mid February, 2005
Currently in the news: Songy/BMG UK's release of Elvis Presley singles
- Date set for murder trial of pop producer Phil Spector
(Yahoo! News / AFP, February 17, 2005)
Legendary pop music producer Phil Spector will go on trial on September 16 for the murder of a B-movie star in his hilltop mansion two years ago, a judge ruled.
Spector, 64, and his lawyer refused to comment following the hearing before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Fidler. The recording guru who revolutionized pop music in the 1960s and worked with the Beatles and Elvis Presley, is accused of shooting actress Lana Clarkson to death in his Los Angeles home in February 2003. ...
- Jazz queen to sing the King
By Ross Brewster
(News & Star, February 17, 2005)
INTERNATIONALLY-ACCLAIMED jazz singer Barb Jungr brings her raw, soulful sounds to Keswick's Theatre by the Lake next week. The Rochdale-born singer is renowned for jazz vocals that have been described as having the intimacy and connection of a private conversation. She is performing at Theatre by the Lake, Keswick with her latest tour, Love Me Tender, on February 21. ... After spending part of last year researching and recording her own album of songs recorded by Elvis Presley, Love Me Tender will be released in March.
- The gig of a lifetime: Engelbert Humperdinck
By Benjamin Secher
(Whitehaven Appeal, February 17, 2005)
The crooner on Elvis Presley at the Hilton Continental, Las Vegas, 1969 - Interview.
I've seen many great performers on stage, from Dean Martin to Celine Dion, but nothing beats the first time I saw Elvis. There was no pomp, no pyrotechnics, nothing to distract you from the raw talent of the man in the white jumpsuit. He was a very real artist. The way that this guy, who must by now have had a thousand number ones, sang every number was electrifying. Each rendition sounded as fresh and new as if he were singing it for the first time.
The highlight, though, was meeting him backstage afterwards. Knowing I hadn't seen him perform before, he asked what I had thought of the show. "Elvis," I said, shaking his hand, "you were fine."
(Engelbert Humperdinck is touring the UK until March 17. His new album, 'Let There Be Love' (Universal) is out now.)
Engelbert Humperdinck
- Carousing crooner Engelbert Humperdinck tells story in new autobiography
By ANDREA BAILLIE
(Yahoo! News / Canadian Press, February 15, 2005)
In the beginning, radio DJs mangled his outrageous moniker, calling him Engeldink Humperbump, Dinkeldink and even Pumpernickel. But Arnold Dorsey's decision to change his name to Engelbert Humperdinck proved a case of classic music marketing, turning the ultra-tanned crooner into an international singing sensation who has sold 130 million records.
In a new autobiography, What's in a Name?, Humperdinck looks back on a glittering career that saw him share a stage with Jimi Hendrix, compare sideburns with Elvis and down drinks with Dean Martin. ... Not surprisingly, the most interesting chapters are those about his life as a megastar who had the shirt ripped from his back each night by screaming female fans (Humperdinck travelled with 147 shirts as a result!) and wore pants so "figure-hugging" that he needed an on-call valet to deal with embarrassing rips. The book is also chock full of anecdotes about the celebs Humperdinck has rubbed shoulders with over the years (it includes photographs of "Enge" posing with everyone from the Osmond family to Sonny Bono and Muhammad Ali).
Of Hendrix, with whom he toured when the legendary guitarist was just starting out, Humperdinck says: "He was very sociable. We used to hang out a little, go to a nightclub, have a drink. He didn't pooh-pooh (my music), he said 'man you've got some kind of voice."'
When he remembers his pal Presley, Humperdinck still insists The King copied his look: "I said 'you know Elvis, you stole my sideburns.' He said 'If it looks good on you, it's going to look good on me.' I grew mine in '65 and Elvis didn't put his on till about '71 or '72!"
The book also details Humperdinck's friendship with Martin, who affectionately called the British singer "Humpy Bumpy Lumpy Dumpy."
Of course, no Humperdinck autobiography would be complete without looking at his legendary status as a lady-killer. It's been said that Humperdinck has made love to 3,000 women, but he jokingly tells readers they should only believe half of what they read. Over the years, he's been the subject of paternity scandals and he acknowledges they've taken a toll on his wife of more than 40 years, who writes her own chapter of the book. ...
