Mid June 2003
- Little Richard wants to stamp out all those 'myths'
By GARY MULLINAX
(Delaware News Journal, June 22, 2003)
Little Richard believes he was the "architect of rock 'n' roll," and no sane person would argue. He is, after all, the man who helped launch rock history with the immortal words "awop-bop-a-loo-mop-alop-bam boom" as his high pompadour shook on top of his head like a mound of cranberry sauce. He was also one of the first 10 people inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. If they had honored only five people that first year, it still would have been hard to leave Little Richard off the list.
But these days the architect who gave us "Tutti Frutti" (source of the lyric quoted above), "Long Tall Sally," "Rip It Up" and "Good Golly Miss Molly" is doing some remodeling - at least where his own history is concerned. Little Richard, 71, who will perform his hits in a sold-out show at Dover Downs Slots on Thursday, says we should forget what reference books say. He has, for instance, never retired. Never mind that the books and even a made-for-TV movie he helped produce say he abandoned music in 1957 to enter the ministry, or that his career switch to Bible salesman in the late 1970s is well-documented. In fact, he says he has never even been a minister. Or a Bible salesman.
So how did so many get so much wrong? "You know people. When you're an entertainer, they're always going to get it wrong," he said from a hotel in Hollywood, where he was doing some television work. "They won't ever get it right." ... When he looks back on his career now, he just feels a warm glow. Call it love.
Elvis Presley? "He was a good friend of mine. I love Elvis."
Bruce Springsteen? "I love Bruce Springsteen."
Bob Dylan? "I love Bob Dylan."
Dick Clark? "A beautiful person."
Bob Seger? (Bob Seger?) "A great, great singer."
Pat Boone? Yes, even Pat Boone. ...
- Not all boarding for Elvis International Airport
By Jody Callahan
(gomemphis.com, June 22, 2003)
A few hours south of here, it's the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Across the Atlantic, England has the Liverpool John Lennon Airport. In California, Orange County has the John Wayne Airport. And Oklahoma City has the Will Rogers World Airport. But in the home of Elvis, it's plain old Memphis International Airport.
Some might argue, though, that a better name would be Elvis Presley Memphis International Airport. ... It's certainly arguable that the King of Rock and Rollhad more effect on popular culture than John Wayne, Louis Armstrong, Will Rogers or even John Lennon (after all, it was Lennon who said "Before Elvis, there was nothing.").
And there's precedence: the Memphis terminal is named after entertainer and St. Jude founder Danny Thomas. "I think that's the way it should be all along," said Terrell Suddarth, a 41-year-old Denver resident waiting on his flight. "That's what Memphis is known for, Elvis and the blues. And you can't really call it the 'Blues Airport.' "
... "I don't think any airport should be anything other than the name of the community it serves," [said Larry Cox, president of the Memphis-Shelby County Airport Authority] "I just don't think there's going to be any serious chance of it."
So far, the city where the King was crowned has two official institutions bearing his name: Elvis Presley Boulevard and the Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center at the Regional Medical Center at Memphis. Elvis Presley Enterprises president Jack Soden wouldn't mind one more. "If the airport were named after Elvis Presley, that would be a great honor," Soden said. "And it would certainly make millions of fans around the world happy."
Renaming the airport would require one more change. All airports have a three-letter designation, which travelers see on their ticket or luggage. Here, it's MEM. If it became the Elvis Presley Memphis International Airport, the new designation would have to be . . .
TCB.
- Elvis fan dies in Nashville
By Lucy Ballinger
(icWales, June 22, 2003)
AN ELVIS fan's dream holiday to Nashville ended tragically in a car accident. Howard Davies, 48, who had visited his idol's Memphis roots with his wife, was driving a rental car in nearby Nashville when it was involved in a head-on collision with a pick-up truck. The father-of-one from Caldicot died at the scene. A singer and music lover, Mr Davies sang at the Millennium Stadium's first rugby match and at the opening of the 1999 Rugby World Cup. His sister Christine Davies, 45, said: "He was proud of his Welsh roots."
- Crazy Nights with Elvis!: Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley have finally broken their long silence to reveal intimate details of life with the King.
(Woman's Day [Australian ed.], June 23, 2003, pp. 10-11)
His wife remembers cutting up his food into child-sized bites; his daughter recalls him popping pills like lollies. Almost 26 years after Elvis Presley's death, the memories are still vivid to Priscilla and Lisa Marie.
But while the pair had vowed never to speak publicly of their life with the King, in recent weeks their lips have been remarkably loose. ... "Elvis brought out this mothering quality," Priscilla says. "I cut his meat up for him. I tasted it before he ever had it. I would fix his devilled eggs, cut off the top, put his butter in, prepare all his food as a mother would for a child. I'd test it to see if it was too hot --- I loved doing it for him. Then you'd see him on stage and he looked so strong and so virile, it was like, 'Oh my God!' But there was this child that was still in there."
