Early October 2004
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Event leaves fans 'All Shook Up'
By SUZANNA TUDOR
(Northwest Indiana Times, October 10, 2004)
Elvis definitely did not leave the building at Woodland Park this weekend.
Fans from across the country came to relive the splendor of the "King of Rock 'n' Roll" during the annual Elvis Fantasy Fest. ... In addition to tribute artists, Joe Esposito, Sam Thompson and other friends of Elvis shared stories of their activities with the legend. Thompson recalled the day when his sister, Linda, called and asked if he would like to meet her new boyfriend. He was floored when she told him it was Elvis Presley. An officer for the Shelby County Sheriff Department at the time, Thompson went to Graceland to meet them, he said. "I'm a cop. I'm not going to be intimidated," he told himself. "When Elvis walked in wearing sunglasses and a karate outfit, I couldn't even talk. It was embarrassing." In the exhibition hall, tables were filled with Elvis memorabilia available to purchase, and silent auction wares were on display. Proceeds from the auction will go to Porter County Special Olympics. ...
Elvis Presley impersonator Jim Potter, of East Peoria, Ill
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Elvis rocks the Elks
By Wil Marlow
(Shelby Promoter, October 8, 2004)
Elvis didn't leave the building until late at night on Friday, Oct. 1, at the Ladies' Night Out, held at the Shelby Elks' Club. Not surprisingly, fans gave him several rousing requests for more. It may not have been the real Elvis, but Elvis Presley impersonator Chuck Yeager, of Great Falls, put on quite a show, looking and sounding remarkably like the musical icon. Yeager is not new to the gig, having also portrayed the famous singer in Las Vegas. Yeager-Elvis-sang such hits as "Little Sister," "Suspicious Minds," and "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" during two sets. The performance featured costume changes during the event, which drew a small but very happy crowd. ...
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Hall or nothing ...
By Wil Marlow
(icEssex, October 8, 2004)
JAMIE Theakston is finding it hard to think of a song he associates with falling in love. But the actor and presenter, who is heading up Channel 4's new flagship music show the UK Music Hall Of Fame, soon thinks of a song that soundtracked the end of a relationship. "There's one by Prefab Sprout called When Love Breaks Down," he says. Jamie, 33, might be being coy, because he's very much in love. After his relationship with actress Joely Richardson ended in 2002, and despite a storm surrounding his infamous "brothel incident", Jamie seems happily settled with 26-year-old model Erin O'Connor.
... What might cause some disagreement between the couple, however, as it will throughout the country, is Jamie's UK Music Hall Of Fame, which sets out to recognise artists from the 50s up to the 90s who have had the most impact on popular music, and induct them into the Hall Of Fame. ... Five founder members have already been picked by the Hall Of Fame's steering group - which is made up of journalists, broadcasters and music industry experts - because their contribution to the UK's musical landscape is such that they deserve automatic induction.
The Beatles, Madonna, Bob Marley, Elvis Presley and U2 received that honour, but not everyone agrees they were the right choices. "Out of all of them, my friends were most surprised to see Bob Marley in there," says Jamie. There will be five nomination shows, each one focusing on a different decade, and 10 artists will be put up for public vote. The winners get inducted into the Hall Of Fame at a star-studded awards ceremony. Though he won't give any clue as to the artists who will be featured, Jamie will say who he would like to see there. His 50s choice, Elvis, has already been chosen, but for the 60s he'd go for Velvet Underground, the 70s The Sex Pistols, the 80s Public Enemy, and for the 90s he mentions Nirvana and Radiohead. ...
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Richmond Colony trip a Classic
By Jimmy Edwards, Special to the Whitehaven Appeal
(Commercial Appeal, October 7, 2004)
Members of Richmond Colony Neighborhood Association near Elvis Presley and Holmes Road in Whitehaven recently teamed up with the Memphis Area Transit Authority and chartered a bus to take association members, their guests and MATA employees to the Southern Heritage Classic. ... "This year ... everyone who attended had a wonderful time." ... "The fellowship was so good, and MATA was so impressed with the turnout, they have decided to make it an annual event," said Edwards. "So many neighbors have been talking about how much fun it was we'll probably need two chartered buses by the time the game rolls around next year, but those that couldn't make it won't have to wait that long to join in on the fun. We're inviting everyone to attend our annual October Festival and Antique Car Show at Holmes Road Church of Christ at Holmes and Elvis Presley at 11 a.m. on Oct. 9."
