Late March 2004
- Patton Museum: Elvis' Kentucky Reign
By ERICA WALSH
(News-Enterprise, March 26, 2004)
There was a lot of rubberneckin' going on Wednesday at Fort Knox's Patton Museum as dozens of Elvis Presley fans stopped, looked and listened at a new exhibit in his honor. "Sgt. Elvis Presley: Citizen Soldier" opened to the public on the 46th anniversary of the entertainer's induction into the Army. The memorabilia from Elvis' time in the Army will remain on display for a year. "This is a big day for Fort Knox and a big day for the Patton Museum," said Maj. Gen. Terry Tucker, Fort Knox's commanding general. "Elvis Presley was a legendary entertainer, but few people know he was also a patriot and a legendary soldier who served his country."
The exhibit includes photographs, uniforms, a Jeep similar to the one Elvis drove and several letters and documents. About 250 fans from Hardin County and surrounding areas attended the opening ceremony, some even traveling from Tennessee. Roughly 475 people toured the exhibit throughout its first day.
Joe Esposito, a close friend of Elvis, was on hand to share some of his favorite memories of the King. Esposito and Presley met in the Army in 1959. They got together with other soldiers for a touch football game and immediately bonded. "You couldn't get a better friend," Esposito said. Esposito spent some time answering fans' questions about his best friend, but was more thrilled to see the exhibit open. So after a little less conversation, he got right to the action, helping to unveil the memorabilia with Tucker and his wife, Patty Tucker.
Patty Tucker, known for her own Elvis collection, hatched the idea for the exhibit several months ago. After everything was unveiled, she stood at the exhibit's entrance wearing what looked very much like a blue suede business suit. She grinned as fans passed by. "To see all these fans from all different places, it shows the real spirit of Elvis staying alive in their hearts," Patty Tucker said. Patty Tucker lent the museum some pieces from her private collection. But her favorite part of the exhibit is the documentary footage of Elvis that plays repeatedly on a screen near the front of the exhibit. "That was always my dream" to see documentaries of Elvis' life, she said.
Esposito told the crowd that once someone met Elvis, they couldn't help falling in love with him. Vada Scott Johnson is one of those people. ...
- Rock 'n' roll Immortals, beloved
By Edna Gundersen
(Yahoo! News / USA TODAY, March 25, 2004)
Buddy Holly, Otis Redding, Janis Joplin and Kurt Cobain all died in their 20s, but they will live forever in the hearts and stereos of rock fans, according to Rolling Stone. They're enshrined in "The Immortals," the first of three special issues this year to commemorate the 50th anniversary of rock 'n' roll. The magazine, which arrives on newsstands Friday, toasts the genre's 50 greatest artists of all time ... A preview of the top 10 with excerpts from accompanying essays:
- The Beatles. "Michael Jackson can sell records until the end of time, but he'll never matter to people as much as The Beatles did." (Elvis Costello)
- Bob Dylan. "He wasn't pussyfooting around on Like a Rolling Stone or Ballad of a Thin Man. This was the rebel rebelling against the rebellion." (Robbie Robertson, Dylan's former guitarist)
- Elvis Presley. Out of Tupelo, Miss., and Memphis "came this green, sharkskin-suited girl chaser, wearing eye shadow - a trucker-dandy white boy who must have risked his hide to act so black and dress so gay." (U2's Bono)
- The Rolling Stones. "If it wasn't for them, I would have been a Soprano for real." (Guitarist and Sopranos star Steven Van Zandt)
- Chuck Berry. "That feeling of excitement in the pit of my stomach, in the hair on the back of my head: I got more of it from Chuck Berry than from anybody else." (Joe Perry of Aerosmith)
- Jimi Hendrix. "I will always try to attain that kind of control. ... Who I am as a guitarist is defined by my failure to become Jimi Hendrix." (John Mayer)
- James Brown. His slot in 1964 concert film The TAMI Show "may be the single greatest rock 'n' roll performance ever captured on film." (American Records' Rick Rubin)
- Little Richard "They called (rock) 'voodoo music.' They said that it would drive the kids insane. They said that it was just a flash in the pan - the same thing that they're saying about the hip-hop today. Only it was worse back then because ... I was the first black artist whose records the white kids were starting to buy. And the parents were really bitter about me." (Little Richard)
- Aretha Franklin. "No one could copy her. How could they? She's all alone in her greatness." (Jerry Wexler)
- Ray Charles. "I always learn something listening to him. It's music that set a tough standard." (Van Morrison)
- Canadians Dubreuil and Lauzon seventh in ice dance
(The Globe and Mail, March 25, 2004)
Dortmund, Germany - They were ice dancing to Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard on Thursday during what has become the most entertaining competition of the world figure skating championships. ...
- Booze and Elvis. Report: On New Year's Eve, firefighters in Staten Island drank, and an argument over the King's birthday led to a vicious fight
By WILLIAM MURPHY AND DARYL KHAN
(newsday.com, March 25, 2004)
A booze-fueled brawl among firefighters [on Staten Island] on New Year's Eve was triggered by an argument over Elvis Presley's birthday, a city report said yesterday. The initial dispute degenerated into a squabble about how overtime assignments were handled and included a homosexual slur before the assault occurred, the report said. ...
