July 17, 200816 yr Author Chips Moman: the missing man of Memphis music Besides Sam Phillips, Chips Moman was the only man to effectively produce Elvis Presley -- helping midwife The King's creative rebirth in 1969. And it was Moman who helped build and shape American Sound Studios and its house band -- generating the most prolific run of chart hits ever. http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/chips_moma...his_music.shtml Love the music Elvis made in Memphis :wub:
July 21, 200816 yr Author Elvis, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Sonny Burgess played at King of Clubs: Ask almost any area resident and they likely will know of the club near the railroad tracks between farmland and flatland along state Highway 67 in Swifton. They will likely know who owned it, too. Bob King, who owned and operated the King of Clubs for more than 50 years, died Monday. He was 83. “He was one the best club owners I ever knew,” said friend and musician Sonny Burgess of Newport. “He was a great guy — a good friend. He’ll be missed by all that knew him.” In a 2006 interview, King reminisced at home about his days as the area’s well-known club owner. With a head full of gray hair and sitting at his kitchen table, King was eager to talk to anyone willing to listen. Next door stands the business he is known for — but what bothered King the most was not being able to leave home on his own. “I told (my wife) Evelyn I get so tired sitting and looking out that window knowing I cannot get up and walk through that door,” he said. Born in 1924 at Battle Axe and raised in Swifton, it wasn’t hard for King to recall things that happened 50 years ago. Sept. 20, 1951 was a date that King remembered well because it was the day he opened the brick, one-story building that has had several names over the years. From the B&I Club to the King of Clubs, most people have heard of “Bob King’s.” Minutes into conversation, King said he never had aspirations of being a club owner at 26 years old. “Way back then I was a farmer. I worked and lived on the farm until I went into the Navy. It was rough just like it was everywhere else — I guess everywhere else,” he said. “All you had was what you worked hard for and that wasn’t much. It wasn’t like it is now.” After serving during World War II in the South Pacific, King and his brother bought a café in Swifton. The location seemed to be a pretty good part of the country for it, he said. Looking back, “We’ve had a pretty good business,” he said. But it’s the people who have passed through its doors that has made Bob King’s nightclub a place of history to many. The idea for entertainment, however, was something that King never considered until he was approached by Burgess, who was looking for places to play with his newly formed band. For $10 apiece, Burgess, Kern Kennedy, Russ Smith and Johnny Ray Hubbard performed for what Burgess called, “a redneck crowd” on Friday nights. “They’d come out of the farms and they’d get drunk. They’d bring their babies in there and they’d set them on the table and go and dance,” he said. On his first visit, Burgess remembered that the closer he got, the building’s screened-in front door looked as if it would explode. “There were a couple of men fighting and Bob was right in the middle of them trying to stop it” as Burgess entered the club. “Bob was tough back in those days.” On one December night in 1955, Burgess said the club was so packed that “you could not believe how many people were there.” That night, a 20-year-old Elvis Presley, who had just signed a contract with RCA-Victor the month before, gyrated on King’s stage for $450. Burgess and his band, the Moonlighters, backed Presley that night. The following year, they recorded on the Sun record label in Memphis that discovered Presley, releasing “We Wanna Boogie,” and “Red-Headed Woman” under the name Sonny Burgess and the Pacers. King recalled Johnny Cash being there the night Elvis performed. Cash had opened for Presley at Swifton High School earlier that day, and “Elvis asked me if I’d give Johnny $10 to get him to sing a song,” King said. “I told him no, I’d give him $20 to sing three songs.” “He (Elvis) was friendly. Jerry Lee Lewis was the silly one,” King said, laughing. Lewis, with his unique piano style, would play the instrument with his feet and the piano strings almost always would be broken afterwards, King said. “I liked him as far as that goes. He played quite a few times ... Every time, I had to get Kern Kennedy (Burgess’ piano player) to replace the strings.” While King has never taken full credit for the club’s longevity, he was always the first to tell people that Evelyn was the club’s lasting force. Conversation about King with those who worked for him does not