- EP Express big sound returns to local stage
By June Robertson
(Whitehaven Appeal, February 17, 2005)
This 11-member band performed blues and original music, showcasing the talents of each individual member's talents and songwriting ability. After a short break, the show continued with a rip-roaring two-hour, nonstop selection of Elvis's songs.
Playing to a large mixed crowd consisting of veterans and their guests, local regulars and visiting Elvis fans from around the country, the United Kingdom and Europe, the event was a night to remember featuring EP Express lead singer Ted Harris and The Sweet Expressions performing Elvis favorites including "Don't Cry Daddy," "So Lonesome I Could Cry," "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me," "A Big Hunk 'O Love," "Burning Love" and "Early Morning Rain." ...
- Hound Dog
(New York Post, February 17, 2005)
Filming on a ground-breaking new miniseries about the early years of Elvis Presley got under way last week - including a shoot at Graceland. ... It's a careful re-creation of Elvis' historic, first recording session at the Sun Records studio in Memphis. The miniseries, which airs on CBS in May, even filmed a scene outside Graceland - where Elvis takes his mom and dad to show them the house for the first time. Camryn Manheim of "The Practice" plays Gladys, Elvis' mother.
- Elvis Presley researcher looks at 1955 N.M. tour dates
By Christopher Cunningham
(Roswell Daily Record, February 17, 2005)
Ernst Jorgensen, the resident Elvis Presley researcher and producer for Sony BMG Music Entertainment, has been tracing the details of Presley's early career for over a decade. The author of several books about Presley, including "Elvis Day by Day" and "Elvis Presley - A Life in Music," Jorgensen lives in Denmark, and is trying to find out what exactly happened during Presley's first tour in 1955, in order to better understand how this American icon was created. "I think that is the only part of Elvis' career that has not been properly documented," he told the Daily Record Wednesday in a telephone interview from his office in Denmark.
Recently, Jorgensen's search extended into eastern New Mexico, where Presley's barnstorming1955 tour stopped in towns like Carlsbad, Hobbs and Roswell. According to Jorgensen, there is little or no information about the west Texas and New Mexico leg of the 1955 tour, and he is interested in uncovering any information at all about it. "We're basically looking for every little detail we can on Elvis' tours in the year 1955," he said.
Jorgensen is not only a die-hard fan of Presley, whom he first heard of in the late 1950s in Denmark, but he is also a life-long history and detective-novel buff. These three hobbies have combined to inspire Jorgensen to dig into the obscure topic of Presley's early life and musical beginnings. According to Jorgensen, his project is an attempt to understand a phenomenal moment in American cultural history.
"I think it's important for the same reason I think history is important: we learn from it," he said, adding that many people have the misunderstanding that Presley became the almost mythical legend that he is by chance and overnight. He said he wanted to focus on the careful redefining and fine tuning of Presley's act that occurred during that first tour, as well as the colorful stories of the young Presley's endless road trips from one small, southern and western town to another, playing for low wages in small bars and auditoriums. "I think that's a very interesting story, and I think it will make people appreciate a lot more what Elvis accomplished, and understand it a lot more," he said.
Jorgensen said that any detail, no matter how insignificant, could prove crucial in his attempt to reconstruct the events of that first tour, and he is looking for anyone with information about it. ?Anything, from what shirt he wore, to what car he arrived in, to what songs he sang, to whether he was good or bad," he said.
Jorgensen said the only known 1955 tour dates in New Mexico were at the Carlsbad sports arena on Feb. 11, the Carlsbad legion's hut on Feb. 12, Roswell on Feb. 14 (part of a Hank Snow tour) and the Hobbs American Legion Hall on April 27. Another Presley concert possibly occurred in New Mexico on April 28.
Anyone with information on any 1955 Elvis Presley concert in New Mexico or anywhere else is asked to contact Jorgensen or his assistant, Danny Kane, by e-mail at dannykane@cox.net or by telephone at 718-247-4448.
According to Jorgensen, those presenting valuable details and photos will be rewarded with Elvis compact discs or books.
