Early August 2004
- Magician-Comedian Johnstone Dies
(wcco.com, August 7, 2004)
The magician-comedian George Johnstone, who appeared on "The Ed Sullivan Show" and opened for Elvis, has died of complications of Alzheimer's disease. He was 85. Johnstone started his career assisting vaudeville magician Harry Blackstone Senior but eventually took his combination of jokes and hocus-pocus solo. In 1950, a talent scout booked Johnstone for "The Ed Sullivan Show" in New York. Right afterward, he played the Palace Theatre in Times Square, another high-prestige venue. By 1956, he was invited to open for Elvis Presley on a southeast tour. ...
- GI to compete for 'World's Best Elvis'
By Laura Cruz
(El Paso Times Online, August 7, 2004)
Warner Bros.
Army Spc. Rob Langford, stationed at Fort Bliss, will shake his pelvis with the world's top Elvis impersonators this month as they compete for the title World's Best Elvis. The competition will take place in Memphis, Tenn. Fort Bliss soldier Spc. Rob Langford turns into Elvis Presley at the Velvet Rose Lounge for a set in the bar and occasionally mixes it up with patrons by handing out Elvis scarves. ...
- Reviews - DVD/Video: The Elvis Collection
By Katherine Taylor
(Entertainment Today, August 7, 2004)
Warner Bros.
It's hard to imagine a pop or rock 'n' roll star today cranking out the type and sheer quantity of friendly, formulaic fluff flicks that Elvis Presley did while also remaining at the top of his or her game musically. It's a testament, I suppose, to the fact that back in the days of the King, there weren't quite the mechanisms for media saturation that there are today, meaning that fans who wanted more, more, more of their original American idol would be more than happy to snarf up a "quickie" movie or three a year, all the while hoping for another shot of Jailhouse Rock. While they're of varying quality, this latest barrage of Elvis titles, collecting six Presley films from the 1960s, will set diehard fans screaming all a-new. Though each title is released individually, the collection includes It Happened at the World's Fair, Spinout, Speedway, Harum Scarum, Double Trouble and The Trouble With Girls (And How to Get Into It).
1963's It Happened at the World's Fair finds Presley cast as a dashing pilot-for-hire, and includes 10 original songs and an appearance by a young Kurt Russell. Spinout is probably the best of the bunch, mixing music, racecar driving and crisp, funny dialogue from writers Theodore Flicker and George Kirgo. Another Elvis-as-racecar-driver musical, Speedway co-stars Nancy Sinatra, Gale Gordon and Carl Ballantine, and benefits from their collective comedic presence. Double Trouble casts the King as a rocker who becomes the object of affection for an underage heiress (Annette Day); a mish-mash of many different styles and tones, it plays like a bad, lost Scooby-Doo episode. Harum Scarum, meanwhile, places notoriously among the lesser Elvis efforts, casting him as a rocker touring the Middle East to promote his new movie, an Arabian swashbuckler. Let's see this remade today with Justin Timberlake, right?
- Leaving a Little Bit of Elvis Amid an Area Renaissance
By EMILY YELLIN
(New York Times, August 7, 2004)
MEMPHIS JOURNAL
In 1995, Annette Neal was living in a wretched apartment at a broken-down housing project called Lauderdale Courts, two blocks from the Mississippi River on the northern end of downtown. The entire complex, built in 1938 and never refurbished, had just been deemed unsalvageable by the Memphis Housing Authority and was slated for demolition. Ms. Neal said then that her greatest hope was to move to a modern apartment, without leaking ceilings, ant and roach infestations and the rampant crime of Lauderdale Courts.
In the nine years since, Lauderdale Courts has been spared the wrecking ball and instead given a major overhaul. And on Monday, Ms. Neal's old apartment will be opened to the public with much fanfare. But it will appear the way it might have looked long before Ms. Neal's tenancy, when Elvis Presley and his mother and father lived in the 689-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment, from 1949 to 1953, when Elvis was a teenager.
The Presley apartment, 328, is part of an ambitious $36 million public-private venture that has transformed Lauderdale Courts into Uptown Square, an attractive, mixed-income community that has pleased all those involved in the area's renaissance - historic preservationists, commercial real estate developers, public housing officials, residents and even Elvis fans. As with all former Lauderdale Courts residents, Ms. Neal was invited to apply to move back. The housing authority mandated that 22 percent of Uptown Square's tenants be public housing residents. But at her current apartment she is close to her church and the Veteran's Hospital. Ms. Neal, a Vietnam veteran, suffered a leg injury recently and is unable to work. She decided not to apply, though she remained a bit wistful. "I do miss the tourists I met," she said. "And the Elvis impersonators were fun people.''
