late May, 2005
- Liverpool's Strawberry Field, Theme of Beatles Song, Closes
By Alex Morales
(Bloomberg.com, May 31, 2005)
Liverpool's Strawberry Field children's home, a childhood hangout for the late Beatles star John Lennon about which he wrote a song, isn't forever: it closes today after nearly 70 years. ... Lennon, born in 1940, wrote the song "Strawberry Fields Forever'" after playing with orphans at the center when he was a child. The Beatles released the song on a double A-side with Penny Lane in February 1967. The song-title was later used to name an area of New York's Central Park which Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono frequented when they lived in the city. Lennon was shot dead outside his New York apartment in 1980. ... The Beatles had 17 U.K. number one singles, second only to Elvis Presley, who had 21. While the Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields single didn't top the British charts, coming in at number two, it made it to number one in the U.S.
- Don't be scared to scream'
By Sherry Lucas
(Clarion-Ledger, May 31, 2005)
At Carlisle and Whitworth streets, Elvis has not left the building. And thankfully won't, for weeks yet. That's the location of New Stage Theatre, where Idols of the King camps out through June 12, bringing the spirit of Mississippi's most beloved rags-to-riches, rock 'n' roll hero back in front of screaming fans. Lance Zitron, in gold lame, black leather, white jumpsuit and other classic Elvis garb, gyrates his hips, pops up on his toes, snarls into the mike and takes care of business in this play, a musical tribute to the Tupelo native and King of Rock 'n' Roll, his legacy, his career and all those incredibly loyal fans.
Zitron, Memphis born and reared and now of Los Angeles, originated the role in the 1998 premiere at the Arkansas Repertory Theatre in Little Rock, and has acted Elvis in at least five productions of Idols of the King, including a U.S. tour. In a format probably best described as Always Patsy Cline meets Greater Tuna, those fans are played by one pair of actors in a quick-change frenzy. New Stage veterans Jo Ann Robinson and Chris Roebuck play seven fans apiece, including each others' mother (offstage) and even one character's grandparents. "It's really about them and about the influence he had on their lives," co-author Ronnie Claire Edwards (best known as Corabeth Godsey on The Waltons) said by phone from her Los Angeles home. "I had seen other things like it, I had seen Always Patsy Cline and I thought, oh, somebody should write that about Elvis. I can do that." Allen Crowe was her co-author. It's the only play with the character of Elvis licensed and franchised by the Elvis Presley Estate.
Zitron, in a gold suit that could provide wattage to power a small town or snug, custom-fit black leather, has his own costume changes to contend with. But at least he remains Elvis. Robinson and Roebuck must shuck characters as well as clothes in rapid succession.
... The play's point isn't just about Elvis the star. "Some scenes delve past Elvis the singer and show Elvis the person, what a good guy and what he did for people. It's just an entertaining fun show, Lance is a great singer, but at the same time you see the other side of Elvis. The humanity," Robinson said. For his part, Zitron, with a satisfied smile, said, "It's good to be the King. "It's a lot of fun to try to capture the different sides of Elvis. I think that's what made him so successful and dynamic, those incongruities. He was a rebel who loved his mama." In Idols of the King, he plays Elvis through the years, and in the best light, in songs that range all the way from Blue Suede Shoes to Burning Love, from young Elvis ("wild and raucous with a lot of thrashing") to later ("more controlled") and lastly in Las Vegas ("karate at the end").
Zitron's first Elvis-ish stint was a string of radio spots he wrote and recorded for Piggly Wiggly in Memphis. He dropped into that can't-miss drawl, recounting "Our meat's tender" and "Our buns are so soft and fresh."
"That's where I first got paid for hoking it up, before I really knew how cool Elvis was. I thought, ooh, maybe I should study this guy and I became an instant fan." In tapes of early Elvis, "You saw fear, anticipation, anger, release, joy - you saw all these in a few seconds. It was raw. Something very new. Whoa! I've never seen anything like that." Zitron's role in the play Hound Dog in Los Angeles earned him a nomination of Best Leading Male Actor by LA Weekly, which he believes may have snagged him the audition for Idols of the King.
