BUD GLASS PRODUCER US FROM BEHIND THE IMAGE VISITS THE ELVIS - INTERNATIONAL SHOP SATURDAY, JANUARY 25TH IN THE NETHERLANDS.

Hello this is Bud Glass. I have been in Germany for the past few weeks working on future BEHIND THE IMAGE projects. We have just completed a 6 day video shoot in Berlin and I am currently overseeing the printing of the my new candid book entitled ELVIS:BEHIND THE IMAGE (THE BOOK). 

I am truly enjoying my stay in Europe. My dear friend Andylon Lensen has invited me to her world famous International Elvis Shop. We will be there Saturday, January 25.

We will have a LIMITED supply of BEHIND THE IMAGE VOL. (dvd).

If you need any additional copies of this dvd, now is the perfect time to get more.
We will also be showing some unreleased footage everyone will be sure to enjoy!
Please come by and say hello. I look forward to seeing you there.

Elvis - International..
Sionstraat 12,
1947 J.T. Bevewijk.
The Netherlands.

Sincerely,
Bud Glass
Producer - Elvis: Behind The Image.

2003/01/22 Bud Glass Behind The Image US. / Praytome - Behind The Image - Germany / Andylon Lensen Behind The Image - The Netherlands / Ep.Gold.Com.

PRESENTATION OF GOLD AND PLATINUM AWARDS FOR 30 # 1 HITS ALBUM.

Watch highlights from the 2003 Elvis Presley Day proclamation ceremony and record awards presentation!

2003/01/22 EPE / Ep.Gold.Com.

LISA MARIE PRESLEY IN DAILEY MUSIC NEWS TODAY.

Lisa Marie Presley -- daughter of the late Elvis Presley -- will issue her debut album this spring. Set for an April 8 release by Capitol, "To Whom It May Concern" was primarily produced by Eric Rosse (Tori Amos), with one track helmed by Capitol president Andrew Slater (Macy Gray, Wallflowers).

Although several other artists contributed to the set, including producer/songwriter Glen Ballard, songwriter/musician/ex-husband Danny Keough, and Zwan's Billy Corgan, Presley insists the set is all her own. "This is me. This record is me. Every song is me," she said in a statement. "You're going to see who I really am and not what the tabloids say or whatever anyone has to say about me."

"I didn't want to do anything just based on who I am," she continued. "I mean, I was asked to do a bloody movie with Vanilla Ice! The stuff I've been offered in my life is insane and I didn't do any of it because I didn't care. I was doing this because my heart's in this. This is what I'm good at doing. I'm good at putting myself in a song. That's it."


2003/01/22 Barry A. Jeckell - Daily Music.Com / Ep.Gold.Com.

DANISH CHART UPDATE.

In week 3 Elvis dropped 2 places from #17 to #19 in the Danish Album Top 40 with his 'ELV1S 30 #1 Hits' compilation.

2003/01/22 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

NO SECOND CONCERT IN THE NETHERLANDS.

Sad news for the Dutch fans, despite several talks with the production team of Elvis The Concert, there will be no second show in the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam. Enthusiasm of Dutch fans realised a second concert last time around. 

2003/01/22 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

ELVIS ON JAPANESE COVER.

On Elvis World Japan we saw that Elvis graces the cover of a Japanese magazine, but our japanese is not good enough to give you additional information. 

2003/01/22 Elvis World Japan / ElvisNews Ep.Gold.Com.

FROM THE SHADOWS OF THE KING.

David Stanley is releasing his personal story on DVD and CD.The CD is an audio version of his story, and the DVD is a visual autobiography of his life and times with Elvis and includes bonus material of 11 memorable stories of his life with him. You can read more details on his website at www.davidstanley.com.

2003/01/22 David Stanley. Com / Ep.Gold.Com.

THE CLASSIC ALBUM SERIES.





Here's the artworks of the four CDs re-released on January 7th by BMG (U.S.A.) on the " Classic Album Series ". There's a note on front saying " Mixed and mastered from original source tapes using DSD technology for optimum sound quality ". The back covers has an advertisement for the recent hit CD " Elvis 30 #1 Hits ".

2003/01/22 Barry Mc Clean / Ep.Gold.Com.

PIC OF THE WEEK.

