mid April, 2006
- Bread firm blames Elvis after profits heartbreak
By Sarah Butler
(Times Online April 20 2006)
FRIED peanut butter sandwiches are notorious as a prime ingredient in the demise of The King - so to use Elvis Presley to promote bread sales would seem to be a less than astute move on the part of Kingsmill. Nevertheless, bread executives thought that they were using their loaves when they commissioned a television advert featuring "Elvis". It turns into a spoof story about how he arrived at Prestwick Airport - in reality the only time that Presley set foot in Britain, en route home from Germany - and stayed behind to set up a bakery, The King's Mill with the strapline: "By appointment to the King." Critics, who likened the campaign to using Buddy Holly to promoting air travel, were unsurprised yesterday when Kingsmill admitted that its profits had fallen. The company said that the advert had failed. ...
- Elvis Fans Plan Event May 6
(Sequoyah Country April 19 2006)
Elvis Presley fans are planning a mini concert and other events, and some of those fans who live in Sequoyah County are hoping the King will attract enough attention so that a chapter of the fan club will be organized in Sequoyah County. Phyllis Mathis of Muldrow said, "We are recruiting members through this event, and if we get enough members we can have a club in Sequoyah County." Mathis said the official Graceland-approved event will be held May 6 at the Brickstreet Café is Okemah. The event, "Aloha from Hawaii," will be hosted by the Oklahoma Elvis Presley Fan Club, and will include a party, auction and dance. It is based on Presley's "Aloha from Hawaii" performance on Jan. 14, 1973.
Mathis said, "Elvis wrote history in this first world-wide telecast concert ever. Millions of people in over 40 countries saw Elvis' live concert from Hawaii."
It is estimated that the concert was watched by one billion people worldwide.
"The show was the most expensive entertainment special, up to that time, and cost $2.5 million. The show was also important because neither Elvis nor anyone working for the show was paid. The audience paid what they could afford to see the show and all the proceeds, $75,000, were donated to the Kui Lee Cancer Drive."
At the Okemah party on May 6, the fan club will re-enact Elvis' concert, with a free mini concert performed by Elvis Entertainer and Oklahoma's own Mark Barrager, better known as the King Size King, Mathis said. Barrager was also known as Fox 25's Ranger Roger for a number of years and he has also acted in various films and commercials. Ronnie Kay, KOMA's "Mr. Rock and Roll," will be the DJ for the dance. Mathis said the mini concert will start at 6:30 p.m. and the silent auction will feature newly-licensed Elvis Presley items and other items. The auction will be held from 7 to 9 p.m., and the event will end at 10 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children age 16 and under. To purchase tickets call (918) 623-1814 or visit www.geocities.com/cmarch75, which will direct searchers to the "Elvis Presley Fan Club of Oklahoma." Mathis said the event will benefit the Pets and People Animal Shelter in Yukon.
- Elvis Tribute Artist Willard Ford to run London Marathon
(PRWeb April 18 2006)
Willard Ford, an International Elvis Presley Tribute Artist from London, UK, will once again be running the London Marathon on 23rd April to raise money for The Bobby Moore Fund For Cancer Research UK. "This will be my 3rd London Marathon and each year the training seems to get tougher. Getting out the door to run 15 miles on a cold, wet, winter's morning doesn't get any easier! I usually do the long training runs on Sunday morning and after a late night doing a show the previous night, running Is often the last thing I feel like doing." commented Ford.
Ford, being an Elvis tribute artist, couldn't resist the lure of the King to help attract more sponsorship for Cancer Research UK his designated charity chosen as his mother is having ongoing treatment for cancer. "My mother has been having treatment for Cancer for some time now and I want to raise as much money as I can to help find a cure, I will be wearing a replica of "The Chain Suit", a suit Elvis wore In Vegas In 1970. It is a white jumpsuit, with 4 silver chains across the chest. Thankfully It Is a lot lighter than the heavily jeweled suits from his later years!"
