late January, 2006
- Hits keep coming for Elvis in singles collection
By John Beifuss
(Commercial Appeal, January 27 2006)
Elvis scored another No. 1 this week when "Heartbreak Hotel" -- released as a CD single Jan. 10 to mark the golden anniversary of the song's recording in 1956 -- went to the top of the Billboard "Hot Singles Sales" chart, some 50 years after the song began its original eight-week reign atop the Billboard pop chart in March 1956. Of course, in the age of downloadable music, "hot" singles sales ain't what they used to be: The anniversary edition of "Heartbreak Hotel" sold 4,276 copies (in contrast, the No. 1 album, Mary J. Blige's The Breakthrough, sold 118,000 copies.) Still, the success of "Heartbreak Hotel" demonstrates that Elvis fans are eager to re-purchase songs they've bought many times before, if it's packaged for collectors. That's good news for RCA and Sony BMG, which on Tuesday released the "Elvis #1 Singles" collection, a "limited edition, deluxe collector's box set... numbered for authenticity" that includes all 21 of the King's No. 1 RCA singles on 20 discs, each nestled inside a sized-for-CD reproduction of the original 45 rpm single's picture sleeve. (The set incorporates both Billboard and Cashbox listings -- "In the Ghetto," for example, reached No. 1 on the Cashbox chart, but not in Billboard.)
Each disc contains two songs, the A and B sides of the original singles, from "Heartbreak Hotel" backed with "I Was the One" -- the first of the King's five No. 1 hits in 1956 -- to 1972's "Burning Love," backed with "A Matter of Time" (the only picture sleeve that presents Elvis in a jumpsuit). The reason the box set contains 21 hits but only 20 discs is that one of the King's singles consisted of two "A" sides, both of which reached No. 1: the August 1956 combination of "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel." The box set includes a folded, poster-sized reproduction of all the sleeves, arranged side by side in a checkerboard pattern, and a booklet written by noted annotator and author ("Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n Roll") Colin Escott, who explores the notion of the 45 rpm vinyl single as "one of the Twentieth Century's most potent artifacts." He writes that Elvis' early RCA singles represent "the sound of the new world order shaking off the old."
Practically speaking, the new box set is cumbersome and redundant: Why eject a CD after only two songs when you can listen to song after song on such previous compilations as "The Number One Hits," "Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits" (which included U.K. top hits) and "Elvis: 2nd to None," not to mention the definitive box sets of 1950s, '60s and '70s recordings? But for fans willing to part with $59.98 (list price), it's a pretty cool fetish object, and a reminder of a career that, according to Escott, "crossed time and place as no (other) music ever has, or possibly ever will."
- Elvis comes home: Butte native performs Saturday night at Anaconda Elks
By Erin Nicholes
(Montana Standard, January 27 2006)
Tell Michael Kidd that he's a dead ringer for Elvis Presley, and he'll respond in true King fashion. "Thank you, thank you very much," he says, borrowing Elvis's deep voice, curled lip and Southern drawl. Kidd, 52, has had plenty of practice perfecting that line. He made a 30-year career of performing Elvis tribute concerts in Hollywood, Las Vegas and even in Asia. "It's called musical inspiration," Kidd said Thursday. "You don't do an impersonation, it's a tribute." Kidd retired to his native Butte a few years ago, but Elvis lives on in his creative spirit. He will perform an Elvis tribute at the Anaconda Elks Club at 8 p.m. Saturday. ...
- Still on a Heartbreak high: Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel is the ultimate paen to loneliness and lost love
By Richard Jinman
([Melbourne] Age, January 26 2006)
TO SAM PHILLIPS, THE founder of Sun Records, it was a "morbid mess", a record that was slow, depressing and badly recorded even by the lo-fi standards of 1956. He had a point: Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel, the ultimate paen to loneliness and lost love, is all of these things. The funereal blues is a radical departure from the frenetic rockabilly songs he recorded for Sun and the dour lyric, inspired by a suicide note, is the antithesis of chirpy teen anthems such as Rock Around the Clock. Even the quality of the recording is below par. In his book The Rise and Fall of Popular Music, Donald Clarke points out that Scotty Moore's guitar sounds "exceptionally, irritatingly tinny" and Floyd Cramer's piano is "too prominent". "The whole track sounds as though it was recorded underwater in a breadbox," Clarke complains.
But Presley believed in Heartbreak Hotel, predicting it would be a massive hit even before he recorded it. On the eve of the 50th anniversary of its release on January 27, 1956, the song still transcends its weaknesses, Presley's delivery sweeping everything in its path. "Well, since my baby left me/ Well, I found a new place to dwell," moans the 21-year-old superstar-in-waiting, his voice so drenched in reverb he appears to be performing inside a stone crypt instead of RCA's studios in Nashville, Tennessee. "Well, it's down at the end of Lonely Street/ At Heartbreak Hotel."
In his rock history Almost Grown, author James Miller tries to describe the recording's histrionic allure. "Presley delivered them (the lyrics) with heartfelt conviction, in a heavily echoed, highly stylised wail, full of garbled gospel devices, as if the lovelorn singer no longer had the will to live," he writes. "It became the prototype for a new genre of morbidly self-pitying rock songs . . ."
