early October, 2005
- Martha Hot for Empire Expansion
By Sarah Hall
(Yahoo! News, October 4 2005)
Here's hoping that Martha Stewart's fans haven't had too much of a good thing. The domestic diva has been a whirlwind of activity since her release from prison in March and her subsequent freedom from house arrest last month, with two new television series on the airwaves and an assortment of book deals in the works. Despite her crowded schedule, Stewart is not showing signs of slowing when it comes to the project of revitalizing her brand name. ... Meanwhile, Stewart is also seeking to expand her empire into the realm of music. The homemaking maven has teamed with Sony to create Martha Stewart Living Music, a partnership organized to release compilation CDs for holidays and special occasions. The first compilation series, Martha Stewart Living Music: The Holiday Collection, is set for release Oct. 18 on Epic Records, as both a three-disc deluxe box set and as three individual discs featuring Christmas-themed traditional, jazz and classical favorites from the likes of Mariah Carey, Elvis Presley, Louis Armstrong and Charlotte Church.
- Timberlake to buy Elvis music history
(Irish Examiner, October 4 2005)
Pop star Justin Timberlake wants to return to his home town of Memphis, Tennessee to buy King Of Rock Elvis Presley's old recording studio and label. Timberlake heads a consortium of investors in talks to snap up Elvis' Sun label and Otis Redding's former label Stax - as well as a huge recording complex. ...
- Is Justin looking for inspiration from the King?
(Tonight, October 4 2005)
Justin Timberlake is reportedly trying to buy Elvis Presley's former
recording studio. The pop heartthrob has launched a multi-million dollar attempt to buy the King of Rock's studio in Memphis in his bid to become a music mogul. The 24-year-old - who is originally from Memphis - is allegedly planning to set up a new, gigantic recording complex in the city and even wants to snap up legendary soul label Stax. A source told Britain's Daily Star newspaper Timberlake - who is romancing Hollywood actress Cameron Diaz - is keen to move into the business side of the industry. ... A spokesman for the Memphis Music Foundation is quoted as saying: "We love Justin. He's a native. It's very exciting to have someone of his significance participate in the music scene here."
- Nudie Cohn's Wild West bling
By Jordan Running
(Luxist, October 3 2005)
The New York Times is running a great article profiling Nudie Cohn, a Russian immigrant who, among other things, was a tailor to the stars and pimper of rides. Cohn famously made a $100,000 gold lame suit for Elvis Presley, but the NYT article focuses on "Nudiemobiles," the cars he customized for celebrities. ...
- Kim Jong II: Hard Negotiating With Elvis Presley Mini-Me
By Robert Paul Reyes
(American Chronicle, October 3 2005)
Kim Jong II, the communist dictator of North Korea, doesn't cut a very imposing figure -- he's a dead-ringer for Elvis Presley's "Mini-Me." But he is no joking matter, Kim's disastrous agricultural and economic polices have caused his people to suffer under one of the world's longest and deadliest famines. ...
- Kris Kristofferson to Host Infomercial for Jerry Naylor's "The Rockabilly Legends: A Tribute to My Friends''
(Yahoo! Finance / BUSINESS WIRE, October 3 2005)
Multi-Media Package Tracing Roots of Rockabilly Available in November
The iconic Kris Kristofferson--singer, songwriter, actor and consummate wordsmith--will host a 30-minute infomercial introducing Jerry Naylor's "The Rockabilly Legends: A Tribute to My Friends." A comprehensive, definitive project tracing the roots of rockabilly music and its impact on music history and American culture, "The Rockabilly Legends: A Tribute to My Friends" is a restoration and preservation of an era that changed music forever. The heart of the project is a $1.5 million feature television broadcast documentary produced by Jerry Naylor, former lead singer of The Crickets. The documentary supports a special product collection including:
* A two-DVD set of the three-hour documentary, containing extra footage and features.
* Four newly recorded documentary soundtrack CD's--three featuring Jerry Naylor paying tribute to the Rockabilly Legends, and one honoring the music of the legendary Carl Perkins. Naylor recorded the latter with special duet partner Stan Perkins, son of the late rockabilly icon.
