stirring up chilling memories for black Americans and music historians. While no musical genre has been explicitly singled out for the systemic, multicity surveillance now occuring with rap, individual artists have been harassed and watched in the past. Under J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI kept dossiers on Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and John Lennon. The former Immigration and Naturalization Service tried to deport Lennon because of a prior drug conviction and his political activities.
''Authorities have always feared cultural movements,'' said Howard Kramer, curatorial director of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum. 'In the early days of rock 'n' roll, authorities kept an eye on lots of artists. Some were not on their best behavior, and the authorities took advantage of that. Chuck Berry, for instance, was arrested for violation of the Mann Act.'' It forbids transporting a minor across state lines for immoral purposes. According to Kramer, authorities have particularly targeted black artists and genres. In the 1920s, police warned jazz artists not to be caught drinking, smoking dope or talking to white patrons. ''In the late '40s and early '50s, jazz musicians were routinely hassled,'' Kramer said. Police would deny controversial artists such as Charlie Parker their cabaret card, which they needed to perform.
... ''We're in a very frightening time, and government has been clear that personal rights are not guaranteed,'' Kramer said. ``If they're concerned about public welfare, why is it so secretive? This isn't counterterrorism; it's spying on our own citizens.''
- Transition, trial and testosterone on the Kerry campaign
(Yahoo! News / AFP, March 14, 2004)
If Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry is as wooden and aloof as some say, who is this man doing a lip-curling impersonation of Elvis Presley for a bunch of bemused senior citizens? "When I was a kid I had the whole deal down. I had the style, I had the snarl, I put the collar up," Kerry says, hunching his shoulders, lowering his voice and mumbling "Thank you very much" in classic Elvis style. But when one of the seniors at the Levy Center in suburban Evanston invites him to "shake it up," the 60-year-old Kerry draws the line. "I know better than to make a complete ass of myself," he says. ...
- Elvis' band mates get day in sun
By Bill Ellis
(Sioux City Journal / Scripps Howard News Service, March 14, 2004)
Elvis Presley's band mates will be feted in high fashion by the Recording Academy next month at the Heroes Awards in Memphis, Tenn. Guitarist Scotty Moore, the late bassist Bill Black and drummer D.J. Fontana will be honored for their contributions to rock in the April 13 event. The Memphis chapter of the organization that stages the Grammys -- the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences -- will produce the local show to the 50th anniversary of rock 'n' roll. The event also will toast Sun Records pioneer Ike Turner, Texas guitar/fiddle great Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and power-pop legends Big Star. ...
- WISCONSIN: Town mourns a 'friend' and 'hero'
By KEVIN HARTER
(Pioneer Press, March 13, 2004)
Roger Hines, who picked up Bert Hoyer for school every day for years on his bus route, got word Friday he will soon dig the 23-year-old's grave. "It's awful," said Hines of the death of Hoyer, an Army Reservist from Ellsworth who was killed Wednesday in Iraq when an explosive device hit his convoy north of Baghdad. "I've known him from grade school to high school," said Hines, who was talking with buddies at Danny Dunn's Pub on North Broadway on Friday. "He was just a big teddy bear of a guy who wouldn't hurt a flea. He was a huge kid and his heart was just as big as him." ... Family and friends of Hoyer in Ellsworth, a community of about 2,900 people 50 miles southeast of the Twin Cities, were struggling Friday to refer to him in the past tense. They recalled him as a warm, caring guy who loved the outdoors and working with kids. ... Hoyer was the manager of the high school girls basketball team that Hayley Hines-Blomberg played on. She said one of her favorite memories was of Hoyer doing an impression of Elvis Presley singing "Heartbreak Hotel" before every game. "If he thought you looked sad, he'd give you a hug. He was always there to make you feel good, or make you laugh," Hines-Blomberg said. ...
- A town asks itself: Did banning Satan make a difference?
