IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, PLEASE DO VISIT THE BELOW PETITION AND SIGN FOR ELVIS’ BIRTHDAY TO BE MADE A NATIONAL HOLIDAY.
https://www.change.org/p/us-government-make-january-8th-elvis-presley-s-birthday-of-every-year-a-national-holiday?recruiter=11063340&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=share_email_responsive
Choose who must hold the title of the king for 2016!
Voting has ended for 2015 for THE KING OF MUSIC. ELVIS HAS WON!!!
Elvis Presley – The King of Music 2015. All Hail The King!
PLEASE DON’T FORGET TO VISIT “THE KING OF MUSIC” POLLING SITE AND VOTE FOR ELVIS EVERY SINGLE DAY DURING 2016. WE SIMPLY CANNOT LET ANYONE ELSE CLAIM ELVIS’ RIGHTFUL TITLE. BELOW IS THE LINK TO THE SITE FOR VOTING:
http://thekingofmusic.com/
Lets make it happen again for this new year of 2016!
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MORE GOOD NEWS FOR 2015
The Song of Ages 2015 is Suspicious Minds – Elvis Presley.
Let’s all remember to vote every single day in 2016 for this same song again or any Elvis song which may be added to the list. Below is the link for voting for the new year.
http://songofages.com/
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2016
I want to let everyone know that Jesse phoned this afternoon for a brief visit. He is doing all right. He wanted to discuss one particular topic and so we did not speak too long this time since we spoke so recently. As always, it made my day to hear his voice.
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 3016
CMT Orders Scripted Series Based on Early Careers of Elvis, Johnny Cash
HOMETVNEWS
CMT Orders Scripted Series Based on Early Careers of Elvis, Johnny Cash
FEBRUARY 3, 2016 | 03:00AM PT
Alyssa Sage
CMT will partner with “Hatfields & McCoys” producer Thinkfactory Media to produce a limited drama series that chronicles the rise of rock ‘n’ roll.
The premiere of the eight-episode scripted series, which will be based on the Tony Award-winning musical “Million Dollar Quartet,” will mark the 60th anniversary of the famed “Million Dollar Quartet” jam session that was recorded by Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins in Dec. 1956.
Set in the early days of Memphis’ Civil Rights era, the series will document the birth of rock ‘n’ roll and the rise of the genre’s pioneering musicians during periods of extensive political change and social unrest.
CMT and Thinkfactory Media will begin a nationwide casting search for the roles of young Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, BB King, Ike Turner, Carl Perkins and other supporting characters beginning Feb. 3, with auditions to be held at the historic Humes Preparatory Academy Middle School, Presley’s alma mater, on February 13.
“‘Million Dollar Quartet’ will capture the star-crossed Memphis moments which led to the most explosive pop culture movement of the 20th Century, the birth of Rock ‘n’ Roll,” said Brian Philips, CMT president. “The characters are all larger-than-life, so casting is a daunting challenge, but we’re counting on the magic of Memphis to come alive again! This is among our most ambitious projects ever, and we entrust it to a proven epic filmmaker, Leslie Greif.”
“We are thrilled to be working with CMT as they enter the scripted drama arena,” said Thinkfactory Media CEO and founder Leslie Greif, who will serve as an exec producer on the series. “At Thinkfactory Media, we pride ourselves in finding, developing and delivering products that fit the networks we work with, and ‘Million Dollar Quartet’ is perfectly suited for CMT because of its deep ties to country music and Nashville,” she said.
In addition to Greif, Jayson Dinsmore, Julia Silverton and “NCIS: Los Angeles’” Gil Grant will exec produce. Colin Escott is attached to produce.
The “Million Dollar Quartet” project is CMT’s second scripted series announced for 2016 — the network’s Billy Ray Cyrus-led ensemble comedy “Still the King” will premiere this summer.
Production for CMT’s “Million Dollar Project” adaptation is set to begin in Memphis this spring.
http://variety.com/2016/tv/news/cmt-million-dollar-quartet-elvis-johnny-cash-series-1201695466/
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More on the above story…
Casting Call For Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash And More Begins For CMT’s ‘Million Dollar Quartet’
In a bold move similar to how NBC chose a newcomer to fill Dorothy’s shoes in The Wiz in 2015, CMT is launching a casting call this month to find fresh faces to portray young versions of musicians Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins for a new scripted TV show tentatively titled Million Dollar Quartet.
The eight-episode drama, adapted from the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical of the same name, will focus on the quartet members, who were all 20-somethings when they joined forces for a history-making jam session at Sun Records Studios in Memphis in 1956 during the Civil Rights Movement.
“Million Dollar Quartet will capture the star-crossed Memphis moments, which led to the most explosive pop culture movement of the 20th Century, the birth of rock ‘n’ roll,” CMT President Brian Philips said in a statement. “The characters are all larger-than-life, so casting is a daunting challenge, but we’re counting on the magic of Memphis to come alive again.”
The show — debuting this year to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the recordings that spawned from the Dec. 4, 1956, gathering — will begin production in Memphis this spring after wrapping up auditions for the quartet as well as B.B. King, Ike Turner and more supporting characters.
CMT, the country-centric Viacom network, and production company Thinkfactory Media will hold the casting call at Presley’s former school, Humes Preparatory Academy Middle School, on Feb. 13. They encourage people to come prepared in 1950s-inspired hair and attire. Callbacks will immediately happen on Feb. 14.
Seperately, at a later date, CMT will announce who will star as Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records. Executive producers include Leslie Greif, Gil Grant, Jayson Dinsmore and Julia Silverton, while Colin Escott will serve as producer.
CMT describes the series as such: “Guided by Sam Phillips, young musicians like Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis combined the styles of hillbilly country with the 1950s R&B sound created by artists like Muddy Waters, B.B. King, Fats Domino and Ike Turner, and changed the course of music forever. The series chronicles these young artists’ often jarring and sudden meteoric rise to fame in the face of sweeping political change and social unrest.”
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Strip Scribbles: Elvis Presley star, …
By Robin Leach (contact)
Tuesday, Feb. 2, 2016 | 5:03 p.m.
The late Elvis Presley received new recognition on the Las Vegas Walk of Stars this morning when the Viva Las Vegas Elvis Presley Fan Club installed a new star for the King of Rock and Roll outside Mon Ami Gabi at Paris Las Vegas.
Elvis’ star is now located near Engelbert Humperdinck’s, initiating a new line of future stars. Since 2004, the walk project has honored people of prominence with placements along a 4-mile stretch of Las Vegas Boulevard.
Elvis was originally inducted into the Las Vegas Walk of Stars in September 2008 sponsored by the Viva Las Vegas Club. The club raised the current $20,000 fund requirement with donations from fans worldwide.
After an unveiling ceremony at the Riviera, the star was installed in front of the hotel where it remained until May when the Riviera closed. All of the stars in front were removed by request of the new building owner, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority.
The 7-year-old Elvis star was determined to not be in suitable condition to be re-installed. It was given to the club, who donated the star to the Neon Museum, where it will be included in an upcoming Riviera exhibit.
For the new star, the Las Vegas Walk of Stars coordinated arrangements with the Viva Las Vegas Club. The walk organization funded the replacement and installation; the club paid for the survey fee. The star is made of solid red granite, measures 3 feet square, is 2 inches thick and weighs more than 600 pounds. All donor names are on a list in the memory packet installed underneath the star.
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 2016
My friend, Jeannette, shared this video with me on Facebook. I love this rehearsal footage and this video has the full rehearsal so I want to share it here. I think Jesse will enjoy seeing this also.
Elvis Presley TTWII Rehearsal July 14, … 1970 MGM
DJleaD1981 Published on Dec 16, 2015
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This is an interesting article which contains three good videos of Elvis songs…
Can you guess which Bob Dylan songs Elvis Presley sang?
February 3, 201612:48 PM MST
Elvis sings Bob Dylan’s “Tomorrow Is A Long Time”
YouTube
Since Elvis Presley was not a songwriter, he was always on the lookout for a good song to sing. He rose to worldwide fame in the 1950s hailed as The King of Rock and Roll as a result of having an uncanny ability to select the right songs to record that shot to the top of the charts.
So it’s not surprising that Presley was astute enough to cover songs by Bob Dylan and The Beatles, a band who as John Lennon explained would not exist without Elvis.
And it wasn’t just The Beatles that looked up to Presley. It may sound far-fetched, but Elvis was a huge influence on Bob Dylan. As a teenager growing up in Hibbing, Minnesota, Dylan idolized Elvis. He played in several rock and roll bands during high school and afterwards, but none of his groups ever seemed to stay together.
Dylan realized early on that if he wanted to make it in the music business, his best chance would be to go out on his own. In just a few short years, Dylan made a name for himself in the folk music genre. A great result of Dylan’s success was when his idol Elvis Presley officially recorded two of his songs.
Elvis sings Bob Dylan’s “Tomorrow Is A Long Time”
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dRNZZuuR8I
In 1966, Elvis recorded Bob Dylan’s “Tomorrow Is A Long Time” which appeared on hisSpinout soundtrack album. Elvis was inspired by Odetta’s version of the song, since Dylan had not yet released his own version at that point. Elvis Presley recorded the song on May 26, 1966 during sessions for his gospel album, How Great Thou Art.
Elvis sings Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
Presley recorded Dylan’s 1962 classic “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” on May 16, 1971 at RCA’s Studio B in Nashville. Elvis originally recorded a 12-minute version of the song, repeating the verses several times. An edited version of the song under 3 minutes in length was featured on the 1973 album, Elvis.
Elvis sings Bob Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released”
Elvis also sang an informal version of Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released” (two verses only) during a recording session on May 20, 1971. It was later released in the box set of Presley’s 1970s songs, Walk A Mile In My Shoes.
It’s no question that Elvis’ beautiful singing voice rendered great versions of these Dylan songs. Dylan was later quoted as saying: “The highlight of my career? That’s easy, Elvis recording one of my songs.”
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Elvis was very close friends with a small group of officers in the Denver, Colorado police department. He had an ongoing association with them over a number of years…from 1970 until 1977. A dear friend of mine, Nita, told me about the below book which she had just bought and read last week. It sounded very good and so I bought it as well. I thoroughly enjoyed Officer Cantwell’s story of his friendship with Elvis. Of course, Officer Cantwell is not “in the know” that Elvis did not really die. Few people around him were or are to this day…but nonetheless, his is a very interesting book. It is about Elvis, the man, not the superstar image. This is my kind of book. I will be sending my copy of this book along to Jesse tomorrow as a gift. I think he will enjoy reading about their friendship from Officer Cantwell’s perspective.
Here is the link from which I purchased my copy:
The Elvis Presley I Knew: Beyond the Headlines and Scandal to the Heart of the Superstar (Color Version) Elvis-Color Edition
by
Below is a scan of one page of Officer Cantwell’s book which I found to be important and very significant. Bear in mind that this book was written by a man whose profession was as a “narc” officer.
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SENT TO JESSE THROUGH THIS POINT ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2016
My Facebook friend, Jeannette, shared the following image with me. It is from the Elvis – All That I Am Facebook site. This is exemplary of how miserable Elvis was and how much he wanted out of his life as “Elvis, the image“. I am so very thankful that he found that way out.
