| |
Welcome to the "Elvis Information Network", home to the best news, reviews, interviews, Elvis photos & in-depth articles about the King of Rock & Roll, Elvis Aaron Presley...
Ho! Ho! Ho!...........the latest on www.elvisinfonet.com:
| Thursday 31 December 2009..............................................another year almost over!! |
Elvis 75 Good Rockin' Tonight (CD Review): Is this set really as good as the critics say??
In a searching 4,000 word review, EIN's Nigel Patterson gives you the detailed lowdown on Sony's 4CD box set release commemorating what would have been Elvis' 75th birthday.
From the 100 tracks and Vic Anesini's remastering, to Billy Altman's essay and a number of illuminating sidebars, you will discover all you need to know about Elvis 75 Good Rockin' Tonight.
EIN's review also incorporates the full track listing and the 13 key tracks identified by music journalist, Robert Hilburn, that best illustrate Elvis's artistic progression.
Read EIN's review of Elvis 75 Good Rockin' Tonight |
 |
Elvis's "Blue Moon" tonight: Cue the old Elvis record....Blue Moon, You saw me standing alone.....Without a dream in my heart.....Without a love of my own....
For the first time in 20 years, New Year's Eve star gazers will bear witness to the fabled "blue moon."
Don't expect the moon to actually be blue. While typically full moons occur once a month, a "blue moon" refers to the rare cycle where a second full moon appears in a single month.
Dec. 2 marked this month's first full moon, and the blue moon is scheduled for Dec. 31. This will be the first blue moon to hit on New Year's Eve since 1990.
The next time it will happen will be 2028. (News, Source: Nathan Stubbs, The Independent Weekly) |
 |
More on "Loving Arms": After our news item yesterday, Memphis Mafia member, Marty Lacker, sent EIN this message:
Lovin' Arms is one of the songs I gave to Elvis during the Stax session,it was originally done by Dobie Gray. The publishers, David Briggs and Norbet Putnam were both on Elvis' Stax sessions at the time. David on piano and Norbet on drums.
When I played it for Elvis he instantly loved it much to the chagrin of Tom Diskin from Colonel Parker's office and Freddy Bienstock from Hill & Range because they didn't have the publishing.
Click here for 24 hours a day "Ultimate Elvis Radio"
The Elvis Moments of the Past Decade: Earlier in December we ran a poll to find out what you considered to be the:
- Best CD releases of the Decade
- Best FTD releases of the Decade
- Best DVD releases of the Decade
- Best Book releases of the Decade
- Best ETAs of the Decade
- and the #1 Elvis Moment of the Decade
Well the hundreds of votes have been tallied and the finalists identified. |
 |
Today we present your selections in each category and publish a cross-section of the many hunbdreds of comments we received during the poll.
We also add six new Polls for you to vote for the #1 in each of the above categories!
Click here for EIN's "Moment of the Decade" page and to vote
Parkes Elvis Birthday Festival 2010 Preview: On January 8th 2010 it would have been Elvis Presley's 75th Birthday. The major celebrations will of course be at Graceland in his hometown of Memphis. However the world’s second biggest celebration will be when 10,000 Elvis fans descend on the small country town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia to party in the King’s name. The Parkes Elvis Festival will be held from 6 - 10 January 2010. Internationally celebrated ETAs such as Mark Andrew, ‘She Is The King’, Mark Anthony and Scott Baker are all scheduled to perform plus there is also the very popular Elvis Gospel Church Service, the famous Street Parade and more than 140 Events over five days of Elvis fun.
(Spotlight: Source; EIN)
|
 |
Elvis on Dutch Radio 2 Top 2000: The 'Top 2000' from the Dutch station Radio 2 is the reference when it comes to the hit parade of the best songs of all time. Elvis can be found 20 times in the list this year. The ranking and titles are:
- 108 Suspicious minds
- 203 In the ghetto
- 320 Always on my mind
- 401 My boy
- 466 I just can't help believin'
- 507 Jailhouse rock
- 627 Can't help falling in love with you
- 739 Are you lonesome tonight
- 774 Love me tender
- 849 American trilogy
- 895 Burning love
- 1008 It's now or never
- 1033 One night
- 1075 (You're) The devil in disguise
- 1278 Heartbreak hotel
- 1406 Wooden heart
- 1430 Don't be cruel
- 1490 Kiss me quick
- 1620 Moody blue
- 1698 Little sister
Global chart update week 53: (News, Source: Source: Martin Arvidsson/FECC)
United States:
Billboard 200:
• #124 (115) Christmas Duets
• #141 (100) It’s Christmas Time
• #146 (96) Elvis’ Christmas
Top Holiday Albums:
• #26 (31) Christmas Duets
• #30 (29) It’s Christmas Time
• #32 (27) Elvis’ Christmas
Hot Holiday Songs:
• #21 (22) Blue Christmas (Elvis Presley & Martina McBride)
Hot Digital Songs:
• #127 (122) Blue Christmas
Yahoo Video:
• #15 (Ne) Blue Christmas (Elvis Presley & Martina McBride)
Top Catalog Albums:
• #22 (25) Christmas Duets
• #27 (21) It’s Christmas Time
• #29 (18) Elvis’ Christmas
Top Country Catalog Albums:
** Not available this week**
US (Soundscan) sales, as of this week:
- Blue Christmas (digital track) 316,715 (downloaded 12,701 times this week) |
Canada:
Top 50 Country Albums:
• #38 (43) Elvis: Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
• #44 (48) Christmas Peace
France:
Top 250 Albums:
• #197 (Ne) Greatest Hits
Australia:
Top 40 DVDs:
• #15 (22) Elvis: The King Of Rock ’N’ Roll
• #39 (Re) ’68 Comeback Special
Top 50 Catalogue Albums:
• #43 (44) Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
Sweden:
Top 60 Albums:
• #23 (20) The Collection (7CD-set)
Top 10 Mid-price Albums:
• #6 (9) White Christmas
• #7 (7) Christmas Wishes
Norway:
Top 10 Low-price Albums:
• OUT (5) White Christmas*
Denmark:
Top 40 Albums:
• #39 (31) The Collection (7 CD)
Finland:
Top 5 Mid-price Albums:
• #3 (3) Christmas Wishes
Ireland:
Top 100 Albums:
• #34 (25) Rockin’ With The King
|
Where have all the Elvis fans gone???: WE ran the following item earlier this month. Despite a number of sites giving it publicity Elvis continues to be thrashed in the poll! Artists including Led Zeppelin, MIchael Jackson, Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston all lead Elvis. Michael Jackson currently leads the poll for the best concert of the 70's by a very large margin.
EIN hopes fans aren't getting too blase about the numerous online polls as this one is one of the more important ones!
Let's show the true spirit of Elvis fans and VOTE and get Elvis to where he should be.......as the #1 showstopper at Madison Square Garden.
Voting in Round 3 of Madison Square Garden concerts NOW OPEN: Vote for Elvis' performances at New York's famous Madison Square Garden!!! Elvis' historic shows are finalists in the Best of the 1970s section.
Elvis is not polling well at present (despite a move in the right direction in the past few days) so let's get online and support the King!
You may vote once per day. The poll closes Wednesday, January 7 at noon. The top 10 concerts will face off in the final poll, which opens Thursday, January 8 at noon.
Vote for Elvis!!! |
 |
| Wednesday 30 December 2009 |
Would You Prefer Elvis Presley's "Loving Arms"?: In 1973, Elvis Presley recorded a great song in Memphis called "Loving Arms," right around the same time the Dixie Chicks were little babies.
About 25 years later, once the Dixie Chicks were all grown up and making country music, they laid down a whole lot of steel guitar and put that song on their 1998 album, Wide Open Spaces.
Although it's included on a new Presley boxed set called Elvis 75: Good Rockin' Tonight, I never knew his version, but I have always loved the Chicks' rendition. "Loving Arms" was written by Tom Jans and recorded by a handful of artists over the years such as Kris Kristofferson, Olivia Newton-John and Rita Coolidge.
But to me, the quiet acoustic Chicks one is the most moving. If you've been too long in the wind and too long in the rain, let us know whose loving arms you'd like to end up in. (News, Source: Alison Bonaguro, cmt.com)
Tomorrow on EIN:
EIN publishes its comprehensive 4,000 word review of:
Elvis 75 Good Rockin' Tonight |
|
Elvis Club forms in Belfast, N. Ireland: Calling all Elvis fans. A new fan club is set to launch on Wednesday, January 6.
The group will form the official Northern Ireland Branch of the Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain.
The club will meet for the first time at 7.30pm in the H&W Welders FSC, located on Dee Street. Entrance will be £5. The event will include an Elvis disco and videos and will end at approximately 12am. Stuart and Janet Baxter, event organisers, are hopeful that a successful launch event will lead to a permanent club being established.
The launch comes in the same week as Elvis’ 75th birthday, January 8, and has the backing of Elvis Presley Enterprises at Graceland in Memphis. (News, Source: belfasttelegraph.co.uk)
New album coming soon: (Source: Herbi)
Apple Holler, Wisconsin to celebrate Elvis' birthday: Apple Holler, 5006 S. Sylvania Ave., is celebrating the life and music of Elvis Presley with the dinner theater, “Let’s Get All Shook Up: A Tribute to the King of Rock and Roll,” Jan. 7-31.
Elvis Presley was born Jan. 8, 1935, in Mississippi, and his musical talent and unique style of singing helped him rise from poverty to fame throughout the 1950s. As his career progressed, he won a devoted audience of all ages and from all over the world, many of whom still treasure his recordings to this day.
The small cast honors Elvis’ birthday by bringing him to life, singing his most beloved songs, including “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Hound Dog” and “All Shook Up.”
“While this is not intended to be an Elvis impersonation,” states Heather Clayton, Apple Holler’s entertainment director, “our very talented, lead actor will skillfully perform many of Elvis’ most popular songs, incorporating his vocal style and mannerisms."
Shows are scheduled for Jan. 7-9, 10, 16-18, 20, 23-25, 28 and 30-31. Dinner theaters on Sunday through Thursday begin at 6 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The cost of $44.99 includes wine and cheese tasting, southern-themed meal and dessert, beverage and tip. Reservations are required by calling (262) 886-8500 or (800) 238-3629.
Apple Holler is located between Racine and Kenosha on the west Frontage Road off Interstate 94, just north of Highway KR, at Exit 337. (News, Source: journaltimes.com)
| Monday 28 December 2009............................................................ Happy Holidays everyone!! Drive safely!! |
Tennessee Sheik book: Elvis Unlimited (EU) is proud to announce our newest project, The Tennessee Sheik. This will be a hard cover photo journal with over 200 unpublished and rare photographs of Elvis Presley spanning from the 1950's to 1970's.
The book will be written by Megan M. Murphy and Henrik Knudsen.
This will be EU's first release of 2010, followed by Inside Jailhouse Rock and a few other surprises!
More information very soon! (News, Source: Elvis Unlimited) |
 |
Graceland area to be redeveloped: The owners of Graceland are getting serious about plans for a redevelopment project that would rejuvenate the popular Heartbreak Hotel and spruce up 100 acres surrounding Elvis Presley's home.
Robert Sillerman, whose company CKX Inc. bought controlling interest of Elvis Presley Enterprises in 2004, says he is returning to Memphis next month to plan the tourist mecca's future.
|
 |
Sillerman first talked about a $250 million redevelopment of the area several years ago. At the time, work was to include demolition of the old visitors center and Heartbreak Hotel so they could be replaced with larger, better facilities and hotels with convention halls and improved public spaces. Sillerman tells The Commercial-Appeal that next month's event will be a two-day intensive planning session. (Sale of EPE, Source: WHNT)
Love Me Plenty, Presley Pleads: Jan. 8 will be the 75th anniversary of the birth of Elvis Presley. Don’t fear that this milestone will be celebrated too quietly. Elvis 75 (a shorthand moniker for the event itself, as well as the title of a new greatest-hits collection) will bring an onslaught of commemorative festivities and products, like parties at Graceland, concerts with Elvis impersonators and a movie suggesting that Presley, who died on Aug. 16, 1977, has spent the last three decades in outer space. It will bring everything except realistic thoughts of what the uncontrollably self-destructive Elvis might have been like as a 75-year-old man.
Elvis Presley and his wife, Priscilla, at their 1967 Las Vegas wedding. He had unusually close ties to his mother, Gladys.
|
|
Naturally, there are books. Lots and lots of books. Among the standouts — beyond a tell-all by the doctor who knows a lot about Presley’s death and a hagiography from the lifelong buddy who is fond of saying that America has had many presidents but only one King — is Alanna Nash’s long look at Elvis’s bizarre history with women. She has cleverly borrowed one of his most seductive song titles, “Baby, Let’s Play House.”
Since Ms. Nash’s book is studiously annotated and longer than many biographies of American presidents, there is reason to think she may have done some serious work here. Also, she approaches this subject with a running start. As the author of “The Colonel,” about the carny tricks of Presley’s famously Machiavellian manager, Col. Tom Parker, as well as “Elvis and the Memphis Mafia,” she sounds like someone well connected in the Presley world. So it is only a little bit worrisome to see her identified in the jacket copy for her new book as “the first journalist to see Elvis Presley in his casket.”
That whiff of morbid curiosity turns out to be determinative. So does the genesis of “Baby, Let’s Play House”: Ms. Nash acknowledges that she initially wrote a women-oriented article for Ladies’ Home Journal and then decided to expand it. Thus armed with what she all too aptly calls “an oral history of some of the women in Elvis’s life,” Ms. Nash began padding her story with three kinds of material: her own legitimate interviews (some with women still pining for Elvis 50 years after their fateful encounters), secondhand gossip (from self-serving memoirs and fan publications) and psychobabble. Cobbled together, these elements led her along Presley’s long, winding trail from babes to baby sitters as his life spiraled into sad decline.
“Baby, Let’s Play House” is abundantly illustrated with pictures of Presley with his girlfriends. And the pictures tell a powerful story. He worked his way through a lifetime’s worth of women who looked like his brown-haired, soulful-eyed mother, Gladys. At first they were girls next door. Then, though still from the same cookie cutter, they became ever more beautiful as Elvis’s star rose, to the point where he paired up with women almost as good-looking as he was.
After Gladys died in 1958, her distraught son began going off the rails, and the women become less and less suitable for bringing home to Mother. The last photos of Elvis show him with a glazed John Belushi look and not much visible awareness of his female companions, whoever they happen to be.
Ms. Nash tells a long, repetitive and dirt-digging version of that dramatic tale. Her central premise, supplied by Peter O. Whitmer (“The Inner Elvis”) in his capacity as this book’s resident psychologist and buttressed by terms like “individuate,” “stuck grief,” “sexual dimorphism” and “estrogen-androgen balance,” is that Presley’s loss of a twin brother at birth set him on a lifelong search for companionship he could never truly find and that his extreme closeness to his mother left no room for other adult women.
Using details too tawdry for even the most voyeuristic fans, the author offers evidence of her subject’s arrested sexual development, physical insecurities and general predilection for the 14-year-old girls who struck him as unthreatening. Sometimes he really did throw pajama parties and teach girls how to put on eye makeup and style their hair.
Some details in “Baby, Let’s Play House” invoke the bottom-feeding biographical style of Albert Goldman. And Ms. Nash, in playing to the rubbernecking crowd, is not shy about using Mr. Goldman as a source. She also replays the memories of each girlfriend who believed herself to be Elvis’s true love (“I was the one who got away”), the creative stylings of too many ghostwriters and the fairy-tale tone of Priscilla Presley, Elvis’s wife. (“I thought I was living inside a dream. Except the dream had come true. I had come home with Elvis.”) Although Ms. Nash usually plays fair with attributions, she sometimes creates the misimpression that material borrowed from fan Web sites is a) current and b) her own.
But she has done her own dogged research too. And some of it is memorably succinct and tough. Consider this near haiku from Patti Parry, the lone female buddy in Elvis’s inner circle: “Nineteen-year-old truck driver becomes superstar and super stud, which he wasn’t.” Or this from Lamar Fike, one of his closest associates: “I’ll give you Elvis’s relationship with Priscilla in a nutshell. You create a statue. And then you get tired of looking at it.” Or from Sheila Ryan Caan, one of the rare girlfriends who felt free to tease Elvis about his sartorial style: “Does Cruella know you have her cape tonight?”
Regardless of how Ms. Nash accrued and assembled this material, she manages to collect all the madness, badness and sadness of the Elvis myth in one exhaustive and (let’s face it) embarrassingly tempting volume. Though she is sure to be excoriated for leaving the emperor unclothed, she also writes with admiration. And after presenting an endless-seeming parade of consorts (he had declined from young starlets to young bank tellers in his final months), Ms. Nash gets the last word on girl-chasing from Elvis at his weariest.
“Why the hell do you put up with her?” Billy Smith, Presley’s cousin and entourage member, tells Ms. Nash that he asked Elvis about Ginger Alden, the consort who was asleep in the next room when he died. Said the King, “I’m just getting too old and tired to train another one.” (Book Review, Source: Janet Maslin, New York Times)
Read EIN's review of Baby, Let's Play House Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him
Read Part 1 of EIN's interview with author, Alanna Nash
JAT to release Sahara Tahoe Commemorative Menu: On February 14, 2010 JAT Productions will release the May 1973 commemorative menu from the Sahara Tahoe and include a interview picture disc.
You can pre-order directly from JAT Productions. (News, Source : FECC/JAT Productions) |
 |
Aussie chart update: On the final ARIA Music DVD chart of this decade, Elvis returns to the Top 20 and also sees another title reenter the Top 40. Elvis The King of Rock 'n' Roll moves up 7 spots to #15 (85th week on the chart; HP #4; 2xP) and '68 Comeback Special re-enters at #39 (HP #1; 5xP). (News, Source: ARIA)
| Saturday 26 December 2009..................... only 364 days until Christmas |
Tickle Me: Awful ‘B’ grade film or guilty pleasure?: EIN takes a brief look back at one of Elvis’ films which met widespread criticism when first released but one that a significant number of fans enjoy.
Tickle Me – the movie: This is the Brisbane Film Group review of Tickle Me:
It is not surprising Elvis Presley’s 18th vehicle, Tickle Me (1965), has been on the receiving end of less than positive critical reviews. Hackneyed plot, cheap studio sets and low bidget are not usually the ingredients of a quality product. But is Tickle Me really that bad? |
 |
Yes, the landscape scenery is obviously cheap and phony and the plot has been done by Hollywood a hundred times before in countless westerns, however any landscape weakness is more than made up for through other scenery, notably the delectable Jocelyn Lane as Pam Meritt (Elvis’ initially reluctant love interest) who exudes an overt feminine sexuality well matching that of the film’s principal star. Ms Lane has to rival the equally delectable Ann-Margret, Michele Carey (Live A Little, Love A Little) and Ina Balin (Charro) as Elvis’s sexiest co-star!