More information and reports on the Marathon run can be found at Willard's Web site www.songsoftheking.com
- Elvis' first home for sale on EBay
By AP
(Winnipeg Sun April 18 2006)
The first home Elvis Presley owned, a ranch-style house he bought as his career was taking off, is for sale online. The modest, four-bedroom building at 1034 Audubon Dr. in Memphis was posted on EBay Friday. ... [as below]
- First Home Bought by Elvis for Sale
By JOHN GEROME
(Yahoo! News / Associated Press April 18 2006)
The first home Elvis Presley owned, a ranch style house in Memphis he bought as his career was taking off with "Heartbreak Hotel," is for sale online. The modest, four-bedroom house at 1034 Audubon Drive in Memphis was posted on eBay Friday. As of Tuesday morning, the lone bid was for $100,000 by Elvis Unlimited, an organization that operates an Elvis museum and shop in Randers, Denmark.
Presley, then 21 years old, bought the home March 8, 1956, with his royalty earnings. The singer, his parents and grandmother lived in the house for only a year. A month after moving in, "Heartbreak Hotel" hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts, ultimately ending any privacy he had in the neighborhood. Crowds of fans lined the suburban street and police frequently had to be called in to handle the growing problem. A Life magazine article from August 1956 had pictures of teenage girls sitting with their ears pressed to his bedroom wall and picking through the grass in his yard for souvenirs. The commotion became so intense that Elvis moved his bedroom to the back of the house.
In the short time the family was there, Elvis had a 50-foot-long granite pool installed in the backyard and a den added to the house, according to records. The pool was the largest residential pool in Memphis when he built it. His motorcycles were housed in a separate building, which eventually became a pool house complete with two dressing rooms. Both the pool house and the pool remain on the property. Many of Alfred Wertheimer's photographs of the emerging musician were shot at the house, chronicling Elvis' growing fame and fortune. Photos of the property on eBay show mature trees in the yard, and the listing says some of them were planted while Presley lived there.
In March 1957, Presley gave up the house on Audubon Drive for a 14-acre estate with a two-story colonial house already known as Graceland, a home that Elvis would make famous. Last year, the Audubon house was nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, a distinction Graceland has held since 1991. According to the eBay posting, the house was built in 1953 and has about 3,000 square feet of living space. The hallway contains the original music note themed wallpaper from 1956, which was uncovered during renovations by the current owners. The walls and gates surrounding the property remain, still showing the strands of barbed wire placed by the singer's father, Vernon Presley, to prevent would-be intruders. The sale is being handled by Honky Tonk Hall of Fame LLC in Nashville. All bidders must be prequalified, with bidding to end May 14.
- Elvis impersonators under threat
By Steven Ventura
(Irish Examiner April 18 2006)
More than 30,000 Elvis Presley impersonators in America may be forced to quit by a New York City businessman who has bought the rights to the late icon's name and likeness in the US. Billionaire American Idol owner Bob Sillerman paid $114m (¤92.9m) for an 85% stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises and now controls everything except the King's music. Now Sillerman plans to open a new Elvis cabaret show in Las Vegas and prevent any one else from dressing up like the star.
He tells The New York Times: "If we were going to do a show that was based on Elvis impersonators, then obviously it wouldn't make sense to have unauthorised Elvis impersonators." In a move likely to outrage fans even further, Sillerman also plans to demolish the legendary Heartbreak Hotel opposite Presley's Graceland home in Memphis, Tennessee, and replace it with two 400-room hotels, restaurants, shops and an amphitheatre.
- ELVIS IMPERSONATORS FACE BAN..UH-HUH-HUH: Billionaire's threat to stop Presley fans mimic-king
By Steven Ventura
(Daily Record April 18 2006)
ELVIS impersonators could be hounded out of business - by the man who owns the rights to the dead icon's name. Media mogul Robert Sillerman hinted he may crack down on the "unauthorised" use of the superstar's likeness He bought 85 per cent of Elvis Presley Enterprises from the rock'n'roll legend's daughter Lisa Marie last year. And the billionaire is planning an interactive Elvis tribute and cabaret in Las Vegas.
