Tuesday, 19 November 2024

Red Robinson


Robert "Red" Robertson is part of the 50s Elvis story. Red was a Canadian disc jockey and Elvis fan. He was the first DJ to play rock 'n' roll music in Vancouver, Canada. On 31 August 1957 he was also the MC for Elvis' rock 'n' roll concert at the Empire Stadium in Vancouver in front of 25,000 fans.

Robinson taped Elvis' dressing room press conference before the concert. It was released on an album in 1977, named The ELVIS Tapes. 

Red described the Elvis concert in Vancouver as troublesome pandemonium: 

There were policemen there, but not enough of them. Fans furthest away from every corner of the stadium came to the front to get a better look at Elvis and then returned to their seats. However, the gathering in front of the stage, the first five or six people deep, was where the problem was; that was where the fear was. At the end Elvis finished his set and tore down the back stairs. He took off his jacket and handed it to his cousin Gene, who got into the limo. The kids followed the limo while Elvis stayed behind till it was safe for him to get out. 

Monday, 21 October 2024

Lord Elgin

 

Elvis owned this 4-carat gold-filled Lord Elgin wristwatch with black face from spring of 1955 to April of 1956.

He can be seen wearing it on stage during his first national TV appearance on the Stage Show in New York.

Guess who he gifted this watch to? Guitar player Scotty Moore! He did so while he and his band were sitting poolside at the New Frontier Hotel, Las Vegas, on 25 April 1956.

Not long ago this same gold-filled Lord Elgin was sold for a cool R5 million.

In South African terms, that is a pension right there.

Monday, 23 September 2024

An Afternoon In The Grotto

What a fun get-together we had last Saturday afternoon! 

Part of the agenda included a magical discussion re the topic My Top 3 Elvis Gifts Under The Christmas Tree.

Elvis sings, Merry Christmas, Baby ... give me a diamond ring for Christmas ... or not? If our friends and/or family were really nice and could grant us some special Elvis Christmas gift wishes this year, what would they be? ANY item counts, released or unreleased, real or imaginary! 

The wishes of our members included the following:  

1. ELVIS APPAREL. Elvis PJ's, Elvis' dark navy shirt with flowers (1970 rehearsal), the Concha belt, a bracelet with the letter "E", Elvis' red shirt from Blue Hawaii and the '68 Black Leather Suit. 

2. TIME TRAVEL VOUCHERS FROM ELVIS. Best-loved destinations included Christmas Eve at Graceland, a trip in Elvis' bus to Albuquerque, being on set for one of his movies, a live show in Vegas, the taping of the '68 Comeback Special and a cinema - watching movies with Elvis.

3. UNRELEASED MUSIC/FOOTAGE. Most requested were a Gospel LP with our own favourite songs NOT previously recorded by Elvis, DVD/Blu-Ray Extended Editions of the rockumentaries Elvis: That's The Way It Is and Elvis On Tour containing ALL 10 filmed shows in full, plus all rehearsal and behind the scenes footage. It is time.

Tuesday, 20 August 2024

Diane McBain


Diane McBain was best known for her part in the 1966 Elvis movie, Spinout, one of my Top 3 Elvis  feature films. She played the role of an author who was in the process of writing her new book, titled The Perfect American Male.

McBain, who was 6 years younger than Elvis, said that Elvis was charming and a lovely person to work with. She appreciated that Elvis didn't come on to her, because so many men did throughout her career in Hollywood.

McBain reminisced: We had a really nice friendship on set. He was a spiritual guy, and he love to read anything about being spiritual. I, too was fascinated by those things. So we bonded over that. We used to exchange books on set and we would have conversations all the time about being spiritual. Elvis really wanted to be taken seriously as an actor. He had a lot of trouble trying to convince them into putting him in more serious roles. He embraced our film beautifully and he did a great job on set. He was, of course very special but I don't think he saw himself that way.

Tuesday, 23 July 2024

First Million Seller

Can you believe the original handwritten lyrics for Heartbreak Hotel was kept?

At the 1955 Disc Jockey Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, (where Elvis was lauded as The Most Promising New Talent In Country Music), songwriter Mae Boren-Axton - known as the Queen Mother of Nashville - told Elvis she was going to write him his first million seller.

