early October 2007
- Tennessee's Music Highway
By ROBERT HILBURN. Los Angeles Times Service
(Miami Herald, October 8, 2007)
Knowing how obsessed Elvis fans can be, I wasn't surprised when my wife and I drove up to the Heartbreak Hotel and found, true to the song's lyrics, that it actually was ''down at the end of Lonely Street'' and that the desk clerk was ``dressed in black.''
Our room was lined with photos of the King, and two TV channels were devoted 24/7 to Elvis Presley's music and movies. And, as expected, the souvenir shop contained Elvis novelties such as Love Me Tender tea sets and copies of the work shirt a teenage Presley wore when he drove a truck for Crown Electric. (Guess which one I bought.)
But one thing that did surprise me on this, the first night of our five-day Memphis and Nashville music tour, was the Elvis look-alike chatting it up in the lobby. You might expect an official greeter in a Vegas skyscraper but hardly at a modest, 128-room place like this.
It wasn't until I saw him chowing down on biscuits and gravy at the complimentary breakfast the next morning that I realized the laugh was on me. The guy wasn't a hotel employee but another guest, which brings us back to the point about obsessed Elvis fans.
More than 50,000 flock to Memphis for Elvis Week each August for a candlelight vigil at Graceland marking the anniversary of Presley's death.
But you don't have to wait until Elvis Week to get a dose of the King. He rules here year-round. For $100, at one of the official souvenir shops across from Graceland (Elvis' home), you can play pool on the same table that Presley and the Beatles used during their meeting in Los Angeles in 1965. And just 15 minutes away at the Arcade cafe, you can have one of Elvis' beloved peanut butter and banana sandwiches. Fried, of course.
Once you get past the carnival atmosphere, you can find an inspiring story in the music history of Memphis and Nashville, linked by Interstate 40 -- the ''Music Highway.'' Thanks to nearly a dozen museums and historical sites, there is no richer, more illuminating showcase of musical roots in the country than in this 220-mile stretch of highway.
And we're talking more than simply the land of Elvis. The region's heritage also includes landmark figures such as Hank Williams, Otis Redding, Patsy Cline and Al Green.
When you follow the music trail through Tennessee, including a visit to the National Civil Rights Museum, you realize that the music was part of a wider social and cultural revolution that involved race, class and politics. ...
... Elvis might have been rock's greatest star, but I wouldn't want him decorating my house. Graceland's living room, with its 15-foot-long white sofa, is tasteful enough in a formal 1950s way, and the black baby grand piano adds a nice touch to the music room.
But brace yourself before entering the den. The jungle theme, complete with a waterfall and an overload of wooden exotica, might have reminded Elvis of relaxed times in Hawaii, but the decor is more likely to remind visitors of dated scenes from a tacky '60s comedy. I felt dizzy after seeing the wildly conflicting patterns on the multicolored drapes covering the billiard-room ceiling and walls.
While touring the Colonial Revival-style structure, which attracts 600,000 visitors a year, you'll see lots of Elvis' personal items as well as gold records and colorful jumpsuits from the Vegas years. Yet there's a more affecting side of Graceland: the rags-to-riches saga of the young man from the housing projects buying the home of his dreams, partly for his financially struggling parents.
Looking at the garden (where he now rests) and the horses in the pasture, you understand how the property was a source of pride and a sanctuary.
Figure on spending three to four hours at Graceland, the various museums and the souvenir shops, but skip the restaurants. There are better choices, including Neely's, a family barbecue operation, and, of course, the Arcade cafe. ...
- Elvis too trigger happy to be my neighbor
By Tom Martin
(register-mail.com, October 6, 2007)
Billy Graham or Pamela Anderson? Which one would you rather have as a neighbor? Both names came up as answers in a survey about celebrity neighbors. Homes and Land, a real estate media company (whatever that is) surveyed Americans on what celebrity they'd most like living next door.
... The number one celebrity neighbor, according to the survey, is Oprah Winfrey. This is a wise choice because Oprah is known for giving things away, like cars. Most of us could stand a little neighborly windfall. If not a Lexus, then maybe a new garage door.
I'm not sure about the number 2 pick, however, Elvis. I'm not dissing the King, but what could be the reason for wanting the guy who shoots his TV residing within firing distance? To be fair, this was before remote control, so the king would have had to get up to change the station. Pulling a trigger requires less effort.