Impersonators - numbering 30,000 in the US alone - have not had to pay royalties because they were seen as free advertising. Top US tribute acts can earn £200,000 a year singing The King's hits in their rhinestone jumpsuits. But savvy Sillerman, 57, said: "If we were going to do a show based on Elvis impersonators then obviously it wouldn't make sense to have unauthorised Elvis impersonators." Sillerman, who owns the American Idol TV show and is 375th on the US rich list, refused to be further drawn on his plans for the impersonators. His £65million bought control of Elvis's name and likeness - not his back catalogue.
The annual Collingwood Elvis festival in Canada claims to be the biggest tribute show of its kind. Its organisers pay only £3000 for the right to stage it. Festival chief Peter Dunbar said: "I think there is potential for this to be a huge issue in terms of Sillerman's ability to mess with all these events and people. But he's a good businessman, almost all the stuff he has done has been positive."
Sillerman also has a 90-year lease on Presley's Graceland estate. He plans to knock down the 128-room Heartbreak Hotel opposite the mansion and put up two 400-room hotels. Sillerman recently bought 80 per cent rights to the name of boxing great Muhammad Ali.
- Elvis crackdown won't rain on festival
By Adam Bennett
(Daily Telegraph April 18 2006)
AUSSIE impersonators of The King are all shook up, but hope they have nothing to fear from a crackdown on unauthorised Elvises. Billionaire US media entrepreneur Robert Sillerman last year paid $114 million for an 85 per cent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises, which owns the rights to Elvis's name and likeness. Mr Sillerman has said the company will crack down on unauthorised Elvises, as it plans an Elvis exhibit and cabaret show on the Las Vegas strip.
But organisers of the Parkes Elvis Festival in New South Wales's central west say the US-led crackdown will have little effect on the event. Festival spokeswoman Monique Kronk said the organisation was seeking legal advice about the crackdown, but that change would have minimal impact on the event. She said many professional Australian Elvis impersonators were already licensed with Elvis Presley Enterprises. "We have paid professional impersonators that come to Parkes," Ms Kronk said of the festival, which takes place in January each year. "Many of those impersonators are licensed but they will all need to be licensed. But we don't have any specific directives on how these things will be different. We haven't heard any news of what we can expect on the future."
Ms Kronk said she would contact Elvis Presley Enterprises about how the crackdown would affect "hobby" impressionists. "If those hobby impressionists are affected by this, then we would be approaching Elvis Presley Enterprises on their behalf to ensure that some sort of licence will cover them for that festival weekend," she said.
Associate Professor of Law at Melbourne University Andrew Kenyon, who specialises in copyright law, said it was unlikely unauthorised Elvis impersonators could be stopped in Australia. "The law's approach to protecting an image varies quite a lot between the UK, US and Australia," he said. "There is not a specific area of law that applies to it (in Australia). There might be certain registered intellectual property rights that could apply. There might be things like defamation. There might also be commercial actions related to passing off or deceptive conduct. "If you could have a mix of those then that might apply."
- Elvis Festival all shook up after impersonator rule change
(au.news.yahoo.com April 18 2006)
The organisers of the Parkes Elvis Festival in the central west of NSW are seeking legal advice about changes to the rules surrounding Elvis Presley impersonators. An American billionaire who owns the rights to the Elvis name and likeness is working to stop "unauthorised" impersonators as part of a plan to open a show and exhibit in Las Vegas dedicated to 'the king'.
More than 5,000 people travel to Parkes each year to see hundreds of Elvis look-a-likes and celebrate his music. The festival's Monique Kronk says very few details about the shake-up are known but organisers want to ensure it will not threaten the event. "We've got to discuss not just how it affects the festival itself but ... who are coming in and we don't know quite yet enough about what they are planning to change," she said. "But obviously we'll have to speak to Elvis Presley Enterprises and maybe we can negotiate some sort of licence that will cover for the whole festival - festival goers coming - we don't know enough yet about the situation."
