mid August 2007
- Elvis is 'alive' at Chinook Winds Casino Resort
(newportnewstimes.com, August 22, 2007)
The memory of Elvis Presley lives on at Chinook Winds Casino Resort Aug. 26 through Sept. 3.
August 30 [sic] is the anniversary of the passing of the King and Chinook Winds wants to honor his memory with a weekend of Elvis impersonators and give-aways. Throughout the week-long tribute celebration, there will be Elvis look-alikes and mini Elvis casino floor entertainers. Guests are invited to spruce up with free beads and have a photo taken for free with the King himself. In addition to Elvis being in the building, there will be three daily drawings for trips for two to Hawaii with All About Hawaii and All Ways Traveling. All Chinook Winds' food venues, including the regenerated Rogue River Steakhouse, will feature Polynesian food specials for the event, as well. For more information visit www.chinookwindscasino.com or call 1-888-CHINOOK (244-6665).
- Top Ten: Elvis
By Charlotte Cooper
(rainbownetwork.com, August 22, 2007)
As the world gets all shook up over the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death (16 August 1977 if you wanted to know), swarms of lesbian fans mean that The King lives on in the most unlikely places. Here are ten of the best.
1. El Vez
He's gay, he's Mexican, and he plays wigged-out, punked-up versions of Elvis standards that have crossed over to unlikely critical acclaim. El Vez is the man! My sources say that not so long ago he was seen stepping out with an unlikely pop-star boyfriend (hint: think hearing aids and gladioli).
2. Elvis Herselvis
A staple of San Francisco dyke life, Elvis Herselvis was a key player in the drag king scene of the early 1990s. Performing with her backing band, the Straight White Males, Elvis Herselvis brings a whole new twist to songs such as 'Girls, Girls, Girls' and 'Little Sister'.
3. Extreme Elvis
Elvis's final, bloated, drugged-up days are the stuff of myth and speculation. Extreme Elvis takes the legend further and behaves as the King might do if he were alive today. Allowing fans to rub his gigantic belly, Extreme Elvis has upset purists by stripping onstage and behaving very badly indeed.
4. Ms Drag Winner 2001
Joanna from Hampstead wowed the crowds with her Elvis during the finals of the National Lesbian Beauty Contest 2001 at London's Astoria. It may have been a few years ago now, but anyone who saw here will never forget it. The memory lives on.
5. The Flying Elvi
A ten-member group of skydiving Elvi, these guys have lit up the heavens with their spectacular displays of bravery and skill. Fans will also be pleased to know that the troupe are available to drop into birthday parties, commitment ceremonies, and bar mitzvahs, too. Hire them today!
6. Evangelical Elvis
Gary Stone spreads the gospel as Elvis by wearing a white rhinestone jumpsuit, cape and boots, and performing 'Suspicious Minds' at church groups, nursing homes and youth rallies. Small children and lesbians have been known to run screaming when he enters the room.
7. Janny James - Britain's Lady Elvis
Janny started her singing career as a kid onstage at a holiday camp and now she¹s the UK's top female Elvis. She reckons that being sincere and genuine are the most important aspects of the job, although patience helps because she says it takes at least an hour of awkward struggle to get her hair into the right shape before a show.
8. Janice K The Original Lady Elvis
Elvis began to take hold of Jan's life when her high school drama teacher cast her as an intergalactic female Elvis on a planet ruled by women. (Lucky cow.) After one Elvis-inspired performance, she said: "The reaction was incredible. I launched into my first number, amidst a wail of screams. And from that night on, I knew the trail I must blaze would be the Elvis Trail, however right or wrong that might be."
9. The Duelling Elvi of Streatham
Rival Elvis impersonators in South London fought for supremacy over seven years at Il Caretto and La Pergola, two down-at-heel Italian restaurants situated a couple of doors from each other on Streatham High Street. Kim Bridges won the vote when a newspaper tried to settle the score, and Il Caretto folded soon after. You couldn't make this stuff up.
10. Elvis
With so many impersonators - and so many incarnations of his own - it's easy to forget the greatness of the man himself. Whether he was burning up the stage in black leather during his 1968 comeback show, flirting with Ann-Margret in the ludicrously camp 'Viva Las Vegas', scoffing fried peanut butter sandwiches, shooting up television sets, chilling with his redneck pals at Graceland or schmoozing with corrupt president Richard Nixon, there was only ever one real Elvis!