go far without mention of her. Married in 1956, King first hired Evelyn as a waitress in late 1955. “It wasn’t a bad decision I made either,” King chuckled in 2006. “I have a wonderful little woman.” Doug Greeno of Weiner, who was part of King’s house band in the late 1960s, said Bob and Evelyn were wonderful and great to work for. “They were good to me just like family,” he said this week. “You can’t beat Bob,” Greeno said. King gave a lot of money away over the years. “If something happened to someone, he would give money from his own pocket or help raise money for them.” King said in 2006 one of the best things about the club is how good people had been to him. “When we first went in business, people were different then they are now — a lot different,” King said. In the early days, when crowds got rowdy and people began fighting, King would tell them to go outside and settle it. The loser then had to buy everyone a beer. “Sometimes THAT would settle it,” he said, laughing. “Everybody gets in trouble every once in awhile. I don’t expect that not to happen,” he said. “But most of them will come in and apologize to ya’ and say it won’t ever happen again.” Harold Jenkins never forgot when he gambled away all of his and his band’s money behind the club after a show in the 1950s. King told Jenkins, later known as Conway Twitty, that he would replace the money so Jenkins could pay his band members, if the singer promised to never gamble again. The two remained in contact over the years, and anytime King saw him, Twitty recalled that night and the promise he made. After a show in Branson, Mo., King said Twitty told him, “‘I promised you I wouldn’t and I haven’t.’” That was a year before Twitty’s death in 1993, and the last time King saw his friend. The business was sold and split in 2003. It is now called the King of Clubs and King’s Capri. King was pleased the club lasted 55 years and wasn’t surprised by its longevity. “It has lasted this long because it had some good managers,” King said. “There aren’t too many people who can run a club right. What I’ve done all my life is run that club. It’s my life — 55 years behind a beer joint,” he said with a laugh. Husband, father of three and friend, he was many things to many people. However, King’s best known role will probably always be club owner. King’s second cousin, Mike Baker of Alicia, said King was a good man who will be missed. “He would help anyone he could,” Baker said, recalling the times when King would let him and others “get all the sodas we could get. When you’re young, that’s a big thing,” he said. Burgess was among those featured in “Good Rockin’ Tonight: The Legacy Of Sun Records,” a television documentary filmed in the King of Clubs in 2000 about some of Sun’s artists. The documentary, aired nationwide on PBS, along with half-hour interviews with some of the artists, is now available on DVD. Burgess credited King for giving him and the Pacers, as well as other young artists, the opportunity to cultivate their talents all those years ago. “He was one the best guys in the music business,” Burgess said. “He was good-hearted. It’s tough to lose him.” (Source: guardonline.com) It must have been fantastic to see these guys live, especially in the early days :dance:
July 27, 200816 yr Author Elvis & Priscilla's Honeymoon Hideaway opening in August Visiting Palm Springs next August? Here’s a suggestion: Elvis’s so-called Honeymoon Hideaway at 1350 Ladera Circle opens its doors to the public. A tour of the house costs you 25 $US, the Indoor Gospel Concert (4 – 7 pm) another 50 $US. More info at www.elvishoneymoon.com. http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y48/elvis1959/honeymoon_hideaway_elvis_priscilla.jpg History: On September 16, 1966, Elvis leased the estate at 1350 Ladera Circle, Palm Springs, California for one year for $21,000. Colonel Tom Parker, Elvis's manager, lived in the neighborhood and he thought that it would be the perfect place for Elvis to relax, entertain his friends and escape from Hollywood. However, Rona Barrett, the famous Hollywood gossip columnist, also lived around the corner. She became suspicious that Elvis and Priscilla were going to be married when Priscilla Beaulieu arrived on the weekend of April 29th 1967 with her entire family. Elvis' entourage also began to assemble (Joan and Joe Esposito, George Klein, Sandy and Jerry Schilling, Marty Lacker, Dee and Vernon Presley). Apparently "Miss Rona" even had the estate's maid followed in order to find out when and where the wedding would take place. Then she announced on her nightly television broadcast that "the King and Priscilla are to be married in Palm Springs."Originally the plan was to have the wedding and reception take place around the pool