early October, 2006
- Elvis superband ad 'a surprise internet hit'
(Daily Mail, October13, 2006)
A television promotional film showing Elvis Presley on stage with the likes of Stevie Wonder and The Who's Keith Moon has become a surprise internet hit.. The clip, produced for the BBC to promote Radio 2, seamlessly merges concert footage of Elvis with shots of other pop stars past and present to create the ultimate band. Mr Wilkins said: "We have been absolutely astounded by the reaction. We were given the brief to come up with an ad which reflected the diversity of Radio 2's music. "We thought of creating a super-band and then I remembered the DVD I had of Elvis introducing his band in Aloha, so we went through our iPods and came up with some of our favourite artists." The clip has been posted on the Graceland website and appears five times on the video-sharing site YouTube, where it has been watched more than 50,000 times. ...
- Thank you very much!': Elvises descend on Portage for annual festival
By TOM LOUNGES
(Northwest Indiana Times, October13, 2006)
He showed up at the wrong hospital when it came time for Priscilla Presley to give birth to Elvis' only child, Lisa Marie. He beat Ringo Starr at a game of pool the night the Beatles visited Elvis at his Los Angeles home. He was there in the Oval Office when the King of Rock and Roll met President Richard M. Nixon. "He" is a soft-spoken guy named Jerry Schilling, who will share these and many other stories with Northwest Indiana Elvis Presley fans tomorrow at the 14th Annual Elvis Fantasy Fest at Portage's Woodland Park Center.
This is Schilling's first Fantasy Fest appearance. In the past, the fest has hosted other Elvis cohorts, such as tour manager Joe Esposito, emcee Al Dvorin, Graceland cook Mary Jenkins, private nurse Marian Cocke and film co-stars such as Julie Parrish ("Paradise Hawaiian Style"), Cynthia Pepper ("Kissin' Cousins") and Deborah Walley ("Spin Out").
The Elvis Fantasy Fest -- which runs from tonight to Sunday afternoon -- is co-produced by the TCP Benefit Committee, Elvis Fans of Hoosierland EPFC, and the Porter County Convention and Visitors Bureau. Tonight features a talent showcase from 7:30 to 9 of well-known Elvis tribute artists from around the country, including Irv Cass, Quentin Flagg, Robert Washington and others, performing with the backing of the Exspence Account Band.
There also is a free, all-ages '50s and '60s sock hop tonight from 9 to midnight in the center's upstairs showroom.
Dozens of Elvis impersonators from all over the Midwest compete live on stage throughout both days for cash prizes, keeping The King's music pumping all weekend. Elvis movies and concert videos will play nonstop on televisions throughout the three rooms of the community center. This much-anticipated fall weekend in Portage first began when Kay Lipps, the chairwoman of Central Indiana's Elvis fan group TCP (Taking Care of Presley), teamed up with the Porter County tourism bureau. "They thought Elvis was a likely candidate to draw people into Portage, and they began contacting some of the Elvis fan clubs," she said.
The proceeds raised from this year's Fantasy Fest again will be donated to the Porter County Special Olympics.
"Children were always special to Elvis," Lipps said. "Elvis would be very proud to know that charitable events like this were still being done in his name all these years later," said Schilling, who remembered his late friend as a generous and compassionate person.
Scoring an appearance by Schilling, who had been on the festival's guest "wish list" for many years, was a dream come true for the Elvis Fantasy Fest committee. "We are very fortunate to have Jerry coming out this year," Fantasy Fest co-founder Paul Lipps said in an e-mail.
Schilling first met the future rock idol during a touch football game in a public park near Humes High School when they were both teenagers in North Memphis. He remained with Presley through the singer's rise and fall.
Schilling has stayed close to the Presley family since Elvis' death in August 1977. His book about Elvis, "Me and a Guy Named Elvis" (Gotham Books) was just released. ...
"Elvis Fantasy Fest 2006"
When: 7 tonight and Saturday, 10 a.m. Sunday
Where: Woodland Park, 2100 Willowcreek Road, Portage
Cost: $10 Friday, $15 Saturday and Sunday
FYI: www.elvisfantasyfest.com
- Elvis Presley in Concert: Could the King's old bandmates take a leaf out of INXS's book?