- Elvis' Pilfered Pistol Pulled From Portable Potty
(WLKY Louisville, August 21, 2007)
Whoever stole a handgun that belonged to Elvis Presley didn't get far with it. A nine millimeter black Smith and Wesson pistol was stolen from the "Elvis after Dark" museum, across the street from Presleys' Graceland estate in Memphis. The weapon was returned to police yesterday after the finder had cleaned it. ...
- Elvis's handgun has re-entered the building
(wbir.com / AP, August 21, 2007)
Whoever stole a handgun that belonged to Elvis Presley didn't get far with it. A nine millimeter black Smith and Wesson pistol was stolen from the "Elvis after Dark" museum, across the street from Presleys' Graceland estate in Memphis. The weapon was returned to police yesterday after the finder had cleaned it. That was necessary, says Travis Brooks, because he found the weapon as he was cleaning the portable toilets behind the museum. At first, Brooks thought someone had dropped a toy gun into the toilet.
Brooks called police after seeing news reports about the missing gun. The pistol is now in the police evidence room. Surveillance video from the museum shows a man with novelty sunglasses reaching into a display case and taking the gun on Tuesday. The crowds were heavy because of Elvis Week.
- Gun Stolen From Elvis Display Found In Toilet
(Today's THV / AP, August 21, 2007)
Whoever stole a handgun that belonged to Elvis Presley didn't get far with it. A nine-millimeter black Smith and Wesson pistol was stolen from the "Elvis after Dark" museum, across the street from Presley's Graceland estate in Memphis.
The weapon was returned to police Monday after the finder had cleaned it. That was necessary, says Travis Brooks, because he found the weapon as he was cleaning the portable toilets behind the museum. At first, Brooks thought someone had dropped a toy gun into the toilet.
Brooks called police after seeing news reports about the missing gun. The pistol is now in the police evidence room. Surveillance video from the museum shows a man with novelty sunglasses reaching into a display case and taking the gun last Tuesday during Elvis Week.
- Stolen Elvis Presley Gun Is Recovered
(sfgate.com, August 21, 2007)
A handgun stolen from an exhibit during last week's commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death has been recovered. Surveillance video showed a man reaching into a display case at the "Elvis After Dark" exhibit at Graceland, Presley's mansion, and removing a black, 9 mm Smith & Wesson pistol on Aug 14.
Travis Brookins turned the gun over to police Monday after the theft was reported by news media. Brookins said he was cleaning portable toilets behind the exhibit hall last Thursday when he found the gun in the muck. Unaware the weapon had been stolen, Brookins took it home and cleaned it. "He called us and said he thinks he had the gun and brought it to us," Memphis police Lt. Jerry Gwyn said. Gwyn said he believes the thief may have accidentally dropped the gun into the toilet. "Of course, whoever dropped it wouldn't go in there," he said.
Presley died at Graceland on Aug. 16, 1977, and is buried in a small garden beside the house. Tens of thousands of fans were in Memphis last week for various ceremonies marking the anniversary of Presley's death.
- Gun Stolen From Elvis Exhibit
(myeyewitnessnews.com, August 20, 2007)
An Elvis fan went too far in the quest for memorabilia during Elvis Week festivities at Graceland. Someone broke into a glass display case at the Elvis After Dark Exhibit last week and stole a gun belonging to the King of Rock and Roll.
The Smith and Wesson handgun was valued at $30,000, a police report said. According to the report, the thief was seen on surveillance video shaking the case before removing the glass and walking away with the gun. The report said the theft happened Tuesday August 14, 2007 around midnight but wasn't noticed by exhibit officials until Friday August 17th. Police collected the surveillance video and blood evidence left on the display case to use as evidence in the investigation.
Officials with Elvis Presley Enterprises had no comment about the theft.
- Elvis's time in Newbern sought for recognition
(State Gazette, August 20, 2007)
Some 54 years ago, Elvis Presley walked the streets of Newbern. As "Elvis Week" closed, members of the Newbern Historical and Preservation Society have begun the daunting task of placing two of the town's establishments where Elvis frequented on the National Registry of Historic Places.
Thirty years after his death, tales are still being told about the short period of time in which Elvis lived in Newbern while driving a gravel truck for Memphis Stone and Gravel Co. along Highway 77 from to 1953 to 1954. During that time, local lore notes Elvis rented a room in the building called "Mrs. Brown's Boarding House," which was located on Jefferson Street behind the Newbern Depot. Residents from that era can also remember Elvis being a regular visitor at the Newbern City Café, where he was known to sit on one of the outside benches and play his guitar.