Ms. Neal said she became used to things Elvis at Lauderdale Courts, welcoming the steady stream of tourists at her door asking to look around, even though she was embarrassed for them to see the conditions of her apartment. "I know they wonder how anyone can live like this," she told The New York Times in 1995.
Soon after that, she was featured in the local, national and international news media. The National Enquirer disclosed another angle on the apartment, with Ms. Neal playing along, under the headline, "Elvis's Ghost Haunts Boyhood Home.'' Then, People magazine arranged a private V.I.P. tour of Graceland for Ms. Neal. And a Japanese film crew featured her in an Elvis documentary. Ms. Neal even began putting Elvis movies on her VCR when giving tours.
The publicity about demolition of Lauderdale Courts alerted Elvis fans worldwide, and they created an uproar. They wrote letters of protest to the mayor of Memphis, the housing authority, Graceland and to Andrew M. Cuomo, then the federal secretary of housing and urban development. And in 1996, historic preservationists got the entire site listed on the National Register of Historic Places, making it harder to tear down. The application did not mention Elvis. It was successful instead because Lauderdale Courts was a prime example of New Deal public housing, when it fulfilled its original promise of well-designed, affordable housing as a bridge to upward mobility.
Housing authority officials saw the opposition, and backed away from their demolition plans. The complex languished for years while the various sides struggled to agree on a plan. Then in 1999, three men stepped in with a vision to return Lauderdale Courts to its Depression-era promise, but with a 21st-century approach. ...
- Elvis Presley Enterprises CEO Jack Soden
(npr.org, August 7, 2004)
Twenty-seven years ago this month, Elvis Presley left the building for the last time. David and Tom Gardner talk about the continuing big business of Elvis with Elvis Presley Enterprises CEO Jack Soden [audio track].
- ELVIS' BACKING GROUPS TEAM UP FOR UNKNOWN ROCKER
(contactmusic.com, August 6, 2004)
The vocal groups that helped give ELVIS PRESLEY his distinctive sound have come together for the first time since the King's death to help a struggling rocker. Tribute band THE JORDANAIRES - who performed on Elvis' first recordings - girl group THE SWEET INSPIRATIONS and Presley's TCB band have teamed up for the first time since their leader's death in 1977 to give unknown JOHN KONDES a big break. And, to give Kondes an extra boost, Presley's songwriting collaborators PAUL EVANS and DENNIS LINDY have signed up for recording sessions. The rocker and Elvis' team are working on a new album with RAY BARDANI, who produced and remixed Elvis 30 #1 Hits album, in the same New York studio where the veteran brought Presley's hits back to life on the compilation.
Ironically, the stand-out track on Kondes' new untitled album, THE END, is a track his father JIMMY wrote for Elvis. The King never recorded the tune but he serenaded his wife PRISCILLA with the song.
- From Elvis to Britney, autograph collector shares his lifelong hobby
By KRISTIN DIZO
(SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, August 6, 2004)
Johnny Depp's resembles an abstract Picasso sketch. Angelina Jolie's looks like hieroglyphics. Shania Twain's could be confused with a seismic chart. Some the hundreds of autographed photos he's collected surround Mark Mitchell, at his Club Hollywood casino in Shoreline. Old Hollywood legends, such as Judy Garland and Marilyn Monroe, are well represented and among the highest valued. You can find those artful autographs and just about any screen star's John Hancock imaginable at Club Hollywood, a Shoreline casino that opened in September 2003. ... Mitchell has multiple copies of Jimmy Stewart, Marlene Dietrich and Elvis Presley, among others. ...
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AJ move sought for Elvis chapel
(Arizona Republic, August 5, 2004)
The Elvis Presley Chapel, one of three buildings that survived a fire that devastated Apacheland on Valentine's Day, is headed for a new home. Ed and Sue Birmingham donated the chapel to the Superstition Mountain Historical Society when they decided to sell Apacheland to a California developer in June. Phil Rauso, a Gold Canyon artist who fell in love with Apacheland when he digitally archived many of the artifacts at the movie set town in 1999, is heading a drive to raise money to move the chapel to the Superstition Mountain Museum at 4087 N. Apache Trail in Apache Junction. Neither raising the money nor moving the chapel, which was named after Presley because he guarded it in the movie Charro!, will be an easy task. ...
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Diamond-Studded Ring Worn by Elvis Presley on His Wedding Day to be Auctioned on e-Bay
(tmcnet.com / Business Wire, August 5, 2004)
On August 16, 1977 we lost Elvis Presley but his memory and spirit thrives. To mark this occasion you could own a specially-designed ring worn by Elvis Presley at his 1967 wedding to Priscilla. The 14-carat white gold ring with over 2-carats of diamonds is being auctioned on e-Bay by Auction Boulevard and will be listed on Thursday, August 5 at: http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewSellersOtherItems&userid=
The owner of the ring wishes to remain anonymous. The ring was given to the owner by Presley in 1968. According to a 1997 Wall Street Journal article, the owner was on a flight from Honolulu "when Mr. Presley stepped through the curtain from first class section to hear some eager young singers." One of the singers noticed the ring on Presley's hand and said, "Man, I dig that ring! 'He nearly fainted when Mr. Presley gave it to the (owner).'"