- Roswellite recalls Elvis concert
By Christopher Cunningham
(Roswell Daily Record, February 15, 2005)
Fifty years ago on Valentine's Day, a relatively unknown singer who would eventually earn the love and adoration of millions of fans around the world came to Roswell. At the then-North Junior High School auditorium - now Pueblo Auditorium - at a concert featuring country music legend Hank Snow, a barely 20-year-old Elvis Presley took the stage as one of the opening acts.
According to Jackie Price, a Roswell woman who attended that show, the man who later became famous for his soulful crooning and good looks was just a kid wracked with stage fright on that chilly February evening. "I didn't like it," she said Monday. "He was so nervous. He was fidgety and he played the guitar too fast." She said that years later, she read that Elvis admitted to being scared in those early days. "And I can believe that," she said.
Price, who attended that concert with her then-14-year-old daughter Johnnie, was also irritated by something the future King of rock 'n' roll told the audience. "When he came on the stage, he said 'I'm glad to be here, but we tell everybody that,'" Price said. "That didn't sit too well with me." Price, who was 32 at the time, said she and her daughter had heard of Elvis but had gone to the concert primarily to see Hank Snow, whom they both admired. According to Price, Snow was an experienced performer who had composure on stage, and as expected he put on an excellent show that night.
... Presley also became famous later on for driving his mostly female audiences into a hysterical frenzy, but again, according to Price, that was not the case in Roswell in 1955. ... Although her introduction to Presley and his music that night didn't go over well, a year later Price and her daughter were devoted fans like so many others. In 1956, Johnnie began buying Presley's records, which were becoming increasingly popular, and the difference between them and the Roswell show was astounding, Price said. "He had calmed down," she said. "His voice was so heavenly. He sang his songs slowly."
- Playing for time: Stuart Bocking finds a treasure trove of memories in 2UE's archives
By Sue Javes
(Sydney Morning Herald, February 17, 2005)
Commercial AM radio relies heavily on talkback to make up its content. It can be entertaining, but it's a low-cost, and somewhat lazy, way to fill the airwaves. The presenter scans newspapers for the best stories of the day, adopts a position firmly on one side of the debate, and lets callers do the rest, rushing to agree or disagree. So it is refreshing when a talkback station comes up with something a little extra, even if the idea is hardly original.
Take 2UE's new Saturday Night Live, hosted by Stuart Bocking, who some will recognise as the producer of the John Laws morning program, referred to on-air as "the co-driver". Bocking has dug deep into 2UE's archives, lying idle in the ground-floor library at the Greenwich studios for years, and found a treasure trove of nostalgia. Concentrating on the 1960s, '70s and '80s, he chooses a year from each of the decades and looks at news events, film releases, hit songs, visiting celebrities, sporting moments and scandals from that time. This is interspersed with calls from listeners wanting to share their memories of the event or to debate what really happened.
... "You're really restricted only by your imagination," Bocking says. "2UE started the Top 40 in Australia so there are all these interviews with bygone singers - Roy Orbison, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Neil Sedaka - and because 2UE has always been a news-oriented station there is a lot of material that other stations wouldn't have." ...
- Canada's Canyon a rising country star
(CanadianChristianity.com, February 16, 2005)
GEORGE CANYON knows what it takes to make it in the music business. He knows how to work hard and sacrifice without complaint. He's comfortable with his faith, his family - and in his own skin. ... "I grew up listening to Charley Pride, Hank Williams and Elvis Presley," he says. ...
- Chateau Elvis: Which celebrities make the best wine?
By Mike Steinberger
(Slate, February 16, 2005)
For a wine writer naturally given to skepticism, the growing prevalence of celebrity winemakers would truly seem to be a gift from Bacchus himself. True, J-Lo hasn't yet entered the wine business, but the vineyards are crawling with celebrities nowadays. ... Sadly, the desire to lampoon these folks must be resisted - it wouldn't be fair. For one thing, most celebrities putting out wines under their own names seem to be doing it for the right reason: They are interested in making good wines. And it's not as though using a well-known name to sell cabernets and chardonnays is some new and insidious marketing device. For more than a decade now, the wine world has been in thrall to another kind of celebrity - the celebrity winemaker. Consultants like Michel Rolland, Helen Turley, Heidi Barrett, and Riccardo Cotarella have been enlisted by scores of ambitious estate owners who recognize that putting their grapes in these high-priced hands usually guarantees stellar reviews from the wine numerologists and robust sales. ... Dead celebrities are getting into the wine business, as well, and I also tried a few Elvis Presley and Jerry Garcia wines.