Having the Elvis estate next door, though, would boost property values in the neighborhood. And you could make a mint renting parking spaces to women who can't get over "Love Me Tender."
... Paris Hilton tied with Dolly Parton for 7th on the list. With her driving record, Paris would bring an element of danger to the neighborhood streets. But it would be a chance to see one of those purse dogs. I've yet to see one in Galesburg. ...
- Texarkana Auditorium To Display Limo Owned By Elvis
(The Morning News / ASSOCIATED PRESS, October 5, 2007)
A limousine once owned by Elvis Presley will briefly be on display next year at the Texarkana Municipal Auditorium, where Presley and other music legends performed.
The Tex-Ark Antique Auto Museum and the Arkansas Municipal Auditorium Commission have teamed up to bring the 1955 Cadillac limousine to Texarkana. The event goes along with commission plans to continue restoration of the auditorium, officials said Thursday.
"Johnny Cash, Elvis, Floyd Cramer, all kinds of people have played at this place (the auditorium) starting in 1928. It's important to Arkansas history," said Jimmy "Smitty" Smith, vice president of the commission.
Auto museum activities director Charles Decker Barnette made the announcement during the auditorium commission's monthly meeting Thursday. As part of his presentation, Barnette played a promotional 45-rpm single by Elvis from the mid-1950s. Commission members heard Elvis invite the Texarkana fans to his coming show at the Arkansas Municipal Auditorium.
The limo will be on display at the auditorium on Sept. 5. The vehicle will be on display at the auto museum the following two days.
- Elvis Robot may shake you up
By Kevin Coughlin, Newhouse News Service
(startribune.com, October 5, 2007)
What sings like Elvis, lip-synchs better than Britney and runs on batteries? It's the Alive Elvis robotic bust.
If you could invite any historical figure over for dinner, Elvis would be a no-brainer. Too bad he's left the building. Or has he?
Thanks to Wowwee Ltd., you can dine with the King. Just make sure he gets the head table. The $300 Alive Elvis is a robotic bust that looks, talks and sings just like Elvis Aaron Presley, circa his '68 comeback special. Plug the included cartridge into his neck, punch some buttons on a mock microphone, and Alive Elvis launches into eight songs and three dozen monologues. His eyes blink. His gaze follows you, via infrared sensors in his leather jacket.
His lip does that trademark curl. Add a real microphone, and you can sing along. How convincing is Alive Elvis? He lip-synchs a lot better than Britney Spears. "Either you like it, or you're scared by it," said George York, who designed the talking head. York has dared to tread into what robot mavens call the Uncanny Valley, where cool borders on creepy. Honda's ASIMO robo-valet and Sony's AIBO robo-dog are cute and cartoonish, to avoid scaring the children. Alive Elvis is for grown-ups, who still pine for their idol three decades after his death. It was the perfect challenge for a guy trained in forensic reconstruction. Give York a sun-bleached skull, he'll put the face back on it. But Hollywood special effects are his bread and butter. Remember the mutant cockroaches in the 1997 film "Mimic"?
"I was the mandibles guy," York says. His animatronic chimp, for an Indian film company wary of animal rights groups, caught the eye of Hong Kong-based Wowwee, best known for its Roboraptor and Robosapien robot toys. That led to last year's Alive Chimpanzee, from which Elvis evolved (robotically speaking).
Alive Elvis outperforms the faux primate in every category but one: The singer is stone deaf. The $70 chimp responds when you shout or cuff him about the ears. With Elvis, York says, "that would be kind of rude." Ten motors move Alive Elvis' rubbery face. His brain is a 16-bit micro-controller with 16 megabytes of flash memory. He runs on house current or a fistful of batteries. A charter member of the Hair Club for Androids, Alive Elvis sports implants in his forehead for extra realism. But the technology was easy. Wooing Graceland, that was tough.
The initial reaction there, York recalls, "was disgust." A prototype won over the Presley estate. Then the real work began. York says Graceland demanded more than 20 subtle changes to the King's nose, lips, teeth and irises. Elvis' monologues were chosen by Jerry Osborne, a Presley expert, and the voice was courtesy of Jamie Aaron Kelly. Recording an impersonator yielded purer audio for the 10-watt sound system, and was easier to synchronize with the robot's lips, York said. Graceland did not respond to requests for comment.
