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Top left, Live A Little, Love A Little, top right, from the back cover of Elvis Protraits, bottom left, Girls, Girls, Girls and bottom right Jalhouse Rock.

An preview of four photos from the JAT Productions book, Elvis - Portraits due for release April 8.

Following Elvis Portraits, JAT Productions will release Elvis '68 at 40 - Retrospective in August. This book will focus on the '68 Comeback Special' and Steve Binder (the special's producer/director) has agreed to contribute to the book. The book will contain many exclusive and never before seen color photos from the private collection of Timothy Mulrenan and Robert Brower.

In addition to the 2000 hardcover books is an 8"x 10" photo not used in the book and signed by Steve Binder.

2008/03/31 www.elvis.com.au / www.epgold.com

As you may have heard, Priscilla Presley was the victim of the phony cosmetic doctor Daniel Serrano, who gave her 'miracle injections that worked better than botox'. The result was not wat Priscilla had expected, and she wants the surgery to be undone.

This lead to a consultation with the very famous cosmetic doc Jeff Hoeyberghs in Belgium (known from the TV show 'The Wellness Clinic'). Priscilla will visit Dr. Jeff tomorrow April 1st at his wellness clinic, at 10 am.

Priscilla also agreed to a quick visit to the ElvisMatters Shop - which is an excellent picture opportunity for our members! - tomorrow April 1st - between 4 and 5 pm.

Don't be late, because Priscilla's limo leaves for Brussels Airport at 5 pm on the dot!

The memorial service for Todd Morgan of EPE is set for tomorrow at 6 PM in Memphis at the University of Memphis.

Elvis Unlimited has learned some exclusive details about the service. Priscilla and Lisa Marie Presley will not be in attendance. But they will be sending personal messages which will be shown at the memorial.

Joe Guercio is directing the service and among many other guests, the Imperials have been asked to sing at the service for Todd.

Two records previously set by Elvis Presley are set to be broken this coming week after the digital release of Mariah Carey's "Touch My Body" and Madonna's "4 Minutes". Both songs received enough digital downloads to make the singers take the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and the other to add another top 10 hit to her list.

First, Carey is on track to collect her 18th No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart this week. In regard to the digital release of the single, Billboard stated that, "...the fresh availability of a digital download should send the song hurtling to the top next week. That will push Carey to second place among artists with the most No. 1s in the rock era. The record is held by the Beatles with 20; Carey is currently tied with Elvis Presley."

Meanwhile, Madonna's "4 Minutes" will jump into the Top 10 this week and she will beat Elvis as the artist with the most Top 10 hits in music history. It will be her 37th beating Elvis' previous set record of 36 Top 10 hits!

So many artists wish they could have a Top 10 single, and Madonna is on her way to # 37

ARTISTS WITH THE MOST TOP 10 SINGLES (Before 4 Minutes)

1. Elvis Presley (36)
1. Madonna (36)
3. The Beatles (34)
4. Stevie Wonder (28)
4. Michael Jackson (28)

2008/03/31 www.zimbio.com / www.epgold.com

PHOTO IS BY FAMOUS PHOTOGRAPHER GEORGE KALINSKY WHO ALSO RECENTLY DISCOVERED MANY NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN ELVIS PHOTOS .

IMAGES ARE FROM 1972 PERFORMANCE AT MADISON SQUARE GARDEN. EXHIBIT OF THE “LOST PHOTOS” WILL OPEN AT GRACELAND IN MAY.

Right in the heart of Times Square is one of the world’s most iconic rock ‘n roll stars looking over one of New York’s most iconic locations. At 36-foot by 76-foot, a newly unveiled three-story billboard of Elvis Presley greets the more than 1.5 million people who visit Times Square each day. The image on the billboard was captured by award winning photographer, George Kalinsky, who also recently discovered several photos of Elvis that have never been seen publicly.

As the official photographer of Madison Square Garden and Radio City Music Hall and the special photographer for the New York Mets, Kalinsky has created some of the most celebrated images of famous people. World renowned, he has captured some of the greatest moments in the history of sports, entertainment, and politics. In 2002, the photo industry honored him with the International Photographer of the Year award.

The recently discovered “Lost Photos” were created by Kalinsky while he was photographing Elvis’ second-night performance in Madison Square Garden in 1972. He recently came across them and realized they had never been seen by the general public. “It’s a treasure trove of photos,” commented Kalinsky. “When I discovered them I contacted the folks at Graceland, who were thrilled.”

The collection of never before published photos will be displayed at Graceland in May as part of “Elvis Jumpsuits: All Access,” a fashion exhibit featuring more than 50 of Elvis’ famous stage wear jumpsuits. A grand opening for the Kalinsky photo exhibit is scheduled for Memorial Day weekend at Graceland. The billboard is part of the “Great Moments in New York” campaign.

An exhibit of these never before seen photos will open at Graceland in May.
Click here to find out more about this special exhibit.

The German fan club EPG (Elvis Presley Gesellschaft) celebrated its 30th anniversary with a rather unusual concert, last Saturday in Bad Nauheim. On stage: the German sound & look-a-like Rio (‘The Voice of Elvis’) and three former members of the Stamps Quartet: Bill Baize, Ed Hill and Sean (‘Sherill’) Nielsen.

Even though the combination seemed a bit odd with 2 tenor singers in a trio, still the overall result was impressive. Had the group been completed with a bass singer, the sound would’ve been even better.

Fan club president Peter Beines had announced the evening as a ‘Gospel Tribute to Elvis’, with an overview of the best Gospel songs from the Elvis repertoire. Ready for a Gospel Celebration, we were somewhat surprised to see the evening being kicked off with the remix vesion of ‘A Little Conversation’ – but hey, who are we to judge?

The rest of the program was spelled G-O-S-P-E-L, from the soft ballad gospels such as ‘Crying In The Chapel’ and ‘Stand By Me’, to the up tempo versions of ‘I John’, ‘Working On The Building’ and ‘So High’, and a very funky rendition of ‘Feeling In My Body’. A special treat were the ‘unknown’ Gospel songs, like ‘500 Miles’ and ‘12th of Never’. Although not strictly gospel, it was a joy to hear these songs live on stage, with a live band and live vocals.

With three former members of the Stamps Quartet on stage, the show wouldn’t have been complete without a solo feature. Ed Hill did “The Lighthouse”, while Bill Baize amazed everybody with an incredible powerful version of ‘When It’s My Time’ (both songs can be heard in ‘On Tour’), and Sean Nielsen sang a flawless Italian intro to “Now Or Never”.

But the absolute highlight of the evening was the a capella song “Sweet Sweet Spirit” – exactly like it sounded 36 years ago in ‘On Tour’. No wonder that the song ended with a long standing ovation, from fans almost begging for an encore – which they got.

On the ‘To Be Improved’ list are two remarks: maybe somebody should buy Rio a small table, for his cup of water. It’s ok to have a local ‘Charlie Hodge’ bring water once, or twice – but it gets boring after the 15th time. Also, maybe it would do Rio good to study harder on the lyrics.

It’s rather painful to hear him sing the wrong words in the middle of “How Great Thou Art”, for instance. But again, who are we to judge? Rio is far better than any other ETA, but it’s just not our cup of water (pun intended).

Conclusion: this evening was a successful answer to the question “How to please an Elvis audience in an other way than by recreating the traditional live shows”? Well done, EPG!

2008/03/31 www.elvismatters.be / www.epgold.com

Soden The keeper of the flame of all things Elvis: It’s still Jack Soden.

The Kansas City native spearheaded the preservation and opening to the public of the King’s Memphis mansion Graceland in 1982. And while mum’s the word on exactly what may soon go down in the way of improvements, there’s plenty to see right now, as evidenced by the more than half-million visitors a year to Elvis’ former home.

“We’ve been buying property in our neighborhood for the last 18 years, and now we have a 120-acre campus,” Soden says.

Don’t look for a Disneyland-like theme park intruding on nearby neighborhoods, Soden says of the coming changes.

“It conjures up rides and Ferris wheels, and nobody wants that around this famous place,” Soden says. “If anything, we will build all new visitor centers, museum and parking facilities. We’re going to build everything over while carefully preserving the integrity of Graceland, because it’s a national landmark.

“People still place a great deal of value on authenticity. So it’s extremely important that Graceland be preserved the same as it was when Elvis lived here. And I think it’s important to note that just because you have 120 acres doesn’t mean you have to develop it all. A lot of it could remain green space.”

Return visitors can check out two new exhibits: Private Presley, commemorating the 50th anniversary of Elvis’ induction into the Army, and the 68 Special exhibit, which celebrates the 40th anniversary of Elvis’ television “comeback” where he performed the song “If I Can Dream.”

“We change an awful lot of our exhibits,” Soden says. “If you haven’t been here in several years, you’ll see a lot of things that are new.”

One thing people won’t see: Graceland’s upstairs, which will remain closed. Even President Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi weren’t allowed up there when they jetted in for a schmooze two years ago.

“We were prepared that even if the White House had asked for that, we would have said no,” Soden says. “We were going to say if Koizumi was a real Elvis fan, he wouldn’t want to go upstairs. Elvis fans would consider it in poor taste to go upstairs and look at the bathroom floor where Elvis was found dead. But they never asked.”

Speaking of Bush’s visit, “The Secret Service loved being here,” Soden says. “We gave them all Elvis sunglasses.”

Countless celebs have flocked to Graceland over the years.

“Jeff Bridges is touring right now,” Soden says. “There’s always somebody. They’re making two movies in Memphis right now, one with Justin Timberlake, who is from Memphis. And Samuel L. Jackson is here. This is the third movie he’s made in Memphis.”

Incredibly, only two stars were kicked out for misbehavior, Soden says: Boy George and Courtney Love. George was acting up like he was vying for tabloid coverage, and Love wanted to engage in an unmentionable activity.

“We’re tolerant up to a point,” Soden says.

2008/03/31 www.kansascity.com / www.epgold.com

NobleWorks, Inc. is proud to announce a new partnership with Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. (EPE) that will feature The King of Rock 'n' Roll in a series of so-called "hilarious" new greeting cards for 2008. For the first time, Elvis Presley's legendary style will be paired with NobleWorks' trademark wit in a new line of Christmas, birthday and everyday greeting cards. NobleWorks is looking forward to joining The King of Rock 'n' Roll at center stage, following the success of its comical card line featuring another Las Vegas icon, Liberace.

Highlights from the new line include the iconic image of Elvis and Richard Nixon, with the president saying "I'm not a crook" and The King responding "I'm not a hound dog." Another card features a photo of a young Elvis leaving the front door of Graceland and is accompanied by the caption: "Elvis has left the building."

All the new Elvis cards are available for order at NobleWorks' flagship site, TheHornyRabbit.com, or as completely customizable print-on-demand cards at NobleWorksCards.com.

Please call NobleWorks at 800-346-6253 (x28) or 201-420-0095 (x28) for more information.

2008/03/31 www.prweb.com / www.epgold.com

Everyone who comes to Las Vegas wants to make his mark. Over the past 37 years, Fry and her loyal staff have filed those imprints.

At 65, June Fry isn't the queen of the Vegas palm readers. She is the first lady of fingerprints at the Metropolitan Police Department.

Her official title these days is Convicted Person Registration supervisor, and she's retiring after playing one of the most important and underappreciated roles on the department over the last four decades. She holds the lowest badge number at Metro, No. 461.

Her efforts have not only helped catch crooks and clear citizens wrongly accused, but for many years she worked closely with the Clark County coroner's office and assisted in the identification of dozens of John Doe bodies.

Many graves are properly marked because Fry did her job well. Families have been given some solace because of her efforts.

On rare occasion, she has been introduced to anguished family members who thanked her through their tears.

But most people she meets want to know what it was like to meet Elvis when he came in to be fingerprinted for his sheriff's work card before taking the stage at the International, now the Las Vegas Hilton. That was back when he was all swivel hips and sexy sneer. Although I'm not sure he needed assistance, Fry smiles as she recalls how she helped wash the ink from Presley's hands.

"Elvis was such a dreamboat," the fiery-haired Fry says, grinning. "I still have a hound dog he gave me at his show. He was one of those charismatic people that even guys are drawn to. The day he came in to get fingerprinted, I cleaned his hands with Boraxo soap.

"It took me about an hour."

Elvis was so smitten with his experience that he treated the ladies of the fingerprint section to tickets to his show. But the King wasn't the only star on Fry's hit parade.

There was Lee Liberace, the larger-than-life Vegas performer who in real life was just 5-foot-8. And there were Rat Pack pillars Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.

There was the "Man in Black," Johnny Cash, and "Johnny B. Goode," Chuck Berry. And the Statler Brothers. And the Carpenters. And more one-hit wonders from the '60s and '70s than you can cram onto a Time Life Legends collection.

Then there was the time Johnny Weissmuller swung by to be fingerprinted. The movie star worked and lived in Las Vegas in the 1970s. Fry couldn't resist asking the all-time greatest "Tarzan" if he really could yodel the way he did in all his movies.

"He did, and it was so loud the bailiffs came running with their hands on their guns," she says. "It was so funny."

Not that Metro's fingerprint bureau is a laugh riot -- far from it. In recent years, Fry has supervised the department's Convicted Person Registration program, which puts her staff in contact with most of the felons and sex offenders in Clark County. They are regularly printed, photographed and, in the case of the sex offenders, swabbed for DNA processing.

Rather than looking down on them, Fry reminds a skeptic that society is a more peaceful place because so many of those felons follow the rules.

"They may be scuzzies," she says, "but at least they're trying."

In a valley that finds police personnel spread thinly, the fingerprint bureau performs important work.

You might think meeting the least of society would make Fry hardened and cynical, but she has managed to maintain her sense of humor along with a loyal staff. Although her 37 years and 5 months is a standing department record, colleague Debbie Martinez has been with her 29 years, Shirley Torrey 20 years, and Carol Santoro 17 years. Elizabeth Montoya and Terri Ficek have 17 years of combined department experience, but they're practically rookies in Fry's fingerprint family.

Technology has advanced in 37 years. Where card files once ruled, computers now glow. But the human touch remains the key to good police work.

Metro's first lady of fingerprints can retire knowing she has indeed made a unique impression.

Elvis Presley’s Memphis mansion, Graceland, will be bathed in blue light starting Monday night March 31, 2008 through the NCAA Final Four Championship on April 7th, 2008 in support of the University of Memphis Tigers and their success in reaching the 2008 Final Four.

In what is being called Final Four Operation: Blue Suede Shoe, Graceland’s employees have outfitted over 150 spotlights scattered around the 13 acre Graceland compound with special bulbs to illuminate the King of Rock n’ Roll’s famous home in the Tiger’s trademark color of blue. Each year over 600,000 visitors from all over the world travel to Memphis and tour the National Historic Landmark and its related attractions.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Oklahoma lawmakers may give you a chance to make rock 'n' roll history.

House members are expected to decide Monday if the state will get an official rock 'n' roll song. If approved, the song should become official just as the Oklahoma History Center raises the curtain early next year on a major exhibit detailing the state's history of rock.

Lawmakers won't pick the song -- that's up to you -- but House Concurrent Resolution 1047 would set the stage for selection.

If approved, the measure would allow Oklahomans to nominate rock songs online and at various music events this summer. Any song could be nominated, as long as it was written or recorded by an Oklahoma artist.

"We want to get as many people involved in the process as possible," said Jeff Moore, the Oklahoma History Center's exhibit director.

The resolution's author, Rep. Joe Dorman, D-Rush Springs, said he would especially like Oklahoma's newest songwriters and local bands to enter the contest.

"We've got a lot of talent," said Dorman, who also brought Oklahoma its state vegetable, thewatermelon.

Nominations will be taken online until August and can be made at www.tulsaworld.com/staterocksong .

All of the songs will be turned over to a panel of experts, which will whittle the count to a Top 10.

Just who gets one of the sure-to-be coveted spots on the rock 'n' roll panel hasn't been determined.

However, the governor, House speaker and Senate president pro tem each get one appointee. The Oklahoma Historical Society and the Oklahoma Film and Music Commission will each name two people to the committee.

Oklahomans will choose the official song from the Top 10 this fall, by voting online, similar to the vote for the design of the Oklahoma quarter.

The song Oklahomans choose will then be submitted to lawmakers' next session for confirmation as the state's official rock 'n' roll song.

Any song whose writer or performer has Oklahoma ties can be nominated.

For example, the GAP Band's songs could work because the group originated in Tulsa. Likewise, Oklahoma City's Flaming Lips' tunes could also be accepted.

Even Elvis Presley's "Heartbreak Hotel" could work because of the song's Oklahoma author, Mae Boren Axton. Of course, her son, Hoyt Axton, could also claim the title with his music, including several Three Dog Night hits that reference Oklahoma.

"Hopefully, the songs and the artists they will nominate will reflect the history and tradition of this great state," said Sen. John Ford, R-Bartlesville, the resolution's Senate sponsor.

If all goes as planned, by this time next year, the official song would be approved just as the Oklahoma History Center debuts "Another Hot Oklahoma Night," a comprehensive exhibit on Oklahoma's rich history with rock 'n' roll.

"It's really interesting about how all of these bands and musicians are all interconnected," Moore said. "It's an amazing story that hasn't been focused on."

Oklahoma can be credited with introducing the Midwest to rock 'n' roll, Moore said.

"People west of the Mississippi got their first taste of rock 'n' roll through Oklahoma, from the Oklahoma City and Tulsa radio stations," Moore said. Both cities had stations with huge, powerful signals, he said.

The three-part exhibit will feature rock 'n' roll songwriters, performers, radio stations and venues, including Tulsa's Cain's Ballroom and The Brady Theater.

It's to include not only the evolution of rock 'n' roll in Oklahoma, but also footage of some little-known but big-name performances. For example, a 1956 Elvis concert in Oklahoma City was filmed by WKY -- although the footage doesn't have sound, Moore said.

Singer Wanda Jackson, who now lives in Oklahoma City, opened for Elvis that night, he said.

"We're doing oral interviews and video interviews with a lot of these individuals associated with rock 'n' roll music to put in the exhibit," Moore said.

"Hopefully we can do a nice documentary covering the history of rock 'n' roll music in Oklahoma."

The rock 'n' roll song will not replace the state's official song.

It's unlikely that any song will ever upstage Rodgers and Hammerstein's world-renowned "Oklahoma," which became the state's official song in 1953.

However, the state does have other official songs.

Bob Wills' "Faded Love" was adopted as the state's country and Western song in 1988.

In 2001, "Oklahoma Hills" by Jack and Woody Guthrie became the state's folk song.

The famous 'Grunewald Hotel' in Bad Nauheim, Germany, where Elvis rented an entire floor during his (first) army days, is no longer open.

The current owners used to rent the 'Elvis Room' to fans. However, they have come to an age that they decided to stop this 'service'.

A pitty really, as this was a unique opportunity to experience a special night in Elvis's European home.

April 18, 2008 a release of the "50th Anniversary Special" from"The Million Dollar Quartet"-Session as double vinyl album on the ZYX-Label.

LP 1:

Instrumental - Love Me Tender (Instrumental) - Jingle Bells (Instrumental) - White Christmas (Instrumental) - Reconsider Baby - Don't Be Cruel - Don't Be Cruel - Paralyzed - Don't Be Cruel - There's No Place Like Home - When The Saints Go Marchin' In - Softly And Tenderly - When God Dips His Love In My Heart - Just A Little Talk With Jesus - Jesus Walked That Lonesome Valley - I Shall Not Be Moved - Peace In The Valley

LP 2:

Down By The Riverside - I'm With A Crowd But So Alone - Farther Along - Blessed Jesus (Hold My Hand) - On The Jericho Road - I Just Can't Make It By Myself - Little Cabin Home On The Hill - Summertime Is Past And Gone - I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling - Sweetheart, You Done Me Wrong - Keeper Of The Key - Crazy Arms - Don't Forbid Me - Too Much Monkey Business - Brown Eyed Handsome Man - Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind - Brown Eyed Handsome Man - Don't Forbid Me - You Belong To My Heart - Is It So Strange - That's When Your Heartaches Begin - Brown Eyed Handsome Man - Rip It Up - I'm Gonna Bid My Blues Goodbye - Crazy Arms - That's My Desire - End Of The Road - Black Bottom Stomp - You're The Only Star (In My Blue Heaven) - Elvis Says Goodbye (Spoken)

Former Graceland Tour Guide Speaks.

Former tour guide gives glimpse inside, Terri Barnes knows a little Elvis Presley trivia.

A native of Memphis, Tenn., Barnes was one of Graceland’s first tour guides when it opened in 1982.

“I had just graduated from college and I needed a job,” she told McComb Lions Tuesday.

But Graceland did more than provide that first job — it was where Barnes met her husband, Dr. Chuck Barnes, who was then a student working as a security guard at the mansion.

The experience was more than just working at a tourist attraction. It was an early glimpse into how Graceland would be a cathedral for Elvis fans.

Since its opening, Elvis’ Memphis mansion has averaged thousands of visitors per year and earned millions of dollars. It is the country’s second most-visited house next to the White House.
But in the early summer of 1982, Barnes said, no one knew what to expect.

Prior to its public opening, Graceland, which was then under the control of Elvis’ wife Priscilla through Elvis Presley Enterprises, was redecorated in a 1960s style, which Barnes said recalled Elvis’ best years spent at the mansion.

The first tour guides, she said, underwent a two-week training period before the mansion opened and were dressed in white from head to toe, with the exception of a light blue tie.

“We were totally scripted,” she said, adding that the guides’ descriptive monologues about the mansion’s areas were memorized from scripts approved by Priscilla Presley.

She said the guides also were trained in first aid and CPR, but they weren’t prepared for what opening day would bring.

Graceland at that time had no air conditioning, she said, adding that on opening day, a number of visitors collapsed from the heat. Schedule problems forced the guides to work a 10-hour day with no break.

And the guides were learning that there are two kinds of fans, Barnes said, “Elvis fans, and ELVIS fans.”

Barnes remembers an episode when she was working in the “trophy room,” which contained portraits of Elvis and other memorabilia.

“The portraits were irreplaceable,” she said.“And people were not allowed to take flash pictures in the trophy room.”

One tour that entered the trophy room that day consisted of two men carrying a large, emotionally overwrought fan whose face and makeup were streaked with tears.

Suddenly, Barnes said, the woman fell against her, pinning her against a portrait, and the men began taking flash pictures in the room. The woman had to be pulled off Barnes and helped out.

Barnes said emotional scenes were common, because of the effect Elvis had on the lives of others.

“We had people tell us that Elvis had literally changed their lives,” she said. “He had an influence on so many people.”

During her time as a guide, Barnes recalled several instances involving visitors dressed like Elvis or Priscilla, including one smallish man in a homemade Elvis jumpsuit, who when asked where he was from responded “from Heaven.”

There were the two Japanese teenagers who spent every day of their vacation touring Graceland.

And there were the questions.

When the guides took a break, Barnes said, they had a contest to determine the silliest question of the day. She said there were several regulars.

“We would have a tour in the trophy rooms where Elvis’ jumpsuits were displayed on mannequins, and somebody would always ask, ‘Is that the suit Elvis is buried in?’

“We’d have to answer with, ‘Let me check.’ ”

Barnes said there was a photograph in Graceland’s foyer that was taken during Elvis’ Aloha Concert in Hawaii.

“People would ask, ‘Was that picture of Elvis taken after his death?’ ” she said.

A replica of the wedding cake from Elvis’ and Priscilla’s wedding in the trophy room would elicit comments like, “and nobody ate the cake,” or “look how well preserved it is.”

And visitors were always trying to engage the guides into a discussion about their opinion of Priscilla, whom visitors either liked or hated.

Besides the usual tour groups, Barnes said, recording artists either visiting or performing in Memphis would come to Graceland.

“The majority of them were very respectful and complimentary,” she said.

“But about half of them would be rather rude until they saw the gold room.”

The gold room, she said, featured the gold and platinum records awarded to Presley.

“After that,” she said, “they didn’t say anything else.”

Barnes said Presley continues to receive gold and platinum albums after his death.

“Something new would come in and we’d have to take something down and move it to make room,” she said.

And people still send letters, flowers and gifts for Elvis to Graceland.

As for Graceland’s operators, “I don’t think they understood the power they were releasing when they opened that front door,” Barnes said.

Hugh Jarrett, a radio host at WPLO-AM and WQXI-AM (and most recently Victory 91.5, was in a car accident and not doing well.

He hosted a variety show on WXIA-TV at one point. He was inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Georgia Radio Hall of Fame in 2007.

He was also known as Big Hugh Baby Jarrett, a baritone for the mid-1950s group the Jordanaires, which backed up Elvis.

SHORTLY AFTER we rescued the Six Horses in July of 2007, we had T-shirts created with the a photo of the Six Horses included. We sent Six Horses T-shirts to a number of celebrities for autographs to help pay for hay and veterinary care (auction forthcoming). Shirts were returned by Bob Barker, Bob Newhart, Tom Selleck, Ty Pennington, Sally Field and Priscilla Presley, among others.

Much to everyone's astonishment, Priscilla Presley called from California after she received the T shirt. She had read the story on the back of the shirt and had visited our web site, also listed on the shirt. Priscilla not only signed the T shirt, she wanted to help.

Priscilla Presley offered a lifetime home to two of our horses. Priscilla explained that she and Elvis had always kept horses at Graceland. Elvis loved animals. As horses were an integral part of Presley life at Graceland, Priscilla has made a commitment that horses will always have a home there as a vital aspect of the Elvis Presley legacy and Graceland experience.

As current resident equines Sun and Candy are older, the Graceland staff looked forward to having a few young horses on the grounds. Priscilla promised that newly-adopted horses would be cared for with love and have their every need attended for the rest of their lives. Indeed, we could not imagine a better guarantee for any members of the Six.

Max and Merlin were natural choices for this unprecedented opportunity, as they both in recent weeks had exhibited significant herd separation behavior, a natural progression for young male horses in a family herd situation. The two young brothers, ages 3 and 2 respectively, were brought to Adagio Farm in Palermo in November, where both horses began groundwork training.

Merlin was a wonderful early student, yet we needed more time to gain his trust. Max was a brilliant student and came along quickly (see photo above of Max during groundwork training). Within a few short weeks he was leading without a lead rope, working on a lunge line, standing for trims, and loading onto a trailer with ease.

The month of December was filled with snowstorm after snowstorm, which made outdoor training nearly impossible due to dangerous footing conditions. We decided to hold off on sending Merlin until spring. On the other hand, Max would easily be ready for the trip south in mid- December. Yet the window of opportunity to transport Max to Graceland narrowed with each passing day. We finally saw two days of clear weather in early January and the 1500 mile journey was undertaken.

Max arrived at Graceland on January 10th, 2008 to considerable fanfare. All employees who could be in attendance were awaiting his arrival in the stable area. A veterinarian and farrier were both on hand, along with the stable management team. Max met his two stablemates, Candy and Sun. Once introduced, all three horses settled down to graze together. That night, Max was brought into his new stall, his name plate already in place. Candy was stalled directly across from Max to help to put him at ease. The barn was decorated with Christmas decor, including a Christmas stocking for Max. And wherever we went, Graceland, employees seemed to know about Max and were excited about his arrival.

Priscilla has kept us updated on Max's new life: Max is now a bit of a show-stopper in his own right (with all due respect to Mr. Elvis Presley). Graceland visitors can observe and enjoy his lunge line training sessions and Max apparently receives a round of applause for his coltish efforts afterwards. He is settled in, romping about and enjoying his celebrity status.

I love Max. We all love him. He has always been special. Wise beyond his years and with the kindest of hearts. Dance on , little horse, dance on.

He will always be Max of Maine, one of the Six Horses Saved from slaughter to us here in New England. Yet he is now a part of cultural history, having been embraced by the worldwide legacy of Elvis Presley, Priscilla Presley and his legendary home - Graceland

2008/03/30 http://www.freewebs.com/sixhorsessaved/index.htm / www.epgold.com

OPEN: Saturday & Sunday March 29 & 30, 2008 - 1300. PM - 1800 PM.

E-Mail: elvisinternational@casema.nl

The Netherlands : 0251 - 821240
Other Country's Dial : 00 - 31 - 251 - 821240

Please take note:

Since many loyal customers order at the www.epgoldwebshop.com , a personal visit at the Elvis International shop (starting February 1,2008) is possible - only after a appointment is made by e-mail or phone.

2008/03/28 ElvisInternational / www.epgold.com

Public Memorial Service for Todd Morgan Set for April 1, 2008 / Directions to Memorial Service.

A public memorial service honoring the life of valued and long time Graceland employee, Todd Morgan, has been set for April 1^st, 2008 from 6PM to 7PM CDT at The Rose Theater on the campus of The University of Memphis. Family, friends, co-workers and members of the Elvis fan world that Todd loved so much are all invited to attend this gathering at the 900 seat auditorium located on the U of M main campus in East Memphis.