Elvis as singing rodeo star, Lonnie Beale, who moonlights in his spare time at a beauty ranch for rich and bored women is hardly inspiring and by the second half of the film, the humour has slid into slapstick territory. That the two writers, Elwood Ullman and Edward Bernds, are better known for their work on films for acts such as The Three Stooges, is a strong indicator of what the studio wanted for this Presley vehicle. This is not all bad news though.
The supporting cast is solid without being outstanding. The inclusion of Hollywood veterans Julie Adams and western star Bill Williams mixed with other familiar faces including Mullaney and Will Hutchins (TV’s Sugarfoot and who would later play Elvis’ sidekick in the Prince and the Pauper take off in another much maligned but underrated film, Clambake) helps keep the film afloat.
The script, which is deliberately “B’ grade is actually not that bad and at times downright hilarious (if silly), particularly scenes in the hands of Jack Mullaney who is wonderfully cast as the hapless Stanley Potter and Edward Faulkner as the self-absorbed but well meaning Brad Bentley. Thanks to the professionalism of the cast some scenes with very ordinary lines of dialogue actually work:
Estelle Penfield: You've got to be kidding me
Lonnie Beale: [shrugs] Sorry, dietician's orders.
Estelle Penfield: But it's such a little steak, and I'm so hungry. Listen, Lonnie, if you would give me another steak, I would be very grateful. Do we understand each other?
Lonnie Beale: [pauses] No.
The soundtrack to Tickle Me is actually one of the King’s strongest with all 9 songs taken from his back catalogue, notably several tracks from his critically lauded album, Elvis Is Back.
As legend has it, Tickle Me, gave Allied Artists at least a temporary reprieve from going into receivership. For me, there are much worse Elvis films than this one. Paradise, Hawaiian Style and Harum Scarum spring immediately to mind.
Overall, Tickle Me is a fun movie to while away 90 minutes of one’s time. The music is good, there are silly but funny moments, and the scenery of the primary male and female stars is more than attractive. This film is not as bad as some critics suggest! Tickle Me has no pretensions to be anything other than what it is. Enjoy it on this basis.
Tickle Me – the soundtrack: In his book, Elvis Presley The Complete Guide to His Music (Omnibus Press, 2004), author John Robertson wrote this about the Tickle Me soundtrack:
Rodeos, buried treasure, ghosts – all in the same forgettable movie. Tickle Me was Elvis’s first film for Allied artists, and also his last. It was memorable for quite another reason, though: for the only time, no new songs were prepared for the soundtrack. Instead, nine previously released recordings were introduced into the plot, among them such highlights of 1960’s Elvis Is Back LP as “Dirty, Dirty Feeling” and “It Feels So Right”. RCA included five of the songs on a soundtrack EP, then bowed to public demand in Britain and slapped the four leftovers onto a second extended-play single. But all tracks are now available on other CDs.
Read EIN's review of the FTD Tickle Me release
Read more about Elvis' films on EIN's Celluloid Elvis page
David Stanley’s “The Elvis Encyclopedia” reissued: The World Publishing Group has released its edition of David Stanley’s very good The Elvis Encyclopedia. In Australia the large, hardcover can be found in selectedbookstores for a very reasonable A$24.95. (News, Source: EIN)
Coming to EIN:
December 2009:
- Moments of the Decade including EIN's new Polls to find the #1 Moment of the Past decade and the #1 CD, FTD and Book releases
- Elvis 75 Good Rockin' Tonight - EIN is currently putting the finishing touches on its detailed review of Sony's latest Elvis box set
January 2010:
- Interview with Alanna Nash (Part 2) - we continue our absorbing interview with celebrated Elvis author, Alanna Nash
- Book Review: The King and Dr. Nick What Really Happened to Elvis and Me - EIN's holiday time reading is Dr. Nick's long awaited memoir
- Interview with Dr. Nick - Dr. Nick provides EIN with his story and tells us what really happened to Elvis
| Sony Special Product releases in January 2010: Sony's Special Products arm is releasing a number of Elvis film and non-film albums at a budget price next month. The titles include: Good Times; Elvis Now; From Elvis Presley Boulevard; An Evening Prayer; Girl Happy; Roustabout; Clambake; Girls! Girls! Girls! and Fun In Acapulco.
Check Amazon and Barnes & Noble for all release titles and to pre-order each album for arounds US$6.909 plus postage and handling. (News, Source: Amber Smith/Amazon) |
|
Elvis An American Icon (DVD): In Dutch stores a 2CD/DVD set popped up, entitled An American Icon. It looks like the tracklisting of the DVD is as follows:
1. Burning Love 2:50
2. I Got A Woman (Got A Sweety) 2:31
3. That's All Right Mama 3:12
4. Something 3:46
5. Hound Dog 1:10
6. Baby What You Want Me To Do 3:20
7. You Gave Me A Mountain 3:19
8. Heartbreak Hotel 1:52
9. Blue Sude Shoes 2:25
10.Steamroller Blues 3:06
11.Love Me Tender 4:22
12.Lawdy Miss Clawdy 2:52
13.My Way 3:57
14.I Can't Stop Loving You 2:09
15.Are You Lonesome Tonight 2:52
16.Love Me 1:46
17.Just Pretend 3:39
18.Medley 3:07
19.Johnny B. Goode 1:46
20.The Wonder Of You 2:24
21.Tryin' To Get To You 3:04
22.It's Over 2:11
23.In The Ghetto 2:33
24.One Night 3:01
25.Heavenly Luck Up In Heaven 3:56 (News, Source: Elvis News)
|
 |
Elvis heads list of famous ex-truckers: 1 Elvis Presley - Here is the moment you've been waiting at least two minutes for - Truck & Driver's most famous ex-trucker is The King, Elvis Presley.
Before he rose to the status of rock royalty, Elvis drove trucks for a living. It may well have been behind the wheel that Elvis learned his trade - crooning and eating peanut butter. It is certain that his ducktail hairstyle was the fashion for lorry drivers of the Deep South.
Apparently Elvis was told at one audition to stick to the day job but, having come fifth in a singing competition as a youngster and winning $5, he was not to be discouraged. Honing his skills in the laundry room of a Memphis public housing development, the shy boy continued to play country music (he was then known as 'The Hillbilly Cat') and express himself through his guitar.
Appropriately he drove for the Crown Electric Company, a Maryland-based firm that still exists today. Elvis's first big commercial recording was in 1956 with the song Heartbreak Hotel; from there he left the open road behind him and went on to revolutionise music and culture.
2. Sean Connery......3. Chris Tarrant.....4. Charles Bronson.....5.Viggo Mortensen (News, Source: FECC/ Sam Walters, RoadTransport.com)
Elvis meets Mozart: What do Elvis, Mozart, and Beethoven have in common?: The connection is not what you might expect.
Besides the fact that all three are dead, Maestro David Ramadanoff had one reason for putting Michael Daugherty’s Dead Elvis and Mozart’s Serenade in D major K. 239 (Serenata notturna) together with Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony on the Vallejo Symphony's Jan. 9 concert.
“The first half of the program really is an opportunity to feature a number of players from the orchestra as soloists,” he explained by phone.
Dead Elvis was intentionally written for the same colorful septet of instruments as Stravinsky’s A Soldier’s Tale because they share a common theme. Except in Daugherty’s piece, instead of Stravinsky’s soldier selling his soul to the Devil, Elvis sells his soul to Hollywood. The scenario clearly calls for principal bassoonist Karla Ekholm, who plays a number of jazzy, ironic, and funny variations on that classic tune of the celestial hit man, the Dies Irae. “It’s fun, colorful, and very technically challenging for everyone who plays it because it’s so fast,” says Ramadanoff. It also demands lots of pyrotechnics from a bassoonist willing to try to look as well as play the part.
Like Daugherty, Mozart wrote his Serenata notturna as entertainment. But where Daugherty was trying to shock and entertain a concert audience, Mozart wished to entertain the royal court in Salzburg. Employing strings, timpani, and a slightly unusual solo string quartet of two violins, viola, and double bass, the piece might have left a smile on Elvis’ increasingly cynical face.
In addition to providing contrast with its full orchestra, Ramadanoff feels that Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major fits the bill because of its liveliness.
“All throughout the symphony,” he says, “Beethoven chooses certain figures that really push the music along. The scherzo is one of the fastest he ever wrote, and the final movement incredibly propulsive.”
Propulsion is certainly the name of the game for the orchestra’s players, most of whom are members of the “Freeway Philharmonic.” These musicians drive all over the place, playing their hearts out while doing their best to make ends meet. But what sets the Vallejo Symphony apart from the rest of the freeway pack, besides the fact that it is the seventh oldest orchestra in California, is the personal relationship between Ramadanoff and his players. “I’ve known many of them since my days as conductor of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra,” he says, “when they were either just graduating or first starting in the Freeway Philharmonic. We have a special chemistry. These folks know each other very well, and the small combo we’re using in the first half really likes working together and with me. We all feel we’re making good music together.”
The Vallejo Symphony performs in Hogan Auditorium, 850 Rosewood Ave. (corner of Georgia St.) in Vallejo on Saturday, January 9 at 8:00 p.m. For tickets, call 707-643-4441.
(News, Source: Jason Victor Serinu
| Red West film receives runner up film award: The Southeastern Film Critics Association - an organization whose members represent electronic and print media outlets (including The Commercial Appeal) in nine states - this week named "Up in the Air" the best movie of 2009. The film, a comic drama that stars George Clooney as a man who is hired by companies to fly around the country and fire employees, is set to open Wednesday in Memphis
"Up in the Air" also earned a Best Actor award for Clooney and a Best Adapted Screenplay award for Justin Reitman and Sheldon Turner (working from Walter Kirn's novel). But the Southern critics otherwise spread the wealth: No other movie earned more than one award.
|
 |
The association's special award, the Wyatt Award (named for Nashville Tennessean film critic Gene Wyatt, who died in 2004), went to "That Evening Sun," which screened Oct. 8 at the Indie Memphis Film Festival. Directed by Scott Teems, "That Evening Sun" stars Hal Holbrook as a stubborn octogenarian who leaves a retirement facility to move back to his rural Tennessee home even after it has been occupied by a new family.
The Wyatt runner-up was "Goodbye Solo," which stars former longtime Memphian and Elvis associate Red West as a North Carolina man planning his suicide. In its fifth year, the Wyatt honors the film that "best embodies the essence of the South." Past Wyatt winners include "Junebug"; "Dixie Chicks: Shut Up and Sing"; "Waitress"; and "Shotgun Stories."
This year, 44 members voted in the Southeastern Film Critics Association poll. For a complete list of winners, visit gomemphis.com. (News, Source: John Beifuss, The Commercial Appeal)
| Friday 25 December 2009..................... Well it's CHRISTMAS TIME pretty baby . . . . |
The staff at EIN wish all of our readers a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year!
If Everyday Was Like Christmas
(words & music by Red West)
I hear a choir
Singing sweetly somewhere
And a glow fills my heart
I'm in peace with the world
As the sound of their singing fills the air
Oh why can't every day be like Christmas
Why can't that feeling go on endlessly
For if everyday could be just like Christmas
What a wonderful world this would be
I hear a child
Telling Santa what to bring
And the smile upon his tiny face
Is worth more to me than anything
Merry Christmas everybody! |
 |
The King's Ransom Museum celebrate the 75th birthday of ELVIS: If you are in Las Vegas you can also celebrate the 75th birthday of the King of Rock and Roll at THE KING'S RANSOM MUSEUM inside the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino.
Meet the co-stars from Elvis Presley's famous films: KISSIN' COUSINS and BLUE HAWAII Cynthia Pepper and Darlene Tompkins
TWO DAYS ONLY! January 8th and 9th, 2009 - Located at the Imperial Palace Hotel and Casino
The King's Ransom Museum is a multi-million dollar collection that contains rare personal treasures of Elvis Presley.
See Elvis' last car, stage worn items, film worn wardrobe, rings, necklaces and other jewelry items worn by The King, personal wardrobe, a variety of elvis’ law enforcement items, personal items from his graceland home…and many more items encompassing elvis’ life and career from the 50’s to the 70’s.
(News, Source;Bud Glass) |
 |
Ann-Margret joins the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artists Tour!: Perhaps a great marketing move would be that Ann-Margret joins the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artists tour!! However it is only in our dreams since EPE has announced that an Ann-Margret impersonator will join the tour!
From EPE >>> In celebration of the King of Rock 'n' Roll’s 75th birthday in 2010, the nationwide tour will kick off in Ames, Iowa on January 15 and continue to 25 additional cities.
The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artists Tour is a multi-media extravaganza that pays homage to Elvis Presley during various stages of his career.
The Elvis tribute artists will be joined by a live band, back-up singers, dancers, and an Ann-Margret tribute artist, as well as iconic imagery made available from the Graceland archives.
"The partnership between On Stage Touring and EPE provides the only authentic touring showcase of Elvis tribute artists for fans who want to experience the music and live performance charisma of one of the most popular recording artists in history," said Brian Brigner, chief operating officer of On Stage.
|
 |
“It’s been exciting to see The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest spotlight some of the most talented Elvis tribute artists in the world,” said Scott Williams, vice president of marketing for EPE. “This tour will give even more Elvis fans around the nation an opportunity to see these talented entertainers.”
(News, Source; EIN/EPE) |
| Wednesday 23 December 2009.....................only 2 sleeps until Santa brings your baby back to you!! |
'Off Duty With Private Presley' New MRS Release: Celebrating 50 years since Elvis Presley’s discharge from the army in 1960 comes this deluxe CD/Book released 22nd February 2010 titled ‘OFF DUTY WITH PRIVATE PRESLEY’ 50 Year Commemorative Issue (1960–2010) by the UK ‘Memphis Recording Service’ label.
The CD contains recordings made during Elvis’ time off duty whilst in the army with such classic’s as ‘A Big Hunk O’ Love’, ‘A Fool Such As I’ and ‘I Got Stung’. It also has 30 UNRELEASED tracks privately recorded by Elvis while stationed in the US and Germany. These recordings are released officially for the first time to the public.
As part of this audio/visual release, the accompanying 100 page book has many rare and stunning photographs, many of which are unreleased and seen here for the first time. It includes informative text and historical facts focussing on Elvis’ time in the US Army from his induction in 1958, to his discharge in 1960. It also details the recording sessions (both private and commercial) made during this time. More art work to follow.
|
 |
Tracklist: Master Recordings – RCA Studio B, Nashville Tennessee - June 1958
1- A Big Hunk O’ Love
2- I Need Your Love Tonight
3- (Now & Then There’s) A Fool Such As I
4- I Got Stung
- Private Home Recordings - Eddie Fadal Residence, Waco Texas -May 1958
5- Sail Along Silvery Moon / I Understand Just How I Feel
6- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby
7- Dialogue
8- I Can't Help It
9- Dialogue
10- Who's Sorry Now
11- Who's Sorry Now Reprise#2
12- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby Reprise#2
13- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby Reprise#3
14- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby Reprise#4
15- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby Reprise#5
16- Happy, Happy Birthday Baby Reprise#6
17- Dialogue
18- Tumblin' Tumbleweeds / Blue Moon / Don’t You Know I Love You
|
 |
19- Tomorrow Night
20- Tomorrow Night Reprise#2
21- Little Darlin'
22- Monologue
23- Just A Closer Walk With Thee
24 – Elvis Arrival in Germany - Ray Barracks, Friedberg 2nd October 1958
- Private Home Recordings - Bad Nauheim, Germany - Summer 1959
25- At The Hop
26- I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen
27- Que Sera Sera / Hound Dog
28- I Asked The Lord
29- I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen (Fast Unedited Version) – not on FTD Private Moment
30- Apron Strings (Unedited version)
31- The Titles Will Tell
32- At The Hop / Give Me Oil In My Lamp
33- Que Sera Sera (Reprise#2)/ Hound Dog (Reprise#2)
34- Piano Solo
35- Send Me Some Lovin
Released 22nd February 2010 (News, Source;MRS) |
|
New 'SHE IS THE KING' Single: As promised SHE IS THE KING's brand new single - "I Got A Feelin’ In My Body". You can DOWNLOAD it NOW from ITunes. CLICK HERE. In honour of Elvis Presley’s 75th Birthday & following 2 years of local & international performances on the back of her debut album - "Comeback" - SHE IS THE KING releases her third single - "I Got A Feelin’ In My Body". Out January 8th, 2010. Released on Mystery Train Music /Liquid Music through MGM.
She Is The King will be a major attraction at this year's Australian Parkes Elvis Birthday Festival which attracts crowds of more than 10,000 dedicated Elvis fans.
CLICK HERE to download it first.
(News, Source;EIN/Jac) |
 |
The Day Nixon Met the King - to be celebrated with Special Event:Thirty-nine years ago on December 21st, the White House played host to a most unusual meeting. Hip-thrusting idol Elvis Presley walked up to the northwest gate of the mansion with a six-page letter to the president scribbled on American Airlines stationary. His reason for being there was simple: to seek an audience with President Nixon to help in the government's battle against teenage drug abuse.
The famous meeting will be the highlight of a special event at the National Archives on Wednesday, January 6, 2010. Two eyewitnesses: Egil "Bud" Krogh, who was an Assistant to the Counsel to the President, and Jerry Schilling, a music industry professional and long-time friend of Presley will describe the encounter. The discussion, which is free and open to the public, will be moderated by Timothy Naftali, Director of the Nixon Presidential Library in Yorba Linda, California, and introduced by David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States.
The program commemorates the 75th anniversary of Elvis' birth on January 8 and the following day is the 97th anniversary of Nixon's birth.
|
 |
The word that Presley back in 1970 had been at the gate eventually made it to Nixon, who invited Presley into the White House seeing an opportunity for the musician to do a civic duty and be the “voice of reason” for teenagers considering drug use. But the meeting gave some senior staff pause, wary of how it would look to invite a celebrity into the West Wing. On the memo approving the meeting, Bob Haldeman, Nixon’s chief of staff, wrote in the margin “you must be kidding.” Haldeman had qualms with a portion of the memo that stated, “the President wants to meet with some bright young people outside of the Government, [and] Presley might be a perfect one to start with.”
Staff members carefully briefed Nixon for the encounter, which happened on Dec. 21, 1970, reminding him to name drop musicians like Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin who had recently succumbed to drug-related deaths. During the actual conversation, Presley briefly reminisced about his upbringing in rural Mississippi, and said he sought to undo the anti-American sentiment he felt the Beatles had encouraged. When discussing how Elvis might put his brand to use, Nixon encouraged the musician to record an album with the theme “Get High on Life.”