* Eight compilation CD's filled with original master recordings of the best-known Rockabilly Legends' hits, each digitally refurbished and restored by The Naylor Company and Patrick McGuire Recording for this package. Each disc also contains a rare live performance bonus track. The bonus tracks were culled from performances by The Everly Brothers, Bill Haley & The Comets and Gene Vincent.
* A "Live at the Louisiana Hayride" CD featuring Elvis' first recorded live performance on the "Louisiana Hayride" in October 1954, plus live Hayride performances from Johnny Cash, Johnny Horton and Bob Luman, and a very rare 1952 live recording of Hank Williams' last performance at the "Hayride."
* A CD containing interviews with the Rockabilly Legends, conducted by legendary radio and television personality Red Robinson.
... The three-hour feature television documentary, "The Rockabilly Legends: A Tribute to My Friends," hosted by Naylor and Red Robinson, is narrated by game show pioneer and television icon Wink Martindale. "The Rockabilly Legends" is a treasury of never-before-seen performance footage and photographs, as well as exclusive interviews with and about the founding fathers of rockabilly music -- Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Buddy Knox, Gene Vincent, Johnny and Dorsey Burnette, Bob Luman, Charlie Rich and Johnny Horton, among others. Woven throughout the documentary is commentary from producers, band members, studio musicians, family members and music historians, including Bill Griggs, telling the story of how rockabilly was created and how its effects were felt not only in the U.S., but around the world. The documentary initially will be broadcast throughout North America, the U.K. and the rest of Europe, before taking it to other international territories. ...
- Be an Elvis fan for a weekend: Annual event may feature Elvis, but benefits Porter County Special Olympians
By JOYCE RUSSELL
(Northwest Indiana News / nwitimes.com, October 3 2005)
You don't have to be a fan of Elvis Presley to attend this weekend's 13th annual Elvis Fantasy Fest at Woodland Park. Sure, there will be a contingency of impersonators vying Saturday and Sunday to determine who's the best Elvis look/sing alike and there will be a group of tribute artists sure to make some in the audience swoon just like the King of rock 'n' roll did in his heyday. And there will be plenty of Elvis portraits on black velvet and blue suede shoes to peruse at the dealers' and fan club tables.
But, say organizers, even if you don't consider yourself an Elvis devotee, come on out anyway. This year will be the first year for the Roustabout Tent, which will house free events throughout this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
And, who knows, you might not come in an Elvis fan, but you could leave as one, said Gloria Nystrom, director of special events for the Portage Parks Department. Even if the hip swaying, Elvis bingo, karaoke, and E.P.'s Diner don't change your mind, you'll be contributing to a good cause. ...
- Who owns this stuff, partner? Groups duking it out over relics from closed movie site
By Carl Holcombe
(Arizona Republic, October 3 2005)
It may be high noon for Apacheland Movie Ranch's legacy of Hollywood cowboy and Elvis Presley memorabilia. The sprawling Western movie and TV filming location just outside Apache Junction was the location of the 1960s Elvis film Charro!, Audie Murphy's last film, A Time For Dying, and such classic Western TV shows as The Rifleman, Have Gun Will Travel and Rawhide. After a fire last year, owners Ed and Sue Birmingham sold the ranch to housing developers. Now its Hollywood artifacts are in the middle of a shootout between the Birminghams and decadelong Apacheland memorabilia collector Phil Rauso.
The Birminghams, Superstition Mountain Museum Director George Johnston and Rauso had agreed to work together to move an old chapel used in Charro! down the road to the Superstition museum. Once rebuilt on museum property, the chapel was supposed to have been turned into a tourist attraction and stocked with Rauso's collection of such Apacheland memorabilia as posters, original films and cowboy star boot prints set in concrete. Nearly $30,000 in donations was collected for the project.