... Portraying Elvis' magnetism and catching the reaction of adoring fans is fun, he said. "Don't be scared to scream at this performance. I love it, I feed off the audience." In one of the wilder moments onstage, a lady ran up and stuffed $10 in his pants. "Now you know the difference between Elvis and me. I don't have security." ...
Joe Ellis /The Clarion-Ledger:
Lance Zitron serves up Elvis Presley's trademark gyrations
in the New Stage Theatre production Idols of the King opening today
- C'mon Everybody: 'All Shook Up' Cast Album In Stores
By Kenneth Jones
(Yahoo! News / Playbill On-Line, May 31, 2005)
The cast album of Broadway's All Shook Up is in stores May 31, boasting more than two dozen songs made famous by Elvis Presley. The cast recorded the album April 4. The tunes in the musical comedy were made famous by Elvis, but represent many composers and lyricists, and are injected into an original story that is not a biographical portrait of the rock 'n' roll star. The new cast album is from Sony BMG Strategic Marketing Group. The disc is produced by David Jay Saks and executive produced by Bill Rosenfield. Cast members will perform and sign CDs at Virgin Megastore Times Square 5:30 PM June 16. ... The score includes "Heartbreak Hotel," "Burning Love," "Love Me Tender," "Can't Help Falling in Love," "Jailhouse Rock," "Blue Suede Shoes," "A Little Less Conversation," "Hound Dog," "Don't Be Cruel" and more. The disc offers 27 tracks. ...
- Young, handsome James Dean remains an icon without an equal
By Joe Holleman
(St Louis Post-Dispatch, May 31, 2005)
What else can possibly be said about James Dean, perhaps the most enduring icon in motion picture history? With brooding sensitivity, delicate good looks and simmering rebelliousness, Dean burned his way into the American consciousness with a film career that lasted only 18 months and three movies. But 50 years (in September) after his death, Dean still has a strong hold on American moviegoers. Maybe it's the fact that Dean was the first actor to touch upon the restlessness of American teens, the generation that was too young to remember the Depression or have fought in World War II. Maybe it was simply that unlike other powerful, iconic entertainers from this period of change - such as Marlon Brando and Elvis Presley - Dean was the only one to never grow older and fatter, frozen by his death at 24 in a constant state of youthful beauty. Or maybe it was that he simply was a great actor. ...
James Dean
- Barbecue bridged gap between black and white in US south
(Today Online, May 31, 2005)
To most southerners in the United States, barbecue is more than just cheap meat cooked slowly. Barbecue is a cuisine, a leisure activity and a spectator sport that's been ingrained in the social fabric since it spread out of plantation smokehouses in the pre-Civil War South. .As all-American as jazz or Elvis Presley, barbecue has sparked debate, spawned rivalries and acted as a tangy unifying salve between the races. ...
- Chart-Topping Hits Echo America's Mood: Study shows people prefer serious songs in bad times, snappy pop in good ones
By E.J. Mundell
(HealthDay News, May 30, 2005)
According to a new study analyzing Billboard magazine's number one hits for the years 1955 to 2003, the connection between the country's collective mood and its taste in music may not be random. "It seems that when times are bad we're looking for slower, more meaningful-type music, music that's more comforting. And when times are good it's OK again to enjoy the types of pop songs that really aren't dealing with these deeper issues," explained co-researcher Terry Pettijohn of Mercyhurst College, in Erie, Pa. ... The theory might now apply to pop stars: In their current study, Pettijohn and student co-researcher Donald Sacco also found that in hard times Americans appear drawn to vocalists or groups with physical characteristics linked to maturity -- features such as strong chins and smaller eyes. In relatively good times, however, wide-eyed pop stars such as Mariah Carey or Beyonce Knowles rule. ... A second related study -- this one by doctoral student Beth Cady of Kansas State University -- was presented at the same meeting. Cady's research found pop music to be a powerful trigger of emotion-laden memories. ... In keeping with the Environmental Security Hypothesis, "We found that when socioeconomic times were relatively poor, the songs that were more meaningful in content were the ones that were preferred," Pettijohn said. Some examples: Fun pop-rock such as At the Hop and Elvis Presley's All Shook Up were chart-toppers in the boom years of the late 1950s. ...
