September
- Econ 101: nonprofit & loss: Voices of the meltdown - B'way sleeps as Brit writer tackles crisis
By Michael Riedel
(nypost.com, September 18 2009)
YOU'D think the worldwide financial collapse would be fertile ground for New York's nonprofit theater companies, which should be in the business of producing hard-hitting, topical works. After all, the Great Depression inspired many now-classic plays -- "Of Mice and Men," "Waiting for Lefty," "The Time of Your Life," "You Can't Take It With You."
So what's on tap at our major nonprofits this fall?
"Bye Bye Birdie" (The Roundabout), "The Royal Family" (Manhattan Theatre Club) and "In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play" (Lincoln Center). David Hare's "Stuff Happens," about the buildup to the Iraq war, was a hit. Hare's new play examines global economic crisis.
I don't have anything against these shows, but it would be nice if our leading nonprofits offered something a little more ambitious than a 50-year-old musical about Elvis Presley, an 82-year-old parody of the Barrymores, and a Berkeley Rep import about the sex lives of Victorians. ...
- Elvis impersonator in Yeovil
By Kirsty Magdelan
(thisisthewestcountry.co.uk, September 17 2009)
A TRIBUTE to the king of rock 'n' roll makes an eagerly anticipated performance at Yeovil's Octagon Theatre tonight (Thursday). Elvis impersonator Lee 'Memphis' King and his live band will be playing two hours of classic hits during their popular Elvis On Tour show. ...
- The Charts: Jay-Z Lands 11th No. 1 With The Blueprint 3
(ballerstatus.com, September 17 2009)
This week's Billboard 200 is all Jay-Z, as the rapper returns with The Blueprint 3, which helps him pass a mark held by Elvis Presley. The new album shifted 476,000 copies in its first week, easily giving Jay the chart's top slot, and earning him his 11th no. 1 album.
The achievement pushes him ahead of Elvis Presley as the solo act with the most no. 1 albums in the more-than 50-year history of the Billboard 200. Now, Jay has second-most no. 1s, among all acts, except the Beatles, who hold the record with 19. Later down the positions, at no. 30, Jay-Z held another spot, as his Blueprint Collector's Edition sold 14,000 copies. ...
- Elvis Presley Album Record Broken by Jay-Z
By Danielle Hazell
(thecelebritycafe.com, September 16 2009)
The Blueprint 3 is Jay-Z¹s 11th American number one album. This breaks the Elvis Presley record of 10 number one albums. Jay-Z has become the solo artist with the most chart-toppers in U.S history. The Blueprint 3 LP has one of the biggest debut weeks of the year.
Jay-Z, 39, has moved 476,000 copies of his LP according to numbers provided by Neilson SoundScan. The rap artist has a long way to go before he breaks the record that the Beatles hold. The Beatles hold a record of 19 number one albums.
The Beatles are entering the charts again with their remastered catalog being reissued. Since the release last week the catalog has shifted 626,000 copies in the U.S. This week the number was more subtle at 21,000 copies.
Elvis died in 1977 when Jay-Z was nine years old.
- Jay-Z to break Elvis Presley's album record
(newkerala.com / ANI, September 17 2009)
Jay-Z may soon become the solo artist with the most chart-toppers in US chart history beating King of Rock 'n' Roll Elvis Presley. The rap star's new album 'Blueprint 3' might as well be his 11th American number one album, which will take him past the late 'Jailhouse Rock' hitmaker's record of 10 number ones.Billboard said the 39-year-old had so far shifted 476,000 copies of the LP, the BBC News reports.
Meanwhile, the Beatles still retain their position as the most successful act on the US chart, with 19 US number one albums.
- New Elvis credit card to help charitable foundation
(Kingsport Times-News, September 14 2009)
There's now an Elvis Presley credit card. Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc. and CardPartner Inc. have jointly launched the Elvis Presley Visa Platinum Rewards credit card. ...
- Elvis show makes return to Libby
(The Western News, September 16 2009)
Elvis Presley impersonator Danny Vernon will take his talents to the Memorial Center stage in Libby for two shows on Saturday, Sept. 19. Achievements Inc., in Libby is hosting the event.
Vernon has been an Elvis fan since childhood when he began singing along with his father's discarded albums. He grew passionate about the music while singing and dancing along with "the King." ...