Together with Tommy Durden, she did. It was Heartbreak Hotel, which Elvis recorded in Jan 1956.

As you can see, the lyrics is handwritten in pencil and has various additions and corrections, and the lyric sheet is signed at the bottom by both songwriters.

No wonder it recently sold for a cool R3,2 million.

Monday, 17 June 2024

Armond Morales


The Imperials is a southern gospel quartet who sang backup for Elvis from 1969-1971. They also recorded with Elvis in sessions from 1966-1971, including on the Grammy Award-winning How Great Thou Art and He Touched Me album sessions.

During the 1960s The Imperials became pioneers of contemporary Christian music. Armond Morales was a founding member of The Imperials and fondly remember the group going to Graceland, riding around in golf carts, attending movies after hours and riding on a plane with Elvis.

Armond recalls: We were in Las Vegas at the International Hotel, practicing, and all the singers were in one section and the rhythm section was in another area, and Elvis was in the middle with the microphone. In the middle of rehearsal he just stopped and stomped his foot. He said, "I don't know what's wrong with you people", and he stomped out the door. He said, "Armond come out here." And I walked out the door, wondering what was going on. Elvis said: "I scare them, didn't I?" Turns out he was just having fun and joking.

Monday, 20 May 2024

Long White Limousene

 In December of 1975 Elvis bought a Lincoln Continental Limousine. One evening when J.D. Sumner, bass singer of Elvis' backup group The Stamps, found himself stranded at Graceland without transportation Elvis gave him the Limousine.

As can be expected, this car is a sought-after collectors item. It had been on display in Mike Moon's museum in the mountain resort city Pigeon Force, Tennessee, after which it was sold in 2019. In the mean time it has returned to the auction block where a real bidding war has unfolded and after 37 bids the hammer has fallen at a nearly staggering R7 million.

Wednesday, 10 April 2024

Happy Birthday, Vernon.


On this day, 55 years ago, Elvis gives his father a stunning 14 carat yellow gold Omega watch as a gift for his birthday. The face of the watch is accented with 46 round diamonds and the back is engraved with the following words:

Happy Birthday, Dad. Love, Elvis. April 10, 1969.

Monday, 18 March 2024

Ed


American actor Ed Asner was most famous for his role as a newspaper editor in the TV series Lou Grant.  But to Elvis fans he is best-known for appearing in Elvis' only sport film Kid Galahad (as Assistant District Attorney Frank Gerson) and in Elvis' last feature film, the crime drama Change of Habit (as police Lieutenant Moretti).

Asner, in an interview, said the following about working with Elvis:

He was a good guy. I liked him a lot. The first film was 'Kid Galahad'. Elvis was going through his karate phase, so his fingers were all being broken and busy breaking bricks and boards. And the second film was 'Change of Habit' with Mary Tyler Moore. He had become a different person by then, he was becoming an actor. And once again, he didn't screw up, didn't make a mess, didn't foul any nest, and showed up and did his work as best he could. He was not a problem maker.

Monday, 12 February 2024

Memorial Bench


The Tupelo Elvis Fan Club donated a memorial honouring Elvis' only child, Lisa-Marie, to the Tupelo Elvis Presley Birthplace. Tom Brown, host of the Elvis Tupelo Festival, commented:

Tupelo, for all the Presley's, was a special place, because it was a place that grounded Elvis, that was his home before he became a superstar. Lisa was one of those what would come back, especially while family friend Janelle McComb (1921-2005) was alive. She would come stay with Janelle for days at a time and just be a normal person.

Monday, 15 January 2024

Greatest Singers

In 2008 Rolling Stone magazine published their list of 100 Greatest Singers Of All Time. A panel of 179 "experts" ranked Elvis at #3.

In 2023, 15 years later, the same magazine published their list of 200 Greatest Singers Of All Time, ranking Elvis at #17.

It did not take long for the first commotion to appear when Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman blasted Rolling Stone for placing Bob Dylan over Elvis on the list.

But the fun really started when fans of Michael Jackson saw their idol ranked at #86. The reaction of an MJ fan on twitter was gold: 

Eighty. Six. Delete your account. Destroy your servers. Take all existing magazines out of print. Throw them in a bon fire. File for chapter 11. Vacate your office. Demolish the building. Apologize to the world. Repent. Leave the planet for good.

I couldn't have said it better.