Late December 2003
- Voices fall silent, but echoes survive
By AMY RABIDEAU SILVERS
(Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, December 31 2003)
For many, it is their voices that will be missed. Those who died in the Milwaukee area and Wisconsin in 2003 include ...
Felice Bryant, 77, who found her true love and later her songwriting partner in husband Boudleaux Bryant. The two met when Bryant, then Matilda Scaduto, was a 19-year-old elevator operator at the old Schroeder Hotel in Milwaukee. Five days later, she ran away with the visiting musician. Together they wrote hundreds of songs recorded by the Everly Brothers, Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead, the Beach Boys and many others. The hits included "Bye Bye Love" and "Wake Up Little Susie." Bryant died of cancer April 22 in Gatlinburg, Tenn. Her husband died in 1987. ...
- Affleck Hints At New Year's Eve Wedding With Lopez
(FOX23, December 31 2003)
Ben Affleck has intensified speculation that he and fiancee Jennifer Lopez will marry in a quickie ceremony Wednesday tonight - by disclosing that the couple are heading to Las Vegas for the celebrations. Affleck told "The Tonight Show" host Jay Leno of his end-of-the-year plans when he appeared on the talk show on Monday night, prompting Leno to state, "That's gonna start rumors." A visibly shaken Affleck quickly changed the subject, but unintentionally dug himself deeper by admitting best pal Matt Damon would be joining the couple in "Sin City," where stars like Elvis Presley and Jon Bon Jovi have tied the knot in quick-and-easy ceremonies. ...
Affleck and J.Lo were forced to cancel their plans to wed in September after the event turned into a media circus. ...
- THE KING AND U.: University of Utah fans turn Elvis' home crimson red
By Dan Nailen
(Salt Lake Tribune, December 31 2003)
Elvis Presley filled the rooms of his Graceland mansion with bright colors, but he probably never thought the University of Utah's crimson would take over so completely, even for a day. The U.'s Liberty Bowl opponent Southern Mississippi University may have more people in the stands today, but Tuesday proved the Ute faithful are a force to be reckoned with as they took over tours of The King's famous home. Everywhere one looked at Graceland -- the residence, outdoor plaza, gift shops or "Rock 'n' Roll Cafe" -- Utah fans colored the scene. Among them were "Muss Bus" riders, Utah fans who traveled 32 hours via Trailways for today's game. "It's cool to be here," said Paul Morton, 21, a civil-engineering major. "I'll be able to say I've been to Graceland." ...
- 'Moon the Loon' tops poll as rock's most excessive rogue
By Terry Kirby
(news.independent.co.uk, December 31 2003)
With stories of Rolls-Royces in swimming pools and televisions lobbed from hotel windows, not to forget the wrecked drum kits, Keith Moon was always seen as the ultimate wild man of rock and roll. But now it's confirmed: the Who's former drummer, dead at just 31 after a life of hell-raising, has topped the list of the 100 Most Insane Moments in Rock, compiled by Q magazine. The list is an enlightening record of rock'n'roll's wacky and weird moments - from Michael Jackson conducting a voodoo ritual to fatally curse his enemies, to Elvis Presley's predilection for mounds of jam and peanut butter sandwiches, via Freddie Mercury's offstage sexual thrills and Diana Ross being arrested at Heathrow. ... But for "Moon the Loon", his whole short life - from joining the Who aged 16 to his death in 1978 from an overdose of pills prescribed to control his alcoholism - is enshrined as an Insane Moment.
... THE TOP FIVE MOMENTS OF INSANITY
.. 5 ELVIS PRESLEY: One night in the early 70s, the King and his entourage flew in his private jet from Memphis to Denverto get 22 plates of a local speciality sandwich - a toasted loaf filled with jam, peanut butter and bacon. ...
- The King's style: He died in an unfashionable decade, but 'Elvis Fashion' is no oxymoron
By Erin Hanafy
(boston.com / Associated Press, December 29 2003)
Take the words "Elvis" and "fashion" and put them together, and unfashionable images might spring to mind: white jumpsuits, loud polyester prints or the divinely tacky decor of Graceland, the King's home. Blame the 1970s, not Elvis Presley, says Julie Mundy, who wrote "Elvis Fashion" (Universe) with the cooperation of Graceland. "Elvis died in the most unfashionable decade. So he hasn't had the chance to redeem himself," says Mundy, interviewed by phone from her home in London. According to Presley's longtime designer Bill Belew, even Gianni Versace wished he could have designed for the King. "Elvis Fashion" documents the risk-taking style that was part of Presley's power as a rock 'n' roll icon, using rare and new photographs of his wardrobe, which has remained hanging in Graceland's closets since his death in August 1977. In addition to Presley's stage costumes, the book offers a glimpse at Presley's personal clothing, including:
- A full-length white leather coat with wide black fur trim.