This week we have a rare private picture of Elvis & Colonel in the 70's taken in Houston.
From the vaults from our columnist Russ Howe
Go to the Menu or


2003/01/23 Russ Howe / Ep.Gold.

MALTESE CHART UPDATE.

Here we have an unusual chart, but with usual positions. In Cotober 2002 the CD 'ELV1S 30 #1 Hits' entered the chart at #1. So it is another #1 for Elvis. Currently the CD is steady at #2. 

2003/01/23 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

HIDDEN WORKS OF THE KING VOLUME 2.

The software design for revision 2 of "The Hidden Works of the King" is complete! The goal is to have the compact disc database version released in March 2003, with the vinyl database version to follow shortly. More details and screenshots on Scott Daughtry's website. 

2003/01/21 Hidden works of the King / ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

RARE ELVIS BURNING LOVE 3 TRACK SINGLE CD RELEASE.

This single CD releases in Taiwan by Taiwan BMG Records. With a Chinese obi strip around the CD package. Factory sealed, never opened. 

Tracklisting:
1. Burning love (mixed & mastered version from Elvis 30 #1 hits) 
2. Burning love (original version) 
3. Rare, alternate take 2 from original recording session 3/28/72 


2003/01/21 BMG Taiwan. / Ep.Gold.Com.

DAVID STANLEY STEP-BROTHER INTERVIEWED BY BBC ARTS CORRESPONDENT BY DAVID SILLITO.

David Sillito: 
Welcome to Blackpool for this News forum live on interactive TV and also of course on the Web. It's all about Elvis today as you can probably see over my shoulder here. I am joined now by David Stanley, the step-brother of Elvis. I've got a whole collection of questions here - they come from all over the world. 

We'll start with one from John Horne, Kent, UK: I have been a big fan of Elvis Presley for many years. Was Elvis actually like a brother to you? 

David Stanley:
He was. I moved into Graceland when I was only four years old - Elvis was 25 years old , so he was 21 years older than me but he accepted me as a little brother. He was more like a father-figure because as I was growing up with that age difference - the influences that he had on my life - we'd play football in the back yard, we had Christmases and holidays together. He told me about girls - and who would know better than Elvis? He came to watch me practise sports. He really encouraged me to do the things that I did within the martial arts and music. So brother yes but more like a Dad more so. 

David Sillito: 
You were though living in Graceland weren't you? 

David Stanley:
Correct. 

David Sillito: 
What a crazy childhood to have. 

David Stanley:
Well the word surrealistic is the first thing that comes to mind. It was pretty cool - Graceland is set in some 14 acres of land in Memphis, Tennessee. We had horses and go-carts and golf-carts and all kinds of things that we played on when growing up. There was lots of land to play on. Christmas was especially nice because when it snowed, we'd have the big living room full of presents and the tree. 

People have got to understand, he was just like anybody else but he just so happened to be Elvis Presley and things were just maybe a little bigger and a little more extravagant. 

David Sillito: 
We all know what he looks like on stage and what the public image is. What was he actually like off stage - how different was he? 

David Stanley:
It's like Elvis once said in an interview he did in New York City in Madison Square Gardens - he said the image is one thing and the man is another thing. Elvis was a very humble person. He was a very mellow, laid-back type person. 

When he wasn't working he loved to play - and playing for Elvis meant anything from racing go-carts in front of Graceland to riding horses, to staying up all night long and going to the movies. We'd rent a movie theatre every night and we'd go to the theatre about 1 o'clock in the morning and watch two or three movies and Elvis would get lost in the entertainment of the film that we were watching. He was just a real humble cat - real mellow, fun-loving, but on stage the electricity turned on and of course the rest is history. 

David Sillito: 
That takes us perfectly into a question from Gina Della Valle, England: Elvis could buy anything. Was there anything that money couldn't buy him? 

David Stanley:
That's a great question. I could get really deep on that particular question. I think what Elvis wished he could have had was some inner peace. The toughest thing for Elvis Presley was to be Elvis Presley - everybody loves me everywhere I go, people want a part of me - and Elvis had really no accountability and no one to answer to. I think what Elvis really wanted was to be able to sit down with somebody and just create an inner peace of his life - about who he was, why he was and why he had the gift that God had given him. 

David Sillito: 
Joanna, UK: I'm a huge Beatles fan and just wondered what Elvis really thought of them? 