But Presley had some ideas of his own. His scribbled letter, kept by the National Security Archive and the U.S. National Archives, reveals the scattered and spontaneous personality of an iconic musician. His pitch was straight forward. He painted himself as a pop-culture figure that had engaged in extensive studies on drug abuse and communist brainwashing techniques and he knew how to navigate the dark worlds of both. There would be no glossy photo shoots or PSA recordings nothing suggesting he was working on behalf of the establishment. Instead, he would use unique access he had to the minds of young people that Nixon, or anyone else in the government for that matter, didn't. To up his qualifications, Elvis touted that he had just been nominated one of America’s "Ten Most Outstanding Young Men." And then came the ask. He’d be happy to lend his services, he explained, for the very small price of honorary “federal credentials.”
The meeting ended in a way no commander in chief would expect with a hug. Presley even gifted the president with a commemorative World War II Colt .45 pistol and family photographs. Nixon eventually honored Presley’s request, and gave the rock-and-roll sensation an honorary title as federal agent for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, the predecessor of the Drug Enforcement Agency.
The special event at the National Archives on Wednesday, January 6, 2010 will be held at 7 p.m. in the William G. McGowan Theater. Admission is free.
(News, Source:KristaGesaman) |
Elvis' so-called "Best Buddy" George Klein dishes the dirt on Elvis' orgies & guns: The New York Post has dished up some controversy with an "Inside peek" at The King's wildest days from the new George Klein book. Here are some extracts...
Elvis Presley wasn't always the King.
In fact, he was a total misfit who hadn't yet grown into his looks, wore strange, out-of-style clothes and was harassed by jocks in his Memphis high-school days, according to his oldest friend, George Klein, who co-wrote a new book "Elvis: My Best Man" (Crown) about their 30-year friendship.
Elvis and Klein met when they were in the eighth grade and stayed friends until the day Elvis died. Elvis was Klein's best man at his wedding -- and Klein was at the King's side when he wed the love of his life, Priscilla. Klein worked as Elvis' "travel companion," arranging trysts for him on the road, and he also witnessed the spiral of booze, pills and overeating that eventually killed his friend in 1977.
Don't Be Cruel
Although Elvis could be incredibly kind -- he gave Klein an expensive ring, a Corvette and paid for his wedding -- he could also be irrationally mean.
Elvis had a "sharp temper lurking under the surface," writes Klein.
While recording the soundtrack to the movie "Jailhouse Rock" in 1957, Elvis had a particularly bad day and took it out on his suite at the luxurious Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
He played pool in the room, aiming the balls at furniture, breaking mirrors and tables in the process.
"He just moved around the table fir ing off shots and shattering just about everything in the room that was breakable, including a wall-sized mirror," Klein
|
 |
writes. "When he ran out of balls to shoot, he turned the pool cue around in his hands and began to swing it like a golf club at the bumpers on the pool table."
When Elvis and his entourage returned to Memphis, his paramour at the time -- screen starlet Yvonne Lime -- visited him.
To introduce her to the Memphis lifestyle, he took her snake hunting with his closest friends, including Klein.
Arthur Hooton, part of Elvis' crew, came up behind Lime and hugged her. She shrieked in surprise and then laughed.
Elvis didn't find it funny.
"All of a sudden, Elvis had his gun to Arthur's head, and he said, 'You do that again and I'll blow your f- - -ing head off,' " Klein recalls. That was the "first time I saw how dark Elvis' moods could become."
A similar situation happened years later, when Elvis was dating a woman while married to Priscilla.
Singer Jimmy Dean was "doing some pretty obvious flirting with Elvis' date," writes Klein. "Elvis walked over and put a small handgun to the side of Jimmy's head and said, 'Leave her alone.' I suppose Elvis was being half-playful -- but only half. Everybody tried to laugh it off, especially Jimmy, but the message was clear: You just didn't mess with Elvis' woman."
Pistol-Packing Papa
Elvis, who famously gave President Richard Nixon a gun, had an obsession with firearms and a paranoid temperament, Klein reveals.
The singer's love of weaponry started in 1957. A carload of teens passed by his parents' Memphis home and yelled obscenities at his mother to harass the budding star.
"[Elvis] darted back into the house and quickly returned with a rifle in his hands. He sat down, laid the rifle across his lap and sat there with a cold, steely expression on his face," writes Klein.
Later that year, Elvis found himself surrounded on a Memphis street by a group of five or six angry Marines.
"I'm going to see how tough this movie star is. He's been messing with my wife, and I'm going to whup his ass," one of the Marines threatened.
But Elvis didn't take it lying down. "He reached into his sports jacket's inside pocket and calmly, smoothly, pulled out a gun, then quickly extended his arm so that the barrel was just an inch away from a spot right between the big guy's eyes," Klein writes.
" 'OK, you bad-ass son of a bitch,' he growled. 'Let's see what you can do now.' "
Although Elvis later revealed that the gun was just a prop from Paramount Studios, Klein was shaken by the experience.
The Hound Dog
Klein, nicknamed "GK" by Elvis, had a pressing responsibility when on the road with the King: Find beautiful girls to take back to his hotel room.
"I'd take them up to Elvis' room for a party -- the kind of party that quite often did get a little wild," Klein writes.
One such party occurred in 1970, while Elvis was married and his daughter, Lisa Marie, was 2.
His father, Vernon Presley, was with Klein in Tampa on a worldwide tour with Elvis when things went a bit crazy backstage with a group of girls "falling somewhere between groupies and hookers."
Vernon wanted to know where his son was.
"Oh, they're all in a room down the hall, Mr. Presley. There's going to be a show down there," Klein replied.
But Klein mistakenly brought Vernon to the hotel suite where a girl-on-girl orgy was going on.
"I can't even describe the look Elvis shot at me when I walked into that room with his daddy," Klein writes. "But his anger at me didn't stop the scheduled entertainment. Vernon just found a place to stand with the rest of us and watched as Elvis began directing the girls like a certain kind of movie director: You touch her here; you kiss her there; hang on to that; hold still."
It was hardly the only time Elvis was unfaithful to his wife.
"Elvis considered himself capable of loving the woman he'd left at home while devoting himself fully to the woman he happened to be with elsewhere," says Klein.
At the same time, Elvis also was carrying on a serious relationship with actress and two-time Playboy centerfold Barbara Leigh, best known for her role in the 1972 film "Junior Bonner" with Steve McQueen.
Insecurities & Face-lifts
Even when the King became a musical sensation, his insecurities persisted. At the age of 40, Elvis asked Klein to join him in getting cosmetic surgery.
"GK, you and I are going to get face-lifts," Elvis said when he called Klein to Graceland in 1975.
"Elvis, you've still got the face of a Greek god," I said. "Why in the world would you have a face-lift?"
"If we just have a little bit done now, we don't have to have a lot of work done later," the King responded.
So Elvis and Klein got mini-face-lifts in Memphis. Elvis insisted on paying for both.
"I have to admit, Elvis was right," Klein writes. "The mini-face-lift slowed down the aging process."
Dark Depression
Elvis' deep-seated insecurities and self-destructive streak made for a moody and depressive star, writes Klein.
The King expressed disappointment in his film work.
"When I asked Elvis what one of his mid-'60s films was about, he said wearily, 'Same story, different location. I get the girl, I beat up a guy, I sing 12 songs,' " Klein writes.
By 1976, four years after his divorce from Priscilla, it was obvious Elvis was using too many prescription pills.
Klein, a popular disc jockey, was working on Aug. 16, 1977, when he got a call from a fellow DJ.
"I hate to make this call to you, GK," the DJ said, "but we just got a wire story that Elvis passed away."
Klein was a pallbearer at Elvis' funeral, and he was the last person to touch his casket.
"Elvis. The boy I'd met at Humes High. The kid who sung 'Old Shep' to our music class," Klein writes. "The guy who had me into his fantastic life. The person who had given me more than anyone I'd ever known. My best man. My best friend. He was gone."
|
| Monday 21 December 2009.....................only 4 sleeps until Santa brings your baby back to you!! |
New 'SHE IS THE KING' Single for Jan 8th 2010: In honour of Elvis Presley’s 75th Birthday & following 2 years of local & international performances on the back of her debut album - "Comeback" - SHE IS THE KING releases her third single - "I Got A Feelin’ In My Body". Out January 8th, 2010. Released on Mystery Train Music /Liquid Music through MGM.
She Is The King will be a major attraction at this year's Australian Parkes Elvis Birthday Festival which attracts crowds of more than 10,000 dedicated Elvis fans.
Tomorrow EIN will give you a chance to download it first.
(News, Source;EIN/Jac) |
 |
'Elvis - The Signature Series' CD: Super-collector Barry Mclean recently sent us this scan of yet another 'Public Domain' EU release. Nothing new here, all Fifties songs but this time with a SIXTIES cover! (News, Source; Barry Mclean)
Aussie Chart Update: On this week's ARIA Music DVD Chart, Elvis The King of Rock 'n' Roll to #22 after 84 weeks on the chart. (News, Source: ARIA)
"Elvis Live" DVD: A new DVD titled ''Elvis Live'' will be released on January 5, 2010.
The highlights of this DVD are footage filmed at the opening show of Madison Square Garden with sound according to the press-release.
''Elvis Live'' should also featured never before seen footage footage filmed during Elvis' rehearsals on March 31, 1972. (News, Source: Elvis News/Elvis Matters) |
 |
| Shreveport's Municipal Auditorium will become a National Historic Landmark: On Monday, a draped bronze plaque will be unveiled during a ceremony at 11 a.m. that day in the foyer of the building known for the likes of Elvis Presley, Hank Williams Sr., Johnny Cash, Kitty Wells and many other country music legends. The marker reads: "This site possesses national significance in commemorating the history of the United States of America." "Having played in entertainment venues around the world, I can say without a doubt that the Municipal Auditorium exemplifies the finest sound quality of all," said former Louisiana Hayride and Elvis lead guitarist James Burton. Municipal Auditorium "has a rich music heritage, and entertainers have been honored to perform there since it's been built." |
 |
On hand with Burton at the ceremony Monday will be Louisiana Hayride announcer and historian Frank Page, Shreveport Mayor Cedric B. Glover and representatives of the U.S. Interior Department, the National Park Service and the state historic preservation office. "I am glad that I was a part of that historical era and continue to perform at the Municipal every year," said Burton, founder of the James Burton International Guitar Festival and the James Burton Foundation. "We continue to invest in the area and have made our corporate foundation offices across the street from the historic Municipal." "The Louisiana Hayride" was an innovative radio show broadcast from the Municipal Auditorium stage from 1948-60 that introduced and featured a number of musicians and songwriters who, like Elvis, later became monumental figures in American music history. (News, Source: Elvis Matters)
| Sunday 20 December 2009.....................only 5 sleeps until the flying sleigh lights up the night sky! |
Voting in Round 3 of Madison Square Garden concerts NOW OPEN: Vote for Elvis' performances at New York's famous Madison Square Garden!!! Elvis' historic shows are finalists in the Best of the 1970s section.
Elvis is not polling well at present so let's get online and support the King! Michael Jackson fans have voted in big numbers and other acts expected to poll strongly include The Rolling Stones.
You may vote once per day. The poll closes Wednesday, January 7 at noon. The
top 10 concerts will face off in the final poll, which opens Thursday, January 8
at noon.
Vote for Elvis!!! |
|
'Viva Elvis' postponed?: Cirque du Soleil's 'Viva Elvis' show has been postponed, CBC reports. The show was originally set to open January 8, which would have been Elvis Presley’s 75th birthday, but is now opening on February 19.
Viva Elvis is a show based on the music of Elvis, and will play in Las Vegas where Elvis spent many years performing. Much like Cirque de Soleil’s Beatles tribute, Love, which currently has seven shows playing across Las Vegas, Viva Elvis features narration along with the music of Elvis.
A new 2,000-seat theater at ARIA Resort and Casino was built for the show, but construction problems have delayed the opening. The resort itself only opened last weekend. One producer also told a Las Vegas paper that the show itself was not ready and still needs tweaking. (News, Source: CD Insight/CBC)
"Elvis in the Army" collectible: KnuckleBonz has created a new Rock Iconz® limited edition rock-n-roll collectible featuring none other but rock’s original icon: Elvis Presley.
The “Elvis in the Army” Rock Iconz statue features Presley during his two year enlistment in the US armed forces.
The figure depicts rock-n-roll’s original legend in his army fatigues complete with the third armored core patch.
"We wanted to give Elvis fans something unique with this first statue.
It is interesting to think where Elvis was in his life and career going from the world’s first rock star to a PFC in the US Army."
Only 3000 figures are available, each limited edition statue is numbered and comes with a certificate of authenticity. (News, Source: Elvis News) |
 |
75th Birthday Cake winner announced: In preparation for the Elvis Birthday Proclamation Ceremony at Graceland on January 8, the EPE staff reached out to regional cake masters and asked them to submit their Elvis-inspired 75th birthday cake designs. Four cake designs made it to the final round of the competition where Elvis.com visitors got the opportunity to vote for which cake they wanted to see at Graceland as part of this special ceremony.
The winning design in the Elvis 75th Birthday Cake Decorating Contest stands three feet tall, features a color scheme of blue suede in honor of Elvis’ favorite color and is accented with white glitter to celebrate “75” being the diamond birthday. The cake also features several recognizable icons such as the TCB lighting bolt, the rhinestone American Eagle from his Aloha from Hawaii jumpsuit, the gates of Graceland, and several silhouettes of Elvis.
The cake was designed by Pam and Lori of Cakes by Mom and Me of West Memphis, Arkansas. Pam ("Mom") has over thirty years of decorating experience. In addition to have taught beginner classes locally, Pam also has developed her own skills by enrolling in advanced courses offered through the Confectionary Artists of Arkansas. Lori ("Me") is a graduate of Ouachita Baptist University and the mother of two very active daughters. She has years of experience watching Mom decorate cakes, but only gained a personal interest in the art in 2001. Her cakes won "Best of Show" at the Mid-South Fair in 2001 and 2002.
For more about Cakes by Mom and Me, visit CakesByMomAndMe.com.
Their cake will be displayed and cut at Graceland on January 8 during the Elvis Presley Birthday Proclamation Ceremony. (News, Source: EPE)
|
 |
New e-books: Both "Elvis: My Best Man: Radio Days, Rock 'n' Roll Nights, and My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley" by Chuck Crisafulli, George Klein and "Baby, Let's Play House: Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him" by Alanna Nash. Both titles will be available for download on January 5, 2010. (News, Source: Elvis News)
Read EIN's review of Baby, Let's Play House
Watch out later this week for EIN's exclusive interview with author Alanna Nash
If I Can Dream to launch in 2010: Simon Fuller, one of the brains behind the hugely successful "Idol" TV programs launches his latest reality program in 2010. If I Can Dream, will document the lives of five people who are trying to find
success in Hollywood. The description states that viewers will be able to "interact with the cast members and the narrative in real time." The young hopefuls will be staying in the same house. The show uses Elvis's "If I Can Dream" as its theme. A large Elvis poster also adorns the wall of one room in the house.
Additional info from the press release: Music mogul Simon Fuller has announced he is creating a multimedia reality show which will be broadcast on the internet and radio (TV??). The If I Can Dream series will follow three aspiring actors, a model and a musician whose experiences will be streamed live across the internet. Fans will be encouraged to comment on the show via social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
Fuller is best known for creating Pop Idol and managing the Spice Girls.
If I Can Dream will launch across multiple platforms, including mobiles and radio. (EIN Note: No specific mention of TV)
"If I Can Dream experiments with technology to provide, for the first time, a complete open-door opportunity that allows the viewer to experience reality in a way never before attempted," Fuller said, in a statement.
| Saturday 19 December 2009.....................only 6 sleeps until those Rudolph and the reindeer arrive! |
FORGET ME NEVER: HARD ROCK HOTEL SAN DIEGO PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE KING OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL ON HIS 75TH BIRTHDAY:
Elvis Presley “Sightings” a Six-Foot Birthday Cake, Food and Drink Specials, and Audio and Video Tributes – All on the Milestone Birthday Party Agenda
Many thanks to Rana Kay from the Hard Rock Cafe group for sending us the following press release:
(SAN DIEGO) December 8, 2009 - On Friday, January 8, 2010, all across the nation Elvis Presley fans will don their blue suede shoes and sequined jumpsuits to celebrate what would be the King’s 75th birthday. In celebration of one of the most paramount figures in music history, Hard Rock Hotel San Diego is throwing a daylong birthday party in honor of Elvis, and all hotel guests and locals are invited to join in the fun.
“Many of our guests are true music aficionados and we knew we couldn’t let the birthday of the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll go by without a celebration,” said Matt Greene, general manager, Hard Rock Hotel San Diego. “We have some interesting Elvis memorabilia in the hotel year-round, and on his birthday our guests and his fans will have plenty of opportunities to remember and celebrate the King.”
In addition to Elvis’ soundtracks and movies playing throughout the hotel, Hard Rock Hotel San Diego will feature the following specials on Friday, January 8, 2010, in celebration of the King’s 75th birthday:
- Mini “Hot Elvis” sandwiches, a contemprary interpretation of the King’s favorite peanut butter and banana sandwich, will be served at Maryjane’s, complimentary to each hotel guest staying overnight the evening of Friday, January 8.
- Full-sized “Hot Elvis” sandwiches at Maryjane’s restaurant will be available at half-price to all Hard Rock Hotel San Diego Twitter and Facebook fans;
- Pink Cadillac Margarita and “All Shook Up” martini specials at Maryjane’s, 207 and Float bars; and
- Complimentary slices of birthday cake served in Hard Rock Hotel San Diego’s lobby at noon.
In addition to food and drink specials, it’s rumored that Elvis himself will be “spotted” throughout the day, presumably to grab his favorite sandwich, welcome guests to the party and treat passersby to impromptu performances from the hotel’s balconies. And for those who want an up-close look at Elvis Presley history, Hard Rock Hotel San Diego is home to two spectacular pieces of Elvis memorabilia. On the hotel’s first floor is an original telegram sent from Elvis to The Beatles in the summer of 1964, prior to a Las Vegas gig. And one of the second floor meeting spaces houses an actual button-down shirt worn by the King.
To book accommodations at Hard Rock Hotel San Diego for Elvis Presley’s Birthday, please visit www.hardrockhotelsd.com or call 888-593-6177.