- A royal blue caftan, trimmed with gold embroidery and beading, that Presley wore around the house.
- A black velvet suit embroidered with Presley's karate insignia.
- A tan and brown leather suit with rainbow-colored leather fringe, inspired by Presley's American Indian heritage.
- A black and white fur coat paired with white velvet pants.
- A chocolate brown faux fur suit and a matching hat that he wore to receive an award from the United States Junior Chamber of Commerce.
"It's hard to sort of imagine that 'Superfly' image with Elvis," Mundy says. "But when I look at music videos and I see R. Kelly and other artists, and they have the fur coat, the cane, the hat, it's very much like something Elvis would wear. That's in a music video, but he wore that casually." One thing he never wore, though, was blue jeans. Although both were associated with rebellion in the 1950s, Presley wore jeans only if a film role required it. Mundy says he associated denim with workwear, and it reminded him of his impoverished childhood in Tupelo, Miss.
At the start of his career, when Hollywood rebels including Marlon Brando and James Dean were donning Levi's, Presley was crafting his "hillbilly cat" look -- sharp suits in bright colors, with his hair combed into a huge pompadour. "Cat clothes are absolutely a must as far as I'm concerned. My favorite hobby is collecting these real cool outfits, and I'd almost rather wear them than eat!" Presley said at the time. "He dressed very flashily. If he wore a shirt, he tied it or he left it open to the waist," Mundy says. A snapshot taken when Presley was on the verge of stardom shows the young singer wearing a captain's hat cocked to the side, his short-sleeve shirt open and tied at the waist. Another series of shots taken in photo booths during Presley's teen years shows his evolution from a smiling, clean-cut Southern boy to a "cool cat" with a pompadour and a heavy-lidded, smoldering gaze.
Presley and his mother, Gladys, were both fans of movie star Tony Curtis, and the young singer especially admired Curtis' hair. Photographer Albert Wertheimer, who documented a young Presley for RCA Records, told Mundy that the dirt-poor singer was fastidious about his appearance. "He said he just spent ages and ages on his hair and he perfected wet combing into a fine art," Mundy says.
As a teenager working at a movie theater in Memphis, Presley was also fascinated by the musicians in Beale Street's blues clubs, who shopped at the Lansky Brothers clothing store. Presley became a lifetime Lansky Brothers customer, even outfitting his "Memphis mafia" cronies in their wares.
Standing amid Presley's wardrobe, Mundy says she got a sense of his obsessions -- a favorite jacket would be copied into different colors and fabrics, and he owned what Mundy calls "an infinite collection" of identical blue pajamas.
"Out of everything that sort of stands out, it's the size," Mundy says. Elvis had a 42-inch chest and his waist ranged between 30 and 32 inches most of his life. "The shirt he wore in 'Jailhouse Rock,' it's like a child's shirt, it's so small."
Belew, the designer who created the head-to-toe black leather look for the 1968 TV special that became known as Presley's "comeback," became a collaborator whom Presley trusted to execute his more and more outrageous style ideas in the 1970s.
"I think when he got to the '70s, Elvis did have complete confidence in Bill's designs. Bill said they'd made the point about Elvis' masculinity and didn't have to worry about that," Mundy says of Presley's penchant for androgynous clothing like jewelry, furs and capes. "He put Liberace in the same outfit, and it was completely camp," Mundy says. "The Osmonds wore these suits too. But they looked like kids in play suits."
The book also includes a number of Belew's sketches of stage costumes -- including the iconic white jumpsuit that came to embody the flashy, trashy excess of Presley's last years. Despite the "fat Elvis" jokes that the jumpsuit inspired, the staying power of its image is, in a way, a testament to Presley's visual presence.
"It was a strong look for the time, and all the men in nightclub acts were wearing these jumpsuits," designer Bob Mackie told Mundy. "But Bill took the look, put it on Elvis, and it became him -- it doesn't belong to anyone now except Elvis."