Licensing issues precluded using certain songs; Wowwee says you probably won't see an Alive John Lennon anytime soon for legal reasons. There aren't too many other global celebrities worthy of such treatment -- though macabre minds might ponder the Halloween possibilities. Freddy Krueger? Marie Antoinette?
Actually, the Stepford Wives may be more like it. Wowwee is working on $1,000 robots to help around the house. "The idea is to make something everyone can afford," says Art Janis, a sales vice president for Wowwee. As a Beatles fan growing up in California in the late '60s, York never grasped the Elvis phenomenon. Now, after touring Graceland, studying mountains of photos and hours of films, and laboring for almost three years with a small crew on this project, he finally gets Elvis. "He has a charisma unparalleled by any performer I've seen," York said. "When he sings, he puts his whole heart and soul in it." And that's just the robot.
- MIFICPA goes '70s and Elvis
(Saipan Tribune, October 5, 2007)
The Marianas Institute of Filipino Certified Public Accountants and Accountants will celebrate its 13th anniversary tomorrow, Oct. 06, 2007. The celebration is expected to be wild as officers and members are encouraged to spice up the event with a colorful and fascinating outfit of the 70's and Elvis Presley's. Prizes are at stake for the best looks of the category mentioned. The venue will be at Elvis Function Room of the Hard Rock Café Saipan. The event will start at 6:30pm. This year's theme is ³13 and ACcounting...² Tickets are available for $10 each. For details, contact Gerry de Guzman at 288-3441; Lois Manese at 235-9322; or Robert at 788-3934.
- Arrest Puts Spotlight on Guitar Fakes
(wibw.com / AP, October 2, 2007)
It's a familiar tune, a sad lament actually, about a product falling victim to counterfeiters. Lately, they've been picking on guitars. Last month, a Long Island music dealer was accused of selling $90,000 worth of knockoffs of classic Gibsons, a guitar known for its deep, melodic sound and used by virtually every country, rock and blues artist from Elvis Presley to Eric Clapton.
... Gibson guitars - inexpensive models start at about $2,000 - have a rich, distinctive sound that leads musicians to speak about them in reverent tones. B.B. King is perhaps the best-known devotee; his black Gibson, nicknamed Lucille, shares nearly equal billing with the blues master on stage. "Signing guitars that are not Gibson is like being married and kissing a woman who is not your wife," King once huffed when asked to autograph a Fender guitar.
Some of Gibson's Les Paul models - named for the creator of the solid body electric guitar ‹ can sell for as much as $10,000 new. Knocking them off is a lucrative and easy business, according to Hank Risan, a founder of the online Museum of Musical Instruments who owns an extensive collection of guitars and other instruments, including a $15 million guitar once owned by Mark Twain. ...
- Time limits on marriage only create problems
By Talynn Soghomonians
(Daily Sundial, October 2, 2007)
In Las Vegas, a bride and groom have the option of being legally married in a themed wedding. Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, King Tutankhamen and Merlin the Magician are among a few characters that couples can add to their guest lists. There's no doubt that Las Vegas is known for its unique marriage laws, but German politician Gabriele Pauli's proposal might make Germany's marriage laws just as off the wall as Sin City's.
- OBITUARY - Janis Martin; 'Female Elvis' of the 1950s; 67
By Matt Schudel
(signonsandiego.com / WASHINGTON POST, October 2, 2007)
Janis Martin, a teenage rockabilly sensation of the 1950s who was billed as "the female Elvis," died Sept. 3 of cancer at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C. She lived in Danville, Va., and was 67.
After beginning her career on country-music radio shows in Virginia, Ms. Martin had a short but bright burst of fame in the 1950s with the dawn of rock 'n' roll. By 15, she was recording for RCA, had a Top 40 hit and seemed poised for stardom. She was a ponytailed blonde with a strong, clear, country-inflected voice, and a series of lively, eye-catching dance moves. A convention of disc jockeys named her "the most promising female vocalist" of 1956. Ms. Martin was also one of the few young women, along with Wanda Jackson and Lorrie Collins, to make a mark in the masculine, raw-edged music that decades later became known as rockabilly. A 1998 article in the Nashville Scene newspaper described the enduring excitement of the music she made as a teenager: "Forty years later, Martin's records remain some of the most rockin', most thrilling hillbilly music ever to emerge from the Music City."