Due to the enormous number of lives Todd impacted through his service to Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. and the Elvis legacy, this public memorial service will have a predetermined lineup of invited guest speakers and special musical performances.

If you wish to share a condolence message at the service, you can do so by posting a message at this online GUEST BOOK. Every effort will be made to include all of the messages posted in this guest book on a video screen inside the auditorium before and after the service.

A memorial fund is currently being set up with the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music to benefit the newly-created Todd Morgan Sound Fuzion Performance Enrichment Fund. Sound Fuzion is a touring ensemble of vocalists and instrumentalists that represents the University of Memphis at high schools, corporate functions and University sponsored activities, in addition to performing as part of the Music School's annual concert season.

Sound Fuzion is a group Todd loved and supported. He felt this was a great way to see the legacy of Memphis music continue to grow and develop in future generations. Click here to learn more about Sound Fuzion.

Memorial donations can be made payable to: University of Memphis Foundation. In the memo section of the check, please note the gift is for "Sound Fuzion in memory of Todd Morgan." Please send memorial donations to:

Department 238
The U of M Foundation

Todd Morgan Sound Fuzion Performance Enrichment Fund
PO Box 1000
Memphis, TN 38148-0001

DIRECTIONS:

Coming from the east/Nashville on I-40: Follow the Sam Cooper Blvd. signs, take the Highland Street exit from Sam Cooper Blvd., follow Highland south to Central, turn left (east) and follow Central to Zach Curlin, turn right (south) on Zach Curlin. Then look for a large parking garage on your right towards the end of the street after you pass the athletic fields/track. After you park pull in the garage, head WEST towards the elevators and the center of campus, you might see a new building under construction, come down to Level 1 on elevator. As you get off the elevator, walk out of the parking garage and The Rose Theater will be on your right, entrance is on the main sidewalk across from the new building that is under construction.

Coming from the west/Little Rock on I-40: Take the Riverside Drive exit, follow Riverside Drive south to Union Avenue, turn left (east) and follow Union (Union will change to Walnut Grove) to Highland, turn right (south) and follow Highland to Central, turn left (east) and follow Central to Zach Curlin, turn left (south) on Zach Curlin. Then look for a large parking garage on your right towards the end of the street after you pass the athletic fields/track. After you park pull in the garage, head WEST towards the elevators and the center of campus, you might see a new building under construction, come down to Level 1 on elevator. As you get off the elevator, walk out of the parking garage and The Rose Theater will be on your right, entrance is on the main sidewalk across from the new building that is under construction.

LAS VEGAS — The company that owns the licensing rights to the name and image of Elvis Presley is continuing with plans to build a casino devoted to the King on the Las Vegas Strip, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

New York-based FX Real Estate and Entertainment said the project, planned for an 18-acre site across from the CityCenter development, hinges on whether the company can raise capital through debt and equity financing.

The development has a $3.1 billion price tag, not including land costs, financing and additional pre-opening costs, the filing said.

FX declined to comment Wednesday beyond the filing.

It told the SEC that it hoped to aim at the "upper strata of the luxury market," and that design plans were in flux "in relation to the demands of the Las Vegas market."

The project is scheduled to begin construction in the first quarter of 2009 with a completion date of late 2012, the filing said.

First phase plans include an "Elvis-inspired" luxury hotel and casino and a separate hotel-condominium. FX will own and operate the 2,269-room hotel and 93,000-square-foot casino.

A separate project, with 778 hotel rooms and 147 condominiums, will be operated by a joint-venture partner.

A 206,000-square-foot convention space, retail space, restaurants and showroom also are planned.

Developers hope to tap into the market for Elvis-themed weddings with several wedding chapels, a bridal and flower shop, and wedding reception and banquet areas.

An interactive multimedia Elvis experience, a boutique and an Elvis memorabilia store are also planned for the project.

FX has a licensing agreement with Elvis Presley Enterprises allowing the company to use the name and certain assets from the entertainer's estate.

The company acquired the land through six separate transactions totaling $221.3 million, or $12.5 million per acre, between March 1998 and May 2005.

The site is currently occupied by several retail store and restaurants, including the Harley-Davidson Cafe and Smith & Wollensky. It generated $21.4 million in revenue for FX mainly through rental income.

Picture: Priscilla Presley adopted a feline-style crawl to wow judges during her recent performance on US dance show Dancing With The Stars.

Priscilla Presley was interviewed live on the Dutch Radio station 'Radio538'. First came Louis Van Amstel, her Dutch dance partner for "Dancing With The Stars", then it was Priscilla's turn.

She talked about the times she danced with Elvis. He loved dancing and was a natural talent, but at the same time he was too shy to dance in public.

Her favorite Elvis songs are "Memories" and "Suspicious Minds". However, she added, she doesn't listen to his music a lot, because she's usually not home. "And when I'm in Graceland, we have our own Elvis All The Time radio."

The interview is available by clicking the link below.

ELVIS PRESLEY's autograph is still a top scribble, according to Autograph Magazine's annual list of rock 'n' roll signatures.

At prices of up to $25,000 (£12,500), the King's autograph is still a hot item to collectors, over 30 years after his death.

Beatle Sir Paul McCartney's signature comes in at number two on the new Top 10 Rockin' Buys list, compiled by expert Roger Epperson, and Aerosmith combined are third.

But Autograph magazine editor Steve Cyrkin urges fans to be careful when buying the star's scribbles.

He says, "Watch out, there are forgeries abound, and not just on the internet
. We've found galleries with more forged than authentic autographs, particularly in tourist destinations.

"Get a second opinion from a respected music autograph expert, or get yours authenticated by a reputable autograph authentication service." Autograph Magazine's Top 10 Rock 'n' Roll buys are:

1. Elvis Presley
2. Sir Paul McCartney
3. Aerosmith
4. Eric Clapton
5. AC/DC
6. Bob Dylan
7. Jimmy Page
8. Sir Elton John
9. Eddie Van Halen
10. B.B. King

FX Real Estate and Entertainment Inc. revealed its development plans Monday in a 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

According GlobeSt.com, the first phase of the $3.1 billion "Park Central" project includes a 2,269-room, luxury, Elvis-themed casino-hotel and a luxury branded five-star, 778-room boutique-hotel with 147 residential units.

There will also be:

- 93,000 sq. ft. casino
- 206,000 sq. ft. of convention space
- a 1,605-seat multi-use theater/showroom
- 100,000 sq. ft. of entertainment space
- 94,000 sq. ft. of retail
- 14 restaurants

The tower will be topped with a rooftop restaurant, converting to a lounge after hours. The property will also include seven luxury villas overlooking the pool area.

A future phase is to include a 1,000-room hotel.

Klai Juba Architects and YWS Architects have been hired to work on the plans.

2008/03/28 www.vegastodayandtomorrow.com / www.epgold.com

Top Music Video Chart: Aloha From Hawaii: #40
Top Music Video Chart: Elvis #1 Hit Performances: 28

Garden Decides Instead To Renovate Existing Arena.

NEW YORK (AP) ― Madison Square Garden on Thursday derailed an ambitious, $14 billion plan to renovate Penn Station and redevelop the drab neighborhood around it by backing out of negotiations to move the sports arena one block away to a landmark post office.

MSG said it would move forward with plans announced years ago to renovate its existing arena, which sits over the nation's busiest train station and is home to the New York Rangers and the New York Knicks.

"After exploring several alternatives, it has become clear that the only viable option is a renovation," MSG spokesman Barry Watkins said in a statement.

The arena, on Manhattan's West Side, had been negotiating for months with city, state and federal officials to move into the James A. Farley Post Office, allowing developers to tear down the arena and renovate the dark maze of tunnels and train tracks that run underground.

But the project stalled when enough funding never materialized; the state official overseeing the project, Patrick Foye, left his job this month after former Gov. Eliot Spitzer resigned.

State officials didn't immediately comment Thursday.

MSG, owned by Cablevision Systems Corp., one of the nation's top telecommunications and entertainment companies, would need state and city permission to move ahead with its renovation.

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said MSG's decision shows "a callous disregard" for the future of the West Side.

"It really takes a project and puts it into some level of chaos," she said.

MSG said Quinn didn't understand that its decision to renovate "will not affect the project one bit."

"We fail to understand why Ms. Quinn would not want to help us deliver a renovated arena to our more than 4 million annual fans, most of them New Yorkers," it said.

A spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg, as well as the private development venture that planned to rebuild the station and create new office space and shops, reiterated a commitment to completing the train station and developing the surrounding area.

"While we understand the frustrations of Madison Square Garden after three lengthy years of pursuing this grand but complex plan, we have every faith that our city, state and federal leadership will enable this project to become a reality for all New Yorkers," said Vishaan Chakrabarti, president of Moynihan Station Venture, a joint venture of The Related Cos. and Vornado Realty Trust.

The city has feuded publicly with Cablevision before, when Bloomberg sought permission to build a new stadium for the New York Jets on the West Side and Cablevision lobbied to torpedo it.

The new train station is to be named after the late U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who sought more than a decade ago to create an atrium like Grand Central Terminal's in the landmark post office.

Amtrak, which owns Penn Station, urged MSG to keep negotiating the new station project.

"While we understand Madison Square Garden's frustration with the pace of the Moynihan Penn Station project, we firmly believe that the plan is a good one," Amtrak said, "and we are still confident that we can make this revitalized train station a reality."

Preservationists had expressed concern that the Garden, which would share space in the post office building, would overwhelm the train station with a planned glass wall facing the concourse or drape billboards over the building's Corinthian columns.

MSG said in its statement that it supported development on the West Side and praised Sen. Charles Schumer. The senator earlier Thursday proposed having the bistate Port Authority of New York and New Jersey oversee the renovation, which drew statements of support from Gov. David Paterson and Port Authority officials.

Schumer's office declined further comment after MSG's announcement.

2008/03/28 http://wcbstv.com / www.epgold.com

Elvis Presley’s ancestors link Lisa Marie Presley and her children to Royalty According to the Co-Founder of the Family Forest(R) Project.

Family Forest® Project, today announces its latest discovery: Elvis Presley, the iconic “King of Rock” was, in fact, himself descended from kings of England.

Kamuela, HI Millisecond Publishing Company, Inc., the world’s foremost resource for researching deep family history via its proprietary Family Forest® Project, today announces its latest discovery: Elvis Presley, the iconic “King of Rock” was, in fact, himself descended from kings of England.

“Through at least one of the known ancestral lines of Elvis’ grandmother, Minnie Mae (Hood) Presley, recorded history shows Elvis Aaron Presley to be a descendant of King Henry the 1st and William the Conqueror,” states Bruce H. Harrison, Millisecond’s CEO and co-founder of the Family Forest® Project.

Minnie Mae Hood, affectionately nicknamed “Dodger”, was the mother of Vernon Presley. Following her death in 1980 at age 92 she was laid to rest next to Elvis’s grave in the Meditation Garden at Graceland. (Graceland is open to the public and is a major worldwide tourist destination located in Memphis, Tennessee.)

The Family Forest® discovery means that Lisa Marie Presley (Lockwood) and her 2 teenage children (daughter Riley and son Benjamin) as well as the twins that she and her husband Michael Lockwood are reported to now be expecting*, are also descended of an ancient royal lineage. (*source: Star Magazine.)

Just as important as Elvis Presley’s royal heritage – “the King’s” unique kinship to tens of thousands of people alive today can now be calculated. These calculations are based on the fully sourced knowledge within the Family Forest®.

“We have been working diligently for 12 years to develop this breakthrough technology,” states Harrison. “Over 8 million lines of proprietary computer code can now be used in calculations of relationships that were, until now, never before possible.”

The Family Forest® opens new channels for exploring the deepest known realms of family histories. It also provides several never before possible “ancestral marketing” applications. This includes powerful ways for the entertainment industry to market Hollywood icons to both current and future generations via the connections of their genealogies.”

Millisecond Publishing Company, Inc. expects to license its proprietary technology to companies interested in the promotion of Hollywood icons, like Elvis Presley, who along with hundreds of others, who already have their ancestries digitally linked within the Family Forest®.

The Family Forest® Project is an on-going, privately funded research effort based on the Big Island of Hawaii. Over a year ago, it was first to announce the news that Senator Barack Obama’s mother’s ancestors positively established his relationship to at least four former U.S. Presidents, as well as the current vice president, and even the popular composer, Quincy Jones, Jr.

Millisecond Publishing Company, Inc., is the home of the Family Forest® Project, launched in 1995. The Family Forest® is A People-Centered Approach to History®, and the world’s most interconnected digital resource for exploring and teaching ancestral history. The company website is at http://www.FamilyForest.com

Contact:

Millisecond Publishing Comapny, Inc.
Co-Founder of the Family Forest Project Bruce Harrison
808-883-8060
Or email: familyforest@hawaiiantel.net

Here's an update from Bill's wife Connie:

Thank you, everyone, for all the prayers and good thoughts you are sending our way, plus all the cards that are pouring into the PO Box!

Your prayers have worked their magic -- Bill is now doing a little better. He has been in the ICU since March 16 and remains there for now.

When he gets a LOT better, I will let him tell you all about what has happened, but for now, let me just tell you that complications arose a couple days after his surgery, and he has been very sick. And he will still need a long time yet to get better.

He was much more alert when I was with him this afternoon, so just MAYBE he will be able to watch his beloved Memphis Tigers play basketball tomorrow night!

Connie

P.S. While I do check his e-mail inbox, please understand that I cannot reply to individual e-mails. I understand and appreciate your concern, but there is only so much time in the day for me and Bill comes first. Now off to heat up dinner at almost 8 pm....

Tuesday night is oldies night on Radio Caroline. Not only do we have Del Richardson's Good Rockin' Tonight and the 60's & 70's Request Show but our latest nod to the past Todd Slaughter's Elvis Hour starts the ball rolling at 5pm UK Time.

Todd has been running the Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain for over 40 years, since 14th August 1967 no less, though he been actively involved in the Elvis world since 1962. Over the years his Elvis shows have been heard on a variety of radio stations, and in 1998 he won the Sony Award for his programme "Elvis 10 Years After" broadcast by Radio Trent in Nottingham.

Todd is delighted to join Radio Caroline with his Elvis Hour and hopes that you enjoy the show.

A special programme has been pre-recorded for transmission on Tuesday April 1st. It contains some rather unusual material and information that has never before been broadcasted.

The programme is aired at 5.00pm in the UK on Sky Channel 0199, in Ireland on NTL, and around the world on WorldSpace Radio, plus you can listen on line (CET 18.00hrs) on Radio on-line.

2008/03/28 www.radiocaroline.co.uk / www.epgold.com

Jose Grant on his 100th birthday Photo Alex von Kleydorff

Jose Grant still comes into work six days a week, though he admits age is beginning to show itself after all these years.

"I went to the doctor a couple years ago to see about a prescription for my hands," the Stamford resident explained, hoping the doctor could find a remedy to steady the hands that have been crafting gold puzzle rings for more than 50 years.

"The doctor said, "Jose, you're 97, what do you want me to do?' How's that for a prescription?" asked Grant with a smile and a laugh.
On Monday, March 24, the owner and founder of Jewelry by Jose Grant celebrated his 100th birthday, as friends, family and well-wishers all stopped by the Summer Street store to give their best to a man that has always given his.

Grant was born in 1908 in Stockton, Calif. He was the second of 12 children in the Grant family, who had come to California by way of Cassopolis, Mich., where his family had lived on a farm.

"My parents were sort of adventurous, and after California, we kept right on moving," Grant said.

In 1912, Grant's family trekked across the country to Florida. Growing up, Grant said he and his older brother Roy were the rambunctious type. Both Grant boys loved to ride motorcycles, and it wasn't long before Grant was on the move himself, traveling from town to town looking for work and adventure.

When he was 18, he left home and road up to Mobile, Ala. to look for work. After that it was off to Beaumont, Texas where he spent time working on farm until he saved enough money to ride up to Dallas, where he worked in a service station cleaning and repairing car engines.

But it wasn't long before Grant's heart turned to the sky. His mother's brother, Leigh Wade, was a World War I fighter pilot, and one of eight United States Army aviators who took part in an around the world trip in one of four two-winged, single-engine Douglas aircraft.

"My uncle had to lie about his age to get into the Army," Grant said. "He was an adventurous guy, and he's why I wanted to fly."

After living in Detroit and then Buffalo, Grant found himself in Baltimore, where he learned how to fly.

Grant went for his first ride in a plane in 1925, and then in 1931 earned his pilot's license. The license itself was signed by Clarence Young, head of the United States Department of Commerce.

"Can you believe the secretary signed the thing," Grant said.

It wasn't long before Grant, along with his brother Roy, purchased their first airplane, a Curtis Robin, in 1931.

Grant said he and is brother went on barnstorming tours before Grant got a job flying for Allegheny Airlines. In 1932, Grant started his own company, Logan Flying Service. It was just the beginning of a flying career that would span four decades.

In 1939, he began working for Pennsylvania Central Airlines, before serving at the Air Transport Command during World War II.

Then, in 1945, Grant was given a special assignment. He left for Saudi Arabia in a DC-3, given by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to King Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. For the next two years, Grant served as the personal pilot to the king, and also helped the country start its own airline, Saudi Arabian Airlines.

"We were flying all over the country, just landing in the desert," Grant said. "It was an airline without airports."

Grant said he admired the Saudi Arabian king, and credited him with building the country into what it was become today.

"He was a wonderful man, a smart man," Grant said. "He had the vision and the wisdom to understand what can be accomplished when you educate and train your people."

Grant returned to the United States, and worked as a captain for TWA.

In 1954, he moved to Stamford, and it wasn't long before he started selling puzzle rings, which he had been making since 1947, out of his home. Grant learned the technique from an Armenian silversmith he met in Cairo during WW II.

It wasn't long before the rings became a hit; recipients of Grant's puzzle rings included President Harry Truman in 1952 and Elvis Presley in 1958. Grant was able to open his own jewelry store, which more than 50 years later, is still going strong in Stamford.

Grant married his wife Marga in 1960 and the couple has two children Ed and Theresia.

Both of his children are now the caretakers of the family business.

Grant said that had he known his family had planned such a large celebration for his 100th birthday, he would have tried to put a stop to it, but he is thankful nonetheless, he said.

Looking back, Grant feels blessed to have had such an extraordinary journey.

"When you look back on this ride of life, all I can say is that it was good all the way," Grant said. "And remember, good will always triumph over the bad.

2008/03/28 By Ben Levine - www.thestamfordtimes.com / www.epgold.com

We all know that rock and raps stars can earn tens of millions each year, but what about the others who toil in the business of music? From managers to roadies to bloggers to bus drivers, here's how much they take home.

It's widely reported how much the wealthiest pop stars make. Pick up a financial magazine and you'll read about the 2007 earnings of the Rolling Stones ($88 million), U2 ($30 million), and Britney Spears ($9 million). Even Elvis Presley took in $49 million last year -- and he's been dead for 30 years. But what about everyone else -- the musicians, record execs, technicians, bloggers, and photographers?

How much do they bring home -- and how have the realities of a depressed music business affected everyone from A&R reps to record store. ...

Read the complete written story by By David Browne:

http://www.spin.com/articles/who-earns-what

Let Us Know Your Opinion.

EPE wants to get your thoughts on Elvis merchandise.

As a thank you for completing the survey, you will be entered in a random drawing for your chance at winning an assortment of Elvis merchandise valued at $500.

Short survey on-line is to find out your thoughts about Elvis-related licensed merchandise.

The questions are:

My age range is ...
My gender is ...
My Elvis-related merchandise purchases in the last year have included ...
I buy Elvis-related merchandise at ...
My favorite Elvis era is ...
What have been your three favorite (non-music and non-movie) products from the past few years?
The Elvis items I wish I had but can't find are:

Click here to take the survey.

LATEST: ELVIS PRESLEY's ex-wife PRISCILLA has confirmed an unqualified plastic surgeon performed a botched cosmetic procedure on her in 2003.

The socialite and actress, who is among the celebrities taking part in the current season of U.S. reality TV show Dancing With The Stars, was a client of Dr. Daniel Serrano, who was jailed for injecting industrial, low-grade silicone into women's faces.

The unlicensed Serrano claimed his injections worked better than Botox, but the non-approved drug he smuggled into America from Argentina left some clients with holes in their faces and paralysis. Serrano was indicted for smuggling drugs, and the conspiracy and use of unapproved drugs, and convicted.

He was released last week (ends21Mar08) and is currently being investigated by federal immigration officials, and could be deported. Presley's representative has now confirmed the Naked Gun star was operated on by Serrano, a day after the story first broke.

The spokesperson says, "Priscilla Presley was one of many documented victims of Dr. Serrano. An investigation which uncovered his misconduct ultimately lead to his imprisonment. Ms. Presley dealt with this matter years ago and everything is well" .

2008/03/26 www.contactmusic.com / www.epgold.com

As recorded live at the Richfield Coliseum in Richfield, Ohio; October 23, 1976.

The "Straight Arrow" label is proud to announce the release of a new CD this April entitled "ROYAL GAMBIT IN RICHFIELD." It’s our first release of a 1976 show and this particular concert has been selected for several reasons.

Elvis' autumn and winter '76 bicentennial tours were rather good, compared to the often miserable summer '76 personal appearances. The 41-year old King was looking better and actually singing with interest and passion again. The October 23rd Richfield concert (a village about halfway between Cleveland and Akron, Ohio) was probably the longest and best of the tour, running for a generous 80 minutes.

Finally, the audio-quality of the recording is really stunning, especially considering the fact that it was taped from the audience in a large stadium. Producers were able to obtain an ORIGINAL TAPE recorded by the same person that taped the Johnson City and Orlando 1977 concerts released by STRAIGHT ARROW in 2006 as "TENNESSEE STARLIGHT" and "GOING BACK IN TIME", respectively.

Among the Richfield highlights are powerful performances of "And I Love You So", "America", "Hurt", "Heartbreak Hotel" and especially "How Great Thou Art,” performed with absolute show-stopping brilliance. It is followed by an always-welcome, return-to-the roots medley of "Mystery Train / Tiger Man."

As usual, Straight Arrow has seen fit to include a deluxe, full-colour, 16-page booklet with approximately 30 photos from the actual show, taken by four different photographers. Once again, we are pleased to announce that the sleeve notes were written by a fan who was happy to be there and is finally sharing his precious memories of the occasion with us.

The producers note that this concert was previously released from a substandard source, entitled "FAIRY TALES" (Chips label, 1994). The sound of the old CD was markedly inferior and also incomplete, running for just 74 minutes. To the show's credit, it has long ranked on the "Top 40" import chart as voted on by fans. Now a superior version can rightly take its place.

Elvis left the Buckeye State for good over 30 years ago and it's now almost ten years since the Richfield Coliseum (once a symbol of American urban sprawl) met the wrecking ball. The now-bucolic Cuyahoga Valley site of Elvis' Richfield concert has returned to nature as part of the U.S. National Park Service, apparently leaving 100 acres of meadow and woodlands complete with native flora and fauna, red-tailed hawks, eagles, deer, sawgrass and ryegrass. And now this premium keepsake of an unlikely stellar night for the King is now available for serious collectors.

In closing, "Straight Arrow" team would like to thank all of you for the success of our label's previous release, "ROCK BACK THE CLOCK" 2-CD set. As a result of this surge of interest, four new Elvis concert CDs are planned for 2008. We hope that you will enjoy the first of them - our springtime release: "ROYAL GAMBIT IN RICHFIELD."

Tracks:

01. Also Sprach Zarathustra (Theme from "2001 A Space Odyssey") - 02. Opening Vamp / C. C. Rider - 03. I Got A Woman / Amen (medley) - 04. Love Me - 05. Fairytale - 06. You Gave Me A Mountain - 07. Jailhouse Rock - 08. All Shook Up - 09. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don't Be Cruel (medley) - 10. And I Love You So - 11. Little Darlin' (excerpt / intro only) - 12. Fever - 13. America The Beautiful - 14. Polk Salad Annie - 15. Band Introductions - 16. Early Mornin' Rain - 17. What'd I Say - 18. Johnny B. Goode - 19. Drum Solo (by Ronnie Tutt) - 20. Bass Solo (Blues - by Jerry Scheff) - 21. Piano Solo (by Tony Brown) - 22. Electric Piano Solo (by David Briggs) - 23. Love Letters - 24. School Day - 25. Hurt (with last part reprise) - 26. Hound Dog - 27. Danny Boy (by Sherrill Nielsen) - 28. Walk With Me (by Sherrill Nielsen) - 29. Heartbreak Hotel - 30. How Great Thou Art - 31. Mystery Train / Tiger Man (medley) - 32. Can't Help Falling In Love - 33. Closing Vamp & Announcements.

Approximate running time: 79:50

(FORT SMITH — Building 803 at Fort Chaffee is typically indistinguishable from other World War II era buildings surrounding it. Photo David Hamal - www.elvismatters.be)

On March 25, 1958, Building 803 held one of Fort Chaffee’s barbershops — the one where Elvis Presley got his famous haircut during a three-day stay as part of his induction into the Army.

“Everyone in the U. S. knows this building exists and yet it sits here without electricity and deteriorating like the other buildings on the base,” said photographer Rick Altes, who was in a group of about 20 people who gathered Tuesday at Building 803 to commemorate the event.

The group wants to invigorate efforts to preserve the building and establish a museum.

Altes donated five snapshots taken of Presley at Fort Chaffee that he found among items in a closet at an estate sale three years ago. Altes, who purchased the closet’s contents for $ 12. 50, said he could have made thousands of dollars selling the photos.

“I couldn’t see letting this part of Fort Smith history get away,” he said.

Among those attending the anniversary commemoration Tuesday were Edith Peterson, widow of the man who cut Presley’s hair, James “Pete” Peterson; Sheila Merrill, widow of Leon Merrill who swept up Presley’s shorn locks; and Fred Kinslow who was a barber at Fort Chaffee the day of the famous haircut.

Merrill said Tuesday that none of Presley’s hair was preserved. She said a major stood by and kept an eye on her husband while he swept up Presley’s hair from the floor and put it in a trash can with the hair of the others who also had their hair cut that day.

Merrill and Peterson got a military police escort when they went to dump the can containing Presley’s hair to ensure that none of it survived to be kept or sold as souvenirs, said Carolyn Joyce of the Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Center.

“He never regretted” not getting some of the hair, Merrill said of her husband. “He was just glad he was there.” Kinslow acquired one of the chairs from the barbershop and gave it to his son, who has the chair in the den of his Greenwood home. Kinslow isn’t sure it is the same one Presley sat in for his haircut.

“If it came out of there, it’s close enough for me,” he said.

Another chair believed to have come from the barbershop is in Lisa Thompson’s barbershop on the current Fort Chaffee.

Thompson has the Paidar brand barber chair in a section of her shop that has been turned into an Elvis Presley shrine complete with photos, documents and a pew she said Presley sat on when he attended a church service on base.

She’s had the chair for 17 years and it has become a popular attraction. It’s common for foreign soldiers training at Fort Chaffee to have their photos taken sitting in the chair, she said.

Thompson said she has been offered as much as $ 7, 000 for the chair.

Building 803 now sits on a 7, 000-acre tract called Chaffee Crossing. The U. S. Department of Defense gave up the land in the 1990 s to be redeveloped for civilian use.

The walls and roof of the building seem sound, but the interior has been gutted. The sinks and chairs are gone, but dirt outlines on the floor against one wall show where barbers ’ cabinets once stood and, with some imagination, where the chairs were positioned.

Ivy Owen, Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority’s executive director, said he would like to discuss a possible museum with the Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Bureau, which will display the photos.

Such a museum also could involve a restored barracks and the old Maness school, a pre-Fort Chaffee stone schoolhouse near the Janet Huckabee Arkansas River Valley Nature Center, Owen said.

The idea of preserving Building 803 dates to 1996, when Beard Elementary School teacher Jan Honeycutt had students begin raising money for the preservation as a class project. She said Tuesday the project is ongoing and has raised more than $ 1, 000 so far.

In tonights radio show 'De Avonden', Henk Tas will talk about his roots and fascination for Elvis.

Tas is the uncrowned king of the enscenated photographie and is inspired by Elvis and Rock and Roll.

The Dutch show can be heared on the site of radio station VPRO.

2008/03/26 VPRO - www.elvismatters.be / www.epgold.com

Elvis Presley's Convair 880 - #4 in Top Ten list.

Although he owned other aircraft, Elvis bought his own personal jet airliner, a former Delta Air Lines Convair CV.880, in 1975 for the then-substantial sum of $250,000. He named it "Lisa Marie" after his daughter. Presley had the interior of the Convair 880 customized with 28 seats instead of the 110 seats with which the type was usually fitted in airline service.