... Five-year old Lisa Marie was daddy's little girl and the gifts lavished on her are part of Presley legend: that he gave her a pony before she could walk and a diamond brooch for her sixth birthday; that he gave her a jet and spent $70,000 to fly her across the country to see snow for just 20 minutes. Lisa spent her days between the excesses of Graceland in Memphis and her mother's simpler LA house. "My mom was very strict and my father absolutely not," Lisa Marie says. ... She remembers Elkvis at Graceland, carrying jewelled gifts and serenading her. "He'd sing all the time ... wake me up to sing in the middle of the night, tell me to get on the table and sing."
... But in time, she realised Elvis wasn't his old self. "I was aware of the demise. His temper was getting worse, he was gaining weight, he was not happy. I saw him taking different pills - like a potpourri of capsules - but I didn't know what they were."
... Priscilla insists. "We were all prone to protect Elvis" Why, then, didn't she "protect" Elvis by suggesting he modify his costumes when he gained weight? "I said to him, ' You shouldn't be wearing those jumpsuits any more. It's not looking good.' Then Elvis goes to the guys and says, 'How does this look?' and they'd say, 'Oh, great!'"
And as if to protect one final memory, Lisa Marie hesitated when asked recently what words best describe her father. "God. There are no words for that in my mind," she says slowly. "Beautiful".
- Fans screamed, cameras rolled in summer of '61
By Joy Wallace Dickinson
(
Orlando Sentinel, June 20, 2003)
She went after Toby [played by Elvis Presley] like he came with Green Stamps. -- One of 'Pop' Kwimper's lines from 'Follow That Dream'. It was almost passing-out hot in the small town of Inverness 42 years ago, Robin Koon remembers, and the Old Citrus County Courthouse wasn't air-conditioned -- except for a window unit in the judge's chambers. In that chilled haven, special guests would huddle, such as Mr. and Mrs. Presley -- Vernon and Dee -- who had come down from Memphis to see their son on the movie set. Koon, 8 years old in 1961, didn't know Mrs. Presley was the stepmom of his movie-cast buddy, rather than the beloved mom, Gladys, who had died in 1958.
But for such a young fellow, Koon socked away lots of memories of movie-making in Florida with the king of rock 'n' roll, and he shared them recently on a history-rich tour of Citrus County locations used in the movie. The annual event was sponsored by the Orlando-based Elvis Presley Continentals Fan Club. More than 50 folks tumbled into two buses to travel a slice of unspoiled Florida and visit sites where Elvis played a naive country-style hunk named Toby Kwimper, who tries to help his daddy stake a homestead on a beautiful beach. Veteran character actor Arthur O'Connell played Pop Kwimper.
- Elvis fanatic puts his money on Lisa Marie for charity
By Jo Stephenson
(
Watford Observer, June 20, 2003)
AN ELVIS fanatic has wagered �100 that his hero's daughter, Lisa Marie Presley, will outdo her father and get to number one with her first UK single in a bid to raise money for a local cancer centre.
Mr Sid Shaw, proprietor of Watford-based company Elvisly Yours, laid the bet with bookmakers William Hill on Tuesday at odds of ten to one. If Lisa Marie's single, Lights Out, which is released on Monday, June 30, goes straight to the top of the charts it will raise �1,000 for the Lynda Jackson MacMillan Centre at Mount Vernon Hospital.
- Celebrity scrapbooks have fans, too
By Peggy Welch Mershon
(
Mansfield News Journal, June 20, 2003)
Fans (not the paper kind) and collectors have the obsession gene in common, so it's not surprising that celebrity has spawned many collections. ... The final meld comes when the person becomes the obsession, not the person's work, and when that person achieves enough widespread publicity to generate collectibles beyond his work.
... For example the King of Celebrities, living or dead, is undoubtedly Elvis Presley. It will probably remain that way until the last fan passes from one state to the next. So, it isn't surprising that a 65-page Elvis scrapbook sold on-line for $800, mainly because of the content and provenance. It was compiled in the 1950s by a Memphis, Tenn., fan who "discovered Elvis before the rest of the world." She met him before he was a star, and early memorabilia is always the most desirable.
The scrapbook spans 1954 to 1958 and includes such obscure items as a newspaper clipping from when his lawn furniture was stolen as well as ticket stubs from a 1956 Memphis concert. By comparison, memorial magazines published after his death are a dime a dozen.
By the way, the Elvis fan says the album was "well cared for." Condition always counts. Some collectibles "experts" claim that memorabilia ceases to have value at the point when their fan base dies off.
- When Elvis was king
By Jessica Foster
(
Forest Lake Times, June 18, 2003)
Before Mark Sandmon showed his dad a classified ad for a candy apple red 1957 Chevy, the Forest Lake man never really yearned to call such a classic cruiser his own. "The truth of the matter is I never liked the '57 Chevy," Rod Sandmon, Forest Lake, said. But for whatever reason, he went and checked it out. "Red is my favorite color and the kid backed it out of the garage and I knew I was caught," he said. It was eight years ago when the Forest Lake man bought the car of his son's dreams. Of course, he did always love the 1950s, always loved the King - Elvis Presley.