When Ms. Martin secretly married and became pregnant, her record label dropped her, and she returned to southern Virginia. Except for a few local appearances, she was all but forgotten until 1982, when she emerged from retirement with a concert in England. "I can't begin to tell you what it was like - like stepping back in time," she told the Nashville Scene. "Those kids dressed like we did in the '50s. Here I'd been a housewife and a mother. When I hit the stage, it was like I'd come home."
The song young European admirers clamored for wasn't her Top 40 hit, "Will You, Willyum," but a hard-charging tune called "Drugstore Rock 'n' Roll," which Martin wrote at 15. "I wrote 'Drugstore Rock 'n' Roll' in about 10 minutes," she said in a 1993 interview with Roctober magazine. "Everything in that song is actually the scene that was happening for us as teenagers," she said. "The drugstore was the only place we had to go and hang out after school."
... By 11, she was a regular on a weekly country-music radio show in Danville. When she was 13, she appeared with country star Ernest Tubb and became a featured performer with the Old Dominion Barn Dance, a weekly country concert in Richmond broadcast on CBS Radio. She soon became interested in Ruth Brown, La-Vern Baker and other rhythm-and-blues singers. "I heard Ruth Brown, and I just found my kind of music," Ms. Martin said in 1993.
She toured with country singers Hank Snow and Porter Waggoner, made a demo tape and was recording for RCA with Chet Atkins and Floyd Cramer, all before her 16th birthday. She was called "the female Elvis" with the approval of Elvis Presley, her RCA label mate, and sang "My Boy Elvis" on NBC's 'Today" show. She also appeared on "The Tonight Show" and "American Bandstand" and at the Grand Ole Opry. ...
- Proving That Seeing Shouldn't Always Be Believing: A Conversation With Hany Farid
By CLAUDIA DREIFUS
(Seattle Times, October 2, 2007)
As Hany Farid sat in his office here at Dartmouth College on a recent morning, he fiddled with his laptop and cracked disconcerting little jokes. "Don't ever send me a photograph of yourself," said Dr. Farid, head of the Image Science Laboratory at Dartmouth. "I'll do the most terrible things to it." Dr. Farid, a 41-year-old engineer, is a founder of a subdiscipline within computer science: digital forensics. Most days, he spends his time transforming ordinary images into ones with drastic new meanings. Click, goes his mouse. Courtney Love has joined Grandpa at the family barbecue. Click. Click. Elvis Presley is on Dartmouth's board of trustees.
The purpose of all this manipulation is to discover how computerized forgeries are made. Intelligence agencies, news organizations and scientific journals employ Dr. Farid's consulting services when they need to authenticate the validity of images. Dr. Farid sells a software package, "Q," to clients so they, too, can become digital detectives. ...
- "Million" honors an amazing moment in rock
By Tom Keogh
(Seattle Times, October 2, 2007)
"Million Dollar Quartet," book by Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux, plays Wednesdays-Saturdays with selected Tuesdays through Oct. 28 at Village Theatre, 303 Front Street N., Issaquah; $20-$55 (425-392-2202 or 866-688-8849); and plays Wednesdays-Saturdays Nov. 2-18 at Everett Performing Arts Center, 2710 Wetmore Ave., Everett; $15-$49 (425-257-8600 or 888-257-3722 or www.villagetheatre.org).
Oh, to have been a fly on the wall at Sun Studio on Dec 4, 1956. Music fans who revere the legacy of Sun (which released hit tunes on the Sun Records label) and its visionary owner, producer Sam Phillips, know that rock 'n' roll was partially invented behind the walls of the small recording facility in Memphis, Tenn. That's where, among other things, the determined Phillips pulled a synthesis of blues, country, rockabilly and gospel out of Elvis Presley for the latter's groundbreaking first releases in 1954.
Two years later, Presley was no longer with Sun. But his December visit in '56, that led to an impromptu jam session with Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash, was a momentous occasion - and the subject of Village Theatre's exhilarating new musical "Million Dollar Quartet."
A blend of historical fact, wistfulness and love for Phillips' revolutionary contribution to American culture, "Million Dollar Quartet" is the closest thing to wish fulfillment for anyone who has dreamed of witnessing Presley, Perkins, Lewis and Cash blend their disparate influences into an original, albeit brief, sound.