He also had the tail of the now-preserved jet painted with his personal "TCB" logo, which stands for "Takin' Care of Business." By the end of 2005, "Lisa Marie" was one of only nine CV.880s that remained, out of 65 originally built.

In lots of casino's, you'll find an Elvis themed machine where fans can try their luck. With the growing succes of online casino's, it was just a matter of time before the first Elvis machines were popping up.

The company Wagerworks planned the release for last year, but it took a longer time before the system was ready. The game can be played on two online Britisch casino's (Virgin and Paddy Power). You can play for free to test the game, so you don't have to invest real money!

Rex and Elisabeth Mansfield, who befriended Elvis Presley while in the Army, have announced the creation of a new Web site dedicated to their famous friend. Rexadus.com was launched on March 24, 2008. The date is in conjunction with the 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley and Rex Mansfield's induction in the US Army at the Kennedy Veterans Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.

That was the first time that Mansfield ever laid eyes on the world's greatest entertainer.
"Elvis Presley was not what I had expected him to be. I saw him for the first time sitting resolutely by himself on a front row chair in the induction room, dressed in a multi-colored, checkered sport coat with stylish motorcycle-type boots," Mansfield recalled. "I immediately wanted to protect him, for reasons I could not begin to understand."

Mansfield became one of Presley's closest friends in the Army, whom Elvis nicknamed, "Rexadus."

Rexadus.com will feature a 50th Anniversary commemorative edition of their book, "Sergeant Presley: Our Untold Story of Elvis' Missing Years" and also contain limited edition fine art prints of Presley in the Army, profiles of Rex and Elisabeth Mansfield, copies of official U.S. Induction and Discharge papers, autographed photos, blogs, frequently asked questions and other multi-media.

Original Elvis Photos Create Buzz (Cut)

COREY S. KRASKO • TIMES RECORD
Rick Altes on Tuesday holds a set of original photos that appeared in the Southwest American, showing Elvis Presley getting his hair cut on March 25, 1958, when he was inducted into the Army at Fort Chaffee.

On the 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s haircut during his induction into the Army at Fort Chaffee, five black and white images of the original event have surfaced.

The photos, which likely ran in the Southwest American newspaper, were discovered by Rick Altes, a photographer from Greenwood, about three years ago during an estate sale, he said.

Altes, 55, spoke to a group of more 30 people who gathered Tuesday where Presley lost his dyed-black locks in building 803 at now-Chaffee Crossing.

Presley died from health problems on Aug. 16, 1977, at age 42.

Altes said he has always been interested in history, music and photography and when he found the photos in a file cabinet he bought from a living estate auction he “was very aware that I really found something important.”

After doing some research, Altes learned that the photos were more than likely taken by a photographer at the Southwest American. He said a Times Record representative told him that back then negatives were thrown away and prints were filed. Eventually, the prints would end up in the trash, too, so someone apparently dug them out of the trash, he said.

The Fort Smith Convention and Visitors Bureau received the images from Altes as a donation and the Visitors Bureau will display the photos until there is an Elvis barbershop museum.

Fort Smith Mayor Ray Baker referred to the work of Fort Smith elementary teacher Jan Honeycutt, who along with her students, began raising funds in 1996 to save the building from demolition.

“Thank you, Elvis, and thank you to what you will mean to the economy of this community,” Baker said as he showered a cardboard cutout of Presley in an Army uniform with 50 red rose petals.

Honeycutt hopes that eventually the building will be turned into a museum.

One of the photos Altes donated shows barber James B. Peterson with Presley during the haircut. Peterson’s widow, Edith Peterson, 86, of Muldrow, who attended the ceremony Tuesday, has the clippers, comb and scissors used during the 1958 event. She said she missed seeing Presley that night because she was attending beauty college and was not allowed to miss a class.

Barber Fred Kinslow of Greenwood, who worked with Peterson, said he tried to catch a glimpse of Presley when he arrived at the barbershop that day. However, the barbershop owner, H.L. Sallee, told him that Peterson was going to cut Presley’s hair.

“It was a thrill to me thinking that I might get to cut his hair,” Kinslow said. “The cameras were on him all the time he was here.”

Kinslow said Peterson later told him that Presley was “an outgoing young fellow who was just as friendly for a man at his place in popularity.”

One of the chairs removed from the barbershop belongs to Kinslow’s family. He can’t say for certain whether the chair is one that Presley sat in to get his hair cut. Kinslow’s son, who owns it now, told him, “Dad, that’s close enough.”

New Exhibits Opened at Graceland.

Three new exhibits are now open at Graceland for guests to tour.

Graceland Crossing is home to the new Private Presley Exhibit and the '68 Special Exhibit and Shop. In addition, the Graceland VIP Tour now includes an all new exhibit.

Private Presley.

In honor of the 50th anniversary of Elvis's induction into the Army, the special exhibit Private Presley celebrates Elvis's service to his country. The exhibit will walk you through Elvis's Army induction and his time spent in the Army from 1958-1960. Special artifacts include Elvis's Army fatigues, dress uniforms, army foot locker, suitcases and more. Click here to read about what Priscilla had to say about the new exhibit.

'68 Special Exhibit and Shop.

This year celebrates the 40th anniversary of Elvis's landmark television event, the '68 Special. This free exhibit offers a look at this historic event through videos, photos and displays of artifacts from the special. The displays include some of the outfits Elvis wore during the '68 Special, a script and a timeline of significant historic events occuring in the U.S. at that time.

The Special VIP Tour Exhibit.

In addition to all the other great benefits, visitors who take the VIP Tour are granted access to an exhibit of artifacts that relate to the personal side of Elvis. It includes the deed to Graceland, a gift from Elvis to his parents, and fun items from Elvis's personal wardrobe. And for the first time ever, VIPs will also see the living room furniture from Elvis and Priscilla's honeymoon hideaway in Palm Springs. The working barn behind Graceland was one of Elvis's favorite places to unwind. If you choose the VIP option, you'll be able to explore that side of Elvis with items from that space including his personal saddle, chaps and other artifacts relating to the Presley's equestrian activities.

Click here to purchase your tickets to visit Graceland or visit our online travel planner to help plan your trip.

Four-time Academy Award-nominated American actor and musician Jeff Bridges visited Graceland on March 20th, 2008.

A new release from Sony/BMG USA, with a fascinating selection of tracks.

While called "superhits" the CD actually starts with 'No More' from Blue Hawaii and continues with songs such as single B-sides 'Never Ending' and 'We Can Make The Morning' - a very intruiging selection.

Shame that it is only 10 tracks long.

2008/03/25 Barry Mclean - www.elvisinfonet.com / www.epgold.com

Marty Lacker & Chips Moman comment on the George Klein owned recordings - potential legal action!

Marty Lacker informs EIN:

"I read the article about George Klein having those tapes of Elvis in American studios and also some other tapes supposedly of Elvis singing. I sent it to Chips Moman and he wanted me to write this and also gave me permission to ask you to post it on EIN.

Chips said the only way George had that tape from American with the unsweetened songs cut there is to have taken it from the studio without permission.

Chips also said that George had sent him another tape with some songs on it claiming it was Elvis singing and wanted Chips to authenticate it as Elvis. Chips refused because it wasn't Elvis. Chips' comment to me is, "I thought George loved Elvis, why would he want to pass some impersonator off as Elvis and want me to authenticate it when he knew it wasn't Elvis."

Chips also said if George tried to release the unsweetened American songs he would take legal action against George.

My own opinion that if George did that he'd have a legal problem with BMG and EPE also. I doubt he'd do that."

Visitors of the ElvisMatters Record Fair in Belgium, were in for a surprise yesterday. The Top item of last weekend's auction in Las Vegas - the 90.000 $US Ram's Head Necklace - is now in the hands of one of our members. Yesterday, the owner of this unique 14 k gold piece decorated with diamonds and emeralds, brought the treasure with him to the record fair, for everybody to see. Due to security reasons, we couldn't announce this special picture opportunity in advance. However, if you've missed the record fair, we offer you a second chance on our Member's Area.

From the auction catalogue:

FROM THE GINGER ALDEN ELVIS PRESLEY COLLECTION: Elvis Presley loved jewelry and this piece is possibly the largest and one of the best known gold necklaces that Elvis Presley owned and wore, as seen in various photos from the seventies. This 14k gold necklace features a ram's head motif on a large link 26-inch neck chain.

The large center ram's head pendant has two 3mm cabochon cut emerald eyes and nine brilliant cut diamonds down the center of the head. Two smaller ram's heads each have 1 1/2 mm cabochon cut emerald eyes and six brilliant cut diamonds down the center of the heads.

The 21 brilliant cut diamonds weigh approx 1.0 ct. The necklace weighs approx 291 grams. Elvis kept this piece at his home, Graceland, and gave it to his fiancee Ginger in 1977 as they stood inside the dressing area to his bathroom. As he placed it around Ginger's neck, Elvis told her to "Always wear it with something black."

2008/03/25 www.elvismatters.be / www.epgold.com

TMZ has learned Priscilla Presley is the victim of a botched cosmetic procedure. What's worse -- it was at the hands of a gigolo who was sent to prison for perpetrating an injectable scam on Hollywood's elite.

Priscilla, whose face looks ... strange on "Dancing with the Stars," went to Dr. Daniel Serrano around 2003. Serrano was a good-looking doc from Argentina who hooked into Hollywood's social A-list and started giving them what he claimed were miracle injections that worked better than Botox.

In fact, Serrano was injecting industrial, low-grade silicone similar to what's used to lubricate auto parts in Argentina into the faces of these women. Several women, including Shawn King, Larry's wife, and Diane Richie, Lionel's wife at the time, held injection parties in their homes, with Serrano needling them with the non-FDA approved drug that he had smuggled in to the U.S. Shawn King has said the injections created a lump in her lip that made it difficult to speak and drink liquids. Serrano charged between $300 and $500 a pop.

But wait, it gets worse. Serrano wasn't even a licensed doc in the U.S. The injections caused lumps, paralysis and holes in the faces of some of the women (and some men) he injected.

Serrano, who was nicknamed Dr. Jiffy Lube, was indicted by the Feds for smuggling drugs, and the conspiracy and use of unapproved drugs. He was convicted, and last week he was released and is currently being investigated by federal immigration officials and could be deported.

BTW, Diane Richie was also indicted as an accomplice. She pled out and was placed on probation.

As for Priscilla -- who had no idea she was being injected with silicone -- we're told she's undergoing corrective work.

Note Epgold: Presley's publicist has issued a "no comment" to TMZ.com's claims. - contactmusic.com

Feline good: Priscilla Presley adopted a feline-style crawl to wow judges during her performance
on US dance show Dancing With The Stars last night

The division of the sexes formally ended on last night Dancing with the Stars: Season 6. All twelves couples gathered for their last chance to dazzle the viewers before Tuesday’s dreaded double-elimination.

Priscilla Presley (partner Louis van Amstel)
(Dance: Mambo/ Song: ‘Bossa Nova Hand Dance’)

First off, I really hated the dress - from the leopard print right down the the asymmetical, ruffled bottom. Trivial things aside, I was really disappointed with her dance tonight as well. Instead of sexy, all we got was stiff. Priscilla didn’t really show a feel for the music nor did she put her all into the dance. This style required and lot more hip movement and energy than what she was delivering.

Carrie Ann felt differently than me. She thought the performance had a special alluring quality. Len said it was a little bit too precise and not loose enough. Bruno felt she accomplished it technically, he just advised her to go for the sexuality. Score: 7/7/7 (21) GRAND TOTAL: 45

ONLINE VOTES FOR Priscilla Presley & Louis Van Amstel

Click here to learn how to vote online for Priscilla and Louis on the ABC.com Dancing with the Stars page.

**The online vote begins after the show ends and continues through Noon Eastern the next day.

In 1960, Sam Phillips closed Sun Studio at 706 Union Ave in Memphis. 8 years later, he sold Sun Records to Shelby Singleton who now owns the label, logo and master recordings. Shelby runs Sun Entertainment out of Nashville.

John Schorr operates the Sun Studio, museum and shop in it's former home at 706 Union. Sun is a Memphis land mark. Recording sessions still happen in that famous studio today. Tourists can even record a track or two when visting.

In 2006, Singleton's Sun Entertainment filed a law suit against Sun Studio in Memphis. The reason behind the suit was the Memphis logo was too similar to Sun Entertainment's logo.

The following year, Sun Studio of Memphis shot back at Sun Entertainment with a lawsuit of their own. They said the Nashville based Sun was selling and marketing products with the words, "Memphis,Tennessee" appearing on them. Memphis based Sun Studio felt this was a clear violation of their license agreement.

At a meeting in Nashville a few days ago, the two companies signed a settlement agreement. "As soon as it gets completed, we'll probably put out a joint news release that tells everybody some of the details of the agreement," said Shelby.

Sun Studio owner John Schorr said the recent deal means the two entities can now pick up where they left off and continue a long and successful working relationship.

"My basic comment on the situation itself is I've always considered us friends, us and the guys in Nashville," Schorr said. "And basically, on Wednesday of (last) week, we agreed to continue that friendship for hopefully years into the future."

2008/03/25 www.elvisunlimited.com / www.epgold.com

The Little Brown Book Group releases on May 6, 2008 the hardback book "Sun King: The Life and Times of Sam Phillips, The Man Behind Sun Records" by Kevin and Tanja Crouch (ISBN: 9780749951740).

Synopsis:

Music producer Sam Phillips and his landmark studio, Sun Records, hold a unique place in the history of rock 'n' roll - by many accounts, before Phillips recorded 'Rocket 88' by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats in 1951, rock 'n' roll as we know it didn't even exist. Phillips is simultaneously hailed as the man who discovered Elvis Presley and derided as the man who sold the same artist to RCA for a paltry $35,000. The list of musical legends that passed through the doors of Sun Records is simply astounding, including BB King, Ike Turner, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and more.

SUN KING strips away the glossy veneer of legend around the Phillips story - which, like his signature sound, was much the result of his own careful crafting - to reveal a man who, from a very young age, heard a musical sound that no one else heard. Complete with a full Sun Records discography, 'Sun King' is an indispensable document in the history of rock music.

2008/03/25 Elvis Book Research - Various / www.epgold.com

More On "George Klein's" Duet Tapes.

Ernst said that 'George Klein has already approached SONY/BMG on this issue.

We have told him that we are not interested in buying his tape, as we already paid for these sessions and have the tapes ourselves. I don't understand why Mr. Klein brings up this issue again.

Obviously all rights are with SONY/BMG and the various singers'. This is in line with earlier commends by Ernst Jorgensen on this matter, but now he added that BMG has the tapes in their posession.

The 40-year-old star - who is rumoured to be expecting twins with music producer Michael Lockwood - says while she is finding her pregnancy easy, her spouse is suffering.

She said: "He has all my symptoms. He feels like his belly is getting big, and he has the same appetite I have. He's having reflux and was nauseous the other day. It's funny."

A phantom pregnancy in men is also known as Couvade Syndrome and fathers-to-be can suffer from morning sickness, cramps, back pain, cravings and swollen stomachs.

Lisa Marie - the daughter of late music legend Elvis Presley - says she is only craving fruit.

She said: "Fruit - it's boring but that's what I want. Any fruit - fruit smoothie, fruit juice - it's good!"

Lisa Marie - who already has two children, 18-year-old daughter Danielle and son Benjamin, 15, from her first marriage to musician Danny Keough - hopes the older kids will help her once the baby arrives.

She added to America's OK! magazine: "Oh yeah, they will

Elvis Unlimited has received the exclusive news of a documentary on rock pioneer Wanda Jackson. This was screened at SXSW last week and will air this May on the Smithsonian Channel in the USA.

The Sweet Lady With the Nasty Voice follows the 70-year-old Jackson over a two-year period as she performs across the U.S. and Europe. The documentary explores her musical legacy, and features interviews with various musical personalities, including Elvis Costello, Patti Scialfa and Bruce Springsteen.

Jackson broke down many barriers for female artists when she burst onto the music scene in the 1950s – a time when the rock and roll scene was dominated by male artists. Nicknamed the Queen of Rockabilly, she performed with legends including Johnny Cash, Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis, and toured with then-boyfriend Elvis Presley from 1955-1956.

The Sweet Lady With the Nasty Voice will be screened at film festivals around the country throughout March and April before premiering on the Smithsonian/Showtime-helmed cable network the Smithsonian Channel on May 18.

A listing of film festival screenings is included below. For additional television airdates and times, visit SmithsonianChannel.com

Festival Dates:

March
24-28 - Buffalo, N.Y. @ Buffalo Niagara Film Festival
27-30 - Memphis, Tenn. @ Memphis International Film Festival

April
17-24 - Nashville, Tenn. @ Nashville Film Festival

The song "Are You Lonesome Tonight" is #1 on the Dutch Radio 5 chart of the listeners favorite sixties songs. With 12 songs on the chart Elvis is the artist with the most hits on this chart.

Radio 5 Top 100 Jaren 60 Editie 2008:

01. Elvis Presley Are You Lonesome Tonight 196
06. Elvis Presley In The Ghetto 1969
19. Elvis Presley It's Now Or Never 1960
31. Elvis Presley Suspicious Minds 1969
38. Elvis Presley Cant Help Falling In Love 1962
46. Elvis Presley Wooden Heart (Muss I Denn) 1961
58. Elvis Presley Kiss Me Quick 1963
73. Elvis Presley Crying In The Chapel 1965
75. Elvis Presley Return To Sender 1962
81. Elvis Presley (You´re) The Devil In Disguise 1963
87. Elvis Presley Good Luck Charm 1962
95. Elvis Presley Viva Las Vegas 1964

Here is a photo of Joe Moscheo live at the Elvis Unlimited shop.

Joe is there today for a book signing. Joe showed Elvis Unlimited staff photos of the Imperials visiting Graceland in 1971. These never before seen photos were taken by the pool area at Graceland.

2008/03/22 www.elvisunlimited.com / www.epgold.com

A new import CD marking the 50th anniversary of Elvis' posting to Germany.

CD entitled "Elvis In Germany" contains 23 tracks; one novelty song by Genee Harris entitled "Bye Bye Elvis", nineteen remakes of Elvis songs, one song by Vernon Presley and the two duets with Lisa Marie, including the recent "In The Ghetto".

Elvis International Shop - The Netherlands.

OPEN: Saturday March 22, 2008 - 1300. PM - 1800 PM.

Eastern Sunday - Monday Closed.

E-Mail: elvisinternational@casema.nl

The Netherlands : 0251 - 821240
Other Country's Dial : 00 - 31 - 251 - 821240

Finally, the next volume in this great series, here is what the fans of STAR have been waiting for!!

OUT NOW!

Including songs from the following movies:

SPEEDWAY – FOLLOW THAT DREAM - ROUSTABOUT and STAY AWAY, JOE.

All songs from FOLLOW THAT DREAM are in STEREO!! (alternate takes have been used, for the best listening pleasure!)

Of course, as always, lots of nice suprises, and even more “behind the scenes footage”

SPEEDWAY

WHO ARE YOU?

LET YOURSELF GO

YOUR TIME HASN'T COME YET BABY

HE'S YOUR UNCLE NOT YOUR DAD

FIVE SLEEPYHEADS

SUPPOSE

THERE AIN'T NOTHING LIKE A SONG

YOUR GROOVY SELF

ON TOP OF OLD SMOKEY

FOLLOW THAT DREAM

WHAT A WONDERFUL LIFE

SOUND ADVICE

I'M NOT THE MARRYING KIND

ANGEL

A WHISTLING TUNE

ROUSTABOUT

LITTLE EGYPT

POISON IVY LEAGUE

IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD

CARNY TOWN

HARD KNOCKS

WHEELS ON MY HEELS

IT'S CARNIVAL TIME

BIG LOVE, BIG HEARTACHE

ONE TRACK HEART

BRANDNEW DAY ON THE HORIZON

IT HURTS ME

I'M A ROUSTABOUT

GOING HOME

STAY AWAY - SLOW

STAY AWAY, JOE

DOMINIC

ALL I NEEDED WAS THE RAIN

SHORT JAM

SINGING TREE

STAY AWAY – FAST

2008/03/21 EpGold.com

White Gospel.

Tonight BBC4 feature a documentary looking at White Gospel as the influencing factor on Country Music in the USA. The show cannot fail to overlook Elvis, who grew up with a great love for gospel music and out of the fourteen Grammy nominations Elvis received, his three wins were for gospel recordings.

Programme details from the BBC:

The story of America's most enduring and obscure musical sub-culture, from the sound of ancient harmonies sung in remote country churches through to the modern fiery anthems of the religious right.

Elvis Presley's favourite musical genre, White Gospel is the foundation of Country music. It taught generations of southerners the principles of harmony, and produced its own legends and stars, such as The Louvin Brothers, Dottie Rambo and The Blackwood Brothers.

White Gospel is shown on BBC4 tonight, March 21, from 9pm – 10pm

JD Sumner - Wayfaring Stranger 1967.

Tonight, UK viewers will get the chance to see Dancing With The Stars, the US version of Strictly Come Dancing.

Unless you have been on the moon the last few weeks, it's common knowledge that Priscilla Presley is taking to the dance floor in the latest series, which was aired in the USA on Monday night.

According to press reports, Priscilla is already doing very well, with straight-eights we hear, so why has a campaign started encouraging all Elvis fans to vote to keep Priscilla in?

Win because you’re the best dancer, and proud of it, not because us Elvis fans have swung the vote!

So, in the true spirit of Colonel Parker, as he spurred one of his first Elvis Presley Enterprises gimmicks of the fifties – the I HATE ELVIS / I LOVE ELVIS buttons – we want to balance things out.

50 million Elvis Fans Can’t Be Wrong…. Or can they?

The first two shows are on UK TV Gold Tonight, March 21 from 8pm – 11pm.

2008/03/21 www.elvis.co.uk / www.epgold.com

"The sun never sets on a legend. There will always be a TCB on the Lisa Marie. The United States of America has had 43 presidents, but only one King. May he always sing..." And with that, his usual sendoff, George Klein has finished another week of Elvis Hour, the radio show he has done for more than two decades. Klein walks out of the studio wearing basketball warm-ups and sneakers, both featuring the Memphis Tigers' logo.

I've sought out Klein because he's the only one who can answer my burning question: If Elvis Presley were alive today, would he be actively rooting for the Tigers as they take aim at a national championship?

In addition to being a huge Tigers fan, Klein was one of Elvis' most trusted friends. They met in the eighth grade, when Elvis moved to Memphis from Tupelo, Miss., and their lives were closely intertwined until Elvis' death 30 years ago. How close? Elvis served as best man at Klein's wedding; Klein served as a pall bearer at Elvis' funeral.

Outside of Tennessee, you might not realize this, but Memphis actually has two kings -- Elvis and Tigers basketball. Klein knows both intimately. Today, Elvis is as popular as ever, and the Tigers carry a No. 1 seed into this year's NCAA tournament.

"Yep, Elvis and basketball ... that's us," says Klein, his voice bouncing with a sing-song cadence. His "on air" light, quite admirably, is always lit.

Klein remembers when Elvis first brought a guitar into music class. And he remembers when the Tigers reached the NIT final in 1956. He was in the studio when Elvis recorded "In the Ghetto" in 1968, and he was in the arena when the Tigers played in the Final Four in 1985.

His friend Elvis wasn't known as much of a sports nut. Elvis tried out for the football team his senior year of high school, but that didn't last long. "The coach gave him such a hard time because of his hair and everything, so Elvis quit," Klein says. "Went and got a job."

Elvis' favorite sports were professional football, boxing and karate. He was a close friend of Jim Brown, had a robe made for Muhammad Ali and famously earned his eighth-degree black belt. But basketball is another story. Klein says he had taken it upon himself to turn Elvis onto Tigers basketball.

He got Elvis to sign a giant photograph for former Tigers coach Wayne Yates. It read: "To the Memphis State basketball team, If I can ever help you, let me know. Your friend, Elvis Presley." Yates used the photo on recruiting trips.

"I had several long talks with Elvis about Memphis State," Klein says. "He was going to give a scholarship to the athletic department in his name. I remember it cost $25,000, and he wanted to do it. But then he passed away."

Klein remembers a visit shortly before the King's death. "He says, 'GK' -- that's what he always called me -- 'how good was Wilt Chamberlain?' ... I told Elvis that in his day, Wilt was the best, 100 points in a game, just unbelievable. Elvis said -- and I always remember this -- 'Yeah, I got that feeling about him. I like when anybody is the very best at their profession. I admire that guy.'"

Klein had a feeling "that got his appetite whet for basketball." Klein says he was going to introduce Elvis to the Tigers coach and then finally convince him to watch a game in person.

Much has been written about Elvis. Everyone connected to him, it seems, has penned a book. (Klein is finally writing one of his own -- Elvis: My Best Man -- due out next year.) But it's all history -- places and events that are three or four decades old. I feel bad speculating, but I ask Klein point-blank: If Elvis were alive today, would he be a Tigers fan?

"Oh yeah," Klein says, not even pausing to think. "He'd be one today all right."

One of the biggest reasons Klein is so certain is because of coach John Calipari. Elvis was always careful about whom he befriended, but Klein can just tell that the coach and the King would've clicked.

"They would've become pals. Elvis would've liked Cal a whole lot," Klein says. "Cal is kind of showbizzy. He's a great salesman, great entrepreneur and a great front man. Elvis would've appreciated everything about him."

Plus, Elvis liked a winner, and, right now, it's not a bad time to be a Tigers fan.

Klein tells me he has a special feeling right now. He has had it before. Back in 1973, when the Tigers reached the championship game (when UCLA's Bill Walton scored 44 points and converted 21 of 22 field-goal attempts). And in 1985, when Keith Lee took them back to the Final Four.

We'll find out soon enough whether this is the year they finally win their first title. But Klein knows one thing for certain, as the Tigers make their run at history, Memphis' two kings would've gotten along splendidly.

2008/03/21 Rick Maese- Memohis Tenn. - www.elvisunlimited.com / www.epgold.com

Joe Moscheo will be presenting his book "Thet Gospel Side Of Elvis" in Switzerland.

The Swiss Elvis Show Fan Club invited him on the evening of March 21st 2008, 18.30h, to the city of Basel for a "meet and greet"-event.

Announced for release at the end of March is Bill Bram's book, Elvis: Behind the Scene Accounts about the Making of Nine of Elvis Presley's Films: Frame by Frame.

The softcover book is being published by WingSpan and is available to pre-order from Barnes & Noble in the US. Bram contributed to the recent Joseph Tunzi release, Elvis in Tickle Me.

The legacy of Elvis Presley continues as the Scouts of the Mid-South visit Graceland. Most visiting for the first time will see what kind of impact Elvis had on music, film, and especially the hearts and souls of countless people. Graceland receives numerous guests and fans from all corners of the globe, all year round, and of all ages and generations. We believe no one is ever too young to become a fan of Elvis.

Join hundreds of Mid South scouts as they tour Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion on a special day custom made for Scouts of all ages.

A visit to this National Historic Landmark on April 12th, 2008 will offer area Scouts the chance to earn achievements toward ranks or pin/belt loop/merit badge requirements in the following areas: Art, Music, Collections, Citizenship, American Heritage and Journalism.

A special $15 ticket for Scouts, siblings and adults includes a Graceland mansion tour, Elvis Presley Car Museum tour, Lisa Marie Airplane tour, and a tour to our newest exhibit, Private Presley. A collectible “Scouts Rock at Graceland” patch will also be available for $3 each. Scouts are welcome to bring a sack lunch. Concessions will also be available throughout Graceland Plaza. Box lunches are available for purchase in advance for $7.50 each; order early, due to limited quantity.

Scout achievement activities are available 9AM—2PM and Graceland mansion tours are available from 9AM-5PM.

Tickets will be held for pickup at the Graceland Ticket Pavilion beginning 8:30am, Saturday, April 12, 2008. A confirmation will be sent to your group upon receipt of payment. Orders are nonrefundable. Advance reservations deadline is April 8th, 2008. For more information, call Graceland Reservations @ 901-332-3322 or 800-238-2000.

A portion of the ticket price will be donated to the Chickasaw Council.

Elvis Presley served his country as a member of the U.S. Army. His legacy will be used at an upcoming Toledo charity event to benefit local veterans.

The sixth annual Toledo Elvis Festival is scheduled for April 4 and 5 at the Erie Street Market Downtown. This year's event will raise money for Honor Flight Northwest Ohio, a nonprofit organization that provides terminally ill and World War II veterans flights to Washington, D.C., to tour the World War II Memorial.

Michelle Rosencrantz, president of Elvis Presley's Sweet Sweet Spirit Fan Club, the group that organizes the Toledo Elvis Festival, said her organization wanted to honor veterans with this year's event because it falls near the 50th anniversary of The King's induction into the Army.