About Hard Rock Hotel San Diego: Located at the entrance of the Gaslamp Quarter across from the San Diego Convention Center, Hard Rock Hotel San Diego boasts an upscale, contemporary design, signature restaurants, a sophisticated nightlife, superior customer service and, of course, the distinctive thread running through all Hard Rock properties – rock ‘n’ roll. Amenities include 420 rooms and suites including 17 Rock Star Suites, over 40,000 square feet of unique meeting and event space, a world-class Nobu restaurant, Float pool lounge and street-level 207 bar. Additional features include retro-chic diner Maryjane’s, Rock Spa and fitness center, a landscaped rooftop pool deck with private cabanas, a Rock Shop and a Pinkberry yogurt store. For more information, visit www.hardrockhotelsd.com.
Rana Kay | Public Relations Manager | hardrockhotelsd.com
Hard Rock Hotel San Diego | 207 5th Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101
Direct 619-764-6938 | Mobile 619-846-0448 | Fax 866-404-1737 | ranak@hardrockhotelsd.com
Last Stop In Mobile: This is a preview of the "Last Stop In Mobile" import CD from the Rainbow Records label which is due later this week. This CD features Elvis Presley's very last concert in Mobile, Alabama as recorded June 2nd, 1977. The disc comes with a 20 pages in full colour booklet. (News: Source: EP Gold/Elvis News)
Elvis Live: A new DVD titled ''Elvis Live'' will be released on January 5, 2010.
The highlights of this DVD are footage filmed at the opening show of Madison Square Garden with sound.'
"Elvis Live'' will also featured NEVER BEFORE SEEN footage filmed during Elvis' rehearsals on March 31, 1972.
A great way to kick off the 75th Anniversary!!! (News, Source: FECC)
|
|
Positive media reaction to "Viva Elvis": EPE published these on the official website:
Formal reviews of the show won’t take place until February, but here is how the media characterized the show following the December 15th press conference and Viva Elvis preview.
“A retro-contemporized tribute that unfolds like a live concert.” - The Los Angeles Times
“If the early buzz is true, “Viva Elvis” will do for the King of Rock 'n' Roll what “Love” did for the Beatles. That is, combine the Cirque du Soleil brand with one of the most iconic musicians of all time, creating a must-see Las Vegas strip attraction.” - FOX News
“My prediction from that first number is that Viva Elvis could be Cirque's biggest hit.” - @Robin_Leach via Twitter
"French Elvis" recovering well: Reports indicate that 66 year-old Johnny Hayyday, who was brought out of his induced coma earlier this week, is expected to make a full recovery following an infection resulting from botched surgery.
The last leg of what was to be his farewell tour "Tour 66", is reportedly cancelled.
Around 160,000 fans will receive ticket refunds shortly. There is no word yet on whether the legendary Hallyday will announce another tour. (News, Source: AP/Various) |
 |
Budget CD Releases: Several new budget compilations are slated for a 2010 release. Due from the Inverse label on January 11, 2010 is volume 3 in the "Elvis Presley: As He Was Meant To Be Heard" series. The first two volumes were CD-Recordable releases, but could be ordered through Amazon.
Other budget compilations found on Amazon were:
- The CD "Greatest Hits" is a single disc compilation due from the Strategic Marketing label on January 25, 2010.
- The 3 CD set "The King 75th Anniversary" is due from Ariola on January 8, 2010.
- The "Golden Greats" is a 3 CD set which is due from the Disky (Alive) label on February 12, 2010.
The Vinyl Passion (Cargo Records) label will re-issue "Elvis Rocks On" on vinyl on January 15, 2010. (News, Source: Elvis News)
Elvis at 21: Photographs by Alfred Wertheimer, a new Smithsonian traveling exhibition, will debut at The GRAMMY Museum® at L.A. Live in Los Angeles on Jan. 8, 2010, Elvis' 75th birthday. In 1956 photojournalist Alfred Wertheimer was hired by RCA Victor to shoot promotional images of a recently signed 21-year-old recording artist (Presley), and his instincts to "tag along" with the artist after the assignment resulted in 56 striking images that provide an intimate look at Elvis before he exploded onto the scene and became one of the most exciting performers of all time. The exhibit will run through March 28, 2010.
Developed collaboratively by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery and the Govinda Gallery, the Elvis at 21 exhibition — sponsored nationally by The History Channel — will travel to museums around the country through 2013 following its premiere at the GRAMMY Museum. |
 |
Wertheimer had unparalleled access and documented Elvis on the road, backstage, in concert, in the recording studio and at home in Memphis, Tenn. "Colonel" Tom Parker, Elvis' manager, restricted contact just a short time later. The photographs document a remarkable time when Elvis could sit alone at a drugstore lunch counter.
"Henri Cartier-Bresson was known for photographing what he called the 'decisive moment,' that moment when everything falls into place," said Wertheimer. "But I was more interested in the moments before or after the decisive moment."
Wertheimer was up close to capture a flirtatious encounter with a young woman backstage in Richmond, Va. He was in the New York City recording studio on the historic day Elvis recorded "Don't Be Cruel" and "Hound Dog," the b-side to that record. Both songs hit No. 1 on the charts, the first and only time a single record would achieve this distinction.
Wertheimer also joined Elvis after the recording session as he traveled home to Memphis by train. One image shows Elvis as just part of the crowd surrounding a lunch vendor on a train platform during a brief stop on the 27-hour trip. The anonymity he had during this stop was short-lived; the trip followed a busy few months when Elvis appeared on the television shows "Stage Show," "The Milton Berle Show" and "The Steve Allen Show." The photographs of a concert in Russwood Park on his return to Memphis show a young man who now had to have a police escort to get through the crowd of fans between his car and the stadium.
Elvis at 21 is accompanied by a richly illustrated catalog, titled "Elvis 1956," available through Welcome Books. Click here for more information on the catalog.
For more information on the exhibit at The Grammy Museum, click here.
(News, Source: EPE)
Next week on EIN:
Alanna Nash talks to EIN about her controversial new book, Baby, Let's Play House Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him |
|
The Best of the Decade
Your votes are in and EIN publishes your lists of the top CD, FTD, book and DVD titles of the past decade and your picks as the biggest Moments of the Decade.....and you can vote again to identify the #1 pick in each category!
|
|
Marty Lacker responds to announcement of release of Kurt Russell "Elvis" biopic (see news item immediately below): Marty told EIN:
"I was shaking my head at whoever wrote that article from something called Shout about the supposed release of the Kurt Russell Movie DVD, Elvis. I'm not speaking of Nigel or Piers I'm talking about the person at Shout.
Multi-Grammy Award winning Elvis? Two or three Grammys and all for Gospel Records is not something they should be crowing about. Not when the man changed the culture of the world in the 50's and then went on to record some of the classic Rock N' Roll records in history and in fact the first ones ever and not one was awarded a Grammy. 51 number one records worldwide and sold over one Billion and not one Grammy for those records.
The music industry and those members of NARAS who vote for the Grammys every year should hang their head in shame for disrespecting this music icon, THE giant of the industry."
Read more of Marty's Musings on EIN
| Thursday 17 December 2009.....................only 8 sleeps until those sleigh bells ring, ring, ring! |
Kurt Russell "Elvis" biopic to be released on DVD in 2010: Last year there was an unsuccessful attempt to release on DVD, "Elvis", the 1979 biopic starring Kurt Russell. It appears that we now have a green light with release of the DVD slated for March 2010. From the press release:
Few figures in popular culture have endured in our collective consciousness as has multi-Grammy® Award-winning artist Elvis Presley. Crowned as the King of Rock 'n' Roll, Presley's revolutionary rockabilly music and captivating performances were as much a part of his legend as his uninhibited hip swivels, blue suede shoes, his charm and good looks. There have been motion pictures, television specials and books chronicling the roller-coaster life of Elvis Presley, and one of the most successful of these properties came in the acclaimed 1979 film ELVIS, starring Golden Globe nominee Kurt Russell in the title role, directed by John Carpenter. |
 |
This highly regarded production captures the essence of The King at a time when his many fans were still mourning his passing. Hailed by audiences as one of the most powerful and moving biographical films, ELVIS garnered a Golden Globe nomination and multiple Emmy® nominations, including one for Kurt Russell as Outstanding Lead Actor for his incandescent performance as the King of Rock 'n' Roll. The film also marked Carpenter and Russell's first collaboration in what would become a legendary pairing. Timed closely to coincide with the 75th anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth, Shout! Factory, in association with dick
clark Productions, present ELVIS on DVD for the first time March 2, 2010. This collectible DVD features the main presentation of the movie restored from the original film elements as it was meant to be seen, as well as an array of bonus features including: "Bringing A Legend To Life," a featurette with archival interviews of Kurt Russell and John Carpenter (1979); commentary by "The Voice Of Elvis," Ronnie McDowell, and author Edie Hand; rare clips and captivating photo gallery. Even 33 years after his passing, Presley continues to burn a powerful image of rock stardom and still conquers new legions of fans through his indelible mark in worldwide pop culture. Available for the first time in the home entertainment marketplace, this long-awaited DVD debut of the film ELVIS is priced to own at $19.97.
Directed by John Carpenter, the biopic of Elvis stars Kurt Russell and features the country music hitmaker Ronnie McDowell re-creating Presley's signature vocals. Tracing Presley's life from his impoverished childhood to his meteoric rise to stardom to his triumphant return to Las Vegas, this film boasts an all-star ensemble including Academy Award® winner Shelley Winters (A Place In The Sun) as Elvis' mother Gladys; Season Hubley (All My Children) as his wife Priscilla; Kurt Russell's real-life father Bing Russell (The Magnificent Seven) as Elvis's father Vernon Presley; Pat Hingle (Batman) as Colonel Tom Parker; Robert Gray (Murder She Wrote) as Red West; Golden Globe nominee Joe Mantegna (Searching for Bobby Fischer) as Memphis mafia member Joe Esposito; and Golden Globe nominee Ed Begley Jr. (St. Elsewhere) as D.J. Fontana. (News, Source: Anthony Britch/Shout! Factory)
IN-DEPTH DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
- "Bringing A Legend To Life" Featurette With Archival Interviews Of Kurt Russell And John Carpenter (1979)
- Commentary By "The Voice Of Elvis" Ronnie McDowell And Author Edie Hand
- Rare Clips From American Bandstand
- Photo Gallery
| Dr. Nick memoir getting Aussie release: EIN is pleased to announce that The King and Dr. Nick What Really Happened With Elvis and Me by Dr. George Nichopoulos will be released in Australia in February 2010. ISBN: 9781595551719 (News, Source: ThomasNelson Publishing) Added 19 Dec:
Dr. Nick's memoir has been released early in the US with Amazon now posting out orders! |
 |
Images from: |
Cirque du Soleil's "Viva Elvis" (Source: EPE) |
"Evil Elvis Christmas" - the rock 'n' roll slasher movie: EIN takes a look back at "Evil Elvis Christmas", one of the rarest Elvis related films ever made.
As an underground "slasher" movie with numerous Elvis world references and liberal doses of humor and blood and gore, "Evil Elvis Christmas" is a very different type of Elvis related film. (Film Review, Source: EIN) |
 |
Elvis et les 50's 3CD set: Sony Music Canada released a 3CD set entitled Elvis Et Les 50's.
The set has a 12 page booklet, and you guessed it... all tracks are from the 50s. (News, Source: Elvis News) |
 |
| James Burton film star: The movie 'Wonderful World' is released in US theaters on January 8. Matthew Broderick is playing the main part in this love story. James Burton debuts as an actor in the movie; he is playing McRory, owner of a record store and a guitar player (type casting?). (News, Source: Elvis News/Elvis Matters) |
|
Elvis International 75th Birthday Celebration magazine: The Elvis International 75th Birthday magazine is now available and you can still receive your anniversary issue in time for Elvis' birthday celebration in January.
The first issue, embossed with gold foil, celebrates Elvis' 75th birthday anniversary and features special articles about Elvis' childhood in Tupelo and Memphis, the world's top Elvis tribute artists, an in-depth look at Elvis' career in the 1970s, rare photos of Elvis and an interview with Joe Esposito.
Your subscription will include the 75th anniversary collectors edition, along with three other '70s themed issues throughout the year. Visit ElvisInt.com for more information. (News, Source: EPE)
|
 |
| Tuesday 15 December 2009.....................only 10 sleeps until Santa comes to town! |
'Tupelo Welcomes Elvis Presley Home' CD/Book Review: A special Collectors Edition CD/Book from MRS which features Elvis' two historic Tupelo concerts from 26th September 1956. It includes scene-setting interviews plus a 40-page hardback glossy book packed with rare photographs and new information on the recording of the concerts by radio engineer Ron Brandon.
If you have never heard these historic recordings before, they are a great insight into the excitement of Elvis performing live in 1956 and in front of a large crowd.
Available from Amazon for less than $15, EIN's Piers Beagley checks out this recent release. (CD Reviews, Source; EIN)
|
 |
Music Review: Elvis Presley - Elvis 75: Good Rockin' Tonight: Elvis Presley would have turned 75 on January 8, 2010. In celebration of that event the RCA label, through their Legacy Series, has issued a four-CD, 100-track box set.
Elvis 75: Good Rockin’ Tonight may not contain any huge surprises nor has it unearthed any new material that had been hidden away, but what it does do it does well. It gathers all of his number one hits, some other well known material, live performances, and a few cuts that do not surface very often, assembling them in chronological order to present a nice history of his music. Everything has been digitally remastered which has given it a crystal-clear sound. In addition there is an 80-page booklet which includes a 7,000-word essay by Billy Altman, rare photos, and copious information on every track.
In the mid-fifties Elvis combined country rockabilly with black southern rhythm & blues, which coalesced into rock ‘n’ roll. When you add in his personal charisma you have an artist who emerged as a cultural phenomenon and changed the course of American music. From 1955-1977 he would record over 700 tracks and solidify his reputation as The King of Rock ‘N’ Roll. |
 |
Disc one covers his rise to fame; 1953-1957. The set begins with his 1953 recording of “My Happiness” which was a present for his mother and well worth its $4.00 investment. His mid-fifties Sun material quickly follows as songs such as “That’s All Right,” “Baby Let’s Play House,” “Blue Moon Of Kentucky,” and “Mystery Train” would jump start his career in the south and pave his way to being signed by the RCA label. By 1957 “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Jailhouse Rock,” “All Shook Up,” “Hound Dog,” “(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear,” “Too Much,” “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You,” and “Don’t” had all topped the singles charts in the United States and made him a star.
Disc two is the strongest from beginning to end as it culls the best of his 1958-1962 material. Tracks such as “Stuck On You,” “It’s Now Or Never,” “Are You Lonesome Tonight,” “Can’t Help Falling In Love,” and “Return To Sender” are interspersed with some lesser known material including “Thrill Of Your Love,” “Doin’ The Best I Can,” “I Feel So Bad,” and “Pocketful Of Rainbows.”
Disc three, 1963-1969, wisely avoids most of his soundtrack material and concentrates on the series of strong singles that he issued during this period of his career. “Guitar Man,” “U.S. Male,” “Don’t Cry Daddy,” and “Kentucky Rain” may not have reached the top of the charts but they remain some of the best songs in his catalogue. “Viva Las Vegas,” “How Great Thou Art” and perennial favorites “In The Ghetto” and “Suspicious Minds” serve to enhance this disc.
The fourth disc, 1970-1977, is the weakest as it presents material from the last part of his career, which is hit or miss. The live material just does not measure up and while “Way Down,” “Burning Love,” and “Promised Land” may be listenable, overall this is the disc I will return too least often.
Elvis 75: Good Rockin’ Tonight may not be for everyone but it is a fine addition to the Elvis Presley legacy. If you have avoided his box sets in the past or are a fan who must have everything then this is a must purchase. (CD Review, Source: David Bowling, blogcritic.com)
EIN Note:
Elvis '75: Good Rockin' Tonight is now out in the US.
Progressive release in most other countries by January 2010.
| Viva Elvis sign in Vegas: This is the sign that will be up near the Cirque showroom at the Aria in Las Vegas for the "Viva Elvis" show. (News, Source: Viva Las Vegas Fanclub /Elvis News) |
 |
| 'Elvis The Ultimate Collection' CD: This is the cover-art for the "Ultimate Collection" 3CD set which was released November 2, 2009. (News, Source: Elvis News) |
 |
Free Elvis CD from Elvis Corner: Fans who buy on-line at the Elvis Corner shop this week get a free promotional CD containing "Blue Christmas". (News, Source: Elvis Corner / Elvis News)
|
 |
Global Chart Update - Week 50:
United States:
Billboard 200:
• #80 (123) It’s Christmas Time
• #88 (117) Elvis’ Christmas
• #111 (188) Christmas Duets
• OUT (193) Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
Top Holiday Albums:
• #26 (28) It’s Christmas Time
• #30 (25) Elvis’ Christmas
• #35 (45) Christmas Duets
Hot Holiday Songs:
• #20 (22) Blue Christmas (Elvis Presley & Martina McBride)
Hot Digital Songs:
• #139 (Re) Blue Christmas
Top Catalog Albums:
• #15 (30) It’s Christmas Time
• #19 (27) Elvis’ Christmas
• #26 (Re) Christmas Duets
Top Country Catalog Albums:
• #3 (3) Elvis’ Christmas
• #4 (7) Christmas Duets
• #15 (8) Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
• #20 (26) Blue Christmas
• #38 (47) Essential Elvis
US (Soundscan) sales, as of this week:
• Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits - 4,564,178 (sold 3,643 copies this week)
• It’s Christmas Time (re-issue) - 1,193,842 (sold 14,245 copies this week)
• Elvis’ Christmas - 397,935 (sold 13,108 copies this week)
• Christmas Duets - 377,544 (sold 10,773 copies this week)
• Essential Elvis - 288,226 (sold 2,058 copies this week)
• Blue Christmas (re-issue) - 180,422 (sold 3,250 copies this week)
• Blue Christmas (digital track) - 291,913 (sold 10,367 copies this week)
Canada:
Top 50 Country Albums:
• #47 (51) Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
France
Top 250 Comprehensive Albums:
• OUT (232) Gold - Greatest Hits
|
Australia:
Top 40 DVDs:
• #20 (30) Elvis: The King Of Rock ’N’ Roll
Top 50 Catalogue Albums:
• #38 (Ne) Christmas Wishes
• OUT (44) Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
Sweden:
Top 60 Albums:
• #16 (25) The Collection (7 CD)
Top 10 Mid-price Albums:
• #9 (8) Christmas Wishes
Norway:
Top 10 Low-price Albums:
• #9 (Ne) White Christmas
Denmark:
Top 40 Albums:
• #35 (Ne) The Collection (7 CD)
Ireland:
Top 100 Albums:
• #23 (20) Rockin’ With The King
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Additionally, this week Billboard (US) also published their Year-End & Decade-End lists:
Billboard Decade-end (2000-2009):
Billboard 200 Artists:
• # 101 – Elvis Presley
Billboard 200 Albums:
• # 93 – Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
Country Albums:
• # 17 – Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
Billboard Year-end (2009):
Billboard 200 Albums:
• # 110 – Christmas Duets
Billboard Comprehensive Albums:
• # 119 – Christmas Duets
(News, Source: Mael, FECC board) |
All-Time Favorite Love Songs............vote now for Elvis (closes 31 December 2009 (News. Source: Bette)
........"The biggest rock star you've never heard of" in English-speaking countries......