The book by Colin Escott (author of "Good Rockin' Tonight - Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'N' Roll") and Floyd Mutrux (who directed a very good film about rock's infancy, "American Hot Wax," and co-directed "Quartet," along with Matt Walker) isn't a forced narrative with musical accompaniment. It's a reflection of a moment in time that also coincided with the end of Phillips' peak impact on rock's development. ...
- Keeping Al Jolson's magic alive
By JIM BECKERMAN
(USA TODAY, October 1, 2007)
It wasn't so much the technology - crude and unreliable - that sold "talkies" to the public in 1927. It was Al Jolson.
"He was the Elvis Presley of the 1920s," says Rich Curtiss. "His voice was very strong and powerful. When he used to sing at the Winter Garden in New York, people used to jump off their seats." Curtiss, 68, an Elmwood Park resident, has been channeling that magic for years in his Jolson impersonation shows. He's played the "Mammy" guy on the "Joe Franklin Show," at the Red Blazer Too, and at various senior centers (he'll be at Waterview Center Genesis Healthcare in Cedar Grove on Tuesday).
... While Jolson (1886-1950) might seem like a relic today, it's important to understand that he was the coolest thing that most audiences had ever seen in 1927. He jiggled, wiggled, shook and shimmied; he bleated songs; he whistled; he sank to one knee whatever it took to keep his hold on an audience. He was mesmerizing.
It was his Broadway-honed star power, triumphing over the crudeness of the technology, that made "The Jazz Singer" a hit and the sound revolution inevitable.
The fact that the movie's plot -- about a cantor's son who rebels and becomes a pop star -- was so clearly based on Jolson's life gave the movie a special wallop.
"His old man really was a cantor, and he left the house at an early age," says Curtiss, who first saw "The Jazz Singer" on his dad's black-and-white Zenith television in 1953.
"It was pretty exciting, a good story," he says.
- How To Be The Elvis Of Linking
By Debra O. Mastaler
(USA TODAY, October 1, 2007)
Elvis Presley is credited with being one of the first pioneers of rock and roll. He launched his career in 1955 by popularizing black and bluegrass music and scandalized many with his suggestive pelvis moves. A lot of musicians have become famous since then, but none have defined rock and roll like Elvis. When you say "the King of Rock and Roll," it's Elvis that immediately comes to mind. His reputation in this field is unchallenged.
Building a top-of-mind reputation that attracts links isn't easy in any industry and doubly hard if you're a small guy fighting for space and links on the web. The internet is a cluttered place with multiple news, ecommerce, and social media outlets, making it difficult for the guy with a limited link and advertising budget to get much attention. Or not! ...
- Photographers' heirs seek a cut of Monroe fortune
By Laura Parker
(USA TODAY, October 1, 2007)
The woman at the center of a bitter and personal battle over the use of Marilyn Monroe's image is her legal heir but is largely a stranger to the famous actress. Anna Strasberg, the widow of Monroe's acting coach, is locked in a tense court fight against the children of four photographers whose images propelled the blond bombshell into stardom. Strasberg once met Monroe in New York but did not know her well. ... The photographers knew and counseled Monroe during her early career and owned the rights to the images they shot, their children say. They are angry that Anna Strasberg is the one profiting from Monroe's image.
... The battle over who owns the rights to a celebrity's name or likeness has been waged for decades, involving stars including Elvis Presley, Groucho Marx, horror-movie star Bela Lugosi and Fred Astaire, whose dancing was used to sell Dirt Devil vacuum cleaners.
- Keeping Al Jolson's magic alive
By JIM BECKERMAN
(North Jersey Media Goup, October 1, 2007)
It wasn't so much the technology - crude and unreliable - that sold "talkies" to the public in 1927. It was Al Jolson.
"He was the Elvis Presley of the 1920s," says Rich Curtiss. "His voice was very strong and powerful. When he used to sing at the Winter Garden in New York, people used to jump off their seats."
Curtiss, 68, an Elmwood Park resident, has been channeling that magic for years in his Jolson impersonation shows. He's played the "Mammy" guy on the "Joe Franklin Show," at the Red Blazer Too, and at various senior centers (he'll be at Waterview Center Genesis Healthcare in Cedar Grove on Tuesday). "There are a lot of people who think I am Jolson, come back from the dead," he says. ...
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