As an official Elvis Presley fan club, Rosencrantz's group cannot profit from any events it hosts in his honor. “We don't make money off of Elvis' name,” she said.

Highlighting this year's festival with be a performance by The Imperials, the group that backed Presley from 1968 to 1972, including on his Grammy-winning gospel recording “He Touched Me.” New this year will be a competition among local bands, which will perform their own versions of Presley tunes, said Robert Rosencrantz, vice president of the Sweet Sweet Spirit Fan Club and one of the festival's scheduled performers.

Robert Rosencrantz said he hopes the band competition reaches those not considered typical Elvis fans. “We thought, ‘Let's reach a different audience, reach out to a younger crowd that might not understand what Elvis is all about,” he said. “It's a tough thing to do, to reinvent Elvis, because it's either something you really like or you don't.”

Rosencrantz operates the Chowder House Restaurant at the Erie Street Market.

Tickets to the Toledo Elvis Festival cost $20 per day and may be purchased by calling (419) 727-5847. Doors to the event open at 6 p.m. April 4 and 2 p.m. April 5.

All of them offers you new material for listening pleasure. We used new programs to get the best results.

All the songs are improved on sound, extended and remastered.

The final result is very pure, complete and contribute to more complete songs with a very fresh sound.

This new import label JTA Records presented a week ago on EpGold:

"Burbank Days" (recordings from the Comeback-Special":

Guitar Man (New Remix) - Trouble (Long Version) - Big Boss Man (Unedited Mix) - Gospel Medley (Alternate Mix Complete) - A Little Less Conversation (Remix Version) - Let Yourself Go (Different Remix) - It Hurts Me (Alternate Master) - Where Could I Go To The Lord - Saved - Little Egypt - If I Can Dream (Extended Version) - Memories (Long Version) - Let Yourself Go (Instrumental - Different Remix)

"I´ll Be There":

I´ll Be There - Let´s Be Friends (Alternate Master) - My Little Friend (Extended Master) - Have A Happy (Unedited Version) - Change Of Happy (Long Version) - A Little Less Conversation (Different Version) - Rubberneckin´ (Different Master) - Wonderful World (Extended Version) - Edge Of Reality (Long Version) - Let´s Forget About The Stars (Extended Master) - If I´m A Fool (Long Master) - Clean Up Your Own Backyard (Extended Master) - Stay Away (Unedited Master) - Goin´ Home (Alternate Remix Version) - Just Call Me Lonesome (Different Mix)

"It´s Only Love":

Cindy, Cindy (Alternate Master) - Heart Of Rome (Extended Master) - When I´m Over You (Long Version) - Only Believe (Different Version) - Sylvia (Long Version) - Where Did They Go, Lord (Different Version) - Rags To Riches (Unedited Version) - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Extended Mix) - Early Mornin´ Rain - That´s What You Get For Lovin´ Me (Unedited Version) - Help Me Make It Through The Night (Extended Master) - Seeing Is Believing (Different Version) - I´m Leavin´ (Long Version) - We Can Make The Morning - It´s Only Love (Long Version)

2008/03/20 E-Mail / www.epgold.com

The Dutch promoter 'Volendam Music BV' has just decided to cancel the live show with members of the TCB Band, planned for March 29th in Nieuw Vennep (The Netherlands).

The problem with the city permit for a live show in the Vanzantenhal could not be solved.

The TCB Live Concert on August 16th at the Castle of Alden-Biezen (Belgium) and the James Burton Live Band (May 17th and 18th) will go ahead as planned.

Johnny b. goode: His Complete '50s Chess Recordings - All music guide review.

John Lennon once said that if you were going to give another name to rock & roll you might as well call it Chuck Berry -- a phrase that has been repeated to exhaustion precisely because it is no exaggeration. More than any other single musician, Berry defined the sound, style, and attitude of what rock & roll is, pushing guitars and cars to the forefront, constructing a world of soda shops and jukeboxes that resided just down the road a piece, finding an endless world within three chords.

Fats Domino may have started the big wheel rolling, the Everly Brothers invented the power chord, Buddy Holly married pop with tough rockabilly, Little Richard had the manic energy, and Elvis Presley broke down the barriers, but Chuck Berry was the one that created the culture.

How he did it is at long last chronicled in detail on Hip-O Select's Johnny B. Goode: His Complete '50s Chess Recordings, a four-CD set containing all his singles from the '50s (which include most of his biggest hits), album tracks, and rarities, including demos and unreleased recordings. Berry, of course, had another decade of vital recordings on Chess ahead of him (and an often-overlooked series of worthy recordings for the label in the '70s), but within these '50s sessions is where the heart of his legacy lies, as this is when he created rock & roll out of jump blues, country boogie, juke joint R&B, Harry Belafonte calypso, and Nat King Cole crooning.

Listening to Johnny B. Goode: His Complete '50s Chess Recordings is an entirely different experience than The Great 28 or any other hit-heavy compilation where all the brilliant singles sound so much of a piece that they give the impression that they were all cut at roughly the same time. Those who learned Berry's music through these compilations -- and there are generations of listeners who did -- may be surprised that certain hits like "No Particular Place to Go" or "You Never Can Tell" arrived well into the '60s and so are absent here, perhaps jarringly so.

What "Johnny B. Goode" does a superb job of is putting Berry's music in context, illustrating what happened when by methodically going through every existing recording in the Chess vaults, including alternate takes, instrumental jams, a few live tracks, a single by the Ecuadors featuring Chuck on guitar, and a handful of unreleased cuts. Unlike Hip-O Select's similar Bo Diddley I'm a Man: The Chess Masters 1955-1958 there are no major unreleased songs (I'm a Man had Bo's original "Love Is Strange"); instead, this has a plethora of alternates, all sequenced in succession, which would give this the feel of an excavation if the music itself wasn't so energetic and enjoyable.

Many of the alternate takes here have seen the light of day elsewhere, usually on the Rock 'N' Roll Rarities or Missing Berries series (a heavy dose of these were also first unearthed on the 1974 LP Chuck Berry's Golden Decade, Vol. 3), but the value of "Johnny B. Goode" is in having all of this music in one place -- not just for the sake of completists who need to have everything an artist cut, but to hear how the artist developed.

That is true here, as Berry gets more confident as the years pass, but the remarkable thing about "Johnny B. Goode" is that it shows how Chuck emerged almost fully formed with "Maybellene" and then continued to mine that same vein of blues, hillbilly, jazz, and R&B for years. His wit sharpened quickly, while his music jelled so the boundaries between his influences evaporated, but the only major introduction to come later in the set is his signature opening guitar riff, debuting on "Johnny B. Goode."

, it's a bit of a shock to realize that it took him so long to nail this defining musical turnaround, but that may be the biggest revelation on this set. Instead of being filled surprises, Johnny B. Goode engenders a deeper appreciation of Berry's art.

Hearing the successive alternate takes pile up after each other, it's easy to appreciate Chuck's verbal dexterity, how he spins from one scenario to another on "Reelin' and Rockin'," suggesting just how quickly the words came to him. This, in turn, makes it easier to appreciate the potency of his poetry, but comparing this rapid-fire humor to the finely crafted details of "Memphis Tennessee," "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," and "No Money Down," or the vivid teenage renderings of "School Day" and "Sweet Little Sixteen" and "Almost Grown" demonstrate just how carefully crafted his lyrics were.

Similarly, Johnny B. Goode: His Complete '50s Chess Recordings also offers an understanding of how rich and varied his musical gifts were. Listening to all the recordings in a row emphasizes how deep the blues ran within his music, and nowhere is that truer than on lengthy unreleased instrumentals, simply titled "Long Fast Jam" and "Long Slow Jam," where Chuck, longtime pianist Johnnie Johnson, bassist Willie Dixon, and drummer Jasper Thomas lay back and play for over 11 minutes for each cut.

As Berry's brevity always seemed key to his brilliance -- his singles always were succinct, never lasting longer than they should -- it might seem that such prolonged jams would be flabby, but they're mesmerizing, particularly in how they showcase Johnson's fluid, rolling piano. The blues is at the core of Berry's rock & roll and he never abandoned it, even if he enthusiastically turned it inside out.

As Johnny B. Goode shows, Berry hit upon his formula early -- the first disc alone contains "Thirty Days," "You Can't Catch Me," "Brown Eyed Handsome Man," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Too Much Monkey Business," and "School Day," while the second has "Rock & Roll Music," "Sweet Little Sixteen," "Reelin' and Rockin'," "Johnny B. Goode," and "Around and Around," classics and standards one and all -- and he was savvy enough to know not to fix something that wasn't broken and so he didn't.

He continued to refurbish and ever so slightly expand his formula into the '60s, creating some of his greatest music in the years to come -- -- and with any luck, Hip-O Select will document that in future releases -- but Berry's '50s recordings for Chess prove one of the greatest bursts of creativity in American music. This is not only the foundation of Chuck's music, but rock & roll and pop culture of the 20th century, and it's thrilling to finally have it all as a complete box set.

This month marks 50 years since Elvis joined the US Army and the Allied Museum in Berlin is running a special exhibit entitled: Sergeant Elvis Presley in Germany 1958 – 1960

The Allied Museum recounts the story of Berlin from the time the Allied presence began in 1945 through to 1994 and they supply the following details on their special exhibit.

Sergeant Elvis Presley In Germany 1958 - 1960.

October 1, 2008 is the fiftieth anniversary of the day that Elvis Presley began his U.S. Army service in Germany. To mark this occasion, the Allied Museum in Berlin will mount a special exhibition presenting “Sergeant Elvis Presley“ and his time in the military in Germany from 1958 to 1960. The exhibition curators are Peter Heigl (Nuremberg) and Dr. John Provan (Frankfurt/M.). The exhibition will run from March 7 to May 18, 2008 in Berlin.

Like millions of other GI’s, Elvis arrived at Bremerhaven harbor on a U.S. Marine troopship. A total of 1,299 soldiers were on board with the world-famous pop star. From the North Sea coast he then took a U.S. Army troop train to Friedberg north of Frankfurt, where Elvis was assigned to Ray Barracks and trained as a scout platoon leader of the 3rd Armored Division.

On the one hand, the exhibition documents Elvis’s military career, his training, maneuvers and the everyday events that other U.S. soldiers also experienced. In addition, the exhibition also shows the unique situation of the world-renowned entertainer. From the beginning, he attracted the attention of fans who followed his every move and naturally sought opportunities to get his autograph. Countless tabloid articles, especially in the teen magazine Bravo, described his daily activities.

Elvis always insisted on being treated like any other U.S. soldier. He performed his duties properly and thus advanced through the ranks. In March 1960 Elvis returned to the USA and continued his musical career. The next film he made in fact treated a large part of his military experience and bore the telling title “GI Blues.” The film forms the keystone of the exhibition.

The exhibit runs from March 7 – May 18, 2008.
The museum is open daily from 10am to 6pm except Wednesdays.

AlliiertenMuseum e.V.
Clayallee 135 - Outpost
14195 Berlin-Zehlendorf

The new Elvis standees measure approximately 10 inches high.

These are great for a desktop or anywhere you’d like to display them. Two different standees are available.

The first captures Elvis in his classic gold lame suit. The second features Elvis in his white suit from the ’68 Special.

The TCB band will show up at Fagerstrand, Nesodden and play a concert there with two Norwegian vocalists.

The surplus of the income will go to Myklerud skole, which has been partially closed since last year due to poor maintenance.

The show will take place on April 15 in Bakkeløkka flerbrukshall. Ticketprice is 300 NOK.

BEHIND THE SCENES PICTURE OF PRISCILLA AND HER PARTNER LOUIS AS THEY PRACTICE IN THE DANCE STUDIO.

Priscilla Presley and Louis van Amstel presented their elegant foxtrot. At 62 years old, Priscilla’s the oldest woman to ever dance in the competition, but her precision timing and smooth lines outshined the earlier offerings.

As Louis led her across the floor, Elvis’ ex really took to the ballroom business. Though she looked nervous at first (or happy or possibly even angry — it’s hard to tell), Priscilla eased into the first real quality number of the night, much to the judges’ approval. Len called it “a proper foxtrot,” and like Bruno and Carrie Ann, awarded her an eight.

The audience cheered and applauded throughout her entire dance. And it was much more than anyone else received during their performances.

Lisa Marie was among the audience. She seemed very proud as she smiled and applauded for her Mom. The judges loved Priscilla crowning her the queen of the dance floor.All three judges gave her a score of 8 for a total of 24.

Priscilla came in with the second highest score in tonight's dance competition.Priscilla said, "This was by far the hardest thing I've ever done."

The first night of dancing for the six female contestants: Shannon Elizabeth, Marlee Matlin, Priscilla Presley, Monica Seles, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Kristi Yamaguch

Watch Priscilla’s debut dance: YouTube

YOU CAN ALSO VOTE ONLINE AFTER THE SHOW THROUGH NOON EASTERN ON WEDNESDAY.

2008/03/19 Various - Youtube / www.epgold.com

Her pregnant mom is suing the tabloids and her taut granny is on "Dancing with the Stars" -- but 18-year-old Elvis celebugrandkid Riley Keough wants nothing to do with either of 'em.

TMZ nailed Riley with questions about her famous family in New York last night ... all she'd talk about was her boyfriend Ryan Cabrera.

Priscilla and her partner Louis Van Amstel will be performing tonight at 9/8c on Dancing with the Stars.

Below is the number you can call to vote for her.

Call 800-VOTE-410 (800-868-3410)…texting code is 3410

Phone lines, text votes (AT&T customers only) and online polls will open at the top of the show so that viewers can vote for their favorites. Phone and text lines will stay open for 30 minutes after the end of the show. Online voting will remain open until noon (Eastern Time) the following day.

Dancing with the Stars airs tonight at 9/8c (check your local listings) on ABC.

2008/03/19 Various - www.elvisunlimited.com / www.epgold.com

The Elvis Presley Story starring Ronnie McDowell, The Jordanaires, DJ Fontana and Millie Kirkham will be appearing at Richland Park Amphitheater in Portland,TN on May 12th.

This is a FREE show.

The show will also appear at Loretta Lynn's ranch on June 21st at 8 PM.

2008/03/19 www.elvisunlimited.com / www.epgold.com

This is Connie speaking:

Bill is in the hospital with a few complications following lung surgery to repair the pleural effusion he has had since November 2007.

Therefore, EW will remain closed until he leaves the hospital (when, is still uncertain at this time) and feels better.

We thank you for your understanding at this time.

Connie and Bill

Bill E. Burk
Publisher, Elvis World Magazine"

The theme song that was used for "2001: A Space Odyssey'' when Mr. Clarke's novel was adapted for the movie, was also used by Elvis Presley as his opening song when he came on stage for his concerts.

March 18 (Bloomberg) -- Arthur C. Clarke, the U.K. science- fiction writer and futurist visionary best known for the novel adapted for the film ``2001: A Space Odyssey,'' has died. He was 90.
Clarke died in his adopted home country of Sri Lanka, the Associated Press reported, citing an aide. He had suffered from post-polio syndrome for the last two decades of his life and was confined to a wheelchair. Clarke had lived in Colombo, the Sri Lankan capital, since 1956 and held citizenship there.

The author, scientist, space expert and underwater diver was one of the most prolific and renowned science-fiction writers, publishing more than 30 novels, at least 13 short-story collections and 28 works of non-fiction. He was honored with a British knighthood in 2000, and his work inspired the names of some spacecraft, an asteroid and even a species of dinosaur. ``2001: A Space Odyssey'' was adapted in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film of the same name.

Clarke's visions of the future took form in geostationary satellites, which some credit as a blueprint for modern-day communication methods. In 1945, he set out his ideas in an article, ``Extra-Terrestrial Relays,'' published in the Wireless World magazine. Geostationary satellites orbit the Earth at the same speed that the Earth spins on its axis, making them ideal for telecommunications relays. Other visions included space elevators that would propel people beyond the Earth via a cable.

``He had influenced the world in the best way possible,'' writer Ray Bradbury said in Neil McAleer's 1992 book ``Arthur C. Clarke: The Authorized Biography.'' ``Arthur's ideas have sent silent engines into space to speak in tongues. His fabulous communications satellite ricocheted about in his head long before it leaped over the mountains and flatlands of the Earth.''

Early Years

Arthur Charles Clarke was born on Dec. 16, 1917, in his grandmother's house in the southwest English coastal town of Minehead. His father, Charles, was a postal-service engineer before World War I and then turned to farming. Clarke's mother, Nora, had worked as a post-office telegraphist before marrying. Clarke's early exposure to developments in communications such as the telephone and telegraph helped trigger his later visions of the future, according to McAleer's book.

At the age of 11, Clarke's interest in science fiction was sparked by a friend in Minehead who had the November 1928 issue of Amazing Stories magazine, depicting one of Jupiter's moons and a spaceship with earthlings aboard. Fossils and dinosaurs also captured the future writer's young imagination after his father gave him some cards with pictures of prehistoric animals.

Father's Death

Clarke's father died at age 43 from experimental mercury injections administered for a lung condition caused by the inhalation of poison gas in the trenches of World War I. His death left Clarke, who was 13 at the time, and his three younger siblings to help run the farm with their mother, who knitted gloves and took in paying guests to gain extra income at a time of rural economic hardship.

After an education at Huish's Grammar School in Taunton, Clarke moved to London, where his interest in space and science led him to join the British Interplanetary Society. He also began to write science fiction.
When World War II began in 1939, Clarke enlisted in the Royal Air Force as a radar specialist. During his service, he was in charge of the first radar talk-down equipment, the Ground Controlled Approach Radar, which helped air-traffic controllers on the ground to monitor approaching aircraft and communicate landing instructions to pilots by radio. He documented the experience in his semi-autobiographical novel ``Glide Path.''

After the war, he became president of the BIS, and continued writing. His expertise took him to the U.S., where he worked on the development of spacecraft and launch systems. He also addressed the United Nations during their discussions on the peaceful use of outer space.

London Education

In 1946, the author attended King's College London, where he gained first-class honors in physics and mathematics in 1948. In the same year, Clarke wrote the most important story of his life, ``The Sentinel,'' which he submitted to a British Broadcasting Corp. competition. It was rejected. The story became the basis for his most famous work: ``2001: A Space Odyssey.'' The film adaptation, which addressed themes of human evolution and extra-terrestrial life, became a sci-fi classic and won an Oscar for best visual effects in 1968. The film's iconic ``The Dawn of Man'' opening sequence shows a group of vegetarian man-apes in the prehistoric past preyed upon by animals and threatened by other clans of their own species. After finding a mysterious black monolith in their den one morning and overcoming their apprehension to touch it, their leader later discovers he can use a bone as a tool and a weapon.

Move to Colombo

In a slow-motion scene, the man-ape uses the bone to smash a skeleton in an increasingly violent frenzy, accompanied by Strauss's ``Thus Spoke Zarathustra.'' The group becomes the dominant clan, and begins to kill animals for food. It is the start of the advancement of the species.
Clarke moved to Colombo in 1956, partly to pursue his interest in underwater diving along the coast of Sri Lanka, known at the time as Ceylon. In one dive, he helped uncover a sunken ship, a story he related in ``The Treasure of the Great Reef.'' In 2004, Clarke survived the tsunami that killed more than 230,000 people, mostly in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India and Thailand. His diving school was destroyed in the catastrophe.
In a video speech released to mark the author's 90th birthday, Clarke said he was wheelchair-bound, though that ``doesn't stop my mind from roaming the universe.''

At the end of the address, he said his wish was to be remembered ``most as a writer, one who entertained readers and hopefully stretched their imaginations as well.''
The Command Module of the Apollo 13 rocket was named after Clarke's ``Odyssey'' epic, as was the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, a spacecraft searching for signs of water and volcanoes on the planet Mars. The asteroid 4923 Clarke, discovered in 1981, and the Serendipaceratops arthurcclarkei, a ceratopsian dinosaur discovered in Inverloch, Australia, both bear his name.

Clarke's marriage to Marilyn Mayfield in 1953 lasted less than a year, though they didn't formally divorce until 1964. He had no children.

2008/03/19 By Robin Stringer - Various / www.epgold.com

BRADENTON - The company that made Elvis Presley's gold sunglasses (not to mention frames worn by Oprah Winfrey, Elizabeth Taylor and Queen Elizabeth II) has stealthily moved its U.S. distribution headquarters to Bradenton.

High-end frames maker Neostyle, a 48-year-old German company with about $40 million in annual sales, also is launching direct-to-market distribution for the first time in more than 30 years.

The company had previously used a distributor in California for its U.S. operations.

Neostyle USA, which is occupying about 1,000 square feet in the Bank of America building in downtown Bradenton, makes its frames in Italy and Germany.

"We wanted to be in Florida for the lifestyle," said Bob Lawson, president of Neostyle USA, in a statement on Monday.

The Manatee Economic Development Council, he said, "helped us make a painless move to Bradenton. We have a small footprint here now, but our team will grow as we take over U.S. sales and distribution for ourselves."

Nancy Engel, executive director of the EDC, said she was pleased by the move.

"Neostyle is a widely recognized, quality brand in the optical industry," Engel said. "We are excited about the company's plans for its Manatee County location and look forward to assisting with Neostyle's expansion."

Neostyle's target market ranges from "a boutique on St. Armands Circle to the optical departments in Macy's department stores."

The frames range in retail price from $200 to $600, and can be browsed in an online catalog at www.neostyle.de Neostyle makes its frames from materials that include gold, platinum and diamonds.

"It is not unusual for Neostyle to create family heirloom frames," Lawson said. "Our products are made in the same locales where Mercedes and Porsche automobiles are designed and manufactured. Our brand reflects that same quality."

MARIAH CAREY is on the verge of scoring her 18th U.S. number one single - which will tie her with king of rock and roll ELVIS PRESLEY.

Carey will reach the landmark next weekend (23Mar08) if her latest track Touch My Body - from her new album E=MC2 - reaches the top spot.

The achievement will confirm Carey's status as the best-selling female singer of all time, and take her closer to the record held by the Beatles - who landed 20 U.S. number ones.

On January 14, 1973, the first-ever concert live via satellite beamed its way to 40 countries and 1.5 billion people!

With his Elvis: Aloha from Hawaii concert, Elvis Presley made music history yet again. The concert was a worldwide smash and features the King of Rock 'n' Roll at his very best.

McFarlane Toys showcases Elvis Presley in one of his most famous on-stage performances, wearing one of his most renowned jumpsuits -- The American Eagle. Celebrate music's greatest icon in a performance that has never been equaled -- or forgotten.

Due for release AUGUST 2008.

2008/03/18 www.elvis-express.com / www.epgold.com

Annie Presley Died.

Annie V. Presley, 86, died Feb. 21, 2008, at Community Hospice at Darlington Oaks. She was born Aug. 26, 1921, in Pritchard, Ala., to Robert Marion and Hattie Virginia Butler Cloyd.

Earlier in her life, she worked a number of years as a seamstress with Reed's Manufacturing. Later she worked as a nurses aide with the North Mississippi Medical Center.

For over 25 years she owned and operated a childcare business on Berry Street in East Tupelo. She was raised in South Tupelo and had lived most of her adult life in East Tupelo. She doted over her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren. She was a member of East Heights Baptist Church.

Services were at the Jefferson Street Chapel of W.E. Pegues with burial in Priceville Cemetery.

Survivors included three daughters, Sybil Clark (Raymond) of Eupora, Diane Yant of Verona and Rhonda Hall (Alan) of Mooreville; one son, Sales M. Presley of Tupelo; one sister, Alice Trumper of Eupora; one brother, Tommy Cloyd of Burlin, Md.; 17 grandchildren, 30 great grandchildren, four great-great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; her husbands, Sales Presley, J.D. Presley and Hubert McCullough; two daughters, Doris Willis and Barbara Sue Presley; a great-grandson, Matthew Presley; and many brothers and sisters.

http://genforum.genealogy.com/ms/lee/messages/2370.html

2008/03/18 Pam Dyson - www.elvisunlimited.com / www.epgold.com

The countdown is on as Elvis Presley Enterprises prepares to open three new exhibits featuring personal items from Elvis’s Army days, “Private Presley”, and the ’68 Special television event, “Elvis ‘68”. A special VIP Tour exhibit is also scheduled for a grand opening a week from today.

These exciting new exhibits will include never before seen artifacts in addition to rare photos and video footage. Both “Private Presley” and “Elvis ‘68” will take you back and walk you through these significant time periods in Elvis’s career and offer a rare glimpse at these exciting eras in Elvis’ musical career.

The new and expanded VIP tour will include both exhibits plus a display featuring artifacts that relate to the personal side of Elvis including the deed to Graceland, a gift from Elvis to his parents, items from Elvis' personal wardrobe, and much more!

2008 marks with 40th anniversary of the 1968 Comeback Special and the 50th anniversary of Elvis’ induction into the Army, the grand opening event is scheduled for the actual day that Elvis was inducted into the U.S. Army. Join us in celebrating two incredible anniversaries in 2008!

March 24th is only a week away, so get your tickets now and make those spring and summer travel plans to visit Graceland!

While Priscilla and Lisa Marie are more than ever in the centre of the media attention, we thought it would be cool to show you one of the TV Commercials both ladies did in the eighties....

Enjoy this video, where Lisa and Priscilla are trying to sell you an Oldsmobile. It’s fun to watch after all those years – long live the Video Archives.

Elvis Unlimited has just purchased Debra Paget's bathing suit! The costume is from The Ten Commandments. We just purchased this fantastic find at the auction in Vegas.

Debra Paget starred in Love Me Tender, Elvis' first movie in 1956. This will be part of a much larger celebrity memorabilia exhibit in our "Hard Rock" style restaurant when Graceland opens in Randers.

We are currently finishing our next book project Inside Love Me Tender which will feature many rare and unseen photos of Elvis and Debra.

You will read lots of behind the scenes stories and film information including how much Elvis impressed everyone involved in the making of the movie, Love Me Tender.

2008/03/17 www.elvisunlimited.com / www.epgold.com

Over 170 people attended the First Roman Catholic Elvis Church Service in Holland.

Imperials-member Joe Moscheo praised Elvis for what he did for God and his Belief. “Not a show went by without at least one spiritual song: ‘How Great Thou Art’, but also ‘Trilogy’, ‘The Impossible Dream’, ‘You Gave Me A Mountain’… Elvis introduced God to thousands, perhaps millions of people all over the world.

His music still offers help to those who are searching. That way, Elvis planted seeds of Faith. So, it wasn’t only his remarkable voice who made him the world’s best Gospel singer– but the way he introduced countless others to God.”

(Photo by Cathy Saladino)

The Elvis portion of the auction in Vegas was successful Sunday. Only two lots did not sell. One was the library card with the oldest known Elvis signature which we already mentioned. They dropped the minium bid twice from the opening bid of $45,000 to $20,000. Still no bids and the card remains unsold. The other was a diamond and gold pendant from Ginger Alden's collection. The estimated selling price was between $40,000 and $50,000 US dollars for the pendant.

The 29 Elvis items up for auction brought in a total sum of $305,400.00 US dollars! The Ram head necklace from Ginger Alden's collection sold for $90,000.00 US dollars. It was estimated to sell for $90,000.00 to $100,000.00. Ginger says Elvis gave this to her at Graceland and told her to always wear it with something black.

Elvis' Viva Las Vegas jacket was estimated to sell for $60,000.00 to $80,000.00. It brought in $42,500.00 US dollars.Far less than estimated. The next two highest selling items came in at a tie. They sold for exactly $20,000.00 US dollars. The first piece was Elvis' Speedway costume. It was estimated to sell for $18,000.00 to $24,000.00. The second piece was from Ginger Alden's collection. Elvis' Abalone and Mother-of-Pearl Crucifix. This was estimated to sell for $5,000 to $7,000 US dollars. This piece came in much higher than expected by the auction house. While the Speedway suit came in just around what was expected.

Elvis' handwritten set list had an estimated price of $6,000 to $8,000. It sold for $19,000.00 US dollars. Elvis' karate GI signed by Kang Rhee in both English and Korean was estimated to sell for $18,000.00 to $25,000.00. It sold for $13,000.00 US dollars. The exercise bike once owned by Elvis sold for $12,000.00. It was estimated to sell for much less, between $4,000.00 and $6,000.00 US dollars. It is astonishing that for the same price, you could have purchased a much more attractive piece of jewelry which sold at the same price.

Elvis' Black Star Sapphire Ring which was estimated to sell for $15,000.00 to $20,000.00 sold for $12,000.00 US dollars. This item was from Ginger Alden's collection. Also from Elvis' last girlfriend, was Handwritten Notes on Numerology. These were set at an estimated value of $15,000.00 to $20,000.00. This sold for $9,000.00 US dollars. A little less then expected.