David Stanley:
First of all let me her how much I love her because I am a Beatles fan. Here I'm growing up at the Graceland mansion, my brother is Elvis Presley and I'll share this brief little story. 

In 1964, the Beatles played Memphis Tennessee, Elvis was in Los Angeles, but I was at Graceland with my family and the Beatles came by to see Elvis and there was a knock on the door and I opened the door and there was Brian Epstein and John Lennon. Now I'm a John Lennon fanatic - I'm ten years old and I'm going - Mum, it's John Lennon - but she wouldn't let him in the house because the competition was there - Elvis - the Beatles. Of course I never forgave my mother for that, but I did get to talk to John Lennon which was one of the great things in my life. 

But Elvis personally thought the Beatles were a great band - he liked Paul McCartney and he like George Harrison. He had a little problem with John Lennon because Elvis didn't believe in projecting negative messages through music. He thought that Lennon was a danger to society in the United States to the point that he even went to see the President of the United States and said, we've got to watch for John Lennon. But how funny is that? In the 50s Elvis was a menace to the United States or the world for that matter! So I think that he thought that Lennon was a little rebellious. I used to say to Elvis - rebellion! - you created rebellion. But Elvis always tried to communicate positively in his music and he was a little threatened - not professionally - but by the personal lyrics of John Lennon. But hey, nobody is perfect - not even the King. 

David Sillito: 
The images we see of Elvis, they're always now, it seems to be, in the jumpsuits in his Las Vegas days. Do you think that maybe we've forgotten what Elvis was really about which is really what he did 50s? 

David Stanley:
I agree with you 100%. I think Elvis is so big in the United States and I know over here you know what Disneyland is, you know what Mickey Mouse is - well in the United States and Los Angeles at Disney studio there's a Disney character Mickey Mouse on the side of the water tower. Now I tell you that to say this: Elvis has become the image - he's almost like an image on the side of a water tower. He's more of a branding than he is an individual. 

I think what's happened over the years is people have forgotten that Elvis Presley was just a human being. Every time I try to talk about Elvis - both good and bad, positive and negative - I always try to talk very realistically about the human being. I try to humanise the King because if Elvis was alive today, that's what he would want. People miss that human spirit which was the 50s of a rowdy rock and roller who came out and basically just did it his way. 

David Sillito: 
Do you think there's been too much about the drugs, the eating of the cheeseburgers etc. 

David Stanley:
I think that goes back to what I'm saying about the icon on the side of the Disney tower. People talk about Elvis eating jellied doughnuts - I never saw Elvis ever eat a jellied doughnut. They say Elvis ate a bunch of cheeseburgers - I love cheeseburgers - Americans love cheeseburgers, the Brits love cheeseburgers. They talk about the specific foods he ate: peanut butter and banana sandwiches - well people down South in the United States, that's what you ate and too many people major on that. 

As far as the medication and drugs - it was a tragedy. Elvis died a very untimely death - 42 years old. He made a series of mistakes that cost him his life but that's not who Elvis was - that was the human that cost him his life. But as far as the entertainer and the person that we're trying to remember 25 years after - he left his mark and people should focus on the positive rather than the negative. I have negative things in my life that I'd certainly not want anybody to know about. I hope I'm more of that kind of person that leaves behind the positive. 

David Sillito: 
Kathleen Wells, London, UK: I was only five years old when he died, but he still means a lot in my life. 

How do you feel that there are new fans coming along, people who are rediscovering him 20 - 30 years later? 

David Stanley:
It's absolutely phenomenal. I have a friend of mine, Rachael Harvey. Rachel is only 24 years old. Now Elvis passed away 25 years ago. She's just started a publication called Endlessly Elvis which is a magazine which talks specifically about Elvis. I was so impressed with her love for Elvis that I did an article for her. 

I tell you that story to share with this young lady that never even saw him but can only hear the lyric and hear the music. How do you explain that? I don't know but that certainly says something about an individual 25 years after he left, how he is impacting on the youth of today. He has just had a No. 1 record here in the UK - how can you figure that one out? It's just there's something about the pureness of Elvis' voice and the music that he projected that people grab a hold of. 

David Sillito: 
And amazing TV moments - Aloha from Hawaii. 