- Music has no color'
By Nekesa Mumbi Moody
(Record Online / Associated Press, December 29 2003)
Watching newcomer Fefe Dobson jumping around onstage to the rhythm of thrashing guitars, she looks like the typical pop-rocker girl, with a tough attitude and sneering voice. Typical in every way but one. With her caramel hue, the biracial Canadian is unusual even in 2003. Musical acts are still tightly compartmentalized by genre and race - and few are able to break the mold. But artists like Fefe and another teenage newcomer, Joss Stone - a white British singer with the voice of an old soul veteran - are trying to break out of the musical stereotypes in an industry where image and artistry are inextricable. "When people are like 'Oh, you sound black' and all this, I'm like, I sound like me," says Joss.
It's possible for artists to cross over, in either direction. The white singer Justin Timberlake got plenty of urban radio airplay with his disc "Justified," and black acts such as Living Colour, Lenny Kravitz, Macy Gray and others have appealed to rock and alternative radio formats. Still, it's rare - and rarer still for two high-profile teenage girls to come along at the same time in the "wrong" categories. ... [Joss] can't understand why it's become such a big deal. "Music has no color. How can it have a color because you can't see it? How can you say that I sound black or white, or purple or pink or whatever?" she asks.
... Elvis Presley caused an uproar in his early days for "sounding black"; one of the early criticisms of Whitney Houston was she sounded "white" because her music wasn't heavily R&B, plus her voice didn't linger or riff on many notes. ...
- Memorializing a still-dead King; celebrating 'Mona Lisa' extras
By Carol Beggy & Mark Shanahan
(Boston Glove, December 29 2003)
THE KING AND YOU
If not for the booze, the pills and all those fried peanut butter-and-banana sandwiches, Lisa Marie Presley's old man might still be alive today. Alas, the King is dead, and he's not coming back. To celebrate Elvis's 69th birthday, Presley impersonator extraordinaire Steve Connolly is throwing a party at Boston Rocks on Jan. 8 (and staging an all-Elvis concert two nights later at the Berklee Performance Center.)...
[Couldn't find an-email to send comments to for a balanced opinion]
- Beating the holiday blues
By Henrylito D. Tacio
(Manila Times, December 27 2003)
ELVIS Presley sang "Blue Christmas" about languishing in front of a decorated tree, pining for an ex-flame. But for most people suffering from holiday stress, it's about far more than 48-hour heartsickness. "It's the season for it," points out Dr. Eric Warren, a psychiatrist of the Singing River and Ocean Springs hospitals. "The holidays can put people over the edge." ... [article about seasonal affective disorder (SAD)]
- On New Year's Eve, Beale Street will be rockin' with Times Square
By Bill Ellis
(Commercial Appeal, December 26 2003)
For those ready to shake, rattle and celebrate 50 years of rock and roll in the city where it began, a bang of a launch comes New Year's Eve on Beale Street. To ring in 2004 on Wednesday, the historic entertainment district will not only offer plenty of local live music and festivities - to be broadcast on WMC-TV Channel 5 - but will be part of a tie-in with the 32nd annual Times Square countdown from "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve," to air locally on WPTY-TV Channel 24. (Both shows begin at 10:35 p.m.) Kevin Kane, for one, is excited by the exposure. "I don't think there's any question about it, it'll put a spotlight on the city, put a spotlight on an exciting entertainment district and put a spotlight on our great musical heritage," says the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau president, who has helped spearhead the city's 50th anniversary of rock and roll campaign, which centers around the date that Elvis Presley recorded ''That's All Right'' in Sun Studio on July 5, 1954. ...
- Country Music Sustains Major Losses in 2003: Johnny Cash Among Six Hall of Fame Members Who Died
By Calvin Gilbert
(cmt.com, December 26 2003)
The circle remains strong, but there's no denying that the year 2003 took a heavy toll on the country music family. The loss of Johnny and June Carter Cash dominated the national news although the past 12 months marked the deaths of more than a dozen people who made significant contributions to country music.
Johnny Cash was just one of six Country Music Hall of Fame members to pass away in 2003. Others include:
- Felice Bryant: Felice and husband Boudleaux Bryant wrote some of the most famous songs in country and pop music, including "Rocky Top," "Love Hurts" and the Everly Brothers' hits "Wake Up, Little Susie," "All I Have to Do Is Dream" and "Bye, Bye Love."