The next piece has been listed on eBay a few times but never sold for the asking price. Yet it sold for much more than the estimated value of $1,500.00 to $2,500.00 US dollars. This is an oil painting of Elvis' Lisa Marie plane which was hung in the trophy room at Graceland. It was part of Ginger's collection and went for $8,000.00 US dollars.

Coming in at $7,500.00 US dollars are two more Elvis items. One was Elvis' Concho-Style Belt from the Ginger Alden collection. It was estimated to sell for $14,000.00 to $18,000.00. Again less then expected.The second was a stage worn shirt in 1956 which estimated to sell for $7,000.00 US dollars to $10,000.00. So this item came in at the low end of the estimated price. This came with a COA from an Elvis Presley Museum.

A tan leather fur trimmed jacket bought from Lansky Brothers had an estimated value of $5,000.00 to $7,000.00 US dollars. The jacket came with a COA from Mike McGregor. It sold for $5,750.00 US dollars. Another item coming in at the low end of the estimated value.

Elvis' denim jacket said to be from the film, Loving You had an estimated value of $10,000 and $15,000 US dollars. It sold for much less at $4,500.00 US dollars. A guitar pick from Elvis' New Year's Eve show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on December 31, 1976 was estimated at $700.00 and $900.00 US dollars. It went for a whopping $4,000.00 US dollars.

The lowest selling item, aside from the two UNSOLD items was Four Elvis Presley Concert Stickers. These were from the Ginger Alden collection. The estimated value was $800 to $1,200 US dollars. They sold for $500.00 US dollars.

2008/03/17 Megan Murphy - Elvis Unlimited Staff - www.elvisunlimited.com / www.epgold.com

Dear Elvis fan,

I am writing you to announce that the Viva Las Vegas Club has signed up to sponsor a star for Elvis Presley to be inlaid in the sidewalk of Las Vegas Blvd, aka, "The Strip". Since 2004, this honor has already occurred for several prominent people important to the history of Las Vegas, now it's time for Elvis!

The star installation has been approved. We need funding: $15,000. If you believe in this project, donate now. Our campaign to collect donations is off to a nice start, and this memo is to ask you to help us build up momentum and excitement. To be frank, we need dollars! Everything else is in place. Of benefit to you is that your donation is completely tax deductible! (USA only) This is a fan driven campaign. We know how powerful Elvis fans together can be.

This is an incredible opportunity for fans to be part of something spectacular that honors the legacy of Elvis Presley in a town he helped make famous, Las Vegas. Special Note to ETA's: We encourage anyone who has benefited from the life & career of this Legendary Performer to contribute.

Please visit our official website for the star to review any information you might need. There is a Q&A section. If you have further questions, don't hesitate to ask.

In the near future, the Las Vegas Walk of Stars organization will issue its own press release and I will forward that to you.

Any assistance you can give with getting the word out and for generating donations is greatly appreciated!

Sue L, President, Viva Las Vegas! Club
www.astarforelvis.com

Email: astar4elvis@yahoo.com

If you would like me to mail you cards to hand out that have all the donation information, please email me your address and I would be happy to send those to you.

These are the covers of the Australian double-feature re-issues in the "Elvis Presley Classics" series from Warner Bros.

DVDs are due for release April 9, 2008.

The double-feature sets are: "Jailhouse Rock / Spinout", "Live A Little, Love A Little / Kissin' Cousins" and "Viva Las Vegas / Speedway" (PAL format, region 4, two discs per set).

With on-line music stores as a new medium for the distribution of music there are releases which are released as a digital album or single only. On iTunes you can download the "Boogie Heights" remix of "That's All Right Mama", released by Odessa Mama Records January 1, 2008.

Also available is the album "Lovin' With Elvis", release January 1, 2008 on the Bluebird Music label.

Elvis International Shop - The Netherlands.

OPEN: Saturday & Sunday March 15 & 16, 2008 - 1300. PM - 1800 PM.

E-Mail: elvisinternational@casema.nl

The Netherlands : 0251 - 821240
Other Country's Dial : 00 - 31 - 251 - 821240

It came as a complete surprise to Cheyenne when EPE announced him for the From Broadway To Memphis show on August 15th.

And were shocked when EPE announced this as Cheyenne has other plans for those dates. Nothing has been finalized!

Elvis Unlimited has a faithful subscriber in NYC who is a well known reporter for Broadway shows and gave us this exclusive heads up!

Cheyenne is photographed with Elvis Unlimited subscriber, Kathy McNulty of Bayonne, New Jersey.
Photo by Megan Murphy

2008/03/15 Megan Murphy - www.elvisunlimited.com / www.epgold.com

On March 14 at the Cinerama Dome, Elvis Presley will return one more time in a special 40th anniversary screening of the "Singer Presents Elvis" special from 1968, or "The Comeback Special" as it is more popularly known, as the kickoff event of the Paley Center for Media's 25th annual PALEYFEST. A panel discussion afterward will feature Priscilla Presley, his widow; as well as Steve Binder, the producer and director of the special -- which is the reason I'll be attending the event.

The Elvis Presley special is far from Binder's greatest accomplishment. A complete list of his film, TV and record productions would dwarf this column, but suffice to say that when Entertainment Weekly listed "The Top 100 Greatest Moments in Television," six were Binder's work.

So who is Steve Binder (beyond being my friend Dana Sigoloff's dad), and why was "Elvis" so special that 40 years later, people still regard it as one of the greatest TV musical performances ever?

Binder is a Los Angeles native who grew up in Carthay Circle. His father ran a gas station downtown. He attended Los Angeles high and served in the Army.

A friend told him that working at a TV studio was a good place to meet women, so he applied for a job in the mailroom at KABC-TV, the local ABC network affiliate. He quickly rose through the ranks until soon he was directing local programming, including "Soupy Sales." He then directed the Steve Allen-produced "Jazz Scene USA" and the syndicated "Steve Allen Westinghouse Hour" (at one point directing both at the same time).

In 1964, showman Bill Sargent asked Binder to produce and direct the West Coast portion of the NAACP 's "Freedom Spectacular," with Burt Lancaster, Edward G. Robinson, Gene Kelly, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole, Bill Cosby (in one of his first filmed appearances) and Benny Carter in a series of sketches, songs and readings that didn't lecture but subtly addressed issues of race in America. The show was an artistic success, but not a financial one (it was shown in closed-circuit theaters) and, as far as I can tell, was never subsequently released on television, cable or DVD.

Sargent's next production involved Binder filming a benefit rock concert for a foundation that awarded music scholarships to talented teenagers. This became the "Teenage Music International Show," or "The T.A.M.I. Show," one of the greatest rock and roll performance films of all times. Jack Nitzsche recommended many of the acts and put together the house band, which included Glen Campbell and Leon Russell.

Filmed at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, this 1964 who's who of artists included Chuck Berry, Marvin Gaye, Lesley Gore, Jan & Dean, The Beach Boys, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, The Supremes, the Rolling Stones and James Brown and the Flames.

Over the next few years, Binder directed a variety of programs, including "Hullaboo" (he suggested having go-go girls in cages like at The Whisky), "The Danny Kaye Show" (a bad experience), a special for Lucille Ball (a good experience, but a flop) and two episodes of "Gilligan's Island."

Although Binder enjoyed directing the sitcom episodes, he observed that in sitcoms, the director was not the name people remembered. Binder had stumbled into television and directing almost by chance, and he now had to ask himself: What sort of a career did he want to have?

Binder had a realization: If he wanted to control his destiny, he would need to produce and direct unique programs for unique talent, or as he put it, "Tailor-made musical specials for individual stars." That insight led to some of televisions' most memorable moments and, of course, to Presley.

But before we get to "The King," it is worth mentioning the special that got Binder the job, a show in many ways more historic and precedent setting: "Petula."

Petula Clark was a blond, pixie-ish British singer, who had a No. 1 hit worldwide titled, "Downtown" (it was the first single record I asked my parents to buy for me). NBC had made a deal with Plymouth and its advertising agency, Young & Rubicam, for a special to star Nancy Sinatra. When Sinatra dropped out, Clark was recruited.

Binder decided to pair her with Harry Belafonte as a guest star. Some executives at Plymouth objected, but Binder insisted.

Although it was 1968, some advertising and auto executives were anxious about a white woman and a black man appearing in a national TV program together. I know it sounds crazy and hard to believe, but there was a moment in the show, unscripted, when Clark touches Belafonte's arm -- "the touch," Binder calls it, that was taken to be of such historic importance to race relations in America that Newsweek sent over a photographer and The New York Times and others ran articles about it.

In spite of this (and perhaps because of it), the show was a success. And that led to Binder receiving a call to meet "The Colonel."

TV producer Bob Finkel told Binder that NBC's Tom Sarnoff had struck a deal with Presley's manager, Col. Tom Parker, to do a special, but Presley was reluctant to return to television. Finkel felt Presley and Binder would hit it off, and that, based on Binder's experience on the "Petula" special, Binder would be able to stand up to the Colonel. Binder was not an Elvis Presley fan, but his partner, Bones Howe, a successful music producer, said he would be crazy not to meet him.

After a successful meeting with Finkel, Binder and Howe went to meet the Colonel at his offices on the MGM lot (what is today the Sony lot in Culver City). The Colonel dominated the whole meeting, telling grotesque stories from his carny circus roots and bragging about his deal-making business acumen (Binder said he was repulsed by the former and unconvinced as to the latter).

The first meeting with Presley took place, Binder recalled, on May 10, 1968, at the Binder-Howe offices on Sunset Boulevard (next to the old Tower Records store). Presley arrived on time with his entourage of four friends, who sat in the waiting room as Presley met with Binder, Howe and Alan Blye and Chris Bearde, who would write the special.

Presley had not appeared in front of a live audience in years. Binder reassured Presley, telling him that if they worked together, "he could focus on making records, while I would put pictures to his music." Presley signed on.

One day during rehearsals at the Binder-Howe offices, Binder said he saw Presley looking out at Sunset Boulevard -- and in what is now a legendary story -- Binder asked Presley what he thought would happen if he walked out on Sunset by himself. Presley asked Binder what he thought would happen. Binder thought about it and said: "Nothing." A few days later, Presley turned to him in the office and said, "Let's go."

Much has been made of what happened next: Presley stood with Binder on the street in front of the office building, at first tentative, then surprised that no one recognized him, then somewhat disappointed that no one recognized him and then, finally, uncomfortable. Presley retreated back to the offices.

The special was recorded at NBC's Burbank Studio No. 4. Presley was so impressed with the dressing room suites that he decided to live at the studio during the recording, asking that an upright piano be brought into his suite.

Binder noticed that Presley and his musicians would hang out in the suite's living room, before and after rehearsals, joking around, playing songs, talking about old times. Binder realized that this is where Presley was most comfortable, and that the public had never seen this side of him.

Binder decided that he wanted to film these "jam sessions," and after a consultation with the Colonel, they decided to recreate that feeling by having Presley and his original band members (who at first were not part of the special) seated in a circle on chairs on a small stage, surrounded by an audience. The special itself used these performances sparingly but to great effect. (Over the years, those "improvisations" have taken on a life of their own, as reassembled into a separate special aired by HBO, "One Night With Elvis.")

Watching the special recently in my office, I was struck by how good it still is. Presley's vitality, his sense of humor, his charisma, his sex appeal and his connection to his music and his love of performing come through in an indelible fashion (only some of the dance numbers seem dated). No one who sees the "Elvis" special can doubt his appeal or his talent.

"Elvis" aired on Dec. 3, 1968, and captured 42 percent of the entire viewing audience. It was NBC's biggest ratings victory for the entire year and the season's No. 1-rated show. However, after the show aired, Binder never really spoke to Presley again (he believes that was the Colonel's doing).

For the "Elvis" special Binder was paid a contractual one-time payment of $32,000 for producing and directing, which included the first two reruns of the special, and a $3,500 payment for each of the third and fourth reruns. That was it. No DVD or ancillary rights (they didn't exist). And certainly no "artistic rights of control": every re-edit or rerelease of the "Elvis" show since, in regular and deluxe editions, including the HBO special, and whatever will be screened at the Cinerama Dome, were done without consulting Binder (or paying him a penny more).

Nonetheless, Binder recalls "Elvis" fondly.

Binder believes that during the making of the special, Presley reconnected to making music he believed in. Presley told Binder he had found his "freedom" -- the ability to be himself again. But that freedom was short-lived.

After the special, a galvanized Presley recorded such hits as "Suspicious Minds," "In the Ghetto" and "Kentucky Rain." He also appeared for several record-breaking performances in Las Vegas before embarking on a national tour. Binder saw Presley perform then, saying "he was fantastic."

However, a year later, he saw Presley perform again and found that he had lost his spark and was bored. (Neither time did he go backstage to see Presley.).

"I knew then," Binder said, "that it was over."

In his last Vegas performances, an overweight Presley became a parody of himself, a Liberace-like performer who turned his back to his audience and increasingly found it hard to finish a show, or a song for that matter.

On Aug. 16, 1977, Presley was found dead in his Memphis home, Graceland, the victim of a heart attack, his health having been compromised by drug abuse. He was 42.

For Binder, the "Elvis" special was but one landmark in a career that continued to expand and unfold. Binder went on to direct many, many, many more specials for a wide variety of stars, including (to name but a very few) Barry Manilow, Diana Ross (including the memorable "Diana Ross in Central Park"), Patti Labelle, "Divas 2000" for VH-1 (featuring Ross, Donna Summer, Mariah Carey, Faith Hill and Beyonce); events such as the half-time show at the 1996 Super Bowl, "The Star Wars Holiday Special" (a sought-after bootleg -- by geeks that is); films such as "Give 'Em Hell, Harry" (for which James Whitmore was nominated for best actor), and was involved in the careers of many recoding artists, among them Seals & Croft. He is currently managing the career of Italian singing star Nicola Congiu.

Binder, for one, certainly never imagined that 40 years later, audiences would still be gathering to watch the "Elvis" special.

But people keep coming back to the special. I think I know why: "The Comeback Special" presents Presley at a juncture -- his past, his potential, his talent -- and the intimation of the tragic path he would unfortunately choose.

It's all up there on the screen: The softness in his face that made him look boyish, the full lips that look almost feminine (and that would appear so strongly in the face of his daughter, Lisa Marie). There he was in black leather, with his animal grace and his magnetism -- his sex appeal as much at his command as his laugh. His self-deprecating humor and the easy familiarity with which he kidded around.

You see the way he responds to the audience and the audience responds to him. You see Presley in full command of his talent and power, "The King," with the potential to remain one of the greatest rock 'n' roll entertainers of all time.

At the same time, the show contains all the foreshadowing of what was to come. The face that would bloat, the distracted manner of starting a song and not finishing it, stopping to break into a joke, not taking his talent or his songs seriously, changing the lyrics as a goof, wiping the sweat off his brow with a handkerchief for a woman in the audience, the large production numbers, the faked emotion, all the signs of his impending tragedy are present.

That's why the show has remained memorable, because we catch Presley at the crossroads. He has emerged on Sunset Boulevard, and he has a choice: to embrace his music and his audience or to retreat into the Elvis Presley cocoon.

Binder's career has been one of granting the audience memorable performances by singular talents. However, in "Elvis," he caught a legendary artist at the intersection of his talent and his destiny, at a crossroads to which he would never return.

Elvis chose to go back in the building.

For more information about the 25th annual PALEYFEST, visit: http://www.paleycenter.org/festivals/paleyfest2008/index.htm

A more extensive version of this article appears at: http://tommywood.com

The 25th Paley Fetival opened in the classic Cinerama movie theatre on Sunset Boulevard with a screening of the Special on large screen.

The Paley Festival is named after William Paley, who started the CBS network and is a two week festival for the top in the American TV industry.

Special guests during the evening were Priscilla Presley, Steve Binder (producer/director) and Bones Howe (producer).

Priscilla welcomed the public and took place in the audience to view the special. They chose the uncutted version with extra sequences of the improvisation and stand up scenes. After the screening, there was a Q&A between the audience and the guests.

A spectator asked about the interaction between Elvis and his stage-hand. Steve Binder told that he was pointing to Lance LeGault. At that moment, people were reaction and without the organisation knowing, Elvis’ stunt doule in several movies was in the audience.

We also noticed author Ken Sharp (FTDs Writing For The King) who had the privilege to give his book to Lisa-Marie right before the show. Lisa-Marie did not come out to the public.

Lots of paparazzi were waiting outside and the bad experience from the last weeks did her decide to hide herself. A new expo about the Comeback Special will open soon at Graceland!

When Jay Gordon started his hourlong radio show, "Elvis Only," its star and focal point, Elvis Presley, had already been dead more than 10 years. Now, 20 years later - and three decades after the death of the iconic rock star - Elvis and Gordon's "Oldies" WODS-FM (103.3) show are bigger than ever.

"We have an extraordinarily dedicated fan base," says Gordon. "I hear from people constantly who have been listening since Day 1."

Started on a Saturday night in January 1988, celebrating what would have been the star's 53d birthday, "Elvis Only" now airs Sundays at 8 a.m. As it passes 20 years on air ("four lifetimes" in radio terms, quips Gordon), the program is poised to grow even larger. Following several smaller syndication deals, which have the specialty show airing on approximately 40 stations, Gordon has recently signed on with New York-based United Stations. This distributor was founded by radio legend Dick Clark, and because it is well connected with more than 100 other oldies stations, Gordon says, "I think we're going to grow."

The key to keeping the show lively is in the mix. "We don't ever struggle for variety on the show," says Gordon, who works as a financial adviser during the week. "We feature the music in different ways, whether it's songs from movies, live performances, or just having fun with it." Requests fill part of the hour, as do special features such as when Gordon focuses on cover versions, playing a sample of an original recording before spinning Elvis's take.

It helps that new material keeps getting released. "There's a steady flow of alternate takes and live recordings," Gordon says. This is possible because Elvis recorded live in the studio, rather than building songs track by track. Therefore, even freshly uncovered demos or rejected versions of songs often have a finished sound.

"Elvis stayed very old-school," Gordon says of his recording style. "And we fans are more than happy to listen to nine different takes of 'Suspicious Minds' and hear the artist at work."

Gordon, who grew up in Worcester, heard the king perform three times at the Providence Civic Center. Those concerts inform his personal taste. "I actually like the '70s Elvis best, because that's where I came in," he says of the star, who died Aug. 16, 1977. As the years have passed, however, Gordon's appreciation for Elvis's '60s recordings has grown.

"When you really pay attention . . . you get a sense of how he improved as a singer, from when he went into the Army in '58 to when he came out in '60." Gordon refers to such ballads as "You'll Be Gone" and "Love Me Tonight." "You really get a sense of how hard he must have worked," Gordon says.

WODS program director Jay Beau Jones says the program's success is due to its host.

"With today's technology, everybody can personalize their music, have their music on demand," says Jones, who first worked with Gordon at the now-defunct WHTT, which played Top 40 hits on the 103.3 frequency from 1983-86.

But although fans can fill their iPods with Elvis, Jones says, "you don't have Jay Gordon's spin on it: The chart information, the stories. That's what makes it."

2008/03/15 Clea Simon - Boston Globe / www.epgold.com

On Lisa's myspace page, she left a message to her fans for their support through her pregnancy and law suit against a media outlet which horribly compared her weight gain to Elvis' eating habits.

“Your overwhelming support has not gone unnoticed.
“It has been heart warming to see . It has made me very happy.

“Thank you :)

“Much Love and respect,

“~LMP”

Tickets are 22,50 Euro only. Also VIP tickets available.

Including is the EVENING CONCERT (7pm) and the ELVIS EXPO (from 3pm) including meet & greet with the cast, merchandise stands, and more!

Sneak Peek at Heinz Ketchup New Elvis Commercial.

This is an Elvis Unlimited exclusive! Heinz ketchup has just filmed an Elvis commercial starring New York's own Elvis, Gene Dinapoli.

This commercial will air in the United States very soon. But you have the first look at the commercial before it airs!

(Photo of Cheyenne Jackson taken at the Broadway show, All Shook Up in NYC by Megan Murphy)

Two Shows: Matinee Show - 2:00 p.m. Evening Show - 8:00 p.m. Location TBA. An all new, never-before-seen show! Enjoy a sophisticated and fun celebration of Elvis music with Leah Hocking and Cheyenne Jackson, the award-winning stars from the Broadway cast of "All Shook Up" along with segments featuring Elvis himself on the big screen.

All will be accompanied by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra. Included in the exciting show will be Elvis fan favorites, The Dempsy's and lots of surprises. Tickets to the matinee event are $70.00, $50.00 and $30.00. Tickets to the evening show are $125.00, $85.00, $65.00 and $45.00. Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

(The special $125.00 ticket package includes access to the rehearsal of the Elvis and Friends Concert on August 15, a seat in the orchestra pit section, a reception during intermission of the show with light h'dourves and a cash bar, a complimentary Elvis Insiders membership or renewal, a special collectible lanyard from the event and two Elvis champagne flutes.)

2008/03/14 EPE - www.elvisunlimited.com / www.epgold.com

Nancy Walters who played Abigail Prentice, the teacher in Blue Hawaii has been diagnosed with Liver Cancer.

Debra Smith, a former Elvis fan club president is asking fans around the world to send Nancy some joy and comfort.

Dear Fan Club President:

At this year's August Fan Club Presidents' Event, Elvis Presley Enterprises will open the doors to let more people know about the amazing work that fan clubs do. For the August 2008 Fan Club Presidents' Event, the public will be invited to purchase tickets to the attend the event and hear from some of the fan clubs who work hard to continue on Elvis's name and memory. This will be a great opportunity to grow the fan club program and help clubs obtain new members.

As a fan club president, you will continue to receive a free ticket to attend the Fan Club Presidents' event as well as a special event t-shirt. Invitations will be going out to fan club presidents in the near future and will include your registration form that will allow you to reserve your free ticket for the event on August 11, 2008. (Presidents should not call into Graceland Reservations to reserve your fan club president ticket for the event, as you will receive your registration form in the mail).

If you have additional members of your fan club who are interested in attending the Fan Club Presidents' Event this year, they must order their tickets for the event through Graceland reservations. (Elvis Insiders can purchase tickets starting on March 17; tickets for the general public go on sale March 24). Tickets for the event for non-fan club presidents are $8.00.

Entrance to the fan club presidents' event will be general admission so you will still be able to sit with other members of your club who are attending the event.

If you have any questions in regards to the registration process, please send an email to fans@elvis.com .

2008/03/14 EPE Fan Relations / www.epgold.com

EPE launched a new Elvis Week site where you can find out all you need to know about visiting Memphis for Elvis Week 2008.

The site includes Elvis Week event listings, special package information, Elvis Week partner listings and more.

In Japan the DVDs "Classic Album" and "Elvis '56" will be re-issued on May 21, 2008.

Introducing Elvis.

The 3 CD Tin Can release "Introducing Elvis " is certified Platinum (100.000) in Canada.

Synopsis:

This set focuses on the early stages of the King’s career and Includes many of the songs that helped him breakthrough to the mainstream like "Love Me Tender," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Hound Dog," "Don’t Be Cruel" and many more! All 30 songs are taken from the original RCA masters, with no re-recordings or live track filler.

Tracklist:

When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again
Tryin' to Get to You
Love Me (The Jordanaires)
I Love You Because
Paralyzed
I Want You, I Need You, I Love You
Anyplace Is Paradise
Too Much (The Jordanaires)
I'm Counting on You
Love Me Tender
Shake, Rattle and Roll
That's All Right, Mama
Blue Suede Shoes
Lawdy Miss Clawdy
Baby, Let's Play House
Hound Dog (The Jordanaires)
Long Tall Sally
I Got a Woman
Mystery Train
Blue Moon of Kentucky
Heartbreak Hotel
Don't Be Cruel (The Jordanaires)
I'm Left, You're Right, She's Gone
My Baby Left Me
I Was the One
I Forgot to Remember to Forget
Harbor Lights
That's When Your Heartaches Begin
Any Way You Want Me (The Jordanaires)
Blue Moon

Another slim biography, 'Elvis Presley - The King of Rock 'n Roll' is a 104 page book which was released by Filiquarian Publishing on March 3, 2008.

Caption: Lisa Marie Presley. On-line auction of celebrity designed lunchboxes to benefit the hunger relief organization 'Food Bank for New York City' held at Saatchi and Saatchi . New York City, USA - 06.12.07

LISA MARIE PRESLEY has an extra special reason for gaining babyweight while pregnant - she is expecting twins. The daughter of rock 'n' roll king Elvis Presley is four-and-a-half months pregnant with her third and fourth kids - her first with fourth husband Michael Lockwood.

American magazine Star claims the couple is expecting twins at the end of August (08), and state at least one will be a boy. One of Presley's California neighbours tells the tabloid, "Michael told me that he and Lisa have been trying to get pregnant for about a year.

"He also said that they had a sonogram two weeks ago, and (one) baby opened its legs, and they saw something! Michael was beaming." Presley, who has two teenage children with ex-husband Danny Keogh, is currently planning to sue a publication that accused her of being fat, forcing her to reveal her pregnancy.

2008/03/13 www.contactmusic.com / www.epgold.com

This new import label JTA Records proudly presents:

THE BURBANK DAYS - I'LL BE THERE - IT'S ONLY LOVE.

All of them offers you new material for listening pleasure. We used new programs to get the best results.

All the songs are improved on sound, extended and remastered.

The final result is very pure, complete and contribute to more complete songs with a very fresh sound.

Made the trip to Graceland without any problems in Memphis.. Had a great meeting with Jack Soden, CEO of Graceland.

The framed picture of "Reflections Of A King" is now hanging in the executive offices of Graceland. He loved it...We expect this special print to be circulated through-out the world.

Of course the very special Elvis Fan Clubs will be most instrumental in making this happen..

Just wanted to let you know what took place yesterday...

On April 5, the Heritage Auction house will hold a Music & Entertainment Memorabilia Signature Auction in Dallas,Texas. Included in the auction are several Elvis items including many records, autographs, ticket stubs,Movie posters and lobby cards.

Some of the more interesting items include a TCB supposedly given to a Richard Gordon in Las Vegas by Elvis. All four of the Beatles signatures on Elvis' stationary which were acquired by Jerry Schilling during that famous visit with Elvis on 8/27/65. The signatures are described as sharp and clean.

A security badge which belonged to Travis Smith, Elvis' Uncle while working at Graceland. Travis gave the badge to a fan who was visiting Graceland. There are two Humes High year books, one is described as a "copy" and the other says it is signed by Elvis in green ink to a swell girl. There is an Elvis logo Copley CA804 Acoustic guitar signed by Scotty Moore.

The photo pictured is also up for auction. It is an 8 X 10 B/W photo of Elvis with Tom Jones, Merv Griffin and Norm Crosby from the Beverly Hills CENSORED Club. To see the complete auction, visit www.ha.com

2008/03/13 Heritage Auctions - www.elvisunlimited.com / www.epgold.com

The 10th Annual Elvis Presley Festival is scaling back from last year, but festival organisers still promise it will be a "quality weekend."

At this month's board meeting of the Downtown Tupelo Main Street Association, Treasurer Keith Henley said the executive committee approved a festival budget of $251,750, which is about $100,000 less than last year. In 2007 surprisingly the festival lost about $50,000.

"I think we've taken a very smart approach to managing our expenses and making our dollar do more," Henlsey said of this year's budget.

One of the biggest cutbacks this year is having one outdoor stage in the Fairpark District instead of two downtown stages. The Lyric Theatre, which DTMSA members say has its own Elvis lore, will be used for the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest.

And 2008 festival chair Amy Nash said she has had several meetings already to come up with "fresh ideas to make the festival new and exciting."

"First and foremost, we are not going to lose money this year," she said, eliciting applause from the group. "We are going to make money."

She said to expect new merchandise and more promotions downtown before the event. Marketing will begin as early as April for the June 6-8 event, she said. The budget shows a profit of about $34,000 for this year, which will give the group some space to move if the weather is bad or ticket sales are down.

However, she said the numbers she used to come up with the budget are averages from the last 10 years, excluding the best and worst years. As this year is likely to be a downturn in visitors after last year's 30th Anniversary, EIN is interested in the final attendance - and we wish then well.

"The plans are outstanding," she said. "I think it will be a quality weekend and a fun weekend."

In an interview Thursday, Loretta Lynn mentions Elvis. She wishes she had gotten a chance to record with Elvis. "I wish we had got together because we knew of each other and we talked on the phone, but we never got together, and I wish we had have.

But who thought of him dying at 42? I thought, well, we'll meet. And it didn't happen. So I guess if you want to meet someone, you better do it. You better not wait." Say Loretta in an interview with Danielle Hatch of the Journal Star.