- ELVIS' FORMER BODYGUARD TELLS ALL IN NEW BIOPIC
(contactmusic.com, September 14 2009)
ELVIS PRESLEY is set to star on the big screen from beyond the grave - the rock 'n' roll legend's former bodyguard will tell all in a forthcoming biopic about his life with the tragic entertainer.
Presley's friend and former security guard Sonny West will take audiences behind the scenes of the star's sensational rise to fame, his tragic demise, and struggle with drug addiction in feature-length film Fame & Fortune.
West will co-produce and co-write the movie as part of the deal signed with Toronto-based film company RLF Victor Productions, reports Daily Variety.
He was employed by Presley from 1960 until 1976, one year prior to the star's tragic death after suffering a heart attack.
- Story of the Song: Elvis Presley, In The Ghetto (1969) -
(independent.co.uk, September 10 2009)
Scott "Mac" Davis, an Atlanta-based songwriter, had some success in 1968 thanks to Elvis Presley and "A Little Less Conversation".
His real break came in 1969, with a social-comment number. He'd been struggling to pen a song about growing up on the wrong side of the tracks and thought back to his childhood in Lubbock, Texas. Working down in Georgia, Davis set his song way up north, on a grey Chicago morning.
It tells the story of how a hungry child turns to violence to escape his impoverishment. As the boy dies with a bullet in his back, another baby is born in the ghetto. His title was "The Vicious Circle" but it seemed to Davis that the desperation in the song wasn't so different to that in the wartime Jewish ghettos, so he changed it. Presley was heading for American Sound Studios in Memphis and needed material. "In the Ghetto" sounded right for the times, and it trailed the album From Elvis in Memphis in April 1969.
- Barber sculpted the stars' locks
(mydesert.com, September 10 2009)
Ramiro Jaloma said he never got star-struck, whether he was playing pool with Marlon Brando or being called "Chief" by Elvis Presley.
The La Quinta barber considered them and hundreds of Hollywood celebrities his regular clients.
"I never got star-struck or nervous," Jaloma, 78, said last week at his Bermuda Dunes home. "My biggest concern was not the star, but the haircut." For about 40 years, Jaloma worked in Hollywood as the barber to the stars and later as an assistant director for television shows and movies. He left Hollywood in 1996, but never gave up his early interest in the field of "sculpting hair," as he calls it, and now works at the Old Fashion Barber Shop in La Quinta. ...
- Doctor had a caddy from Elvis and a public spirit
Source: Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.
(Denver Post, September 10 2009)
Gerald Starkey, a Denver physician who loved public service, devoted nearly two decades to his work as medical coordinator for the city and county of Denver and also served as medical coordinator for the Denver police and fire departments. ...
- Elvis Presley Affinity Rewards Credit Card to Be Available Fall '09
Source: Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.
(finance.yahoo.com / BUSINESS WIRE, September 8 2009)
There's a new, convenient and rewarding way for Elvis fans to celebrate the King of Rock 'N' Roll while helping fund the work of The Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation (EPCF).
Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. and CardPartner, Inc. have joined forces to launch the Elvis Presley Visa affinity Platinum Rewards credit card. Consumers can choose from one of five great designs, one of which features a rare photo of Elvis at Graceland. The designs were chosen by a focus group of Elvis fans at a recent gathering during Elvis Week 2009.
A majority of the new card proceeds will benefit the Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation, which was formed by Graceland/Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. in 1984 to continue Elvis' tradition of generosity and community service and to honor his memory. The Elvis Presley Charitable Foundation is a separate, purely philanthropic 501(c)3 charitable organization and supports endeavors like Presley Place, The Elvis Presley Endowed Scholarship Fund at The University of Memphis, Little Kids Rock, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, The Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center at The Med and others around the world. The EPCF has also quietly assisted numerous other charities through the years with a focus on arts, education and children's programs.
"We receive numerous requests for an Elvis credit card and this allows us to offer this new product to Elvis fans while continuing Elvis' charitable contributions," said Carol Butler, Vice President of Worldwide Licensing for Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.