I remind the fans that this was written by the same man who the “Memphis Mafia” continues to say, to this day, loved being “ELVIS” and would not have wanted to change his life. Hmmmmm…maybe they did not really know him and/or were not paying attention????
Jesse told me “The last two years of my life were misery“. This is a direct quote of what he spoke to me himself over the phone several years ago.
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Before I was so blessed to hear directly from Elvis in the spring of 1992, I was a soul possessed to educate myself (and anyone else who would listen) to the fact that Elvis was still alive and that he had done some work AFTER 8-16-1977 in the music and movie industries from behind the scenes. The primary focus of my attention was the Orion (the singer) and Orion Pictures (the movie production company). I was able to prove the trail of clues which threaded through the singer and then continued on without missing a beat to the Orion movies. You may see all of my material on my three pages devoted to the topic of ORION. Here are the links to my ORION pages:
https://lindahoodsigmonstruth.com/text-page-for-orion-elvis-jesse-connection/
https://lindahoodsigmonstruth.com/elvisjesse-and-orion-documentation-images/
https://lindahoodsigmonstruth.com/orion-pictures-much-of-the-material-originated-from-me/
One of the facts which I found way back then was that, during the same year in which Gail Brewer-Giorgio’s book “The Most Incredible Elvis Presley Story Ever Told” (which was later published as “Is Elvis Alive?“) became the bestseller and the topic of conversation everywhere in 1988, Orion Pictures put out several movies which were very much Elvis- flavored. Even more important than Orion Pictures waving Elvis flags in some of their movies was the fact that Orion Pictures was shooting films in Memphis in 1988. Below is an excerpt from a document which was compiled by a Tennessee agency regarding the movies which were filmed in Tennessee. I have circled those in 1988 which were shot in Memphis…take note of the ORION PICTURES/CLASSICS presence.
Also I have included one item from another page of this same document…showing that, in 1991, one of Orion’s biggest hit movies “SILENCE OF THE LAMBS” also was partially filmed in Memphis.
As you will see in my continued article below, it is quite an economic shot-in-the-arm for the cities in which movies and shows are filmed…so the states and cities profit greatly from the film locations.
My point is that the above shows that “someone” involved with Orion Pictures wanted to throw a lot of business into Memphis. So, who do we know who loved Memphis and always wanted Memphis to be seen in a very good light? Also, who would have loved to throw out some clues to get people to subconsiously connect Memphis and Elvis with Orion Pictures during the 1988 “Elvis alive” craze?
State approves $4 million grant for CMT’s “Million Dollar Quartet” television series
Friday, February 5, 2016 12:00 am
It’s been 60 years since Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins made a recording in the Sun Records studio in Memphis that brought the singers to be known as the “Million Dollar Quartet.”
Coinciding with that anniversary, CMT will air an eight episode scripted television series later this year to adapt the Tony Award-winning musical “Million Dollar Quartet.”
The series will be filmed in Memphis starting in the spring. The Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development has approved a $4.3 million grant for the project.
“Memphis is the birth place of rock ‘n’ roll music, and we are ecstatic to be able to support a television series that tells the story of the city’s role in one of the most influential cultural phenomenon of the last century,” said ECD Commissioner Randy Boyd in a statement announcing the grant. “This is truly a Tennessee story.”
The series, with the working title “Million Dollar Quartet,” will focus on the lives of Presley, Cash, Lewis and Perkins, as well as record producer Sam Phillips, who made the 1956 recording at Sun Records studio.
“The series chronicles these young artists’ often jarring and sudden meteoric rise to fame in the face of sweeping political change and social unrest,” according to a casting call from CMT.
CMT is partnering with Thinkfactory Media to create the series. The production company is holding a nationwide casting call for actors to portray the iconic singers, as well as BB King, Ike Turner and Trixie Dean, Presley’s girlfriend. The casting call will be on Saturday, Feb. 13 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Presley’s alma mater, Humes Preparatory Academy in Memphis.
Recruiting the project
Even though the story is set in Memphis, it wasn’t a sure thing that the series would be filmed in Tennessee.
Tennessee officials had to recruit the project to be filmed here, said Clint Brewer, ECD assistant commissioner for communications and marketing.
“It was a competitive project,” Brewer said. “They were looking at another location.”
The film company is receiving a grant of up to $4.3 million through the Tennessee Entertainment Production Incentives program, Brewer said. The grant will reimburse 25 percent of the film company’s qualified expenditures, the maximum amount allowed under the program.
The economic impact of the project will include spending at local businesses near the site and a projected 160 film crew positions, Brewer said.
Marketing Tennessee
Officials are excited about the marketing value of a production like “Million Dollar Quartet.” Brewer compared the potential to that of ABC’s drama “Nashville.”
“Every episode gets viewed by about 8 million people globally in about 50 countries, there’s a big audience for it,” he said.
“We hope this will be the same way. There’s a big upside in the marketing when a show like this goes on.”
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TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2016
I enjoyed reading about some of Elvis’ experiences when he was just starting out and the interesting hardships he encountered back then…
Texas put Elvis Presley over the top during the beginning of his career
By: Jack Dennis AXS Contributor Feb 2, 2016 6 days ago
Elvis Presley said Texas put him on top in his early career.
Graphic by Jack Dennis, Photos courtesy of Texas Elvis Fan Club archives
“I owe a lot to Texas,” Elvis Presley once told a Dallas newspaper reporter. “They’re the ones who put me over the top.”
In honor of the Lone Star State’s association with Presley, and the 60th anniversary of his banner year of 1956, Texas will pay a special tribute to the King of Rock n’ Roll on March 4-6, 2015 during the largest Elvis Presley festival in state history. Promoters of the event said today that Texas is the perfect place for the festival.
This inaugural Texas Tribute to Elvis Championship and Festival is hosted by Tees Events USA LLC and will take place at the legendary South Fork Ranch near Dallas. Tees Events has received accolades for their successful and very popular Europe’s Tribute to Elvis events. Fans will be entertained throughout the three day experience with special guests and thecompetition worthy of being one of the global official heats for the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest.
Elvis first crossed into Texas on Nov. 21, 1954 after nearly starving in Louisiana. A booking agent had seen Elvis, along with Scotty Moore and Bill Black, appearing as the Blue Moon Boys during a Louisiana Hayride performance and offered them two weeks’ worth of gigs in some of the area nightclubs. When they showed up for the first show, they soon discovered this particular agent had been blacklisted by the clubs. The Blue Moon Boys were stranded. With no place to stay and little money for gas or fuel, they made a call to the Hayride for help. Some of the staff called around Shreveport and was able to secure a few appearances at nearby taverns.
Tillman Franks, of the Hayride, reached out to his buddy Tom Perryman, a DJ in Gladewater, Texas who found the band a show at the Mint Club in that little town. When Moore called Frank to inquire about any more work, the Boys had made their way to Houston for gas money and a meal in a dance hall before they performed. There was a little money left to put Elvis on a bus while the Moore and Black drove to Gladewater.
When Perryman and his friend Hal Long met Elvis at the Gladewater bus stop, they could tell he was famished and tired. They drove Elvis to his first meal in a Texas restaurant, the Green Hut café, while Long’s wife, who worked at a nearby cleaners, took his jacket for pressing.
That evening, Perryman saw Presley perform for the first time and was impressed how the women began swarming the stage. During a break, Elvis signed autographs on photos for fifty cents. Some of the East Texas women posed for pictures and received hugs or stole kisses from Presley. The DJ felt so sorry for the band he decided not to take his 25% commission. Elvis went to bed for his first full night of sleep in Texas on Nov. 22, 1954 at the Res-More Motel, with $90 to split with Scotty and Bill.
Here are other little known facts about Elvis Presley’s 1950s shows in Texas:
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The first Texas lunch ever served Elvis was the next day at Gladewater’s Green Frog restaurant. He ate barbeque. After Scotty and Bill woke up, they traveled back to Houston for a better paying performance. Elvis wired his parents money and a telegram:
“HI BABIES. HERE’S THE MONEY TO PAY THE BILLS. DON’T TELL NOONE HOW MUCH I SENT I WILL SEND MORE NEXT WEEK. THERE IS A CARD IN THE MAIL. LOVE, ELVIS”
- Elvis played his first game of sports in Texas on Dec. 17, 1954 at the Hawkins High School gym, where the band was playing that night. The Hawkins Hawks basketball team were practicing while they were setting up their equipment on the makeshift stage. Elvis asked if he could play and soon he and the Blue Moon boys were dressed in gym shorts and T-shirts provided by the friendly team.
- Elvis’s first New Year’s Eve performance was on Dec. 31, 1954 at Eagle Hall in Houston. By this time, the band quit their regular jobs in Memphis: Scotty at his brother’s dry cleaners, Bill at Firestone Tires, and Elvis, a truck driver for Crown Electric.
- During three of Elvis’s earliest Texas performances, he inspired several teenage audience members to become successful singer-songwriters: Roy Orbison was on the front row of his Feb. 16, 1955 show in Odessa High School Field House. In the crowd of Elvis’s performance on the afternoon of June 3, 1955 at Lubbock’s Johnson-Connelly Pontiac Showroom was Mac Davis. That night at the Fair Park Coliseum, Buddy Holly was in attendance.
- During an eight day tour in October 1955, Elvis and the Blue Moon Boys drove 2037 miles in Texas, averaging over 250 miles between each gig.
- When the band appeared in Lubbock the first time in 1954, their take was $75 that evening. By the time they returned on April 10, 1956, they earned over $4,000 to perform in front of 10,000 people. It took a team of 20 local police officers to keep the 1956 crowd at bay.
- The first time caravans of buses were used to carry fans to attend an Elvis performance was in Texas. On April 13, 1956 three busloads of students from White Deer High School arrived at Amarillo’s Municipal Auditorium for that evening’s show. Teachers and chaperones reported the bus ride return was far from uneventful as girls continued crying, screaming and sobbing on the long trip back.
- Two days later, at the Municipal Auditorium (now the Tobin Center) in San Antonio, over 3,000 fans caused a near riot at the back stage door attempting to get an autograph between Elvis’s afternoon and evening shows.
- The Oct. 11, 1956 Dallas Cotton Bowl show broke records with over 26,000 fans in attendance watching another Elvis first. The King rode a convertible onto the center stage in the stadium. Years later, Elvis would repeat the convertible ride to the stage during Houston Astrodome appearances.
- Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis’s manager awarded super fan Kay Wheeler with passes to Dallas, San Antonio and Waco shows for her hard work as the founder and national president of a 10,000-member strong Elvis Presley Fan Club.
- His Oct. 14, 1956 performance in San Antonio would be Elvis Presley’s last Texas performance until 15 years later.
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WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2016
The definitive truth about Elvis Presley and racism according to B.B. King
Jack Dennis
San Antonio Headlines Examiner
February 1, 2016
B.B. King knew “the definitive truth about Elvis Presley and racism. “Graphic and B.B. King photo by Jack Dennis; Other photos courtesy of Texas Elvis Fan Club archives
“Let me tell you the definitive truth about Elvis Presley and racism,” The King of the Blues,B.B. King said in 2010. “With Elvis, there was not a single drop of racism in that man. And when I say that, believe me I should know.”
