mid January, 2006
- AEROSMITH Guitarist: ELVIS PRESLEY Brought Black Music To White Ears
(Blabbermouth.net, January 16 2006)
According to ElvisNews.com, the January 2006 edition of Goldmine magazine features an interview with AEROSMITH guitarist Joe Perry. In the interview, Perry is asked about any favorite music artists that he has and below is his reply: "Jimi Hendrix and Elvis. I love Elvis. It's not just the music, it's what he accomplished and what he did. Probably the most important thing he did was bring black music to white ears. I think that some of what he contributed to our culture and music gets lost in his later years, in the stereotypes. Most of the impersonators are doing the white jumpsuit [look] because he was such a caricature of himself, but he was so important in those early years that it's just a drag that it gets lost. People think about the glasses and the jumpsuit, but if it wasn't for him there is so much music that we wouldn't have heard. He was the right voice at the right time, and it precipitated that whole social change in the '60s, bringing all that music and breaking down that barrier because black music was so taboo. It existed, but to break through that into the white stronghold on music, somebody had to do it, and he did it. He had the voice. There were certainly other rockers, but they sounded white. That's why he scared the sh** out of people when he was coming around. People were expecting to see a black dude singing. Like I said, the right voice at the right time to do that. You can't say enough about what he contributed. He laid the groundwork for breaking out, and the rest is history."
- Review: Elvis tribute artist offers surprises - and gets one
By JIM BUTLER
(Bryan-College Station Eagle, January 16 2006)
Terry Price pulled a huge surprise on his fans, one that left the near-capacity audience clapping, stomping and singing along. In his third annual benefit show for StageCenter on Friday, the Elvis Presley tribute artist ended the first half by coming out in a white suit and tie to sing gospel. He started the section with If I Can Dream, followed by Swing Down Sweet Chariot, Peace in the Valley and Put Your Hand in the Hand, and closed with How Great Thou Art. Price said it was the first time he had devoted a portion of his show to gospel music. The opening of the three-hour show followed his usual pattern of going over Presley's early catalog, belting out Blue Suede Shoes and Trouble before slowing things down with Love Me Tender and Can't Help Falling in Love. Throughout the concert, Price threw in songs that he had not sung on stage before, Devil in Disguise and A Fool Such As I among them. ... Price came out in a blue jumpsuit for the Las Vegas portion of his act, ripping through Walk A Mile in My Shoes, It's Now or Never and My Way. This is the part where Price hands out scarves to fans in the audience, and the singer got quite a shock when a white-haired lady traded him a pair of red thong underwear for a gold scarf. ...
- Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love Begins Run at Au Bar Jan. 16
By Andrew Gans
(PlayBill, January 16 2006)
A new revue celebrating the songs of the late rock-and-roll legend Elvis Presley begins a three-week limited engagement at Au Bar Jan. 16. Entitled Hunka Hunka Burnin' Love, the production - directed by Our Sinatra's Kurt Stamm - will play through Feb. 5 with an official opening scheduled for Jan. 18. The three-person cast includes original Altar Boyz star Andy Karl as well as Toxic Audio's Emily Drennan and Tom LoSchiavo, who is making his New York debut. ...
- The great pretenders: BUT THEN AGAIN
By MARY SCHNEIDER
(The Star, January 16 2006)
FANS around the globe gathered together on Jan 8 to pay tribute to Elvis Presley on the anniversary of his birth - had the King lived he would have been 71. The Elvis impersonators were also out in force that day. If you half closed your eyes, you might have imagined that Elvis really was alive and well and living in Memphis, and Toledo, and England, and Australia and Sweden?
When Elvis Presley died in 1977, there were about 170 Elvis impersonators doing the rounds. Since then, the number of pretenders has grown exponentially. Indeed, if you were to gather them altogether, these Elvis look-alikes would be able to fill a couple of football stadiums. How scary would that be? All those over-sized sideburns, pompadours, rhinestone-studded jumpsuits, and curled lips. But wait, it's going to get worse. According to The Naked Scientists, at the present rate of growth, one-third of the world's population will be Elvis impersonators by the year 2019. For ease of calculation, let's assume that the population will be nine billion in 2019. Now, let's also assume that half of the population will be male and that all Elvis impersonators are male. It follows then that out of a male population of 4.5 billion, a whopping three billion will be Elvis impersonators. In short, two out of three men will be running around in bejewelled outfits with bits of fuzz attached to their cheeks.
I don't know about other women, but the thought of an Elvis wannabe crooning to me below my balcony doesn't leave me with a warm, fuzzy feeling. If you want a sure-fire method of birth control, I think this might be it. These days, Elvis impersonators come in literally all shapes and sizes and with different levels of singing ability. For example, a Swedish Elvis impersonator, Eilert Pilarm, is well-known for his complete lack of resemblance to the King, both physically and musically. He doesn't even have a reasonable grasp of the English language and has memorised all of Presley's songs without knowing what the lyrics mean.
