Late December 2004
- Shaver's words tell story of his life and music
By MARY HOULIHAN
(Chicago Sun-Times, December 24, 2004)
Billy Joe Shaver is one of country music's true songwriting stalwarts. And like many who claimed a spot in the outlaw country movement of the late '70s, he has battled many demons. The 63-year-old Texan talks about his life's setbacks and ongoing passion for music in Luciana Pedraza's quietly revealing documentary "Portrait of Billy Joe," now making its local debut at the Gene Siskel Film Center. ... While his songs have been recorded by the likes of Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Patty Loveless and Tom T. Hall, Shaver has never become a brand name. He uses words and music to reflect on his life but admits that dreams of success died a long time ago. Music is now "just something I do, and I do it well." ...
- Extras sought in Metairie for miniseries about Elvis
(KATC / Associated Press, December 24, 2004)
The makers of a C-B-S miniseries about Elvis Presley will hold a casting call Sunday afternoon in Metairie. The series, "Elvis," which stars Jonathan Rhys-Meyers as Presley, as well as Randy Quaid and Rose McGowan, needs actors and extras. ...
- The more things change ... Wartime separations at Christmas are nothing new
By SUZANNE MOORE
(Boston Globe, December 24, 2004)
That holiday season of 1969, Elvis Presley sang, "I'll be Home for Christmas." "I played that record over and over again, and I cried," remembered Phyllis Sloper of Willsboro. Her husband, Allen, was fighting in Vietnam. Every year, Nick Sallese remembers an American air base in Ipswich, England, in 1944, where he and other bomber crew members were grounded by bad weather. "(So) for two weeks, our boys were clobbered in Bastogne (Belgium)," the AuSable man said. "Just like now, they were short of troops. "And they got no air support." Neither Sloper nor Sallese can think of Christmas 2004 without deep empathy - from one perspective or the other - for those families separated by the Iraq war or duty in Afghanistan. ...
- Bumpy landing: The first half of 'The Aviator' soars, but the second act is dull business
By Ty Burr
(Boston Globe, December 24, 2004)
The poet William Carlos Williams once wrote, "The pure products of America go crazy," a line that was later quoted by rock critic Greil Marcus in a well-known essay about Elvis Presley. For good reason: It gets right to the mix of ambition, excess, and weirdness that fuels greatness in this country, not just in Elvis, but in Michael Jackson, Muhammad Ali, Joan Crawford, Truman Capote, George Patton, Marlon Brando, Kurt Cobain, Billie Holiday -- all our domestic gods and goddesses. Howard Hughes was as pure a product as this country has come up with, and as crazy as a bedbug too. A rare combination of daredevil pilot and movie visionary, he inherited a family tool company at 18, bent Hollywood to his will in his 20s, broke the world speed record at 30, revolutionized the airline industry in his 40s, and, famously, aged into a demented germaphobic recluse in his late 60s, with 6-inch fingernails and Kleenex boxes on his feet. Now Miramax's Harvey Weinstein -- also pretty pure in these matters -- has bankrolled a new movie about Hughes by Martin Scorsese. ...
- Online casino bags Sky sponsorship deal
(onlinecasinonews.com, December 23, 2004)
InterCasino.com is to sponsor the Sky One second series of Las Vegas when it starts in January. The sponsorship will involve InterCasino.com adverts at the start and finish of the programme, alongside break bumpers for its sub-brands InterPoker and InterBingo, with the message "Las Vegas in your home". The adverts feature a couple who welcome Las Vegas into their home using their laptop. The man turns into Elvis Presley and the woman turns into a Vegas showgirl.