... Elvis Blue Suede Chardonnay 2001, Jailhouse Red Merlot 2002, Blue Christmas Cabernet 2002, $10 for the chardonnay and the merlot, $17 for the cabernet
The thin, medicinal Jailhouse Red Merlot is bad enough to start a jailhouse riot. The cabernet is better, but not good. The chardonnay is too sweet, but that's not an uncommon problem in discount California chardonnays. ...
- Brian Wilson for Person of the Year [2nd item]
By Roger Friedman
(Fox News, February 16, 2005)
"This is for Carl, Dennis and you," Neil Young told Brian Wilson from the stage of the Hollywood Palladium last Friday night. Then, joining in to salute Wilson as MusicCares' person of the year, Young - who rarely appears at record-industry events - sang a poignant version of "In My Room." Yes, Carl Wilson and Dennis Wilson, two of the original Beach Boys, are dead. No one would ever have put money on Brian Wilson outliving his brothers. ... But Friday night's star-studded salute, organized by NARAS's Dana Tomarken and Neal Portnow, was a hit. Producer Phil Ramone made everyone sound glorious, even the people who were a little off-key or out of range. ... and Linda Moran of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Moran's husband, Mike Moran, was one of Elvis Presley's engineers in the early '70s and is still revered by those in the know. ...
- Home in a store keeps life simple and family together
By NELLANN METTEE
(tennessean.com, February 16, 2005)
Franklin - It may sound like a good idea to stick your home and business under the same roof - until the unexpected happens. You just never know when your naked 3-year-old will come downstairs into the shop, with clothes in hand, desperate for someone to help her get dressed. So are the minor glitches, or joys, of life for the Gregory family, which left the big city of Brentwood more than a year ago to find the simple life of early morning bacon biscuits and midday easy cooking.
... After 20 years in the family carnival business, the Gregory family was ready to find something new. Don Gregory spent months on the road, flying in and out of Nashville ... They found their answer driving by the Henpeck store one day. ... As owners of the Henpeck Market for about a year and a half, the family has renovated the old grocery at 1268 Lewisburg and converted upstairs storage space into an apartment that keeps them cozy and always close to home. ... The changes this family went through in making a move to the market spilled over into the grocery and restaurant itself. This is, after all, a market where Elvis Presley used to eat bologna sandwiches. It had character and an established clientele - but also room to grow. ''We pride ourselves in knowing we have fried bologna and chicken cordon bleu,'' Jackie said....
- Elvis Presley Guitarist to Host Shreveport Party 2005
(free-press-release.com, February 15, 2005)
Brilliant guitarist,James Burton, is to headline a series of exciting events including a Concert featuring some of the world's most renowned guitarists in the Municipal Auditorium Shreveport Lousiana 19, 20, and 21st of August 2005. James can be heard on many of Elvis Presley's recordings. He also toured with Elvis during the 1970s, including the legendary Las Vegas Concerts.
Earlier in his long career he had actually played lead guitar with Ricky Nelson, having previously played alongside Dale Hawkins.
Now James is kindly devoting his time and funds to encourage youngsters to become musicians. His James Burton Foundation is providing scholarships and instruments to less fortunate children, potential musicians of the future. The music related events to raise funds will take place in Shreveport, home of the famous Louisiana Hay-ride radio show, which was broadcast from the Municipal Auditorium where a young Elvis was launched back in 1954. A beautiful life-sized bronze statue of Elvis now stands by the famous building.
Guitar collectors, specialist traders, and ordinary enthusiasts from all over America and the rest of the world are expected to travel to Shreveport for the party. British tour operator, Arena Travel, will be arriving with packed coaches of music lovers.
For further details see http://www.jamesburtonmusic.com.
- Hernando man makes mark in world horseshoeing circles
(Clarion Ledger / Associated Press, February 15, 2005)
Lim Couch is not a boastful man. Yet, it's hard for the 66-year-old Hernando resident not to be moved to words that testify, considering he is to horseshoeing what Tiger Woods is to golf or what Elvis Presley is to music: a legend, whose natural ability has significantly influenced his profession.