David Stanley:
This picture behind me was taken from the Aloha Hawaii concert. Now I was backstage with Elvis and almost eerie because this is almost life-size. And I'll never forget talking to Elvis - I said, Elvis are you nervous? And he said why would I would nervous? I said, there's a billion people about to see you on television. And he looked at me and said, I tell you what I'm nervous about - he said, I'm nervous that I'm not going to give them what they want. 

Then he started pacing around and all of a sudden out of nowhere he said - God, I miss my mother - because he realised where he was at. You've got to understand this guy was born in a house not as big as this stage and suddenly he was about to walk out in front of billion people and communicate a gift that had been given to him by God and the only thing he was thinking about was, would my mother be proud of me. 

David Sillito: 
Chris in the UK asks: Elvis had a bit of a sense of humour didn't he? 

David Stanley:
Absolutely. If you couldn't laugh, you couldn't work for Elvis - it just wouldn't happen. His favourite movie was the Holy Grail, Monty Python. We sat in a theatre many, many a night and watch that movie - we only had about 12 people in the theatre because it was just us. He loved the Holy Grail - he would watch it time and time again and he'd just laugh and laugh. 

He was a practical joker - he was always pulling jokes on the guys who worked for him. We were always wrestling in the hallways, always in the backyard playing football - always upbeat and fun and laughing. He always said - when it ceases to be fun, then quit. All the guys around Elvis sometimes would say - hey this is a tough tour, I'm tired etc. and he'd always say, it could be worse - you could have nothing. He said, we're so blessed we have so much and we'd sit down and just start laughing - telling jokes etc. or watching Monty Python. The guy loved Monty Python. 

David Sillito: 
His life doesn't seem as tragic as a lot of the reports writing retrospectively are saying. 

David Stanley:
The tragedy is he left. The tragedy is some of the things he did cost him his life. But as far as the individual's life - Elvis did a lot of living for a 42 year-old man. He saw a lot and did a lot. He entertained a lot - he left a legacy. 

You said something about a spiritual man - he was a spiritual man - I'm a spiritual man and it was just time for Elvis to go home. He had done his thing, he had left his mark, he had pleased the people and like you said five year-old girls who were just babies love Elvis today. He left something behind that's positive. 

You've got to look at this guy, Elvis Presley. He could have influenced society in a lot of different ways. It goes back to the John Lennon situation. Elvis never projected drugs or sex or anything in music - the only thing he projected in communication was the Gospel because he was a believer. He could have led society in so many different ways with his influence and he chose to if he's going to share something, share the gift that was given to him by the God that he sang about in his music. And that says a lot about a guy. He didn't talk about his political perspectives, he didn't try to lead people down these ways and avenues of different political agendas - he just entertained the people. 

David Sillito: 
How do you feel today? 

David Stanley:
The thing is, I'm riding around in the car trying to find a parking spot, I'm coming in here and I'm doing interviews etc. and I have this shell of happiness in me of sharing this great friend of mine - this brother of mine. But there is a thick, thick, thick sadness of the day I walked in and my brother had left me. I can't shake it - I'm trying to shake it - I'm keeping the image up right now but inside I'm crying and I'm hurting because I miss him - I miss Elvis - every single day of my life I miss Elvis Presley. 

David Sillito: 
Final question here from Michael Little, UK: He has really gone hasn't he? 

David Stanley:
Yes, he's gone. I like to kid around because Elvis had such a great sense of humour - actually he lives in Dallas, Texas with me, ok!. No he's gone. I wish he wasn't and nobody loved Elvis more than me and nobody wishes he was here more than I do. But he's not here with us but in spirit he hangs with us and we're able to celebrate his life and God I wish he was. 

David Sillito: 
David Stanley, thank you very much indeed on an important day. 

David Stanley:
Yes it is. 

David Sillito: 
On our BBC News interactive forum there, I've been speaking to David Stanley - extraordinary inside tale there of Graceland on the 25th anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. 


NOTE TO WATCH THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW


2003/01/23 David Stanley / BBC Arts Correspondent David Stsillito / Ep.Gold.Com.

BILLBOARD VOTE RESULTS.

The votes are in on the Billboard polls. Here are the results:

Readers' Top 10 - Albums: #3 - Elvis Presley. Elvis: 30 #1 Hits
Readers' Singles: #1 - Elvis Presley,"A Little Less Concersation"
Readers' Artist Of The Year: #3 - Elvis Presley
Readers' Most Welcome Comeback: #3 - Elvis Presley

Thank you to all those that voted in the Readers' Poll.