- Don't let the tweed jackets, trench coat and pipe fool you -- Ralph J. Gleason was an apostle of jazz and rock with few peers
By Joel Selvin
(San Francisco Chronicle, December 23, 2004)
Ralph J. Gleason's Berkeley hills home looks as if he left last week, even though the great jazz and rock critic has been dead for nearly 30 years. His epic LP record collection covers one wall of the living room and a pile of 45 RPM singles sits by the door. A poster from the first San Francisco rock concert at the Longshoreman's Hall hangs in the center of the living room. It was one of three silk-screened by Jefferson Airplane vocalist Marty Balin.
... Today's pop music critics, who cut their teeth on Pearl Jam and Nirvana, will never have the chance to leave behind a legacy like Gleason's. ... At The Chronicle, Gleason became the first daily newspaper critic in the country to cover jazz and pop music openings like theater or opera openings. ... He kept an ear cocked toward other sounds and frequently lectured his readers on the musical qualities of rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues. He interviewed Elvis Presley, Fats Domino, Louis Jordan, Ivory Joe Hunter, Big Joe Turner and Ray Charles in The Chronicle. He even paused to scorch the unspeakably square Pat Boone ("pretentious and a bit of a phony''). ...
- Some alternatives to the ball drop!
By LESLIE MIZELL
(Go Triad, December 23, 2004)
Bleh, New Year's Eve. I have little patience with a holiday that wants either to force me into a social event culminating in awkward kissing and champagne, which I hate, or to sit at home waiting for a corporate-sponsored crystal ball to slide down a building. Woo-hoo. Not. Luckily, a few theatrical alternatives are a lot more appealing than ringing in 2005 with that rockin' Regis Philbin. And if some of them are outside the Piedmont - well, you're sick of your house by that point in the holidays anyway, aren't you?
... Elvis Presley saw his final new year several decades ago, but that hasn't stopped Stephen Freeman, who's a tribute artist, not an impersonator. Freeman's shows have been Barn Dinner Theatre (292-2211) favorites, and he's back for a one-night-only engagement. Following the regular Barn buffet, Freeman takes the stage for an evening of Elvis standards. Then the patrons take the floor for dancing until midnight, a champagne toast and a breakfast buffet. Door prizes will be awarded throughout the evening. ...
- Bing's 'White Christmas'
By Diana West
(Washington Times, December 23, 2004)
I'm not exactly sure why it is that Bing Crosby's recording of "White Christmas" by Irving Berlin remains an indispensable audio-heirloom of the season, dusted off and played each year now for more than 60 Christmases. It's not that Berlin wasn't one of the pre-eminent composers of the American popular song; that Crosby wasn't the pre-eminent voice of the American popular song; or that "White Christmas" isn't a perfectly luscious ballad in that long lost tradition. It's in the long-lostness of the tradition that the mystery arises: Why does an antique Berlin ballad written in 1942 still sound like Christmas to Americans in 2004?
... We all know rock vanquished the old pop song. Indeed, the triumph of rock culture is complete to the point that there exists no memory of pop culture B.E. (Before Elvis). But it's not Elvis' pulsating rendition of "White Christmas" that dominates today's holiday playlist. This quirk of culture would no doubt tickle Berlin, who early on peered into the deepening chasm between rock and pop and didn't like what he saw.
Indeed, in 1957, Berlin asked assistants to telephone radio stations across the country to urge them not to play Elvis' "White Christmas." Which was a little like asking a hurricane to stop the rain in more ways than one. While Bing and Elvis were giants in their successive heydays, it is only Elvis who lives on in our rock-dominated culture. In her evocative memoir "Girl Singer," Rosemary Clooney, having noted that the two singers died weeks apart in 1977, explained their respective legacies this way: "It is ironic, and saddening, more than twenty years later, Elvis is still a presence in the American consciousness, while only aficionados still make an icon of Bing."
