late May, 2006
- Flashy carnival rides, games prelude to Elvis Festival
By ROSS DELLENGER
(Daily Journal May 31 2006)
The seats at the water-race stand were all vacant as stuffed-animal prizes swung overhead Tuesday. The gigantic fun-slide sat empty in the afternoon sunlight, and the carousel horses were riderless. But they won't be that way for long. In less than 48 hours, these rides and games will be overflowing with people expected to pour into the parking lot west of Tupelo City Hall for the eighth annual Elvis Presley Festival. ...
- That's Alright, Mama!
(Memphis Flyer May 31 2006)
Elvis Presley Enterprises feels your pain. They know times are tough, and getting tougher every time the price of gas goes up. To combat the Petroleum Blues, EPE is offering visitors to Graceland three dollars off the price of a Platinum Tour ticket in exchange for gas receipts, and a coupon that can be downloaded. Graceland calls this special relief program... (wait for it) "Tank you. Tank you very much." Folks, you just just can't make these things up.
- So, How Much for Elvis' THIRD House?
(Memphis Flyer May 30 2006)
Psychic/showman Uri Geller recently purchased Elvis Presley's first home, at 1034 Audubon Drive, for more than $900,000. Two years ago, entrepreneur Robert F.X. Sillerman bought the Graceland estate, and a good portion of Elvis Presley Enterprise as well, for $125 million.
So, how much would Elvis' third house go for? We recently turned up a 1974 Commercial Appeal article which mentions that Elvis had purchased a home at 1576 Lehr, just behind Graceland. On September 20, 1974, he paid precisely $33,925 for the one-story 1,500-square-foot property, and the newspaper story noted the homeowner had been told that the King of Rock-and-Roll never planned to live there but had purchased it for an investment. We're not sure how much this investment has paid off over the years, but if the present owner ever considers selling it, may we suggest eBay?
- Celebrity photographer Peter Borsari dies in Los Angeles at 67
By JEFF WILSON
(sfgate.com / Associated Press May 30 2006)
Photographer Peter C. Borsari, whose celebrity snapshots over three decades included candid moments of Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor and Jack Nicholson, has died. He was 67. ...
- Elvis Festival to be carried on satellite radio service: Officials with the Collingwood Elvis Festival recently announced Sirius Canada is the title sponsor for the 2006 Festival
(simcoe.com May 29 2006)
The commercial-free, subscription-based satellite radio servce will be providing exclusive live coverage from Graceland, and is devoted solely to the music of Elvis Presley. It features music from Elvis' early years, the classical hits, the comeback years, rare tunes and live tracks not heard anywhere else. Also known as Elvis@Radio, personality DJ TY is broadcasting live from the Collingwood main stage on Sat., July 29 and co-hosts the Sunday night grand finals, with past festival grand champion Roy LeBlanc.
The Collingwood Elvis Festival is taking place from July 26-30. For more information call 445-9334 extension 3279. The 4th Annual Collingwood Elvis Festival Golf Tournament takes place Thurs., June 1 at Cranberry Golf Resort beginning at 11 a.m. Register by calling 445-9334 Ext. 3279.
- Busy days ahead for new 'American Idol' winner Taylor Hicks
(realitytvworld.com / UPI News Service May 28 2006)
Taylor Hicks, the new "American Idol," has busy days ahead with tons of interviews and talk show appearances and his first single, due June 13. Then, there's a tour with fellow finalists and after that, an album.... On that album he's eager to get into, Hicks says he wants to stay true to what he was on the show -- a soulful performer influenced by legends like Ray Charles and Elvis Presley. His goal, he says is to "make music real again." He said his "vision as an artist is to inject more feeling into popular music."
- EXCLUSIVE: ROCK AND SOLD: EXCLUSIVE DON'S POP TREASURES
By Billy Sloan
(Sunday Mail May 28 2006)
THE man behind the most star-studded walls in rock 'n' roll has unlocked the secrets of the Hard Rock vaults. Rock-fanatic Don Bernstine snaps up the memorabilia decorating Hard Rock Cafes around the world. He's in charge of 69,000 different items worth more than £4million and much of the huge collection is stored in a top-security warehouse in Florida. And yesterday Don urged top Scots rockers to give some gear to Scotland's Hard Rock Cafe which celebrated its eighth birthday last week.
... The Hard Rock chain own the biggest number of items of rock memorabilia on the planet. From Elvis Presley jumpsuits to Madonna bras, rare Rolling Stones' posters to John Lennon lithographs and Aerosmith guitars to Johnny Rotten's bondage boots - they've got it all. Last week, Scotland's only Hard Rock - in Edinburgh - celebrated its birthday with a glittering party starring El Presidente, which raised £4000 for Nordoff Robbins (Scotland) who fund music therapy. The first Hard Rock Cafe was opened at Hyde Park in London in 1971. There are now more than 143 cafes in 36 different countries, in cities such as Tokyo, Sydney, New York, Paris and Berlin. Elvis Presley, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones are the "big three" in terms of pop souvenirs. Don said: "Only trouble is there's not a lot of rare stuff still knocking around from Elvis, The Beatles and the Stones." Here, Don picks his 10 favourite pieces of pop memorabilia.
TO celebrate their 35th anniversary, the Hard Rock has launched Ambassadors of Rock ...a series of gigs around the world. The first, on July 1 and 2, at Hyde Park in London, stars Roger Waters and The Who. ...
