Late July 2004
- Ten reasons to travel in August
Compiled by Charles Starmer-Smith
(Telegraph, July 30, 2004)
... 7-16 Elvis Week, Graceland
If you fancy yourself as a bit of an Elvis Presley impersonator head to Graceland in Memphis, where fans from all corners of the globe gather to commemorate the death of The King on August 16, 1977. This week of celebrations includes a candlelit vigil around his grave, charity runs, art contests, dance and live entertainment. ...
- Elvis as icon - from rock star to Star Wars hybrid
By Jon W. Sparks
(Commercial Appeal, July 30, 2004)
Elvis is alive and well and taking new forms all the time. McFarlane Toys recently came out with an Elvis '68 Comeback Special action figure and that did well enough that the company has put out a second rockabilly figure to celebrate the 50th anniversary of rock and roll. Due in October: A Las Vegas version. For more info, check out Spawn.com. Meanwhile, the imagination never stops and the mind continues to boggle. On the exhibition floor of the recent 35th San Diego Comic-Con International in California, one enterprising guy got into Elvis impersonator mode and donned a Star Wars-style stormtrooper uniform. Now it's an odd amalgam, indeed, since stormtroopers in that long-ago, far-away galaxy give up their individuality - and that could never be said about Elvis. On the other hand, stormtroopers favored white spacesuit shells much like Elvis was resplendent in a white jumpsuit. The King was bedecked in a bit more jewelry than the evil emperor's minions, of course. But in another way, they were very much alike in knowing about Taking Care of Business. ...
- Gospel an old family tradition for the Blackwoods
By Jean Gordon
(Clarion-Ledger, July 30, 2004)
According to the Blackwoods' family lore, Elvis Presley once auditioned for the Southern Gospel group but wasn't hired because he couldn't harmonize well enough. "But look what he'd done afterwards," said Tommy Travis, who helped arrange the Blackwoods' performance tonight at the Wahabi Shrine Center in Jackson. Though not as famous as the singer they rejected, the Blackwoods have endured for decades as a successful family group that's earned 27 Dove Awards, eight Grammy Awards and a legion of loyal fans. ...
- Meet the System - Memphis: Hurricane Elvis!
By Simon Applebaum
(Cable World, July 30, 2004)
Do you remember the great windstorm of 2003? Most parts of the nation probably didn't even hear about the July 22 storm because the killing of Saddam Hussein's sons, Uday and Qusay, dominated the news that day. On the other hand, if you live in the Southeast U.S., you undoubtedly remember the windstorm - -with 100-plus-miles-per-hour winds making it comparable to a category 2 hurricane. For Time Warner Cable's system in Memphis, Tenn., the storm that weather specialists nicknamed "Hurricane Elvis" was just as eye-opening as it was ear-shattering. ...
- Women Win, Orchids Rule and Elvis Lives
By JANET MASLIN
(New York Times, July 30, 2004)
[James Patterson] is a publishing powerhouse, with best sellers that arrive regularly at four-month intervals. He has four brand-name ideas up and running: rhymes ("Roses Are Red"), numbers ("1st to Die"), houses ("The Lake House") and correspondence ("Sam's Letters to Jennifer," his latest). He averages three books a year, but next year there will be five. ... Peddling the dead can be accomplished in other ways, too: "Such Vicious Minds" is the latest in a series of mysteries (including "Blue Suede Clues" and "Viva Las Vengeance") that star the post-mortal Elvis Presley as a character. As written by Daniel Klein, this latest installment features a real Elvis, a fake Elvis and a blurb for the series ("I enjoyed this sequel as much as the first book") from no less a Presley fan than Bill Clinton. As for Elvis, well, he's still talking about pink Cadillacs and saying "Ma'am." ...
- X marks the spot where Elvis stood
(iol.co.za, July 30, 2004)
Michael Hallsworth stepped up to the big black X on the floor (right where Elvis stood), grabbed the microphone (the one Elvis used) and broke into It's Now Or Never. Hallsworth and his wife, Rita, came from Nottingham, England, to stand on this piece of hallowed ground for Elvis Presley fans - Sun Studio, where the King of Rock 'n' Roll began his ascent to fame. Holding the microphone and its floor stand at an angle, Hallsworth cut about as good an Elvis pose as one could expect from a retired house painter in red shorts and plaid shirt. And he looked just fine to his wife, who videotaped everything.
... A party was held here on July 5 - 50 years to the day after Presley came to Sun Studio to make his first commercial recording, That's All Right. More festivities are planned for Elvis Week, August 7 to 16. The celebration is an annual affair, organised by managers of Presley's estate to coincide with the anniversary of his death on August 16, 1977. Presley died at Graceland at age 42 of drug abuse and heart disease. The highlight of the anniversary week, which includes fan club meetings and parties, is a candlelight procession past Presley's grave, located in a small garden beside the house. It runs through the night of the 15th and often attracts upward of 10 000 participants. ...