Except, maybe, at Christmas. Elvis may lead Forbes' top-earning dead celebrities list, but in the week before Christmas, Amazon.com ranks "Elvis' Christmas Album," which includes "White Christmas," 447th, and "White Christmas: Bing Crosby," 124th. And we all know which singer we are more likely to hear while standing in line for gift wrap. Why? I think the explanation has to do with what is still immutable about Christmas. Rock culture, the convulsive world ushered in with Elvis, infantilized the way we live and love. This rendered the old love song sequally wise, wise-cracking and musically challenging into largely unintelligible artifacts of a lost civilization.
But "White Christmas" is no love song, which may account for its durability, as well as Bing's perfectly mellow-gold rendition. The record speaks to an innocent yearning that still marks the public holiday season, a time-out in the year that isn't twisted by sexual hype; "ironic" expectations; or an anti-establishment pose. On the contrary, folksy home, rustic hearth, middle-class life itself become something to dream about. Which is just what the songwriter wrote. May your days be merry and bright, and may all your Christmases be white.
- Free-speakin' Dylan: The poet's poet examines his influences in personal account
By STEVE PAUL
(Kanzas City Star / Associated Press, December 23, 2004) (subscription needed)
One of the pleasures of Bob Dylan's Chronicles, his loop-de-loop new memoir, is the nod he gives to other musicians. In his back pages, these are the folks who helped shape Dylan's music or otherwise contributed to the legend. His recollection of Cisco Houston's pencil mustache was instructive, for instance. And who would remember that Dylan's first professional recording date was playing harmonica on a Harry Belafonte record ("Midnight Special")? There are the expected encounters - with a dying Woody Guthrie, for instance - and plenty of surprises: "Polka dances always got my blood pumping," he writes. ... Here's a sample of Dylan on others:
...
On country music of the early 1960s: "Outside of maybe George Jones, I didn't like country music either. Jim Reeves and Eddy Arnold, it was hard to know what was country about that stuff. All the wildness and weirdness had gone out of country music. Elvis Presley. Nobody listened to him either." ...
- Names in the news: KING JON
(5th item)
BY ALFRED LUBRANO
(Pioneer Press / Knight Ridder Newspapers, December 23, 2004)
... Speaking of overseas, you knew it would be hard to find any red-blooded American male with self-regard enough to play Elvis Presley in a miniseries. He was, after all, The King. That may be why CBS had to go abroad - Ireland, to be precise - to tap actor Jonathan Rhys-Meyers for the role, Zap2it.com reports. Not exactly a household name, the man who would be The King played the soccer coach in 2002's "Bend It Like Beckham.'" The fact-based, four-hour drama will also star Camryn Manheim "The Practice'') as Presley's mother, Gladys, and Randy Quaid ("LBJ: The Early Years'") as his manager, Col. Tom Parker, the network said. Rose McGowan ("Charmed'') will play Ann-Margret, the actress who co-starred with Presley in the 1964 film "Viva Las Vegas.'"
- Elvis Presley Day - 8th January 2005
(Express Press Release, December 22, 2004)
Elvis Presley, if he had lived, would have been seventy years old on the 8th of January 2005. Elvis fans world-wide will be celebrating the very special day, and the media is expected to cover the story in depth. Therefore it is not surprising that an "Elvis Presley Day" would be on the agenda again. What an honour it would be for the world's most loved entertainer.
An official holiday would not be required. As an "Elvis Presley Day", in name only, it would warm the hearts of hundreds of millions of his fans internationally, subsequently generating a huge demand for Elvis Day Cards, which would see the U.S., mail truly, Taking Care of Business!
Greeting Card manufacturers would be delighted to receive contracts from the new owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Robert F.X. Sillerman, who recently acquired a majority stake in all things Elvis. Perhaps Mr F.X. Sillerman will consider shocking the world to the core by adding his substantial financial power to the following?
The ELVIS PRESLEY DAY Petition to U.S. Congress was created by The Presley-ites Fan Club, Kathy Ferguson - President & Elvis Presley's Sweet Spirit Fan Club, Michelle Rosencrantz - President and written by Michelle Rosencrantz.
