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1973 allegedly co-written song by Elvis and Paul Terry King now being auctioned.

Alleged last Elvis song sells on ebay: Search for Elvis Presley items on eBay, and you will turn up hundreds — no thousands — of souvenirs, photos, albums, magazine articles, 45s, LPs, CDs, and just about anything and everything someone could slap a TCB logo on. But occasionally, something very rare and unusual turns up, and that’s just what happened recently when someone decided to sell the rights to Elvis’ last recorded song.

In 1973, the King of Rock and Roll teamed up with songwriter Paul Terry King to produce and record two songs. One of these, “If I’d Only Bought Her Roses,” was sold last year to Robert X. Sillerman, the current owner of Elvis Presley Enterprises for an undisclosed price.

But the other song, “Just Like Rolling Up the Hill,” has remained a secret until now, when Hill — not in the best of health — decided to sell the rights on eBay. What this means, according to eBay, is that the new owner can “produce, sing, or release it yourself.” It was promoted on eBay as “Elvis’ Last Recorded Song.”

Sounds like a risky venture, but hey it worked for Elvis, so it might work for the highest bidder, an unidentified (or in eBay’s terms, “private”) buyer who ended up paying $31,101 for the rights. The winner receives “copyright and all associated publication and performance rights, etc.”

Learn more about this unusual auction at www.elvissong.info. (News, Source: Google/Elvis News)

EIN Comment: We asked Paul Terry King to provide proof Elvis co-wrote this song with him and evidence that he mentioned this song at the time of promoting the other song allegedly co-wrote with Elvis, If I’d Only Bought Her Roses. We're still waiting! In EIN's opinion whoever bought the rights to Just Like Rolling Up Hill has been duped. As for Robert Sillerman buying "Roses", it came as part of a much bigger acquisition, Elvis-A-Rama. EPE has also dismissed Mr King's claims.

EIN Comment: This song is currently for auction on ebay. Many Elvis insiders have questioned Paul Terry King's claims about the two songs allegedly co-written with him by Elvis.

EIN would be very interested to know when Elvis sung this song, as stated above by Mr King.

In 2005, EIN had correspondence with Paul Terry King regarding If Only I'd Bought Her Roses. King promised to supply documents to us validating his claim. What we received did not validate his claim in any material way.

While it is true Robert Sillerman's company co-owns the rights to If Only I'd Bought Her Roses, what Paul Terry King doesn't tell you is that it was sold as part of Sillerman's acquisition of the the substantial Elvis-A-Rama attraction in Las Vegas. It was not sold as a stand alone item (which, if it had, may have lent some credence to its legitimacy).

There was a strong response to our story including from Paul Terry King. Here is our correspondence:

Paul Terry King to EIN (24 Jan 2007): In 05 i sent you and your wife who was on vacation remember a fax from graceland to me to show you that they did since 97 know about the nyte elvis visited me. you do what you do elvis did what he did and i do what i do which is write songs with anyone beggars or kings. ckx acqusition of elvisarama and the song may or may not have been a stand alone item but was certainly a bargaining factor then and even more so now. Are the elvis insiders that question this claim the same ones who in your mag threatned to come down heavy with lawsuits for me telling about the other songs i wrote or co wrote at american when i was employed there? Ive told the story of that nyte and performed these songs for yrs and yrs and now they have hit the press in places ive never been and met with doubt as i do indeed understand it would. however keep an open mynd and read paulterryking.com and elvissong.info before drawing your final conclusion. Elvis is quoted as saying everey dream and wish i ever had has come true. And i wish i could write a song. Look those up on dvd and see if that was before or after he met me paul terry king 2007

EIN to Paul Terry King (24 Jan 2007): While EIN cannot locate it at present, what you provided to us in 2005 did not prove EPE acknowledged your meeting with Elvis as fact.

Also, just because Elvis said he wished he could write a song doesn't mean he ever did.

In the interests of fairness we are willing to let you have your say once again on our site. However, in this regard we would need to publish:

1. Approximate date Elvis visited you (from your site I take this to be sometime in 1973 but we need to narrow it down to month, preferably day & month)

2. Copy of fax proving EPE acknowledges that meeting (not just acknowledging a letter from you)

3. Any other documents you have supporting your claim

1.Why does EPE officially state that they have found no truth to your claim?

2.Why did you not mention "Just Like Rolling Up Hill" not at the time of the media coverage for "Roses"?

3. How is your daughter, Leslie Faith King, who was abducted from a locked hospital ward in Oklahoma City?

Paul Terry King to EIN (25 Jan 2007): Leslie is much better now thank you. i did mention in the press the other song the world never heard before the first auction was even over tho the sub title of roses is self-expanatory(SONGS THE WORLD NEVER HEARD} the songs were written in calif a few days before or after the delivery of my divorce papers and the 1973 dated envelope from buddy killen on the websyte elvissong.info I played and he sang Idabel and God Bless the man too. Elvis not only is quoted that he wish he could write a song but every wish he ever had has come true. And right he was as several lines of roses came from deep in his heart or from the spirit that moved on us that indian summer nyte of 1973 When he left he shook my hand firmly and said he had the best tyme of his life and what we did would be heard someday. I wish he was alive to back me up today and hope i also live too see his parting words come true.

