Elvis - An Army Trilogy Volume II

No, you did not miss Volume I. It is still in the making, as is Volume III. 

Which makes me think ... who of you have, since becoming fans, also read piles of books on Elvis? At first perhaps mostly those available via normal retail outlets, then moving on to the loads of quality self-published gems, which - it seems - are not going out of fashion any time soon. Elvis fans are indeed in need of long arms and deep pockets. Local folk singer Lucas Maree said it best: Ek sou kon doen met 'n miljoen!

Maybe you remember one of the treasures from 2004 - the stunner, The Ultimate Elvis In Munich Book. The author, Andreas Roth, from Munich, Bavaria, will luckily release his second book soon.

Elvis - The Army Trilogy Volume II is a 240-page, hard-bound coffee table book covering Elvis' army period from November 1958 - June 1959. According to the author this book features some 300 rare photos and documents, including more about Elvis in Munich.

I'm looking forward to this one. 

Elvis On My Mind

In our beloved country we literally have few to no tributes to Elvis' music where jumpsuits are not involved. Luckily, one such eventuality will eventuate in Cape Town, shortly.

The place to be on Saturday 26 September 2015 at 7 p.m. is the Hillcrest Quarry Wine Estate, Durbanville Hills, where The Steyn Family Band will present pop superstar Nicholis Louw in his ELVIS ON MY MIND show, entertaining us with all of Elvis' most popular songs.

Seats are unreserved, the doors will open at 6 p.m., tickets are R120 p.p. and available at Computicket.

So, C'mon Everybody, let's put on our Blue Suede Shoes, hop in our pink Cadillacs and Have A Party Down In The ... Quarry!

We Miss You

Does Elvis Still Matter?

"No Elvis, probably no Beatles, no Rolling Stones, no Bowie, no U2, no T Rex. I doubt even guys like Jerry Lee Lewis, Bo Diddley, and Chuck Berry would have ever had the high-profile careers they had without Elvis crashing the party.

Would most of us even care who Bill Monroe is without Elvis' cover of Blue Moon of Kentucky? He may not have invented rock and roll, but he was the first guy to break the sound barrier, and he is still sending a sonic boom through our society that will never be reversed. And they didn't film him originally from the waist up only for nothing!"

- William Michael Smith, Houston Press.

Statue In Tupelo

When four of us visited the US for the first time in 2007, Tupelo was one of the stops. Of course. At the time there was a wonderfully done statue of Elvis as a boy of about 11, at The Birthplace, you've all seen it.

Looks like it has been upgraded or these ones added? We look forward to visit there again. 

In 2005, during our (also only) trip to London we were fortunate to have been guests of the accomplished Elvis author, Julie Yeardye, and her husband Trevor, when we visited with them for a few days in the country side of Tring.

At the time we were amazed to hear them talk about attending Elvis weekends and events all over the place, from the UK to Spain to the US. How fortunate you guys are in countries with a great number of Elvis fans. You have awesome opportunities and singers of Elvis music. I hope you cherish and support them as much as you can.

Tupelo, Memphis, Nashville, et al, we will see you again.