late April, 2006
- Dolly and Elvis ride together in new state tourism ad
(WBIR.com April 26 2006)
Music icons Dolly Parton and Elvis Presley are appearing together in a TV advertisement promoting Tennessee tourism. The commercial began airing this week in several cities in the South and Midwest. It features Parton riding alongside Presley in a digital scene recreation from the 1967 Elvis film "Clambake."
The ad marks the first time Presley has digitally appeared with another celebrity for a television commercial.
Tennessee tourism head Susan Whitaker says it's a dream team for state tourism. ...
- Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton Take Tennessee Road Trip
by Tim Cashmere
(Undercover April 26 2006)
Two of Tennessee's biggest stars, Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton will appear together in a television commercial advertising the state across America. Dolly will be superimposed into a scene from the Elvis movie 'Clambake'. The two stars will be riding down the street in a convertible showcasing the diverse cultural aspects of the southern state. ...
- Dolly and Elvis Promote Tenn. Tourism
By JOHN GEROME
(Yahoo! News / Associated Press April 25 2006)
In a new television commercial promoting Tennessee tourism, a dashing young
Elvis Presley drives his red convertible Corvette Stingray in a clip from his 1967 film "Clambake." But this time, the bouffant blonde riding shotgun has a familiar Appalachian twang. Through digital wizardry, it's Dolly Parton who's sitting aside the King of rock 'n' roll. ...
- SUPPER GUEST
(Daily Record April 24 2006)
JESUS CHRIST is the historical figure Brits would most like to have dinner with. Almost half of 2043 people quizzed by the Sci Fi satellite TV channel chose Christ as their dream guest ahead of showbiz legends like Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe. Runner-up was Jesus's traitor disciple Judas, who polled 19 per cent of the votes.
- You ain't nothin' but a sound dog...
Exclusive by Ciaran McGuigan
(.sundaylife.co.uk April 23 2006)
THIS is the ageing Elvis fan who has been sent to "dis-Gracelands" by his fed-up neighbours. Desmond Rowntree rocked his neighbours' worlds by repeatedly ignoring their pleas for quiet and continuing to blast out Elvis hits. Even after he was warned by the council to turn off his stereo, the people living next door to Rowntree's Pembrooke Avenue semi in Bangor continued to suffer from his loud music shaking their walls. Last week at North Down Magistrates Court he pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching a Noise Abatement Notice that had been served last June. ...
- Virtual Elvis Is In The Building
(CBS News / AP April 22 2006)
The King, rest in peace, is dead. But long live the virtual King. More than 25 years after his last concert in New York City and 20 years after his death, Elvis Presley returned Thursday night through the magic of video. The slimmed down, late '60s image of Presley took center stage at the Radio City Music Hall in "Elvis: The Concert." The performance was the first of three New York City shows of Elvis Presley Enterprises, featuring Mr. Thank You Very Much on a 20-foot-high screen, flanked by a live band and backup singers.
... Accompanying the image of Elvis is a 16-piece orchestra and his old stage associates J.D. Sumner & the Stamps, The Sweet Inspirations and the TCB Band. ... Screens alongside the giant Elvis broadcast live action from the stage. Snappy editing makes it appear as though Presley and his entourage are really jibing. "Elvis' presence on screen is so strong, the interaction with his live bandmates so seamless, and the audience reaction so intense that ... you forget Elvis isn't really there in person," said Todd Morgan, Graceland's creative resources director, who crafted the show. ...
- VOLBEAT Singer To Perform With ELVIS PRESLEY's Musicians
(blabbermouth.net April 21 2006)
VOLBEAT frontman Michael Poulsen will make a guest appearance with some of the musicians ELVIS PRESLEY used in the studio and in concert during the '50s and the '70s. Poulsen will sing four songs with the King's men backing him up live on Saturday, April 22 at Amager Bio in Copenhagen, Denmark. Commented Poulsen: "This is more than a dream come true, I still can't believe it. I thank Henrik Knudsen and all the people behind this event for giving me this opportunity to share the stage with these men and being part of the show." fCheck out a poster for the show at this location. ...
- Elvis Presley's other Memphis home up for sale
(reuters.co.uk April 21 2006)
It isn't Graceland. But if psychic Uri Geller has his way, another Memphis house once owned by Elvis Presley will become a museum honouring "the king of rock 'n' roll." The four-bedroom home that Presley owned in 1956 -- the year "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Love Me Tender" hit the charts -- is for sale on the eBay online auction site (http://www.ebay.com), and the Israeli-born, spoon-bending paranormalist is among the bidders.