By TODD LEWAN
(WINK News / Associated Press, March 13, 2004)
INGLIS, Fla. It truly was an ambitious undertaking: But Carolyn Risher, mayor of this coastal hamlet of shrimp fishermen and God-fearing folk, believed the hour had come to cleanse her town of the giver of evil. Of Satan himself. His grip on the community, she'd noticed, had become disturbingly apparent: a father had molested a child, teens were dressing in black and powdering their faces white, pot and crystal-meth use was on the uptick. ... "My main goal was to wake Inglis up," Risher told a visitor recently. "If the proclamation could get people to wake up and realize that they needed God, then it would be a success - then Inglis would be saved." Would it, though? Would banning the Prince of Darkness from the town's three square miles deliver Inglis from drugs, thieves and drunk drivers? Would it ease the fears of a small, isolated community - frustrated by joblessness and uneasy about war overseas and terrorism at home - and attract an angel of light?
... To an outsider cruising in fifth gear along the flat, asphalt ribbon that is U.S. 19, the towns along Florida's Gulf Coast do not look like Satan's stomping grounds. ... It's a town with a '50s feel, perhaps because of the big, bent sign on Highway 40 West reminding people that Elvis Presley came to Inglis to film "Follow That Dream," perhaps because many of the homes and businesses still standing on the main drag went up then, too. ...
- Crock musicals
By David Stubbs
(Guardian, March 12, 2004)
It seems that Elvis Presley Enterprises, who own the rights to Jailhouse Rock, have refused the makers of a musical based on Presley's life permission to use the song in their show. This news has warmed my cockles, which were in danger of freezing and dropping off altogether. That the producers intend to press ahead with said musical anyway, entitled, er, Jailhouse Rock, speaks megatonnes about the ghastly shamelessness of West End profiteers bent on reducing rock's legacy to that most loathsome form of mass entertainment, one which makes bear-baiting and dwarf-hurling seem cultivated by comparison: the musical. ...
- Best Bets
(News-Review, March 12, 2004)
ELVIS IS IN THE BUILDING. The songs of Elvis Presley, Patti Page, The Platters and other musical legends will be brought alive through "Remembering the '50s," a musical revue running at Oakland's Washington School, 637 N.E. Locust St. The revue is being presented by the Oakland Community Theater at 7 tonight and Saturday, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are $6 for adults and $3 for children aged 12 and younger. They're available at Jean's Things in Oakland, Hanson Jewelers in Roseburg, Sutherlin Drug or at the door. 459-4228, 450-9396.
- Rock and roll doesn't forget Bob Seger
By Mike Householder
(Detroit News / Associated Press, March 12, 2004)
Three questions have haunted Bob Seger since his 50th birthday. When are you going to release a new album? Are you going to tour again? Why aren't you in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Finally, at 58, the Michigan-based rock legend has the answers: In the fall. Maybe. By Monday, I will be. On that day, Seger, George Harrison, Prince, Jackson Browne, Traffic, ZZ Top and the Dells will be inducted into the Rock Hall in the annual ceremony at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. ... Before the success of the 1970s and beyond, Seger was just a Michigan rocker trying to make a living playing music. Seger was born in Ann Arbor at the tail end of World War II, and as many boys of his generation did, he grew up listening to Elvis Presley. His dad, who worked at an area Ford Motor Co. plant, brought home "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel." Seger was hooked, and at 16 he formed a a boyhood group called the Decibels. ...
- Steve Tyrell
By TERRY PERKINS
(St Louis Post-Dispatch, March 12, 2004)
That loosely defined collection of tunes lumped together as the Great American Songbook has become extremely popular in recent years. Everyone from Rod Stewart to Aaron Neville has tackled pop standards by the likes of the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael and other talented songwriters - with decidedly mixed results. Steve Tyrell, one of the most surprising success stories among those reworking the standards genre, made his Jazz at the Bistro debut Wednesday evening. ... Tyrell, who has written and produced tunes for the likes of Elvis Presley and B.J. Thomas, clearly knows how to deliver a lyric with sincerity and swinging style. ...