Johnny Hallyday coma update:
| One story has dominated the French news for the past five days but you may not have heard about it. The matter gripping the nation is the poor health of Johnny Hallyday.
The veteran rocker is emerging from an an induced coma in the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. Television crews have staked out the place for days, leading bulletins with sketchy, fact-free reports. Family and friends have flown to his bedside. Meanwhile in Paris, two hooded men have beaten up the celebrity surgeon who allegedly bungled an operation on Johnny for a slipped disk two weeks ago. There are mysteries around the whole affair. The tale of the ailing star, pushy managers and shady doctors is prompting comparisons with the Michael Jackson saga.
For beginners here, Hallyday, 66, is a former teen idol who has been France's native rock 'n roll hero for half a century. Jean-Philippe Smet, to use his real name, is a hard-living showman. Since the late 1950s, he has inhabited a pseudo-American persona that he invented as a youngster to cover US hits. "Le Johnny national" is a bit of a joke to the thinking classes and the young see him as a kitschy dinosaur. To President Sarkozy and legions of middle-aged fans, he is a cherished national treasure. |
 |
For people over 40, the idea of the l'inoxydable (rustproof) Johnnie in intensive care has been a sharp reminder of their own mortality. Sarkozy explained Johnny's role in the French collective memory to foreigners in Brussels last Friday. He told an EU summit press conference that he was relieved to hear that the singer was recovering from what we are told was an infected spine. His illness "provokes great emotion in France because he's a much-loved man and, for each of us, he represents a bit of our personal history: memories, feelings, songs, music," Sarkozy said.
The Hallyday health story is in keeping with the larger-than-life persona. He has exhausted himself this year with a gruelling seven-month "farewell" tour which he is still supposed to resume on January 8. He went into the Parc Monceau clinic in Paris for an operation on a slipped disk late last month and flew only four days later to Los Angeles. He collapsed soon after landing. Jean-Claude Camus, his impresario, accused Stéphane Delajoux, a young show-biz surgeon who operated on his disk, of "massacring" Hallyday. Within hours, Delajoux was beaten up. His lawyer accused the media of effectively having him lynched.
Like much around the Hallyday story, we have no idea what the attack was about. Secrecy has surrounded his hospital stay, with not a single medical communiqué on his condition. Internet rumours say of course that he is dead. News has trickled out via Camus, Laeticia, his latest young wife [above], and celebrity friends who have visited him. The latest to fly out was Nathalie Baye, the actress, with whom he had a daughter.
Fingers are pointing at Camus, a tough businessman, for pushing Hallyday too hard. Despite his lifetime sale of over 100 million records, Hallyday is said to need the money to pay past bills and keep his entourage in the luxury to which they are accustomed. Like many stars before him, Hallyday has a reputation for being manipulated by the people around him. He is said to have lost a lot of money over the years. The public is also not told why France's national institution divides his non-working time between homes in LA, Saint Barts' in the Caribbean and Gstaad, Switzerland. The reason is that he needs to stay out of France to retain non-resident status to avoid income tax. He has been domiciled in Switzerland for the past three years.
Johnny said recently that he was weary of his role as the guitar-slinging, Harley-driving rebel. "I have had enough playing Johnny Hallyday," he said at the outset of his tour last May. "I want more and more to be Jean-Philippe Smet."
Franck Nouchi, a Le Monde columnist, made a good point this afternoon. The "sacred union" of the nation at Johnny's bedside says more about France than all Sarkozy's great debate over the country's identity, Nouchi wrote.
The insurance experts and lawyers are now preparing for battle over the big losses expected from the likely cancellation of the next stretch of his booked-out farewell tour. Will the surgeon be blamed or will Johnny be deemed irresponsible for taking a Los Angeles flight straight after an operation? (News, Source: Charles Bremner, Times Online)
EPE needs a complete makeover!: ALLC posted this message on FECC:
As a modern day fan I can't help but wonder what idiots they have running the biggest most prolific estate in pop culture. It seems their brain cells are lacking because when they do something big they actually end up doing it small and not newsworthy or profitable. I just saw a cool replica of Elvis' pink cadillac in a new diecast series called "Elvis Motor Classics".
But instead of doing a whole set of the famous cars at Graceland they do a small irrelevant set of only two. WTF? Do they not realise what they're missing out on in both financially and popularity and what a lost opportunity this is?
Opposite: Elvis's uncle Travis Smith with fans at the Graceland gates in 1957 |
 |
They could have done an entire set based around his private collection and vehicles from his famous movies and even a replica of the two private jets, the Lisa Marie and the other smaller plane. Instead they go the cheapest route.
Diecast models are BIG business for all ages. They could have sold them in stores across
America and kids and non fans alike would have bought them mainly because of their detail and uniqueness. Older men would have wanted them who collect diecast models. I collect them and I know for a fact that I would have bought had they done it properly. EPE could have made a freaking killing off of them and made as much in revenue than what they do on ticket sales to Graceland. What morons!!
Sorry for venting but to me, this is a travesty. It's not the first time those idiots have missed out on a very good and positive opportunity either. It's a common thing with them. They're website isn't even up to modern day standards even. Like them, it's stuck in the past. Most sites today have hi-tech interactive activities for kids and adults to learn and discover things and be educated. Not the case with EPE. They care mroe about selling fake a$$ jumpsuits and wigs with goofy looking glasses on their site.
Don't even get me started on their outdated rundown 20th century looking facilities. They keep talking about what they plan to do. Well, if you Google EPE and expansion you will find articles dating back to 1992 about wanting to expand and build a new museum. 18 years later no expansion and no new museum. I was disappointed at how their facilities lacked 21th century technology and nothing to do once you've seen the mansion and the cars and planes. No nightlife, no entertainment, no restuarant even. Nothing! For Graceland to be such a big attraction it sure doesn't offer half as much as it should.
Sillerman better take the wheel soon and clean house at EPE and get rid of those out of touch imcompetent floons that run the estate and replace them with young smart vibrant minds that actually know it's about to be 2010 not 1910 before it's too late or he'll lose out more than the fans will.
Graceland isn't the only thing that needs a major overhaul, so does the entire staff at EPE, from CEO to marketers to pulbic speakers.
Brian Quinn replies: ALLC,I understand your frustration with EPE and whilst I agree mainly with your assumptions there are are some good people there. Can I suggest that if you have any marketing ideas you address them to Scott Williams. His e-mail address is:
swilliams@elvis.com
I have found him to be very helpful and always get a reply to my e-mails which is more than can be said from 99% of the staff there.
The new label Rocky proudly presents a totally unpublished concert from June 26, 1973 in Pittsburgh. A special day, as it is the 64th birthday of the Colonel and Elvis congratulates him in the show.A really good performance in best audience recording quality with many bonus tracks complete this CD, amongst others the spoken version of What now my love from February 23, 1973. (Source: Source: Elvis News)
|
 |
Elvis American Diner to be Opened in Tbilisi (Russian States): The up-to-date American restaurant ‘Elvis American Diner’ will be officially opened on 11 December in Tbilisi. Presentation of one of the American brands is planned in two parts – at 14:00 - City Hall, Ministries of Economic Development, Culture and Monuments protection and Sport and other officials will be received; at 18:00 - representatives of businessmen will be invited to the presentation. Guests will be enabled to taste dishes of diverse menu of the restaurant.
Population of Tbilisi will have possibility to have American ‘Elvis Burgers’ and ‘Hotdogs’ in the fast service restaurant decorated with Elvis Presley’s photos and other relevant designer attributes. There is Italian and Asian cuisine in the menu, delicious sweets (ice cream, cakes, croissants etc.). Elvis American Diner is the best way for fast lunch and dinner with family. Elvis American Diner is famous network brand in the world, founded in USA in 1950-ies. The network of the restaurants is widely spread in USA and Europe. New restaurant opened in the renewed concert hall Philarmonia – ‘Elvis American Diner’ is one more grand investment in Georgia carried out by USA creating additional working places. (News, Source: The Georgian Times)
2010 Elvis novel announced: Elvis And The Memphis Mambo Murders by Peggy Webb has been announced for release in the US in September 2010. It is the follow up novel to her entertaining Elvis and the Grateful Dead. Book details are:
- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Kensington (September 28, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0758225938
- ISBN-13: 978-0758225931 (News, Source: Amazon)
Latest Hal Leonard sheet music book + CD series due out in next few days: The Hal Leonard company release the following titles on 15 December:
|
|
"Cultural Impact of Elvis Presley" book release: Now with a new title, this release which was first issued a few months ago as Elvis Presley, has been published in the US. At US$115.00 it is, in EIN's opinion, very overpriced for what it offers.
EIN has the original edition which hopefully has been proofread this time! It does contain some useful information but is devalued througfh a number of secondary and tertiary information sources. (News, Source: Amazon)
|
|
Global chart update - Week 49: (Source: Source: Martin Arvidsson/Elvis News)
United States:
Billboard 200:
• #117 (122) Elvis’ Christmas
• #123 (125) It’s Christmas Time
• #188 (185) Christmas Duets
• #193 (Re) Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
Top Holiday Albums:
• #25 (24) Elvis’ Christmas
• #28 (25) It’s Christmas Time
• #45 (44) Christmas Duets
Hot Holiday Songs:
• #22 (23) Blue Christmas (Elvis Presley & Martina McBride)
Top Catalog Albums:
• #27 (17) Elvis’ Christmas
• #30 (18) It’s Christmas Time
Top Country Catalog Albums:
• #3 (3) Elvis’ Christmas
• #7 (5) Christmas Duets
• #8 (15) Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
• #26 (28) Blue Christmas |
US (Soundscan) sales, as of this week:
• Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits - 4,560,535 (sold 6,917 copies this week)
• It’s Christmas Time (re-issue) - 1,179,597 (sold 10,416 copies this week)
• Elvis’ Christmas - 384,827 (sold 10,713 copies this week)
• Christmas Duets - 367,265 (sold 7,022 copies this week)
• Blue Christmas (re-issue) - 177,172 (sold 2,831 copies this week)
France:
Top 250 Comprehensive Albums:
• #232 (208) Gold - Greatest Hits
Australia:
Top 40 DVDs:
• #30 (39) Elvis: The King Of Rock ’N’ Roll (see update below)
Top 50 Catalogue Albums:
• #44 (32) Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
|
Sweden:
Top 60 Albums:
• #25 (27) The Collection (7 CD)
Top 10 Mid-price Albums:
• #8 (Re) Christmas Wishes
Norway:
Top DVDs
• The 30th Anniversary DVD Collection dropped of the Norwegian DVD Top 10 from the #2 spot last week.
Finland:
Midprice album chart
• # 3 "Christmas with Elvis"
Ireland:
Top 100 Albums:
• #20 (23) Rockin’ With The King
|
Aussie Chart Update: On tomorrows ARIA Music DVD Chart, Elvis The King of Rock 'n' Roll rises 10 places from #30 to #20. The release has now been on the chart for 83 weeks with a high position of #4. It is certified 2xP. (News, Source: ARIA)
| Saturday 12 December 2009 |
Fans reactions to Elvis' death in 1977 sought for second volume of " ELVIS: REMEMBERING AUGUST 16, 1977": Co-author Ron Collamore has advised EIN:
Following the previous book released, ELVIS: REMEMBERING AUGUST 16, 1977 (see opposite)author Spike Collamore has teamed up with Joe Krein to publish a second volume.
The original book was based on the fans' reactions when they had heard the tragic news of his death.
Now you, your family members and friends are invited to share stories for this new book. The authors want to hear your story based on how you heard the news on August 16, 1977; how you felt when you realized that Elvis was gone for good; how Elvis came into your life; and did you ever meet Elvis? If so, wha was he like?
Please be sure to include your full name, where you are from and that you have given permission for your story to be published.
The deadline: March 1, 2010. |
|
The King is dead. Long Live the King.....Elvis is back. As if he ever went away!: Ernst Jorgensen is calling from a farmhouse an hour outside Copenhagen to talk about his passion. For the past two decades he has been curator of the Elvis Presley vault – no simple task at first after decades of exploiting the recordings. He helped get the vault organized and worked with RCA Records to do releases that make sense.
So what’s the sense in the latest – “Elvis 75: Good Rockin’ Tonight,” 100 Elvis cuts on a four-disc box set? Ernst Jorgensen explains...
Elvis' music on this box has been remastered yet again. Could a casual fan tell the difference?
“If you had the ideal way to listen to this you’d have it in the recording studio with the actual analog tape playing back on the machine it was recorded on and the speakers it was recorded on. This is the constant struggle for us, to get closer and closer to that. With the new technology we can transfer the tape with a higher resolution. We can work with it in 24-bit, 32-bit environment, and make sure we get as close to the exact sound as the analog tape. … We’ve taken every one of Elvis’ 711 masters and tried to do a better job on them. On some the improvement will be more important than on others. It all depends on how well we did before. It’s interesting to do it. It’s a joy to do it. I think that most people, unless they sit there and A/B it versus what they had before, they’re just gonna say ‘Wow, this sounds great.’”
What’s the purpose in putting out all this music again?
“We’re a little bit on a mission. We always try to see if we can get new devotees for our little project, get people to look beyond the 30 number-one hits. This box set is really what that’s all about. Maybe it’s even more about that than it is about getting a better sound. … it gives us the opportunity to put a package out that’s tempting because it has all the hits. And then fans go in … and find all these songs that are nowhere near as famous but that we think are aesthetically just as important and see if we can get people excited about the Elvis they didn’t know.”
What songs in particular?
“Some of Elvis’ best-known songs in America like ‘Love Me Tender,’ ‘Hound Dog,’ ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ – they’ve sold 40 million copies in the U.S. Haven’t you then covered everything? But if you look at his Sun recordings, to many people … those are some of the greatest of his recordings. Sales figures on those titles are like three, four, five million. There’s plenty of room for our mission to get more people to look beyond the hits.”
That’s true. Some people know “My Baby Left Me” only through the Creedence Clearwater Revival version, not Elvis’.
“Yep. That’s a very good example. If you listen to ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ that was the fist hit on RCA, that’s about the most unusual hit you could ever imagine – a slow, bluesy song with a morbid theme. That became a hit. Who could have expected that? But during the same week he recorded ‘My Baby Left Me’ and ‘One-Sided Love Affair.’ This is the kick I get from it – to choose 100 songs where 30 or 40 of them are already major hits. You have to choose ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy’ or ‘Shake Rattle and Roll’ – the idea of having people listening to songs they don’t know that well….that’s the fun part of it.”
Ernst Jorgensen in the vault in 1989....a great way NOT to preserve music history!
What's the state of the Elvis tape vault – is it Beatles-neat or a total mess?
“It was somewhere in the middle when I started, but pretty good today. We’d had a lot of tapes that developed legs and walked away from our various premises. We’ve gotten them back. We found out where they disappeared, and let them know they needed to come back. By 2001, 2002 we had all the masters that could be found in our vaults. But it was a long, long process of detective work. We had to go back and find out when tapes got lost, who was around in those days, what studios were used, then start hunting down people.”
What's the condition of the tapes? How are they holding up?
“There’s a problem with tapes in the mid to late ‘70s. I think Ampex tapes were one of the brands that were really, really bad. We realized very early on – that’s not what was missing in our vaults. The tapes that disappeared seemed to be the historically more interesting tapes like the master of ‘Heartbreak Hotel.’ We made safeties back then. I don’t think that our ‘70s tapes are as bad as the average. Some of our multi-tracks need baking every time we play them. In general we’re doing well with the Elvis tapes. There was a tendency earlier on in the early days of CDs where people put whatever master was there that included a certain track instead of going back and finding the originals. There was a sloppiness during a decade or two where business didn’t prioritize catalog releases. They didn’t go that extra mile to find the generation before."
What's missing?
"Some of the Sun masters don’t exist and seem to have never existed. When RCA took over Sun we got tapes from Sam Phillips but there were at least four songs where we never got a tape. What we put out on record in the ‘50s was taken from 45s and 78s. I love Sam Phillips, I think he’s a genius, but he was a mess with his tapes! Tape was expensive. They recorded over it because money was scarce at the time. By the mid-‘50s RCA was a major record company and they had procedures on how to do things that ensured it was done properly. What happened later was the tapes were not controlled well enough and were allowed to leave the house.”
The vault after being cleaned up....a much better way to preserve musc history
Are you still finding Elvis rarities?
“If we were to find anything today it may be a private recording of Elvis. I’m dreaming here, but if somebody said they had tape for two or three of Elvis’ Louisiana Hayride performances back in ’55, that’d be wonderful. In principal that could happen. From the RCA standpoints there are no sessions where we don’t have the tapes or the masters. I can’t see we’d ever find anything on that level. Ten or 15 years ago if you found rare recordings by an artist like Elvis or the Beatles it would be a sensation in the media when it came out. Today if we would find two Elvis songs people haven’t heard before it wouldn’t be.”
Why?
“Because it’s been done so many times. We’ve found so many rare releases it’s like the 'Cry wolf' logic. Is the world really gonna go nuts hearing Elvis sing ‘Rock Around the Clock’ at the Louisiana Hayride in 1955?”
It reminds me of the Jimi Hendrix estate, where a lot of shoddy releases followed his death, but these days it’s controlled better.
“That’s a very good point. When I came in in the late ‘80s there was market research done at RCA, which was a pretty hip thing to do in the ‘80s. They went out and defined who the Elvis customer was – a woman between 35 and 55, a housewife, married to a blue-collar worker, living in the south, not willing to pay more than $8 for an Elvis item. One of the first things we did was a box set called ‘The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll’ and sold it for $80 dollars, which was 10 times what the market research said we should do. And it sold 400,000 boxes in America. The one thing we learned from that was the perception of who likes Elvis is utterly wrong.” (News, Source: Amber Smith/Reverb)
FTD reissues Girl Happy with replaced LP Master: The Follow That Dream Collectors label edition of the film classic "Girl Happy" has been re-issued.