(Photo by: John Stanton / Wireimage)

Priscilla Presley may be gearing up for the sixth season of Dancing With the Stars – but she's also excited about another milestone in her life: becoming a grandmother again.

"We are all excited about a little one," Presley, 62, tells Access Hollywood in an interview set to air beginning March 12. "All of our kids are grown up, so this is really exciting news for all of us."

(Lisa Marie Presley, 40, recently announced her pregnancy to PEOPLE.)

Presley also empathizes with her pregnant daughter's recent struggles with Britain's Daily Mail, which published photographs and articles suggesting Lisa Marie has an "unhealthy appetite" and "has gained weight like her father Elvis." Presley has subsequently sued the paper.

"I think it's cruel what's happening today with people and with celebrities," Priscilla tells Access Hollywood. "You want to be a perfectionist and do the best you possibly can and you have parasites out there trying to bring you down and take you down. It's a very tough time for people in the limelight today."

Dancing With the Stars begins March 17 on ABC.

2008/03/13 People - www.itselvistime.nl / www.epgold.com

Finally, the next volume in this great series, here is what the fans of STAR have been waiting for!!

Including songs from the following movies:

This will be the definitive book on the making of the 1968 ELVIS PRESLEY television special.

Text by Steve Binder the special's producer/director.

With exclusive never before seen color photos from the private collection of Timothy Mulrenan and Robert Brower.

There will be only 2000 hardcover books available that will include a 8"x 10" photo not used in the book and signed by Steve Binder.

Watch Steve Binder's interview about the 968 ELVIS Special ! On TV LAND CLICK HERE

Announcing the new book release of "Elvis - Portraits" on Youtube with a preview trailer for next JAT Production.

Elvis’s former nurse, Marian Cocke, is recovering from a fall she suffered shortly before Todd Morgan’s funeral last Thursday.

She wishes for everyone to know that she didn’t break any bones and only suffered some minor internal bruising.

Marian is out of the hospital and currently in a rehabilitation facility where she is already on the fast road to recovery.

If you wish to send messages of encouragement, you can do so by writing to:

Baptist Rehabilitation Hospital- Germantown
Marian Cocke - Pateint
2100 Exeter Rd.
Room 206
Germantown, TN 38138

French Dvd A Plein Tubes (Speedway) release date August 16, 2008 - Region code 2.

A live midnight show from Elvis on August 19, 1973 will be re-released on a import CD.

The cover mentions a soundboard recording.

This show was released earlier as a quality audience recording, wrong speed, on the Tupelo label.

2008/03/12 www.elvismagazine.eu / www.epgold.com

Memphis Mafia member Jerry Schilling obtained these classic Beatle autographs on that memorable night. He is auctioning this unique rarity of the autographs of all four Beatles on a 5" x 8" piece of Elvis Presley stationery dated 8/27/65.

Fans of both the Beatles and Elvis now have a chance to bid on this extraordinary artefact in Heritage Auction Galleries' upcoming Music and Entertainment Signature Auction, to be held at the company's Dallas, Texas headquarters on April 5, 2008.

- - "It was August 27, 1965. The Beatles were on the eve of playing Balboa Stadium in San Diego. Elvis was in the midst of shooting Paradise Hawaiian Style in Hollywood. That night, between 10 and 11 pm, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all arrived in limousines at Elvis' home in Bel Air, and Elvis personally greeted them at the door for what forever after became known as the "summit meeting" of Pop music and Rock and Roll.

"The autographs are sharp and clean in blue ink, the word 'Elvis' is pre-printed in the upper left corner, and the dynamic of the signatures of the 'Fab Four' on the stationery of 'The King' is - for lack of a better word - magical," said Doug Norwine, Director of Music and Entertainment Auctions for Heritage.

Accompanying the lot are copies of Disc Weekly (Sept 4, 1965) and The National Blast Weekly (Oct 10, 1965), both with the front page headlines "Beatles Meet Elvis!" Also included is a certificate of authenticity from renowned Beatles autograph expert Frank Caiazzo.

"This is the most significant documentation of that historic convergence ever to be offered," said Norwine. "It's a cliché, but if only this item could talk, what stories it might tell!"

Bidding estimates are $50,000 & up.

March seems to be the Auction Month of the Year in 2008. Here's another one for you: on March 30th, longtime collector Jack Edwards auctions off his 670 rare Elvis records and +1750 pictures.

According to auction house Whats4sale, this is one of the most impressive Elvis vinyl collections around - but we'll leave that to your judgement. The auction takes place in Madison, Wisconsin.

Someone took the liberty of wrongfully reporting that Bud Glass was selling this card from the museum collection.

A collector obtained the Library card several years ago from Bud Glass and Russ Howe, and it is that collector who is now offering the signed library card for sale in this auction.

This was long before the The King's Ransom Museum, owned by Glass and Howe was established. Many e-mails have poured in from fans mistakenly thinking that the Museum was being sold.

Bud Glass reports that this is not the case, and The King's Ransom Museum is actually growing and expanding.

Their plans are to continue to share the collection with fans around the world who appreciate these historical treasures that Glass and Howe have spent a lifetime to acquire.

And here it is: the official poster for the JAMES BURTON LIVE BAND in The Netherlands. This unique show marks the kick-off for a series of 3 unprecedented shows in 2008, to celebrate 5 Years of ElvisMatters.

And don't forget: tickets are 15 euro only. We're only young once - right? So, be sure to book your tickets NOW - with less than 200 tickets to go, we should be sold out very soon.

Tickets for Saturday May 17th: peter@elvismatters.com

One day after the '5 Years ElvisMatters Anniversary Party' in The Netherlands, we welcome James and his Band to Belgium. Tickets for this 'sitting down' show are 15 euro only, and selling like Hot Pancakes.

This is the poster we had designed (many thanks to Yarno!). So, if you have the time be sure to drop by - but order your tickets first to avoid disappointment.

This is a spin-off show by the Award-Winningproducer and performers from the highly successful ‘Rockin’ On Heaven’s

Door’ which is currently touring in its TENTH fantastic year!

The show opens with Steve Halliday who performs Elvis during his G.I. period.Steve gives a truly mesmerizing performance, guaranteed to have the audience boppin’

in their seats to all the King’s greatest rock ‘n’ roll numbers, such as early classics‘Hound Dog’ and Jailhouse Rock.

A fanfare and spectacular lights herald the arrival of The King in the secondhalf. Richard Atkins rendition of The Vegas Years is possibly the most authentic there is.

His accuracy, sound and mannerisms are so perfect you could almost believe The King of Rock and Roll is towering before you. Attention to detail is incredible, even down to his jump suits being tailored for him and flown over from the States!

Throughout the second half, Richard rocks through a refreshing mixture of Elvis classics and the not so familiar songs from the Vegas years with all the warmth and powerful charisma of Elvis.

Richard’s performance is superbly supported by the twelve piece RCA BAND, With lighting effects precisely timed according to the mood or theme of the song and limited use of strobe lighting, the audience’s attention is captivated to the stage.

Even Elvis would be proud of this serious tribute show. In Richard Atkins The King lives on for other generations to enjoy. He is honouring the Legend and ‘Taking Care of Business’ in every sense of the phrase.

Jenny Pearce – Encore Magazine.

Elvis show is more than a mere tribute…I’ve never seen a tribute act receive such a frenzied reaction as I did on Saturday night. Richard Atkins was simply superb as The King of Rock ‘n’ Roll – he had the look, the movements and, most importantly, the voice.

Watching several sections of the audience reminded me of concert footage where thousands of screaming girls were hit by Elvis fever. They were dancing, waving their arms and screaming at ‘The English Elvis’ all night long.

Another memorable moment was when ‘Elvis’ left the stage to hand out scarves and kisses, to numerous members of the audience – several jumped out of their seats to meet him!

Richard Atkins, along with the excellent RCA Band, the awesome and sweet backing vocals of the Divine Inspirations, brought Elvis’s songs to life.

As someone in his 20s who never got to see Elvis live but has grown up loving his music, this concert was the closest I am ever going to get!

This just didn’t seem like a tribute – even the tickets said ‘Elvis In Concert’.

Gareth Bartlett,The West Briton News

Lisa Marie Presley looks pregnant and proud as she unveiled her budding baby bump in Los Angeles.

From the Dutch fan club Elvis For Everyone comes the talking only CD "Elvis For President" in the EFE promo series.

-Elvis For President - Collectors Edition is a limited edition of only 500 cd's worldwide! It's including some famous quotes, rare recordings and historic interviews & press conferences. Also including is Elvis announcement: "ladies and gentleman, I'd like to announce that I'm running for President." More details soon!

This is the new EFE promo cd (volume 14) soon available

2008/03/11 www.elvismagazine.eu / www.epgold.com

('The '68 Comeback Special,' a seminal moment for TV and Presley, will screen at the Cinerama Dome)

In summer 1968, Elvis Presley taped a television special to be broadcast that Christmas. Fifteen years earlier, he had walked into Sun Studios in Memphis to make a record as a present for his mother, or so the story goes, and changed history.

In the years between those events, he had been adored, reviled, imitated, parodied, packaged and finally, if not forgotten exactly -- he was still a working movie star -- then no longer taken quite seriously in a world remade by Bob Dylan, the Beatles and the 20-minute guitar solo.

Elvis went to Hollywood early in his career, but his first films at least, arriving as they did in the era of "Rebel Without a Cause" and "Blackboard Jungle," exploited his actual rock energy and outsider roots; they played melodramatic variations on the story he was already living out.

The movies he made after getting out of the Army in 1960, however, were, with certain rule-proving exceptions, the merest fluff. They have their charms, but by and large they show an Elvis domesticated, marginalized and to all appearances barely interested in music. (Ladies and gentlemen, "Do the Clam.")

And then in one of those confluence of forces that in retrospect looks like fate but is just good timing and good luck, Presley contracted to do a television Christmas special, whose director -- Steve Binder of the pop series "Hullabaloo" and pop film "The T.A.M.I. Show" -- approached it with a sense of mission that happened to accord with the singer's own reported desire to distance himself from the mediocrity of his film career.

What resulted was so clearly a turning point that what was originally known as "Singer Presents Elvis" -- the sewing machine company sponsored it, strangely -- has since almost always been referred to as "The '68 Comeback Special." It is getting a 40th anniversary really-big-screen showing Friday to open the 25th annual William S. Paley Television Festival, which this year moves to the Cinerama Dome. (Also on the docket are tributes to Judd Apatow, "Gossip Girl," "Pushing Daisies" and a "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" reunion.)

The special begins in darkness, to the sound of a whomping, Muddy Waters-ish blues riff, and then a famous face fades in, turning toward the camera, filling the screen, meaning business.

If you're looking for trouble

You came to the right place

If you're looking for trouble

Just look right in my face

I was born standing up

And talking back

My daddy was a green-eyed mountain jack

I don't know what a "green-eyed mountain jack" is, but as Elvis hits that line his body tenses and quivers, his arm goes straight toward the camera, and there is no doubt that not only is something happening but that something is happening to him.

Television was, of course, central to Presley's early career; he appeared frequently, as a performer and as a curiosity. But he disappeared from the small screen in the 1960s (excepting reruns of his films) and from live performance as well. He was an actor in musical pictures, but less obviously a musician and more and more remote a figure.

But television is a medium of the here and now, and for Elvis to step back into the small screen was for him to engage the world in an intimate and immediate way. (Notwithstanding the six months that elapsed between the taping and the broadcast.) "Singer Presents Elvis" is a great moment in music, in television, and in the narrative of his own life -- a moment of change, when what was lost is found again. He regains his voice -- and in so doing becomes at once who he was and who he'll become. His singing has the lilt of youth but with a mature edge. He is 33 years old, lean and chiseled and -- what he had not seemed in years -- a little dangerous.

The show is specifically designed to take him back to his roots. In a sequence that would now be called "unplugged," Elvis sits in a circle with guitarist Scotty Moore, who played on his earliest recordings; drummer D.J. Fontana, who came along not long after, keeping time on a guitar case; and some of his Memphis pals. Dressed head to toe in black leather, with a big, head-framing collar costume designer Bill Belew based on paintings of Napoleon, Elvis sweats real sweat as he sings the old songs with new energy.

It is not all equally a revelation. There are two extensive, heavily choreographed production numbers, energetic but amusingly dated; Elvis, who has marks to hit and pre-recorded vocals to lip sync, is relatively contained. The first is a gospel medley, the second a picaresque adventure built around Johnny Reed's "Guitar Man" that is like an Elvis movie in miniature, with a little sex, some fisticuffs and the singer on the road to stardom.

Getting Elvis a Christmas single seems to have been part of the original deal, and the show was at one point slated to close with him singing "I'll Be Home for Christmas." Instead he closes with a song called "If I Can Dream," a late contribution from vocal arranger Walter Earl Brown -- a plea for peace and understanding that in the murderous year of 1968 had a timely urgency. Dressed all in white, planted before his name in lights 40 feet high, he folds his body into the song as if in pain, a pain he means to kill with hope.

It is, for all the planning that went into it, as raw and real as any performance I've ever seen.

It's the beginning of the last phase of Presley's career: He would make his return to live performance in Las Vegas the following July.

If much of what followed look like decline, it was also an apotheosis.

He had nine years to live.

Marion Cocke, who was Elvis' nurse, fell at the funeral of Todd Morgan. She was taken by ambulance back to Memphis.

She suffered a hair line fracture to her hip and knees. She currently is recovering at the Baptist East hospital in Memphis.

2008/03/11 www.elvisunlimited.com / www.epgold.com

ELVIS FOR EVERYONE has a new website: www.elvismagazine.eu

On this website more news about the Dutch/Belgium fanclub magazine ELVIS FOR EVERYONE... and about ELVIS THE KING - HITS IN CONCERT, May 25, 2008 in Eindhoven.

Lisa Marie Presley is expecting her third child

Singer Lisa Marie Presley is suing the Daily Mail for libel over publishing an article alleging she is overweight.

The 40-year-old daughter of Elvis Presley said the story, which was widely republished worldwide, forced her to confirm she is expecting a baby.

Her UK laywer Simon Smith said claims that she had an "unhealthy appetite" and is "growing like her dad" had left the star "deeply upset and offended".

Presley called the press "disgusting" on her MySpace page.

The singer, who is issuing the libel claim against the Daily Mail's publishers, Associated Newspapers, at the High Court in London, also explained why she was forced into disclosing her pregnancy.

"I have had to show my cards and announce under the gun and under vicious personal attack that I am in fact pregnant," she wrote.

'Badgering and harassing'

The announcement comes days after photos of Presley eating lunch in Los Angeles emerged in some newspapers poking fun at her weight gain.

"Once they got a glimpse of my expanding physique a few days ago, they have been like a pack of coyotes circling their prey whilst eerily howling with delight," said Presley.

She claimed publications in London, New York and Chicago wrote "false defamatory degrading stories" about why she could be putting on weight.

"Now that things are confirmed, hopefully they can stop all of the harassment and I can stop dodging the continuous bullets," she said.

Addressing other women she added: "You know if you were pregnant and you felt you were expanding uncontrollably by the moment as a result, and the worldwide media started badgering and harassing you for it, plastering you everywhere in an unflattering light, you would be mortified as well."

Speaking to the Associated Press, her spokeswoman Cindy Guagenti said some of the stories had gone too far.

"It's like, 'she's gonna die like her father', 'her and her mom are in a fight because of her weight' - that's not true at all. It's just awful stuff," she said.

Presley said both she and husband, music producer Michael Lockwood, were "incredibly happy" about their news.

She already has an 18-year-old daughter and a 15-year-old son from her first marriage to musician to Danny Keough.

She briefly married Michael Jackson in 1994 and then actor Nicolas Cage.

2008/03/10 http://news.bbc.co.uk - www.itselvistime.nl / www.epgold.com

Two longtime Elvis memorabilia collectors made the find of a lifetime: the oldest known complete Elvis signature. It was written on a checkout card from his school library when he was in seventh grade in Tupelo, Mississippi. The collectors Bud Glass and Russ Howe were introduced to a former librarian at the junior high in Tupelo through a mutual acquaintance. Glass has signed letters of authenticity from the former librarian, who found the card in the book English Fairy Tales.

The librarian, who got permission to search the school library for other cards after she found this one, put it in her scrapbook and kept it for over 40 years. The story is even more piquant because the wing of the Milam School in Tupelo that contained the old library burned in February 1979.

If the librarian hadn't saved the signed card in her scrapbook, it would have gone up in smoke. The next earliest complete Elvis signature is from when he was in high school in the early 1950' s. Glass also located three people who had checked out the book at the same time as Elvis.

Starts at: US $45,000.00

Professional genealogist, Lorina Bolig, has released a revised edition of her momentous research into Elvis' family tree.

With more than 100 pages added and a change in its title, the 2008 volume sets itself as the definitive examination of Elvis' ancestry.

Details:

Paperback: 594 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace (January 8, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1434840689
ISBN-13: 978-1434840684

2008/03/09 www.elvisinfonet.com / www.epgold.com

Kensington publishers are releasing a 304 page hardcover book Elvis and the Dearly Departed in September 2008.

Written by Peggy Webb and with ISBN-13: 978-0758225894, no other details are currently available.

2008/03/09 ElvisBookResearch - www.elvisinfonet.com / www.epgold.com

"Elvis, How Great Thou Art" film chosen for ReelHeART International Film Festival.

The How Great Thou Art' Project informs:

We are proud to say…

It has just been announced that 'Elvis, How Great Thou Art, A Portrait of the Artist' has made it through the 3 rounds and has been selected for the ReelHeART International Film Festival 2008 programme under the dance and music related category.

The festival: June 16-21, 2008, Toronto, Canada.

ReelHeART International Film Festival founders and directors share the belief that "Art Can Change The World".

'Elvis, How Great Thou Art, A Portrait of The Artist', was written and produced by Linda Ann McConnell to convey and commemorate the musical significance, cultural impact and artistic achievements of one man and to demonstrate how the power of an individual CAN make a difference. The film is part of 'The Memphis Lullaby' stage play.

(Photo Michael Wilson - An employee of Waller Emergency Services loads debris removed from the dressing room and backstage area of the Polk Theatre)

Fundraising drive tries to save historic site, already shaky financially.

Elvis' signature has left the building — at least temporarily.

Already facing a financial crisis, Lakeland's historic Polk Theatre incurred major damage from flooding Thursday night, adding urgency to a fundraising campaign just launched by the nonprofit organization that operates the 80-year-old movie palace.

Water infiltrated dressing rooms, storage areas and the auditorium, forcing removal of carpets, drywall and ceilings, including a treasured piece of wall signed by Elvis Presley after a performance in 1956.

Repair crews from Waller Emergency Services cut out the section of wall Friday and took it away for protection and drying. Waller employees said Presley's signature was still visible.

The flooding halted Thursday night's live performance of 'High School Musical' by Theatreworks Florida early in the second act, according to Waller project manager Cindy Mattingly, who was attending with her 9-year-old daughter, Raya.

The toll of the damage wasn't yet clear Friday, said Dale Dreyer, president of the theater's board of directors, but 'High School Musical' was scheduled to resume Friday night and run through the weekend. Tickets from Thursday night will be honored at shows today and Sunday.

Friday afternoon's scene of exposed wall studs in dressing rooms and industrial blowers drying the carpet in the auditorium lent visual symbolism to financial woes that threaten to close the circa-1928 venue, one of just three 'atmospheric' theaters still operating in Florida.

Executive Director Frances McCranie said the theater faces perhaps its direst financial crisis since it reopened in 1999 after a years-long, $1.5 million restoration.
'How fortunate are we to have a theater like this,' McCranie said Friday. 'It's played a part in so many lives, and it would just be a shame to have it shut down, but to be honest and straightforward, there is that danger.

'So we're going to the public and saying, ‘Can you just help us keep our doors open? We will be good stewards of your money, but we need your help.'

The theater's board of directors recently began a two-pronged campaign, mailing letters to past supporters and ticket buyers. Dreyer said the theater needs $250,000 in the short term to keep operating and seeks at least $1.5 million in the long term for repairs and improvements and to create a sustaining endowment. He said a financial assessment found the theater could only continue operating through April, though recent contributions have pushed back the date of possible closure.

Dreyer, noting the theater hasn't had a capital campaign in nine years, said the mail pitch seeks 500 people to donate $500 each, though he said the theater also welcomes smaller contributions. He said the theater carries debts from past operating losses and a recent $80,000 roof repair.

The 1,400-seat Polk Theatre shows first-run art-house movies on some weekends, stages a performance-arts series and is available for private rentals. McCranie said movie attendance has remained flat or declined, especially since the Lakeside Village Cobb 18 opened in 2005 and began competing for arty movies.

Meanwhile, McCranie said the Polk's operating costs have soared, with annual utility costs and property insurance rates tripling in recent years. The theater receives modest funding from the city, county and state, but private contributions and corporate sponsorships cover the majority of its roughly $500,000 annual budget.
McCranie said competing entertainment facilities, including The Lakeland Center and the Tampa Theatre, are city-owned.

Lakeland Mayor Buddy Fletcher said Friday he can't envision the city boosting its funding of the Polk in a time of budget cuts, though he expressed hope the theater can stay afloat.

'That theater is very important to the city,' Fletcher said. 'We would be part of trying to possibly get someone in the community to put something together to keep it open.'

Thursday night's flooding might not add to the financial crisis. Waller project manager Mike Ellison said water backed up at a point where a drain pipe from an internal air-conditioner handling unit merges with an external drain pipe, and early indications suggested the pipe might have been blocked by debris from a recent roofing repair by another contractor. If so, Dreyer said the roofer's insurance would likely cover the costs. Otherwise, he said the theater's insurance would cover it.

Dreyer said flooding began with rains Thursday afternoon. The theater called in a plumber to clear the drainpipe, but lightning aborted the work. Dreyer said 'High School Musical' began on schedule, but harder rain in the evening caused new flooding that observers said began pouring down the auditorium's Italian-style walls and spewing from light fixtures and speakers.

Dreyer said water infiltrated the pipe assembly of an 82-year-old organ installed in 2002. He said it wasn't clear Friday how much damage the organ and the theater's sound system sustained.

'We feel like we're snakebit,' he said.

'The theater opened in December 1928, and we're saying in our 80th year if the community doesn't respond we won't have an 81st year,' Dreyer said. 'It is true to say that.'

(Photo by Petra Roberts - Friedberg’s Mayor Michael Keller, left, and former Elvis Presley barracks-mate David Bailey examine photos of the King during Bailey’s visit to Friedberg and Ray Barracks in Germany)

A walk through of Friedberg and Ray Barracks in Germany by a recent visitor brought back memories of time spent with fellow Soldier Sgt. Elvis Presley.

The tourist, former Pfc. David Bailey, first came to Germany in March 1958 as a young draftee. He arrived in Bremerhaven on a troop ship and served in Friedberg for 17 months before returning stateside to be honorably discharged.

Bailey, now a retired judge from Missouri (accompanied by his wife Betty) said he decided only a few weeks ago to revisit Germany to see Ray Barracks once more before the installation’s official return to host nation officials.

‘‘Elvis and I were in the same building — our bunks side by side,” said Bailey during his visit to Hanau and Friedberg. ‘‘Back then, there were no partitions. The building was one big sleeping room with 28 bunk beds in it, big enough to hold our platoon.”

Bailey and Presley served with a scout platoon from Company A, 1st Medium Tank Battalion, 3rd Armored Division — also known as the Spearhead Division. ‘‘We met during basic training in Texas, and I was happy to see him again. When I left Germany on Jan. 8, 1960 [Elvis’ birthday], he was the last person I saw.”

Bailey began his trip down memory lane at the Ray Barracks front gate — the same gate he often drove through either in his unit jeep or his own 1951 Opel. From there he went directly to his former troop billets in Building 3707.

‘‘We all called him ‘Prez,’” said Bailey, recalling his former friend and the time he spent with Elvis on scout missions, maneuver exercises and other memorable events.

‘‘Around Christmastime, Elvis received a truckload of boxes [with sweets] from fans all over Germany everyday, but would not eat them. The boxes were stacked along the walls, up to the ceiling. We had a ball eating sweets everyday, reading the fan’s letters,” Bailey said, adding that the pop singer did enjoy fruitcake. ‘‘My mother had sent me [one] for Christmas, and everyday Elvis cut a slice until it was gone.”

The old part of Ray Barracks also brought back memories for Bailey, as he asked about some buildings located across from the main gate. ‘‘They were not there then ... this was an open field.”

As part of his visit, Bailey learned how Army life has changed since he served in Germany more than four decades ago. Bailey and his wife visited Hanau’s 64th Replacement Company on Pioneer Kaserne, at the invitation of Dr. Robert Schloesser, garrison manager, and his wife Joyce, a volunteer at the welcome center.

Joyce Schloesser took the Baileys even further back in time with a visit to the B¸dingen castle, where the princess herself, who runs the family business, gave them an exclusive tour. ‘‘I have never been to Germany and truly enjoy visiting such a historical, beautiful castle,” said Betty Bailey.

Members of Bad Nauheim’s Elvis Presley Fan Club were also very interested in sharing memories with the former Friedberg Soldier and learning historical tidbits about the pop idol.

‘‘Elvis drove a white BMW, but often got into my old 1951 Opel, disguising himself by wearing my field jacket and pulling his hat deep over his face so that he could leave post and get by all the fans waiting outside the gate,” Bailey recalled.

Elvis International Shop - The Netherlands.

OPEN: Saturday & Sunday March 8 & 9, 2008 - 1300. PM - 1800 PM.

E-Mail: elvisinternational@casema.nl

The Netherlands : 0251 - 821240
Other Country's Dial : 00 - 31 - 251 - 821240

Genre: Fantasy/Dramedy
Running time: 90 min.
Shooting format: 35mm

Starring: George Thomas
Directed by: M.Z. Silverz
Technical Advisor: Sonny West
Director of Photography: Grisha Alasadi
Advising Producer: Al Rubin
Supervising Producer: Jacov Bressler
Film Consultant: Alex Butterfield
Still Photagraphy by Linda Lynn Carfagno

Synopsis:

It's been almost 30 years since the King died. But was he really dead?

In 1977, he was whisked away to another galaxy, but now, the King returns. As he doesn't want anyone to know who he really is, he enters an Elvis impersonator contest in Las Vegas.

And the trouble begins...

Production status:
Post Production, release slated for 2008 .

Graceland to Memphis - Trailer - Soundtrack.

On August 16, 1977, ELVIS PRESLEY, "The KING of Rock and Roll" died at "GRACELAND," his mansion in Memphis, Tennessee. It's been almost 30 years since the King died. But is he really dead.

People magazine reports that Lisa Marie's reps confirmed she is pregnant with fourth husband Michael Lockwood's child. Lisa is 40 with two children Riley, 18 and Ben 15. While Michael is 46 and this will be his first child. "The couple are incredibly overjoyed," the rep says. She is due in the fall.

After being the target all week of slanderous and degrading stories, horribly manipulated pictures and articles in the media, I have had to show my cards and announce under the gun and under vicious personal attack that I am in fact pregnant.

Once they got a glimpse of my expanding physique a few days ago, they have been like a pack of coyotes circling their prey whilst eerily howling with delight. Starting with a London publication and then New York and Chicago all writing false defamatory degrading stories about all of the dark possible reasons I could be putting on weight. The US tabloids have been calling all day wanting confirmation on all kinds of insane theories.

They couldn't wait to find out if my weight gain was because I was just overeating, in which case It would be open season and they can do the old following in her fathers sad and unfortunate demise story again or less interesting for them and probably much to their dismay, I could just be pregnant and therefore have a legitimate reason for weight gain at which point they should probably wipe the saliva off of their fangs and put them back in their mouths or they may expose the black little souls that they are.

Now that things are confirmed, hopefully they can stop all of the harassment and I can stop dodging the continuous bullets.

It is unfortunate that I couldn't have announced something that is this much of a blessing and that has made us so incredibly happy under better circumstances.
How they have handled themselves with this has been nothing short of irresponsible and disgusting.

Pardon my seething contemptuous tone but ladies, You KNOW if you were pregnant and you felt you were expanding uncontrollably by the moment as a result and the worldwide media started badgering and harassing you for it, plastering you everywhere in an unflattering light, you would be mortified as well.

Sincerely,
~LMP - MySpace Blog

Priscilla is paired with a Dutch dancer, Louis Van Amstel.

(Priscilla is paired with a Dutch dancer, Louis Van Amstel)

This is the very first picture of Priscilla Presley and her new dance partner for the TV show "Dancing with the Stars". Priscilla is paired with a Dutch dancer, Louis Van Amstel.

Van Amstel attended the University of the Arts in Amsterdam and since 1989 has partnered most often with the British dancer Julie Fryer[3]. He is a 7-time Dutch and 3-time world champion ballroom dancer.