at the estate but because of the onslaught of the press and media, Colonel Parker arranged for Elvis and Priscilla to be married in Las Vegas. Escorted by Joe Espositio, the best man, they slipped out of the house at 3:00 a.m. on Monday morning, May 1st, 1967, going out the back way, by the pool and across the fruit orchard to Rose Avenue where limos were waiting to drive them to the airport. They flew to Las Vegas in Frank Sinatra's Lear jet, the "Christina", and by 4:00 a.m. the marriage license was obtained at the court house. At 9:40 a.m. the wedding ceremony took place at the Aladdin Hotel, in owner Milton Prell's suite. The ceremony was followed by a breakfast reception for approximately 100 guests. On the same day, May 1, 1967, at 2:50 p.m., Elvis and Priscilla flew back to Palm Springs to begin their honeymoon. Elvis carried Priscilla over the threshold and up the stairs of the Honeymoon Hideaway singing "The Hawaiian Wedding Song". Lisa Marie was born on February 1, 1968, exactly 9 months from the date of the honeymoon. The next day Elvis went to United Artists in L.A. to finish "Clambake" and then hurried back to Palm Springs the same evening. It is believed that the "1968 Comeback Special" was planned during the many months he spent at the estate. After this concert Elvis made numerous personal and concert appearances which led to him becoming the "Entertainer of the Century". Elvis loved Palm Springs! Elvis' favorite time of the year was the summer, even thought he wasn't too fond of the heat. He resolved this problem by installing hotel-style air-conditioning units throughout the estate and he would keep the thermostat constantly low. His friends constantly commented that the house was like "a meat locker". Elvis often sang gospel music in the living room until dawn. Elvis at times would ride his Harley-Davidson to downtown Palm Springs for ice cream and at other times he would go to a bookstore called Bookland. Occasionally he would visit Colonel Tom Parker, his manager, who resided around the corner. One day Elvis saw Robert Goulet on TV and he jokingly shot a gun at the TV screen. Later that evening he went to an appliance store in Indian Canyon and bought 10 TVs. Elvis had fun racing go-carts in Palm Springs at Camelot Park on E. Palm Canyon Drive. At the Indio Casino, Elvis played blackjack. He liked the game so much, that when he was in Vegas he had a blackjack table put in his Hilton suit. (News, Source: Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway Tours)
July 29, 200816 yr Author http://www.elvisinfonet.com/spotlight_religion_2008.html Wow, now that made me laugh :lol: Sure, there may well be fans of that ilk, but the majority of us Elvis fans are normal people who just happen to love the music Elvis made, simple as that. I’d seen film shown on TV of the Candlelight Vigil at Graceland and experienced it for myself last August. Believe me, the vast majority of people in Memphis for the anniversary of Elvis’ death are just fans like myself. They’re from all corners of the globe and all ages, who just wanted to be there in Memphis to show their respect to one of the greatest superstars the world of entertainment has seen. It was a wonderful experience and I consider myself very lucky, but, at the end of the day, I’m just a fan like any other and not a member of some cult.
August 3, 200816 yr Author Elvis - a Gospel singer?: Elvis Presley is firmly seated on the throne as the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, but his love for gospel music could have prevented it, according to one-time Blackwood Brothers member and Gospel Hall of Fame inductee Rick Price. “Our kind of music has been around for well over 100 years,” Price said. “There used to be a company called the Stamps Music Company, and they sold song books.” The song books, Price said, contained music written with shape notes, a form of notation in which the notes are represented by shapes to make the songs easier to learn.“One of their (the Stamps Music Company’s) ideas was to start a singing group,” Price said. “They started something called the Stamps Quartet. The quartet cycled through various members through the years, filling the lead, tenor, baritone and bass positions classic to the genre “The Blackwood Brothers ended up buying the Stamps Music Company (including the Stamps Quartet) in the ’60s. That’s the group that backed Elvis,” Price said, “so there’s always been a connection to Elvis with Blackwood.” The Stamps Quartet replaced the Imperials as Elvis’ backing singers and toured with Elvis through most of the 1970s. However, that was after Elvis had made it as a solo act, and Price said the Blackwood Brothers’ ties to the King began even earlier.