The only change to the previous release of this soundtrack on the FTD label is the replacement of the "LP master" according to Ernst Jorgensen. (News, Source: Elvis News) |
 |
| Elvis At The Movies DVD boxset: Released in Germany is the eight DVD set "Elvis At The Movies" containi (Blue Hawaii - Girls, Girls, Girls - GI Blues - Roustabout - King Creole - Easy Come Easy Go - Fun In Acapulco - Paradise, Hawaiian Style) (News, Source: ElvisClubBerlin/ Elvis News) |
 |
Soundscan (US) Top 50 Album Artists Of The Decade: This was posted by Mael on the FECC board:
01 Eminem 32,241,000
02 The Beatles 30,182,000
03 Tim McGraw 24,769,000
04 Toby Keith 24,469,000
05 Britney Spears 22,969,000
06 Kenny Chesney 22,034,000
07 Linkin Park 21,421,000
08 Nelly 21,232,000
09 Creed 20,594,000
10 Jay-Z 20,424,000
11 Nickelback 19,817,000
12 Rascal Flatts 19,408,000
13 Josh Groban 19,348,000 |
14 Alan Jackson 18,857,000
15 N'Sync 18,303,000
16 Dixie Chicks 18,178,000
17 Johnny Cash 18,143,000
18 Kid Rock 17,614,000
19 Metallica 17,403,000
20 Celine Dion 17,363,000
21 George Strait 17,275,000
22 Michael Jackson 17,261,000
23 Norah Jones 17,087,000
24 U2 16,817,000
25 Elvis Presley 16,486,000
26 Usher 16,329,000 |
27 Dave Matthews Band 16,025,000
28 AC/DC 15,935,000
29 50 Cent 15,868,000
30 Alicia Keys 15,561,000
31 Rod Stewart 15,561,000
32 Santana 14,975,000
33 Destiny's Child 14,878,000
34 Coldplay 14,604,000
35 Mariah Carey 14,341,000
36 Pink Floyd 14,164,000
37 Shania Twain 13,850,000
38 Ludacris 13,442,000
39 Enya 13,422,000 |
40 Green Day 13,363,000
41 Andrea Boccelli 13,353,000
42 Outkast 13,277,000
43 R. Kelly 13,234,000
44 Faith Hill 12,899,000
45 Mary J. Blige 12,614,000
46 3 Doors Down 12,551,000
47 Christina Aguilera 12,380,000
48 Limp Bizkit 12,378,000
49 Bon Jovi 12,378,00
50 Frank Sinatra 12,221,000 |
"French Elvis" hospitalised following botched surgery: A controversial doctor who has been much-consulted by French celebrities was accused yesterday of putting the life of France's favourite rock star at risk.
As Johnny Hallyday, 66, was placed in an induced coma for a second time in a Los Angeles hospital, his manager said that "appalled" American doctors had described as a "massacre" a back operation performed on the veteran rocker in Paris last month.
The doctor who carried out the operation, Stéphane Delajoux, has made a speciality of treating French pop stars and actors. In the narrow, incestuous world of French celebrity, the situation is complicated by the fact that his brother is the romantic partner of Mr Hallyday's actress daughter, Laura Smet (shown opposite left with her father and his wife, Laetitia Stephane). |
 |
Mr Hallyday, France's most popular singer for half a century, underwent an emergency second surgery to clear up scars and an infection in the Cedars-Sinai hospital in LA earlier this week. After he was revived from a first artificial coma yesterday, his entourage issued a positive bulletin. However, his condition continues to cause concern and he was placed in another induced coma last night. Mr Hallyday's long-standing manager and producer, Jean-Claude Camus, told the French radio station RTL yesterday that legal action was possible against the famous-but-controversial surgeon who operated on Mr Hallyday for an aggravated slipped disc in Paris last month.
"We were told it had been a massacre," he said. "The Los Angeles surgeons were appalled. There is talk of legal action."
Dr Delajoux is credited with saving the life of the actress Charlotte Gainsbourg – daughter of the French singer Serge Gainsbourg and British actress Jane Birkin – after she suffered a severe head injury in a waterskiing accident in 2007. But he has also been successfully sued on several occasions after treatment or operations that went wrong. Dr Delajoux also has a conviction for fraud, after falsifying a medical insurance claim in 2005. He was given a suspended jail sentence.
Olivier Metzner, the lawyer for the main French doctors' association, L'Ordre des Médécins, said yesterday that Dr Delajoux has often been disciplined by the association. Dr Delajoux has been accused, among other things, of failing to apply a "drain" to Mr Hallyday's back to evacuate possible infectious material.
His lawyer, David Koubbi, said yesterday that the Paris operation had been a "complete success" and there had been no need for a drain.
Hallyday, known as the "French Elvis", has often been criticidsed by music journalists but has an incredible stage presence and is France's moist successful musical star of the past 50 years. Despite this he is little known outside Europe. (News, Source: independent.co.uk/EIN)
Australian TV Watch: The 7 and Prime networks are screening one of Elvis' weaker films, Paradise, Hawaiian Style, around 12.15pm tomorrow (Sunday) - check your local guides for details.
Morris as Elvis: The World's Greatest Elvis Impersonator: More details, including cover arwork, book description and ordering information have been released.
- Paperback: 400 pages
- Publisher: Fox Music Books (April 1, 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1894997158
- ISBN-13: 978-1894997157
|
|
Product Description on Amazon: Born on the Shuswap Indian Reservation in British Columbia, Morris Bates became the first professional Elvis impersonator, playing the Las Vegas strip for 10 years after the King's death. In Vegas he appeared on stage at the Silver Slipper, the Landmark Hilton, and Vegas World; he also gave command performances throughout the Orient, South Africa, and South America. Upon retirement from the stage in the 1990s, Morris returned to British Columbia and became a Native liaison and special victim assistance officer with the Vancouver Police Department, determined to help kids from northern reserves take a chance on life and realize their dreams. Morris tells it all in this engaging page-turner -- from carousing with Vegas starts of the 1980s to encounters with victims of the Picton murders in the 1990s. Told in cooperation with veteran biographer Jim Brown (Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Willie Nelson, George Jones, Emmylou Harris).The Morris Bates story is a rock & roll roller-coaster ride chock full of road stories, music biz insights and tales of racial stereotyping. (News, Source: Amazon)
Further News From 'Viva Elvis': Another Viva Update from super-fan Brian Quinn.
The following is taken from the Cirque Website and written by a person known as CA Acrobat.
>>> Saw the dress rehearsal Monday night (7th). First off it needs work, hence the dress rehearsal, and the previews to come. It is far from perfect as always with cirque shows.
A lot of things need to be explained to understand them, like how there is a huge guitar rig with two males inside, swinging around, is supposed to be Elvis and his twin who didn't live. its a very cool act though, one of my favourites. Also the tramp wall act is all super heroes, because he was very inspired and loved super heros, yet nobody ever explains this to you. On the note of tramp wall, it is the BEST trampoline act out there and it will blow everyone's mind, very high caliber, very intense. It combines the v tramp from Mystere, two wall tramps like La Nouba, and transfers like Love. It's insane.
|
 |
All the dance numbers were poor but they will not be there for long due to all choreo changing. Blue suede shoes was cut by GUY because he didn't understand it.
The Jailhouse scene was cool but it as well will be redone, but just imagine a jailhouse where every wall is walked on and people flipping around.
All the high intensity acts are in the beginning, and it dies out until the stripper pole act which is very nice and artistic.
The wedding rings were cool, its like a duo hoop act but on hanging German wheels.
High bar act was ok, I expected more, but its a nice act.
All in all the show is going to change a lot from now till opening. Go see it, its worth it for sure.<<<
It sounds like there have been a few problems with the choreography as they have sacked the choreographer - Bonnie Story. As an update 'Blue Suede Shoes' remains in the show but has been changed.- Brian
(News, Source;Brian Quinn) |
Unseen Elvis Presley pictures go on display: Intimate original photographs of Elvis Presley taken by legendary photographer Alfred Wertheimer are on display for the first time in London. They show the young singer aged 21, at his most relaxed and unguarded. In one picture he is seen kissing a girl moments before going on stage in Vancouver, while in another he is seen shaking his hands dry in a train toilet.
Other images show him rehearsing, sleeping, travelling and relaxing with his family. The photographs were taken on Presley’s tour of the United States and Canada in 1956, just as he was on the brink of stardom.
Wertheimer, a photojournalist, was asked by Presley’s record label RCA Victor to capture the star for the day.
|
 |
But he was so impressed with Presley’s ease in front of the camera that he continued to take pictures afterwards, following him on the tour that would make him into a household name.
He was allowed unrestricted access to the star during March and July 1956, building up a collection of 400 photographs that forms the basis to the current exhibition.
Here's Wertheimer's memories of an early shoot:
"We go to his suite, and he flops out on a sofa. They brought him an envelope full of fan mail, and he starts reading six-page letters without saying anything. Elvis never explained anything... Then he gets tired and falls asleep on top of the fain mail. So I fall asleep in a chair. The next thing I know, I hear a buzzing. It turns out to be a Norelco electric shaver. he's in the bathroom, shaving. He's got his pants on, but he's got his top bar. I say, "Elvis, can I come in? I'd like to continue my photographs.' He says, 'Sure, c'mon in.' I think in the back of his mind he felt, One of these days I'm going to get famous. And if there's no one here to record me, how is anyone going to know what I did?"
The photographs will be display at the Proud Chelsea gallery in London until January 31
Go here for more images.
(News, Source;SanjaM/EIN) |
Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley to Celebrate 75th Anniversary of Elvis' Birthday at Graceland: Elvis Presley’s 75th Birthday Celebration, on January 7-10, promises to be the largest ever, with thousands of fans traveling to Memphis from around the world to join Lisa Marie and Priscilla Presley in celebrating this landmark year.
A variety of birthday week events will help kick-off the year-long 75th birthday celebration, with additional events occurring throughout 2010 that will celebrate the life and legacy of Elvis Presley, the undisputed King of Rock ‘n’ Roll.
|
 |
Suzi Quatro visits Graceland 35 years after Elvis snub: Elvis-obsessed singer Suzi Quatro has finally visited Elvis Presley's US home Graceland, 35 years after snubbing his personal invitation.
The former glam-rocker said she was in tears when she arrived in Memphis to record a BBC Radio 2 show marking 75 years since his birth next year. The singer-turned-broadcaster has had a life-long obsession with The King, and says he influenced her whole career.
She had just covered a Presley song and was on tour in a Memphis hotel in 1974 when Elvis phoned to invite her over.
BBC producer Mark Hagen said: "She was on tour in Memphis at that time and she had her version of All Shook Up on the American charts. Elvis heard this and phoned her up when she was sitting peacefully in her hotel room in Memphis and said 'do you want to come over?'"
To finally be going to Graceland after all these years. Wow - what a journey. It was very, very emotional
"Suzi would tell you it was complicated. She was in a relationship anyway, bit busy... I think she was a bit scared - she is a huge Elvis fan, so to pick up the phone in that hotel room and have Elvis on the other end of the line...".
|
 |
Quatro's documentary Graceland explores her obsession with Presley and his influence on her. She also visits his birthplace, meets some of his childhood friends and looks around Sun Records where the star made his earliest recordings.
She said: "To finally be going to Graceland after all these years. Wow - what a journey. It was very, very emotional.
"I was in tears many times as I traced the footsteps of Elvis Presley who was, and is, the reason I do what I do."
American-born Quatro, 59, moved to the UK in 1971 and had a string of hits in that decade including Can the Can, 48 Crash and Devil Gate Drive. BBC
Radio 2 will broadcast her documentary on 7 January.
(News, Source;EIN) |
Duke Bardwell on Finish Television: Elvis' bass-player Duke Bardwell has been touring recently with ‘The Original Elvis Tribute'and recently he appeared on Finish TV. Duke Bardwell has stayed out of the spotlight for more than 30 years, so it’s interesting to hear him talk so candidly about his association with Elvis. In the interview, the subjects that are touched upon include the famous shows at the Houston Astrodome in March ’74; his famous waterpistol fight with Elvis on April 1st, 1975; and the reason why he quit working for Elvis that same month.
CLICK HERE to check out the interview in 3 parts on YouTube.
Duke will be touring Europe as part of ‘The Original Tribute 2010’ in January 2010, in celebration of the 75th anniversary of Elvis’ birth. The dates are as follows:
January 15 – 17: Club Loft 44, Warsaw, Poland (3 shows)
January 19: Malmitalo, Helsinki, Finland
January 20 & 21: Ritz, Vaasa (2 shows)
January 22: Auditorium Flog, Firenze, Italy
January 23: Rock Planet, Pinarella di Cervia (Ravenna), Italy
January 24: Effenaar, Eindhoven, Holland
Go here for more Tour Information
(News; Source;ArjanD)
|
 |
'Here Come The Stars' new Straight Arrow CD: As recorded at the Hilton Hotel, Las Vegas, Nevada, Saturday, December 4, 1976 Dinner Show.~ "On that night he gave an absolutely brilliant performance" - (Engelbert Humperdinck, 2009)
The next release from Straight Arrow (SA 2009-14-02), will be the Las Vegas December 4th, 1976 Dinner show. Together with Opening night (released as "LAST VEGAS OPENING NIGHT", SA 2009-12A/B-02) it is the strongest concert of Elvis's last Las Vegas season, containing excellent performances of "Tryin' To Get To You", "America", "Bridge Over Troubled Water", "Hurt" and "How Great Thou Art". An absolute highlight is a mesmerizing recitation of "What Now My Love".
This recording was previously released in 1995 on the hard-to-find CD "Love Letters From Nevada". Now the tape was restored using today's advanced technology, and the sound quality is excellent – really remarkable for an off-line source. The bonus tracks were added from an independent original tape of the same show, recorded using a cassette recorder equipped with two microphones. This alternate source, though inferior, does exhibit noticeable channel separation and natural ambience.
|
 |
Just like all previous releases from this label, this new CD will come in a deluxe package with a 16-page booklet, containing a collection of photographs taken between December 3 - 7, 1976 and informative liner notes as written by a lucky fan WHO WAS THERE. This CD is set for release on December 15.
Tracks: 1.Intro 2.C.C. Rider 3.I Got A Woman/Amen 4.Love Me 5.If You Love Me (Let Me Know) 6.You Gave Me A Mountain 7.Jailhouse Rock 8.It's Now Or Never 9.Tryin' To Get To You 10.Blue Suede Shoes 11.Fever 12.America The Beautiful 13.Bridge Over Troubled Water 14.What Now My Love (recitation) 15.Introductions by Elvis 16.Early Morning Rain (John Wilkinson) 17.What'd I Say (James Burton) 18.Drum Solo (Ronnie Tutt) 19.Bass Solo (Jerry Scheff) 20.Piano Solo (Tony Brown) 21.Electric Piano Solo (David Briggs) 22.Love Letters 23.School Day 24.School Day (reprise) 25.Introductions by Elvis of celebrities & family 26.Hurt 27.Hound Dog 28.How Great Thou Art 29.Can't Help Falling In Love 30.Closing Vamp.
Bonus Tracks (alternate source): 31.Tryin' To Get To You 32.Bridge Over Troubled Water 33.What Now My Love (recitation) - 34. Hurt. Approximate running time: 77:26
Excerpts from the sleeve notes:
"It was Saturday night and Las Vegas was buzzing, but nowhere more so than in the showroom of the Hilton Hotel. The date was December 4, 1976, and Elvis was three days into his 15-show, 11-day "Pre-Holiday Festival". Vernon and Lisa Marie were in the Presley booth near the front; the youngster had arrived for a few days' visit with her father.
He marched in place during "America the Beautiful", and got a much-deserved ovation after the finale. Once Charlie handed Elvis the lyric sheet from near the piano, "Bridge Over Troubled Water" was beautifully sung. And Elvis only used it for the always-troublesome first verse. He unexpectedly began "What Now My Love", delighting the crowd with a version softly sung at first, the middle verses spoken dramatically, and the ending done at full power. It was the highlight of the show, and perhaps the entire season.
Elvis enthused about a couple of special stars in the crowd. "They're some of the finest singers in the world, so that's why - one of the reasons I have to be good". The gentlemen in question were Engelbert Humperdinck and Roy Orbison, sitting in adjacent booths. Of the British idol, Elvis said that nobody ever sang "Please Release Me" like Humperdinck, while Orbison - in his trademark dark glasses - was "one of the finest singers of all time", and few would argue with that. Both men got warm applause and cheers.
Elvis's vocal commitment was noticeable in "Hurt"; and it got a great reception. He threw in a rapid "Hound Dog", and then said the evening wouldn't be complete if he didn't sing "How Great Thou Art". This also received an ovation. The show had been very entertaining, full of fine singing and good humour".
(News, Source;SA) |
Graceland Elvis' 75th birthday cake contest: Graceland is cooking up a special treat for Elvis Presley's 75th birthday, holding an online contest to choose the favourite among elaborate cake designs submitted by four master cake makers.
The cake-making competitors were narrowed down by Graceland based on recommendations and Internet research. Each of the four has a reputation for cake designs as intricate as architecture.
Voters can make their choices through Dec. 14 with the winner to be announced on the birthday, Jan. 8, as part of an Elvis Day proclamation. The selection will be announced on the front lawn of Graceland with Priscilla Presley and Mayor A C Wharton helping cut the cake as kickoff of a yearlong celebration of the milestone birthday.
Among the competitors, Pam Reed, the "mom" of Cakes By Mom and Me in West Memphis, has been designing and decorating cakes for more than 30 years. A former Memphian who grew up in Whitehaven about two blocks from Graceland, Reed said her daughter, Lori Laird, actually designed the three-foot-tall cake they proposed with buttercream frosting and a sugary fondant coating to resemble blue suede.
An entry from Custom Coffey Cakeries in Chattanooga features a 36-inch-tall Elvis |
 |
in a gold lamé suit holding aloft a model of Graceland and rotating atop a black record player.
Nashville cake designer Brooke O'Dell said her cake would represent Elvis -- and his appetite -- in more than appearance alone. The cake itself would be made of banana bread with peanut-butter-flavoured buttercream icing.
Another Nashville entry, by Signature Cakes, is a seven-layer four-foot-tall cake with an Elvis model in "Jailhouse Rock" costume dancing amid blue suede shoes, belt buckles, capes, scarves and a "Blue Hawaii" ukulele.
Click here to view the cakes and vote for a favourite.
(News, Source;SanjaM/EIN) |
James Reyne To Sing Elvis Presley: Australia's James Reyne is about to cover the King, Elvis Presley. The next James Reyne album will be a collection of Elvis songs and he has a few shows lined up as well.
Reyne recorded the album ‘James Reyne TCB’ with Charles Fisher (Savage Garden/Moving Pictures). "I wondered whether we could have the audacity and damn gall to try and record an album of my versions of some Elvis songs," James said in a statement. "We made a long list. I researched and rediscovered a lot of the songs that I already knew and a lot that I didn’t. It was not easy. My main criterion was that the originals had that certain, innate insouciance that grabbed you immediately and, therefore, might translate more easily".