2003/01/23 Burning Star / Ep.Gold.Com.

ELVIS NOMINATED IN GERMANY.

Elvis is nominated for the "ECHO 2003" Award of the German Phonoindustry in the cathegory "Best International Artist". Other nominated artists in this category are: Enrique Iglesias, Lenny Kravitz, Bruce Springsteen and Robbie Williams.

2003/01/23 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

MEGA RARE PROMO DVD.

Here's the Artwork & Picture Disc for the mega rare Elvis Promo DVD by Paramount Pictures featuring 4 movie trailers. 

2003/01/21 H.T. Long. / EP.Gold.com

ELV1S 30 # 1 HITS ALBUM INDIA.

Of all the ELV1S 30#1 Hits released worldwide, the most interesting one must be from BMG India. The disc inside in quite different in design to the rest of the world. 

2003/01/21 H.T. Long / EP.Gold.com

TOLEDO BLADE ARTICLE EXPOSING GROB FRAUD.

An award-winning investigative reporter from the Toledo Blade, thingy Grob's hometown newspaper, exposed Grob as a fraud and con-man in an article published August 29, 2002. 

According to the reporter, Michael D. Sallah, the newspaper had the story for the 20th anniversary but decided to hold it for the 25th anniversary. 

The story was prompted by Toledo police officers who had been on the force with Grob who saw Grob's book in the public library. Several officers contacted the newspaper saying Grob's claims of being an Air Force officer and pilot were false. 

Grob had flunked out of the air force academy before entering the police academy, and his fellow officers knew he had only been in the reserves. 

Vets Question Military Claims by Elvis' Bodyguard 
By MICHAEL D. SALLAH 
BLADE NATIONAL AFFAIRS WRITER 

"When former Toledo policeman Richard Grob wrote a book about his days as Elvis Presley's bodyguard, he offered an impressive resume beyond protecting the king of rock n' roll: winning the Purple Heart and the Silver Star for combat bravery. 

"But those claims by the well-known Elvis celebrity have turned out to be bogus - prompting an investigation by a local veteran's organization. 

"The Lucas County Veterans Service Commission is trying to determine if Richard Grob can be prosecuted by the claims in his book, The Elvis Conspiracy? 

"He ought to be ashamed for what he did. People have died for those medals," said Robert Meter, director of the local office and a Vietnam veteran. 

"The inquiry began on Aug. 19 - a week after The Blade reported the discrepancies in an article about Mr. Grob, a former Air National Guard reservist who later became chief of security for Elvis Presley. 

"A keynote speaker at national Elvis conventions, Mr. Grob wrote in his book he was an Air Force officer who was awarded two of the nation's highest combat honors before he was eventually offered a job by Elvis Presley in 1967. 

"The son of an army officer killed in the Korean War, Mr. Grob compares himself to his father by writing, "I received only one Silver Star to his four, and only one Purple Heart to his four." 

"But a review of the ex-policeman's Air Force records show he dropped out of the academy after 7 1/2 months in 1959, and spent three years as an Air National Guard clerk and policeman in Harrisburg, Pa., and Toledo. 

"The records show he never served in Vietnam, and was discharged in 1964 as an airman second class - not a commissioned officer. 

"Joe Esposito, one of Elvis' closest friends and a longtime member of the singer's inner circle, said Mr. Grob used to talk about his years "as a combat pilot" when they traveled on the road with Elvis from 1967 to 1977. 

"thingy told all of us, including Elvis, he was a fighter pilot," Mr. Esposito told The Blade. 

"He was shot down. I think Elvis was taken by that. I guess I believed it at the time. I don't know. We were all told the same thing. thingy has been saying that stuff for years." 

"The 1957 devilries High School graduate has been embroiled in controversy before - most recently in 1997 when he claimed to have found an unreleased recording of Elvis, a discovery that created national news. 

"But the record, which Mr. Grob says was signed and given to him by Elvis, was challenged by RCA - which co-owns the rights to Elvis' music - saying the voice did not belong to the legendary singer. 

"Though Mr. Grob has weathered controversy before, the military claims are being investigated by Mr. Mettler and other members of the veterans commission. He says he is also asking the U.S. attorney's office in Toledo and the U.S. Air Force to assist in the investigation. 