... People are so obsessed with Elvis and pretending to be Elvis that there's even a word to describe more than one Elvis impersonator: Elvii. Usage hint: When I was in Las Vegas I saw three Elvii in the Chapel of Love. Two were getting married to each other and the third was performing the wedding ceremony.
Some language purists argue that the word Elvii isn't grammatically sound. It has even been suggested that the plural ought to be Elves. Usage hint: When I was in Las Vegas I saw three Elves in the Chapel of Love. Two were getting married to each other and the third was performing the wedding ceremony. I swear I wasn't on some sort of mind-altering substance at the time.
Despite still having a large following, Elvis isn't for everyone. At least not in huge doses, as one diehard fan found out when he was celebrating the King's birthday last week. According to a report, an Australian man was repeatedly stabbed by his partner because he played an Elvis song over and over again. After playing Burning Love for the zillionth time in one afternoon, his partner snapped, contemplated the sewing basket, reached over, grabbed a pair of scissors and rewarded his burning love with a burning pain in his back, shoulder and thigh. Wouldn't it have been simpler to turn the electricity off at the mains or go for a walk?
Then there are those people who insist that Elvis is still alive. For example, an insurance agent from Morton, Ohio, claims that he was in the men's room in a local hotel some years back when he looked over at the next urinal, and who should be standing there but Elvis. "I couldnąt believe it. I said, you're Elvis, and he said, 'No, I'm Ted Kennedy.' But I know he was kidding." As far as I'm aware, the lights are off and Elvis has left the building, for good.
- Cracking the Elvis code: When the King speaks, it is in mysterious ways
By Alan Attwood
([Melbourne] Age, January 16 2006)
Quiet, please. I need to concentrate. Elvis is trying to get through to me. Yes, that Elvis. Is there any other? I've been getting vibrations from him. A whole series of things coming together that can't be dismissed as coincidence. There's a message in there - it's just a matter of putting all the pieces together.
First piece: a news item from early last week. You probably saw it, too. About a fellow in California forced to auction items from his huge collection of Presley memorabilia after his girlfriend issued an ultimatum: either the Elvis stuff went or she would. So it all went under the hammer: jumpsuits, ticket-stubs, belt-buckles, even an autographed copy of an early single, You're a Heartbreaker. Which is probably how this poor sap now feels about his fickle girlfriend.
Second piece in the puzzle: another news item. A day after the first one. A story from outback Western Australia about a woman charged with unlawful wounding. She had evidently stabbed her partner several times after he played the Elvis hit Burning Love again and again. It was not disclosed if the number of playings exceeded the number of stab wounds (six). In this case, despite a desire to stay on the same side as the King, I must confess to some sympathy for the aggrieved woman. Not long ago, I was on the receiving end of Sam Cooke's Another Saturday Night (and I Ain't Got Nobody) on autorepeat. Such things can mess with your mind. That Saturday night seemed to last for ever.
Third piece of evidence: a newspaper picture of an Elvis impersonator entertaining sick kiddies in a hospital. Didn't think much about it until I happened upon a story concerning the new INXS frontman, JD Fortune. Who played young Elvis in a US Legends tour once upon a time. And who had a dog named Presley. You see a pattern here? Yet still I was prepared to brush it all aside as mere chance. Until I was sorting through a file of bits and pieces and out slipped a postcard. On the front: a picture of Andy Warhol's 1963 screenprint of Elvis. Dressed as a cowboy. Make of that what you will.
But what should I make of it? The King has got my attention, but I can't decipher his message. I feel like Ed Devereaux as the park ranger in the old TV series, struggling to work out what Skippy, the bush kangaroo, is trying to tell him. The puzzling thing is that I'm not a huge Elvis fan. I have a couple of compilation CDs but I'm not sure I even own a copy of Burning Love, for example. (Given events in WA, this is probably no bad thing.)
So why am I suddenly feeling like the Chosen One? Why not one of the many impersonators or the legion of devotees? Or that poor sap who had to offload his collection? I'm not worthy. Then again, perhaps I am. After all, I've just been sipping coffee at home from my "President Meets The King" mug, a souvenir of the Richard Nixon Library and Museum in California, which I visited eight or nine years ago. The picture has faded after too many washes. And it wasn't long ago that I was playing an Emmylou Harris CD featuring a trackcalled Boy From Tupelo. About you-know-who.
What else? I was talking to a music buff just the other day about Paul Simon. Who had a worldwide hit a while back with an album called Graceland. Elvis' mansion. And, yes, I've been there myself. Perhaps I was spotted on all those security cameras and my features were filed away for future reference. Or maybe I signed the guest book. They know where I live. And now the time has come. Contact has been made.