- Bill Carlisle: A Grand Ole Opry member since 1953, Carlisle was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002. Carlisle, 94, made his last Opry appearance just five days before suffering a stroke in March.
- Don Gibson: If he had only written "Sweet Dreams" and "I Can't Stop Loving You," Gibson's place in the history books would be secure. However, he was a successful artist and wrote other classics, including "Oh Lonesome Me," "(I'd Be) A Legend in My Time" and "Blue Blue Day."
- Sam Phillips: Phillips changed the world of music in 1954 when he produced Elvis Presley's first commercial record at Sun Studios in Memphis. He also discovered and produced early recordings by Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison and others.
- Floyd Tillman: An artist recognized for his distinctive vocal style, Tillman is best known for his songwriting. The catalog includes "I Love You So Much It Hurts," "I Gotta Have My Baby Back," "Slipping Around," "It Makes No Difference Now" (co-written with Jimmie Davis) and "They Took the Stars out of Heaven."
- Johnny Paycheck -- who died in February -- hasn't yet achieved Hall of Fame status, but he was one of country music's most successful artists during the '70s. And while other country artists were considered "outlaws," Paycheck could literally claim that identity. With hits such as "Take This Job and Shove It," "She's All I Got" and "Someone to Give My Love To," Paycheck will remain one of the most distinctive and enduring voices in country music history.
...
- Always famous: Time melts away in Sports Hall of Fame and Museum
By DON HAMMACK
(Sun Herald, December 25 2003)
Michael Rubenstein wears many hats as executive director of the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum. One of them is that of being the face of the facility in terms of money-raising and promotion. ... Rubenstein says "there's no place with more success stories under one roof in the state." Keeping it all going takes money. Admissions generated only 11 percent of the museum's income last year. Rubenstein said that he's been told only two facilities pay their way on admissions alone - Monticello, Thomas Jefferson's home, and Graceland, Elvis Presley's home. ...
- Odds on finding martians slashed to 100/1
(Ananova, December 25 2003)
The possibility of aliens being found on Mars is now 100 times more likely than Wolves winning the Premiership, according to odds from a leading bookmaker. Space probe Beagle 2's attempted landing on Mars has sparked a rush of interest in extraterrestrial life bets, William Hill confirms. The company has cut the odds that proof of the current existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life will be confirmed before the end of 2004 from 500-1 to 100-1. Meanwhile, Wolves, who lie stranded at the bottom of football's top flight, are 10,000-1 to launch an unlikely fightback to win the title. "We just hope that if there is life on Mars, it isn't Elvis Presley hiding up there' said Hill's spokesman Graham Sharpe. "For Hills to pay out on this bet, official confirmation of the current existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life has to come from the then current UK Prime Minister." ...
- What's a Ute fan to do in Memphis?
By Loren Jorgensen
(Deseret Morning News, December 25 2003)
Memphis, Tenn., unlike Las Vegas, isn't within driving distance for Utah fans. Plus, there isn't a single direct commercial flight from Salt Lake City. The Liberty Bowl - in contrast to games in Arizona, southern California and Florida - is not in a locale that's almost certain to provide warm weather in late December for those already tired of winter. But even though it may not be easy to get to and it may end up being cold, Ute fans who make the journey to see the Mountain West Conference champs take on Southern Mississippi should have no trouble staying busy before the game - if they know where to look. So for the benefit of the several thousand Ute fans who are making the trip (and to let the many thousands who aren't going see just what they are missing) here's an unofficial list of the "top 10 things to do" in and around Memphis this week:
1. Pay tribute to a King
This encompasses two of the biggies from Memphis history - Elvis Presley and his Graceland home and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, who was assassinated in Memphis. Elvis' mansion is the top tourist attraction/trap around. It's a bit pricey, to be sure - a "Platinum tour" costs $22.50, while a mansion-only ticket is $16.25 for adults. Still, any trip to Memphis would be incomplete without seeing the "Jungle Room." You can also tour the King's private jet, see his cars and spend a quiet moment at the Meditation Garden, where Elvis is buried - unless he's still alive, of course.
The National Civil Rights Museum is housed at the site where the U.S.'s most famous civil rights activist was slain. It includes interpretive exhibits, audiovisual displays and the renovation of the boarding house where the fatal shot on King was fired. ...