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Elvis to enter the building - PORTAGE: Annual event supports Porter County Special Olympians
By JOYCE RUSSELL
(Northwest Indiana Times Online, October 7, 2004)
Elvis Presley may have sung about hound dogs and how the jailhouse rocks before his death more than two decades ago, but if he were alive today, the King of Rock may have been singing about those who Lorrie Woycik calls "true Special Olympian angels. This weekend, Presley's legacy is honored as fans from across the country flock to Woodland Park for the 13th annual Elvis FANtasy Fest. While they're listening to guest speakers and tribute artists, playing a little Elvis bingo and browsing dozens of booths featuring Elvis memorabilia, fans also will be supporting the more than 400 Porter County Special Olympians. ...
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'50s 'fall girl' fell for horses
By Wylie Eden
(Lake Country News, October 6, 2004)
Martha Cantarini worked with some of the biggest Hollywood stars of the 1950's, but it was the horses that stole her heart. Clark Gable, Elvis Presley, Eleanor Parker, Gregory Peck, Shirley MacLaine, Henry Fonda, Jean Simmons, Carol Baker, Ronald Reagan, and James Stewart - the 79-year-old Holiday Park resident has worked with, and met, them all. But when she looks back on her 10 years of stunt riding and doubling for the top western movie actresses of the era, the conversation always seems to race towards horses such as 'Ski,' 'Midnight' and 'Frosty.' ...
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Great Guitarist James Burton
By Mike Angell
(Yahoo! News, October 6, 2004)
It's not likely you've heard of James Burton. But it's likely you've heard him. If you ever listened to Elvis Presley, John Denver, Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, the Beach Boys, the Monkees, George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Emmylou Harris, Dean Martin or Merle Haggard, then you've heard James Burton play the guitar. Biographers call Burton one of the greatest guitarists and session musicians ever. He has played on thousands of albums. A professional musician for 52 years, he's won multiple awards for his guitar playing. ...
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Loretta Lynn
(askmen.com, October 6, 2004)
why we like her? Loretta Lynn could be considered the female Elvis Presley of country music. She's been doing it longer than The King and has reached milestones just as impressive as his. She even has her own Graceland: the Loretta Lynn Ranch in Tennessee provides guided tours to the public. Yep, Loretta's just like Elvis, minus the sideburns. ...
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Elvis, Michael and me
By Sandra Howard
(manchester news, October 6, 2004)
MICHAEL Howard does a mean impersonation of Elvis Presley, according to his wife Sandra. And although he used Elgar's enigma variations to herald his big speech at the conference, he would have preferred a hit from the King. But copyright problems meant Elvis was out of bounds.
"Michael does a very good impersonation of Elvis in private. He's never done it in public," said Mrs Howard. The Tory leader's wife was a famous model in the 1960s, mixing with the likes of Twiggy and Jean Shrimpton. If her husband Michael wins the next election, she will once again be under the spotlight. ...
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"BURNING LOVE" FOR THE KING KEEPS ELVIS PRESLEY'S SPIRIT ALIVE!!! (The Story Continues...)
(PR Web, October 6, 2004)
Elvis' Music Entourage Carries On Presley's Unfinished Work! Elvis' "Hit Making Team" Back In The Recording Studio Again.
The media, music fans, and the rest of the entertainment industry are still trying to figure out what to make of these guys. Some have called it reincarnation; others believe its kismet, divinely eerie, at the top of the list with unexplained things like UFO's!!! What ever you want to call it, most agree it's pretty cool.
As the music industry is grasping for change, something really different, maybe it's Elvis himself orchestrating this new beginning from Rock 'n Roll Heaven. Weekly World News recently ran a cover story entitled "Elvis Is Alive", with numerous photos of Elvis sightings; people just don't want to let go! It just could be Elvis' way of saying, enough already of the fakers and pretenders, now it's time for the "Real Thing" again!!! Singer / Songwriter John Krondes is back in the recording studio crankin' out the hits with the Jordanaires and other MVP members of the original Elvis Presley "Hit Making Team." Undisputedly, this is the craziest and one of the most implausible and bewildering stories in the music business today. Over the past year, virtually every member of the Elvis "Hit Making Machine" (including the "TCB" Band & The Sweet Inspirations) has somehow fatefully found their way into this exploding music making project by singer John Krondes and the Jordanaires. The Jordanaires are the famed vocal group that backed-up Elvis on just about every song he recorded up to 1970.