"Federal law bans anyone from impersonating an officer of any U.S. military organization - a felony punishable by up to give years in prison and a $10,000 fine. 

"Assistant U.S. attorney David Bauer said if the former bodyguard applied for benefits or veteran's claims using the phony information, he could be prosecuted. Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Ron Bowman, a retired Army major general, said he's asking the U.S. attorney's office to investigate the matter. "This is the type of stuff that needs to be exposed," he said. 

"In the past decade, the backgrounds of numerous political, celebrity, and sports figures have been revealed, often costing them their careers. Former Oregon Congressman Wes Cooley, a one-term Republican, lost his seat in 1996 after it was revealed he lied about serving in the army in Korea. Toronto Blue Jays manager Tim Johnson was fired in 1999 after it was exposed that he fabricated tales of fighting in Vietnam. 

"Mr. Grob, who signs autographs and appears at Elvis fan events, was most recently a guest speaker at a 25th anniversary event of Elvis' death sponsored by Graceland in Memphis on August 14. Two days later, he was the master of ceremonies at an event in Portland, Maine - the city where Elvis was to perform before he died. 

"Mr. Mettler says he investigates dozens of false claims a year by people who contend they've served in the military, or received combat recognition. But he says these claims have been the most high profile from any veteran from this area. 

"Ironically, Mr. Grob's father, Richard Grob, Sr., was a legitimate ware hero when he died in 1951, said Mr. Mettler. "He would probably be rolling over in his grave if he knew this," he said. 

"Edward Vincent, commander of the VFW Post 3013 in Springfield Township, said Mr. Grob "has already hung himself" by including the information in the biography of his book. "As far as I'm concerned you expose these people for who they are, and you move on." 

Article available in the archives of The Toledo Blade, www.TheBlade.com. 


2003/01/21 The Blade.Com . / Ep.Gold.Com.

THE COMPLETE HOW GREAT THOU ART SESSIONS SOON RELEASED BY LMP.

(Covers not finalized.)

The Complete How Great Thou Art Sessions will be soon released by the Import - label : Lovely Music Productions.
The Sessions coincide all The How Great Thou Art Masters, outtakes, and the extra songs Elvis recorded in 1966.
This means more then 4 hours (and for the first time ever complete) on 4 Volumes by the LMP- CD import Label.

More details soon.....

2003/01/20. E-mail / Ep.Gold.Com.

NEW EDITION TOEPFC MAGAZINE.

The new edition of the Official Elvois Presley Fan Club magazine from the U.K. is out. Again, we were in for a long read with a lot of interesting articles. Especially interesting was the editiorial by Todd Slaughter (who's picture with Elvis was used for a stamp in Somalia we read) on the way EPE deals with (her) fan clubs. 

Most of the important news is available in the magazine, so are various articles by various contributers.

2003/01/20 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

E 1 CHART UPDATE UK.

In the Top 75 Album Charts in UK the E 1 album dropped from No # 18 to No # 26 this week.

2003/01/20 Dot Music.Com / Ep.Gold.Com.

E 1 CHART UPDATE FINLAND.

On the Finnish album chart, Elvis 30 # 1 Hits climbed from the # 9 position to # 5. Perhaps the record can rise even higher on the chart, as the Elvis Lives TV special will be shown here for the first time this Sunday evening.

2003/01/20 Kari Paju - Finland / Ep.Gold.Com.

E 1 ALBUM FROM BMG TAIWAN.

This is the BMG Taiwan of the " Elvis 30 #1 Hits " and sold in China ( Shanghai ). The CD itself isn't gold but blue as shown above.

2003/01/20 Barry Mc Clean / Ep.Gold.Com.

KARAOKE BY ELVIS PRESLEY.

A legitimate VCD LOVE ME TENDER 100% Karaoke by Elvis Presley was released last week in Malaysia. This week it was taken off the shelves as it contains 2 original Elvis Songs Blue Suede Shoes & Heartbreak Hotel with original footages of Elvis. This VCD was supposed to contain impersonators' versions of Elvis songs & footages of sceneries only. 

2003/01/19 H.T.Long / Ep.Gold.Com.

MORE CHOCOLATE.

For the real, and chocolate lovers, we have the new Russell Stover Valentine chocolate boxes featuring Elvis' images. 

2003/01/19 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

BILLBOARD CHART UPDATE.