But now the Birminghams have accused Rauso, who ran the museum at Apacheland, of being a memorabilia rustler. And Rauso has pulled out of the venture, taking most of his collection with him. He and rancher Wayne Richardson plan to open their own museum about a mile away and develop a Western town tourist attraction similar to Apacheland, called Gunsmoke. "(They're) demanding I give them everything I ever collected, claiming it was all stolen," Rauso said. "The only thing that makes any sense is that these people wanted my collection in their (museum) and they want to take it all away from me."
The Birminghams also say Rauso has auctioned off such reportedly stolen items as concrete boot prints of Warren Oates from The Wild Bunch and Jock Mahoney from Yancy Derringer on eBay, and say he's using their name and Apacheland's name to legitimize his collection activities. "He knows better, but he figures it's all his," said Sue Birmingham, whose father bought the movie ranch site in the 1950s, built it in 1960 and sold it to her in the mid-1970s. "He's selling stuff that doesn't belong to him, and the only way it could be sold was if it was stolen from Apacheland." Last week, Birmingham sent Rauso letters threatening legal action unless he hands over the memorabilia. But it may be difficult to prove what, if anything, was stolen. "The big differences I have with him are what the hell is ours and what the hell is his?" Johnston said. "No one knows but Phil."
The Apacheland lot and sets were plundered beginning in the 1970s as tourists, collectors, crooks and squatters loaded up, Sue Birmingham said. Rauso claimed the Birminghams never conducted an inventory of Apacheland and have no way of knowing what they had at the site, what was sold off over the years to pay off debts and what was destroyed in the fire. He said he never took anything from Apacheland without approval but bought most of his collection online from others and has seen the original bill of sale from Apacheland for some of it. The authenticity of some of the items themselves is also proving controversial, for both parties. The latest memorabilia Rauso is set on acquiring - Elvis concrete boot prints recently unearthed in New Mexico - may be of dubious authenticity. They supposedly were made during the Charro! filming and are worth much more than $10,000, Rauso said. The Birminghams and Johnston have no recollection of the prints. "I guarantee there are no Elvis prints. I was there," said Ed Birmingham, who called the prints phony. "Now, if he wants to say Steve McQueen's boot prints, that's different. (They) were there." Rauso claims his source had old sales bills from a father who worked as an extra at Apacheland decades ago and bought the prints and other items. "All the signatures (on the prints) are legitimate," Rauso said. "Maybe (the boot prints) were made elsewhere, but they did film there."
A Web site questions the authenticity of the chapel now being rebuilt at the Superstition museum. The steeple in the movie looks different than the steeple on the current chapel. Ed Birmingham said the steeple blown up in the movie was a stunt double used just for Charro!. It was replaced after filming with the original steeple. A new vestibule and entrance were later added and change the look of the chapel, but Birmingham said the main body of the building is the same one used in the film.
- We Love Katamari Review Like a giant ball of quirky fun
By Stephane Petit-Clerc
(gamingexcellence.com, October 2 2005)
I'm a 30 year old male. I rip through Mature-rated games like candy, completely unfazed in the least. I watch Unrated movies from France and Europe. Late night TV has nothing on me. And I confess; I became a giant freaky mess of goofiness when I found out that there would be a sequel to Katamari Damacy. I love quirky games. You know, the ones that you can't openly discuss with your buddies (PaRappa, Dance Dance Revolution, etc) for fear of them thinking any less of you, but which everyone is going home to play anyway. Well, I loved Katamari Damacy and I "love" Katamari too.
For those just joining the psychedelic goings on, in Katamari Damacy, The King of All Cosmos (no, not Elvis) "accidentally" destroyed the universe and The Prince (no, not The Prince formerly known as Prince, but the King's (still not Elvis) son) was sent to earth to fix his dad's mess by "rolling" objects on earth into balls and shooting them back up into the Cosmos to recreate the starlit sky. Sounds simply right? . ...
- Headaches affect millions
By MARILYN LINTON
(London Free Press, October 2 2005)
Ever wonder why Elvis was All Shook Up? Unsure as to what to expect during pregnancy? Answers to these questions, plus news on campus health are all part of this week's column. Read on: Was that Headache, not Heartbreak, Hotel? According to Headache Network Canada, the King was a migraine sufferer -- as were Picasso, Napoleon and Virginia Woolf. More than three million adult Canadian women also suffer debilitating migraines and 92 per cent say their headaches keep them away from work, school, family or social events. ...