He is also known in American pop culture for partnering with actress Lisa Rinna in the second season of the American program Dancing with the Stars; he and Rinna came in 4th place. Louis was paired with Trista Sutter for the first season; they were the first couple to be eliminated from the competition.

He was most recently partnered with actress Monique Coleman for the show's third season and placed in fourth again. He stated that he did not compete on the fourth season since all of the female celebrities were taller than him, but still maintained a choreographer and performance role throughout the season.[4]

Louis is the coach of Dmitry Chaplin, a Latin dancer best known for being a Top 10 finalist on FOX's So You Think You Can Dance.[5] Van Amstel has coached standard ballroom to professional ballroom dance competitors such as Nick Kosovich with Katarina Marks and Clive Phillips and Karen McDonald.

After retiring from competition, he moved on to choreography and production. He founded the company VanDance, LLC, and directed, produced, choreographed and performed in the Broadway show Latin Fusion.[6]

2008/03/07 www.danceasseenontv.com / www.epgold.com

(Tod Morgan - Photo EPE)

Larry King is planning to offer his condolences to Todd's friends, family, and the Graceland staff at the end of Larry King Live on Thursday, March 6.

If for unplanned breaking news taking up time tonight, the backup plan is for Friday the 7th.

In addition, a special memorial online guestbook has been setup by the funeral home where you can leave your thoughts and memories about Todd.

Click here to visit their site.

N.Y. pub bans ‘Danny Boy’ on St. Patrick’s.

All is not lost: Michigan pub to stage 50-hour marathon of song.

NEW YORK - It's depressing. It's not usually sung in Ireland for St. Patrick's Day. And its lyrics were written by an Englishman who never set foot on Irish soil.

Those are just some of the reasons a Manhattan pub has given for banning the song "Danny Boy" for the entire month of March.

"It's overplayed, it's been ranked among the 25 most depressing songs of all time, and it's more appropriate for a funeral than for a St. Patrick's Day celebration," says Shaun Clancy, who owns Foley's Pub and Restaurant, just off Fifth Avenue opposite the Empire State Building.

The 38-year-old, who started bartending when he was 12 at his father's pub in County Cavan, promises a guest free Guinness for singing any other traditional Irish song at the pub's March 11 pre-St. Patrick's Day karaoke party. On other nights, guests will be rewarded with a surprise.

Not everyone agrees.

A pub near Detroit — AJ's Cafe in Ferndale, Mich. — is staging a "Danny Boy" marathon on St. Patrick's Day weekend, offering 1,000 renditions of the song over 50 hours.

The song's lyrics were written by English lawyer Frederick Edward Weatherly, who never visited Ireland, according to Malachy McCourt, author of the book "Danny Boy: The Legend of the Beloved Irish Ballad." Weatherly's sister-in-law had sent him the music to an old Irish song called "The Derry Air." His new version was published in 1913 and became a huge hit when opera singer Ernestine Schumann-Heink recorded it in 1915.

Some say it is symbolic of the great Irish diaspora, with generations of Irish fleeing the famine and poor economic conditions starting around 1850. Others have guessed it is sung by a mother grieving for her son or even by a desolate lover — depending on how one hears lyrics like "The summer's gone, and all the flowers are dying/ 'Tis you, 'tis you must go and I must bide."

In the 1940s, "Danny Boy" was recorded by Bing Crosby, became the theme song of television's "Danny Thomas Show" from 1953 to 1964 and has been a vehicle for vocal stars from Judy Garland, Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash to Cher and Willie Nelson.

But for the rest of the month, Foley's will be "Danny Boy"-free.

"I'm glad! I'm glad! I'm glad!" exclaimed Martin Gaffney, 73, a retired passenger ship waiter who said Wednesday he planned to croon his old Irish favorites, like "Molly Malone" — whose theme is also hardly a barrel of laughs.

A sort of unofficial anthem of Dublin also known as "Cockles and Mussels," the song tells the tale of a beautiful fishmonger who plies her trade on city streets and dies young of a fever.

2008/03/06 www.msnbc.msn.com / www.epgold.com

You don't often get to read SEC documents guesstimating how much money a dead idol will make in the future.

But today's our lucky day: Witness this filing from CKX, which owns an 85% stake in Elvis Presley Enterprises -- basically the rights to run Graceland and license the King's name. Not included: The rights to sell most of Elvis' actual music.

But even without the ability to sell his songs, CKX says Elvis will generate $68.8 million for them this year. Not bad for a guy who died in 1977.

But the future looks even brighter: CKX says that Elvis hotels, casinos and other projects will bump that number up to $189 million by 2013.

Which makes Frank Sinatra's $50 million payday last year look like bupkis.

sunday march 16th 2008
starts at: 12:00 PM - ends at: 01:00 PM

Imperials-member Joe Moscheo will be present at the Elvis Gospel Celebration in Deventer (Holland) on March 16th.

He'll also presents his new dutch book 'De Gospel-kant van Elvis'.

March 16: Gospel Celebration in Deventer, Holland

With Het Deventer Elvis Gospel Koor

Service between 12 and 1 pm

Joe is present between 12 and 1 pm

Address: Radboudkerk – Twelloseweg 4 – Deventer

Info: 040.844.1921 (info@elvismatters.nl)

Grammy Award-winning Beninese singer and songwriter Angelique Kidjo visited Graceland for the first time on March 3rd, 2008.

Another Ebay Auction is set to begin very soon for the Elvis Presley White Baby Grand Piano.

Auction is being listed by Rocco Ingala, owner Angel City Bookstore & Gallery, Santa Monica, for the piano's owner businessman Warren Liu, 63, of Los Angeles.

Elvis Presley White Baby Grand Piano--RCA Hollywood Studio C. This beautiful piano was custom ordered by RCA Studios in the early 1970s for Elvis Presley.

The piano was kept at the famous RCA Hollywood Building, Studio C, a room especially built by the studio just for Elvis. The piano was used by Elvis to play and record many of his songs and popular sound tracks.

2008/03/05 www.elvisnews.com / www.epgold.com

On March 11, 2008 SONY / BMG will re-issue Elvis' gospel albums "His Hand In Mine", "How Great Thou Art" and "He Touched Me" with bonus tracks. This is the complete cover of the "His Hand In Mine" album. All tracks of this album have been remastered from the original analogue tapes according to the text on the back cover.

Product description:

Elvis' million selling first gospel LP from 1960, His Hand In Mine represents one of the many proud moments of Elvis' career. His voice is stunningly beautiful in this tribute to his gospel heroes: The Blackwood Brothers, The Statesmen Quartet, and The Golden Gate Quartet. Includes bonus tracks from Elvis' platinum selling gospel debut EP Peace In The Valley from 1957.

Track listing:

His Hand In Mine
I'm Gonna Walk Dem Golden Stairs
In My Father's House
Milky White Way
Known Only To Him
I Believe In The Man In The Sky
Joshua Fit The Battle
He Knows Just What I Need
Swing Down Sweet Chariot
Mansion Over The Hilltop
If We Never Meet Again
Working On The Building
Peace In The Valley
It's No Secret
I Believe
Take My Hand, Precious Lord

His Hand In Mine Album Notes

Personnel: The Jordanaires (background vocals).

During his lifetime, Elvis Presley recorded three gospel albums and a four-song gospel EP. Presley's first full-length gospel album, HIS HAND IN MINE, sticks close to the quartet-style gospel singing Elvis loved as a youngster in Memphis.

In fact, most of the arrangements on His Hand In Mine mimic arrangements used by two of Elvis' favorite groups, the Statesmen and the Memphis-based Blackwood Brothers.

The influence of such black gospel quartets as the Swan Silvertones and the Golden Gate Quartet, whom Elvis would have known through radio broadcasts, can also be heard on many numbers. As on all recordings inspired by the musical enthusiasm of his youth, Elvis shines on His Hand In Mine, singing with breathtaking passion and dexterity.

The first twelve songs on this disc, all classics of the genre, constitute the album as it was originally released in 1960. RCA subsequently added three tracks to the CD: "It is No Secret," originally released on Elvis' 1957 Peace In The Valley EP; a 1967 recording of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "You'll Never Walk Alone"; and "Who Am I," recorded in 1969.

2008/03/05 www.cduniverse.com - www.elvisnews.com

There will be a small, private family service on Thurs., March 6 at 2:00 p.m. in Clarendon, AR at:
United Methodist Church
121 N. Third Street
Clarendon, AR

Elvis Presley Enterprises is planning a memorial service for the public in mid-March in Memphis, TN. Details will be announced soon and posted here.

Notes of condolences for the family may be sent to:

Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.
Attn: Morgan Family
3734 Elvis Presley Blvd.
Memphis, TN 38116

A memorial fund is currently being set up with the University of Memphis Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music to benefit the newly-created Todd Morgan Sound Fuzion Performance Enrichment Fund. Sound Fuzion is a touring ensemble of vocalists and instrumentalists which represents the University at high schools, corporate functions and University sponsored activities, in addition to performing as part of the Music School's annual concert season.

Sound Fuzion is a group Todd loved and supported. He felt this was a great way to see the legacy of Memphis music continue to grow and develop in future generations. More about Sound Fuzion.

Memorials may be sent to:

University of Memphis Foundation
The Todd Morgan Sound Fuzion Fund
Music Building
3775 Central Ave.
Memphis, TN 38152

2008/03/05 EPE / www.epgold.com

EPE will be releasing a new DVD focusing on Elvis' home Graceland after its premiere during Elvis Week. Called "Elvis Presley – His Home, His Story", EPE promises new stunning footage with the DVD telling the story of Elvis’ life at Graceland and his amazing career.

The new DVD features photos from the Graceland archives, home movies and more. It will get its theatrical Premiere during Elvis Week on Saturday, August 9th at Studio on the Square, 2105 Court Avenue, Memphis with three screenings: 9:30 am, 10:00 am, 10:15 am.

Tickets for the event are free, however you must have a ticket to attend. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

On 15, 16 and 17 August 2008, the TCB Band will not be in Memphis, but the band members will be the hosts in a Belgian Castle - Fit For a King, we might say. Seats are strictly limited.

One of the benefits that come along with the busy concert agenda the fan club has is the personal contact with the musicians of Elvis. Even though the respect for them remains indescribably deep, after a while the contact becomes less formal, and we begin to consider each other as friends. James himself said it during the European tour in October of last year: “We're family!”

But imagine our amazement at the end of December, when Natalie Scheff, wife of the TCB Band's bass player Jerry Scheff asked us if ElvisMatters would be prepared to organise the second Official TCB Band House Party in Belgium. For a brief moment, we did not know what to say. What an incredible honour. What recognition the Elvis musicians gave us! It still gets us in a cold sweat if we think back to that moment.

After all, the TCB Band House Party is a unique event that is staged by the TCB Band members themselves. In that way, the TCB Band is able to get to know their fans personally during a whole weekend in a unique setting. Just being there is an unforgettable experience that is much more intense than you could ever imagine. You get to spend three days together with the original band of Elvis Presley in a luxurious castle, where you meet each other at the table as well as in the hallway, the concert hall, and at the evening reception. The number of invited guests that can enjoy the entire weekend is therefore strictly limited. Those of you who do participate, will return home with a suitcase full of unforgettable memories.

Let us take a moment to look at the history of this unique event. As you may well know, a few years ago, bass player Jerry Scheff decided to leave the U.S. and move to Scotland. His wife Natalie is a film producer and as such, often organises parties, weekends and special occasions for a living and lives nearby a beautiful castle named 'Dunn's Castle.' It was Natalie's idea to combine her organisation skills with the Scottish castle and the TCB Band. As a result, the first TCB Band House Party Weekend, in which 50 fans from all over the world took part, took place in November 2006. ElvisMatters was also present. This weekend was without any doubt, a milestone in the life of every fan that had the privilege to be there. On Friday, there was a formal dinner planned (in formal dress, even Ronnie Tutt was wearing a bow-tie!), on Saturday, there were a number of activities planned with the TCB Band (such as skeet-shooting, a castle walk, a demonstration with birds of prey), and in the evening, there was an intimate, unplugged concert with the TCB Band in one of the castle's rooms. Friendships were made, and some unforgettable memories originated.

To keep the idea of a TCB Band House party fresh, this unique concept only takes place occasionally, at different locations. In 2008 the whole group goes to Belgium, nearby the Dutch border. Natalie Scheff is again in charge of the organisation on behalf of the TCB Band, and helps ElvisMatters with the filling-in and the working out of the weekend.

It probably goes without saying what a true honour this is for a fan club: the TCB Band asked us to take care of their very own House Party. So you can be damn sure we will do everything in our power to make this party successful. And the timing too is very special. While all eyes will be pointed at Memphis on 16 August, the TCB Band will be with us, on their own weekend. The thousands of fans in Memphis will have to do without James Burton, Jerry Scheff, Glen Hardin and Ronnie Tutt.

But... what has such a weekend got to offer? Unlike other events, the TCB Band is present during the whole weekend, from Friday evening to Sunday morning. They talk about Elvis, about their own careers, about great and small anecdotes and they are the hosts of the entire weekend. Ronnie Tutt certainly wants to be there, even though his world tour with Neil Diamond could put a spoke in our wheel, but if it is in any way possible, he will obviously be present at his own House Party.

Temporary programme:

Friday 15 August

15:00 – 17:00 Check-in in one of the castle's hotel rooms

17:00-18:00 Exploring the domain of the castle

18.30: Welcoming speech in the majestic Great Hall

19:00 Unplugged concert with the TCB Band and Dennis Jale

21:00 Formal dinner with word of thanks by TCB Band

Saturday 16 August

8:00 -10:00 Breakfast

10:00 -11:00 Morning walk

11:00 Elvis memorial service with Gospel Choir in the church of the castle

12:00 Tour with tour guide of the historic castle

13.30 Lunch with the TCB Band

14:00 Cadillac Parade on the castle's courtyard

16:00 DVD premiere of That's The Way It Is - new American Edition 2007

18:00 Walking dinner on the courtyard

20:00 Presentation of the anniversary book, "5 Years ElvisMatters"

20.30 Live concert with the TCB Band and Dennis Jale

22:00 Reception at the castle's courtyard, with appetizers, a wine corner, DJ, live music and several attractions

Sunday 17 August

8:00 – 10:00 Breakfast

10:00 – 12:00 Check-out

Starting from 12:00 Castle Folk on the Castle's court

FORMULA 1: PLATINUM TICKET

This ticket is all inclusive. You are one of the 50 lucky ones that get to experience this intimate weekend from the beginning till the end. You check in on Friday, and you check out on Sunday. Everything is includes in the price: two nights, meals, receptions, concerts and a free anniversary book. Total cost: €375 for each person (based on two persons sharing).

FORMULA 2: GOLDEN TICKET

With this ticket you are welcome for the entire Saturday at the domain of the Castle. You can join us for breakfast, you can attend the Elvis memorial service on 16 August, you are invited to the Walking Dinner, you are a guest at the TCB Concert and you are expected at the extensive evening reception with live animation. Total cost: €115.

FORMULA 3: SILVER TICKET

This ticket gets you in the exclusive TCB-show on Saturday evening, and the following reception with the hosts, the TCB Band members. Total cost: €75.

Who is Dennis Jale?

Lead singer for both concerts, is the young Austrian Dennis Jale. Dennis has been a well-known name in the Elvis world for many years now. Last January, he performed with the TCB Band in Vienna, Prague and even Bulgaria. Dennis was chosen by the members of the TCB Band themselves, so that has to mean something.

How can you order tickets?

Flanders/International: Peter Verbruggen (+32.14.31.44.40) or peter@elvismatters.com

Holland: Michel Van Erp (040.844.1921) or michel@elvismatters.com

History of the Castle

The impressive castle of Alden-Biesen is one of the best preserved and beautifully restored castles in the world. The entire domain belongs to the Flemish Community that has paid for the extremely expensive renovation costs with European funds.

Alden Biesen was, for many centuries, the centre of a province in the land of Meuse and Rhine. This province had approximately 12 regions (castles in the country or residences in the city), each of them headed by a governor.

Those governors were under the authority of the land governor that stayed in Alden Biesen (Bilzen) or in Nieuwen Biesen (Maastricht). Kings, emperors, heads of governments and states: they all visited, or stayed at Alden Biesen. More history, video images and 360° photographs can be found at the following link.

Another fantastic import CD release from PapaBear Productions. Great show (6/2/76) and great quality sound! A must for every serious Elvis CD collector!

Elvis mentions that they are in El Paso for the first time since 1972. Among the finest songs of the evening is the version of "Help Me", sung here as a duet with high tenor Sherrill Nielsen. This performance is very sincere and done at slower tempo than the studio version.

The hard rockin' "Polk Salad Annie" follows right after the pure emotional beauty of Don McLean's "And I Love You So". During the introduction segment, Elvis asks David Briggs to play "Love Letters", and again - it is performed slowly and softly. Two showstopper versions of his thundering latest single "Hurt" and an ordinarily rushed "Hound Dog" precede the moment when Elvis asks for the house lights so he is able to see and greet his loyal audience.

Half way through a short version of "Funny Howe Time Slips Away" Elvis directs the lighting crew "And now turn them off!" Finally, the first bars of "Can't Help Falling In Love" alert all of the screaming fans that the ceremony is coming to a close. When Al Dvorin made the famous announcement "Elvis has left the building"; Elvis was already in his limousine on his way to the airport. Fort Worth, Texas was the next stop...

This is a previously unreleased recording. The original mono soundboard mastertape was used for this project. Normally, the mixing board was roughly adjusted just once by the sound engineer Bruce Jackson at the very beginning of each concert tour.

The levels of instruments and vocals remained very similar for the final mono mixes of all recordings that were made during this particular tour. In presenting this El Paso, TX soundboard recording, Elvis, J. D. Sumner's vocal, and James Burton's lead guitar are up front.

The concert is complete and uncut with the exception of a few seconds of Tony Brown's piano solo while the cassette tape was turned over in the recorder. The sound was restored with the latest equipment and software using 24-bit processing. We decided to leave the sound as natural as possible; no fake effects, ambience or reverbs were added."

Previous PapaBear releases have been CDR's and not CDs.

ElvisMatters celebrates its 5th anniversary in style with three VERY special events. The first 2 shows take place in the weekend of May 17 & 18th.

That weekend, we have the honor of presenting a European first: JAMES BURTON AND THE JAMES BURTON BAND, featuring James's son JEFF on guitar. Tickets are 15 euro only - so don't miss this once in a lifetime chance!

May 17th: Showroom DYNAMO in Eindhoven (The Netherlands) with The Explosion Rockets opening the show at 8 pm!

May 18th: Showroom VITO in Mol (Belgium) at 4 pm.

Info and tickets: peter@elvismatters.com

Below is the current Elvis Week 2008 calendar of events. Updates to the calendar will be made as additional guests, details and events are confirmed. Please check back often to get the latest updates.

Elvis Week tickets will go on sale for Elvis Insiders on March 17.
Tickets for the general public will be available starting on March 24.

Want to be alerted whenever we make significant updates? Sign up for our FREE e-newsletters service.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 9

26th Annual Elvis Presley International 5K Run to Benefit United Cerebral Palsy
8:00 a.m. Starts at the Graceland gates. Join thousands of Elvis fans and runners in front of Graceland for the 26th Annual Elvis Presley International 5K Run to benefit United Cerebral Palsy (UCP) of the Mid-South. Runners and walkers will enjoy more than the typical 5K. More than 2,000 entrants from around the world will join in the family fun while enjoying the festive atmosphere of Elvis Week 2008 and raising money for UCP. After the race, join everyone across from the mansion as UCP hosts one of the best post-race parties in town. Entertainment will be provided by The AIMS Gang, one of the best bands in Memphis. Pre-registration is $20; race day registration is $25. Click here to register for the race online or call Joanie Nuchols at (901) 761-4277.

Elvis Presley – His Home, His Story - DVD Theatrical Premiere
Three screenings: 9:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 10:15 a.m. Studio on the Square, 2105 Court Avenue, Memphis. Enjoy the theatrical premiere of the new Graceland tour DVD on the big screen. See stunning footage of Graceland while watching the story of Elvis’s life at Graceland and his amazing career. The new DVD features photos from the Graceland archives, home movies and more. Tickets for the event are free, however you must have a ticket to attend. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

Memphis Welcomes the Fans Redbirds Baseball Game
6:10 p.m. AutoZone Park, 200 Union Avenue (corner of Third & Union) in downtown Memphis. On behalf of the citizens of Memphis, grateful to Elvis fans and all they mean to our city, the Memphis Redbirds baseball team and AutoZone Park celebrate Elvis and welcome the Elvis fans to town with this Elvis Week 2008 kick-off event. Ticket information for this event coming soon.

Elvis Week Kick-Off Party at the Memphis Hard Rock Café
10:00 p.m. – 3:00 a.m. Hard Rock Café’, 315 Beale Street. After the Redbirds game, the official kick-off party is at the Memphis Hard Rock Cafe. The event will feature live entertainment.
General admission is $20. VIP admission is $40 and includes seating in the “Elvis Themed” mezzanine, food buffet and cocktails. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 10

Elvis Gospel Brunch
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Elvis Presley Car Museum, Graceland Plaza. Enjoy brunch in the Elvis Presley Car Museum while listening to Elvis Gospel music and watching Elvis videos on the drive-in theater movie screen. Tickets are $33.00 per person. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

Graceland Scavenger Hunt
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Starting at the Graceland Ticket Office. Guests are invited to tour Graceland Mansion (no audio tour) and the Elvis Presley Automobile Museum while simultaneously participating in a trivia scavenger hunt. Adult and junior versions of the scavenger hunt will be available. Prizes for both adult and junior versions to be announced. All ticket holders receive a complimentary collectible item, to be announced soon. Admission: $29.00 Adults; $14.00 children 7-12. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

Club Elvis
8:00 p.m. – 12:00 Midnight. Elvis Presley Car Museum, Graceland Plaza. Come hang out and enjoy a private party with your fellow Elvis fans. A disc jockey spins Elvis records for your listening and dancing pleasure. Cash bar featuring adult beverages (ID's checked) and soft drinks. Outdoor smoking area designated – no smoking inside. A wristband ticket allows you to come and go from Club Elvis as much as you like during the evening in order for you to enjoy all the other activities on the property. Admission $25.00. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

MONDAY, AUGUST 11

A Celebration of Fans - Fan Club Presidents’ Event
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Location TBA. Join Elvis Presley fan club presidents from independent Elvis fan clubs from around the world at this special event. All fans are invited to attend this event where they can learn more about what official Elvis Presley fan clubs do, while also enjoying a program of EPE company updates, special announcements and a special guest speaker. Elvis Presley fan club presidents’ will receive detailed information directly from EPE to reserve their complimentary ticket for the event. Tickets for fan club members and the general public are $8.00 and can be reserved through Graceland Reservations. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

Music and Movies at Graceland – Day One
7:00 p.m. (Gates open at 5:00 p.m.) Front lawn, Graceland Mansion. Bring your lawn chair or a blanket and make yourself at home on the front lawn of Graceland to enjoy a live concert by Andy Childs and his band while the sun begins to set. Then, stay for a screening of an Elvis movie under the stars. Movie TBA. Refreshments available in a vendor area outside the mansion gates. Food, beverages and coolers may not be brought onto the mansion grounds. One day Music and Movie admission is $44.00. If you plan on attending day two of Music and Movies as well, you can purchase a two night package for $75.00. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

TUESDAY, AUGUST 12

Elvis Film Festival Presented by Malco Theatres
9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Studio on the Square, 2105 Court Avenue, Memphis. More details and ticket information coming soon!

The Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest Meet ‘n’ Greet
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Hard Rock Café, downtown Memphis. Private event reserved for those who have purchased the platinum seating package for the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest.

Shawn Klush in Concert
3:30 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. Location TBA. Enjoy an amazing concert by 2007 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest winner Shawn Klush. Opening act will by comedian Sammy Shore, who opened for Elvis in Las Vegas in 1969-1972. Ticket prices TBA and more details coming soon. Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

Music and Movies at Graceland – Day 2
7:00 p.m. (Gates open at 5:00 p.m.) Front lawn, Graceland Mansion. Bring your lawn chair or a blanket and make yourself at home on the front lawn of Graceland to enjoy a live concert by Terry Mike Jeffrey & Band, members of the TCB Band and The Imperials. Then, stay for a screening of an Elvis movie under the stars. Refreshments available in a vendor area outside the mansion gates. Food, beverages and coolers may not be brought onto the mansion grounds. One day Music and Movie admission is $44.00. If you plan on attending both days of Music and Movies, you can purchase a two night package for $75.00. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

Club Elvis
9:30 p.m. – 12:30 a.m. Elvis Presley Car Museum, Graceland Plaza. Come hang out and enjoy a private party with your fellow Elvis fans. A disc jockey spins Elvis records for your listening and dancing pleasure. Cash bar featuring adult beverages (ID's checked) and soft drinks. Outdoor smoking area designated – no smoking inside. A wristband ticket allows you to come and go from Club Elvis as much as you like during the evening in order for you to enjoy all the other activities on the property. Admission $25.00. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 13

Elvis Expo 2008 – Day 1
9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Location TBA. The ultimate Elvis tradeshow with more than 75 booths and 35,000 square feet of Elvis that includes all the latest Elvis music, movies, merchandise, celebrity autograph sessions, authors, artists and photographers, and lots of Elvis freebies and samples. Elvis Expo special guest information coming soon. Admission is $15.00 per day. Elvis Insiders Conference attendees are admitted free by showing their conference badge. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

The Official Elvis Insiders Conference – Day 1
10:00 a.m. – 4 p.m. Location TBA. Hosted by Tom Brown, Vice President of Original Production at Turner Classic Movies. Enjoy two full days of special guests and programming put together by Elvis Presley Enterprises, including on-stage interviews with people who were part of Elvis's life and career. Conference attendees will receive a welcome kit loaded with Elvis-themed gifts and everyone will win a door prize. The Elvis Expo 2008 will be open nearby and admission to the showroom is included with your Elvis Insiders Conference ticket.

Special guests confirmed so far for August 13: Dixie Locke Emmons, who dated Elvis early in his career; Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, songwriters for which Elvis recorded many of their songs, including "Jailhouse Rock", "King Creole", "Hound Dog", "Treat Me Nice", "Love Me" and many more; Sammy Shore, comedian who opened for Elvis from 1969-1972 in Las Vegas . More guest announcements for August 13 coming soon.

Special guests confirmed so far for August 14: Steve Binder, producer of Elvis’s '68 Special. More guest announcements for August 14 coming soon.

Tickets are $84.99 for a two-day ticket. Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public. (Special seating may be purchased for the Official Elvis Insiders Conference by purchasing the Elvis Week Ticket Package. More details on the ticket package will be coming soon.)

Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest Semifinals
7:00 p.m. Location TBA. Semifinal round of competition for the 2008 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest. Attendees to the show will see the best Elvis tribute artists from around the world performing and competing on stage for their chance to move onto the finals round on August 14. Elvis Tribute Artists will receive their chance to showcase their talents and why they should be named Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist of 2008. Finalists chosen from these rounds will return on August 14th to compete for the title of Elvis Tribute Artist of the Year. Visit the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest web site to find out more about the preliminary rounds and winners.

Tickets are only available in a set that includes one ticket to the semifinals on August 13 and one ticket to the finals on August 14. Platinum package seating for the event is $139.99 and includes a special Meet ‘n’ Greet with the semifinalists. Gold package seating is $79.99. Silver package seating is $49.99. Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 14

Elvis Expo 2008 – Day 2
9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m. Location TBA. The ultimate Elvis tradeshow with more than 75 booths and 35,000 square feet of Elvis that includes all the latest Elvis music, movies, merchandise, celebrity autograph sessions, authors, artists and photographers, and lots of Elvis freebies and samples. Elvis Expo special guest information coming soon. Admission is $15.00 per day. Elvis Insiders Conference attendees are admitted free by showing their conference badge. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

The Official Elvis Insiders Conference – Day 2
10:00 a.m. – 4 p.m. Location TBA. Hosted by Tom Brown, Vice President of Original Production at Turner Classic Movies. Enjoy two full days of special guests and programming put together by Elvis Presley Enterprises, including on-stage interviews with people who were part of Elvis's life and career. Conference attendees will receive a welcome kit loaded with Elvis-themed gifts and everyone will win a door prize. The Elvis Expo 2008 will be open nearby and admission to the showroom is included with your Elvis Insiders Conference ticket.

Special guests confirmed so far for August 13: Dixie Locke Emmons, who dated Elvis early in his career; Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, songwriters for which Elvis recorded many of their songs, including "Jailhouse Rock", "King Creole", "Hound Dog", "Treat Me Nice", "Love Me" and many more; Sammy Shore, comedian who opened for Elvis from 1969-1972 in Las Vegas . More guest announcements for August 13 coming soon.