- Gene Pike On Selling People Piece [Peace?] Of Mind
By Suzanne Walker
(chattanoogan.com May 26 2006)
"We sell people a piece of mind," president of the Chattanooga Funeral Home Gene Pike told the Brainerd Kiwanis Club. "Burying people is for the living." After being in the funeral arrangement business for 50 years, Mr. Pike said he does not plan to retire. "I enjoy what I do. I like helping families get through the worst day of their life." Mr. Pike entertained the club with a variety of both funny and sad stories from his experiences. Mr. Pikeıs father was also a funeral director, so he said he began helping with funeral arrangements before he was 13 years old. ... Mr. Pike said he was working at a funeral home in 1977 when Elvis Presley died. He said Mr. Presley knew most of the staff there and had always told them that he really respected their profession. Mr. Pike said arrangements for the funeral were complicated and it was difficult to keep the public away. Later they moved Mr. Presley's body from Forest Hill Cemetery to his fatherıs home to assure its safety from the public. When his body was transferred from the mausoleum the marble crypt was left. He said it was eventually given to a local businessman who cut it into small pieces and sold each piece for $25. The man made about $2 million, said Mr. Pike. ...
- Downtown Tupelo gains spotlight for Fairpark
By Bobby Harrison
(Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal May 26 2006)
Work on Tupelo's evolving Fairpark District was honored Thursday during the awards luncheon of the Mississippi Main Street Association. Efforts to renovate the old fairgrounds into a multi-faceted downtown development received the Best Public-Private Partnership Project award. The property is the site of rock 'n' roll legend Elvis Presley's return home concert in 1950, which is being celebrated at this year's Elvis Festival June 2-4 in Tupelo. ...
- Why aren't the rich and famous in uniform?
(msnbc.msn.com May 26 2006)
Yogi Berra did it. So did Dr. Seuss, Humphrey Bogart, and John F. Kennedy. They all served in the armed forces. Today itıs much less common for the rich or famous to serve, but that wasn't always the case. During W.W. II, Jimmy Stewart and Clark Bable both volunteered. In the 50's, Elvis Presley was drafted and spent two years in the army. And after September 11, Pat Tillman left the NFL to become an army ranger. In their new book, "AWOL: The Unexcused Absence of America's Upper Classes from Military Service - and How It Hurts Our Country," Kathy Roth-Douquet and Frank Schaeffer, would like to see more class integration of the military. ...
- Money just rolls in
(Courier-Mail May 26 2006)
By Sandra McLean
PRIVATE jets, African hideaways, prenuptial parties, red carpet rages – life is so different for rich celebrities. And so, apparently, is death. When most of us shuffle off this mortal coil our earning power ends. But if you are a rich entertainer the pay cheques can keep coming. Elvis Presley died in 1977 but he is still earning $52 million a year. According to US magazine Forbes, Marilyn Monroe is making more money in the afterlife than she ever did on the big screen. Charles M. Schultz, the creator of cartoon strip Peanuts, is making much more than that in death, earning $45 million a year. ...
- Dead Seeks Famous Ghosts
By Mike Szymanski
(scifi.com May 26 2006)
Self-styled spiritualist Chris Fleming, whose Biography Channel series Dead Famous: Ghostly Encounters is gearing up for its fourth season, told SCI FI Wire that he will branch out from celebrities into historical figures. For three years, Fleming has teamed up with British actress and skeptic Gail Porter to attempt contact with the spirits of Lucille Ball, Alfred Hitchcock, Buddy Holly, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Al Capone and others. This season, the real-life Mulder and Scully are going after Billy the Kid, Andy Warhol and Nat King Cole. ...
- Historic Chili inn given a reprieve: Judge orders both sides to seek deal
By Ernst Lamothe Jr.
(Rochester Democrat & Chronicle May 25 2006)
Chili's historic Stagecoach Inn will survive for at least another two weeks. State Supreme Court Judge Evelyn Frazee Wednesday ordered both sides in a court battle over the 192-year-old inn to try to hammer out an agreement - possibly even moving the building to another location.
... Stagecoach owner Alexander Tulloch is hoping to sell the property, currently vacant, to Illinois-based Maude Development, which would tear down the inn and put up a 14,820-square-foot Walgreens with 67 parking spaces. The plan has won town approvals, and demolition was set to begin in late May, but Chili residents Linda Hamilton, Priscilla A. Beeman and the Rev. Rodney Jones filed suit to halt razing of the landmark. ... All three Chili residents claim in their suit that they have significant personal connections to the inn that compelled them to sue. But a Maude Development lawyer disputed that. "Under their argument, my childhood home could have some historical significance," Laurie Bloom said. "Not unless you are Elvis Presley," Frazee responded. "Historical significance is not in the eye of the beholder."
Bloom said the court couldn't force the owner to put thousands of dollars into a building he didn't want and that the inn would eventually "fall down if it isn't knocked down." ...
- SCENE: The King is Back
(Daily Journal May 25 2006)
Tupelo is preparing for the Elvis Presley Festival starting on June 2. Pick up a copy of Scene magazine or visit us online at Scenehere.net as we take a trip down memory lane to the 1956 homecoming concert. Also at the festival will be an exhibit featuring Elvis' movie posters plus much more!
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