A few years before Presley walked into Sam Phillip’s Recording Service at Sun Studios in Memphis, Riley B. King was beginning his recording career there in 1951. King does remember when he first met the young Presley, it was obvious how respectful and comfortable he was around bluesmen. King, in his 1996 autobiography, said Presley “was different. He was friendly. I remember Elvis distinctly because he was handsome, quiet and polite to a fault. Spoke with this thick molasses southern accent, and always called me ‘sir’. I liked that.”
There has been much debate and speculation in the music world this weekend about Presley’s impact on music as it relate race. Perhaps it’s because of the controversial lyricsfrom a new Macklemore song called “White Privilege II which suggests Miley Cyrus, Iggy Azalea and Elvis Presley are “so plastic, you’ve heisted the magic” from the black culture. Others suggest its because of some other of the growing division in America between races the last seven years. Many think it could be making news because of Will Smith’s decisionto boycott the Academy Awards.
In an Oct. 10, 2010 interview with this writer in his tour bus behind the Majestic Theater in San Antonio, Texas, King was particularly open in his comments. Perhaps it was because present of Hilton Conrad Joseph, a saxophone player for King in the 1970’s and 80’s that the writer helped arrange the two to see each other after more than 20 years). King enthusiastically shared his thoughts about happiness, his famous guitar (“Lucille”), musical influences and Elvis, “the other King.”
“All of our (Presley’s and King’s) influences had something in common,” King explained. “We were born poor in Mississippi, went through poor childhoods and we learned and earned our way through music. You see, I talked with Elvis about music early on, and I know one of the big things in heart was this: Music is owned by the whole universe. It isn’t exclusive to the black man or the white man or any other color. It shared in and by our souls.”
“I told Elvis once, and he told me he remembered I told him this, is that music is like water,” King pointed out. “Water is for every living person and every living thing.”
King raised his finger up as if Elvis was still in front of him, and profoundly declared, “Water from the white fountain don’t taste any better than from the black fountain. We just need to share it, that’s all. You see, Elvis knew this and I know this.”
“Many people make the mistake of being wrong about all of this,” King continued. “If you ask anyone, I’m talking about people from all kinds of music—Blues, Soul, Country, Gospel, whatever—and if they are honest with you and have been around long enough to know—they’ll thank Elvis for his contributions. He opened many doors and by all his actions, not just his words, he showed his love for all people.”
“People don’t realize that when ‘That’s All Right, Mama’ was first played (by Dewey Phillips in July 1954) no one had ever heard anything like that record,” King stressed. “It wasn’t just country. It was Rhythm and Blues. It was Pop music. It was music for everybody. This is important.”
King spelled out that there were two very specific music influences that he had in common with Presley.
“I was barely 11 years old, when one of the greatest influences of my life, Robert Johnson, was recording just across the street from this (Majestic) theater recording his first ever songs,” he revealed.
King was talking about how, on the corner of Houston and St. Mary’s streets in San Antonio,at the Gunter Hotel, Johnson changed the music world forever. King grew up listening to the 16 songs Johnson recorded in the Gunter and “that had a lot to do with where I am today.”
“Johnson came from the same dirt Elvis and so many of us did,” King submitted. “It was the world of sharecropping, and to survive that hard work bending over all day long, there would be plenty of singing. Elvis’s momma and daddy did their share of it—both the picking and the singing. It was called survival. It was called life. It was just as important to us as water. It was as important to those of us who had it in our souls as the water.”
“The other big influence was Jimmy Rogers,” King said. “Some people want to say he was the Father of Country Music, but like Elvis, he was more than that. He was a big influence on not just me. I used to listen to my aunt’s records of Jimmy Rogers and that was a real treat. I liked that ‘Mississippi Delta Blues’ and to listen to him yodel.”
“I never did yodel,” King laughed. “But Jimmy Rogers could sure yodel. He was very good at it. But yes, he influenced more than country music, he influenced Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters as much as he did Merle Haggard or Willie Nelson. See, Elvis did that too, but only much wider. Elvis influenced everybody’s music and it was for the good of all of us.”
“Now, where did Jimmy Rogers learn his music from,” King asked, before he gave the answer. “He learned it working alongside the black railroad workers and hobos. Elvis lived and played with black children back in (Tupelo) Mississippi. He told me that when he was just a baby and his mama had to work, he was cared for sometimes by his grandmamma, but mostly by a neighbor black lady.”
Rogers turned out to be the first superstar in the country music field. Born in 1897, his mother died when he was barely seven years old. He spent his childhood residing with several relatives in southwest Alabama and southeast Mississippi. His father found him a job working for the railroad as a water boy for the railroad and Rodgers soon fit in among the rail workers and hobos. He enjoyed listening to gandy dancers, African American workers, who would sing hymns and work songs daily. He learned to pick a guitar from some of them.
“People today will say things about Elvis they just don’t know about,” King commented. “They want to say this is black music, this is white music, this is country music. But when Elvis came along all that was suddenly washed down the drain.”
“Before Elvis we had Little Black Sambo, separate black restrooms and water fountains, and colored events that kept us away from the whites,” King noted as he mention that Presley would attend events especially designated just for African-Americans. In June 1956, Presley ignored Memphis’s segregation ordinances by attending ‘colored night’ at the local fairgrounds amusement park. The following December, King was there as Presley opened up almost unbreakable racial barriers by attending and supporting the segregated WDIA black radio station’s annual fund-raising event for ‘needy Negro children’ at Memphis’ Ellis Auditorium.
King wrote in his autobiography that he “liked Elvis. I saw him as a fellow Mississippian. I was impressed by his sincerity. When he came to the Goodwill Review (the event WDIA fund raisers of 1956 and 1957), he did himself proud.”
“The Goodwill Revues were important,” he wrote. “The entire black community turned out. All the DJs carried on, putting on skits and presenting good music.”
“When Elvis appeared (in 1956) he was already a big, big star,” King continued. “Remember this was the fities so for a young white boy to show up in an all-black function took guts.”
“I believe he was showing his roots and he seemed proud of those roots. After the show he made a point of posing for pictures with me treating me like royalty,” King recalled. “He’d tell people I was one of his influences. I doubt whether that’s true but I like hearing Elvis give Memphis credit for his musical upbringing.”
“Back in ’72, Elvis helped me get a good gig at the Hilton Hotel while he was playing in the big theater,” King acknowledged in 2010. “He put in a call for me and I worked in the lounge to standing room only. Elvis fans came in different colors but their love of good music was all the same. They were always a good audience.”
“Many nights I’d go upstairs after we finished our sets and go up to his suite,” King confessed. “I’d play Lucille (his guitar) and sing with Elvis, or we’d take turns. It was his way of relaxing.”
“I’ll tell you a secret,” King winked and laughed. “We were the original Blues Brothers because that man knew more blues songs that most in the business—and after some nights it felt like we sang everyone one of them. But my point is, that when we were hanging out in the Hilton in the 70s, Elvis had not lost his respect, his ‘yes sir,’ his love for all fields of music. And I liked that.”
At the same time “Heartbreak Hotel” was climbing the charts in March 1956, Billboardmagazine featured an article called, “Barriers Being Swept Away in C&W, Pop and R&B Fields. “Hard and fast cleavages between the country and western, pop, and rhythm and blues fields are rapidly breaking down,” writer Paul Ackerman penned. “Perhaps the most interesting example of the breakdown of categories, however, is the current overlapping of the country, rhythm and blues fields … The outstanding example of this type of performer today is Elvis Presley, recently with Sun Records and now on the Victor label.”
When Sam Phillips, as Sun Records, released a Presley record, he made sure each bop/rock/pop song had a country tune on the flip side to appeal to both type of listeners. RCA took this innovation even further by marketing Presley in Country, Rhythm and Blues, and Pop fields. By May of 1956, Presley’s “Heartbreak Hotel” became the first “Double-Triple Crown” in Billboard history.
In his autobiography, King said he held no grudges because “Elvis didn’t steal any music from anyone. He just had his own interpretation of the music he’d grown up on, same is true for everyone. I think Elvis had integrity.”
“If anyone says Elvis Presley was a racist,” charged B.B. King in the 2010 interview. “Then they don’t know a thing about Elvis Presley or music history.”
http://www.examiner.com/article/the-definitive-truth-about-elvis-presley-and-racism-according-to-b-b-king
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Jesse phoned me tonight and we had a good visit. He is doing well. We had several topics to discuss this time and so I haven’t anything to share from our visit. He again emphasized to me to pass along his thanks to every person who did something for him and little Nick. He appreciates everything so much and does not want anyone to feel that he did not enjoy their acts of kindness.
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SENT TO JESSE THROUGH THIS POINT ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 11, 2016
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2016
Graceland just released another of the Hidden Graceland tours a few days ago. This one shows lots of things we’ve never seen before.
The Gates of Graceland – Hidden Graceland, Part 2
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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2016
Jesse said to me during one of our phone conversations years ago “I’ve had a hard life. People don’t think that I have, but I have.”
For those who are new to the history of Elvis, I refer you to the list of shows he did in 1954 and 1955. This is an eye-opener for those who think that he just suddenly burst upon the scene in 1956.
Hard working man….Elvis concerts….