By Dylan Welch
(Sydney Morning Herald, October13, 2006)
Elvis never did a world tour, so several members of his backing band are taking the dead Elvis on the road with them.
Playing along to footage of the King performing his greatest hits live on giant video screens will be TCB (Taking Care of Business) band members including Joe Guercio, Elvis's band leader and musical director for the final decade of his life, and lead guitarist James Burton, as well as some original backing singers and members of his orchestra.
Guinness World Records listed it as the first live show headlined by a dead performer, but did the TCB band ever think of replacing their dead frontman through a reality TV talent quest? Rock Star: Elvis, perhaps? "Well," Burton says in a Louisiana drawl, "I know most of the Elvis impersonators and so far I haven't seen anything come close. I think it would probably be impossible to find another Elvis. Not in my lifetime, I don't see it happening any time soon."
But hasn't 67-year-old Burton got word of perhaps the most famous Elvis impersonator, new INXS frontman J. D. Fortune? "Haven't heard of him," says Burton, who seems to have recorded with everyone but INXS, including Roy Orbison, John Denver, Johnny Cash, George Harrison, Frank Sinatra, Henry Mancini, the Byrds, the Everly Brothers, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, Linda Rondstat, Willie Nelson and the Mamas & the Papas.
What is it like performing with a dead frontman, then? "It's amazing," Burton says. "You can see what it would have been really like when he sang Love Me Tender. You see, when I'm onstage, I can just close my eyes and I feel him, I close my eyes and play and I can feel him there, you know; he's singing and I'm playing, and it's like he's there."
[This article is accompanied by an inappropriate 1977 photograph]
- Elvis Tours Australia
By Tim Cashmere
(undercover.com.au, October12, 2006)
Elvis Presley, despite having the obvious hurdle to leap of being dead for 29 years, is currently touring Australia...kinda. His TCB (Takin' Care of Business) band (or at least those who are still alive) are currently touring the world playing live to pre recorded footage of Elvis, taken mainly from his Aloha From Hawaii and Thatıs The Way It Is concerts.
While at times the editing of the vocals seemed a tad forced, with background cheers sometimes cut suddenly and unnaturally, but the brilliant band made up for it. The star of the show was legendary guitarist James Burton, who still has that aura of cool that surrounded him in the 70s. The show even included Elvis introducing the band, and saying things like "play it James!" before a guitar solo.
The big screen, which featured the old footage, was flanked by two smaller screens showing the actual band which made it difficult at times not to look down expecting to see the great man himself. Original Sweet Inspirations member (the female backing vocalists) Myrna Smith was caught lovingly looking at the screen as Elvis joked "Tomorrow night we're getting the Supremes to fill your spot", a typical reaction of a band that smiled, rather than cried as they watched their friend and boss on the big screens.
James Burton (photo by Ros O'Gorman)
- In pursuit of a stamp of approval for C.F. Martin
By Kurt Blumenau
(The Morning Call, October 12, 2006)
If Elvis Presley, Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams can appear on U.S. postage stamps, then why not the man who founded the company that made their guitars? That's the sentiment at C.F. Martin & Co., the venerable Upper Nazareth Township guitar maker. The company began appealing to Martin owners and fans about a month ago, urging them to take part in a letter-writing drive aimed at getting company founder C.F. Martin Sr. onto a postage stamp. ... The campaign's fate will rest with the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, a group of 15 volunteers who judge up to 50,000 stamp suggestions sent each year to the U.S. Postal Service. The members, all stamp collectors, include actor Karl Malden, former college basketball coach Digger Phelps and author-educator Henry Louis Gates Jr. The campaign faces tough odds. The committee recommends only 25 to 35 new subjects each year. C.F. Martin & Co. has failed in two attempts to promote its founder, in 1998 and 2002. ...
