mid September
- Dallas Convention Center Arena may get a makeover
By DAVE LEVINTHAL
(Dallas Morning News, September 21 2008)
Elvis Presley. Frank Sinatra. Ray Charles. The Beatles. The Doors. The Grateful Dead.
They're names on a roster that reads like an American music retrospective . And they're united in all having once played the 51-year-old Dallas Convention Center Arena, a storied but increasingly obsolete facility that today is more likely to host a high school graduation than an international musical act.
But some Dallas City Council members are bent on reversing the arena's decline, suggesting that the government explore wholesale renovations that range from reconfiguring its 9,816 bolted-down seats to erecting a fixed stage suitable for large-scale performances. ...
- My Life In Travel: Paul Oakenfold
Interview by Sophie Lam
(independent.co.uk, September 20 2008)
... First holiday memory?
Camber Sands in Sussex with my parents. I think we stayed at a Pontin's
resort. Elvis Presley died while we were there. s My parents were big fans so
it was quite a shock. ...
- Restoring the legacy of Sammy Davis Jr
(gmanews.tv, September 19 2008)
For all the grief that Sammy Davis Jr. took in life - remember the uproar over his embrace of Richard Nixon? - he's getting it even worse in death.
Eighteen years after the legendary entertainer succumbed to throat cancer at age 64, his estate is in tatters, burdened by debt and infighting among family members and business associates. Despite recording hundreds of songs, starring in dozens of movies and TV shows, and giving countless live performances, his posthumous earning power is dwarfed by the likes of Elvis Presley and fellow Rat Packer Frank Sinatra. ...
"This is one of the most dysfunctional situations, and they still can't get it together," says Albert "Sonny" Murray Jr., who should know. ...
- Arlie Metheny : Guarded Pvt. Elvis during '58 training
By EVIN DEMIREL
(Arkansas Democrat Gazette, September 18 2008)
When "the King" arrived at Fort Chaffee to begin basic training in 1958, U. S. Army liaison Arlie Metheny welcomed him. Metheny, a military public information officer early in his career and later an educator, died Monday from complications of a stroke at Salem Place Nursing And Rehabilitation Center in Conway. He was 90.
Around 100 people awaited Elvis Presley's late arrival to the Army training grounds outside Fort Smith on March 24, 1958. The solidly built 5-foot-6 Metheny, assigned to be Presley's buffer from the media, immediately filled that role amidst the popping flashbulbs and photographers' shouts.
Metheny wrote in an autobiography: "As the group stood to go to their barracks a photographer yelled to Elvis to salute. There was panic in his eyes, he looked around and I caught his eye and shook my head no so he declined." The photographers flooded Presley with attention during his three days at the camp. Metheny wrote one particularly pesky freelancer snapped shots of Presley in his underwear and, during lunch, was "shooting every time [Presley ] opened his mouth. After a few minutes I suggested they let him eat and everyone but the freelancer backed off. I had the [military police ] escort him out of the mess hall." Metheny kept a close watch on Presley. One of his seven sons, Gary Metheny remembered his father "nearly passing out when he came home." Once there, he'd field three hours' worth of calls from the national media, allowing him only three hours of sleep a night.
The night that Presley left, Metheny suffered severe exhaustion, was taken to the hospital and given five days of leave.
Still, the whirlwind of activity was an experience that Metheny treasured.
"He liked meeting new people and moving around," Gary Metheny said. "He had no problem just getting up and going - he could do it in a minute."
Born Jan. 8, 1918, in Silverdale, Mo., Metheny, the eldest of seven children, boarded a freight train in 1938, left his cotton-farm home and spent a year picking apples, strawberries and cotton in Michigan, Texas, Illinois and Arkansas. He joined the Marines and married Willie Stroble in 1941. A couple of years after serving in World War II, Metheny transferred to the Army and was commissioned as a first lieutenant. While in the Army, he was stationed in Japan for nearly eight years until 1956. Metheny then moved to Fort Smith, where he stayed after retiring from the military in 1959, the year after his 12-year old son, Donald, was hit and killed by a car while delivering newspapers. ...
- Eminem Is The New Elvis, Just Ask His Mom
(antiMUSIC / PR, September 18 2008)
Eminem is the Elvis Presley of the new century. His fans are legion and loyal. Tens of millions of his albums have flown off the shelves. His music videos - even the older ones - have tallied millions of hits on YouTube. His relevance is undisputed. And his mother wants to set the record straight.