Geller, who met Presley in Las Vegas in the 1970s and owns a collection of Elvis memorabilia, said he wants to turn the 3,000-square-foot (280-sq-metres) home into a museum with a twist. ... Geller faced a setback on Friday when his $300,000 bid for the property was topped by someone willing to pay $300,100. But Geller, who lives in London, said he was unbowed and would increase his bid substantially. "If I was Bill Gates, I would bid as much as I can," Geller said. "But I also have my limits." ... The auction ends May 14.
- Chef strikes Beale deal to open Southern eatery
By Michael Lollar
(commercialappeal.com April 21 2006)
Jimmy Ishii, one of the first chefs to serve sushi in Memphis, is taking a distinctly Southern turn with a new Downtown venture in the spot once occupied by Elvis Presley's Memphis Club. Ishii, who already operates eight Memphis restaurants from Sekisui East to bluefin and dish, is signing a 12-year lease for the new club, which will keep its Elvis Presley connection at 126 Beale with the working name "EP -- Delta Kitchen and Bar." ... After 25 years as a restaurateur, Ishii said he wanted a restaurant with a music theme. "Memphis is a music city, and Elvis is a symbol of the American dream," he said. Elvis would be part of his musical tribute to the city, which Ishii said would be like a "Memphis jam" with music from several genres. The Southern theme with music and the Elvis tie-in sounds like only a slight variation on the Elvis Presley's Memphis Club theme. But Ishii spokesman Joe Hemingway said Ishii's variation will be unlike anything else.
"We're not going to serve Love-Me-Tender chicken. We're not going to try to take the menu and the place and make it Las Vegas. He wants to take all the things that are great about Southern cuisine and do new interpretations of them." The one-time Elvis club had a six-year run on Beale from 1997 to 2003. Elvis Presley Enterprises attributed the closing to the long tourist drought following the 2001 terrorist attacks and to the club's heavy dependence on Elvis fans. Its Elvis theme was not a perfect fit on a street known for the blues.
EPE chief executive officer Jack Soden said Ishii's proposal was one of more than 20 considered by EPE, which will sublease the building to Ishii. d"We had a lot of interest in the property, but we needed to get it in the hands of someone who had the wherewithal to do it. It will go forward with the benefit of Jimmy's reputation." Ishii, who has nine more restaurants in the Southeast from Florida to Missouri, was the Memphis Restaurant Association's 1998 chef of the year and the Memphis Business Journal's 2000 entrepreneur of the year.
Soden said Ishii will open the club under far better conditions than when EPE closed it. "We opened in 1997, and in 1998 Planet Hollywood and the rest of the themed restaurant business genre began to crash. Think how much has changed since. Now there's FedExForum. Thousands of new residents have moved into Downtown Memphis, and thousands more are on the way. It's a whole new day. This year the Vesta Home Show is Downtown."
Hamilton said "paperwork alone" on restaurant permits, building inspections and lease closings will take months, putting the opening of the club after the August Elvis tribute week with its huge influx of tourists. Ishii says a good Downtown restaurant is not dependent on tourism alone. "Downtown has some good days, some bad. Sometimes it depends on events. It's hard to predict." The interior of the club will remain the same structurally, but Ishii said it will be redesigned extensively. The building is one of the few Downtown restaurants with its own parking lot.
- Elvis fans will never walk alone
(Shetland Today April 21 2006)
THE KING of charity walks started yesterday when David Gray and his friend Nick Spedding set off from Elvis Voe in Bressay to go to Presley in Moray. Elvis fan David, 39, originally from Lerwick, wanted to raise money for cancer research after the loss of relatives. He had always been intrigued that there was an Elvis Voe in Bressay, and when he found out there was also a place called Presley, he felt compelled to walk the 420 miles between the two. He and Nick, 35, whose life has also been touched by cancer, both live in Aberdeen. They hope their month-long trip will raise £5,000 for research into the disease.
David, who is a Reader in Transport at Robert Gordon University and Nick, a senior lecturer in Geography at Aberdeen University, said: "Nick lost his mother to cancer and I am doing this in memory of John and Alexis Gray who a lot of people will remember.