For 35 years, Couch has been a farrier - or equine phalangeologist, his savvy wording for a person who works on horse feet. He can make a hobbled horse walk straight. His clients make up a formidable list of the rich and influential.
Recently, Couch was one of four 2005 inductees into the International Horseshoeing Hall of Fame. The ceremony was held at the International Hoof Care Summit in Cincinnati. The hall of fame, housed at Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, Ky., has 95 inductees worldwide. "Well, I hope I didn't get into the hall of fame because I shoed Elvis," joked Couch, recalling part of his acceptance speech. He's been shoeing Elvis's horses at Graceland since 1967. ...
- Lasting influence of legend Charles
By Chris Heard
(BBC News, February 15, 2005)
Ray Charles, who has won a string of posthumous Grammy Awards, belonged to a pioneering generation of artists that had a huge influence on the course of rock and pop music. His sound encompassed so many styles - blues, gospel, jazz, rock 'n' roll, even country - and had a real impact on the nascent UK beat and R&B scenes. Compared in stature to Elvis Presley by some commentators, Charles' songs cast their spell on such 1960s stalwarts as Joe Cocker, Steve Winwood, Eric Burdon and Van Morrison. His influence has extended to contemporary artists such as Norah Jones, with whom he recently recorded a duet. ...
- U.S. music stores will feature LV Centennial CDs: Recordings of headliners live at Las Vegas Strip resorts will be available
By Ed Koch
(LAS VEGAS SUN, February 15, 2005)
Ten CDs featuring vintage Las Vegas headliners performing live at local resorts will be featured on specialty racks at 42 percent of the nation's music outlets, according to a report presented to the Las Vegas Centennial Celebration Committee on Monday. Andrew Boughton, EMI Music vice president of development and financing, told the 35-member committee comprised of city officials and other community leaders that 300,000 to 400,000 of the CDs are expected to be sold nationwide via record store and radio station promotions.
Boughton said after the meeting that the remaining 58 percent of the nation's music stores would not provide special racks for the the live recordings featuring Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Wayne Newton and others, but would carry the CDs in their alphabetical bins.
Boughton told the committee that among the stores that have committed to giving the centennial CDs preferential placement is Best Buy, which controls about 20 percent of the music retail market through its 650 stores. Others that will give the CDs special space are Musicland, Borders, Tower and Virgin record stores, he said.
EMI has paid centennial officials $20,000 for the rights to market the CDs under a special Las Vegas Centennial Records label. That money is earmarked toward offsetting costs for putting on the Helldorado Days parade and Western-themed celebration in May in conjunction with the city's 100th birthday Mary 15.
- Valentine's Day one of busiest for magistrates
By Michael Knox
(Independent Tribune, February 15, 2005)
Doris Archie can't believe she performed the wedding for Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe - and in Concord. Of course it wasn't the real Presley and Monroe, but a pair of tribute artists who came to the Cabarrus County Magistrate's Office on Monday. As a magistrate, Archie has the authority to marry couples, such as Presley and Monroe. And on Valentine's Day, Archie finds herself especially busy. ...
- EVIL ELVIS: Net war arrest threat
By Rod Chaytor
(mirror.co.uk, February 14, 2005)
AN Elvis impersonator faces arrest for an internet harassment campaign on a rival. It began when a website claimed Steve Preston, 50, was No 1 in the country's top 10 Elvis acts. Professional performer Louis Rockafella, 43, found bookings dried up after the site listed him under "amateur acts" and carried links to attacks on his singing and outfits. ... Police said: "If undertakings are not given or the behaviour recurs, [Preston] will be placed under arrest."
- Jim Carrey in fine form at Aspen tribute
By Bill Husted
(Denver Post, February 14, 2005)
Late-night talker Conan O'Brien introduced and interviewed Jim Carrey on Saturday night at Aspen's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. Carrey was in town to receive the American Film Institute's Star Award. O'Brien was in town to keep it moving. ... He broke into renditions from "South Pacific" - then headed into "Jesus Christ Superstar." He claimed to have bought the bones of Elvis - and went into an Elvis impersonation, singing a song he said he wrote for the King, "I Love a Pecan Pie." ...
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