The ring is in the shape of a horseshoe with 10 diamonds forming it. Within the horseshoe is the letter "G," which honors Presley's mom, Gladys, and his 155-acre Circle G Ranch near Memphis.
The opening bid for the ring is $60,000.
Auction Boulevard is an Encino, California store that sells items on e-Bay on behalf of clients.
Editor's Note: a 300 dpi jpeg of the ring is available to use with the story.
- Geography lesson
(2nd item)
(The Beacon Journal, August 5, 2004)
A Belgian couple who have given their 15 children names related to Elvis Presley are struggling to find a name for the 16th, reports The Week mag. "If it had been a girl we would have called her Linda,'' said Jean-Pierre Antheunis. "Elvis once had a lover with that name.'' The couple's other children include, Elvis, Priscilla, Dakota and Tennessee, and they are considering naming the new baby Ohio. "There's no connection with Elvis,'' said Antheunis, "but it is in America.''
- New Jersey Rocks! The Garden State has played a major part in the 50-year history of rock 'n' roll
By RON MAKIN and MICHAEL T. BURKHART
(Courier-Post, August 5, 2004)
This summer marks the 50th anniversary of rock 'n roll, when Elvis Presley first recorded in Sun Studios in Memphis, Tenn. But it's a little-known fact that New Jersey also plays a big part in the evolution of rock 'n' roll. "A couple of years before Presley uttered the words, `I sing all kinds,' at Sun, Bill Haley was fusing the white country music and the black rhythm & blues that would become "Rock Around the Clock" in the honky tonks of Southwest Jersey," said Bob Santelli, a rock historian born and raised in New Jersey and now the director of education at the Experience Music Project, an interactive museum in Seattle. Haley and his Comets recorded "Rock Around the Clock" on April 12, 1954, more than two months before Presley first recorded at Sun. ...
The fusion of white country music and black rhythm & blues inspired Elvis Presley and Chuck Berry. Haley was brave for taking such musical strides because Salem and Camden counties were very rural and ultra-conservative. Haley risked losing his audience, yet they embraced the music. ...
- Speaking Roses Partners With Elvis Presley Enterprises to Offer First Elvis-Embossed Roses; Elvis Signature Collection Features Images and Signature of 'The King of Rock and Roll' Embossed Directly on Rose Petals
(stockhouse.com / BUSINESS WIRE, August 4, 2004)
Speaking Roses(R) International, Inc., a company with proprietary technology for printing images and messages on roses, today announced a partnership with Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. to provide the Elvis(R) Signature Collection. The collectible roses, which will be launched during Elvis Week (Aug. 7-16) in Memphis, Tenn., feature the signature and images of "The King of Rock and Roll" embossed directly onto the rose petals. Rose embossed with "Love Me Tender", "Don't Be Cruel", and "Viva Las Vegas" are also available. ...
- Elvis Festival canceled
By J. NOEL ESPINOZA
(Brownsville Herald [Texas], August 3, 2004)
Elvis Presley fans are all shook up after learning this year's Elvis Festival is canceled while the event organizer recovers from open-heart surgery. Simon Vega, 69, underwent surgery July 19 and will be unable to hold the event at Little Graceland - Vega's home that he partially converted into an Elvis museum for annual tributes to the king of rock 'n' roll. ... Vega holds two Elvis parties a year - one in January to celebrate Elvis' birthday and one in August to commemorate the date he died. The event started in 1995 at Little Graceland, which devotes its entire second floor and yard to Elvis memorabilia. Although Vega hopes to hold the festival in January, thousands of Elvis fans are disappointed they won't get the chance to celebrate "The King" on Aug. 14.
... The festival allows residents across the Rio Grande Valley to remember Elvis, a man Vega met while serving at a U.S. Army base in Germany in the late 1950s. ... Vega said about 2,000 people from across the United States visit Little Graceland for each event. The extra tourism is vital to the city, said Los Fresnos Chamber of Commerce President Don Badeaux.
- Elvis impersonator is hooked on call girls
(Washington Times / UPI, August 3, 2004)
Angry neighbors have mounted a campaign to have an aging Elvis Presley impersonator stop bringing call girls to his home in Oswestry, England. Tom Jones, 61, has spent some $125,000 hiring up to 2,000 escorts in three years, and says he became addicted to the women's company, The Mirror reported. ...