"The main aim was to try and make the songs my own, always aware of the stupidity of trying to imitate Elvis himself and the folly of even pretending to contend the brilliance of the originals, but keeping a sense of humour intact and still remaining true to any crucial rhythms or cadence or musical elements that existed on those first, seminal, exhilarating recordings." he said. The album ‘James Reyne TCB’ will be released on April 9, 2010.
The shows will be: May 21, Melbourne, The Palais and May 22, Sydney, State Theatre. Go here for tour info
(News, Source;SanjaM/EIN) |
 |
| Wednesday 9 December 2009 |
First look: Lavish production numbers join the Cirque's 'Viva ELVIS'
The opening of Cirque du Soleil's Viva ELVIS is predictable, nostalgic and – if you're familiar with Elvis Presley's fabled Vegas years – utterly emotional. A chorus line of dancers, their backs to the empty seats of Aria Resort's Elvis Theater, face a three-story black curtain spotted with Sun Records 45s. Booming over hundreds of hidden speakers is Richard Strauss' Thus Spake Zarathustra, famous for its anthemic roles in both 2001: A Space Odyssey and Presley's '70s stage shows.
As the music swells, the curtain falls and 30-plus cast members start dancing frenetically as vintage Elvis clips play on a huge screen overhead. Thus kicks off yet another rehearsal of a spectacle – opening Dec. 18 and scheduled for a 10-year run – that downplays Cirque's circus roots in favor of lavish dance-fueled production numbers.
|
|
Not that those trademark acrobatic feats are gone.
"I'd never played with acrobatics in my work before, but I made sure they were a part of this show, because (Cirque) fans expect that," says Viva ELVIS director Vincent Paterson, whose choreography résumé includes dancing opposite Michael Jackson in the Beat Itvideo.
"It was fun to see how we could incorporate that (circus) element into a show about Elvis," he says. One way: A trampoline routine references Presley's love of high-flying comic-book superheroes.
Viva ELVIS breaks the performer's life down into a few key phases, with sets to match. Among them are a fairgrounds scene invoking Elvis' playful side, a 21st-century Jailhouse Rock set in which some performers dance upside down, and a Vegas-era extravagance that includes giant Elvis statues doubling as columns.
Wild sets by rock tour veteran Mark Fisher aside, the music is the star here. Which means Elvis. The late singer's vocals are layered over a live band, which takes some liberties with the catalog though in a playful JXL Little Less Conversation remix way. But there is one unenviable challenge Viva ELVIS does face: creating a live show compelling enough to pull theater-goers' eyes away from the gyrating, joking and always-youthful icon on those oversized screens.
"We are up to that challenge," says executive producer Stephane Mongeau. "Elvis has incredible charisma, still. But we hope what we have here will only add to his legend. After all, Las Vegas is his temple." (News, Source: Sanja Meegin/Dan McMedan, USA Today)
| Fmr. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to Stand Up for Elvis and Viva Las Vegas at 'Slapdown' Series
: Former Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich wowed crowds when he sang Elvis to raise money for charity and now he's about to come to the defense of Elvis Presley, the actor, and one of his films when he participates in Columbia College's 'Cinema Slapdown' series next week.
It will be Blagojevich vs. Columbia College Chicago Film & Video Assistant Professor Dan Rybicky as they debate the merits of Elvis' 1964 film 'Viva Las Vegas' (MGM).
As part of the Cinema Slapdown series, the college screens a well-known, though, controversial film. So, following a screening of 'Viva Las Vegas,' the governor and the professor will fight it out before an audience which also gets to participate.
"The former governor is a big draw," says associate professor Ron Falzone, who organized the event and is also referee. "He makes no secret of being an Elvis fan so we thought that he'd be perfect."
As for the governor, apparently he couldn't stand idly by as someone ripped apart an Elvis classic. |
 |
"He loves the movie and enjoys a good debate," says Glenn Selig, Blagojevich's spokesperson. "This would be too much fun to miss."
The event is free and open to the public. A book signing for Blagojevich's memoir THE GOVERNOR follows the event in the lobby of Film Row Cinema.
For the latest on Gov. Blagojevich, please visit http://www.governorrod.com.
'CINEMA SLAPDOWN' INFORMATION:
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
7:00pm
Film Row Cinema
1104 S. Wabash Ave, 8th floor
Free and Open to All Web site: http://www.colum.edu/academics/Film_and_Video/Events.php
To receive email updates on former Gov. Blagojevich, please visit http://www.thepublicityagency.com/rod-blagojevich/news-from-rod.htm
Media Contacts for Rod Blagojevich:
Glenn Selig
PR Firm: The Publicity Agency
Phone: (813) 708-1220 x7777 or cell: (813) 300-5454
Email: glenn@thepublicityagency.com (BlackBerry)
Web site: www.thepublicityagency.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/publicityagency
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tampa-FL/The-Publicity-Agency/155443751151
Justin Herndon
PR Firm: The Publicity Agency
Phone: (813) 708-1220 x7778 or cell: (813) 528-6815
Email: justin@thepublicityagency.com (BlackBerry)
Web site: www.thepublicityagency.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/publicityagency
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tampa-FL/The-Publicity-Agency/155443751151
(Celluloid Elvis, Source: governorrod.com)
New 'Elvis 75' compilation mostly hits, some surprises: There are quite enough Elvis Presley compilations around, thank you, that this new, four-disc set of all previously released material seems unnecessary at best, a cynical move aimed at the Christmas market at worst.
Either way it's inevitable with what would have been Presley's 75th birthday coming up on Jan. 8. Even if "Elvis 75: Good Rockin' Tonight" is essentially a cash-in, it's still smartly assembled, packed with hits but also sparing room for a surprise or two.
Unfortunately, it also spares room for the 2002 Junkie XL remix of "A Little Less Conversation," space that could have been better used for, well, silence, for one thing.
For a catalog such as Presley's, four CDs is essentially a greatest-hits with bonus tracks affair. In the '90s, RCA released three five-disc boxes, one per decade of Presley's career, with very little that could be considered filler across all the boxes.
Nitpicking aside, Disc One is impossible to argue with, as the Sun label singles segue into the RCA recordings from 1956, the foundation of – or at least a huge part of – all rock 'n' roll recorded since. |
|
Discs Two and Three cover the movie years, cherry-picking the sublime but including enough of the ridiculous to show how Presley's (or manager Tom Parker's) focus shifted to his movie career (since rock 'n' roll was a fad destined to be forgotten).
Disc Three also includes Presley's magnificent version of the hymn "How Great Thou Art," which follows "Adam and Evil," proving someone had fun with the sequencing.
By the end of Disc Three, Presley is finding his footing again, thanks to some raw versions of Jimmy Reed's "Big Boss Man" and a pair of Jerry Reed tunes, "U.S. Male" and "Guitar Man."
Then comes Presley's final glory, the 1969 Memphis sessions that produced "Suspicious Minds" and the "Elvis in Memphis" album. Disc Four contains the highlights of his decline. Though they came fewer and further between, they still packed a punch. Check his 1973 version of Chuck Berry's "Promised Land" for proof Presley still had it in the years before his death.
Any Presley fan will find a track or two missing (where's "Trying to Get to You"?). "Elvis 75" isn't the end-all be-all of Presley compilations but novices too curious to be sated by 2002's single-disc "1s" may find it to be a valuable road map. (CD Review, Souirce: Curtis Ross, The Tampa Tribune)
| Book release in Norway: The Elvis Presley memorabilia book by Robert Gordon has been released in Norway with the title "Elvis Pa Neart Hold". This edition comes with two CDs; "Elvis Speaks" and "Elvis Norske Hits". (News, Source: Elvis News/Magazines: Flaming Star) |
 |
Elvis ring sells at auction: The ring pictured was sold for $122,500 (€82.500) at auction on December 6.
The ring is a 10ct diamond / 14k gold ring that Elvis gave away during his concert on July 24 1975 in Asheville. Lloyd Perry was the lucky fan to receive the ring.
The authenticity of the ring is well documented through certificates, pictures and newspaper clippings.
The auction was hosted by Affiliated Auctions. (News, Source: Elvis Matters) |
 |
| Here Come The Stars: This is the cover of the upcoming Straight Arrow CD Here Come The Stars, containing the Dinner Show in Las Vegas on December 4, 1976. (News, Source: Elvis News) |
 |
Christmas Remixes: The Dutch Elvis Corner shop starts of its traditional Christmas shopping season on December 13, 2009. All fans that stop by and spent 10 Euro worth of Elvis Presley will receive a free CD.
This CD contains two versions of "O Little Town Of Bethlehem"; the original version and the Spankox remix version from the recent "Christmas Remixes" album. (News, Source: Elvis News/Elvis Corner) |
 |
Mobile phone photos: Five new fun photos photos from the 2009 Elvis Cruise have been added to the FREE Elvis Mobile iPhone app. You can also watch videos from the 2009 Elvis Cruise here, see more photos here or visit the Elvis Cruise website here. The 2010 Elvis Cruise sets sail November 4-8, 2010, from Jacksonville, FL to Nassau, Bahamas, on board the Carnival Fascination. To see five other photos like the one above from the 2009 Elvis Cruise, you can download the FREE Elvis Mobile iPhone app.
Download the new FREE Elvis Mobile iPhone App to enjoy weekly Elvis photo updates, a video section that is updated periodically with clips of Elvis and special Elvis events and happenings, the latest news on all things Elvis, a real-time look at Graceland via the Graceland LiveCam link, audio of the Sirius XM Graceland Beat Podcast and more. In addition, the Elvis Mobile App allows you to submit your Elvis sighting taken with you iPhone, directly to Elvis.com from anywhere in the world. To download the app, from your iPhone App Store, search for "Elvis Mobile," or click here to go to the Elvis Mobile page in iTunes.
(News, Source: EPE)
Upcoming Highlights on SIRIUS XM Satellite Radio:
Elvis Live In Concert-The Streisand Concert from March 28, 1975
Thurs 12/10 8:00 pm ET
This is the famous “Streisand Show." After this show, Babs and her main man Jon Peters pitched Elvis their movie treatment of A Star Is Born. ... We know how that story ended. (1 hr)
Rebroadcast: Sun 12/13 12:00 am ET; Tues 12/15 6:00 am ET
Saturday Special - King-Size Number One Super Smashes!
Sat 12/12 12:00 pm ET
This is an hour of the best of the best of the best from THE BEST. (1 hr)
Rebroadcast: Sun 12/13 12:00 am ET; Tues 12/15 6:00 am ET
Soundtrack Saturday Night – The Trouble With Girls
Sat 12/12 8:00 pm ET
Bill Rock’s Elvis Movie Of The Week feature on this week’s Soundtrack Saturday Night is the 1969 comedy, The Trouble With Girls. The eclectic movie cast includes Dabney Coleman, Vincent Price, John Carradine, and Brooklyn Dodger great Duke Snider. (2 hrs)
Rebroadcast: Tues 12/15 10:00 pm ET (News, Source: EPE)
Glen Campbell and Elvis: “Playing with Elvis was a lot of fun,” Campbell says, on the phone from his home in Malibu, California. “He said, Campbell, you finally got on one of my records!” I said, ‘Yeah, I had to do it one way or another.’ Because I had known Elvis for quite a while. he had more charisma than anybody I ever worked with.”
Like Elvis, Campbell came from desperate poverty. The seventh of 12 children, he was put to work by his sharecropper father at a young age.
(And) Like Elvis, Campbell had a period of dangerous decadence, except that unlike Elvis, he made it out the other side. In the late 70s, Campbell, until then a model of moderation, indulged more and more heavily in alcohol (“scotch and not a lot of soda” is how he put it) and cocaine, then the drug of choice for high flyers. (News, Source: The Canberra Times)
|
 |
Dayton Reloaded - Stunning Release!!: Saturday morning and the doorbell rings. To my surprise it is the latest International/DAE collaboration, Dayton Reloaded (released on the Boxcar label).
Quite simply this is a stunning release with excellent book and audio elements!!
What marks Dayton Reloaded as being particularly memorable is its potent audio-visual and narrative record of an artist, while struggling with his life and career, still being able to connect with and lift in response to his (especially receptive) audience of 13,500 screaming fans.
Read EIN's full review
(CD/Book Review, Source: EIN)
|
 |
EPE 2009 Christmas CD for Fan Club Presidents:
Thanks to Joseph Krein (WWW.ELVIS2001.NET
WWW.ELVIS-EXPRESS.COM) for these images of the 2009 EPE fan club CD featuring Winter Wonderland:
EPE launches Elvis Timeline and Vote for your favorite Elvis moment: January 8, 2010 will mark Elvis’ 75th birthday. As part of a yearlong celebration, EPE is excited to introduce the 75 Years of Elvis Timeline, an online commemoration of the life and achievements of the King of Rock 'n' Roll. The timeline features lots of photos, video, editorial, music and more and allows fans to walk-thru Elvis’ greatest accomplishments in both his personal life and his career – spanning from January 8, 1935 to January 8, 2010.
In addition to being able to browse through the content on the site, fans will also have the opportunity to vote on their favorite milestone moments in Elvis’ life. Each day, fans can vote for their three favorite moments from 30 enhanced milestones on the timeline.
|
 |
Then, at the end of each month, after the votes have been tallied, EPE will announce the winning milestone of the month and give fans additional content on that particular milestone in Elvis’ life.
By the end of 2010, the fans will have created a top 12 list of their favorite moments in Elvis' life. It is a great, fun, interactive way for fans to celebrate 75 years of Elvis.
While browsing the timeline, fans will also be able to listen to music from the new Elvis 75: Good Rockin Tonight CD Box Set being released on December 5, 2009, by Sony.
To start exploring the timeline and placing your votes for Elvis’ most significant moments, visit Elvis.com/Timeline.
Franklin Mint announces mammoth 36CD Set: This brand new collection features the 711 Elvis recordings released during his lifetime. Each song has been digitally remastered for optimal quality and arranged into 36 unique volumes, including a 3CD starter pack (image opposite)
You’ll get everything from Elvis’ first record "That’s All Right," to his first #1 hit, "Heartbreak Hotel," his biggest hit, "Don’t Be Cruel," and even the last Elvis recording before he went off to serve his country in the Army, "I Got Stung." It’s all here in the Complete Masters Collection.
Read full details here |
 |
The Bicentennial King Vol. 1: Due for the new Millbranch Music import label is the CD "The Bicentennial King Vol. 1". This limited edition release of 300 copies contains Elvis Presley's performance of June 25, 1976 (08.30 P.M.) as recorded from the audience at the Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo NY.
The 8 pages booklet should contain lots of photos and three different original Buffalo newspaper articles from before and after the concert. According to the update the sound has been improved relating to the 1993 release of this concert on “One Helluva Night” as it has been remastered from a newly discovered tape. Volume 2 is due for release January 2010. |
 |
Tracklisting: 1. Also Sprach Zarathustra 2. See See Rider 3. I Got A Woman / Amen 4. Love Me 5. If You Love Me (Let Me Know) 6. You Gave Me A Mountain 7. All Shook Up 8. Teddy Bear / Don´t Be Cruel 9. And I Love You So 10. Jailhouse Rock 11. Fever 12. America The Beautiful 13. Polk Salad Annie 14. Introductions / Early Morning Rain 15. Introductions / What I´d Say 16. Introductions / Ronnie Tutt Solo 17. Introductions / Jerry Scheff Solo 18. Introductions / Tony Brown Solo 19. Introductions / David Briggs Solo 20. Introductions / Love Letters 21. Introductions / Hail Hail Rock ´n´ Roll 22. Hurt 23. Hurt (2nd Version) 24. Burning Love 25. Happy Birthday To Barbara 26. Funny How Time Slips Away 27. Can´t Help Falling In Love 28. Closing Vamp / Announcement (News, Source: Elvis News)
Reissue of "Get Down and Get With It": The Fort Baxter and Gravel Road import labels will join up again for the re-issue of "Get Down and Get With It". According to the information we received this re-issue should feature no less than 24 minutes extra from this July 15, 1970 studio rehearsal which was not made available before by Fort Baxter. The double CD will have a playing time of just under 100 minutes. The full tracklisting and artwork will be made available January 2010.
Two more projects in the can are an extended " Hang Loose" and a double CD featuring both October 1976 Chicago shows. The producers promised " not to scr*w up the Chicago artwork this time". (News, Source: Elvis News)
Aaron Schroeder has died: The songwriter behind the Elvis Presley hit "It's Now or Never" has died. A publicist for Aaron Schroeder says the 84-year-old died Tuesday. Dale Olson said Schroeder had been suffering from a form of Alzheimer's disease. Olson says Schroeder was credited with writing 2,000 songs and wrote several hits for Presley, including "Stuck on You" and "A Big Hunk O' Love." But the biggest song was "It's Now or Never."
Schroeder was more than just Presley's songwriter. He was also a producer, he was credited with helping the young careers of acts like Jimi Hendrix and Barry White, and he wrote the theme song for "Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!" Survivors include his wife, Abby, and daughter Rachel. (News, Source: AP)
"Blue Hawaii" resort damaged by fire: The shuttered Coco Palms resort on Kauai made famous by Elvis Presley has been hit by fire and sustained about $80,000 in damage. Presley filmed his 1961 movie "Blue Hawaii" on the resort's lush grounds. A Kauai County statement says firefighters were notified early Thursday. They controlled the blaze in about an hour, but were called back later to douse a flare-up.
About 1,000 square feet of a portion of the resort that had been occupied by a retailer was destroyed. A caretaker's office sustained water damage. The county statement says investigators are trying to determine the fire's cause. (News, Source: AP)
Information from: The Garden Island, http://www.kauaiworld.com/
Maple Leafs work on Elvis impersonation: Good seats are still available for the Maple Leafs skills competition on Sunday — in the stands and, frankly, on the bench, too. The Leafs will be competing in the usual events: Fastest skater, hardest shot, greatest truculence ... that sort of thing.
In addition to individual glories, there is a team competition — Blue versus White — with the winning side receiving the annual trophy — a bust of Elvis. Just wondering: Considering we’re talking abou tthe Leafs and the King, would a Blue Christmas be a good thing or bad thing? (News, Source: Toronto Sun)
BBC plans extensive series of Presley programmes: BBC TV and radio are lining up a massive series of programming across the network to celebrate what would have been Elvis Presley's 75th birthday in January. In a repeat of the formula used to mark the release of The Beatles Remasters series in September, the two-week season starts on Boxing Day and runs until the singer's birthdate on January 8.
Radio 2 will broadcast 10 documentaries covering various aspects of Presley's career, from his gospel roots and relationship with Dewey Phillips, the first DJ to champion his music, to his movie output and the branding which turned him into an icon.