The Elvis Presley Visa Platinum(R) Rewards card offers qualified cardholders exceptional benefits including:
- No annual fee
- 0% APR on purchases and balance transfers for the first six months
- Earn points at hundreds of participating retailers
- Earn up to 15 bonus points per dollar at select merchants
- Redeem points for FREE airlines tickets, merchandise and more
- Purchase protection
- Zero liability protection for unauthorized purchases
- Emergency cash and card replacement
- 24-hour roadside assistance
To find out more about the Elvis Presley Visa Platinum® Rewards card or for an application go to: http://www.cardpartner.com/app/epe.
For more about Elvis, visit Elvis.com.
- Production leaves the audience hanging
Posted By GREG BURLIUK
(kingstonwhigstandard.com, September 8 2009)
Elvis Presley made a movie and had a hit song about it. And every American Idol winner brags about it. But really, how many of us actually follow that dream, whatever it is, whether it's to become a professional hockey player or singer, or even more daring, to pursue the prom king or queen.
That doesn't mean we don't fondle that dream every once in a while, however. Kingston playwright Douglas Bowie's play, Rope's End, is about one such dream fondler who, in desperation, reaches out to grab for that dream. The play premiered three years ago at Thousand Islands Playhouse and is now in its sixth production, the latest the season opener at Domino Theatre. ...
- How Tom Jones coped with the unusual
By Nathan Bevan, Western Mail
(walesonline.co.uk, September 7 2009)
HE'S seen everything thrown at him onstage during his long, successful, singing career, from underwear, hotel room keys and notes with phone numbers written in lipstick. But yesterday it emerged that at this year's Glastonbury Festival Sir Tom Jones faced something he'd never seen before in more than 40 years of performing - a sea of blank looks.
Last night the legendary Pontypridd singer revealed that the triumphant set, which won him a new generation of fans in June, almost ended as an embarrassing disaster thanks to a technical fault. ... "The speakers had been turned off for some reason so no-one at the front could hear me." Shocked and worried that his act might be bombing, the 69-year-old sex bomb tried to counter the mass indifference by throwing even more of his trademark killer moves, but as the gig went on there was still no peep from the crowd.
... It's surprising to find that, despite all the success he's attained, Sir Tom talks about himself with a great degree of humility, as though he still can't quite believe everything that's happened to him. It's a down-to-earth quality he says is chiefly the result of his Valleys' upbringing.
... There's just that element of disbelief when he's asked to meet his idol Elvis Presley for the first time, not long after It's Not Unusual launched him to stardom in 1965. "When I arrived in the States, people were saying: 'But you can't be Tom Jones - you're white'," he laughed. "And I remember Elvis saying the same thing: 'How the hell do you sing like this?' And I said: 'You're partly to blame, you know'."
The two quickly struck up a strong rapport and The King took an interest in Tom's career, even giving him advice on what to record. "Quite soon after we met, I made an album of swing standards," he said. "Elvis looked at me and went: 'Tom, I like it, but we don't do standards. We leave that to people like Frank Sinatra'. We! I couldn't believe he was including me with him.
And then a few weeks later - and this is the God's honest truth - Frank Sinatra said to me, 'You're a great standards singer, Tom. You should do more old stuff like that'. "I was just thinking: 'My God, what a position to be in. Sinatra telling me one thing and Elvis telling me another!"
Tom added it seemed Elvis was always right there for him, even if sometimes he wished he wasn't - like the time he'd come off stage at Caesars Palace in Vegas and decided to freshen up. "Elvis was in my dressing room, so I said: 'I'm just going to have a shower and I'll be right with you'," recalled Tom. So. I'm in there washing my hair and I suddenly hear this singing. I open my eyes and there he is standing in there next to me!" he laughed.
- Jacko's crystal glove scoops 49,000 dlrs at auction
(news.yahoo.com, September 7 2009)
A crystal-encrusted white glove worn by late pop icon Michael Jackson has sold for 57,600 dollars (49,000 US) in Australia, doubling the auctioneer's estimate after a frenzied bidding war. Auction house Bonhams & Goodmans said the glove, which went under the hammer in Melbourne late on Sunday, was the first to go on sale since the superstar's death on June 25. The right-hand glove, made of white spandex and covered with hand-sewn clear crystals, was snapped up by the Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in the United States.
Bonhams & Goodmans said Jackson wore the trademark glove to the Sydney premiere of his film "Ghosts" on November 15, 1996. The King of Pop was in Australia for the >HIStory World Tour at the time and earlier in the day had married his second wife Debbie Rowe.