The CD 'ELV1S 30 # 1 Hits' climbed up the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts to #12 this week from last weeks #19. On the Country Chart the album is steady at #3.

2003/01/19 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

ELVIS AGAIN.

A great indepth review published by Three Penny.Com. with the famous writer Greil Marcus.

Go to the Menu : Reviews or


2003/01/18 Greil Marcus / Three Penny.Com / Ep.Gold.Com.

A REVIEW FROM THE LATEST FTD CD : ELVIS INTERNATIONAL.

Christer Berge from Sweden reviews the latest FTD CD : "Elvis
International" with so much acknowledgment on facts, that this is a treat
to read this in-depth review.

Go to the Menu : FTD Reviews or


2003/01/18 Christer Berge / Ep.Gold.Com.

ELVIS ON BRASILIAN TV.

The brasilian Band TV will start next January 20th, an Elvis festival showing his movies and the "Elvis Lives" show. Every day, from Monday to Saturday, at 10.15 pm (local time), there will be an Elvis movie. 
Monday - Jan 20 - Girls Girls Girls 
Tuesday - Jan 21 - Blue Hawaii 
Wednesday - Jan 22 - Roustabout 
Thursday - Jan 23 - Fun In Acapulco 
Friday - Jan 24 - Paradise Hawaiian Style 
Saturday - Jan 25 - Elvis Lives 

2003/01/18 Burning Star / Ep.Gold.Com.

GERMAN CHART UPDATE.

Good news from Germany, in the German album charts the CD ELV1S 30 #1 Hits' climbed to #16 (from last weeks #20) in it´s 16th week. In Germany it is platinum.

2003/01/18 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

DUTCH CHART UPDATE.

In both the Dutch Mega Album Chart and The Top 40 Album Chart the CD 'ELV1S 30 #1 Hits' dropped from #12 to #14. 

2003/01/18 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com

SUSPICIOUS FINDS: SOME MEMORABILIA MAYBE NOTHING LIKE THE REAL THING.

Madonna isn't missing a molar, in case anyone was wondering. It probably escaped your notice, as it did ours, but there was a rumour to that effect recently. Or, rather, a claim -- by the Hard Rock Cafe, a restaurant chain that buys and displays rock 'n' roll memorabilia. The company has been boasting that it acquired an authentic Madonna molar, but the singer says it isn't hers. She was so disturbed by the report, in fact, that she and her staff have begun cataloguing items -- wedding gowns, cone-shaped bras and, presumably, teeth -- to safeguard against similar bogus claims in the future. 

Memorabilia fraud, it turns out, is a big problem these days, according to The Wall Street Journal. The Elvis memorabilia industry -- and it is an industry, worth $250 million -- is especially troubled, according to the newspaper. Auction houses and collectors have been seeing an increase in faux Elvis relics -- phoney autographs, fake sequin jumpsuits, and more. "The problem is that rock memorabilia has become so expensive that it's worth it to fake items," one auction house official told the Journal. 

Weirdly expensive, in fact. Auctioneers recently sold a scrapbook containing a piece of John Lennon's uneaten toast, apparently authentic -- for $1,900. One of Carol Channing's eyelashes was peddled for $75. (And we didn't even realize she was a rock star.)

All of this calls to mind a wish once uttered by Frederic Chopin: "I don't want anyone to admire my pants in a museum." We wouldn't hazard a guess as to what Chopin's choppers would go for. But we bet they're for sale somewhere. 

2003/01/18 Herald Tribune. / Ep.Gold.Com.

ELVIS COUNTRY.

The new CD Elvis: Great Country Songs (RCA) is both a collection of fascinating songs and an insightful history primer. Elvis almost single-handedly killed commercial country music in the 1950s, yet he was also a part of its later resurgence.

Presley's career was partly sparked by his 1954 cover version of Bluegrass inventor Bill Monroe's "Blue Moon of Kentucky." Elvis later -- in his one and only appearance on the Grand Ole Opry -- apologized to Monroe for supercharging his song and speeding it up. Monroe was very gracious to Presley -- unlike Opry boss Jim Denny who advised Presley to go back to driving a truck -- and later speeded up the song himself. Presley was also launched by key appearances on the enormously popular and influential country radio barn dances -- the Big D Jamboree in Dallas and the Louisiana Hayride in Shreveport. And he obviously recorded enough country songs and was such a country influence that he was voted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He charted more than 80 singles on the Billboard country chart and racked up 10 No. 1 country hits.