- NRI doc among 10 outstanding young Americans
By Prashant K Nanda
(hindustantimes.com, dated September 15, found October 2 2005)
Indian American doctor Vikram Sheel Kumar will join the ranks of former US President Bill Clinton, entrepreneur Henry Ford and rock legend Elvis Presley as a recipient of the "Ten Outstanding Young Americans (TOYA)" award. ...
- The last song
By GEORGE LENKER
(The Republican, October 2 2005)
When the 1970s progressive rock band Emerson Lake and Palmer sang "Welcome back my friends, to the show that never ends," they didn't mean it literally. Yet, if it were up to fans, some concerts would go on forever. Caught up in the magic of certain performances, audiences often stomp, hoot and holler after the final song, coaxing the act back for an encore. While most performers offer up an obligatory extra song or two to end their shows, more enthusiastic fans don't seem to realize that the price of admission doesn't entitle them to unlimited music during the night. Some musicians try to make it clear that the final song is nigh by simply announcing it. But, like party hosts trying to give lingering guests a hint to hit the road, other acts have come up with more sly, subtle or just plain entertaining methods signaling the show's end. Probably the most well-known exit strategy was employed by Elvis Presley. After The King's final tune, he'd rush offstage and soon thereafter the P.A. would boom the now-famous line "Elvis has left the building." While this worked for a star of Presley's stature, others have to rely on less bombastic techniques. ...
- Some dreams aren't meant to come true
By Michael Riley
(Asbury Park Press, October 2 2005)
It is said that one of our primary responsibilities as parents is to nurture our children's dreams. Not to put too fine a point on it, but this has always struck me as a monumentally wrong-headed piece of advice. I speak here as the father of four sons, two of whom have passed through the raging monsoons of adolescence, one who is in the midst of them, hormonal storm surges and all, and the youngest of whom recently told me that he can't wait for puberty so that his voice will deepen. It should also be noted that I myself was once a teenage boy with dreams, and my dreams back then were dark and noxious ones, revolving mostly around my becoming some sort of cross between Elvis Presley and Hugh Hefner, surrounded by beautiful women in various states of undress. Not the sort of aspirations I shared with my parents. My mom and dad were not real big in the dreams department anyway. ... It occurred to me pretty early on that the Elvis/Hugh Hefner thing was never going to happen, requiring as it did both talent and business acumen, neither of which I possessed. ...
- The miracle Elvis wrought in Dallas
(Observer, October 2 2005)
In a new short story written exclusively for Books, Alexander McCall Smith switches focus from Africa to a mysterious meeting in a Texas garden
IT IS GENERALLY UNDERSTOOD THAT Elvis died and lies today in the grounds of his Memphis mansion. There are some, though, who doubt this. They acknowledge that there may well be a grave in Memphis that claims to contain the earthly remains of Elvis, but they believe that this is not proof conclusive of the demise of the alleged occupant. They cling to the belief that Elvis survived and, for reasons that remain obscure, skulks about in unlikely places (Puerto Rico, Baltimore, even Alice Springs). Others take the view that Elvis may, indeed, have succumbed on that fateful day, but is still with us. These people know that Elvis is still at work, and that proof of this is the fact that he still brings about miracles. The miracle that is recorded here has never before been mentioned in print. It is known as The Miracle wrought in Dallas, Texas. ... (3-page story)
- Justin bids for Elvis's kingdom: Boy band star plans huge Memphis record deal to beat city's blues
By Joanna Walters
(Observer, October 2 2005)
The capital city of soul and rock'n'roll, which launched the careers of stars including Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding and Jerry Lee Lewis, has hit hard times. In its heyday Elvis was its king in his Graceland mansion. Yet today the stardust of Memphis is gone, replaced by high unemployment, crime and grinding poverty.