"I had always been intrigued by the band Elvis Voe and the Heoganaires and then I found out there was an Elvis Voe. When I found out there was a Presley as well we had to do it.
"We are going to get a photo taken by the sign with Presley on it. But we're not wearing white flared jump-suits - they wouldn't be very practical. We have never done anything like this before, but we are both hillwalkers and are reasonably fit. But we won't know what's hit us until next week. We are also going to climb at least 20 mountains over 2,500 feet on our travels." The pair will spend the first night of their trip in Lerwick, then in a B & B in Orkney. After that they will walk every day, going through at least 10 maps, and camp at night. They plan to have four days off in the middle of their journey.
David and Nick have already raised more than £2,000. They hope to arrive in Presley, which is south of Forres, on May 20. ON their website www.kingofwalks.org the duo highlight the following places they will travel through with tenuous Elvis links:
* The Lash, which is either a headland on Orkney or the stretch of water next to it - as in "Viva Lash Vagueness"
* Letterewe - as in "Love Letterewe Estate from your heart"
* Loch Maree - as in "Loch Maree's the name of his latest flame"
* Kinlochewe - as in "I can't help falling in Kinlochewe"
* Loch Monar - as in "That's alright Monar"
* Beinn Sgritheall, aka Ben Sgriol - as in "He goes by the name of Ben Sgriol"
* Glen [the] Kingie
* Ben Nevis - as in "It's now or Nevis"
* Corrour - as in "Don't be Corrour-el"
You can email the duo with your own Elvis connections suggestions and also find out how to sponsor them by logging onto their website.
- Word of Elvis ban shakes up imitators
By BECK ELEVEN
(stuff.co.nz April 21 2006)
Kiwi Elvis impersonators could be in for more of a lawsuit than a jumpsuit if the gyrating one's impersonators are outlawed by an American businessmen. News that a media entrepreneur, Robert Sillerman, has bought the rights to Elvis's name and likeness has impersonators across America all shook up. Last year, Sillerman took an 85 per cent stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises, and has since claimed that some clones have made the burning hunk o' love more of a laughing stock than the king of rock.
The news has rippled through New Zealand's tiny Elvis impersonator community, leaving some with suspicious minds. Brian Childs, a full-time Elvis impersonator and former policeman, is glad he has decided to move into real estate sales next month. When The Press spoke to Childs yesterday, the Wellington-based Elvis impersonator was performing at a fundraiser for Golden Bay High School. On hearing an American billionaire could be giving all Elvises the boot, Childs said he was extremely disappointed. "Lisa-Marie and Priscilla could've done this years ago but they chose not to. They were keeping the name and the music alive. This is just a big commercial arrangement and I don't have the money to fight a billionaire. "In America, people can make a huge living out of impersonating Elvis. In New Zealand, it's more of a passion and a hobby." Childs' act focuses on the 1968 to 1973 Elvis era, from the sleek black suits to the jewelled jumpsuit phase.
Christchurch impersonators come in the form of odd-job Elvises and singing telegrams. Occasional Elvis impersonator and Christchurch entertainer Pat Kearns said he was not too worried about the possible ban. He felt he was getting a bit long in the tooth for the likeness to be similar. "But from a distance the illusion is quite good," he said. Kearns said the real King, with trademark accessories of dark glasses and rhinestone jumpsuits, made it easier to be impersonated because no matter how dissimilar their facial features, they could always be disguised.
Court Jesters, a Christchurch theatre group who occasionally provide Elvis-shaped singing telegrams, were shocked by the notion of an Elvis ban. Manager Kirsty Gillespie said the idea was a nonsense.
- Junkie XL hopes ghost of Elvis inspires more creative ideas
By Christina Fuoco
(FLINT JOURNAL April 20 2006)
Los Angeles-based DJ Junkie XL stresses his career is all about creativity, not money. So after his successful remix of Elvis Presley's "A Little Less Conversation," he turned down similar projects for other Presley songs as well as those by the Beatles. "The thing is, I am a musician who needs to be triggered by creativity, not necessarily money. If money comes hand in hand with creativity, it's great. But not the other way around," said Tom Holkenborg, otherwise known as Junkie XL.