- Developments can be a Monet -- or an Elvis on velvet
By Newman Cross
(
Memphis Business Journal, June 16, 2003)
... This part of Memphis reminds me of the old joke -- a camel is a horse designed by committee. Germantown Parkway North is a commercial area built by a committee without an overall long-term conceptual plan.
Before you get apoplectic, remember that I make my living working for a real estate developer and broker. You'll be hard pressed to find someone more pro real estate than I am. But facts are facts. Germantown proper is much more attractive than the parkway that bears her name.
Memphis/Cordova had a clean and fresh pallet from which to paint a masterpiece when Wolfchase came along. Unfortunately, some works there remind me more of Elvis on velvet than the Monet or Renoir they were capable of becoming. ...
- As Elvis, he makes people happy
(
Sun Herald, June 16, 2003)
On a recent Friday afternoon, Elvis Presley impersonator Rick Hammond was working a tough crowd. Dressed in a wig and the white suit with tassels and beads that "The King of Rock 'n' Roll" wore in the early 1970s, Hammond was trying to bring a smile to the faces of his audience. He opened with "That's All Right," one of Elvis' most readily identifiable numbers, but it failed to get the crowd jumping. So he switched to something a little slower: the hymn, "Oh Blessed Mother." "This is dedicated to all the Catholics who are here today," Hammond told the two dozen elderly residents of Harbour Healthcare who sat in their wheelchairs, watching him perform in the nursing home's dining room. While some gazed blankly and a couple snored, most watched Hammond with a mixture of curiosity and befuddlement, as if uncertain what they were actually seeing.
- From Mendips to Memphis
By Sophie Baines
(
ic Liverpool, June 15, 2003)
ELVIS Presley's enormous influence on The Beatles and the whole Merseybeat scene is legendary. John Lennon was so taken with the King that he had posters of him on his bedroom wall, named his cat at his home Mendips after him and�said that Elvis was the driving force behind him leaving Liverpool.
In 1965 The Beatles actually met their hero in LA where they chatted, watched television and jammed together. So, in a fitting tribute to this special relationship, the team behind The Beatles Story attraction is opening the Fingerprints of Elvis exhibition on 14th June 2003 in the Albert Dock.
In the only dedicated exhibition of Elvis Presley's personally owned memorabilia outside the USA, is an actual set of Elvis' fingerprints taken for his gun licence application. Alongside the fingerprints is an original Elvis Harley Davidson, plus a vast variety of the King's extraordinary jewellery, stage costumes and his gold Mercedes. A guided audio tour will be narrated by David Stanley, Elvis' stepbrother, and gives an insightful perspective on Elvis' fascinating life.
- Elvis's record collection included Chuck Berry and Canada's Anne Murray
(
cp.org / Associated Press, June 12, 2003)
From Chuck Berry to Bobbie Gentry, the King liked them all. Graceland and Elvis Presley Enterprises have catalogued Presley's record collection with 1,000 albums and singles filling up a 24-page list. Elvis Presley Enterprises, which owns the rights to all things Elvis in the United States, allowed only a cursory look at the list.
A partial copy of the list will be released this month as a perk for members of the Elvis Presley Collectors Club, formed by Graceland as an insider's view of the King's things. "He used to say, 'I can appreciate the best of everything,' " says Elvis friend and disc jockey George Klein, who once asked Presley why he liked opera stars Mario Lanza and Enrico Caruso. There is only one opera recording (by Lanza) in the Elvis collection, which Graceland spokesman Todd Morgan says "leans heavily to black rhythm and blues and to black and white gospel."
Graceland archivists catalogued the recordings by title and last names of artists, so exact numbers in each category aren't readily available. That's because many who began as gospel singers crossed over into pop and R&B and later returned to their gospel roots.
But Elvis' friends said they didn't need a list to know that gospel recordings were his favourites and the music he most often played for friends. "He loved close harmony," says Red West, a former member of the Memphis Mafia, the nickname given to Presley's closest group of friends. He says Presley's favourite groups were the Harmonizing Four and Golden Gate and his favourite gospel singers included Jimmy Jones, Jake Hess and Mahalia Jackson. It was that close harmony that also made him a big fan of the Ink Spots and The Platters, especially love songs, says West.
There are relatively few female singers in the record collection, but friends say his favourites included Anne Murray, Vicki Carr, Jackson, Della Reese, Dionne Warwick, Gentry, Leslie Uggams, Timi Yuro, the Andrews Sisters, the McGuire Sisters and his former backup group, The Sweet Inspirations.
- Elvis memorabilia to go on display
(
MSNBC News, June 11, 2003)
One of the largest collections outside the United States of personal Elvis Presley memorabilia, including a set of fingerprints and his favorite motorbike, is to go on display in Liverpool Saturday. The show was set up by the team behind the Beatles Story museum due to Elvis's influence on the Liverpool group.
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