EIN Note: While Mr King has answered some of our issues/questions he is yet to provide any factual evidence supporting his claim he wrote the songs with Elvis and he has yet to comment on EPE's position on the "Roses" song.

Paul Terry King to EIN (25 Jan 2007): You mite be the first also to report screen gems emi has lost 3 reels of 69 published songs by elvis and amerikan writers including my song harlem girl acquired in 1975 from press music buddy killen

Other feedback

In support of the claim:

Mike Waters: Concerning Paul Terry Kings Claim, Consider this fact. The original song when it was sold to the Elvis A Rama museum was never contested by the purchaser.

The purchaser paid $25k for the song and not once ever asked for the money back, filed any lawsuit or claim for a return of the money or anything.

Further evidence points to this fact the museum was producing a television show titled "American Elvis" And the showcase of this show was going to be the production, distribution, and release of this song by the winner. If the song was a fake as you say, it would have been really easy to stop the production of the show dead in its tracks with a simple cease and desist from an attorney. A Lawsuit would have easily but the brakes on such a show and would be the most logical conclusion by billionaire Sillerman if the song was false as you claim.

In fact e.p.e. or sillerman could have easily refused a royalty agreement if the song was not true which again they didnt do.

Although Sillerman hasn't come directly out and said the song is verified and true all of his other actions most definately imply that it is.

Now onto more evidence:

Why when purchasing the museum not exclude from the sale the song? Why not just exclude it from the sale and agreement entriely. If you were buying a collection of memorabilia etc.... on Elvis and one of the items was not authentic why include it? And if you do include it why not immediately state that it is false? It seems clear that by buying including it in the sale, and not disclaiming it still after 2 years of ownership is an endorsement.

Considering these few facts among countless others it seems perfectly clear that the song has legitimacy.

Not to mention the fact that it has been reocrded on BMI.com as an elvis work for way beyond the 10year legal right of contest, and the same with The original copyright that was filed.

When you realize that Terry King wrote songs with:

and many others that knew and worked with elvis, and all these songs were written at the same time that Elvis was known to have been working with them it adds even more legitimacy.

In 2005 when there was debate about the other song (If I'd Only Bought Her Roses) allegedly written by Elvis and Paul Terry King, EIN contacted EPE for clarification. This was the response (dated 6 April 2005) from the Media and Creative Development area in EPE:

The first we'd ever heard of this was when the song was listed on ebay.We have not found anything to indicate there's any truth to what is being said about it. No, we do not have ownership in it.

At that time in 2005, noted Elvis world identity, Bud Glass, sent EIN this message:

The Elvis-A-Rama Museum purchased “If I’d Only Bought Her Roses” on Ebay on February 20, 2005. The research into the background of the song included a review of BMI’s website. “If I’d Only Bought Her Roses” is listed as number 20 with reference number 6562846.

Here’s the BMI link:

http://repertoire.bmi.com/title.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist
=True&keyID=6562846&ShowNbr=0&ShowSeqNbr=0&querytype=WorkID

Paul Terry King signed a contract assigning Elvis-A-Rama his rights to 1/2 of the song “If I’d Only Bought Her Roses”, which he and Elvis wrote in 1973.

Paul Terry King, the co-owner of the song, provided several documents related to his career as a songwriter which included over 85 registered songs. He further documented his association at American Sound Studios in Memphis, Tennessee during the time that Elvis recorded at that studio.

Graceland recently stated that they were first made aware of “If I’d Only Bought Her Roses” while it was for sale on Ebay which was a 10 day listing. The Ebay listing stated that EPE currently owns 1/2 of this song.

What actions did EPE address to Ebay, the listing agent or Paul Terry King to stop the sale of the song or advise someone that EPE had no ownership in the song if false information was provided?

If the sale had been cancelled, Elvis-A-Rama would not have purchased or been interested in the 50% of the song.

According to Elvis historians and biographies, Elvis was given songwriter credits for songs that he had little to almost no involvement in helping to create. Elvis recorded many songs that he didn’t write.

Elvis rehearsed many songs that he didn’t record. Elvis fans have not heard everything that Elvis rehearsed or recorded during his lifetime.

EPE may not claim ownership to 1/2 interest in the song, however, that does not make the song less than authentic.

EIN Note: The sale to Robert Sillerman's company, CKX, Inc., of 85% of essentially the marketing arm of EPE was finalised in early February 2005. The new EPE/CKX operating company later purchased Elvis-A-Rama.

Marty Lacker (Memphis Mafia): Elvis did not write any (NONE,NADA,ZERO) songs with this guy. He had absolutely no connection to Elvis. This is all BULLSHIT. We hate to see you give this jerk exposure. Sillerman didn't buy the other song when he bought Elvis A Rama because he knows it's not true.

Amber Smith: King is another who sees dollar signs in his eyes using the Elvis name. EPE should come down hard on this guy.

Patrick Lacy: Patrick Lacy, author of the recently published book, Elvis Decoded, has published a detailed examination of the Paul Terry King claims on his website. EIN recommends it to interested readers.

Is this really Elvis' last song?

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