“Cecil Blackwood had a group with Elvis back in the ’50s,” Price said, then clarified the two weren’t actually in a band at the same time. Cecil Blackwood, Price said, was in a gospel band called the Songfellows. Presley was pursuing his music career at the time and was interested in joining the group. Elvis’ chance to be a Songfellow came following the tragic death of Blackwood Brothers baritone R.W. Blackwood in a plane crash in 1954, when Cecil Blackwood left the Songfellows to take his older brother’s position in the Blackwood Brothers, Price said. However, Elvis was unable to accept the offer to join the Songfellows because the contract he had with Sun Records had just been sold to RCA, who would not release Elvis, Price said. “Elvis went to Sun Records to try to get out of his contract when it happened,” Price said, “and he couldn’t get out.” Elvis went on with his highly successful musical career, and the Blackwood Brothers continued on their path to be the first inductees to the Gospel Hall of Fame. The Blackwood Brothers and Elvis remained friends, though, and stayed in touch through the years. “(The Blackwood Brothers) would go to his house, and they would sing gospel music all night long,” Price said. “He loved quartet music. He always said he wanted to be a quartet singer. “When (Elvis’) mother died back in the ’60s, he hired a plane so the Blackwood Brothers could sing at her funeral. They ended up singing about 13 or 14 songs.” The friendship the two musical acts shared was long-lasting, and when Elvis died in 1977, Price said, some of the Blackwood Brothers even sang at his funeral. Price was never fortunate enough to meet Elvis, having joined the Blackwood Brothers close to the time of the King’s death, but, he said, “they would tell me all kinds of stories.” (News, Source: Sean Hart, The Argus Observer)
August 6, 200816 yr Author Mary Ann Mobley Remembers Elvis Presley Elvis and I felt a common bond, coming from Mississippi. He thought I understood him. He didn't have to put on airs with me, and I wasn't after anything. This is an odd thing to say about Elvis Presley, but it was like I was working with my brother. We never dated. We were just two people from the same state. http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis_pres...nn_mobley.shtml Elvis Articles, Elvis Interviews, By Alanna Nash August 7, 2008
August 11, 200816 yr Author Hollywood's exploitation of Elvis In Hollywood, there is a genre of film called the exploitation movie, an umbrella term describing a movie where quality is sacrificed for cost and the moviemaker appeals to his audience by bizarre themes (drug use, wanton violence, kinky sex), adherence to a formula (as in beach party or zombie films) or the exploitation of a popular act, character or personality – for example Tarzan, the Norwegian ice skating queen Sonya Henje or, for that matter, Elvis Presley ... These films exist primarily to make a profit. http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/hollywoods..._of_elvis.shtml Elvis Articles, By Paul Simpson August 11, 2008 Roger Semon talks about Memphis Tennessee and the Johnny Rivers story. Elvis Sings Memphis Tennessee (The Lost Album) is a 2 CD release in the FTD Classic Album Series (7 inch digipack with booklet) and has just been released by FTD along with Love Letters From Elvis a 2 CD Special Edition, again in the Classic Album Series (7 inch digipack with booklet) and America, a concert soundboard recorded April 1976. http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/roger_semo...tennessee.shtml Elvis Articles August 11, 2008
August 12, 200816 yr Author Wanda Jackson Remembers Elvis Presley Wanda Jackson: My daddy said, 'I wonder if there's a fire or something. Let me go look'. I started getting my things, and he came back and said, 'No, relax. But you've got to see this for yourself'. He took me to the wings, and there was Elvis singing and moving and gyrating, and all these girls standing at the foot of the stage, screaming and reaching for him. It was quite an unusual sight for those days. And when the rest of the nation started giving him havoc, it really upset him. Elvis Articles, Elvis Interviews, By Alanna Nash August 12, 2008 http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/wanda_jack...s_presley.shtml
August 20, 200816 yr Author Marty Lacker answers your questions: EIN's last interview with Memphis Mafia member, Marty Lacker, was in 2005, so we thought it long overdue to catch up with him again. This time, apart from introductory and closing questions from EIN, we asked you, our readers, to nominate questions for Marty. EIN thanks Marty for taking the time to answer what turned out to be a diverse and interesting set of questions. We also thank you for providing questions for Marty. The interview that follows covers a lot of ground, including how Marty and Elvis became friends at high school to Elvis' marriage to Priscilla, the role of the Colonel, a world tour, the reality of Elvis' relationship with the Memphis Mafia and Marty's campaigning to have Chips Moman and the American Studio Band inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. http://www.elvisinfonet.com/interview_marty_2008.html