- DIGGIT Entertainment Pays Tribute to the King of Rock 'N' Roll-TM: Leading Mobile Producer Creates Global Wireless Experience for Fans of Elvis
(Business Wire, March 23, 2004)
Commemorating Elvis Presley's significant contributions to music history and in celebration of Rock and Roll's 50th Anniversary, DIGGIT Entertainment Group will develop a comprehensive suite of Elvis-branded applications for mobile devices worldwide. In a partnership between DIGGIT and EPE (Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. - the Elvis Presley Estate), DIGGIT Entertainment Group is EPE's exclusive wireless partner and producer of all Mobile Elvis content.
The Mobile Elvis platform extends the Elvis brand into the wireless environment by providing Elvis fans 24-hour access to more of what they love with the next generation in savvy and entertaining formats. Diggit will launch the Mobile Elvis program in several phases in order to maximize the different content opportunities within the active mobile territories around the world.
The debut phase of Mobile Elvis will feature official Elvis-branded information including some never before seen content:
- -- An online Elvis content store where fans will be able to purchase official Elvis mobile content to push directly to their phone
- -- Elvis Ringtones: polyphonic, truetones, animated ringers and voice ringers
- -- Elvis Video clips
- -- Commemorative Elvis photographs to download, available as wallpaper and screensavers
- -- An Elvis in-store retail program for Elvis ringtones and images
- -- An Elvis premium mobile messaging community where fans can sign up for information about ELVIS, enter contests and receive the latest news on Elvis album releases, TV specials and more.
DIGGIT also plans to distribute Elvis content directly on handsets, creating custom "Official Elvis Channels" that will be available from the major carrier's within the U.S., Europe and Asia.
"Moving into the world of wireless entertainment is the next logical evolution for the Elvis experience, and we're confident that DIGGIT, with their creative insights and unique approach to mobile entertainment, is the right partner for the job," said Jack Soden, President and CEO of EPE. Bill Diggins, Founder and CEO of DIGGIT Entertainment Group, says, "DIGGIT is excited and proud to be working with the Elvis brand and the Estate. In my 15 years plus working in the music business, I know how much Elvis' memory means to his fans, the music community and the world of entertainment. Our wireless offering will be a tribute to Elvis' enduring legend and keep his memory alive for fans both old and new."
EPE is based in Memphis, with additional offices in Los Angeles. In addition to Graceland and its related attractions in Memphis, including the Heartbreak Hotel, EPE is aggressively involved in a worldwide licensing program, merchandising, music publishing, and television, film, video, internet and wireless entertainment projects. For more information on EPE and Graceland, visit www.Elvis.com.
DIGGIT Entertainment Group brings the world of film, music and television to mobile phones across America. Headed by entertainment and mobile technology veterans, DIGGIT Entertainment Group partners with recording artists, celebrities and leading entertainment brands to develop, package, market, and distribute mobile content and wireless applications to cell phone owners. For further information on DIGGIT, please go to www.diggit.com.
- Breast cancer stamp tops post office's best-seller list
By Dorsey Griffith
(Sacramento Bee, March 23, 2004)
The breast cancer awareness postage stamp, the brainchild of Sacramento surgeon Ernie Bodai, has become the biggest-selling stamp in U.S. Postal Service history. The postal service has sold 518.5 million of the stamps since its release in 1998, and has raised $37.1 million for breast cancer research as of the end of February, said Ralph Petty, spokesman for the Sacramento postal service district.
With the stamp's two-year extension approved in January, Bodai had hoped it would surpass sales of the commemorative Elvis Presley stamp. That stamp, which sold 517 million, is no longer on the market. "The postal service does not like to pit stamps against each other," Petty said. "But this is quite an accomplishment for the breast cancer research stamp. And Elvis is still the king of commemorative stamps." ...
- Vintage: A victim of its own success
By Jessica Michault
(iht.com, March 23, 2004)
In Milan last month, the writing was on the wall. Or to be more precise, on the T-shirt. At the D&G autumn/winter 2004 collection, Elvis Presley's 14-year-old granddaughter opened the show wearing a white T-shirt with "J'adore le Vintage" scrawled in hot pink across the front. Vintage dressing, which was once just a distant star circling the frenetic world of fashion, has gone supernova. Designers no longer content to be inspired by the fashion of bygone eras are appropriating the world of vintage dressing in its entirety. The D&G show was an example. ...
- FBI Investigating Stolen Elvis Jewelry
(Yahoo! News / Associated Press, March 23, 2004)
The FBI is now involved in the case of the stolen Elvis jewelry. The FBI has joined the investigation into the robbery at the Elvis-A-Rama museum in Las Vegas on March 14. Thieves took more than $300,000 worth of Elvis Presley's jewelry from the museum, including his ruby diamond ring, a high school ring and a diamond pendant and chain. With the FBI involved, authorities will be able to search a database used by law enforcement agencies throughout the world. The database provides information involving the theft of art or artifacts with significant historical or artistic importance.