Submitted by Maurice_ Colgan@yahoo.com Swords, Ireland.
- 'Blue Christmas' service helps ease holiday's burden
(cbc.ca, December 22, 2004)
The Anglican Church in Rankin Inlet has created a special service for people who may be lonely or depressed this holiday season. Christmas is supposed to be a time of celebration, but for those who are grieving or alone, all the fuss and celebration can be a burden. Rankin resident Diane Tiktak says the words to Elvis Presley's song Blue Christmas have another meaning for her. "Blue Christmas is like being away from family ... missing loved ones or people who aren't with us any more," she says. Tiktak says her aunt committed suicide 12 years ago, and since then she just couldn't get into the Christmas spirit. "So I was looking for ways that I could, you know, feel Christmas," she says. "My other aunt mentioned she does a candlelight service and it really helped her." Tiktak worked with the priest at the Anglican church in Rankin Inlet and started a "Blue Christmas" service seven years ago. ...
- Cork actor to play Elvis Presley
(U TV, December 22, 2004)
Corkman Jonathan Rhys-Myers, known for his role in Bend It Like Beckham, has won the role of Elvis Presley for a tv series to be aired on CBS in the United States. The actor was cast not only for his talent but also for his startling physical similarity to the late rock 'n' roll star. "He was the first person Iąd ever thought of for the role," said CBS executive producer Howard Braunstein. "He has the physical look and the style that embodies Elvis, both the sweetness and the sex appeal." Presley died of a heart attack at the age of 42 in 1977, the year Rhys-Myers was born. The man known as "The King" was obese and bloated after later years filled with overeating and prescription drug abuse.
(Go to the site and post your comments about the gratuitous put-down - ed.)
- Noted author Guralnick joins Vandy staff
By Ron Wynn
(Yahoo! Finance / BUSINESS WIRE, December 22, 2004)
Peter Guralnick, one of America's finest music biographers and journalists, will be a visiting professor at Vanderbilt University during the 2005 spring semester to teach a course in creative non-fiction. "I'm extremely excited about this course and happy that Vanderbilt has recognized the importance of telling stories about great American cultural figures," Guralnick said. "It is also a chance to emphasize to students the necessity for going beyond categories, because the people that I have admired the most have been the ones who didn't let genres or forms limit their creativity."
Guralnick's most recent project is his comprehensive two-volume biography of Elvis Presley, Last Train to Memphis and Careless Love, which won the Southern Book Critics Award for non-fiction. But before those works Guralnick penned three exceptional anthologies highlighting overlooked, neglected and obscure figures in blues, country and soul music in Feel Like Going Home, Lost Highway and Sweet Soul Music, plus the chronicle Searching for Robert Johnson and the novel Nighthawk Blues.. ...
- Top Elvis Impersonator to Continue Elvis' Humanitarian Acts of Kindness with Gifts to Children at Child Haven of Clark County:
Trent Carlini, considered to be the No. 1 Elvis impersonator in the world, will bring gifts and songs to both the children and nurses
(Yahoo! Finance / BUSINESS WIRE, December 21, 2004)
Las Vegas' very own, Trent Carlini, considered to be the world's best Elvis stylist (performer) wishes to say, "Thank you. Thank you very much." Carlini will be bringing hundreds of toys and gifts for the children at Child Haven, a safe haven/refuge center for abused, abandoned and neglected children, ages 3 days to 17 years old on Dec. 22, 2004, at 10 a.m. "Elvis' holiday spirit will bring so much joy to the faces of the kids at Child Haven," said Child Haven Manager Lou Palma. Even though the kids are under safe, protective custody, Carlini will be visiting the center with his members of his staff to bring joy, laughter, gifts and other types of goodies plus sing a few songs to the children. In addition to bringing joy to the children, Carlini is also bringing gifts and songs to the nurses who care for these children.