Music journalist Peter Holmes and his friend Bill Hibble were apparently among the few audience members who laughed at the jokes in the short horror spoof and Jackson threw the glove to Hibble in thanks. Hibble has since died and his father put the glove up for sale.
Las Vegas Hard Rock curator Warwick Stone said the glove would sit alongside memorabilia from Elvis Presley and Sex Pistol guitarist Sid Vicious. ...
AFP - The crystal-encrusted white glove worn by the late US pop icon Michael Jackson which was sold at auction
- Rock, blues, soul provide the pulse for this music city
By Erik Schelzig
(San Diego Union Tribune / AP, September 6 2009)
Memphis is where you go to celebrate everything Elvis. Sun Studio is where Presley got his start as the king of rock 'n' roll, and Graceland is a few miles south of downtown. But other styles of music - the blues and soul - also have deep roots in this city on the Mississippi River, with legendary Beale Street and the Stax Museum of American Soul Music among the must-sees for any visitor.
Getting around: Memphis' vintage trolley system is a fun and cheap way to see the city. Take the 2.5-mile Riverfront Loop Trolley to get a feel for the scope of the mighty Mississippi River, or the Main Street Trolley to get to and from the Beale Street entertainment district. The base fare is $1, but all-day passes can be had for $3.50 and three-day passes for $8. Trolleys run until 11 p.m. on weeknights, and until 1 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, matatransit.com
Accommodations: You don't have to stay at the posh Peabody, peabodymemphis.com, to watch its famous ducks being marched to and from the hotel's lobby fountain. The spectacle is free for all at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. every day.
Find cheaper accommodations at downtown hotels like the Holiday Inn Select, Sleep Inn or SpringHill Suites. Staying in town offers the opportunity to explore most attractions on foot or by trolley. memphistravel.com/lodging .
Food: The $17.50 full order of ribs at the Rendezvous, Memphis' leading barbecue restaurant at 52 S. Second St., is so filling you may be able to skip a meal, hogsfly.com
For cheaper eats, keep an eye out for restaurants offering "soul" anything, like the sublime $5 soul burger ($6 after 6 p.m.) at Ernestine and Hazel's, 531 S. Main St. Check out the upstairs bar area, which once served as a flophouse, and the jukebox featuring some of the city's best music; open 11 a.m.-3:30 a.m. all week.
Civil rights history: Ernestine and Hazel's is about a block away from the National Civil Rights Museum, which is located in the former Lorraine Motel, where the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968; civilrightsmuseum.org. Admission is $13 for adults, $11 for seniors and students, children 4-17, $9.50.
Nightlife: Beale Street in the early 1900s became a freewheeling home to musicians, gamblers and prostitutes. Nightclubs hosted W.C. Handy, Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington and "Beale Street Blues Boy" King, a nickname later shortened to B.B. King.
By the 1970s, political and social shifts turned the area into a run-down cluster of empty buildings. But today, Beale Street's array of bars, restaurants and shops makes it one of Memphis' major tourist attractions. Cover charges for music are often $5 or less (and several are free); bealestreet.com.
Everything Elvis: Sun Studio, where Elvis got his start, can be reached via the Orleans Station on the Madison Avenue Trolley. The little recording studio that also made Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and Johnny Cash famous is about two blocks south of the station at 706 Union Ave., sunstudio.com. Adult tours are $12; children 5-11 are free; children under 5 are not admitted.
The studio also offers a free shuttle service to and from Elvis' home, Graceland, about nine miles south of downtown, elvis.com/graceland . Admission to Graceland is $28. Save some money on Elvis souvenirs by buying them from numerous outside vendors.
Stax: The Stax Museum of American Soul Music is a few minutes' drive from Beale Street. The legendary Stax Records label produced a string of hits in the 1960s and early '70s, including Sam and Dave's "Soul Man," Isaac Hayes' "Theme From Shaft" and Otis Redding's "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay." Admission is $12, and the museum is closed Mondays between November and March, soulsvilleusa.com.
- Cybill Shepherd: Why I jilted Elvis Presley
(Daily Mirror, September 5 2009)
Actress Cybill Shepherd has revealed that she dumped her one-time boyfriend Elvis Presley after he tried to make her take prescription drugs. ...
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