- Elvis has left the building. Now 30,000 impersonators may have to go as well
By Tim Reid
(Times Online April 17 2006)
FOR nearly 30 years since the death of Elvis Presley, his impersonators have suffered for their art. They struggle to achieve the perfect quiff. They sweat profusely in white sequined jump suits. Some, whose bellies are bigger than their sideburns, have been floored by gyration-induced hernias. Now, however, America's estimated 30,000 Elvis impressionists are really shook up. They fear that they are about to be put out of business. In a move that has made the ranks of the lookalikes queasier than the thought of a deep-fried peanut butter and banana sandwich - the King's favourite snack in the bloated autumn of his life - a New York businessman has bought the rights to Elvis¹s name and likeness and has threatened to ban "unauthorised" Elvis clones.
Robert Sillerman, a billionaire media entrepreneur who owns American Idol - the hugely successful equivalent of Pop Idol in Britain - paid $114 million (£65 million) last year for an 85 per cent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises, which is run by the Presley family. He got control of Graceland, the King's home in Memphis, Tennessee, and control of his name and likeness, but not his music.
The Presley family, through Elvis Presley Enterprises, has allowed most impersonators free use of the singer's name and likeness, believing that it was good marketing and a way to ensure that the King would never die. In an interview with The New York Times, however, Mr Sillerman outlined plans that have left many Elvis impersonators weak at the knees.
CKX, Mr Sillerman's company, intends to open an interactive Elvis exhibit and huge Elvis-themed cabaret show on the Las Vegas Strip, which he hopes will attract millions of visitors a year. In Memphis he plans to demolish the 128-room Heartbreak Hotel, which stands opposite Graceland on Elvis Presley Boulevard, and build two 400-room hotels, convention space, restaurants, shops and an amphitheatre. Of Elvis impersonators, he said ominously: "If we were going to do a show that was based on Elvis impersonators, then obviously it wouldn't make sense to have unauthorised Elvis impersonators" Mr Sillerman has since refused to answer questions about what he plans to do with the Elvis impersonator industry, which many believe has become so risible that it has made Presley more of a laughing stock than an iconic image ready to be mined financially.
CKX is powerless to take action against impersonators in Europe, including Britain, where the Elvis image is in the public domain. Mr Sillerman says that he does not believe that Elvis Presley Enterprises has used Presley nearly to his full potential in the US. Impersonators in America believe that it is inevitable that their industry - which includes dwarf Elvises, Chinese Elvises and African-American Elvises - is in for a cull. Mr Sillerman has bought Elvis-A-Rama, a museum and impersonator theatre just off the Las Vegas Strip and is shutting it down in October. Justin Curtis, 22, an impersonator who had finished a show at Elvis-A-Rama before an audience of 30, said that he was willing to pay royalties to Mr Sillerman.
But Ted Davis, a trademark lawyer, said that Mr Sillerman had legal precedent on his side. If the owner of someone's image were successful in stopping impersonators in one state, there was precedent whereby state courts had imposed a nationwide injunction on unauthorised impersonators. Matt Lewis, another Elvis impersonator, said that his agents had been studying the legal ramifications of his status since Mr Sillerman acquired the rights. Some impersonators make $300,000 a year, and Mr Lewis acknowledged that he made "six figures" per annum. "If they tried to stop me I'd figure out a way to keep going," he said. "We would band together. I have this image of old ladies going to underground shows and giving passwords at the door. There would be underground Elvis speakeasies. Honestly." ...
- Pop eats itself
Analysis by Peter Holmes
(News-Press April 17 2006)
SCAN the Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) charts, and you could be forgiven for wondering whether you had accidentally hitched a ride on a magic carpet.
Is it 1956? 1968? 1977? 1984? On the DVD chart last week were releases from artists such as Queen, Metallica, Simon and Garfunkel, Michael Jackson, Tina Turner, Dire Straits, Megadeth, KISS, The Eagles and Deep Purple. The top 50 albums smelled a little less musty, but there was still room for CDs from John Farnham, Pink Floyd's Dave Gilmour, Fleetwood Mac, Olivia Newton-John and two collections from Johnny Cash. Even the singles chart - aimed at the fickle, ringtone-obsessed, pre-teen demographic - contained Youth Group's cover of Alphaville's 1984 hit Forever Young, and Elvis Presley's Heartbreak Hotel, first released 50 years ago. ...Pop music has been cannibalising itself, and anything else it could lay its hands on (jazz, country, Broadway, blues, classical), since Elvis was in nappies. But has that syndrome ever been as pronounced as it is today? ...