... Joe Esposito, Elvis Presley's personal right-hand man and also a friend of Carlini, added, "Trent is not only a great performer with an uncanny resemblance to Elvis in many ways, Trent, just like Elvis, is also a great humanitarian. For those who are privileged to meet Trent and the giver that he is, let me emphasize that he will touch your heart. Trent is just that beautiful of a man." ...
- CHRISTMAS COUNTDOWN: Time's a Wastin': Last-minute gifts can be as tasteful as wine, as wacky as Elvis license
By HEIDI KNAPP RINELLA
(Las Vegas Review-Journal, December 21, 2004)
For Christmas shoppers who live for the thrill of the last-minute hunt for gifts, every trip to the store is an adventure. While we wouldn't want to spoil the adrenaline rush for anybody, a recent excursion into retail uncovered these potential gifts for that certain someone -- or perhaps that unexpected someone. The best part? They're budget-stretchers at less than $10 each.
Elvis license
If you've ever felt a hunk, a hunk of burning desire to have a replica of Elvis' driver's license, you can get your very own for $4.95 at the Elvis-a-Rama Museum, 3401 Industrial Road. The faux license states that it was issued in 1997. (Elvis had been officially dead for 20 years in 1997. You can draw your own conclusions. Personally, we think he's alive and well and working in Las Vegas as an Elvis impersonator.) Elvis-a-Rama will be open until 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve. ...
- Newton battles ailment to win over audience
(CONCERT REVIEW)
By SEAMUS GALLIVAN
(Buffalo News, December 21, 2004)
Wayne Newton
Sunday in the Fallsview Casino, Niagara Falls, Ont.
Concert repeats at 8:30 tonight.
To give life to its awkwardly worded "Vegas, It Just Got Closer" theme, the Niagara Fallsview Casino Resort spent hundreds of millions of dollars on its lavish layout, commissioning some of Sin City's most revered architects and designers to create a luxurious vibe for its lush vision. More importantly, they brought in Wayne Newton. Mr. Las Vegas himself, back from his fourth trip to Iraq in the past 13 months as the USO's new Bob Hope, fought a battle of his own Sunday in the first of two sold-out shows in the resort's 1,500-seat Avalon Ballroom, giving a resilient performance in spite of an obvious vocal ailment. Backed by an 18-piece big band (featuring six local hired guns) inside the Avalon's pristine sound and setting, the legendary lounge singer and consummate crooner dug deep and delivered a warm, nearly two-hour holiday show, easily overcoming the rough condition of his voice.
At first, it seemed as if it would be a long night for Newton. He struggled during early renditions of "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Walking in a Winter Wonderland," but after coming through much better in the lower register of "Silver Bells," he began to pick up steam. ... But the crowd eats it all up, especially when he remarkably reaches back to hit the high notes in "I'll Be Home for Christmas," and the band rises with him in a fluid "Can't Help Falling in Love." Much like Elvis Presley's original, the band has to play louder to be heard over the ladies' sighs, undoubtedly encouraged by Newton's reaching into the audience for schmaltzy smooching. ...
- ARE you a Hollywood movie star look-a-like? WIN!! Holiday On Ice tickets -
Search for Hollywood movie look-a-likes!
By Graham Walker
(Sheffield Today / The Star, December 21, 2004)
ARE you a Hollywood movie star look-a-like - or do you know one?
Get your skates if you do for a chance to win tickets to the latest Holiday On Ice spectacular, called Hollywood. The Star is co-sponsoring the show at Sheffield's Hallam FM Arena from Wednesday to Sunday, February 2 to 6. It pays homage to some of the greatest films of all time with tributes to Charlie Chaplain, Ingrid Bergman, Humphrey Bogart, Marlon Brando, Audrey Hepburn, Judy Garland, Elvis Presley and 007. The Holiday On Ice show features 50 international skaters from 15 countries, 350 stunning costumes, incredible special effects, breathtaking aerial acrobatics and unforgettable music. ...
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