Just this past week, and for the second time this past year, John Krondes and the Jordanaires recorded a number of new songs for their upcoming CD at Emerald Recording Studio in Nashville and The Hit Factory and Sound on Sound Recording in New York. The Presley "Hit Makers", in addition to the Jordanaires, included in this newest session are Ronnie Tutt (Elvis' Drummer), Reggie Young (Elvis Guitarist) and Mike Leech (Elvis Bass Player). While Ronnie Tutt recorded and toured with Elvis, Reggie Young and Mike Leech were part of the recording team at "American Studios" in Memphis that was responsible for many monster hits for Presley. Both Young and Leech nicknamed "The Memphis Boys", played on Elvis hits such as "Suspicious Minds", "In The Ghetto" and "Kentucky Rain." Further, Mike Leech wrote the arrangements on "Suspicious Minds" and "In The Ghetto." Other noted performers joining the latest Krondes recording session include Ira Siegel (Guitar), Kenny Ascher (Organ), Rodger Morris (Piano), Doug Jernigen (Steele Guitar) and Charlie Vaughn (Acoustic Guitar).
Many Elvis fans and music industry professionals alike are of the belief that this story of John Krondes and the Jordanaires and the reuniting of the Elvis "Hit Making Team" is one designed by fate. T rue to its philosophical theory, history is most definitely repeating itself in this scenario. A myriad of radio stations have noted the graceful chemistry between John and the Jordanaires and commented on the awesome harmony. Combined with the rest of the original Presley musical unit, there is a style and sound no short of majestic, much analogous to the symphonic relationship Elvis shared with these very same musicians. Krondes states, "This is all too weird to even try to explain." "From the moment I met the Jordanaires, people connected to Elvis kept entering my life." Singer John Krondes accidentally spotted the Jordanaires name on a billboard in Las Vegas, and then the rest is now history. Seemingly still controlled by destiny, John Krondes ran into Elvis' first drummer D.J. Fontana while changing planes at Washington Dulles Airport, on the way to the recording session in Nashville. D.J. Fontana was Elvis' original drummer who recorded and performed with Presley from 1955-1968. John and D.J. talked at length about the project and are planning to record a few numbers along with Elvis' first guitarist Scotty Moore.
Elvis music writer Paul Evans along with John Krondes wrote new material for the sessions. Evans wrote such Presley hits as "I Gotta Know", "Something Blue" and "The Next Step Is Love." Strangely, one of the latest session recordings was a song pitched to Elvis in the 1970's written by John's late father Jimmy Krondes and Paul Evans, entitled "Listen For The Wind." Maintaining the programming formula "Something Old, Something New, Something Blue", John Krondes and the Jordanaires have just recorded a fabulous new version of the Country standard "There Goes My Everything."
A new Krondes and Evans collaboration, party theme "Vegas in the Morning" is scheduled for release in January 2005 to coincide with the start of the Las Vegas "Centennial Celebration." The City of Las Vegas will be celebrating its 100-year birthday all through 2005, with lots of scheduled events and parties. For more information go to the official web site for the Las Vegas "Centennial Celebration": http://www.lasvegas2005.org/
A new E-mail address has been set up for fan mail for John Krondes and the Jordanaires and the Elvis "Hit Making Team" at e-mail protected from spam bots. Fans can effortlessly get a copy of "The End", the first single by John Krondes and the Jordanaires at Amazon.com. "The End", which essentially launched this project, continues to recieve great applause from Radio.
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Beatles Photographs Stolen Near Clinton Library
(Yahoo! News / Reuters, October 5, 2004)
A collection of early photographs of the Beatles intended for the Clinton Presidential Library has been stolen from the car of George Harrison's sister in a smash-and-grab robbery, police said. The photographs and some Beatles lyrics were in a briefcase stolen on Sunday when the thief smashed the window of Lou Harrison's locked car, which was parked in downtown Little Rock several blocks from the Clinton library. "There's no indication the thief or thieves had any idea what was in the case," said Sgt. Terry Hastings of the Little Rock Police Department. ... Lou Harrison drove to Little Rock from her home in Illinois to donate the material to the archive of former President Bill Clinton, who considers the Beatles second only to Elvis Presley among his greatest musical influences. ...