- TV Museum Showcases History of Pop Music
By Carla Hay
(Yahoo! News / Reuters / Billboard, December 25 2003)
Al Green, James Brown, Britney Spears, Elvis Presley and the Monkees are among the artists who will be featured in the "American Pop" series presented by the Museum of Television and Radio in New York and Los Angeles. The two-month series -- which begins Feb. 6 -- will focus on pop music's history on television. ...
- A better kind of stardom in a Jacko-less world
By Ludovic Hunter-Tilney
(Financial Times, December 23 2003)
Suppose Michael Jackson were a trim, middle-aged man with a greying Afro hairstyle and some gold discs hanging on his wall as mementoes of his childhood stardom in the 1970s? In this parallel universe, he retired from pop music aged just 17 in 1975, when his family group, the Jackson 5, left the Motown record label. Occasionally, journalists writing "where are they now?" features call him. He usually laughs nervously and explains he is too shy to answer. There would be some obvious consequences of his non-metamorphosis into the world's weirdest superstar. Thriller, the best-selling album in history, would not have been made. Moonwalking would be something Neil Armstrong did. Bubbles the chimp would have had a different owner. Various lawyers and plastic surgeons in southern California would be rather less wealthy.
What about more fundamental changes? Jackson likes to portray himself as the king of pop, equal in stature to the Beatles (the rights to whose songs he owns) and Elvis Presley (to whose daughter he was briefly married). But whereas pop music in a world without the Beatles or Elvis would be utterly different, the same cannot be said of a pop world without Jacko. Compare his early photographs with what he looks like now and the changes are startlingly clear. But the extent to which he has changed pop music is not so discernible. ...
- Hope Lange
(Telegraph, December 23 2003)
Hope Lange, who has died at Santa Monica, California, aged 70, made her screen debut in Bus Stop with Marilyn Monroe, and later appeared in such films as Death Wish, Blue Velvet and A Nightmare On Elm Street 2; her greatest success, however, came in Peyton Place, for which she was nominated for an Oscar. ... In 1961, she played Irene Sperry, a psychiatrist treating Elvis Presley's character in Wild in the Country. The film - as was usual with Elvis's excursions on to the big screen - did not overtax the critical faculties of the audience, but proved to be one of the singer's more distinguished outings as an actor. Particularly notable was a scene in which Elvis and Tuesday Weld, having over-indulged in Uncle Ralph's tonic, turned a garden hose on Mrs Sperry's house. ...
- People from Near & Far: King acknowledged in Britain
(gazettenet.com / Associated Press, December 23 2003)
Elvis Presley is the all-time singles king in Britain, nearly a half-century after he first crashed into the pop chart here, according to a new list published Monday. ... [as below]
- Elvis tops all-time UK charts
[Item 5]
(CNN, December 23 2003)
Elvis Presley is the all-time singles king in Britain, nearly a half-century after he first crashed into the pop chart here, according to a new list published Monday. ... [as below]
- Elvis still the king in UK
(news.com.au / Associated Press, December 23 2003)
ELVIS Presley is the all-time singles king in Britain, nearly half a century after he first crashed into the British pop chart, according to a new list published overnight. Presley has appeared on 1193 of the weekly charts since 1952, when records began. At No 2 is crooner Cliff Richard with 1152 weeks in the charts, followed by The Shadows at 771 weeks. The singles chart in Britain has varied in length over the years. When Presley hit the chart for the first time in 1956, with Heartbreak Hotel, the British chart listed 30 records. In 1978, the year after Presley died, the chart stabilised at its present length of the top 75 singles. The rest of the top 10 are: Elton John, Madonna, Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Rod Stewart, the Beatles and David Bowie.
- The Year in Country Music Books
By Chet Flippo
(cmt.com, December 22 2003)
If this was a banner year in many ways for country music scholarship, it also underscored the fact that the market for serious country publications is centered in the distant past. Not even the recent past. Not that country music's history is not fascinating. But, that seems to be where audience -- and publisher -- interest is centered. With that in mind, here are several country music books from 2003 that are deserving of special attention. ... The most thoroughly researched country book published this year is certainly The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley, by Alanna Nash (Simon & Schuster). Nash's exhaustive research provides the definitive work on the mysterious past of the illegal alien from Holland who transformed himself into "Colonel Tom Parker." She recounts Parker's takeover of Elvis Presley's career and how he managed the superstar for decades, continuing even after Elvis' death. Many wonderful and awful disclosures abound. Plus, it's a great read. ...
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