- Wrecking ball faces Exhibition Hall: Landmark's fate likely depends on city deal
By Ralph N. Paulk
(News-Press April 17 2006)
Mold and asbestos is scattered about Exhibition Hall in downtown Fort Myers. It's an antiquated, empty stage that was once full of song and dance. Elvis Presley once rocked this house. The hall had an irrepressible charm, if only because of its uniqueness. It was the most versatile multipurpose facility in Fort Myers.
But time along with Harborside Event Center and Hurricane Charley left it an aging building in transition.
It sits idly along the waterfront. It's awaiting what seems to be an inevitable fate - demolition. ...
Exhibition Hall in Fort Myers was severely damaged in recent years by hurricanes and has been condemned.
TERRY ALLEN WILLIAMS/The News-Press
- Leave my mutton chops alone
By Bob Krauss
(Honolulu Advertiser April 16 2006)
It has come to my attention that there are two kinds of people in the world: those who like to get haircuts and those who don't. I am among the thumbs-down-on-haircuts group. The reason I get haircuts is because the alternative is a dog license. The only good thing about haircuts is the massage. ...
I found the world's greatest barber years ago in the old Army-Navy YMCA. This gentleman used to cut the hair of former Gov. Jack Burns. One time when then-President Harry Truman was in town, he needed a haircut. Burns told him to hop across the street to the Army-Navy Y. So I've had my hair cut by a very distinguished barber. He loved to talk about his kids who had Ph.D.s. But my barber spoke in Filipino pidgin. I could hardly understand him no matter how proud I was of his kids. He had one other distinguishing feature. He said he learned to cut hair under a mango tree in a plantation camp in Kahuku. When the Army-Navy YMCA closed, this barber moved down to River Street. I had the devil of a time finding him, and then, about three haircuts later, he passed on to that great barbershop in the sky. Larry, another barber of Filipino extraction, replaced him. When Larry wasn't cutting hair, he was in Las Vegas gambling.
He invariably mangled my sideburns, which he mistook for the Elvis Presley kind. This is vile slander. My sideburns have several names, including mutton chops and burnsides, after a whiskered Civil War general, Ambrose Burnside. I let them grow out on the William Ellis Expedition around Hawai'i in 1973. ...
- Area resident got to meet and know Elvis Presley
By Cindy Garrick
(Clarke County Democrat April 14 2006)
I was talking with one of my tax clients recently about a Scyrene resident being close friends with Elvis Presley. (That article will be coming soon.) It's amazing, but this particular client, Robert Reid, just happened to serve in the military with Elvis. In fact he was one of 15,000 men who left Ft. Hood, Texas in September of 1958 with Elvis. There were three trains and no one knew which one Elvis was on, but they had a six hour layover in Memphis. There were people lined up on both sides of the trains. I'll bet that was the first time Mr. Reid was a bit afraid of a mob! Just think, Elvis was mobbed like that everywhere he went. So much company and yet so alone. He remembered when stationed in the 1st MTB in Friedburg, Germany with Elvis, he and the other men in their unit were told to clip (not cut) the grass with the knives from their mess kits. Elvis called his contact and had a lawn mower sent into the compound at his expense. Mr. Reid had been in the unit for quite awhile and had been waiting for the company clerk job to open up. There had been a freeze on the position, but he would be the next in line for the coveted job. Finally he received notice that the job would open up and immediately put in for the position. However, it had only been opened so Elvis could have the job. He also said that Elvis was very nice to all the enlisted men and their families.
Mr. Reid admired the fact that Elvis took the time to sign aautographs for everyone who asked him.
There was one time in Germany when Elvis had taken the company jeep sightseeing. The jeep broke down and Elvis paid the Germans to fix it. The Germans then called Mr. Reid to come retrieve the U.S. jeep. Holy Cow, I didn't realize that so many people in our area had met the king! We all know from reports that Elvis loved sweets. Mrs. Reid has submitted one of her recipes for our files and I've included some sweet recipes from other readers.
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