Now an unlikely figure, the former boy band member Justin Timberlake, has emerged as its would-be saviour. He is negotiating to build a huge recording studio complex and to buy up two of the city's world-renowned record labels, Sun, which gave the planet Elvis and rock'n'roll, and Otis Redding's Stax. The audacious plan would revive Memphis as a creative centre in a way not seen since BB King and Booker T and the MGs played Beale Street in the Sixties. ...
- Desolation row brewin'
By Alan Taylor
(Sunday Herald, October 2 2005)
OVER the years one has come to the sad conclusion that some people will never appreciate the genius of Bob Dylan. Specifically, I am talking about women of a certain age - over, say, 45 - who grew up thinking they would never hear anything to compare with the likes of Gerry And The Pacemakers or Freddie And The Dreamers. For them, Dylan is unfathomable, too demanding in almost every respect. His voice is too harsh, his lyrics make about as much sense as Finnegans Wake, and when he plays the mouth organ he might as well be sanding floors. All of which, of course, is pure tarradiddle. Dylan as anyone who last week witnessed Martin Scorsese's addictive and illuminating two-part documentary, No Direction Home, will attest - is to the second half of the 20th century what Picasso, Joyce and Shostakovich were to the first, ie the bee's knees. No doubt the same people who put Dylan down - ie women over the age of 45 and Elvis Presley devotees - have no idea where the phrase the bee's knees comes from. What can one do but pity them? ...
- Maybe it's Elvis: 'Ta-Tunk, Ta-Tunk of burnin' love'
By Sam Cook
(News-Press, October 2 2005)
Tom Van Bibber of south Fort Myers says he taught Elvis Presley to dance, yet he can't figure out how to silence an irritating sound in his house. What do Elvis and the mysterious noise have in common? Nothing, except I know Tom's sinister sound exists, but Elvis - except for occasional sightings - isn't around to ask if Tom straightened out his two left feet in a Memphis VFW. "Elvis was 13, the same age as my brother, and I was 16,'' says Tom, 73. "Elvis couldn't dance much so I taught him a few steps.'' Elvis' 70th birthday is this year, so Tom is on the money as far as dancing after school in 1948, but keep in mind that Tom is quite the salesman - building materials and women's clothes with ex-wife Lynda - and the stories keep getting better as they get older. ...
- A truly chilling likeness of the King at state fair: This imitation of the rock legend is so nice, it is being kept on ice
By MELISSA SANCHEZ
(Houston Chronicle / Fort Worth Star-telegram, October 1 2005)
Elvis is back in the building - but this time he's cooling in the fridge. Nearly a half-century ago, Elvis Presley thrilled a crowd of 26,500 at the Cotton Bowl at Dallas' Fair Park. Now, he's back for an encore, his likeness captured as the State Fair of Texas' traditional butter sculpture. The cholesterol-loaded mold is part of The King's Ransom, an exhibit of 250 pieces of Presley memorabilia on display through Oct. 23 during the 119th State Fair. "He was a very generous human being, and he gave a lot of his things away," said Nereida Howe, of New Jersey, whose husband, Russell, helped assemble items including the King's pajamas and the last Bible he ever read. "That's why we have this collection." New York sculptor Sharon BuMann, 52, hopes the fascination Presley inspired will shine through the 800 pounds of butter she has formed into a leather-clad Presley set amid three hound dogs and rabbits they never caught. ... She sculpted Presley once before, at a 2003 fair in Tulsa, Okla. The State Fair of Texas has displayed butter sculptures periodically since 1909, officials said. ...
Sculptor Sharon BuMann works on her butter Elvis in a room chilled to 40 degrees
- Jerry Hopkins - Author
(The Globalist, October 1 2005)
Jerry Hopkins is the author of 30 books, including the number one New York Times best-seller "No One Here Gets Out Alive." He was an editor and correspondent for Rolling Stone for 20 years and has published best-selling biographies on Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison. He also was a writer-producer for Mike Wallace, Steve Allen and Mort Sahl. Hopkins moved to Thailand in 1993. He currently divides his time between a flat in Bangkiok and a house, eight hours away by train, in a rice paddy he describes as being "half the size of France."
|