The song, he said, was originally remixed for a Nike World Cup advertisement directed by Terry Gilliam ("The Fisher King," "12 Monkeys"). "When I saw the commercial, it was an amazing commercial. Really dark. I thought, 'Yeah. I want to make music for this.' When it became a hit, I had to deal with a big record company (saying), 'Tom, we'll offer you so and so and so much money if you remix a whole album of Elvis hits.' That was pure money. It had nothing to do with creativity," said Holkenborg, 38, a Netherlands native. "It was just purely based on the fact that a remix that I did became a huge hit in a lot of different countries. They just wanted to have album sales or something. For me, that's kind of like a turn-off. It's not really creative. It's really hard to see your career in any direction. Then you become 'the guy who remixed a whole album of Elvis.' Now at least I'm the guy who resurrected Elvis from the dead and after that turned the album down. It's still a cool combination if you know what I mean."
He also rejected the idea of remixing the Beatles' "Strawberry Fields" for the same reason. "You have to understand, in the time period," Holkenborg said lighting a cigarette, "Elvis and the Beatles both had 17 No. 1 hits in England. So they were equal. Because of that remix, I tilted it over to Elvis. Straight up with that hit, the record company of the Beatles approached me to do a remix to make it even. "I said, 'Come on, guys. I'm not about that. I want to do a cool remix. But not purely for the fact to have a No. 1 hit for the Beatles.' But 'Strawberry Fields' is one of my favorite tracks anyway of the Beatles. Maybe in another 10 years and everything just mellows down and everybody's forgot about it. But not in that specific year," he added. ...
- You don't need a gift for words to write great lyrics
By Neil McCormick
(Telegraph April 20 2006)
Do lyrics matter? Ever since Elvis Presley (courtesy of Little Richard) declared himself with the immortal line, "A wop bop a loo bop, a lop bam boom", the colourful idiosyncrasies of popular song lyrics have been the subject of much comical derision. For years, Bohemian Rhapsody was regularly voted the greatest song lyric of all time, despite containing lines such as, "Scaramouche, Scaramouche, will you do the fandango", which defied interpretation. ... The vote to establish the nation's favourite song lyric by music television channel VH1 produced an unusually credible winner in One by U2. A twisted ballad about our obligations to our fellow humans, its central notion is that we need each other to survive, whether we like it or not: "We are one, but we're not the same/We get to carry each other" is the chorus motif. ...
- manchester theatre & dance reviews: This Is Elvis @ Opera House
By Natalie Anglesey
(Manchester Online April 20 2006)
THE joint was jumping and the house was rockin' last night as fans of The King enjoyed more than 30 of his greatest hits during the official new Rock 'n' Roll musical about the legendary Elvis Presley. Written by Beatles biographer Philip Norman and produced by Laurie Mansfield and Bill Kenwright, this show marks the first time any performance of Elvis's music on stage has been endorsed by Elvis Presley Enterprises. Kenwright is the producer behind massive hits like Buddy, Great Balls of Fire and the Roy Orbison Story, as well as Alan Bleasedale's award-winning Are You Lonesome Tonight?, which chronicled Presley's career. This new musical also stars Simon Bowman, a huge hit as the young Elvis in the Bleasedale show.
The first act opens at a pivotal period in Presley's career, when after 29 movies he returned to live performance with a monumental appearance on live TV in 1968. This re-established Elvis as the major entertainment star of the decade, and within a year he was performing live in Las Vegas, for the first time in seven years, securing his place in history as the King of Rock 'n' Roll.
Bowman is charismatic in the title role, giving a superb vocal and physical performance but really coming into his own in the second half which is a recreation of the big Las Vegas concert. It was a masterclass for all the Elvis lookalikes who turned up in costume to recapture the magic of Presley's music.
This Is Elvis is at the Opera House until Saturday, April 22. £10 - £26.50. Call the Box Office on 0870 060 1768 for tickets.
- Elvis portrait by Rolf Harris auctioned
(Yahoo! News April 20 2006)
Rolf Harris's portrait of the Queen attracted critics, and now his portrait of the King has attracted cash. His 2002 work, Blue Elvis, a portrait of Elvis Presley, sold at auction in London on Wednesday night for STG51,000 ($A122,700). Harris had given the work to his friend Shining Bear, who regularly plays the didgeridoo when the painter and entertainer performs. Harris gave his blessing when Shining Bear said he wanted to sell the painting to raise funds for his planned stageshow, The Gospel According to Elvis.
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