1954
17 July Memphis TN, Bon Air Club
30 July Memphis TN, Overton Park Shell
1 August West Memphis TN, KWEM Radio
7 August Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
16 August Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
18 August Memphis TN, Bellevue Par
27 August Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
29 August Memphis TN, Kennedy Hospital, Gerwell Road 9 September Memphis TN, Lamar Airways Shopping Center
18 September Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
24 September Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
25 September Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
1 October Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
2 October Nashville, Grand Ole Opry, Ryman Auditorium
6 October Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
8 October Atlanta GA, Silver Slipper
9 October Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
13 October Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
16 October Shreveport Louisiana, Hayride, Municipal Auditorium
20 October Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
23 October Shreveport Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium
29 October Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
30 October Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
6 November Shreveport Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium
8 November Memphis, Memphis State
13 November Shreveport Louisiana Hayride, Municipal Auditorium
17 November Memphis TN, Eagle’s Nest
19 November Shreveport Lake Cliff Club
20 November Shreveport Louisiana Hayride
21 November Houston Texas, Magnolia Gardens
21 November Houston Texas, Cook’s Hoe-Down Club
22 November Gladewater Texas, KSIJ Radio, Mint Club
23 November Gladewater Texas, Roundup Club
24 November New Boston Texas
25 November Houston Texas, Palladium Club
26 November Houston Texas, Palladium Club
27 November Shreveport, Louisiana Hayride
2 December Helena Arkansas, Catholic Club
3 December Texarkana Arkansas, Municipal Auditorium
4 December Shreveport, Louisiana Hayride
10 December Memphis, Eagle’s Nest
11 December Shreveport, Louisiana Hayride
18 December Shreveport, Louisiana Hayride
22 December Shreveport, Lake Cliff Club
25 December Shreveport, Louisiana Hayride
28 December Houston Texas, Cook’s Hoe-Down Club
1955
1 January Houston Texas, Eagles Hall
4 January Odessa Texas, High School Auditorium
5 January San Angelo, City Auditorium
6 January Lubbock, Cotton Club
7 January Midland, Midland high School
12 January Clarksdale Ms, City Auditorium
13 January Helena Arkansas, Catholic Club
14 January Marianna Arkansas
17 January Boonsville Ms, Northeast Mississippi Community College
18 January Corinth Ms, Acorn Country Courthouse Assembly Hall
19 January Sheffield AL
20 January Leachville Arkansas
21 January Sikeston MO
24 January Hawkins Texas
25 January Tyler Texas
26 January Gilmer Texas
27 January Longview Texas
28 January Gaston Texas
4 February New Orleans
6 February Memphis
7 February Ripley Miss.
10 February Alpine Texas
11 February Carlsbad NM
12 February Carlsbad NM
13 February Lubbock Texas
13 February Lubbock Texas
14 February Roswell NM
15 February Abilene Texas
16 February Odessa Texas
17 February San Angelo Texas
18 February West Monroe LA
20 February Little Rock, AR
21 February Camden AR
22 February Hope AR
23 February Pine Bluff AR
24 February Bastrop LA
25 February Texarkana AR
26 February Cleveland OH
2 March Newport AR
2 March Newport AR
4 March DeKalb, Texas
8 March Helena AR
9 March Poplar Bluff MO
10 March Clarksdale MS
19 March College Station Texas
19 March Houston, Texas
20 March Houston, Texas
20 March Houston, Texas
30 March El Dorado Arkansas
31 March Longview, Texas
1 April Odessa, Texas
2 April Houston, Texas
7 April Corinth MS
8 April Glover MO
10 April Houston, Texas
10 April Houston, Texas
13 April Breckenridge, Texas
14 April Gainesville, Texas
15 April Stamford, Texas
15 April Stamford, Texas
16 April Dallas, Texas
20 April Grenada, MS, American Legion Hut
22 April Texarkana, AR. Arkansas Municipal Stadium
23 April Waco, Texas Heart O’ Texas Coliseum
24 April Houston, Texas Magnolia Gardens
24 April Houston, Texas Cook’s Hoe-Down Club
25 April Wichita Falls, Texas M-B Corral Club
25 April Seymour, Texas High School Auditorium
26 April Big Spring, Texas City Auditorium
29 April Lubbock, Texas Cotton Club
30 April Glade Water, Texas High School Gymnasium
1 May New Orleans, LA Municipal Auditorium
2 May Baton Rouge, LA High school Auditorium
4 May Mobile, AL Ladd Stadium
5 May Mobile, AL Ladd Stadium
7 May Daytona Beach, FL Peabody Auditorium
8 May Tampa, FL. Fr Homer Hesterly Auditorium
9 May Fort Myers, FL City Auditorium
10 May Ocala, FL South-Eastern Pavilion
11 May Orlando, FL Municipal Auditorium
12 May Jacksonville, FL Gator Bawl Baseball Park
13 May Jacksonville, FL Gator Bawl Baseball Park
14 May New Bern, NC Srine Auditorium
15 May Norfolk, VA Norfolk City Auditorium
16 May Richmond, VA Mosque Theatre
17 May Asheville, NC City Auditorium
18 May Roanoke, VA American Legion Auditorium
19 May Raleigh, NC Memorial Auditorium
20 May Kilgore, Texas KOCA Radio
22 May Houston, Texas Magnolia Gardens
22 May Houston, Texas Cook’s Hoe-Down Club
25 May Meridian, MS American Legion Hall
26 May Meridian, MS Junior College Stadium
28 May Dallas, Texas Sportarium
29 May Forth Worth, Texas North Side Coliseum
29 May Dallas, Texas Sportarium
31 May Midland, Texas High School Auditorium
31 May Midland, Texas High School Field House
1 June Guymon, OK High school Auditorium
3 June Lubbock, Texas Johnson Connelly Pontiac Showroom
3 June Lubbock, Texas Fair Park Coliseum
5 June Hope, AR Fair Park Coliseum
8 June Sweetwater, Texas Auditorium
10 June Breckenridge, Texas American Legion Hall
14 June Bruce MS High School Gymnasium
15 June Belden MISS High School Gymnasium
17 June Stamford, Texas Roundup Hall, High School
18 June Dallas, Texas Sportarium
19 June Houston, Texas Magnolia Gardens (matinee)
19 June Houston, Texas Cook’s Hoedown Club (eve)
20 June Beaumont Texas
21 June Beaumont Texas
23 June Lawton, OK McMahon Memorial Auditorium (8pm)
23 June Lawton, OK Southern Club (11pm)
24 June Altus, OK
26 June Biloxi, MS Slavonian Lodge Auditorium
27 June Kessler, MS Air Force Base
28 June Kessler, MS Air Force Base
29 June Mobile, AL Radio Ranch Club
30 June Mobile, AL Radio Ranch Club
1 July Plaquemine, LA Casino Club
3 July Corpus Christi, Texas Hoedoen Club
4 July Stephenville, Texas City Recreation Hall
4 July DeLeon, Texas Hodges Park (afternoon)
4 July Brownwood, Texas Soldier’s & Sailor’s Memorial Hall (8pm)
20 July Cape Girardeau MO Cape Arena
21 July Newport, AR Silver Moon Club
25 July Fort Myers, FL City Auditorium
26 July Orlando, FL Municipal Auditorium
27 July Orlando, FL Municipal Auditorium
28 July Jacksonville, FL Gator Stadium Baseball Park
29 July Jacksonville, FL Gator Stadium Baseball Park
30 July Daytona Beach, FL Peabody Auditorium
31 July Tampa, FL Ft Homer Hesterly Armony
1 August Tupelo, MS Fairgrounds
2 August Muscle Shoals, AL Sheffield Community
3 August Little Rock, AR. Robinson Auditorium
4 August Camden, AR. Municipal Auditorium
5 August Memphis Overton Park Shell
7 August Houston, Texas Magnolia Gardens (matinee)
7 August Houston, Texas Cook’s Hoedown Club (eve)
8 August Tyler, Texas Mayfair Building
9 August Henderson, Texas Rodeo Arena
10 August Gladewater, Texas Bear Stadium
11 August Longview, Texas Reo Palm Isle Club
12 August Kilgore, Texas Driller Park
22 August Wichita Falls, Texas Spudder Park
23 August Bryan, Texas Saddle Club
24 August Conroe, Texas High School Football Field
25 August Austin, Texas Sport Center
26 August Gonzales, Texas Baseball Park
1 September New Orleans, LA Pontchartrain Beach
2 September Texarkana, AR Arkansas Municipal Stadium
3 September Dallas, Texas Sportarium Then Round Up Club
5 September Forrest City, AR St Francis Country Fair and Livestock Show
6 September Bono, AR High School Gymnasium
7 September Sikeston, AR National Guard Armony
8 September Clarksdale, MS City Auditorium
11 September Norfolk, VA City Auditorium
12 September Norfolk, VA City Auditorium
13 September New Bern, NC Shrine Auditorium
14 September Wilson, NC Fleming Stadium
15 September Roanoke, VA American Legion Auditorium
16 September Asheville, NC City Auditorium
17 September Thomasville, NC High School Auditorium
18 September Richmond, VA WRVA Theater
19 September Richmond, VAWRVA Theater
20 September Danville, VA Fairgrounds
21 September Raleigh, NC Memorial Auditorium
22 September Kingsport, TN Civic Auditorium
28 September Glober, MO B&B Club
3 October College Station, Texas G Rolle White Coliseum, A&M University
4 October Paris, Texas Boys Club Gymnasium
5 October Greenville, Texas City Auditorium
6 October San Marcos, Texas Southwest Texas State University (matinee)
6 October Austin, Texas Skyline Club
8 October Houston, Texas City Auditorium
10 October Brownwood Texas Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall
11 October Abilene, Texas Fair Park Auditorium
12 October Midland, Texas High School Auditorium
13 October Amarillo, Texas City Auditorium
14 October Odessa, Texas
15 October Lubbock, Texas Fair Park Auditorium later at Cotton Club
16 October Oklahoma City, OK
17 October El Dorado, AR Memorial Auditorium
19 October Cleveland, OH Circle Theatre
20 October Film locations (day) Circle Theatre (eve)
21 October St Louis MO Missouri Theatre
22 October St Louis MO Missouri Theatre
23 October St Louis MO Missouri Theatre
24 October Newport, AR Silver Moon Club
26 October Prichard, AL Greater Gulf States Fair Blakely Island
6 November Biloxi, MS Community House
7 November Keesler, MS Airmen’s Club, Keesler Air Force Club
8 November Keesler, MS Airmen’s Club, Keesler Air Force Club
12 November Carthage, Texas Carthage Milling Co (aft)
13 November Memphis, Ellis Auditorium
14 November Forrest City, AR High School Auditorium
15 November Sheffield, AL Community Center
16 November Camden, AR City Auditorium
17 November Texarkana Arkansas Municipal Auditorium later Hut Club
18 November Longview, Texas Reo Palm Isle Club
19 November Gladewater, Texas High School
25 November Port Arthur, Texas Woodrow Wilson Junior
2 December Atlanta, GA. Sport Arena
3 December Montgomery, AL State Coliseum
4-7 December Indianapolis, IN Lyric Theater
8 December Louisville, KY Rialto Theater
19 December Memphis, Ellis Auditorium
Then, things really got crazy…his life was never really his own until after August 16, 1977.
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2016
I wish everyone a lovely Valentine’s day.
Hope your day is filled with love and making good memories.
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I liked seeing this photo of Elvis. He had just been introduced by the person on stage as he was a member of the audience at someone else’s show in Vegas.
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I liked reading this letter written to the L.A. Times and published by them:
Regarding “Memphis Tells Our Story,” by Andrew Bender, Feb. 7: Although I was not a dyed-in-the-wool Elvis Presley fan before my visit to Graceland in Memphis, Tenn., I left with a profound admiration for the man, his music and the intelligent commentary provided by Lisa Marie, his daughter, along with an indelible belief that the King is alive and well somewhere among the sequins, gold and shag.
I also was delighted to find that Memphis is about so much more than finger-lickin’ barbecue and music: The Cotton Museum, for example, contains one of the most comprehensive collections of exhibits intelligently explaining the socioeconomic rhythms of the South, and the Jewish Museum completed my understanding of why the area made such a profound contribution to the textile industry.
Ruth Kramer Ziony
http://www.latimes.com/travel/deals/la-tr-letters-20160214-story.html
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016
Some fun with Elvis for a Monday morning…
SOME OF THE BEST UNSEEN FOOTAGE OF ELVIS PRESLEY LIVE AND IN HD
Published on May 26, 2012
ITS ELVIS BABY
ENOUGH SAID
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I enjoyed reading about this performance in my state 60 years ago. Unfortunately, being only 9 years old, etc., I did not get to see any of his early shows here.
When Elvis came to town 60 years ago
AP Photo/Museum of Television & Radio
Stardom was tantalizingly close when Elvis Presley played three shows at the Carolina Theater in Winston-Salem on Feb. 16, 1956. Songs included “Tutti Frutti,” “Blue Suede Shoes” and “Heartbreak Hotel.” By the time Elvis appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show” seven months later, he was no longer just a regional star.