August 22, 200816 yr Good read that Carole, i look forward to reading all these Articles you post on here
August 23, 200816 yr Author Good read that Carole, i look forward to reading all these Articles you post on here Awwww, glad you like them, Lesley :dance: Video interview with Ernst Jorgensen. Ernst talks about his becoming an Elvis fan as a teenager, discovering Elvis tapes in the RCA vaults, including songs such as 'A Hundred Years From Now' and tapes that should have been in the vaults but were not. Ernst also talks about his mastering of Elvis' songs and the challenges involved, Elvis' duets with Ann Margret and Elvis Movies including his 'greatest movie', Elvis That's The Way It Is. And finally, Meeting Priscilla for the first time and her playing him 'My Happiness', and telling Ernst 'we think this is Elvis', and then the discovery of the second acetate - and much more. Elvis Articles, Elvis Interviews August 23, 2008 http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/video_inte...jorgensen.shtml
August 30, 200816 yr Author Video of Elvis during horseback riding, talking and signing autographs with his fans at the gates. The footage was shot by one fan and donated to Graceland. Filmed between 1968 and 1970. :cheer: Video and Audio August 29, 2008 http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/home_movie...graceland.shtml
September 2, 200816 yr Author Interview with Lance LeGault. I had tried to get Harley bikes for Elvis. I called Harley Davidson up in Milwaukee and they did not even return my calls. So he ended up riding the little Honda 350, which was not Elvis. Elvis rode Harley Davidson motorcycles. And I rode motorcycles with Elvis a great deal. http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/lance_lega...interview.shtml Elvis Articles, Elvis Interviews September 2, 2008
September 4, 200816 yr Author Singer-Actor Jerry Reed dies at the age of 71 :( Jerry Reed has died at the age of 71 from complications from emphysema. Born in Atlanta, Georgia, March 20, 1937, Jerry Reed Hubbard composed four songs recorded by Elvis. Though this is only a handful in comparison to other songwriters who wrote for Elvis, two of the tunes included 'Guitar Man' and 'U.S. Male'. These songs were recorded just prior to the surge of creativity generated by the television special Elvis. Jerry was one of several Southern musicians who had been influenced by Elvis and later ended up working with him. In 1967, he recorded 'Tupelo Mississippi Flash', an Elvis novelty record that was a comic tribute to his idol. Elvis News September 3, 2008 http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/news/jerry...age_of_71.shtml
September 5, 200816 yr Author Jerry Reed and Elvis' Guitar Man and U.S. Male Sessions A look at Elvis' Guitar Man and U.S. Male Sessions with Jerry Reed. For 'Guitar Man', the song Elvis had picked up on the radio in LA, Felton Jarvis told Elvis that if he wanted that distinctive guitar sound he loved so much on the record they'd have to get Jerry Reed himself for the session (September 10, 1967). Elvis Articles September 5, 2008 http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/jerry_reed..._sessions.shtml
September 7, 200816 yr Author James V. Roy has added a wonderful page to his Scotty Moore site full of information and very rare photos about the Eagle's Nest nightclub in Memphis B) http://scottymoore.net/eaglesnest.html (News, Source: Amber Smith)
September 27, 200816 yr Author Elvis Presley's Cars - Cadillacs - Stutz Blackhawk - BMW - Rolls Royce - Mercedes-Benz 600 :cheer: Elvis Presley had a life-long love affair with motor cars. Beginning in the '50s with Cadillacs, including the Pink Cadillac that he eventually gave to his mother, to a second hand Volkswagen and two BMW 507s in Germany. In the '60s there where more Cadillacs, Ford Lincoln's and a Rolls Royce amoung many others. In the '70s, again Elvis purchased Cadillacs, a Mercedes-Benz 600, even a Ford T-Bird - but his most prized cars of the 1970s were his Stutz Blackhawk's. Elvis was the first person to own a Stutz Blackhawk, and there can be no doubt his favourite car of the 1970s was his 1973 Stutz Blackhawk III. http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/elvis_presleys_cars.shtml Elvis Articles September 26, 2008
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