- Congressman's downfall had Broward connections
By DAN CHRISTENSEN
(Miami Herald, October 12, 2006)
Congressman Bob Ney's guilty plea in a bribery conspiracy scheme last month stemmed in part from his dealings with a Broward ex-convict who did prison time for swindling Elvis Presley, and later worked as a paid mob snitch for the FBI. Nigel Winfield, 69, of Plantation, is an airplane broker, former fixed-based operator at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and three-time felon. ... long before Winfield was hosting Ney, documents obtained by The Miami Herald show that he was providing the FBI with ''extensive information'' about mobsters, drug suspects, terrorists, and international arms traffickers. ... FBI teletypes show that Winfield began working for the bureau in August 1983, shortly after his release from prison for his role in a 1977 airplane leasing scheme that cheated rock 'n' roll star Presley out of $330,000. ...
- 'Hound dogs' didn't vote for Elvis
(Yahoo! News Canada, October 11, 2006)
His signs urged "Don't be a Hound Dog, vote for Elvis," but the voters left him lonesome tonight. Elvis Aaron Presley, the Independent candidate running in Pelly-Nisutlin, finished last in a four-person race. Although he briefly held a lead after the first poll was reported, Presley quickly fell to the bottom of the count and did not recover. When all the ballots were counted the colourful candidate managed to capture seven per cent of the popular vote - 40 votes in all - but finished far behind the winner, Marian Horne of the Yukon Party, who took 42 per cent of the vote totalling 241 ballots.
Presley, whose signs were vandalized during the campaign, resorted to laying in wait at the end of the road with a video recorder, hoping to capture the crime on camera. He was unsuccessful. Presley changed his name from Gilbert Nellis more than a decade earlier.
- Elvis, Sun reunite through licensing deal
(Memphis Business Journal, October 9, 2006)
Sun Entertainment Corp. has signed a licensing and co-branding agreement with Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. That deal, for undisclosed terms, allows Nashville-based Sun Entertainment to use Elvis' name, image and likeness for a broad range of commemorative retail products. The arrangement reunites the performer and Sun Record Co. Presley's first recordings were with Sun Records, which sold its recording catalog to RCA Victor in 1955. The Elvis/Sun Records co-branded products should hit the market late this year through various retail outlets and online retailers. More will be released next year, the 30th anniversary of Elvis' death. ...
- INTERMISSION: Rocking for grandma
(Columbus Dispatch, October 8, 2006)
Gahanna's intimate Dolphin Lounge is truly a lounge. Red Christmas lights are strung overhead with orange carpet on the floor. Black-velvet portraits of John Wayne, Elvis Presley and bluesman Ric Boals hang on the wall. The 6-inch-high stage barely accommodates three people. A bastion of heavy metal it is not. ...
- Prop quiz: What's Prop. 87's Bacon factor?
(mercurynews.com, October 8, 2006)
Movie buffs have long enjoyed playing the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon game, in which the object is to link the prolific thespian to any other Hollywood actor in six steps or fewer. (Elvis Presley, for example, was in the film ``Change of Habit'' with Edward Asner and Asner was in ``JFK'' with Bacon, giving Elvis a Bacon number of two.) ...
- Image Entertainment to Release "Elvis Presley: The Ed Sullivan Shows"
Source: Image Entertainment, Inc.
(Financial News - Yahoo! / BUSINESS WIRE, October 5, 2006)
3-Disc Special Edition DVD Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Elvis' Historic Appearances Out November 21.
Image Entertainment Inc., a leading independent licensee, producer and distributor of home entertainment programming in North America, celebrates the legend of ELVIS PRESLEY with the first-ever DVD release of the undisputed king of rock 'n' roll's historic earth-shattering performances in ELVIS PRESLEY: THE ED SULLIVAN SHOWS. This 3-disc special edition DVD set will debut November 21.
Produced by Grammy and Emmy-award winning producer Andrew Solt (Imagine: John Lennon, This Is Elvis, The History of Rock 'n' Roll, Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll), the DVD consists of the three complete Ed Sullivan Shows on which Elvis made rock 'n' roll and TV history. Elvis first appeared on the show September 9, 1956 and sent shockwaves through a repressed post-war America -- effectively opening a generational rift between parents and their children -- with his soulful singing, sexual hip gyrations and raw rock 'n' roll energy. Elvis attracted a record-breaking audience of over 72 million people -- more than 80% of the television-viewing audience -- which equaled one of every third man, woman and child in the U.S. at that time. Viewing Elvis Presley's three appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show in their entirety frames the context of the country's appetite for entertainment in 1956. By glimpsing this time capsule Elvis's raw, confident and casual performances illustrates why he was so charismatic and how he captured the imagination of the world.