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Stargazing
(Boston Globe, October 6, 2004)
Will Bill Clinton's presidential library have a Beatles wing? The former president was sometimes compared to Elvis Presley -- but it looks as if the Fab Four will be on display at the soon-to-be-opened library, MSNBC.com reported. Louise Harrison, sister of the late Beatle George Harrison, recently visited Little Rock, Ark., to donate Beatles goodies to the Clinton Library, which will open next month. She then attended a screening of "Fahrenheit 9/11," attended by filmmaker Michael Moore.
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Fifties musician recalls meeting Elvis
By Kate Miller
(STL Today, October 4, 2004)
Back in the late 1950s, when rock 'n' roll was a relatively new sound on A.M. radio, a band called The Casuals was traveling across the country, opening for performers such as Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins. "Right out of high school we went on the road," said Buzz Cason, a former member of The Casuals who went on to earn songwriting credits with major artists. "In the beginning we played rock 'n' roll, rockabilly and early R&B. We weren't really good at country and western." Cason was with The Casuals when the band backed Brenda Lee. In 1959, under the pseudonym of Garry Miles, Cason had a solo hit with "Look for a Star." He is best known, however, as a songwriter. He wrote or co-wrote songs many country and western songs - performed by artists including the Beatles, Gloria Estefan, Jan and Dean, Martina McBride, Ricky Nelson, Dolly Parton, Pearl Jam, T.G. Shepard and U2. ... After living on the road, working in the music industry and meeting and working with a "who's who" list of performers during the decades, Cason compiled more than enough memories to fill a book.
In April, his book, "Living the Rock 'n Roll Dream: The Adventures of Buzz Cason," was published. The 200-page book features about 50 photographs of Cason and other rock 'n' roll pioneers. Cason writes about the highlights of his career, the people he has known and offers insight into the music industry. There are stories about touring, meeting Elvis Presley and co-discovering Jimmy Buffet, just to name a few. ... He relived his past as he wrote. In one adventure, The Casuals met Elvis, thanks to a disc jockey in Memphis. "We said, 'How can we meet Elvis?' and he (the disc jockey) said he would stop by the radio station," Cason said. Not only did the band meet Elvis at the station later that day, Elvis talked about the house he had just bought and told the band they should see it. "That house was Graceland," Cason said. "He had not moved in yet. We looked through the windows and saw the (brightly painted) walls. Those pictures from meeting Elvis are in the book." ...
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Sausage King touts autobiography
By GREG CUNNINGHAM
(AMARILLO, October 4, 2004)
The Sausage King is coming back to his old stomping grounds, and he's bringing a new book with him. Plainview's most famous son, Jimmy Dean, will be in Amarillo on Wednesday to sign his new autobiography and spread some of his famous down-home humor to fans of the country music star turned sausage magnate. ... Dean's new book, "Thirty Years of Sausage, Fifty Years of Ham - Jimmy Dean's Own Story," contains a lot of the wit and some of the wisdom that made Dean a popular entertainer in television, movies and music. ... Dean started entertaining when he was stationed in Washington while serving in the Air Force. He caught on at a bar playing accordion with a band for tips, eventually getting hired permanently for $25 a week. ... That gig led Dean into a career in music which took off in 1953 with his first hit "Bummin' Around" and peaked with his Grammy-winning "Big Bad John." Dean's book is full of colorful stories of the music luminaries he ran into during his career as a singer and a host of several radio and television music programs, including a very young Elvis Presley.
Dean said Presley came on a Washington radio program to promote a show he was doing, but the young entertainer was so nervous, the only answers he gave were "Yeps" and "Nopes." "Years later, when we were both playing Las Vegas, Elvis would apologize profusely for leaving me hanging on that interview," Dean wrote. "He told me 'You know, Jimmy, I was so sorry about that, but I was scared to death.' It's hard to believe that Elvis could be shy or afraid of anything, but I guess even "The King" had those days in the beginning." ...