Posted: Saturday, February 13, 2016 11:45 pm
Sixty years ago Tuesday, a lean and broad-shouldered dreamboat of a man with bedroom eyes and a swirling nest of greasy hair stepped onto the stage of the Carolina Theater in downtown Winston-Salem.
Bedlam ensued, but not just any kind.
This was straight-arrow pubescent girls losing their minds, caterwauling, convulsing and uncorking enough pent-up sexual energy to singe the lace on every pair of bobby socks in the city.
With the detached view of an older man, Journal columnist Roy Thompson surveyed the scene and called it “an orgy of hand-clapping, foot-stamping and tonsil-straining screaming.”
Janice Love, who was in the thick of the mania, describes the frenzy in less poetic language. “It was,” she said, “like a bunch of wild animals.”
In the first months of 1956, Elvis Presley was blazing a trail through the Southeast, playing a new brand of rollicking music at small but packed gyms and theaters in such places as Burlington, High Point and Wilson.
Having just turned 21, Elvis was still a regional act, a soft-spoken, deferential country kid with a cornball sense of humor and an undeveloped swagger. And his appearance, though striking, lacked polish, with unruly hair, not the carefully sculpted pompadour that he would soon sport.
But stardom was tantalizingly close.
Rocketing to No. 1
Within weeks of his three-show gig on Feb. 16 at the Carolina Theater, his new song, “Heartbreak Hotel,” shot to the top of the Billboard charts, Hollywood called him in for a screen test, and Milton Berle offered him a coveted spot on his popular TV show, all of which catapulted Elvis to a stratospheric and suffocating level of fame, the heights of which few have reached.
In Winston-Salem and other cities on the North Carolina leg of his tour, a starry-eyed teenager could still approach Elvis at a lunch counter, get an autograph or a photo, or beg for a kiss.
He complied so many times that writer Jim Poling, who was traveling with Elvis at the time, joked that Elvis’ lips were becoming calloused.
“Only a few weeks ago in Washington, D.C., a girl left his embrace saying, ‘I don’t know what’s happened, but he was kissing a lot better in Winston-Salem,’” Poling wrote in an article for Pageant magazine that was published in July 1956.
Though Elvis had played a few dates in North Carolina in 1955, the stop in Winston-Salem was his first.
According to a column that Thompson wrote after Elvis’ death in 1977, the date at the Carolina Theater — what is now known as the Stevens Center — was probably the result of a friendship between U.K. Rice, a showbiz veteran who had managed the Carolina Theater since 1929, and Col. Tom Parker, Elvis’ manager.
Elvis was the headliner on a bill with country and western acts — *the Louvin Brothers, the Carter Sisters and Justin Tubb — for shows at 4:30, 7 and 9 p.m.
Tickets were 85 cents for adults and 50 cents for kids.
The media and most adults appeared to pay little mind to Elvis, and when they did speak of him and the fledgling style of music known as rock ’n’ roll, it was with derision.
But the kids in the area? Most were craving something new and exciting, bored by what they heard on the radio.
“The music was pretty bland, pretty syrupy sweet,” said Martha Eller, who was a sophomore at Reynolds High School at the time. “We weren’t hearing a lot of black musicians. Elvis introduced us to this whole genre and we liked it.”
‘It changed music forever’
At the time, the most-played songs blasting on the airwaves were “Memories are Made of This” by Dean Martin, “Rock and Roll Waltz” by Kay Starr and “16 Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford, hardly the stuff that reflects teenage passion and angst.
Lawrence Davis, a 1956 graduate of Reynolds High School, said Elvis’ sound was distinct.
“It was good music to dance to, good music to listen to. It had a lot of energy,” Davis said. “He had a haunting a voice, different from other singers on the radio. You could pick it out. It was obvious it was Elvis.”
Holly George-Warren, an acclaimed music writer, said the radio airwaves were mostly segregated in 1956.
“There was a huge divide between radio play on white and black stations, and Elvis broke down that barrier,” said George-Warren, an Asheboro native. “This was a brand-new thing. There was this raw quality, with just bass, drums and guitar. The songs weren’t drenched in strings, so it was a huge difference, and it changed music forever.”
The turnout for the matinee show was tepid, infuriating Rice, the theater’s manager. His old friend, Parker, had sent him a dud.
But after that show, word spread throughout town that Elvis was tearing down the roof at the Carolina Theater.
Soon, a swarm of girls amassed outside the stage door.
“When the crowd got big enough, one of Col. Parker’s men ‘forgot’ and left the door open,” Thompson wrote. The girls rushed in to grab a seat, setting the stage for bedlam.
“It was absolutely packed,” said Eller, who was at one of the evening shows. “It was one of the high points of my life.”
Saw something special
Backed by the Blue Moon Boys — Scotty Moore on guitar, Bill Black on bass and D.J. Fontana on drums — Elvis took his spot, front and center, oozing sexuality, gyrating and writhing in ways that many had never seen before.
His songs included “Tutti Frutti,” “Blue Suede Shoes,” and “Heartbreak Hotel,” according to local historian Fam Brownlee, who wrote about the show on a blog for the Forsyth County Library.
Thompson was impressed, writing in the next day’s edition of the Journal: “Mr. Presley must be seen if he is to be believed — and even then he seems somewhat unbelievable. He slouches; he scratches; he mugs; he bumps and grinds.”
Many of the acts on the bill with Elvis watched from the side of the stage, with one — *the notoriously irascible Ira Louvin — enraged at the thunder-stealing upstart.
At some point backstage, he blasted Elvis for playing black music and “tried to strangle him,” according to “Elvis Presley: A Southern Life” by Joel Williamson.
*Please see my footnote at the end of this article regarding Louvin
Their relationship never recovered.
After the show, Merry Gordon Jones’ sister, Laidley, hunted down Elvis for an autograph.
“Being the older sister, I said, ‘I want one. Go get me one,’” recalled Jones, a Reynolds student at the time.
Laidley returned backstage and was told by a handler to sit on Elvis’ lap for a photo. She declined, saying, “I’m not sitting on that greaseball’s lap,’” Jones said with a laugh.
The next day, after breakfast at a diner on Marshall and Fourth streets, Elvis flew to New York City for an appearance on CBS’ “Stage Show.”
A week later, Elvis collapsed from exhaustion in Jacksonville, Fla. Elvis checked himself out of the hospital early and performed the next night. The juggernaut would not be stopped.
Time has smudged many of the memories of that midwinter day in 1956, but there is a general sense among the people who were at the Carolina Theater that they had witnessed something special.
Many remained fans, buying Elvis’ records, singing along to his songs and visiting Graceland, his home in Memphis, Tenn.
Love, who was a student at Walkertown High School at the time and now lives in Kernersville, followed Elvis all over the Southeast, even traveling to Memphis to pay her final respects when he died in 1977.
“He was just the best-looking thing I had ever seen in my life,” Love said. “We just loved him.”
lodonnell@wsjournal.com
http://www.journalnow.com/news/elvis-came-to-town-years-ago/article_bfcd2e06-0dee-5a2e-a576-7c8d2744d173.html
*Louvin footnote: Jesse once told me during one of our phone conversations that he “toured with the Louvins and they never liked me.” The above bears witness to what Jesse said. At the time that he told me that, I had never heard of the Louvins and so I looked them up on the Internet. After he told me that, their names got a big black X across any mention of them in my mind. Now I understand, from reading this article, that it all stemmed from jealousy.
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Sweet Valentine’s photo…sorry it is a day late. Also, from a North Carolina show…1977.
This photo of Elvis was captured on February 20, 1977 in North Carolina.
Photo courtesy of:
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My friend, Jeannette, shared this video with me on Facebook. I think Jesse will enjoy seeing this one. My thanks to Jeannette.
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2016
I have a page on this web site devoted to the topic of Elvis/Jesse and Howard Hughes. I recommend that anyone who missed out on my earlier articles, regarding the fact that Jesse wrote that Howard Hughes was one of the people who helped him carry out his faked death on Aug. 16, 1977, visit that page. Below is the link to the page:
https://lindahoodsigmonstruth.com/elvisjesse-and-howard-hughes/
The reason that I am bringing up this topic today is because I just came across yet another photo of Elvis coming off of a Hughes AirWest plane in 1973. I just added it to the above page and wanted to remind everyone of it here as well. There is another amazing story about Howard Hughes himself which you will find on that page. Something that only someone who was close to Mr. Hughes, such as Elvis, would have known in 1977. Below is that photo:
Photo from: Elvis Presley Life Thru A Lens on Facebook
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2016
This is a public notice to the person, or persons, who have been trying to login to my web site under my name for malicious reasons.
I do receive notifications from my WordPress security application which tells me the IP address and location of such events. Tonight I received the following notice alerting me to the fact that, after 10 failed attempts to login under “lindahoodsigmontruth“, they were locked out from my site.
Below is the full IP address and the location of the perpetrator of these attempts. This is not the first time that this type of thing has taken place. I am posting this for the benefit of the entity attempting to disturb my web site. Just so you know that your identity is available to legal authorities should any damage be done to my web site.
A user with IP address 46.161.9.8 has been locked out from the signing in or using the password recovery form for the following reason: Exceeded the maximum number of login failures which is: 10. The last username they tried to sign in with was: ‘lindahoodsigmontruth’
User IP: 46.161.9.8
User hostname: 46.161.9.8
User location: Saint Petersburg, Russia
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SENT TO JESSE THROUGH THIS POINT ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2016
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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2016
My friend, Jeannette, shared this photo with me on my timeline on Facebook. I have never seen this photo before and it immediately caught my attention because it is such a good comparison to the pool house door photo. As I have said before, Jesse told me that it really is him in the pool house door photo. He told me this of his own accord…I did NOT ask him. I NEVER ask for private information from him. Friends don’t ask friends questions!!
Here is the link to my page devoted to the pool house door photo:
https://lindahoodsigmonstruth.com/the-pool-house-door-photo/
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Below is an interesting excerpt from a book by film director Don Siegel who worked with Elvis on the movie Flaming Star. This was especially of interest to me because Jesse gave a hat to my husband, Tom, saying that he asked Don Siegel for the hat which he wore for the cover of the soundtrack album for that movie. Jesse said that Mr. Siegel gave him a new hat like the one which Elvis wore for the photo. So, I enjoyed reading about the details of Mr. Siegel and Elvis working together during the filming of Flaming Star.
Director Don Siegel Recalls
The Making of “Flaming Star”
Between 1945 and 1981, Don Siegel directed 35 Hollywood feature films.Flaming Star in 1960 came right in the middle of Siegel’s career and closed out his most prolific period in the late 1950s. While not considered one of filmdom’s A-list directors, Siegel brought a workmanlike reputation to the 20th Century Fox project with Elvis Presley in the marquee role. He even had some experience with a teen idol, having directed Fabian in Hound Dog Manthe year before.
Two years after his death in 1991, Siegel’s commentaries on his films were collected into A Siegel Film: An Autobiography. The book was divided into chapters for each of the director’s films, with Chapter 21 being devoted to Flaming Star. The following information comes from that volume.