In other news, a new exhibit in Kentucky will focus on the kind of soldier Elvis Presley was and it turns out he was a good one. The Patton Museum in Fort Knox, Ky., is hosting a year-long exhibit on Elvis' military career, beginning from when he was drafted in 1958. Elvis ended up in Germany with a reconnaissance team, instead of another route which would have had Presley in the USO entertaining troops. The exhibit features photos, uniforms, video interviews and military memorabilia. Museum director Frank Jardim says Elvis turned out to be a very good soldier, and the exhibit will focus on how the military and a famous person adjusted to each other.
- Putnam produces a soundtrack of success
By Billy Watkins
(Clarion-Ledger, March 22, 2004)
Norbert Putnam, who now resides in Grenada, produced some of music's top acts during the '70s and '80s, including Jimmy Buffett and Dan Fogelberg. He now mentors young musicians in Grenada.... And Putnam's fingerprints are all over other soundtracks of our minds, either as a musician or producer in Nashville. He was best known in the 1960s as Elvis Presley's session bass player. But he also has played with George Harrison, Waylon Jennings, Dan Fogelberg, Kris Kristofferson, The Beau Brummels, Donovan, Dobie Gray, Steve Goodman, Gordon Lightfoot, The Monkees, Tommy Roe, Ray Stevens, Jerry Jeff Walker, Dottie West, Tony Joe White, Conway Twitty, Dan Seals and Linda Ronstadt. ...
- 'Celebrities' serve up cash for OUS
(Ironton Tribune, March 22, 2004)
Perhaps it was the luck of the Irish as a leprechaun floated between the tables. Or maybe the magic came from the Elvis sighting. Or was it the bluegrass music or the good food? More likely it was a bit of all of those and more that made Ohio University Southern's first Celebrity Waiter event such a huge success. ...
- 50-year alums recall tight-knit UA community
By Jenny Thompson
(The Crimson White, March 22, 2004)
In 1954, most men attending college did so with the help of the GI Bill. Dinah Shore and Perry Como dominated the airwaves, but in July, Memphis radio stations began playing the first record of a man named Elvis Presley. Students danced the bunny-hop, the two-step and the jitterbug. ... In 2004, about 75 members of the class of 1954 and the Golden 50s Club participated in an Alumni Weekend sponsored by the UA National Alumni Association and the Student Alumni Association on Friday and Saturday. ...
- You say goodbye, I say hello
By Randy Lewis
(Northern Star Online, March 22, 2004)
Rock'n'roll is fickle and has never been pegged as a stable or reliable industry. Since Bill Haley first rocked around the clock with the likes of Buddy Holly, Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry, music and music lovers have never been the same. Careers get started with brashly calculated strategies and equal strokes of luck. Yet, the same careers are maintained by walking on eggshells, greasing the right palms and, of course, equal strokes of luck. ...
- TAIL-WAGGING GOOD TIME: Dogs, owners pound the pavement for Humane Society
By ALLAN TURNER
(Houston Chronicle, March 21, 2004)
Natalie was dripping with rhinestones Sunday and she certainly had savoir-faire. With her wrap-around sunglasses and cool nonchalance, she somewhat resembled the fabled king of rock 'n' roll. But she was no Elvis. In fact, she was nothing but a hound dog. Natalie, a Labrador retriever mix belonging to Sugar Land insurance executive and part-time Elvis impersonator Mike Powell, was one of hundreds of dogs on hand for the Houston Humane Society's 23rd annual K-9 Fun Run/Walk at Sam Houston Park downtown. ...
- Reworked hits from decades ago are turning up all over the radio dial
By Randy Lewis
(Los Angeles Times, March 20, 2004)
When he wrote his song Everything Old Is New Again in the 1970s, Peter Allen didn't know that he was predicting the lay of the pop music landscape circa 2004. Flip on the radio and it won't be long before you hear Sheryl Crow singing The First Cut Is the Deepest, her new version of Rod Stewart's 1977 rendition of Cat Stevens' 1967 song. ... Has everyone in pop music suddenly forgotten how to write a song? In reality, observers say, the flurry of contemporary musicians covering songs of yore is the result of ever-tightening radio playlists, the superstar producer's transcendence of the songwriter-performer, and the spillover into pop and rock of rap's penchant for bringing music of the past into the present.
... Indeed, nearly a half-century ago when rock was born, most stars recorded their own takes on other musicians' hits. Elvis Presley's version of Carl Perkins' Blue Suede Shoes out-rocked the original, and the King landed one of his first nationwide hits with his update of Big Mama Thornton's Hound Dog. Jerry Lee Lewis charted his versions of Hank Williams' You Win Again, Ray Charles' What'd I Say and Chuck Berry's Sweet Little Sixteen. That continued a pop tradition, dating to the beginning of recorded music, in which the song was pre-eminent. In the '20s, '30s and '40s, it was common for multiple recordings of a hit song to wind up on the airwaves and the charts. (A dozen versions of the pop standard It Had to Be You charted from 1924 to 1944.)
Go to earlier articles
|