Heartbreak Hotel, which is being re-released in the US to mark the 50th anniversary (but not in Australia, sadly), was not an instant hit. It wasn't until April 3, when he appeared on veteran entertainer Milton Berle's television show, that it was heard by a mass audience. About two weeks later, it hit No. 1 and stayed there for eight weeks. The King had arrived.
For music commentator Glenn A. Baker, it's "such a bloody important record". "Nowadays, we all know about Sun Records and how important that was but no one knew it at the time," he says. "Elvis arrived, as far as the world was concerned, with Heartbreak Hotel. It delivered Elvis Presley and rock'n'roll to the world." ... Baker understands why artists tend to shy away from the song:the original recording is simply perfect. "It's not just a utility song, it was written for Elvis and he believed in it," he says. "Sure it was morbid but it was also ethereal, compelling and even a tad sinister."
- True blue (and green) fans creating a memorabilia blitz
By Monica Soto Ouchi
(Seattle Times, January 25 2006)
Think of it as a hunka burnin' Seahawks love. At least that might be the point of the white satin Elvis jumpsuit available for sale on eBay. Made by an Ohio woman, it comes festooned with Seahawks logos, silver sequins and this promise: You will stand out at the Super Bowl! Or how about a gray suede cowboy hat, a Seahawk emblazoned on the crown, with a royal-blue feather tucked in the band? ... In the two-week run-up to Super Bowl XL, retailers big, small and nano have expanded the ways in which one can hawk the Hawks. The Sports Authority sells NFL-licensed Seahawks items on its Web site (www.sportsauthority.com), including the Wincraft Seahawks snack helmet. Chips go in the snack bowl on top, the salsa in the removable faceguard dish. ...
- Why not Crosby, Sinatra, or Nat King Cole?
(mansfieldnewsjournal.com, January 25 2006)
I have never seen a Bing Crosby tribute. There are barely any Frank Sinatra imitators. Nobody is doing Nat King Cole. But everybody does Elvis. The "King'' is dead, but heavy-set guys willing to wear white sequin costumes and flowing black wigs are ever there to pay tribute to Elvis Presley. Not the young, dynamic Elvis. But the slow, prematurely old guy in the white sequins that worked the Las Vegas clubs. Maybe the Memphis troubadour with the wild hip action is just too difficult to imitate. Maybe people just want to remember the "King'' in his final days. I have no idea. I only know that the elder Elvis, with the exception of a few of his later ballads, is not the performer I care to remember. The Elvis of my youth was right up there with a young Marlon Brando and James Dean. Elvis tickled my sense of youthful rebellion. His music got my attention. Made me want to move. Just anywhere I could go. The beauty of Elvis was that behind the pompadour and sneer, we sensed a really good guy. If you catch his movies, he was more than just handsome. His image was friendly. You could relate to him. And that voice. Ye Gods! A gifted Gospel singer gone rock 'n' roll. A balladeer of great talent. And when his draft notice came, our guy did his duty; met his girl in Germany and kept waiting for his return.
I will admit that the first time I heard the Beach Boys perform on Armed Forces Radio while riding with the Navy guys on a Swift, I found my age. A child of the '50s ran smack into the '60s. Some people went with the Grateful Dead but the Beach Boys pushed me past Elvis. At least with popular music. Then Elvis got old. I don't remember how that happened. Maybe I got old too. But not that fast. It didn't take the Elvis imitators long to create their tribute industry. I remember a movie starring Nicholas Cage where an entire cargo plane load of Elvis imitators parachuted over Las Vegas. Whatever else has happened in our culture, Elvis stands alone as a popular subject of tributes.
Bing Crosby, as wonderful as he was, never inspired this sort of thing. He seems ancient now. Frank Sinatra was a walking cult symbol and he doesn't attract too many imitators. I did see one group try to recreate a performance by Sinatra and his Rat Pack buddies. The picture alone turned me off. I couldn't even tell which singer was supposed to be Sinatra. Ugh! Nobody could do Nat King Cole either. Re-creation can be a lot of fun. Remember Hal Holbrook doing a night with Mark Twain? James Whitmore did Harry Truman and I hope somebody did Will Rogers. Teddy Roosevelt made for a great night of entertainment. I wondered if anybody would ever do Elvis. Who could do that voice and style?
It suddenly occurred to me that while I have some Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Frank Sinatra CDs at home, I have none of Elvis. No Beach Boys either. Lean back, shut my eyes and listen to my memories. They're all there. Locked in. No tributes needed. A sweet piece of my youth.
- Group of Mid-Southerners Vow to Save Libertyland
(WREG-TV, January 25 2006)
For the past thirty years, Libertyland has been a favorite destination for many midsoutherners. But dwindling attendance has prompted the people who run it to shut the place down. Now a group of concerned citizens want to save the theme park. It's not hard to find a Mid-Southerner who hasn't been to Elvis' favorite amusement park. Sitting on 140 acres, Libertyland opened in 1976 and 2006 might be the year it closes. The mid-south fair leases the property from the city. The fair announced in October it would be closing park. "That doesn't have to be the case. Our group Save Libertyland has identified a number of companies capable of taking over Libertyland," said Steven Mulroy with Save Libertyland. Save Libertyland will have to come up with an offer the city can't refuse. That's because the city is already looking into numerous development ideas. ...