Nunnally Johnson, one of the industry’s most respected writers (The Grapes of Wrath, The Three Faces of Eve), wrote the original screenplay with Marlon Brando in mind for the role of Pacer. (“Incredibly, it became a vehicle for Elvis Presley,” Siegel commented.) The script was based on a novel by well-known Western writer Clair Huffaker. After reading the screenplay, Siegel sensed problems and felt the need to have a “straightforward chat” with producer David Weisbart.
Siegel’s first question of Weisbart was, “Why Presley?” The producer responded, “He’s a big box-office star. Don’t you think he can do it?” Avoiding a direct answer, Siegel said, “Surely you are aware of the need to refocus on the script?” Weisbart then noted of Presley, “Certainly he’s no Brando. On the other hand, Brando’s no Presley.”
• Flaming Star script required “considerable” rewrite
The two finally agreed that, with Presley in the lead, the script required a “considerable” rewrite. There was a hitch, though. Nunnally absolutely refused to alter his screenplay. Fortunately, Huffaker agreed to tackle the job. Still, whatever the script’s final form might be, Siegel was still worried. “Would the public accept a serious story with Elvis playing a half-breed?” he wondered. And Siegel told Huffaker that there was another problem. The studio wanted Elvis to sing at least ten songs in the picture. “Supposing,” the director suggested, “we had Elvis sing over the main titles and sing one simple song at the party, less than a minute into the picture?” Huffaker responded, “You’ll never get away with it.”
Siegel couldn’t see how Elvis could sing rock songs, or any kind of songs, after the emotional experiences that filled the script. He decided to plead with Weisbart for minimal music in the film. “There’s no question that Elvis can play the part well,” admitted Weisbart, who told Siegel he would try to convince the front office that Presley’s singing needed to be severely limited in the film. If the executives rejected the idea, Siegel agreed to move forward with a music-filled script.
Flaming Star producer David Weisbart, Colonel Parker,
Elvis, and director Don Siegel
Weisbart then brought up “some strange casting news” relating to actor Steve Forrest’s girlfriend in Flaming Star. Whoever she was, Siegel at first didn’t see a major problem. “There are about two hundred actresses who’d give more than uttering their lines to play opposite Elvis,” Siegel noted. But the studio had chosen a tall, black-haired English actress named Barbara Steele. “She’s had very little experience and is not a good actress,” explained Weisbart, “and I don’t like the leading lady towering over Elvis.”
• Siegel confronted casting director over leading lady
Siegel decided he’d better have a talk with Owen McLean, head of casting, whom Siegel described as a “pompous ass.” The director described the opening of their conversation as follows:
“He said the reason I didn’t like Barbara Steele was because she had black hair. I told him flatly that the only reason I didn’t want her in the picture was to protect Presley. She couldn’t act. In addition, I feared Elvis’s reaction when he was asked to stand on an apple box to be eye-level with her. Owen had a brilliant idea. He would shoot a test of Miss Steele in a golden wig. He was adamant that we would flip out when we saw her.”
Siegel then brought up his concerns about Steele’s height and English accent, but McLean wouldn’t budge. “Why the big fuss about her?” Siegel asked. “Because I think she’s perfect for the part,” McLean declared. “What about the studio?” Siegel probed. “They love her,” asserted McLean. “Literally?” implied Siegel.
That brought an angry McLean to his feet, recalled Siegel. (“As it is a ‘no-no’ to punch the idiot out,” he added, “I decide to indulge in my favorite pastime, teasing.) “I’ll report our conversation to my karate partner, Elvis.” According to Siegel, a “terror-stricken” McLean snapped, “Under no circumstances mention a word of our meeting to Elvis. Is that clearly understood?”
A week later, Siegel and Weisbart watched the test Owen had made with the actress. “Miss Steele had blonde hair, a slight stoop and a Western accent straight from Birmingham,” Siegel recalled. “When we demurred, we were told that the studio had already made an irrevocable decision. Miss Steele was playing opposite Presley.” Weisbart was particularly upset. “My God! We’re dead,” he declared. Siegel was fatalistic. “Let’s start the picture, do our best and see what happens,” he suggested.
• Barbara Steele undone by accent, height, inexperience
When filming began at the studio ranch in Malibu, the director was very pleasant with Steele. “I liked her personally,” Siegel explained, “but her woeful lack of experience and strange Western accent, plus her height, proved her undoing. I tried to help her, despite some strange looks from Presley.” Weisbart and Siegel decided to run the dailies for the studio execs and let the film speak for itself. It worked. The next day the Fox moguls dumped Barbara Steele from the cast.
Siegel had to give the actress the bad news. “I had lunch with Miss Steele in my trailer,” he recalls of the unpleasant task. “I tried to be as gentle as I could. I explained that she was miscast. It wasn’t fair to her. To my astonishment, she seemed relieved.” She replied, “I told Mr. McLean and other executives that I was uncomfortable in the role. I’m happy I’m off the picture. I want to thank you and Mr. Weisbart for being so kind.”
Two days later Barbara Eden showed up on the set. “There was no question that she would give an excellent performance,” Siegel noted, but one thing bothered him about her role.
“In the picture, she lived in a small, isolated Western town. I felt that her hair should at least be unkempt, but it was coiffured with great care and style. Her clothes, which should have been homespun and plain, were expensively tailored. She looked much, much too well dressed for this frontier town of about twenty people. I decided, after checking with David, to leave well enough alone. At least she was considerably smaller than Elvis.”
• Director surprised by Elvis’s sensitivity
The director was pleased with Elvis’s work in Flaming Star. “Presley surprised me with his sensitivity as an actor,” Siegel admitted. “Colonel Parker … thought there should definitely be more songs. He was wrong on two counts: Elvis could have become an acting star, not just a singing star; also, he would have been happier.”
As evidence of Presley’s acting ability, Siegel recalled a difficult scene in which Elvis was supposed to try to kill a doctor who arrived too late to treat his mother. The scene ends emotionally with Elvis declaring his long concealed love for Barbara Eden’s character. Siegel explained how he coaxed Elvis into the scene.
“Elvis felt he couldn’t do the scene: he felt that his acting talent wasn’t equal to the sequence. When I pointed out to him that we would rehearse until he was satisfied with his performance, he begged for more time to prepare. Almost childlike, he offered me the use of his brand-new black Rolls-Royce until we had to do the scene. He was so upset that I decided to push the shooting date back as far as possible. I took him up on his offer to use his Rolls-Royce, and for two weeks I felt like a millionaire, driving his superb car. When the inevitable time came to do the scene, I returned his Rolls-Royce. To Presley’s amazement and mine, Elvis gave his finest performance ever.”
For Don Siegel, another key scene in Flaming Star was the burial of Elvis’s mother, played by Dolores Del Rio. “I tried to do it with as much meaning as possible, yet with simplicity,” the director explained. “I made it with the five people (Elvis Presley, Steve Forrest, Barbara Eden, Ford Rainey and John McIntire) at the grave on different levels, with each turning to walk away towards the house in descending order of their closeness to the dead woman. The scene closes with her husband, McIntire, standing there alone and the others fading in the distance.”
Variety’s review of December 21, 1960, moderately assessed the director’s work on the picture: “Don Siegel has packaged plenty of excitement into the picture, notably some realistically staged fistfight, battle and chase passages. But there are a few equally unrealistic-looking scenes.” The New York Timescalled Siegel’s direction of Flaming Star “workmanlike and deliberate.”
Don Siegel’s most noteworthy directorial work came in the 1970s. He worked with Clint Eastwood on Two Mules for Sister Sara (1970) and Dirty Harry(1971), and was at the helm for John Wayne’s final film, The Shootist (1976).
Managing Elvis Presley’s sixth film, however, tested Don Siegel. “Flaming Star proved challenging,” he noted in closing his book’s chapter on the film. How he overcame the challenges presented by a script rewrite, a miscast leading lady, and a young, sensitive, and, at times, uncertain Elvis Presley, testifies to the worth of Siegel’s film management skills at that time in his Hollywood career. As a result, he was ever a defender of Flaming Star as a film and of Elvis Presley’s dramatic work in it. — Alan Hanson | © March 2011
http://www.elvis-history-blog.com/don-siegel.html
Below is part of my article which I shared on this site back when I displayed the photo of the hat which Jesse gave to Tom. You may also read Jesse’s own handwritten note which he wrote to us when he sent the hat:
Everyone needs something to lift our spirits as only Jesse himself can do. So, I beg his forgiveness for displaying this without discussing it with him first. He has told me that I am his “baby sister” and anything I do is fine with him. He is so good to me always.
I will also display the letter that Jesse wrote to Tom and me when he sent this gift. The name which I have whited out is the man who channels our mail to and fro. Bless his heart too…he is an unsung hero in all things.
First of all, here is the letter in which Jesse explains what the gift is. I will let Jesse’s words say it all…I need add nothing to his letter.
Also, as a PS in that same package, Jesse sent me several pieces of his grandmother’s (Dodger’s) jewelry. There were 4 pieces in all…I am displaying one pair of ear rings below along with his P S on the back of his envelope explaining about the jewelry.
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SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2016
Over the course of my long friendship with Jesse, he has given to my husband and me so many gifts. I have shown just a few of these on my site over the past almost 7 years. Usually, I have displayed these on the CURRENT NEWS AND EVENTS PAGES. Therefore, they are scattered throughout the site.
I have decided to create a new page to display my previous articles containing the gifts which Jesse has so generously given to us in one location. I can’t go through my entire site to locate all of these at once. So, I will be adding to this new page as time allows. Below is the link to the new page…for now it is only just begun.
https://lindahoodsigmonstruth.com/gifts-from-jesse/
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Jesse called earlier this evening and we had such a good visit. He said he is doing all right. We continued discussing some topics about which we spoke last time he called and about which I wrote to him in my weekly letters. So, I don’t have anything to share from our conversation this time.
We did discuss one very special thing which I asked his permission to post on my site and he did say that I could. So, in the next day or so, I will be posting the item. I know everyone will love seeing this so much. I won’t spoil it by telling anymore about it now. But, it is the cutest thing I have ever seen relating to Jesse. It is so cute and sweet.
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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2016
Here is some wonderful news!! My friend, Monica, shared this with me this morning and I thank her so much.
Posted date Updated
Riviera Boulevard to be renamed Elvis Presley Way
Workers from All-Star Fence assemble the perimeter surrounding the iconic Riviera Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, which closed on Monday, May 4, 2015 after 60 years. (Mark Damon/Las Vegas News Bureau)
World record the largest coffee mosaic was created in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
Consisting of 5,642 cups of coffee in 10 different shades, the caffeinated creation depicted the face of Elvis Presley in a space of (16 ft x 25 ft).
Each coffee cup contained at least 200ml of coffee and milk.
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2016
I am so very sorry to share that Elvis’ good friend, Dr. Nick has passed away last night. He was vilified and lied about by the media and fans who are ignorant of the truth. My heart has always gone out to Dr. Nick. He was a true friend to Elvis. That is all I will say. Those who now know that Elvis did not die should read between the lines and respect Dr. Nick.
I express my deepest smypathy to Jesse.