The rest of this article can be read by subscribing to the State Gazette.
- Elvis, Kanye West Share Top Honors On U.K. Charts
By Paul Sexton
(Billboard, August 20, 2007)
In the week of the 30th anniversary of his death, Elvis Presley returned to the top of the U.K. album chart yesterday (Aug. 19) with RCA's new two-CD compilation "The King." But the label's attempts to get his 1968 classic "Suspicious Minds" to the top of the singles chart for the first time were unsuccessful, as the reissued track debuted at No. 11. Kanye West's "Stronger" (Def Jam) is the new leader on that chart, with a 3-1 climb.
The Presley retrospective is his 11th chart-topping album in the U.K. He first led the survey in November 1956 with "Rock'n'Roll" and most recently in October 2002 with "30 #1 Hits." The single, part of another reissue series of 18 Elvis tracks by Sony BMG, was re-released last Thursday, the 30th anniversary of his passing, but therefore only had three days' sales computed into the new chart.
"The King" unseated London singer/songwriter Kate Nash, whose "Made of Bricks" (Fiction/Polydor) had debuted at No. 1 last week. Newton Faulkner's "Hand Built By Robots" (Ugly Truth) spent a third week at No. 3 and Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black" (Universal Island), apparently undamaged by wall-to-wall British press coverage of her drug-related personal problems, rebounded 7-4 in its 42nd chart week. ...
- Elvis On Screen and Off
(Greenwich time / AP, August 20, 2007)
Piano virtuoso Liberace is shown playing the guitar with Elvis Presley at the piano in November 1956 at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. Both Liberace and Elvis were twins who lost their sibling at birth. Elvis kept up a longstanding correspondence with Liberace, says Peter Whitmer, a clinical psychologist and author of the 1996 psychological biography, "The Inner Elvis."
[One of eight photos]
- Music Review: Elvis Presley - Viva Las Vegas
By Donald Gibson
(blogcritics.org, August 20, 2007)
When Elvis Presley commenced his first run of concerts at Las Vegas' International Hotel in 1969, he needed to prove to his fans, to his critics, and to himself that he could still deliver the goods in a live setting on a consistent basis. His ³comeback² television special the year before illustrated that he still possessed the voice and charisma of old, but Presley hadn¹t performed a genuine concert, and certainly not a succession of them, since 1961.
Comprising fifteen tracks recorded live between the years 1970 1972, along with the original 1963 studio version of the title track, Elvis: Viva Las Vegas offers ample evidence that the King of Rock & Roll could not only still elicit a staggering stage presence, but that he could also cover other artists' material with incomparable sincerity.
Given the regularity of his Vegas performances (and the fact that patrons took in multiple shows), Presley wanted to continually alter the setlist with fresh material, which resulted in him mixing cover versions in with songs from his own back catalog. This compilation spotlights those interpretive renditions.
In a thoroughly scorching performance, Presley sounds downright guttural on "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling". Finishing off the song's most erotic line, he adlibs an urgent growl, "Baby, baby, I'd get down on my knees for you... if this suit wasn't too tight!"
In an engaging display of showmanship, Presley prefaces "Polk Salad Annie" with a yarn about growing up in the South, essentially giving the women in the audience a few extra moments to moan before the band kicks in with the bluesy groove. Other highlights include "The Wonder Of You," which yielded Presley's first live single, reaching the top ten in America and number one in Great Britain, as well as "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me," both becoming staples of his live shows for the rest of his life.
In the album's liner notes, it mentions the response Presley offered when asked how he decided what cover songs to perform. With his inimitable southern charm, he simply replied, "Just sang my favorites. That's all."
Presley may have lacked for taste in decorating the Jungle Room, but he certainly knew how to choose a good song. Elvis: Viva Las Vegas illustrates that he had the inherent talent to pull off thrilling performances of them as well.
- Franklin winner claims 'Ultimate Elvis' title in Memphis
(Tennessean, August 20, 2007)
Two weeks ago, Williamson County Fair attendees saw Shawn Klush named the best Elvis Presley impersonator in the Viva Las Franklin show. Now a national audience has agreed with the assessment.