- Hawn's sunny glamour melts her interrogators: Hay festival Star tells of encounters with Ingrid Bergman and Elvis
By Charlotte Higgins
(Guardian Unlimited, May 30, 2005)
It wasn't Bill Clinton this year nor John Updike. This year's first-day transatlantic glitz at the Guardian Hay festival was provided by someone shaggier and blonder: Goldie Hawn. What she lacked in statesmanlike gravitas or literary prowess she made up for in the sunny glamour of her demeanour and that trilling girlish laugh, still intact despite the advancing years and her grandmotherly status.
Expatiating on her life in film, from Private Benjamin to Bird on a Wire, she recalled meeting Elvis, who had come to visit the set on which she was working. "He was soooo hot. Oh god," she said. "My dad was a classical musician, and we used to listen to Beethoven and Bach and Vivaldi, and I used to say, 'Daddy, I will never like rock music.' But Elvis Presley's Don't Be Cruel took me right into puberty. When I met him it was quite amazing. I can even remember what I was wearing: a red knit 70s jumpsuit. I could never wear that today! The hot flushes!"
She recalled that Elvis had told she looked like a "chicken that's just been hatched". And oh god! I didn't know whether that was a good thing or not. Yup, he was just coming in, checking out the set. There were a lot of girls with long legs. 'Course that had to be the day I was wearing the knit jumpsuit." ...
- Elvis: The Kisna Connection
(rediff.com, May 30, 2005)
Look at this picture carefully. Does the couple playing Elvis Presley and wife Priscilla look familiar? No? Take a closer look.
Bearing a startling resemblance to the King of Rock 'n' Roll before he got fat and ugly is Bend It Like Beckham's Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, the football coach Parminder Nagra falls in love with. Rhys-Meyers also featured in Mira Nair's Vanity Fair. Playing Priscilla is Antonia Bernath, our very own Subhash Ghai's discovery in Kisna!
The duo star in an American television miniseries, Elvis, directed by James Steven Sadwith, about the life of Elvis Presley. The miniseries ends nine years before the King's untimely death in 1977. Rhys-Meyers has won good reviews for his portrayal of Presley.
- Man turns pinball hobby into perfect basement hangout
By DANA BORICK
(zwire.com / Associated Press, May 29, 2005)
Time should have stopped in the 1950s. If it did, Bob Brague Jr. of Loyalsock Township would have the perfect place to hang out: "Bobby's Diner." Brague turned his basement into an authentic replica of a '50s diner, complete with black-and-white tile floor, a Coca-Cola soda machine, pinball machines, a jukebox and candy machines. It all began when Brague began repairing and restoring pinball machines as a hobby. "I played these machines as a kid," he said, referring to the games he played as an 8-year-old at the ABC Bowling Alley on Park Avenue. ... He was pleased to discover that he and Elvis Presley had the same taste in pinball games. During a trip to Graceland he saw a 1975 "Knockout" game that he also owns. ...
- Hardware store nails down place in Elvis history
By CAROLYN THORNTON
(Huntsville Times, May 29, 2005)
When Elvis Presley was 10 years old, his mother, Gladys, took him to Tupelo Hardware Store to buy a bicycle. "The story goes," said Howard Hite, whose wife's grandfather founded the store in 1926, "that Elvis saw a .22 rifle on the wall. His mother said no to the rifle, which upset him and made him cry. Forrest Bobo, a friend of the family who worked in the store for 20 years, offered him a guitar instead." Elvis sat on a wood box behind the showcase and strummed the guitar awhile, then said he didn't have enough money, which he had earned from running errands. It cost $7.75 plus 2 percent tax. His mother told him that if he would buy the guitar instead of the rifle she would pay the difference.