Obituary for Dr. George C. Nichopoulos
Dr. George C. Nichopoulos, 88 of Memphis passed away February 24, 2016. Dr. Nichopoulos served in the United States Army and was a member of Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church in Memphis. He is survived by his wife, Edna Nichopoulos; daughters, Christine Nichopoulos, Elaine Nichopoulos; son, Dean Nichopoulos; grandchildren, Stephanie Bailey (John), Angela Andrews (Stephen), Nicholas Nichopoulos (Stephanie), Lexi Nichopoulos and nine great grandchildren. The family will receive friends on Saturday, February 27 from 9 am until service time at 10 am at Memorial Park Funeral Home. A burial with military honors will be held immediately following in Memorial Park Cemetery.
Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Memorial Park Funeral Home and Cemetery, 5668 Poplar Ave. Memphis, TN 38119. “Celebrating Life… Behind the Stone Wall”
The below link is the web site of the funeral home.
To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Dr. George C. Nichopoulos please visit our Sympathy Store.
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My friend on Facebook, Jeannette, shared the below video with me. This is a very rare song by Elvis….and a very good one too!
Elvis Presley – I Want You With Me (take 1)
Published on Dec 19, 2012
Studio 1961, Nashville
Written by Woody Harris
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In memory of Dr. Nick….my own article from one year ago:
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2015
I feel bad for Dr. Nick…a true friend and hero.
dr nick talks elvis presley
Published on Mar 15, 2014
dr nick talks elvis presley and his new book
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZQOL_JYP8E&feature=youtu.be
I bought Dr. Nick’s book back years ago and have read it cover to cover and I do recommend it to those who truly love Elvis, the man, and not just the image.
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SENT TO JESSE THRU THIS POINT ON FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2016
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FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2016
Below is an article about Jerry Schilling which includes some things which Jerry said recently during an appearance and interview. Jesse just told me during one of our recent conversations, when we brought up the topic of the people who really knew Elvis the best, that Jerry Schilling was one of those people. So, I thought that my visitors would perhaps like reading this.
Elvis as I knew him
February 24 2016 11:14 PM
THE LONG SHADOW: Jerry Schilling with a cutout of The King in the backdrop during the talk in Doha last week.
Only a precious few could ever dream of, let alone actually get to be as privy to The King’s life and times as Jerry Schilling did. As the veteran music industry professional flew down to Doha for a walk-down-the-memory-lane talk, last week, fans of Elvis Presley hung onto every word he spoke, reviving the lasting legacy of one of 20thcentury’s most influential music icons in great detail.
As part of the just-concluded Discover America Week – Qatar 2016, the Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Qatar in co-ordination with the Grand Hyatt Doha brought down Schilling who took the audience through the choicest of personal stories and special memories related to his times with Elvis.
From 1955 to Elvis’ passing in 1977, Schilling was a trusted friend and confidant of Elvis and part of the famous “Memphis Mafia”. He has also managed The Beach Boys, Jerry lee Lewis and Elvis’s daughter, Lisa Marie, and wrote the much-admired book Me and a Guy Named Elvis: My Lifelong Friendship with Elvis Presley. Community sat Schilling down for a long chat:
After all these years, every time you talk about Elvis and keep revisiting those days, what really happens inside of you? Are those memories still fresh?
What I try to do is not do a lot. If you do a lot, you start just hearing yourself talk and there’s no emotion into it. I really want to feel as close as I can to what I am talking about. That’s how I wrote my book. I woke up every morning at 3am. Everything was quiet. I would just jot down my thoughts, hand-written on a legal pad. Then, I would go into my office in the morning and my co-writer Chuck Crisafulli and I we would work on it. I would give him my notes and he would type it up. It’s been 40 or 50 years since some of the situations. So I try to get as close to those times as it’s possible. Somehow, the older I get, the memory of that time is more vivid. Sometimes, I can really still feel the emotion.
You first saw Elvis perform on stage on your 13th birthday, on February 6, 1955, in Memphis. What are your earliest memories of him?
In the beginning, I totally saw him as a rebel. He was extremely controversial. I don’t think he was trying to be a rebel, but the fact that he liked rhythm and blues music, and the first thing he recorded was very controversial, made him. He got criticised by the politicians and the church leaders. But Elvis was never a guy to get up on a platform and say — Yes, I did this. He just quietly kept on it and it took a strong personality to do that. The day I first met him — I call it my 7/11 day — was July 11, 1954. That same week he had recorded, and the night before they had played his song on the radio for the first time and I ran into him the next day by chance. He was 19, I was 12. I was listening to the radio ever since I was 10. I was half an orphan — my mother died when I was a child and I lived with different families. I didn’t have friends. So music was my friend. I was very sickly, very weak. I failed at first grade from lack of classes. I was a pretty pitiful kid actually. Anyway, life made up for it later (smiles). So I was really into James Dean and early Marlon Brando, and I remember Elvis’s first interview with Dewey Philips. The way he talked reminded me of James Dean.
How did you start working with Elvis?
I was close friends with him for 10 years — from 1954 to 1964. As a kid, I really wanted to travel and work like those guys but then I started planning my own life and forgot about that. I was selected to be a history teacher and a football coach. And then I got a phone call real late one night, and Elvis wanted to see me. He told me he wants me to work for him. I met him, and it maybe took three seconds to say yes to him, quit two jobs, quit school and go to California. I became part of this close-knit group he had, called the Memphis Mafia. It was basically people who he trusted, who lived with him and who did various things; took care of cars, travel arrangements, introductions, studio schedules. Elvis couldn’t do a lot of these things by himself because he became so famous so fast.
Elvis was a very private person. How did you figure in his zone and how long did it take to really become friends with him?
It took a long time. Elvis wasn’t the type of guy you immediately became friends with — he just had that thing about him. He wasn’t the guy you came up and slapped on the back. Later on, I hung around with him for years. We would go to all-night movies and would even rent the carnival and do rides all night. When he bought Graceland in 1957, he would have parties. I was in high school still. Sometimes he would ask me to come up, sometimes he wouldn’t (smiles). Over a progression, I knew we were friends and that he liked me. This is 10 years I’m speaking of — that’s a lot of time. It was when he hired me and we got on that bus that he drove every single mile of those 2,000 miles from Memphis to Los Angeles, and we listened to music, stopped at truck stops at 2am and played football, talked about girls, philosophy, life, that I got to really know him. By the time I got to California, I knew him in that week way more than I had known him in 10 years. So it took that. There’s this TV series called Entourage. But we were the original Entourage.
Elvis went through a difficult time in his later years, when he didn’t have a hit record for seven years and his movies weren’t doing well. What was he going through?
I think he was going through a lot of self-doubt. I think he wondered whether there was something more that he would be productive with in his life. We got very interested in Eastern Buddhism, a wonderful organisation he joined and some of us did — it was called the Self-Realisation Fellowship, started by Paramahansa Yogananda, and the person who took over for him, a very spiritual person named Sri Daya Mata, who Elvis became very close with. At one point, he really wanted us to go into a spiritual path. I think we all go through these phases. We can’t maybe survive our lifestyles, but when you are Elvis Presley, you can actually do that (laughs). He got to a point where he didn’t listen to music because he was hearing hit songs out there and couldn’t wonder what was going on because he had a great year. Again, that’s the monetary business — they had people writing Elvis’s songs so as to save money and own the publishing. That was not with his knowledge and that was a big frustration. He didn’t know the specifics but innately, he knew everything. He had anger in him. People look at his films and think he was the boy next door, smiling and singing songs. He was James Dean, he was a nice guy, he was the yin and yang, and that’s why I loved him so much. He wasn’t predictable. He was a true rebel who liked that audience but that was limited. Elvis wanted everybody to love him.
Elvis has such a massive fan following and you must have encountered thousands of them. Have you ever been surprised by something one of his fans said or did?
When I was doing my book tour eight years ago, Penguin had me in England for the European promotions. CNN, then, did an hour’s special for me. There was an Indian guy, who stars in a hit TV series there, and he asked me a very interesting question. He said, Jerry, do you think Elvis was aware of people like me who are so different and so far away, that loved him? I thought wow. I, of course, can’t speak of every thought of Elvis. But I do feel that Elvis was aware.
http://www.gulf-times.com/story/481321/Elvis-as-I-knew-him
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SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2016
Dallas, Texas
March 4-6: Make the drive to Dallas to participate in three days of Elvis-themed fun and entertainment at the inaugural Texas’ Tribute to Elvis Festival held at Southfork Ranch.World-renowned Elvis Presley tribute performers will compete in the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist contest judged by a celebrity panel, and the winner will qualify to enter the contest finals held in Memphis during Elvis Week in August. The festival will also feature special guests such as Linda Thompson, Elvis’ former girlfriend, as well as Elvis merchandise, after-show parties and tours of the Southfork Ranch Ewing mansion and museum. Three-day tickets are $215 for adults and $115 for children under 12, and single day tickets are $95 for adults and $50 for children under 12. More at texaselvisfestival.com.
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Music legend Fats Domino turns 88 remembering Elvis Presley
By: Jack Dennis AXS Contributor Feb 23, 2016
Fats Domino, 88, remembers Elvis Presley
Graphic by Jack Dennis, Photos courtesy of Texas Elvis Fan Club archives
Fats Domino was so admired by Elvis Presley, that when Elvis appeared before the cameras at a 1969 Las Vegas press conference in regard to returning to perform live on stage after years of making movies, he brought his hero along.
“When a reporter referred to Elvis as the ‘King of Rock ’n’ Roll’ at the press conference following his 1969 Las Vegas opening, he rejected the title, as he always did, calling attention to the presence in the room of his friend Fats Domino, ‘one of my influences from way back,’” noted Craig Philo, a music researcher and historian from Sheppey, in Kent, U.K. “He often paid homage to Fats recognizing no one could sing those songs like he did.”
In a June 2004 interview, Domino said he “first met Elvis Presley in Las Vegas. When I was playing at the Flamingo Hotel I went to his room and played for him. He used to call me ‘Mr. Blueberry Hill.’ I remember him telling me, ‘You know, Fats, I’m opening up tomorrow but when I first came here I flopped.’ I guess the first time he didn’t do good at all. But after he got back there it was all gold, ’cause I was working there too, and every night it was sold out. Boy, he could sing. He could sing spirituals, country and western, everything he sang I liked. Elvis Presley did a lot before he passed. He made movies, he was traveling, everything. I don’t see how he did it; you’d have to stay up day and night.”
Domino, who celebrates his 88th birthday on Feb. 26, is noted by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as the “pianist, singer and songwriter (who) ultimately sold more records (65 million) than any Fifties-era rocker except Elvis Presley. Between 1950 and 1963, he made Billboard’s pop chart 63 times and its R&B chart 59 times. Incredible as it may seem, Fats Domino scored more hit records than Chuck Berry, Little Richard and Buddy Holly put together. His best-known songs include “Ain’t That a Shame,” “Blueberry Hill” and “I’m Walkin’.”
Elvis appreciated Antoine Domino’s influences to American music. Domino has never forgotten Presley’s kindness and contributions. In 1986, Fats remembered Elvis during the inaugural Rock and Roll of Fame Induction. Elvis and Fats were honored along with Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, James Brown, Little Richard, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke and the Everly Brothers.