In MY SON MARSHALL, MY SON EMINEM, Debbie Nelson reveals the truth behind her son's allegations of her abuse and manipulation of his success, money, and dreams. A charismatic woman with undeniable love for her son, Debbie Nelson will surely incite her readers' sympathy and anger for the injustice of her misrepresentation. Any parent who's dealt with a rebellious child and anyone who's ever felt guilt for rebelling against a well-meaning parent - will identify with this story.
MY SON MARSHALL, MY SON EMINEM illustrates their earliest days in the small town of St. Joseph, Missouri, to Eminem's teenage years in Detroit, to his rise to stardom and very public falling out with his mother.
The definitive story of the rap megastar's origins, MY SON MARSHALL, MY SON EMINEM includes rare photographs of mother and son, as well as never-before-seen lyrics and poems written by Marshall before he became Eminem. An essential addition to any music lover's lover library, Debbie Nelson's fabulous tell-all is perfectly positioned to spill ink across the country.
- New owner plans to expand, refurbish Madison Edgewater Hotel
By DEAN MOSIMAN
(Wisconsin State Journal, September 17 2008)
The venerable Edgewater Hotel in Downtown Madison may be refurbished, expanded and offer more public access, becoming perhaps a "Union Terrace for adults." Robert Dunn, president of the Hammes Co., a prominent international developer with Wisconsin roots, is buying the art deco-style hotel — host to notables from Elvis Presley to George Bush Sr. — with an intent of returning the property to its former glory and more. ...
- M-I-C-K-E-Y: work for elections officials
(CapeCodTimes.com, September 16 2008)
Here's a riddle. What do Daffy Duck, Mickey Mouse and Elvis Presley have in common?Answer: None of them are going to be elected, so don't waste your votes, say election workers across the Cape. Each Election Day, voters around Cape Cod file write-in ballots nominating cartoon characters, celebrities or even their favorite neighbors for elected office. These votes may be good for a laugh, but they serve only to waste time and money, local clerks and election workers said. They often delay the counting process, forcing poll workers to count the write-ins individually.
... Over recent years, Elmer Fudd, Marilyn Monroe and Michael Jackson have joined Daffy, Mickey and Elvis on the ballot, town officials said. Neighbors, spouses and former elected officials have appeared. ...
- Around Crofton: Crofton man's road trip with his son full of miles, memories
By Paula Popp
(hometownannapolis.com, September 16 2008)
Art Crofoot and his oldest son Alex, 17, and Alexıs friends Will Tucker, 18, and Steve Hartig, 17, both of Crofton, went on a 10-day, 3,062-mile trip through 11 states to visit 16 popular destinations, including the Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, N.Y., Niagara Falls and Graceland, Elvis Presleyıs mansion in Memphis, Tenn.
... The boys' least favorite destinations were the Indianapolis Motor Speedway because they would have preferred to test drive instead of taking the tram tour around the two-mile track. Graceland Mansion was also a bit of a disappointment after seeing the size of the so-called mansion. "There are bigger homes in Crofton," said Art. ...
- Top cops turn fashion police in Kolkata
By Rajib Chatterjee
(thestatesman.net, September 16 2008)
As with beards, sideburns went out of fashion in the early twentieth century, only to make a comeback in the mid-1950s, when two-time Oscar-nominated actor James Dean sported sideburns in his 1955 American flick ~ Rebel Without a Cause and it was spurred on by Elvis Presley. But the style was not in vogue for long. ...
- The Soul of Rock & Roll : Roy Orbison : Review
By Barry Walters
(Rolling Stone, September 16 2008)
Roy Orbison was a superhero of song. Unassuming in appearance, he became someone extraordinary when his weeping tenor took flight, rising from deep, dark places on anguished ballads like "Only the Lonely" and "Crying." Orbison rebuilt the stark balladry of Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" as a jukebox opera house, expanded rock's arrangement limitations, and opened a door to Phil Spector and Freddie Mercury alike. This 107-track box captures Orbison's Fifties rockabilly beginnings on its first disc, where his energetic spurt at Sun Records gets eclipsed by unreleased demos that reveal tuneful talents primed to explode. The second disc sympathetically sequences his early-Sixties album tracks and B sides, yet more remarkable is how smoothly the third navigates from his triumphant '64 classic, "Oh, Pretty Woman," to his maligned Seventies output without quality plummet. The fourth disc documents his late-Eighties comeback, which justifiably lingered beyond his sudden 1988 passing. This is the only anthology that does justice to every stage of Orbison's career, not just the one lined with gold.
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