- Musical 'Princesses' Crowned at Goodspeed in Fall; Elvis Leaves CT 'All Shook Up' in Spring
By Kenneth Jones
(Yahoo! News / Playbill, March 11, 2004)
... Goodspeed also announced dates for the new Elvis Presley-inspired musical, All Shook Up, May 13-June 6 at the Terris. A third Terris show, Aug. 5-29, will be announced. Goodspeed's mainstage is Goodspeed Opera House in nearby East Haddam. As previously reported, All Shook Up features the songs of Elvis Presley. "This is not an autobiographical revue but rather a new book musical set in 1955, somewhere in middle America," according to Goodspeed. "In a roadside honky-tonk, a surprise visit from a mysterious, leather-jacketed stranger will lead a small town to discover the magic of romance and the power of rock and roll." The score includes "Heartbreak Hotel," "Love Me Tender," "Don't Be Cruel" and "Can't Help Falling In Love." The new musical comedy has a book by Joe DiPietro, whose most recent credits include The Thing About Men, Memphis and Off-Broadway's I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change. Christopher Ashley (The Rocky Horror Show, They All Laughed, Valhalla and more) directs. Choreography is by Jodi Moccia. ...
- Drummers campaign to get Elvis' stickman into Hall of Fame
By DAVID BAUDER
(Victoria Advocate / Associated Press, March 11, 2004)
As a high school student in Arkansas, the Band drummer Levon Helm was lucky enough to see Elvis Presley perform twice - once with drummer D.J. Fontana and once without. "Elvis and Scotty (Moore) and Bill (Black) were making good music," Helm said, "but it wasn't rock 'n' roll until D.J. put the backbeat into it." Nearly 50 years later, Helm and three of rock's most famous drummers - Ringo Starr, Charlie Watts and Max Weinberg - are leading a campaign to get Fontana into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The institution's next induction ceremony is Monday in New York City. Prince, George Harrison, Jackson Browne, Bob Seger and ZZ Top are the big names getting in. But for the first time in five years, no musicians will be inducted as "sidemen." That's the category established in 2000 to honor the largely anonymous musicians whose guitar fills or drum beats powered rock's big hits. Moore, Presley's guitarist from 1954 to 1958, was inducted that first year.
Black, Presley's bass player who died in 1965, and Fontana, who played 15 years behind Presley, haven't made it. Ex-Beatle Starr, Rolling Stone Watts, Helm and Weinberg, a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, signed a letter to the hall urging Fontana's induction, saying his influence cannot be overstated. "You can't get better than that!" Fontana said in an interview from his Nashville home. Now 70, Fontana performs about a dozen times a year - on tour behind Elvis impersonators. Fontana said he, Moore and Black should have entered the hall together. "It's a big honor," he said. "I'd like to see the name in there, but who knows what those guys up there are going to do."
Of Fontana, Seymour Stein, president of the New York chapter of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and a member of the committee that helps select inductees said, "his name always comes up. He does get some votes. I think eventually he will" be inducted. ...
- Beatles' former chauffeur dead at 75; inspired Baby You Can Drive My Car
(Yahoo! News / Canadian Press, March 11, 2004)
Alf Bicknell, chauffeur to the Beatles at the height of their fame and inspiration for the song, Baby You Can Drive My Car, has died at the age of 75, the band's former promoter said. Sam Leach said Bicknell died at his home in Oxford on Tuesday. Cause of death was not given. Leach said the chauffeur started working for the Beatles in 1964 during the filming of Help. "He was with them for four years including when they met Elvis (Presley) in 1965," he said. "Alf often recalled with pride how Elvis called him 'Sir' during that meeting." ...