When I think back on it, the thing I remember most about visiting Graceland is not the gold records on the walls, or the jumpsuits in glass cases, or even the blind person taking the tour with me. (She said she picked up a lot about the place just from the sounds and smells and the feel of the carpet.) No, the most memorable feature was the high wall at the front of the place, with almost every square inch covered in messages from fans to whom thiswas their Mecca.
The striking thing about these scrawled messages was that almost all were in the present tense - written by people to someonethey believed was still around. "Hi Elvis - we have come from Stockholm to see you..." That sort of thing. This was no masonry version of a deadletter office. These correspondents were expecting an answer. To them, Elvis hadn't left the building at all.
Now, many years on, I'm the one who has got the reply. Trouble is, I'm having some difficulty putting all the signs together. Perhaps I just need one more to make everything clear. I'll be looking for pictures on my toast, poring over tea leaves. Others might be all shook up. Not me. I'm ready, Elvis. I just need to know what you want from me. It's now or never.
- Elvis look-a-like gets latte attention
By Amy Lavalley
(Post-Tribune, January 15 2006)
A staff member at Barnes & Noble made the announcement Saturday, just in case customers hadn't already noticed: "Elvis is in the building." Indeed he was, wearing head-to-toe blue polyester, a beaded, fringed shirt open well below the collar, sipping a Starbucks latte in the music department. With rings on almost every finger - many with blue gemstones, apparently to coordinate with the rest of the outfit - and silver wrap-around shades, he attracted at least a couple of stares as he went across the parking lot and into the store. It's all part of the job for Tony Rome, an Elvis Presley impersonator from Joliet, Ill., who was at the bookstore with Chicago photographer Patty Carroll, helping promote her book of Elvis impersonator portraits. He's featured in the book, "Living the Life: The World of Elvis Tribute Artists." ...
- Elvis fans gather at Anna's
(Bartlett Appeal, January 15 2006)
Anna's Steakhouse is known for tender filets, Cajun shrimp and what some consider the best prime rib in the area. But the food isn't the only reason visitors gravitate there. The Humes High School memorabilia showcased throughout the restaurant by owner Anna B. Hamilton, including items about the school's most popular student and graduate, Elvis Presley, attract visitors from all over the world. Anna, 58, who graduated in 1965 from Humes High School, just adored Elvis. She recalls how thrilled she was to met him once when she worked at the Memphian Theater. He had rented the theater for the evening. After the movie, he walked around and spoke to everyone. On Jan. 8, what would have been Elvis' 71st birthday, Anna's Steakhouse was filled with visitors who had traveled from all over the world to see Graceland and show respect for the King. With Elvis music playing in the background and TVs showing his movies, Anna acknowledged the birthday by serving an orange-and-white iced birthday cake (the high school's colors), as she has done each year since opening in 1990. ...
- Townshend says Dylan insult wasn't intended
(newkerala.com, January 15 2006)
Who guitarist Pete Townshend has slammed reports that he criticised Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and The Band. Contactmusic.com quoted Townshend as insisting that he never had any intention of speaking badly of the super stars. He reportedly said in a recent interview: "Dylan's rock 'n' roll was silly. He couldn't play rock 'n' roll."
Now he explains: "I was trying to show how in Britain in the early 60s we looked at the old guard of 'white' rock 'n' roll (even Elvis) as almost washed up. Dylan doesn't need my puffs, but neither should he or The Band be subject to slurs I didn't intend to make."
- BURNING LOVE: Competitors in Elvis contest bring true passion for the King
By DANIEL PIKE
(New York Times, January 15 2006)
Elvis Presley died in a bathroom, but it's probably safe to assume the King of Rock 'n' Roll had better accommodations when dressing for performances. Springfield-based Elvis impersonator Bill Cobb, however, has little choice. There's no point in paying for a hotel room like the out-of-town Elvi. And there's been a crackdown recently on changing in the green room, in full view of those sampling the vegetable tray. For Cobb, the stall works fine. It's one way to stay humble, at least, as the King's get-up - such as Cobb's white-and-crimson-trimmed jumpsuit - sometimes goes to an impersonator's pompadoured head. "You keep a level field, you know, because you can't walk around thinking you are Elvis Presley," Cobb says. "Because there is no next Elvis Presley." With only a few months in the business, Cobb was among the greenest of the 17 impersonators who crooned at this weekend's 10th annual Tribute to the King Competition at the Hilton Springfield. ...
- Elvis has left the runway
By DAMIEN STANNARD
(Sunday Mail Qld, January 14 2006)
THEY'VE tried fireworks, car horns and even a stuffed crocodile named Elvis but nothing will keep birds away from Queensland airports. At least 172 birds struck aircraft at Queensland's major aerodromes between January and September last year - more than a third of the national figure. ...
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