On his first Sullivan appearance, Elvis performed from CBS Television City in Hollywood while he was on the West Coast shooting his first feature film Love Me Tender. Although the movie was two months away from release and the single was not available in stores, Elvis debuted the song "Love Me Tender" that night on the show; he followed it up with "Don't Be Cruel" (with the Jordanaires), "Ready Teddy" and "Hound Dog." Elvis returned on October 28, 1956 this time in New York, triggering ecstatic screams from the largely teen audience while performing his current hits "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender" and "Hound Dog." This time around, he added Lieber & Stoller's "Love Me" to his playlist. Elvis's inspired performances as well as his growing reputation for hip shaking and sensual gyrations convinced CBS's censors that the Ed Sullivan Show should film him only above the waist during his third and final appearance on January 6, 1957. On this final Sullivan show, Elvis performed "Hound Dog," "Heartbreak Hotel," "Love Me Tender," "Don't Be Cruel," "Too Much," "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again" and "Peace In The Valley." After the show went off without incident, Ed Sullivan proclaimed him, "A real decent fine boy." Sullivan, in his inimitable style, further thanked Elvis by adding, "We've never had a pleasanter experience on our show with a big name than we've had with you ... You're thoroughly all right." This was the last time Elvis would appear live on American television.
Since the DVD features the three Sullivan shows in their entirety, there are other historic variety show appearances by guests such as Carol Burnett, novelty artist Senor Wences, various Broadway stars, athletes such as boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, tennis great Don Budge, baseball legend Jackie Robinson and numerous comedians. Each of the three shows run about one hour and all include the original commercials, which aired as part of the show's live broadcast. The 3-disc special edition DVD features re-mastered Dolby Digital 5.1 audio as well as the original mono soundtrack. The Kinescope video has been enhanced by a breakthrough technical process -- created by a company called Live Feed -- resulting in an optimal sound and visual experience.
Special bonus features include: a rare color 8mm home movie shot in 1955 which is the first-ever recorded footage of a very young Elvis (age 20) who was not yet managed by Col. Tom Parker; special Elvis moments including an appearance by comedian John Byner; and home movies of Elvis and Priscilla with some of the earliest shots of their daughter Lisa Marie. In addition, the package includes insightful interviews and reminiscing with legendary producer Sam Phillips of Sun Records, Gordon Stoker of the Jordanaires, Marlo Lewis, producer of these three historic Ed Sullivan Shows, renowned television host Wink Martindale; High School buddy and Memphis DJ George Klein and Elvis's close friend and Memphis Mafia member Jerry Schilling, author of Me And A Guy Named Elvis. The impressive package also includes a collectible booklet about Elvis on Sullivan featuring liner-notes written by pre-eminent rock scribe, Greil Marcus.
- Las Vegas Highlights VIA's Annual Bash
By Adam Clark
(The Signal, October 3, 2006)
Elvis Presley would have been honored by the number of impersonators clad in red and white silk jumpsuits Friday night at the Valley Industrial Association's Las Vegas-themed 25th anniversary bash. Hosted at the Valencia Hyatt, hundreds of local businessmen and -women gathered to relax, have fun and recognize the standout businesses among them. ...
- "Flying Elvis' suffers broken pelvis
(Yahoo! News, October 3, 2006)
A "Flying Elvis" suffered a broken pelvis during the grand opening of the Glacier Peaks Casino here. Paul Moran is a member of The Flying Elvi, a 10-member skydiving team made up of Elvis Presley impersonators, who were hired to parachute into the parking lot at the casino Friday. Other members of the troupe said the Las Vegas man apparently misjudged the landing and hit the ground at 50 mph. ...
- ELVIS AD HITS THE RIGHT NOTE
By Bob Shields
(New York Post, October 3, 2006)
I DON'T know who produced the current telly advert for BBC Radio 2, but they should be promoted immediately - to head of programmes. The short - which has Elvis Presley introducing his backing band of the Sugababes, Noel Gallagher, Sheryl Crow, Keith Moon, Jimmy Page and Stevie Wonder - is the best viewing on the box. No kidding!