Klush, of Pittstown, Pa., took home the title of Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist of 2007 in Memphis last weekend. With a first place win, Klush will receive a $5,000 cash prize, a $5,000 shopping spree at Graceland and a $3,000 gift certificate from B&K Enterprises to use towards the purchase of an Elvis-style jumpsuit. He¹ll also get a recording session with Sun Records of Nashville, a contract to perform on an Elvis Cruise and an Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest belt.
- Lisa Marie Presley, Dad duet on 'In the Ghetto'
(northjersey.com/, August 19, 2007)
A new video of Lisa Marie Presley singing "In the Ghetto," accompanied by her late father, Elvis Presley, was posted Friday on the AOL Internet site Spinner.com, a company spokesman said.
To mark the 30th anniversary of her father's death, Lisa Marie Presley's voice was added to the original version of her father's hit song from 1969. The video duet also features images of her late father.
Spinner.com posted the video along with the transcript of an interview with Lisa Marie Presley, AOL spokesman Kurt Patat said. In the interview, Lisa Marie Presley said the project was emotionally stirring. "We had two hours to lay down my vocals," she says. "So the next morning, I heard the rough ... and ... I've never cried when I've done anything ... ever ... but I just lost it when I heard it."
Lisa Marie Presley also talks in the interview about how she was offended to see her father's song "Viva Las Vegas" used in a Viagra commercial. "I find that revolting," she said. "Some songs we have no control over. I know we didn't license that one."
Proceeds from the new song and video will be used to help build temporary housing for the homeless in New Orleans, she said. The project is to be similar to Presley Place, a 12-unit apartment building for the homeless built in Memphis by Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. in 2001. At the time, Elvis Presley Enterprises was owned by Lisa Marie Presley. She sold 85 percent of the company two years ago to CKX Inc., which now controls the worldwide business in marketing Elvis' name and image.
Elvis Presley died at his Memphis home, Graceland, on Aug. 16, 1977, and thousands of fans were in town last week for the 30th anniversary of his death.
Lisa Marie Presley, 39, attended a concert Thursday in Memphis that featured her father performing on video, with live support from his former backup singers and band members. Her most recent album of her own music was "Now What" in 2005, but she said in the interview that she hopes to put out a new album soon. "I'm definitely going to do it," she said. "I just have to figure out the right way. I'm on a clean slate right now -- I just got off my label (Capitol Records). So I'm figuring out my next route."
- Kihei's Marsland places second in division at Elvis Presley 5K
(Maui News, August 19, 2007)
Rochelle Marsland of Kihei placed second in her division and was the eighth female finisher in the 25th annual Elvis Presley International 5K Run on Saturday. With her time of 21 minutes, 15 seconds, Marsland finished second in the women's 35-39 age group, which had 47 entrants. She was the eighth female to cross the finish line overall in a field of over 2,000 participants. Proceeds from the race benefited the United Cerebral Palsy Foundation.
- Elvis is dead but the King lives on
By Aisling Cordon Macki
(Canberra Times, August 19, 2007, p. 24)
Thirty years after Elvis left the building for the last time, the world
is all all shook up over the King of rock 'n' roll.
While his music is no longer topping the charts, the legend of Elvis
Presley still continues to draw in new fans, and his iconic image graces
everything from the tackiest of ceramic busts to multi million dollar ad
campaigns.
Elvis defined what it meant to be a pop star, and his swagger and
croonings are imitated by aspiring front-men and impersonators alike.
He was the poor boy made good, the white boy who brought black music
into the mainstream, the sex symbol who was a mama's boy, the rebel who
remained a patriot, the star who died young as fame and fortune pushed
him to drugs and depression.
"Elvis is the grteatest cultural force in the twentieth
century," American composer Leonard Bernstein once said. "He
introduced the beat to everything, music, language, clothes, it's a
whole new social revolution."
Tens of thousands of devotees made the pilgrimage to Graceland this week
to mark the 30th anniversary of his death on Thursday.
While Elvis was not the first to blend blues and country -- musical
styles segregated by the same forces that kept Southern blacks out of
white swimming pools - he was the first to truly popularise rock 'n'
roll with his breakthrough 1956 hit Heartbreak Hotel
- 'Closest' clinches Elvis tribute title
By Michael Lollar
(Commercial Appeal, August 18, 2007, p. B5)
An Elvis tribute artist who bills himself as "The Closest to the King" won the first Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest on Friday. Shawn Klush of Pittston, Pa., was announced as the winner after the contest at Cannon Center for the Performing Arts was narrowed to three finalists out of the 10 perfomers competing Friday. ...
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