- American Superstars Show at the Stratosphere Casino Hotel and Tower to Add Britney Spears Tribute
(PR Newswire, March 11, 2004)
The American Superstars show at the Stratosphere Casino Hotel and Tower [in LAS VEGAS] adds Kristie Fisher as Britney Spears. ... American Superstars is a full scale production show that combines the
talents of tribute artists portraying the likeness and musical abilities of
today and yesterday's hottest stars. The American Superstars cast features
Darren Lee as Elvis, Naomi Rodriguez as Christina Aguilera, Johnny Potash as
Charlie Daniels, Michael Colby as Ricky Martin and Damian Brantley as Michael
Jackson. ...
- French rock star loses defamation case against newspaper
(Yahoo! News / AFP, March 10, 2004)
French rock star Johnny Hallyday lost a defamation case against a newspaper which reported that a nightclub he partially owned had obscure financial backing and his father-in-law was connected to a suspected criminal group. A Paris judge deemed the two articles, printed in October last year, did not personally slur or create prejudice for the 60-year-old singer, whose Elvis-style performances have made him one of the country's top entertainers. The newspaper, Le Parisien, had said that Hallyday's Paris nightclub, Amnesia, had an "obscure" financial structure and that his father-in-law had connections to a family that had been tied to organised crime.
- Memphis masters the art of building an arena
By AILENE VOISIN
(Times Record News, March 10, 2004)
As it hugs the Mississippi River, this mid-South enclave of 1.1 million people envelopes visitors with a calm, yet dynamic blend of old and new. ... "It's always going to be a stretch for the NBA team to be financially successful here, as it is in most small markets," cautioned Spurs vice president Russ Bookbinder. ... City and county leaders, with strong support from the business community, instead approved a plan in June 2001 for a $250 million arena project that was completely financed by public funds derived from bonds, fees on arena ticket sales and city/county hotel room and rental car taxes. Construction is expected to be finished in time for the 2004-05 season. ... Strolling within a two-block radius of the Grizzlies' offices, one can literally chat with the eminently approachable West, catch B.B. King performing live in a club on Beale Street, purchase an authentic Gibson guitar, attend a Triple-A baseball game at AutoZone Park, consult with Elvis Presley's tailor at Lansky's clothing store, pluck souvenir pieces of dirt at FedExForum and watch the traditional royal ducks' procession inside the historic Peabody Hotel. ... "But I'll tell you," said Hal Lansky, the clothing proprietor who used to deliver the suits that his father, Bernard, designed for Elvis, "looking at that facility going up is making a believer out of everybody. It's taken us up a couple notches."
- Anything Goes! Almost!: Annual Celebrity Waiter Dinner raises record gross
By Michele E. Buttelman
(The Signal, March 9, 2004)
There were pirates, fair maidens, cowboys, cowgirls, firemen, construction workers and a road crew. There were more "Elvi" (the plural of Elvis) than you could shake a blue suede shoe toward. Marilyn - Monroe, of course - made an appearance, as did Dolly Parton, Neil Diamond, Uncle Sam, the Statue of Liberty, Lucy Ricardo and Groucho Marx. The French attended and an entourage of gangsters. ...
- American Idol wildcards go all out
By J. Kyle Martin
(Curlio, March 9, 2004)
The theme of the night on American Idol seemed to be "go out with a bang." Nearly all of the performances were challenging to the performers, rather than the safe performances that dominated the earlier performances. First though, 4 people had to be cut from the 12, as only 8 would be performing. Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson, and Paula Abdul attended 2 days of rehearsal and based their opinion on those rehearsals. At the end, Lisa Leuschner, Eric Yoder, Tiara Purifoy, and Marque Lynch were cut from the show. I don't know if the judges saw something I didn't, but I didn't see why George Huff and Matthew Metzger were allowed to stay and sing, when they haven't really done much so far. It seemed as if the judges were more interested in keeping the boy-girl ratio decently balanced. But ultimately that was the judges decision, not mine. Here are my opinions, in order of performance.
Jon Peter Lewis went all out tonight, singing Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation". His performance was lively and amusing, but I didn't like his voice. Randy and Paula liked him, but Simon thought he was awful. ...