Special guests confirmed so far for August 14: Steve Binder, producer of Elvis’s '68 Special. More guest announcements for August 14 coming soon.

Tickets are $84.99 for a two-day ticket. Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public. (Special seating may be purchased for the Official Elvis Insiders Conference by purchasing the Elvis Week Ticket Package. More details on the ticket package will be coming soon.)

Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest Finals
7:00 p.m. Cannon Center for the Performing Arts, Memphis Cook Convention Center, downtown Memphis. The finals of the 2008 Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest. Top finalists from semifinals on August 13 compete for the title of Elvis Tribute Artist of 2008. Elvis Tribute Artists will receive their chance to showcase their talents and why they should be named Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist of 2008. Visit the Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest page to find out about the finalists.

Tickets are only available in a set that includes one ticket to the semifinals on August 13 and one ticket to the finals on August 14. Platinum package seating for the event is $139.99 and includes a special Meet ‘n’ Greet with the semifinalists. Gold package seating is $79.99. Silver package seating is $49.99. Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 15

Breakfast at Graceland with Special Guest
8:00 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Elvis Presley Car Museum, Graceland Plaza. Have breakfast in the Elvis Presley Car Museum while enjoying Elvis music and watching Elvis videos on the drive-in theater movie screen. Special guest TBA. Tickets are $33.00 per person. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

Elvis Presley – His Home, His Story - DVD Theatrical Premiere
Three screenings: 9:30 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 10:15 a.m. Studio on the Square, 2105 Court Avenue, Memphis. Enjoy the theatrical premiere of the new Graceland tour DVD on the big screen. See stunning footage of Graceland while watching the story of Elvis’s life at Graceland and his amazing career. The new DVD features photos from the Graceland archives, home movies and more. Tickets for the event are free, however you must have a ticket to attend. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

Candlelight Vigil
8:30 p.m. Gates of Graceland Mansion. After an opening ceremony at the gates of the Graceland Mansion property, fans are invited to walk up the driveway to Elvis’s gravesite and back down carrying a candle in quiet remembrance. Free admission. No tickets or reservations. Gates remain open until all who wish to participate in the procession have done so, which typically takes until the early morning hours of August 16, the anniversary date of Elvis’s passing. Free secured parking at the Graceland visitor center complex after 6:00 p.m. Prior to Elvis Week, posted here will be a link to the text of the special information and guidelines flyer for the Vigil that is handed out at Graceland during Elvis Week.

Can't be here for the Vigil? Enjoy live coverage from Graceland by Elvis Radio/Sirius Satellite 13. They also will have special Elvis programming throughout Elvis Week.

SATURDAY, AUGUST 16

Special Concert Event To Be Announced Soon

SUNDAY, AUGUST 17

Elvis Gospel Brunch
8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. Elvis Presley Car Museum, Graceland Plaza. Enjoy brunch in the Elvis Presley Car Museum while listening to Elvis Gospel music and watching Elvis videos on the drive-in theater movie screen. Tickets are $33.00 per person. Tickets will be available through Graceland Reservations starting on March 17 for Elvis Insiders and March 24 for the general public.

MULTIPLE DATE EVENTS

Morning and Evening Walk-ups for Meditation Garden
Daily throughout the year, there is a special period of time for free admission walk-up visits to the Meditation Garden at Graceland. The summer hours for free walk-ups are 7:30 a.m. – 8:30 a.m. daily, then the garden becomes part of the regular ticketed Graceland tour. There will be no morning walk-ups on the morning of August 16 due to the Candlelight Vigil. As a special courtesy to fans, there is always an additional schedule of evening walk-up times during Elvis Week. Dates and times will be announced soon for evening walk-ups.

Entertainment Tent at Graceland Crossing

Continuous presentation of Elvis music performed live by various singers and bands, plus other activities. Children and youth karaoke also featured. Free admission. A detailed schedule will be available at the Elvis Week information table in the Graceland Plaza as Elvis Week begins.

Elvis Week Art Contest and Exhibit

This is the cover of the newly announced Memory Record CD "Trouble In Vegas". This CD features an audience recording of Elvis' December 9th 1976 Dinner Show. It comes with a 4 pages booklet with photographs taken during the Las Vegas December '76 season.

The press release:

The forthcoming "Memory Records" label CD release is entitled "Trouble In Vegas " (audience recording). Elvis' last Las Vegas season was scheduled for the 'pre-holiday' time to close out the Bicentennial year. For one last time, he arrived to the same hotel he took by storm seven years prior when it debuted as the International.

Elvis opened this December 9th 1976 show with a long, strong concert on December 2nd, followed by four very good shows (including the December 3, 1976 Dinner show - as documented by Memory Records' CD release "Now - Or Never!"). However, the performances from the next couple of days suffered from an over-medicated Elvis, who did not pay 100% attention to his singing job.

On December 9th, Elvis gave two shows in row. A dinner show was chosen for this CD release as the more interesting of two. Running for more than 76 minutes, it's a long show for the season and by his "Vegas standard" overall. After the first song, Elvis is mentioning that his "throat is dry like a Mohave desert..." Really, his voice was not the best here. At the beginning of the second song, it is already evident that Elvis is in "Trouble In Vegas". "I Got A Woman" was restarted but after another start he stopped to sing again as he forgot the lyrics. The man who had take the town by storm in 1969 through '72 had, by the '76 stand, grown lax, eccentric, or even unprepared and who knows what else, some surely must have thought.

Nevertheless, as was so often still the case, both "Fairytale" and "You Gave Me A Mountain" received proper treatment from Elvis and his voice became stronger, too. "My Way" was sung for the first time since his May Lake Tahoe gigs and once again it took 3 false starts to Elvis to begin the song. It is a rather messy version, but still welcomed by a wild audience: "Honey, it's a show, not an orgy!" said Elvis to some scarf-hungry, screaming women.

Often-maligned "Softly As I Leave You" is the first real highlight of the show - a classic performance. Winding down a year-long nationwide celebration of the Bicentennial, he then sang "America The Beautiful" for very last time here. Again it's a great version and yet another concert highlight. And a thundering "Hurt" with full orchestra backing is highlight No. #3.

His final December on earth began with an erratic but still intriguing final stand. As listeners, we are witness here to Elvis' holding court one last time in this famously soul-crushing desert city.

1976 had been the most ominous year for the King (artistically and physically). Yet fueled in part by new girlfriend Miss Alden, the month of December surprisingly would end with some of his most acclaimed concerts: Birmingham, Dallas and Pittsburgh, most notably. This Vegas performance is not a classic concert, but still very interesting event, an audio documentary of Elvis being up and down during his very last concerts in the both loved and hated neon "Sin City".

This is previously unreleased recording. The sound was transferred in its original audience-recorded stereo format, and all tracks were digitally restored for best possible sound reproduction.

The CD contains 4-pages booklet with photographs taken during the Las Vegas December '76 season.

Tracks:

01. Also Sprach Zarathustra - 02. C. C. Rider - 03. I Got A Woman (with false start and break) - 04. Love Me - 05. Fairytale - 06. You Gave Me A Mountain - 07. Jailhouse Rock - 08. O Sole Mio (by Sherrill Nielsen)/It's Now Or Never (medley) - 09. My Way (with 3 false starts) - 10. Blue Christmas (Elvis on acoustic guitar, with false start) - 11. That's All Right, Mama (Elvis on acoustic guitar, with false start) - 12. Are You Lonesome Tonight (Elvis on acoustic guitar) - 13. Softly As I Leave You (with Sherrill Nielsen) - 14. Hound Dog - 15. Help Me - 16. America The Beautiful (last live version) - 17. Band Introductions - 18. Early Mornin' Rain - 19. What'd I Say - 20. Drum Solo (by Ronnie Tutt) - 21. Bass Solo (Blues - by Jerry Scheff) - 22. Piano Solo (by Tony Brown) - 23. Electric Piano Solo (by David Briggs) - 24. Love Letters - 25. School Day - 26. Hurt - 27. Hawaiian Wedding Song - 28. Can't Help Falling In Love - 29. Closing Vamp.

Approximate running time: 76:01

2008/03/03 EMail / www.epgold.com

Todd Morgan, who for years has been Graceland's "public face," was found dead in his apartment.

It had not been announced publicly yet, but Todd had just been promoted to a new position and was to report directly to Gary Hovey in Los Angeles, though he would remain in Memphis.

He was due to go out to dinner last night with friends to celebrate his promotion, but did not show.

Patsy Anderson sent this to me:

Todd passed away in his home sometime yesterday afternoon. A friend went to his home to check on him this morning.

He could see that the TV was on but no answer at the door; he then proceeded to the back of Todd's home. There he could see Todd lying on the floor, just outside of his bathroom.

He called 911 and they broke into Todd's home. The paramedics said it looked like a massive heart attack. Todd's parents and brothers have been at Todd's home today and they, like the rest of us, are in shock.

It looks like the funeral will be in Todd's hometown of Claraton, Arkansas, but Graceland, I'm sure, will be providing a press release on the arrangements as soon as possible.

Bud Glass.

UPDATE: Sad News from Graceland / Statement from Lisa Marie Presley

We at Graceland have suffered the loss of one of our most beloved family members. Todd Morgan passed away on Saturday at the age of 45 from what was believed to be a massive heart attack, he was found by friends at his East Memphis home Sunday morning after he didn’t show up for a pre-planned gathering.

Todd made a career out of Graceland, starting out as a tour guide in May of 1983 following his graduation from the University of Mississippi. In his 25 years as a faithful and loyal Elvis Presley Enterprises employee, Todd played a major part in the development of Graceland as an attraction and in the many projects produced by EPE that have allowed fans all over the world to celebrate the life and legacy of Elvis Presley.

We are truly saddened by this devastating loss and will miss him dearly. Details of services have yet to be determined but we will post them as soon as we are made aware by his family.

STATEMENT FROM LISA MARIE PRESLEY

"Todd's sudden and untimely death is a huge shock and a great loss for us personally and for EPE.

He has been an incredible gift and Gem in all of the 25 years that he worked at Graceland. He was so unbelievably devoted to us, to my Father and to his job. His heart, soul and his dedication could never be replaced.

This is just nothing but sad and awful for everyone, our prayers and hearts are with him and his family. He will be deeply missed."

Photo: Andy Dumas Exclusive for EpGold - Butch Polston-BK Enterprises - Todd Morgan - Andy Dumas - Memphis 2007)

Todd Morgan, the public face of Graceland for more than a decade, was found dead in his East Memphis home Sunday morning.

Early indications, friends said, point to a massive heart attack, although an autopsy is planned. Morgan, director of special projects for Elvis Presley Enterprises, was 45.

"We've lost a great friend and a great part of the Graceland family," said Jack Soden, chief executive officer of Elvis Presley Enterprises.

Friends became concerned when Morgan failed to show for dinner Saturday night. They called, but got no answer.

When Morgan's friends couldn't reach him Sunday morning, they went to his home and saw him on the floor through a window.

Firefighters forced entry into the house on Chickasaw and found Morgan collapsed in his bedroom. It appeared he'd died sometime early Saturday afternoon, Graceland public relations director Kevin Kern said.

"This comes as a great shock," said Kern, who was hired by Morgan. "To lose somebody at 45, it's hard to believe."

Morgan began working at Graceland in 1983 as a tour guide, driving to the Whitehaven mansion while still a student at Ole Miss, Kern said.

He became familiar to fans and media from around the world as the Graceland spokesman, particularly during Elvis Week, before moving on to new roles.

One of those roles, Kern said, was as a producer of Elvis projects. Morgan helped spearhead the "Elvis: Live" concerts which debuted in the early 1990s with Elvis appearing on stage via concert footage meshed with live performances by his former band members, backup singers and others.

"That was his concept. He brought it to life, and the first concert sold out Radio City Music Hall," Kern said.

Morgan, who grew close to Priscilla Presley, had planned to go to Los Angeles to attend a taping of her upcoming appearance on "Dancing with the Stars.

Although friends said Morgan wasn't a devoted Elvis fan before coming to Graceland, that quickly changed once he began working there.

"I worked with Todd for three and a half years, and he had a devotion to preserving the legacy of Elvis. He could well be Elvis' No. 1 fan," Kern said. "The Elvis world has suffered a great loss. He's an expert, and he helped shape the legacy."

Added Soden: "He knew how to be a very professional, strategic and very smart steward of the legacy."

Friends began gathering at Morgan's home Sunday afternoon.

"He's the nicest person I've ever met," David Burton said. "He took a lot of interest in (his friends's) lives."

Friends said they were unaware of any health problems Morgan might have had.

Morgan was single with no children. His family began arriving in Memphis Sunday afternoon from Clarendon, Ark. Funeral arrangements were still pending.

2008/03/03 Bud Glass - Patsy Anderson / EPE / www.commercialappeal.com / www.epgold.com

(Grethe Svendsen has communicated with the spirit of Elvis Presley for the last six years. Read what the King has to say in her heart-warming new book 'Conversations with Elvis')

London, UK (PRWEB) March 1, 2008 -- Grethe Svendsen has communicated with the spirit of Elvis Presley for the last six years. Read what the King has to say in her heart-warming new book 'Conversations with Elvis'.

"As a Spiritual Medium I have always tried to help people through the use of my guides, in addition to helping them by drawing on my own life's experiences and knowledge. I consider it a great privilege to be able to use my gift in this way and my work has been very fulfilling. Nothing however, could have prepared me for what happened six years ago when I found myself being contacted by the spirit of Elvis Presley." Grethe explains.

"Every Medium is taught to embrace their gift, never questioning what is being said or revealed to them through spirit, but I couldn't help but wonder 'Is this really happening? Am I really talking to Elvis?' But feeling his soothing energy, hearing his voice and then finally seeing him, I was left in no doubt; 'this really is Elvis'."

Talking to the King certainly hasn't been easy though as Grethe reveals "this has been a very emotional spiritual journey and has admittedly been my most difficult task as a Medium. I can understand writers saying that they feel attached to the subjects or people they write about, because it becomes a huge part of your everyday life."

It would be fair to say that Conversations with Elvis is not your average Elvis book. After all, this is Elvis talking and his personality shines through as he talks about his life. This book is about the man behind the Legend, a man who simply wanted to help people through his music and acts of kindness. An extremely sensitive human being who was searching for answers on his spiritual journey through life. It touches upon the heart and soul of Elvis and within its pages you will find there is a message from him -- one of love.

Born in Oslo, Norway, Grethe now lives in the UK and works as a writer and Spiritual Medium. For more information about Grethe and her new book 'Conversations with Elvis' please visit www.conversationswithelvis.com

(PICTURE: Jim Murray, Armond Morales, Elvis Presley, Terry Blackwood, Roger Wiles and Joe Moscheo)

One of Christian music's most popular singing groups is entangled in a legal battle that puts father and son on opposing sides. The following story was featured in Christianity Today. We’d like to point out that this is about Armond Morales and his Son (Armond worked with Elvis in Las Vegas, while his son Jason claims the rights to the name ‘Imperials’). This dispute has nothing to do with the Imperials-singers we (as Elvis fans) know them: Terry Blackwood, Joe Moscheo, Gus Gaches, Sherman Andrus.

The Imperials, one of Christian music's most popular singing groups in the 1970s and early '80s, are currently embroiled in a complex legal battle over who owns the group's name — and who gets to reap the profits from that name.

Armond Morales, who in 1964 cofounded the group that went on to win four Grammys and 13 Dove Awards, and his wife, Bonnie, are being sued for the Imperials name by a younger group that includes Armond's son, Jason Morales.

That younger group — four singers who say they're now the "real" Imperials — claims that when the elder Morales signed an assignment of trademark in 2005, he transferred ownership of the name to the four singers in the current lineup.

Armond Morales, 75, told Christianity Today he did not consult an attorney before signing the assignment, and now says he was pressured into signing away more than he bargained for, and perhaps more than he owned the rights to.

"They have set out to really put me out of business and have no connection with the Imperials, which was my life," Morales said. "I've been devastated by this."

The younger group filed a lawsuit in June 2007. Armond's attorneys drafted a countersuit in September 2007, claiming that the younger group fraudulently got him to sign the 2005 agreement. But the elder Morales said he decided to drop the countersuit due to financial limitations.

A Nashville judge ordered the two sides to mediation in hopes that they would settle out of court.

Luke Anderson, an attorney representing the younger group, said he believes the case will end up in court later this year. Anderson said his clients "remain wishful [for a settlement], but also skeptical that this matter will settle at this point."

CT obtained a copy of the 2005 assignment of trademark agreement, which not only stipulates that the elder Morales would pass the Imperials name on to the younger group, but also that he would give up his right, title, and interest to the Imperials trademark.

The 2007 lawsuit seeks to have Armond Morales stop using the name "the Classic Imperials" — a name that he and other singers have used in performances in recent years. The younger group also wants Armond to hand over any money he's earned with the Classic Imperials.

The younger group is suing the elder Morales under the corporation name of MOSH, an acronym derived from their last names (Jason Morales, Ian Owens, Shannon Smith, and Jeremie Hudson). Even though he is a 25-percent shareholder in MOSH, Jason Morales, 35, told CT, "I have legally rescinded myself from the business part of it," implying that he's not taking an active part in the lawsuit against his father.

Jason Morales deferred further questions to business partner Smith.

"We're suing [Armond Morales] because he's not keeping his word," Smith said. "He's hurting our business on a regular basis. We felt like we were forced to start litigation or shut the group down."

Smith said it boils down to the 2005 agreement: "Our whole standing to be the Imperials is rooted in the assignment of trademark that Mr. Morales signed."

Armond Morales says the younger group verbally told him he could sing using the Classic Imperials name, but that stipulation was never included in the 2005 written agreement.

Armond told CT that MOSH does not want him to claim to have won Grammy and Dove Awards that the Imperials won as a group between 1969 and 1984. The younger group now makes that claim, even though none of them were members of the group at the time. The younger group also now bills itself as a "Gospel Music Hall of Fame Inductee," even though none of the current members were with the Imperials at that induction a decade ago.

"Our contention is that none of the individual Imperials won group awards," Smith said. "It's very similar to a sports team. If a player retires, he doesn't take the awards with him unless he won individual awards. The team won those championships. They stay with the team."

The elder Morales says he signed the document in 2005 because he had retired from the Imperials in 2003 and that "it made sense" at the time to transfer the name to his son and the new group. He adds that the younger group was "pressuring me to get out of the group, even though I was the owner. … They thought they could do things better and didn't need an old guy."

Armond Morales moved to Hawaii to sing with the Classic Imperials, but when the company they worked for went bankrupt, the group moved to Tennessee in 2006. At that time, the younger group and Armond interviewed with Southern Gospel News announcing the groups' coexistence in Tennessee. The younger group said, "We are honored to carry on this legacy, and it's always a big honor to be on stage with them."

Smith now says MOSH agreed to that interview because they were "trying to make the best of a bad situation." He says MOSH never believed the two groups could exist in the same market.

"It's confusing to people," said Smith, noting that when he books his group, people ask, "Now, which Imperials are you?" Smith said. "I shouldn't have to explain who's who."

Armond Morales said he doesn't believe his performances with the Classic Imperials are taking business away from the younger group. The Classic Imperials sang about 25 concerts in 2007, while the younger group performed more than 150 times.

In August 2006, MOSH applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the national trademark to "The Imperials," but was denied because another singer — Clarence Collins — owns the name.

Collins is a member of Little Anthony & the Imperials, an African American group popular in the late 1950s and early '60s. During the height of their popularity, Armond Morales contacted Collins to seek permission to use the name "the Imperials" for his fledgling group. In March 2007, Collins told the U.S. Trademark Trial and Appeal Board that he did grant Morales permission to use the Imperials name back in the 1960s, but according to the trademark office, Collins still owns the national trademark.

Then in October 2006, MOSH filed a petition of cancellation with the trademark board, asking to have Collins removed as owner of the Imperials trademark. The group claimed that Collins committed fraud because he knew Armond Morales was using "the Imperials" name, and because Collins changed the name of his group from "the Imperials" to "Little Anthony & the Imperials." MOSH also claims that because Collins's group has not continued to perform over the years, it "abandoned" the trademark, thus making it available to others. However, a decision on the trademark petition was suspended due to MOSH's lawsuit against Armond Morales.

When Armond Morales found out MOSH was going after the national trademark, he contacted Collins. According to court documents, Armond Morales asked Collins for permission to use the Imperials name so he could continue singing with the Classic Imperials. Morales told Collins at the time that MOSH was planning to sue the elder Morales for using the name.

Smith told CT that those conversations between Morales and Collins prompted MOSH's lawsuit against Morales. Smith claims that those conversations could have "opened up a potential lawsuit" from Collins against the younger group over use of the Imperials name. "He [Armond Morales] had called into question our very existence legally," said Smith.

Collins did not return phone calls from CT.

Because Collins owns the national trademark, the younger group wants Armond to give them the trademark rights he owns under common law, as common-law rights are gained from usage of a trademark and do not require registration. When MOSH applied for the name in Tennessee in September 2006, they were awarded the trademark in Tennessee under common law. If Armond Morales's common-law rights were not transferred to MOSH, the younger group would not be able to continue attempting to obtain a national trademark.

Adding to the confusion is the fact that there is a fourth group with some claim to the Imperials name. In addition to the Classic Imperials (Armond Morales and friends), the younger Imperials (Jason Morales and MOSH), and Little Anthony & the Imperials, there's another group billing itself as the Imperials. That group is composed of former members of the original Imperials — including Terry Blackwood — that once backed up Elvis Presley in his Las Vegas shows in 1969–72. That group continues to perform occasional shows, doing Elvis tributes and sometimes backing up Elvis impersonators.

Joe Moscheo, a current member of this group, told CT he believes the younger members think that Armond "duped" them into something that didn't have any worth when he signed the trade agreement in 2005.

"I think Armond was caught in the moment [in 2005]," Moscheo said. "He was retiring and wanted to do something for his son. Armond made a bad deal. He was giving away something he didn't rightfully own himself. Now they're trying to press him for it. Even if they win, it's a lose-lose situation for both sides."

While the legal battle continues, both parties keep moving ahead with their music. Armond and the Classic Imperials — who for now call themselves "the Artists Formerly Known as the Imperials" — are independently releasing a cd titled Standing Strong.

Meanwhile, the younger version of the Imperials has an extensive touring schedule and plans to record a Christmas album independently this year.

Clinton Channels Elvis' "A Little Less Conversation".

WESTERVILLE, OHIO -- Hillary Clinton’s campaign message at this morning's rally here could be summed up with the lyrics of the song that opened her event: Elvis Presley's “A Little Less Conversation."

"A little less conversation, a little more action please / All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me / A little more bite and a little less bark," sang Elvis in his classic ditty, although he was singing about his love life and not about the Democratic primary. Regardless, it was a clever twist by the Clinton campaign to use it as she walked on stage to a cheering crowd in the Westerville North High School gymnasium.

As Clinton began delivering her remarks she railed against Barack Obama without naming him.

“You know, for some people this election is about how you feel, it’s about speeches," she said, continuing a theme she's used for weeks now. "Well, that’s not what its about for me, its about solutions, its about rolling up your sleeves having a fighter back in the White House who is going to solve America’s problems,” Clinton said.

Over the past few weeks, Clinton has been mocking Obama’s "feel good" message, trying to tie it into her campaign argument that Obama lacks the experience to be the next president.

“That’s why I have been very specific in this election. You know, I’ve given a lot of speeches in my life, probably I don’t know, hundreds of thousands. Sometimes I finish a speech and people come up to me and say ‘oh, that was so inspiring. That was so wonderful. It made me feel so good.’ I say ‘well, that’s great but that’s just words.’ Our job is to make a difference,” she said.

“You know change has been talked a lot about in this election. You know change is going to happen whether we do anything or not. Change is part of life. The question is, are we going to make progress together? Are we going to make a real positive difference together?”

Clinton continued hammering away the point, “I don’t want you leaving my events and saying, ‘that was wonderful, but what was said? What was it about? And what are going to do?’ Because we need, once again, a fighter and a doer and a champion for the American people in the White House!”

Clinton’s closing argument is all about experience and reliability. Her campaign hopes the message to take hold in the Buckeye State, and it may very well be as Clinton continues to hang on to a lead in the polls here.

As she wound down her remarks, Clinton told the crowd “You can count on me. You know when I will tell you I will try to do something for you, I will move heaven and earth to get it done.”

Friends and Family of Elvis’s clothing designer Bill Belew will attend a "Celebration of Life" service in California today, March 2.

Bill was cremated and wanted his ashes spread in the ocean after the service.

Bill lost his fight after a prolonged illness on January 7, 2008. He died of cardiac arrest.

Thoughts and prayers go out to Bill’s family and friends, and especially his partner Paul.

Bill Belew has the distinction of having designed Elvis Presley’s costumes and personal wardrobe from 1968 until his death in 1977. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York, Belew has also designed costumes for a multitude of entertainers, including Lynne Redgrave, Lena Horne, Josephine Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Gloria Swanson, Sandy Duncan, Victoria Principal, Pia Zadora, Joan Van Ark, Brooke Shields, Jaclyn Smith, Joan Rivers, Gloria Estefan, Gladys Knight, Roberta Flack and Dionne Warwick, as well as Milton Berle, Doc Severensen among a numerous others.

In his varied career, Belew has designed costumes for over 70 theatrical productions, musicals, operas, ballets, TV specials and series. In addition to his highly -acclaimed work for the seminal Elvis Presley television specials in the late 1960s and 1970s _ which introduced a reinvigorated and dynamic Elvis to a whole new generation of fans ? Belew’s television special credits include “The Emmy Awards,” “The American Music Awards, ” “ The Grammy Awards, “The ABC 25th Anniversary Special,” “The David Copperfield Music Show,” “The CBS Rolling Stones Special” and “The Carpenters Special”.

Other television credits include “The Steve Allen Show,” “The Captain and Tennille,” “The Flip Wilson Show”, “Dick Clark Wednesday Live,” “The Everly Brothers,” “The Lennon Sisters Series,” Gladys Knight and the Pips,” and the NBC daytime drama “Santa Barbara.” Belew has also designed costume for the situation comedies “Mr. Belvedere,” “Teachers Only,” and “Sister Kate,” starring Stephanie Beacham.

Ballets whose costumes have been designed by Belew include The New York City Ballet productions of “The Firebird” and “Giselle” and The San Francisco Ballet production of “America.”

Belew’s creativity extends to legitimate theatre as well. Among the many stage productions he has costume designed are “Sweet Charity,” “Funny Girl”, at The Long Beach Civic Light Opera,” “Don Juan in Hell” and “An Evening with Kaye Ballard” at The Henry Fonda in Hollywood, “Dear Liar,” with Valerie Harper and Anthony Zerbe at the Huntington Hartford, “Shalom Alecheim” at the Chicago Yiddish Theatre, and “Tosea” at the Chicago Opera.

2008/03/02 Butch Polston - www.b-k-enterprises.com / www.epgold.com

Elvis' good friend Marty Lacker has put up the original drawing of Elvis' "Tree Of Life" for auction on Ebay.

This is how he describes it:

"One night in December, '64, unable to sleep, I started to doodle on some paper and without any preconceived thought started drawing a tree that I dubbed The Tree Of Life. It made me think of the relationships that Elvis had with the original guys in the Memphis Mafia and how much our lives were intertwined with him. Him being the glue that held us all together.

Without thinking I wrote his name vertically down the trunk of the tree and then wrote the names of the guys on the branches, using a letter from his name to be part of each of the guy's names. It had great meaning to me and I felt it would to him to.

I included one of his favorite sayings about the truth setting you free and to designate the different heritages of the guys, I had it written in english, hebrew and latin.

The next day I showed it to Elvis and it moved him so much that he had slight tears in his eyes. That gave me an idea for his Christmas gift from the guys that as Foreman, it was my job to come up with from the guys. We all chipped in and bought Elvis a beautiful big white Bible that I took to a caligrapher who I had draw the Tree Of Life on the front page in gold leaf.

We gave that to Elvis for Christmas '64 and he was thrilled with it. Then to make it even more personal I took the drawing to jeweler Harry Levitch and had him get an engraver to engrave the tree on a beautiful gold medallion that we gave to Elvis for his 30th birthday on Jan. 8, '65. He proudly wore that necklace every day for years.

The day after I showed my original drawing to Elvis, I made two xerox copies of it in case something happened to the original. The original drawing is no longer in existence and neither is one of the copies I made.

I have been saving the one existing copy of the original drawing in my photo album since '64 in plastic and I have decided to make it available to an Elvis fan by offering it here on ebay to the highest bidder. It will be accompanied by a Letter Of Authenticity that I will be happy to sign that will contain the information I have written above.