Meanwhile, I read that Elvis had Marilyn Monroe in bed within two minutes of being introduced. I suppose that would be one minute for the money, and two for the show...
- Paris fashion: Yamamoto's skillful asymmetry; graceful Viktor and Rolf
By Kate Millar
(Yahoo! News, October 2, 2006)
PARIS (AFP) - Japan's Yohji Yamamoto turned his expert eye to asymmetrical cuts for a soulful summer, while genteel grace took to the dance floor at Viktor and Rolf. Although ultra-short hemlines and dare-to-bare are being seen a lot elsewhere on catwalks for spring-summer 2007, the veteran Japanese designer carefully covered up models in precision-cut swathes of fluid fabric. Mostly in his trademark black, jackets were long to the thigh on one side and short at the hip on the other, mirroring the models' asymmetric hair styles, long and crimped at the back, smoothly cropped short at the side and with a jaggedy fringe.
... Soulful Elvis Presley classics on the backing track set a laid-back rhythm for the collection, which also explored contrast such as feather-light transparent black next to opaque thicker fabric. ...
- ELVIS-MARILYN ONE-NIGHT STAND
By Martha Davidson
(New York Post, October 1, 2006)
RETIRED William Morris agent Byron Raphael has many juicy stories about Hollywood, but he's kept what might be the most salacious one a secret for 50 years - how once he delivered Marilyn Monroe to Elvis Presley's hotel room for a one-night stand.
Breaking his silence for the first time to Page Six, Raphael says that in 1956, his bosses urged Presley to ask out the blond bombshell as a publicity stunt, but when he approached her on a studio lot, Monroe nixed the idea. "He was very embarrassed, but I think she turned him down because she felt it was too public," Rapahel says. "But Presley didn't give up and secretly set up a meeting. "Two weeks later, Elvis called me and said, 'I want you to pick up Marilyn.' She lived in an apartment with Shelley Winters and I don't think she wanted Shelley to know where she was going. It was a rainy night and I brought her to the Beverly Wilshire [hotel] and we went upstairs to his room,"
Raphael relates. "When he saw her, they came together and, without saying a word, started kissing. I was in shock and I didn't know what to do. Then Marilyn, who was 10 years older, said, 'You're pretty good for a guitar player.' After two minutes, they went into the bedroom and I didn't know if I was supposed to leave, or stay and wait for them, so I sort of just dozed off. The next thing I knew I was startled awake by the door opening and I dove behind the bar. And they both walked out stark naked. I didn't say a word. I just stayed quietly."
When Monroe and Presley went back into the bedroom, Raphael bolted. "He either put her in a cab or she stayed the night, I don't know," the agent recalls. "A few days later, when I mentioned Marilyn to Elvis, he said, 'She's a nice gal, but a little tall for me.' I knew that this was the sort of thing that could ruin their careers. They were two of the most famous people in the world and Marilyn was still married to Arthur Miller at the time - so I never said a word." The Hollywood dealmaker concludes, "There were a lot of other young girls I would bring up to see Elvis - but he would never mention Marilyn again."
- Richard Nixon and Elvis Presley meet in the Oval Office, December, 1970
By Martha Davidson
(American Heritage, October 1, 2006)
The two met on December 21, 1970. The meeting began with a letter, personally delivered to the White House that morning: "First, I would like to introduce myself. I am Elvis Presley," it began. "I can and will be of any service that I can to help The Country out."
President Nixon's staff hastily arranged an invitation. Presley brought with him some photographs and honorary law-enforcement badges. He gave the president a gift of a World War II pistol and said he'd like to become a federal agent. He said he was a poor boy from Tennessee who had received a lot from his country, and he wanted to give back to the nation by helping defeat the drug culture. Nixon thanked him warmly for his visit, and Elvis later received a badge from the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs.
Pictures of the meeting, including this one by White House photographer Ollie Atkins, are now among the most popular documents in the National Archives.
Credit: National Archives and Records Administration
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