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Nervous party hopes for a little more action: Leadership sees kiss-and-tell Soames as its human face
By Nicholas Watt
(Guardian Unlimited, October 4, 2004)
The sex life of Nicholas Soames has long been a source of fascination since an ex-girlfriend likened his lovemaking technique to a wardrobe falling over with its key sticking out. So Tories will no doubt be delighted this week when the rotund grandson of Winston Churchill sheds light on his first kiss, as part on an attempt by Central Office to make the party leadership appear more human. ... The Tories will hope to live up to Elvis's grainy appeal later in the song for "a little less fight and a little more spark". ...
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Satellite broadcasters pin hopes on celebrities
By SABRINA TAVERNISE
(tennessean.com / New York Times News Service, October 4, 2004)
The personalities could not be more different. Bob Edwards, the radio host whose silky voice meant morning to millions of listeners across the country, was scheduled to begin broadcasting again this morning from a Washington studio located an eighth of a mile from his former employer, National Public Radio. Just hours before, in a New York studio, the irreverent radio duo Opie and Anthony were due to start a new show, their first since 2002, when they were forced from their WNEW-FM program in New York City after they broadcast a producer's live account, delivered via cell phone, of a couple purported to be having sex in St. Patrick's Cathedral.
The new shows have one thing in common: They are being broadcast only on satellite radio, a new medium that became broadly available in the United States just three years ago. The hope among executives at XM Satellite, the company that carries the two shows, is that the radio personalities will motivate some of their devoted fans to pay XM's subscription rate of $9.99 a month. Morning Edition, for example, grew to about 13 million listeners a week over the 24 years that Edwards hosted it. Sirius Satellite Radio, XM's competitor, charges $12.95 a month.
The shows highlighted a dramatic change in the landscape of radio. XM, started in Washington in 2001, and New York-based Sirius, which began in 2002, have sought to grab more of the audience of conventional radio, but XM's recruitment of high-profile personalities at both ends of the programming spectrum has been the most aggressive attempt to date to win listeners. ... The satellite radio companies had been producing their own programming since they started. Their music channels have themes, such as jazz, blues, alternative rock, Christian pop, country, and even an Elvis Presley channel. XM and Sirius offer commercial-free music channels in addition to channels dedicated to sports, news, comedy, traffic and weather. ...
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Elvis takes over seaside resort
By Colin Hughes
(Western Mail, October 4, 2004)
THE normally reserved seaside resort of Porthcawl was getting back to normal today after being all shook up over the weekend. No fewer than 45 Elvis Presley lookalikes hit town for the biggest Elvis Festival in Europe. And more than 40 separate events took place from the start of the three-day event on Friday until the last blue suede shoe was kicked off last night. ...
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Rockers grave on: How death has left its mark on acts through the years
By ISAAC GUZMAN
(New York Review of Books, October 2, 2004)
It's no secret that there's always been a cultish obsession with death in rock music. In song, death is the theme that made Black Sabbath scary and gave Jay-Z street cred. In life, it turned fallen rockers such as Elvis Presley, John Lennon, Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. into secular saints.
In recent months, death has been a common topic among rock fans. We lost pioneering deejay Scott Muni last week. A few weeks earlier, Johnny Ramone succumbed to cancer, becoming the third member of the original Ramones quartet to die since 2001. Also, New York Dolls bassist Arthur (Killer) Kane died of leukemia in July. His passing made the Dolls one of the most fatality-prone bands in rock. Of the group's first six members, only two remain. ... So with apologies to those who don't share our morbid fascination, we look rock 'n' roll death in the eye and examine some of the most ghoulish trends in rock history.
... Waking the dead
... GRACELAND: Elvis' personal Taj Mahal of bad taste gets 600,000 visitors a year. ...
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SHEPHERD REVISITS GRACELAND
(contactmusic.com, October 1, 2004)
American entertainer CYBILL SHEPHERD was so overwhelmed by emotion when she took a trip to Graceland to visit the grave of her former lover ELVIS PRESLEY, she has written a song about the experience. The actress-turned-comedienne has recorded GRACELAND REVISITED for her new album AT HOME WITH CYBILL - all about how her visit to his final resting place in Memphis, Tennessee stirred up vivid memories. She says, "It just knocked me sideways with a big emotional wallop. I worked on that song for four years to get it right. It took so long because it had great reverberations for me." Three years ago (2001), Shepherd stunned Elvis fans when she claimed his performance in bed was so bad that she had to teach him oral sex.
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