- A Devotion to Elvis
By Sherry Youngquist
(Yahoo! News / Winston-Salem Journal, July 30, 2004)
Elvis lives. Except in this incarnation, The King is a 7-year-old girl. Nicole Hall, a rising first-grader at Cedar Ridge Elementary, was a little nervous yesterday before a live radio broadcast. She's more accustomed to belting out the tunes in her living room. Adding to her state was the possibility of performing a duet with a nationally recognized Elvis Presley impersonator. It was enough to make Hall tremble in her white jumpsuit. ...
- Feds OK Sony-BMG Merger
By Julie Keller
(Yahoo! News, July 29, 2004)
The Federal Trade Commission has just cleared the way for the merger of Sony and BMG's resepective record music divisions, shrinking the field of the world's major record companies by one. The FTC approval, which comes on the heels of a similar ruling last week in Europe, means that regulators believe the new company, henceforth known as Sony-BMG, does not violate antitrust laws and that the merger can move on full-steam ahead. ... And they're not kidding about a "vast catalog." BMG's labels, including RCA, J Records, Jive and Arista, are home to Elvis Presley, ..
- TIMBERLAKE TO PLAY ELVIS ON BROADWAY?
(contactmusic.com, July 29, 2004)
Pop prince JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE is reportedly being lined up to play ELVIS PRESLEY in a new musical about the King of Rock. Movie giants MIRAMAX want the hunky singer - who has confessed to being a fan of Presley - to star in the Broadway, New York production to be titled ALL SHOOK UP. But representatives for Timberlake, who will make his movie debut playing a reporter in upcoming film EDISON, are remaining coy. When quizzed on the venture, a spokesperson told American news site PAGESIX.COM, "Absolutely no way."
- Eminem Is Too Lewd For The Average British Telly Viewer
By Stephen Petrick
(chartattack.com, July 28, 2004)
Eminem has been derogatorily compared with Elvis Presley before, but this is a new kind of parallel between the King Of Rock 'N' Roll and the Prince Of 8 Mile. A dozen BBC watchers - seemingly unaware of the thousands of headlines shock rapper Eminem has made over the years - found a recent appearance on the network "lewd" and "offensive." The Detroit native known for stirring the pot on every politically-incorrect subject imaginable appeared on BBC's Top Of The Pops on April 9. The station was reportedly flooded with complaints after the broadcast. ...
- SHOPTALK: The One Ad Guy Fit For A King
By Tim Nudd
(Yahoo! News, July 28, 2004)
Not every adman has a royal patron. Joe Petruccio counts Elvis Presley as his chief muse and benefactor. The group ecd at Avrett Free Ginsberg in New York has painted more than 200 portraits of the King and last year was named the only officially licensed artist to Graceland. Petruccio, 45, who in the '70s donned a black leather suit as an Elvis impersonator, got the gig after he posted some of his work to an Elvis-memorabilia collector's Web site and fans contacted Graceland wanting to buy it. "I try to give some vitality and breathe new life into Elvis, because we see the same pictures of him over and over again," Petruccio says. One such portrait, titled U.S. Male, shows a young Elvis dressed as a cowboy and leaning on a Cadillac.
Petruccio is about to get a much bigger audience. His painting Memphis Son -- which depicts Elvis' first session at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tenn., 50 years ago this month - -appears on the hood of an Elvis-themed car of Nascar driver Bill Elliott. ... Petruccio's medium of choice? Acrylic. He has yet to dabble in Elvis' unofficial signature medium, velvet.
- Elvis Presley's Teenage Home Saved
(ksoundgenerator.com, July 28, 2004)
Elvis Presley's teenage is to opened as a public attraction next month. The City of Memphis and Uptown Partnership today confirmed that renovations have finished on the property, which was due to be demolished as part of the Lauderdale Courts complex, but saved for preservation by the appeals of Elvis fans and the Memphis Heritage preservation organization.
"We asked fans and the public for their opinions on what we should do with this important American treasure," stated Henry Turley, managing partner of The Uptown Partnership. "Considering our residents, the best solution was to open the apartment for public tours on the two weeks that mean so much to loyal Elvis fans." The former home of the rock n' roll legend will have its grand opening at 10:00 am on August 9th and be available for fans and the public to tour during Elvis Birthday celebrations each January and Elvis Week every August.
The Presley residence is now part of the new Uptown Square community in the innovative Uptown Memphis development. The apartment was originally part of Lauderdale Courts, a Roosevelt-era WPA housing development. The Presley family lived in this close-knit neighbourhood from 1949 to 1953. Here Elvis met other Memphis musicians, practiced in the basement laundry room and gained confidence by performing for family and friends in the community courtyards. He walked to nearby Beale Street, where he listened to the blues artists of the day. He had easy access to Sun Studio and Pop Tunes record store around the corner.
"Living at Lauderdale Courts, Elvis had access to a myriad of musical experiences," explained Jack Soden of Elvis Presley Enterprises. "The proximity to Beale Street, Sun Studio and Pop Tunes made this community the perfect environment for his incredible talent to grow and flourish."
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