- A Revision of "Elvis in Texas"
By J. Kyle Martin
(Sweetwater Reporter, March 9, 2004)
Two years after the release of his book, "Elvis in Texas," Stanley Oberst returned to West Texas for a deeper investigation of rock 'n roll's legend Elvis Presley and his time spent in Texas during 1954 and 1955. Oberst, of Richardson, taught Social Studies at a high school in Plano for 25 years and said he always had a fascination with Elvis and his time spent in the small towns of West Texas "before he hit the big time. The dates that fell between 1954 and 1955 are the most fascinating. There are some towns where I was not able to find pictures of Elvis. Now, with the release of the book there has been more photos turn up that I hadn't anticipated," said Oberst.
The release of "Elvis in Texas" drew a lot of attention to small Texas towns all over the state, especially Sweetwater where Elvis allegedly appeared twice -- not just once as Oberst's book mentioned. "There were some discrepancies, as were expected," said Oberst. "That is the reason why RCA asked me to re-do the book to include the new information found."
One discrepancy by all Elvis historians was found and written in the Museum Musings by Travis Monday. Monday, a pastor of Trinity Baptist Church and a historian of Sweetwater, wrote musings and compiled them into small books for the Pioneer Museum. Monday found through researching past issues of the Sweetwater Reporter that Elvis' appearance in town and his performance on June 8, 1955 was actually postponed a day due to weather. Elvis actually appeared on June 9 and performed before a large Sweetwater crowd at the Municipal Auditorium. Oberst's book showed the picture of the concert tickets kept by Jane Rhyne, of Sweet-water, who allowed the tickets to be copied by Lee Cotton, author of "Did Elvis Sing in Your Hometown?"
The ticket stub found in Sweetwater wasn't torn either like most theater tickets of those days. It is the only ticket found besides a ticket found from Elvis' concert in Gonzales, Tex. that proves Elvis' whereabouts without any argument. "It's amazing what (Monday) discovered," said Oberst. "He not only found a major discrepancy in the whereabouts of Elvis Presley, he also might have solved a period in Elvis' life that no one could pinpoint." Oberst is referring to the second appearance of Elvis in Sweetwater. Monday wrote that museum worker Beverly Puckett researched the dates through donated newspapers to the museum from the Reporter. In Monday's volume 5 of his musing he wrote that Puckett found the missing date in an advertisement for Dec. 16, 1955. This particular advertisement was more in tune with Elvis' rising popularity of which it included a picture of the rock 'n roll star for the ad.
... Oberst talked about how the popularity of Elvis photos before 1955 has grown to be more appreciated than photos of his most famous years. "It was a time where he was just a kid. He was something new to the world and people were really captivated by it. And Texas history of Elvis' early years is larger than any other state. Elvis performed more times in Texas than he did anywhere else," said Oberst. Oberst autographed a complimentary copy of his book for the Pioneer Museum which is now on display for Nolan County and its visitors. Oberst said 90 percent of the photos in the book had not been seen by the public prior to its release.
- Exhibit depicting Elvis' Army years to open
By Erica Walsh
(News-Enterprise, March 9, 2004)
Ceramic plates were the first Elvis memorabilia Patty Tucker collected. She now has an entire room of her house dedicated to Elvis. Some of the memorabilia may be loaned to the Patton Museum for their upcoming exhibit on Elvis' years in the Army. Patty Tucker has been an Elvis fan since she saw her first Elvis movie in the early 1970s. She said she knows everything about the King's life. At Fort Knox, she's considered Elvis' No. 1 fan. ... Tucker approached Frank Jardim, director of the Patton Museum, last summer with the idea for the exhibit. She thought it would be a perfect fit because Elvis was in an armor unit, and he was a huge fan of Gen. George Patton. Joe Esposito, a friend of Elvis Presley, will attend the opening ceremony. Esposito met Elvis while he was in the Army and remained a close personal friend. He told Tucker that "Patton" was one of Elvis' favorite movies, and the King would love the idea of being honored in a museum named for the general. The exhibit opens on the 46th anniversary of Elvis' entry into the Army. ...
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