- Tuned in to radios - 'Novelty Radio Nut' has over 1,100 devices
By LARRY GIERER
(ledger-enquirer.com, January 24 2006)
Saturday marked the first time in more than a decade that [EASTON] State Theatre patrons paid to park in the The visitor sits in Ray Weaver's living room. He begins to look for a volume knob on the seat. "No, it's not a radio. Just a chair," laughs Weaver. Practically everything else in the room plays music. The guitar hanging on the wall is a transistor radio. So are clocks. A small sewing machine, a pair of binoculars, a candy dispenser, a telephone, beer cans, model cars, picture frames, an Elvis figurine, a cigarette lighter -- all of them will pick up your favorite station. The toilet paper holder in the nearby bathroom is AM-FM. ...
- Patrons blast State Theatre parking chaos: Time, not money, annoys. Debut of fees at Pine Street garage characterized by delays
By EDWARD SIEGER
(Express-Times, January 24 2006)
Saturday marked the first time in more than a decade that [EASTON] State Theatre patrons paid to park in the city's Pine Street garage. And the event opened to poor reviews. Linda Carnes, who attended the theater's annual Elvis Birthday Bash, said it wasn't the neatly printed sign declaring "State Theatre Parking $3" that bothered her. It was the 55 minutes it took to exit the parking deck that rubbed her the wrong way. "When you spend an hour getting out of the parking garage and then 40 minutes to drive home, it just seemed excessive," Carnes said. ...
- TV Producer Recalls Good Times with Elvis Presley
By Mike O'Sullivan
(VOA News, January 24 2006)
Few singers have had the impact of Elvis Presley. Born to poverty in rural Mississippi, he soared to stardom in the 1950s and popularized American rock and roll worldwide. Mike O'Sullivan spoke with television producer Albert Fisher who is sharing his reminiscences of the star known as "The King." Fisher was a young man working for the Seattle World's Fair when the world's biggest star, Elvis Presley, filmed a movie there in 1962. Called It Happened at the World's Fair, it was one of a string of some 30 movies that highlighted his music, but offered little in the way of plot line or acting. Elvis's fans, however, loved his films.
Albert Fisher was just 21 years old, and the production exposed him to the world of moviemaking. He was assigned to help the Hollywood crew, and during the month-long process, he became friends with Elvis. He later went to Hollywood to work as technical advisor as production was being completed at the MGM studios. He recorded what he saw on his movie camera, and recently released his home movies on DVD. He says when he first met the rock and roll star, he was not a big fan of Elvis. "But the guy really won me over," he said. "He had such an engaging personality. And the thing that really impressed me about Elvis was that he was a real gentleman. He treated everybody with great kindness and affection, from all the members of the crew to the security people to all the crowds that were there."
Attendance skyrocketed when it was announced that Elvis would be on the fairgrounds filming his movie. "It was bedlam around him," he said. "The young girls were in tears, screaming out his name and everything. But he'd always turn around and give a nice wave to them." Fisher once went on a double-date with Elvis. The two men and their dates left the hotel where Elvis was staying, heading to the movies. "And to be able to do that, at the hotel, we had to go down a service elevator and through the back kitchen way," he said, "because the lobby was filled with fans trying to see Elvis. And we got into just a plain black station wagon. And it took us to the movies."
They watched an Elvis Presley film called Kid Galahad. Elvis's entourage, jokingly known as the Memphis Mafia, had bought enough tickets to clear the last three rows of the theater. Recalling the event, Fisher said "We waited until the movie began, and then they sneaked us in, and then we left before the movie ended."
Fisher was on the set in Seattle when a child actor got his big break. As the film unfolded, Elvis hired a young boy to kick him in the kneecaps so he could visit a pretty nurse. "And the kid doesn't even get a credit," he said. "It's the first time he ever made a movie. And it's Kurt Russell. He was 10 years old." Russell went on to become a star in his own right.
Fisher, as a young man, got a close-up view of the colorful characters who surrounded Elvis, including Colonel Tom Parker, the singer's manager. He says that as the star was filming in Seattle, Parker - always the businessman - set up a stand to sell Elvis memorabilia at the world's fair. After the production had finished and the Seattle World's Fair had ended, Fisher moved to New York to work in television. "And the day that the movie opened, I got all of my friends together," he said. "I said, let's go to the very first screening at 10 in the morning to see the movie, because I want you all to see my credit come up on the screen as technical adviser. So the credits start to roll in the beginning of the movie, and up comes the credit. It says, "Technical Adviser, Colonel Tom Parker.'" He later learned that Colonel Parker took the title of technical adviser on all Elvis Presley movies.
Elvis went on to even greater stardom, and Fisher went on to produce television shows in New York and Los Angeles. He says that Elvis, who died in 1977, may be an even bigger star today than when their paths crossed at the Seattle World's Fair.
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