In Nov. 2010, Fats and his long-time collaborator Dave Bartholomew, were acknowledge by the Hall of Fame for their contribution to the music. Elvis often commented that Fats and Dave were making Rock n’ Roll music before the term was ever coined. Dave’s son, Don Bartholomew was recently quoted as saying that Domino’s music and singing influenced Presley.
“The way Fats sang was all original; there was Cajun there, a kind of French accent to it,” Bartholomew said. “It’s hard to copy, but if you listen to some of Elvis’s records, where words are kind of shortened — that’s from Fats, I think.”
Domino’s contributions to rock ’n’ roll includes such other songs as “Walkin’ to New Orleans,” “All By Myself,” “Bo Weevil,” “Don’t Blame It On Me,” “Every Night About This Time,” “Let The Four Winds Blow,” “Going To The River,” “My Girl Josephine,” “I’m In Love Again,” “Please Don’t Leave Me,” “Poor Me,” “So Long,” “Something’s Wrong,” and “Whole Lotta Loving.”
http://m.axs.com/news/music-legend-fats-domino-turns-88-remembering-elvis-presley-77005
Jesse is still thinking about Fats Domino too. When we spoke last week, he mentioned a new documentary film being released yesterday about Fats Domino and asked if I could find him a copy of it. I will be sending it to him this coming week.
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My visitors may recall the massive list of shows which Elvis did in 1954 and 1955 which I posted earlier this month on this page (see above). No one worked harder than Elvis right through June 26, 1977. He certainly earned his “retirement”. It is gratifying to see that the author of the article below also recognizes what a hard-working man Elvis was.
1956: The year that made Elvis Presley a star
It’s easy to remember ‘the King’ as a 1970s Vegas act, crooning in a rhinestone jumpsuit. But when he was an up-and-coming rock star, Elvis Presley had an amazing work ethic.
Charles Apple
Published 4:18 pm, Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Why did Elvis Presley take the nation by storm in 1956? It might have been his voice – deep, rich and, evidently, incredibly sexy to teenage girls with disposable income. It might have been his looks – thick hair, dreamy eyes, perfect cheekbones and a bold jawline. Those certainly didn’t hurt.
However, a closer look at Elvis’ schedule from his breakout year – 60 years ago – suggests something more than that:
The man worked hard. Very hard.
Ninety-four concerts spanning much of the nation. Travel from venue to venue. Landmark appearances on national TV. He even filmed a movie – the first of several – that year. There was barely a moment’s rest for a 21-year-old kid from Tupelo.
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JANUARY
Jan. 7
Appears on “Louisiana Hayride,” a regional TV show in Shreveport. He’ll appear again on the show a week later.
Jan. 10
Records three songs – including “Heartbreak Hotel” – at RCA Studios in Nashville.
Jan. 16
Performs at Galveston’s City Auditorium. The next day, Elvis sings in Beaumont.
Jan. 28
Makes his first national TV appearance on CBS’ “Stage Show,” hosted by the Dorsey Brothers. He performs “I Got a Woman,” “Shake, Rattle and Roll” and “Flip, Flop and Fly.”
Fans watch Elvis Presley perform at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston. October 13, 1956.
See photos from Elvis’ stop in Houston in the gallery below.
Jan. 30
Records four songs – including “Blue Suede Shoes” – at RCA Studios in New York.
SHOWS
Four TV appearances and 11 concerts in Missouri, Mississippi and Texas.
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FEBRUARY
Feb. 4
Makes his second appearance on “Stage Show.”
Feb. 5
Elvis’ 1955 single for Sun Records, “Mystery Train,” hits No. 1 on Billboard’s country singles chart.
Feb. 11
Single “Heartbreak Hotel” is released. Makes his third appearance on “Stage Show.”
Feb. 18
Makes his fourth appearance on “Stage Show.”
Feb. 21
“Heartbreak Hotel” debuts on the Billboard singles charts.
Feb. 23
Collapses from exhaustion after a show in Jacksonville, Fla.
SHOWS
Four TV appearances and 18 concerts in Virginia, the Carolinas, Georgia and Florida.
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MARCH
March 15
Renegotiates his contract with Colonel Tom Parker. From this point on, Parker will receive one-quarter of all Elvis’ earnings.
March 17
Makes his fifth appearance on “Stage Show.”
March 23
Elvis’ first album, “Elvis Presley,” is released by RCA.
Photo: Album Art
March 24
Visits his friend Carl Perkins in Dover, Del., where Perkins is recovering from a near-fatal car crash. Later that night, Elvis makes his sixth and final appearance on “Stage Show.”
SHOWS
Six TV appearances and seven concerts in Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia.
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APRIL
April 1
Visits Paramount Studios in Hollywood for a screen test. The role he tries out for goes to Burt Lancaster, but the studio is impressed enough to sign Elvis to a seven-year contract on April 6.
April 3
Appears on NBC’s “Texaco Star Theatre” hosted by Milton Berle. Elvis is shown via a live-remote broadcast from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Hancock in San Diego.
April 14
Records “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” at RCA Studios in Nashville.
April 21
“Heartbreak Hotel” hits No. 1 on Billboard’s singles chart, where it will stay for eight weeks. That night, Elvis performs at Houston’s City Auditorium – the last of 12 shows over 13 days in Texas.
Photo: Album Art
April 23
Begins a two-week engagement at the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas. The older audience just doesn’t get Elvis. However, Elvis watches a group called Freddie Bell and the Bellboys sing an old blues number, “Hound Dog.” Elvis adds it to his stage act.
SHOWS
One TV appearance and 23 concerts in California, Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and Las Vegas.
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MAY
May 5
Album “Elvis Presley” hits No. 1 on Billboard’s album charts. It will remain there for 10 weeks.
May 12
Single “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” is released.
May 21
Fans storm the stage at Elvis’ show in Topeka, Kan.
SHOWS
21 concerts in Las Vegas, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Ohio.
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JUNE
June 5
Appears again on Milton Berle’s show, singing “I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” and “Hound Dog.” Elvis’ gyrations during the latter cause a stir in the national media.
June 16
Appears on “Teenage Dance Party,” hosted by Wink Martindale in Memphis.
SHOWS
15 concerts in California, Arizona, Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas.
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JULY
July 1
NBC’s “Steve Allen Show” has a little fun with the ongoing controversy around Elvis’ stage gyrations by presenting him as a new-and-improved, “clean” Elvis Presley. He sings “Hound Dog” again, but to an actual basset hound wearing a bow tie.
Photo: Album Art
July 2
Records three songs – including “Hound Dog” and “Don’t Be Cruel” – at RCA Studios in New York.
July 13
A double-sided single, “Hound Dog/Don’t Be Cruel,” is released.
July 14
After 10 weeks, “Elvis Presley” is bumped out of the top spot on Billboard’s album charts by the soundtrack to “My Fair Lady.”
July 28
“I Want You, I Need You, I Love You” hits No. 1 on Billboard’s singles chart. It stays there only one week.
Photo: Album Art
SHOWS
One TV appearance and one concert in Memphis.
—
AUGUST
Aug. 10
A juvenile court judge attends Elvis’ show at the Florida Theater in Jacksonville, Fla. Afterward, Judge Marion Gooding orders Elvis to tone down his onstage movements.
Aug. 18
“Hound Dog”/”Don’t Be Cruel” – hits No. 1 on Billboard’s singles charts. It will stay there for 11 weeks.
Photo: Album Art
Aug. 22
Begins shooting his first movie in a role that was previously turned down by Robert Wagner and Jeffrey Hunter. The picture – a Civil War story entitled “The Reno Brothers” – is renamed “Love Me Tender” in order to capitalize on Elvis’ popularity.
Aug. 24
Records two songs – including “Love Me Tender” – at 20th Century Fox Studios in Hollywood.
SHOWS
10 concerts in Florida and Louisiana.
—
SEPTEMBER
Sept. 1-5
Records 15 songs over five days in two Hollywood studios.
Sept. 8
A number of singles are released, including “Blue Suede Shoes,” “Blue Moon” and “Trying to Get to You.”
Sept. 9
Makes his first appearance on Ed Sullivan’s popular show on CBS-TV. Sullivan had previously stated he’d never have Elvis on his show, but ratings for his “Steve Allen Show” appearance were through the roof. Elvis is paid $50,000 for three appearances. He sings “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Love Me Tender,” “Ready Teddy” and “Hound Dog.” Sullivan himself is out on sick leave – Charles Laughton hosts. Contrary to legend – that Elvis is photographed from the waist up only – Elvis is shown from head to toe.
Photo: Anonymous, Associated Press
FILE – In this Sept. 9, 1956 file photo originally released by the Museum of Television & Radio, Elvis Presley performs on the “Ed Sullivan Show,” in New York. (AP Photo/Museum of Television & Radio, file)
Sept. 26
Elvis performs at the Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show in Tupelo – the same show where he won second prize for singing when he was 10 years old.
SHOWS
One TV appearance and one concert
—
OCTOBER
Oct. 6
Single “Love Me Tender” is released.
Oct. 13
Performs at Houston’s Sam Houston Coliseum.
Oct. 19
Second RCA album, “Elvis,” is released.
Photo: Album Art
Oct. 28
Makes his second appearance on Sullivan, who is back as host. Elvis sings “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Love Me Tender,” “Hound Dog” and “Love Me.”
SHOWS
One TV appearance and four concerts in Texas.
—
NOVEMBER
Nov. 3
The single “Love Me Tender” hits No. 1 on Billboard’s singles charts. It will stay there for five weeks.
Photo: Album Art
Nov. 15
The movie “Love Me Tender” premieres at the Paramount Theatre in New York.
Photo: Album Art
Nov. 20
Attends a private showing of “Love Me Tender.” When his character dies at the end of the movie, Elvis’ mother becomes hysterical. Afterward, Elvis swears he’ll never play another movie role in which he dies.
Nov. 21
“Love Me Tender” opens nationally.
SHOWS
Four concerts in Ohio and Kentucky.
—
DECEMBER
Dec. 1
“Love Me Tender” single drops out of No. 1 on the Billboard singles charts, making this the first time in 16 weeks Elvis didn’t hold the top spot. In all, he spends 25 out of 52 weeks of 1956 at No. 1.
Dec. 4
Drops by Sun recording studios in Memphis to see his pal Carl Perkins, who’s working with a yet-unknown Jerry Lee Lewis. Another Sun recording artist, Johnny Cash, also shows up. The four jam together for a while in what will later be called “the Million Dollar Quartet.”
Dec. 8
Album “Elvis” hits No. 1 on Billboard’s album charts. It will spend five weeks in the top spot.
Dec. 31
The Wall Street Journal reports Elvis’ gross income for the year at $22 million ($192 million in today’s dollars).
SHOWS
One TV appearance.
—
Sources: Sources: “Elvis Day by Day: The Definitive Record of his Work and Music” by Peter Guralnick and Ernst Jorgensen, “Elvis” by Dave Marsh, “The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits” by Joel Whitburn, Elvis.com, Reuters, Oldies.About.
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I HAVE CREATED A NEW PAGE FOR CURRENT NEWS AND EVENTS FOR MARCH, 2016
BELOW IS THE LINK TO THE NEW PAGE
https://lindahoodsigmonstruth.com/current-news-events/current-news-and-events-march-2016/
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