- Che's rebirth as political and cult figure
By Hans Pienaar
(Pretoria News, August 2, 2004)
Many people have forgotten who Guevara was but almost everyone recognises the T-shirt image of a long-haired freedom fighter in a beret. To celebrate the year 2000, Time magazine drew up a series of Top Ten lists; one was of the Icons of the Century. Marilyn Monroe was on it, and Elvis Presley. There were two non-Americans: Bruce Lee and Che Guevara. ...
- Happy 69th anniversary
By BARRY LINVILLE
(Tribune Chronicle, August 1, 2004)
What was the most important thing that happened in 1935? The invention of nylon ... the sale of the first Monopoly game ... the birth of Elvis Presley? Maybe Babe Ruth hitting his last career home run? While all were memorable events in our popular culture, one could make a good argument that the most important thing to happen in 1935 was the signing into law of the original Social Security Act on August 14 of that year. ...
- Sony BMG: Friendly giant?
By Phil Gallo
(New York Times, August 1, 2004)
Sony and BMG wanted to make one thing clear after the European Union and the Federal Trade Commission approved their merger: They're artist-friendly. Whether that remains true after 2,000 jobs are cut by the middle of next year, artist rosters are slashed and piracy continues to dent sales is anybody's guess. But the higher-ups are aware the public's chief concern is whether songs from their favorite artists are readily available. After the FTC delivered its seal of approval July 28, BMG stating that "the company will be dedicated to developing and supporting an array of international as well as national artists." Sony chimed in with "we look forward to establishing a dynamic new company that will be deeply dedicated to serving the needs of its artists." Pinning their future on a commitment to artists is a 180 degree spin from other recent announcements: When Edgar Bronfman Jr. snared the Warner Music Group from AOL Time Warner, the talk was all reorganization, from labels, to management, to roster sizes. The last news out of EMI came in March: 1,500 jobs slashed, a 20% cut in artist rosters and label reorganizations.
It makes one wonder when similar announcements will come from the newly minted Sony BMG. "Once we see who gets the top music job, then we'll know the direction of the company," says one former high-ranking label exec whose money in on Clive Davis being installed just under the hierarchy of Andrew Lack and Michael Smellie. Currently, Davis runs BMG's North American labels, chiefly RCA, J and Arista, and Don Ienner is Sony's label chieftain, presiding over Columbia and Epic. ... Davis has put his stamp on a number of records the last several years, starting with the career resuscitations of Carlos Santana, Luther Vandross and Rod Stewart and including the introduction of "American Idol" singers, Alicia Keys, Maroon 5 and Angie Stone. The distrib also boasts Dave Matthews, Annie Lennox, Avril Lavigne, Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. BMG boasts the year's biggest seller, Usher's "Confessions." ... Merger will bring together the catalogs of Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Santana and Miles Davis; BMG's RCA and Sony's Columbia date back to the turn of the 20th century.
- 'The Untold Story': How a Tabloid Became Semireputable
By BRUCE HANDY
(New York Times, August 1, 2004)
MOVIE star you'd recognize by her first name alone once admitted to me that the celebrity exposes in supermarket tabloids generally contain at least a nugget of truth. Stories might be exaggerated, spun, shaded or embellished, but in her estimation -- and this was someone whose firsthand experience hadn't inclined her toward generosity -- they were never completely fabricated. Hardly a ringing endorsement by Columbia Journalism Review standards, but these days, given the profession's recent embarrassments, people with bylines should probably not be casting stones. Iain Calder, a former National Enquirer editor, would agree. ''Show me the publication that hasn't goofed,'' he writes in ''The Untold Story,'' his engagingly roguish, if not quite rollicking, account of his three decades at the tabloid. His roles there included reporter, editor, editor in chief and semiretired desk jockey, and he is proud of the paper's record during his tenure (only one lost libel suit, to Carol Burnett, for insinuating she had been drunk in a restaurant). The nation's ombudsmen will be heartened to note that he has a solid understanding of the journalistic craft. ''It's not enough for reporters to tell you, 'Everyone knows,' '' Calder explains. ''You need specific witnesses.''
... Pope effectively handed him the editorial reins in 1973 and, four years later, Calder presided over what arguably remains the tabloid's greatest coup: snapping a photo of Elvis Presley in his coffin. A commando squad of 25 Enquirer reporters and freelancers had parachuted into Memphis after the singer's death, putting out the word that their gear included ''bags of money for big stories'' -- $100,000 in cash, all told. As is often the case, checkbook journalism worked: a cousin of Presley's was tracked down in the men's room of a local bar; for an undisclosed fee, he proved willing to sneak a camera into Graceland, where his famous kinsman lay in repose. The resulting issue sold 6.7 million copies, still an Enquirer record. Even more amazing, perhaps, is that the tabloid declined to buy Presley's shroud, telling a hospital worker who was peddling the King's bloody sheets to ''get lost.''
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