(Opposite: Source: Harold Newton) |
 |
The series begins at 10pm on December 26 with model and actress Jerry Hall presenting Gospel According To The King, about Presley's roots in church music. This is followed by a two-part examination of his acting career, Movie King Or Celluloid Sell Out?, at 11.30pm on December 28 and 29, presented by music journalist Paul Morley. The second episode will be preceded by Paul Gambaccini's documentary Red, Hot And Blue, about Presley's relationship with Phillips. Gambaccini is also the presenter of Elvis The Brand, a two- parter broadcast on January 4 and 5. Gambaccini describes the programme as the story of "cultural obsession for what is arguably the most influential celebrity brand in history. This is analysis of Elvis as both cultural icon and commercial goldmine".
Among other programmes are Don't Start Me Talking About Elvis, an oral history of The King's fans first broadcast in 2007, while Rob Brydon's World Of Elvis: The Las Vegas Years on January 2 explores Presley's tenure in Sin City.
Elvis: When The King Met The President on January 5 tells the story of his 1973 visit to then US president Richard Nixon to offer his services in the fight against drug abuse and Communist brainwashing while Seventies pop star Suzi Quatro presents Graceland on January 7, about her lifelong fascination with Presley, including an anecdote about the occasion in 1974 when she declined an invitation to visit him at his lavish abode. And, in the wake of his extended radio profiles of Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and Judy Garland, pop historian Michael Freedland marks The King's life with a six-part series starting on Elvis's birthday on January 8.
On television, BBC Two will dedicate the evening of January 2 to an Elvis Night comprising the in-concert films Elvis Presley: The Comeback from 1968 and 1973's Elvis In Hawaii, as well as a compilation of his home movies, and a new documentary, Elvis In Vegas. This is executive-produced by BBC TV head of music Mark Cooper and will examine "the untold story" of how Presley's career was transformed by his on-off residency in Las Vegas from 1969 until his death in 1977, and also how this boosted the Nevada city's fortunes. Directed by Jeremy Marre, the film aims to show how the scheming of manager "Colonel" Tom Parker and the excesses of Vegas in turn destroyed Presley. Among contributors are his wife Priscilla Presley, Tom Jones, Nancy Sinatra and songwriters Leiber & Stoller.
The season is brought to a close with a two-hour edition of Claudia Winkleman's Arts Show on BBC Two on January 8, rounding up Presley's career and examining his legacy. (News, Source: Paul Gorman, California Chronicle)
"Hurricane Elvis" aftermath: The Federal Emergency Management Agency wants back part of the $13 million it gave the city of Memphis after widespread windstorm damage in the summer of 2003. Straight line winds up to 100 mph struck on July 22 that summer, causing at least $500 million damage in what residents called "Hurricane Elvis." WPTY-TV reported an audit by TEMA has disallowed nearly $2 million after finding the city misspent or couldn't account for spending that much federal money.
Current Mayor A C Wharton told the station he hadn't seen the audit, but said city officials would "get on top of it."
The station reported more than half the disputed use of funds springs from the city Public Works division not logging mileage or use by city pickup trucks during the storm recovery. (News, Source: AP/abc24.com)
How to find good Elvis books: eHow.com has published the following guide to improving and increasing your Elvis book collection:
1. Learn about the ups and downs of Elvis's career when you get a book by a member of his entourage. Many of these biographies are considered "unauthorized" by the estate of Elvis Presley, but the anecdotes they contain may shed some light into the often-troubled life of this rock-and-roll superstar.
2. Find books about specific aspects of the Elvis legend, from his relationship with Priscilla Presley to his majestic homestead, Graceland. Many of these books might be considered souvenir items, such as those you might pick up at Graceland or the Grand Ole Opry, where Elvis once performed. |
|
3. Get to know more about your collection of Elvis memorabilia by purchasing collector's guidebooks. These books often contain images and descriptions of items in specific collections and may be accompanied by a price guide. These price guides may come in handy when you begin to collect memorabilia relating to Elvis Presley.
4. Expect to spend a few extra dollars to buy a fan magazine from the early years of Elvis's career. These magazines mark the first appearance of many of Elvis's most iconic pictures.
5. Expand your collection of Elvis memorabilia to include souvenir programs from Elvis's performances in Las Vegas during the later part of his career. As with any item bearing the King's signature, you can expect to pay more for souvenir program with a signature than you would for one without it.
6. Get a grip on the prolific career of Elvis Presley when you buy books outlining his music and film careers. You can find books dedicated to specific film appearances, as well as those that catalog his albums and singles and include information on release dates and sales figures.
New book release in Holland: On the Road with Elvis is a new Dutch paperback release by Kris Clerckx, distributed by Lannoo. The book follows Elvis's foot steps and is an ideal gift for Dutch speaking fans who'd like to learn more about Elvis in the States. (News, Source: Elvis Matters)
Presley Heights Commission update: Bill Kinard advises: "We apologize that we had to cancel our "Double Elvis Show" due to circumstances beyond our control. Linda, Joyce, and I, Bill Kinard, had to fly to Yakima, Washington to pick up some "movie cars" and more "rare memorabilia" for "Presley Heights Museum", located in East Tupelo, Mississippi, near the birthplace of Elvis Presley.
However, this is good "NEWS" to all the fans around the world.......Presley Heights Museum: Now has on display the following vehicles and extremely rare memorabilia from several celebrities:
- The Blues Brothers Car from the movie Blues Brothers
- The Wayne's World Blue AMC Pacer Car from the movie Wayne's World
- The Mega Force Movie Car from the movie Mega Force
- Elvis Presley's 1957 Pink & Black Cadillac, Note: However it needs "restoring"
- Bing Crosby's Memorabilia Collection
Soon on display will be the return of the "Elvis Presley and J.D. Sumner Tour Bus" compliments of our friend/s. Note: We will not call our friend him and/ or her Mr. and/or Mrs. X but rather "friend/s".
Any and all "mis understandings are being worked out", so that you the "fan" can soon view the famous "Elvis Presley and J.D. Sumner T.C.B. Tour Bus" can enjoy.
To our "friend/s" we simply say "Thank You, Thank You Very Much", as "Elvis", would say.
Also to you "Wonderful and Generous Elvis Fans" and a "special thanks" to the "Presidents" of the fan clubs that helped us get the word out to the fans, other individuals, and media, around the world, we want to thank each and every one of you personally.
We thank "all" that have sent in "donations" of "no less than $5.00 U.S. and $10.00 U.S.", to "Presley Heights Museum", at: both http://www.presleymuseum.org and/or http://www.elvis-fans-forever.org, and/or http://www.elvispresleyheights.com and/or mailed to:
Legacy Hall of Fame, Inc., a 501 3 (c) Charitable Foundations:
Bill & Linda Kinard Legacy Hall of Fame, Inc. Presley Height Museum
Legacy Hall of Fame, Inc. 100 Briar Ridge Road P.O. Box 376
P.O. Box 376 Tupelo, MS 38804 Tupelo, MS 38802
Tupelo, MS 38802
(662) 620-9966 (662) 620-9966 (662) 620-9966
| The Memphis Lullaby (Whitehaven) - CD Review: Linda Ann McConnell’s The Memphis Lullaby originated as a poignant book which was followed by an equally poignant film and in January 2007, a single.
Coinciding with the 32nd anniversary of Elvis’ passing, Linda Ann has complemented these with a passionate 14 track album. Using the band name Whitehaven, Linda Ann has drawn on her emotional connection to Elvis and his music to write, sing and produce one of the finest tribute albums you will ever hear. Like Elvis, Linda Ann has an amazing vocal flexibility and the ability to explore and inhabit different genres during her musical odyssey. Linda Ann’s crystal clear singing is equally engaging and impressive....
Read EIN's full review of this stunning debut album! |
 |
DAYTON RELOADED – "SOLD OUT":
The International and DAE labels have "sold out" of their release, Dayton Reloaded.
This means copies are now only available from your local supplier!
See details of this release below in news item dated Tues 1 December |
|
Just some of the great items
coming to EIN this month:
|
- Dayton Reloaded (2CD/BookReview)
- Solid Gold Elvis (Book/CD Rom Review)
- Tupelo Welcomes Home Elvis Presley (Book/CD Review)
- Alanna Nash talks to EIN (Part 1)
- Your picks of the best Elvis releases from the past decade!
|
Ukelele under the microscope: Pity the poor ukulele. So dinky in size, so twinkly in tone, it seems to come with it's own "kick me" sign affixed to its back. The instrument's well-established role as the Rodney Dangerfield of the string family has only worsened through its placement in cheeseball movies like Elvis' "Blue Hawaii," or through its role supporting the trills of Tiny Tim in the novelty hit of the century, "Tiptoe Through the Tulips." How unfair.
There's a real sense of pluck in the sweet ukulele, a feisty joy that arises naturally from its short, tight strings. The taut play of those four thin runs of nylon makes every strum of the instrument sound chipper. True, there are limitations to the uke, from its spare, two octave range. But that can inspire either special focus or a canny inventiveness.
Those qualities haven't been lost on many esteemed musicians during the instrument's more-than-century-long history. The contraption was created in the 1880s by Portuguese immigrants, who brought their instrument, the machete (a sort of small guitar) to the Hawaiian islands. They developed that into the uke, which explains why its name means "the gift that came here" from the Hawaiian words uku (gift) and lele (to come). |
 |
The uke hit the mainland States after being introduced at the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco in 1915. But it didn't really catch fire until the jazz age of the ‘20s, when the kinds of singers and songwriters that inspired Tiny Tim (like Rudy Vallee) spread its flinty sound wide.
From there, things fell apart fast, unaided by the loud and proud era of rock. But the instrument has enjoyed peeks at a revival in the time since, including 1994 when a ukulele medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What A Wonderful World" turned up in enough films and TV ads to make it a chart hit.
George Harrison, in his later years, proved key to changing the image of the instrument - at least among musicians. And Paul McCartney has kept that love alive by plunking a uke at many recent tributes to his late band mate.
Still, the prejudice against ukes persists - and for a sad reason. As with "hight-ism," the snickering derives from a common belief that anything miniature must automatically be infantile. All those afflicted with this prejudice should get over themselves. The ukulele sound has the same appeal as a wink, one welcoming enough to deserve being invited back into the current soundtrack of cool. (News, Source: Sanja Meegin)
More Elvis dental work for sale: This is an actual, documented, crown from the tooth of Elvis Presley
Ft. Lauderdale, FL (PRWEB) December 1, 2009 -- An actual crown from the mouth of Elvis Presley has hit the auctions on Ebay.com. This one of a kind piece was given, by Elvis, to his fiancé at the time, Linda Thompson. After Elvis' tragic death in 1977, she sold the piece to Jimmy Velvet. Mr. Velvet was Elvis' best friend and owner of The Elvis Museum in Branson, MO. It remained in the museum collection until it closed in 1996 when it was obtained and sold by Startifacts, a well known and reputable auction house that specializes in entertainment collectables.
The item was bought by a Florida Elvis fan and entrepreneur, and owner of “The Yellow Strawberry Salon”, a prestigious, up-scale hair salon on Las Olas Blvd. in Ft. Lauderdale FL., where it has been on display next to an extensive collection of entertainment memorabilia. This collection included locks of hair from John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee, Baron "The Red Baron" von Richtoffen and King George lll. Thousands of curious sightseers and fans of the late Rock n’ Roll star have visited the salon to get a glimpse of this unusual collection.
This Item includes an irrefutable, notarized letter and certificate signed by Jimmy Velvet authenticating it as the actual piece that hung in the Elvis Museum in Branson, MO as well as the certificate of authenticity from "Startifacts" when it was sold.
It is encased in a beautiful silver gilded professional case, 17" X 25" X 3", surrounding a mirrored cube enclosing the crown. A plaque describing the origin of the item is mounted on the front, as well as a color photo of Elvis.
This is a "one of a kind" piece of documented Elvis memorabilia. Nothing like it has been available to the public in years and probably never will again! Don't miss this chance to own something that no one else in the world has. Bidding will start at $10,000 with no reserve. (News, Source: Sanja Meegin/PRWEB)
Bernard Lansky honored: Part of Beale Street has been renamed in honor of one of Memphis retailers, Bernard J. Lansky. Of course you may know him as the "clothier to the King," for his special relationship with Elvis Presley, but at 82 years old, he still works seven days a week.
The store has since relocated to the Peabody Hotel, a block away from its original location, and Lansky and his family serve as a liaison to tourists from all over the world. (News, Source: Memphis Flyer/Elvis News) |
 |
Did you ever see Elvis live in person?? - if YES, the State Journal-Register in Illinois wants to hear from you!: Believe it or not, the King of Rock 'n' Roll Elvis Presley's 75th birthday is coming up. So we want to know: Did you ever see Elvis in person?
Whether it was in concert, at an autograph session or even sharing an elevator in Las Vegas, we want to hear about your Elvis Presley experiences.
If you live in central Illinois (or if you used to), send us your stories. Tell us the details, why you liked Elvis, your name, where you live now, and a daytime phone number (in case we have a question) and send the information to: features@sj-r.com (put "Elvis" in the subject line); or fax it to 217-788-1551. Let us know if you have pictures of the event. Deadline: Dec. 14.
|
 |
| Budget compile in France: Released on November 26, 2009 in Fance by Coop Breizh is the budget compilation "Tous Les Tubes". It contains 20 tracks like Love me tender / That's All Right / Jailhouse Rock / Heartbreak Hotel / Don't Be Cruel / Hound Dog / Tutti Frutti / Blue Suede Shoes / Mystery Train / I Got A Woman / MyBaby Left Me / Good Rockin' Tonight / You're A Heartbreaker / All Shook Up / I Want You, I Need You I Love You, and more. (News, Source: Amazon France/Elvis News) |
 |
Elvis '75 - The King Is Born 3CD set: Released on the budget Intergroove / Go Entertain budget label on December 3, 2009 in Germany is the three CD "Elvis 75 - The King Is Born". (News, Source: Elvis Presley Gesellschaft E.v./Elvis News)
|
 |
Baby, Let's Play House Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him (Book Review): The latest Alanna Nash book will be released in the US on 5 January 2010.
EIN recently had the pleasure of delving deep inside the 700+ pages of this release to discover a rich and compelling account of a side of Elvis, which until now has been rarely, if at all, documented in detail.
What we found was illuminating, at times emotional, and occasionally confronting. Never dull and always adding to our understanding of the man, Alanna Nash has written a stunning new book!
As its title implies, Baby, Let's Play House presents the long overdue female perspective on Elvis and answers a number of important questions including how differently Elvis communicated with men and women and the inner anguish which eventually led to his tragic demise.
Read why Baby, Let's Play House will be one of the two best Elvis book releases of 2010. (Book Review, Source: EIN) |
 |
| DAYTON RELOADED – OUT NOW: Finally released this week, from the producers of the International label and DAE, comes their first Boxcar label release of a 2CD/Book box set titled ‘Dayton Reloaded’ focusing on Elvis’ tours of 1974 and marks the 35th Anniversary of the events.
The 2CD features both the afternoon and evening performances of October 6, 1974 at the University of Dayton Arena in Dayton, Ohio. The recording source used for this release is taken directly from the original soundboard tapes and is professionally re-mastered by DAE for optimum sound quality.
The accompanying hardback book contains 100 glossy pages featuring a well detailed essay on the tours of 1974 proceeding up to October and is packed, with rare and unpublished photographs. The beautiful art layout makes this an all and fascinating audio visual release.
This release, like all previous International label releases are strictly limited to only 1000 copies being available.
|
|
| Disc 1 - October 6, 1974 2.30 pm 1. See See Rider 2. I Got A Woman/Amen 3. Love Me 4. If You Love Me, Let Me Know 5. It´s Midnight 6. Big Boss Man 7. Fever 8. Love Me Tender 9. Hound Dog 10. Introductions 11. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy 12. Introductions 13. All Shook Up 14. Teddy Bear/Don’t Be Cruel 15. Heartbreak Hotel 16. Why Me, Lord? 17. Promised Land 18. You Gave Me A Mountain 19. Let Me Be There 20. Hawaiian Wedding Song 21. Can’t Help Falling In Love 22. Closing Vamp
|
Disc 2 - October 6, 1974 8.30 pm 1. See See Rider 2. I Got A Woman/Amen 3. Love Me 4. If You Love Me, Let Me Know 5. Fever 6. Big Boss Man 7. Love Me Tender 8. Hound Dog 9. The Wonder Of You 10. Blue Suede Shoes 11. Introductions 12. Lawdy, Miss Clawdy 13. Introductions 14. All Shook Up 15. Teddy Bear/Don’t Be Cruel 16. Heartbreak Hotel 17. Why Me, Lord? 18. That’s All Right 19. Blue Christmas 20. Let Me Be There 21. Hawaiian Wedding Song 22. Johnny B. Goode 23. Can’t Help Falling In Love 24. Closing Vamp |
New Elvis radio site and it's FREE!: By all accounts the new site Elvis Expo Radio is a beauty, playing many tracks besides the "usual suspects"! You can check it out here (News, Source: Maurice Colgan/Sanja Meegin)
Chart Update: This is the global chart update for week 48 2009:
Billboard 200:
• #122 (Re) Elvis’ Christmas
• #125 (Re) It’s Christmas Time
• #185 (Re) Christmas Duets
Top Holiday Albums:
• #24 (30) Elvis’ Christmas
• #25 (25) It’s Christmas Time
• #44 (42) Christmas Duets
Hot Holiday Songs:
• #23 (22) Blue Christmas (Elvis Presley & Martina McBride)
Top Catalog Albums:
• #17 (31) Elvis’ Christmas
• #18 (22) It’s Christmas Time
• #41 (Ne) Christmas Duets
Top Country Catalog Albums:
• #3 (4) Elvis’ Christmas
• #5 (8) Christmas Duets
• #15 (17) Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
US (Soundscan) sales, as of this week:
• It’s Christmas Time (re-issue) - 1,169,181 (sold 7,195 copies this week)
• Elvis’ Christmas - 374,114 (sold 7,460 copies this week)
• Christmas Duets - 360,631 (sold 4,741 copies this week) |
Top 250 Comprehensive Albums:
• #208 (192) Gold - Greatest Hits
Top 40 DVDs:
• #39 (39) Elvis: The King Of Rock ’N’ Roll
Top Catalog Albums:
• #32 (36) Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits
Top 60 Albums:
• #27 (Re) The Collection (7 CD)
Top DVDs:
• #2 (2) The 30th Anniversary DVD Collection
Top 100 Albums:
• #23 (24) Rockin’ With The King
|
2010 book releases: Amazon has the following titles listed for reissue next year:
EIN Website content ©
Copyright the Elvis Information Network.
Elvis Presley, Elvis and Graceland are trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises.
The Elvis Information Network has been running since 1986 and is an EPE officially recognised Elvis fan club.
.
. |
|