"We like to think Tupelo Hardware had an influence on his music," said Hite, "and certainly his career. We're proud to be part of it." For Elvis fans, the hardware store has become a shrine almost as important as Elvis's Birthplace, in Tupelo. Some 12,000 to 15,000 visitors stop and sign the store's guest book annually. "They come in busloads from all around the world," said Hite, naming Japanese and British fans as the largest contingent outside of the USA. This old-fashioned store with glass-fronted display cases and wooden counters with cubbyhole drawers is filled with everyday and old-fashioned hardware items. It continues to thrive as a supplier for building contractors.
And they still sell guitars. Johnson guitars range in price from $69 to $119. "A lot of people buy them just because Elvis bought his here," Hite said. Each guitar purchase is authenticated with a gold seal that features a drawing of Tupelo Hardware Company and says, "Where Gladys Bought Her Son His First Guitar." ...
- JONES ASTOUNDED TO BE SERENADED BY PRESLEY
By PETE WICKHAM
(contactmusic.com, May 29, 2005)
TOM JONES was dumbstruck when he heard ELVIS PRESLEY singing one of his songs - especially as he was only just starting out in the music business at the time. The SEX BOMB star subsequently struck up a friendship with Presley in the 1960s, which lasted until Presley's untimely death in 1977. But the moment Presley serenaded Jones when he was a struggling new singer is etched onto the Welsh singer's memory. Jones recalls, "I walked over to a sound stage and there he was, walking towards me, singing WITH THESE HANDS, which was my first single. "I thought, 'Jesus Christ, this is my first year in the business and here comes Elvis Presley singing my song.' "It was mind-boggling - the year before I was skint."
- Just buddies Frank Lax and Elvis Presley were fast friends, even after Army years
By PETE WICKHAM
(Jackson Sun News, May 29, 2005)
How many kids you know can tell this story? ... for Frankie Lax, the King of Rock 'n' Roll. and his memory. have been a part of his life since the day Frankie was born. Because until the day he died earlier this month, Lax's dad, Frank, was Elvis Presley's Army buddy.
Walk into the Maxxguard Security office that Frank Lax started, and Frankie now runs, and the memories are all over the walls. Signed pictures, framed gold records. The requisite playing cards, soft drink bottles and bric-a-brac that accompanied Elvis' ride through life like dust particles on the tail of a comet. Then Frankie goes to a curio cabinet and pulls out one of those white leather jump suit belts that were part of Elvis' ''The Vegas years.'' ''Dad always wanted one of those belts. Elvis found out, and had the guy who made them (Mike McGregor) make one for Dad,'' Frankie said, matter-of-fact. .
Matter-of-fact. It's just how the two were. It began when the two were inducted into the service at Fort Chaffee, Ark., in 1958, then went through basic together at Fort Hood and did their two years in Germany. One of the pictures Lax has, obtained from a magazine photographer years ago, shows Lax and Elvis - wearing a semi-garish checked sport coat - holding their uniform duds before the requisite buzz cut and shots. ''Elvis offered to give Dad that coat, but he said no because it would've been too big for him,'' Frankie said. ''I think he regretted that (especially as the e-Bay era dawned)." And it was that way always, Lax said. Just buddies. ''I think what drew them together was they came from similar backgrounds (Lax growing up near Paris, Tenn., Presley from Tupelo, Miss.), they both had strong Christian convictions and idolized their mothers.
''But Dad just treated him like a buddy, because that's what he was. He never asked him for anything, and I think Elvis appreciated that,'' Frankie said. He goes into the story about Elvis needing a couple of shirts at the PX. ''He couldn't go - you can imagine what kind of scene that might cause. So he asked Dad. Gave him the money and Dad brought him the shirts and some change. Elvis told him to keep it and Dad said, 'No I don't want the money. I would have done it for any of these guys.' Elvis really appreciated that.''
Presley had the chance to repay the favor one night in a club in Germany. ''They were out with a group of guys, and Dad ordered a soft drink. When he was 13, Dad had promised his mother on her deathbed that he would never touch alcohol. 'Well, Elvis and a few other guys had drinks, and Dad ordered a soft drink. The other Army guys were teasing about how he wouldn't drink - and eventually they got into a brawl over it.'' That is, until Presley stopped it by saying, ''The man don't wanna drink, leave him ALONE.'' Brawl stopped.
Now, understand, if you were a friend of Presley's there were some interesting perks. Frank Lax used to tell a story about one interesting night with an Army buddy. ''They both had dates down from Paris ... they were tired of the movies, didn't want to go out, and Dad said, 'Let's go see Elvis!''' They head down to Elvis Presley Boulevard and turn into the gates. ... ''They get to the gate, a guard comes up and Dad says, 'I'm Frank Lax, and I'm an Army buddy of Elvis'. Now a stranger leaps into the car, and security pulls her out right away, but they wave his car to the front door. Someone answers and says 'Mr. Presley's down in the game room, come with me. He wants to see you.'' The dates are still stone-cold silent, but telepathy has given way to mild shock. Elvis is playing pool. Lax and friends stayed a few minutes, made some small talk, touched base. Presley comes over to the ladies, kisses their hands, says hello . . . still, silence. Lax and friends head back to the car, back out of the gates, and Frankie said, ''The two girls just opened their mouths and started screaming.'' Presley would return the visits, often when he was seeing a young lady in the Jackson area. He knew he could hang out at Lax's South Jackson home and just be with a friend. No big deal, just a night with a buddy. The friendship found a tragic end in 1977 with Presley's death. ''I went down to the funeral with Dad. I was only 12 or 13 at the time, but I remember he was broken up for days,'' Frankie said. ...
- Elvis on velvet gaining respect among collectors of 'retro'
By FRANK FARMER LOOMIS IV
(Times Argus / Cox News Service, May 29, 2005)
During the late 20th century, paintings on velvet were given a bum rap. We all have heard the rather unkind jokes about pictures of "Elvis Presley on velvet." Now in the 21st century all has changed. "El on Vel" as I like to say, has become quite chic among collectors. Those once garage sale staples dating from the 1970s and 1980s are now part of a trendy group of called "Retro." Before these pedestrian works became tony collectibles, a type of painting on fabric had long been esteemed among antiquers-in-the-know. ...
- New bishop making big moves: DiLorenzo restyles diocese, but after a year, some want pace of change quickened
By ALBERTA LINDSEY
(Times Dispatch, May 29, 2005)
When people in the Catholic Diocese of Richmond go to Mass, they want a Roman Catholic Latin rite liturgy, says the Most Rev. Francis X. DiLorenzo. DiLorenzo, who just wound up his first year as the 12th bishop of the diocese, is seeing that his flock gets what it wants. Soon after his installation, he reactivated the diocese's liturgical commission and named the Very Rev. Russell E. Smith as diocesan theologian, a post that had been vacant since 1998. ...
Among DiLorenzo's changes is the reassignment of the Rev. Michael Renninger, rector of the cathedral, to full-time director of vocations, effective Wednesday. Many cathedral parishioners don't want Renninger to leave. He has been serving in both positions. "Father Michael is a wonderful liturgist and a very gifted pastoral priest," Halbert said. "We hate losing him. He's the right man for the job. I wish we could clone him. . . . We love our Father Elvis." Renninger has been dubbed Father Elvis because of the impersonations he does of singer Elvis Presley. ...
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