But when Elvis and rock 'n' roll took the U.S. by storm in the mid- and late-1950s, country music almost vanished on radio. Country stations throughout the South, especially, flipped to rock formats and country crept toward irrelevance and extinction as a radio format. Today's Country Music Association (CMA) was formed as a self-defense against rock ‘n’ roll. In 1958, the reeling Country Music Disc Jockey Association (which formed in 1954) reorganized itself as the CMA as a chamber of commerce for country music, formed by a coalition of country music song publishers and radio stations struggling to fight back. The number of fulltime country radio stations in the U.S. dropped to 81 in 1961 (today it's more than 2,000) before a recovery began.

Elvis' signing by RCA Records (away from Sam Phillips' Sun Records in Memphis in 1955) also led directly to RCA opening an office and then a recording studio in Nashville, which fostered the establishment of Music Row and the growth of Nashville as a music center.

Although much of his work was tinged with country overtones and recorded with country sidemen and backing vocalists, Elvis' first overt country album didn't come until 1971. Titled Elvis Country (“I'm 10,000 Years Old”), it included such country standards as Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away," Bob Wills' "Faded Love," Eddy Arnold's "I Really Don't Want to Know," Jack Greene's "There Goes My Everything," Flatt & Scruggs' "Little Cabin on the Hill" and Anne Murray's "Snowbird." Not to mention the song that inspired the album subtitle: "I Was Born About 10,000 Years Ago."

The new collection opens with Presley's first No. 1 country hit, 1955's "I Forgot to Remember to Forget," jumps into the original echo-chambered "Blue Moon of Kentucky" and goes on to include 22 other notable Presley country takes. There are previously unreleased versions of Kris Kristofferson's "Help Me Make It Through the Night," the Pointer Sisters' "Fairytale," "Just Call Me Lonesome," "There Goes My Everything" and "Green, Green Grass of Home." 

If you've never heard Presley's cover of Hank Williams' "Your Cheatin' Heart," recorded by Elvis in 1958 with the Jordanaires, you owe it to yourself to savor Elvis making that song very much his own. 

This is missing a few essential things I would like to see included, most notably his take of the George Jones hit "She Thinks I Still Care" (which is included on the RCA box set Elvis: Today, Tomorrow & Forever) and the great "There's a Honky Tonk Angel (Who Will Take Me Back In)" from the 1975 album Promised Land.

His last studio recording -- included here -- was the classic Jim Reeves hit "He'll Have to Go," cut on a mobile recording unit in the Jungle Room at Graceland Oct. 30, 1976, less than a year before Elvis' death. The big Elvis voice was still there. The powerful voice that always carried a subcurrent of such urgency that it demanded that you listen.

The package also reprints a 1955 RCA in-house promotional memo, which begins, "In Elvis Presley, we've acquired the most dynamic and sought-after new artist in country music today, one who's topped the 'most promising' category in every trade and consumer poll held during 1955!" 

2002/01/18 Chet Flippo - Nashville Skyline / Ep.Gold.Com.

GREENHAW RECORDS SECURES FIFTH GRAMMY BID.

Mesquite’s Art Greenhaw did it again. 

His independent record label, Art Greenhaw Records, produced one of the best albums in the industry according to the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. 

For the fifth year out of the last six, Greenhaw has an album nominated for a Grammy.

“We Called Him Mr. Gospel Music: The James Blackwood Tribute Album” was one of the four best in the world in the Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album category.

“This is my favorite album that we’ve done,” Greenhaw said. “There’s a pocket symphony on there and we’re talking about work that has taken years [to complete] using several studios. It’s been like an oil painting.”

As has been the case the past six years, Greenhaw’s truly independent label faces almost insurmountable odds against the competition.

The other nominees are the production of huge music industry conglomerates with big name acts and big marketing budgets backing the projects.

Greenhaw finds himself competing against the likes of Spring Hill Music Group with two nominations -- “How Sweet the Sound: 25 Favorite Hymns and Gospel Greats” featuring the Charlie Daniels Band, and “An Inconvenient Christmas” featuring The Oak Ridge Boys.

“Everything Good” by the world renowned Gaither Vocal Band is a Sparrow Records release.

Sparrow Records is now a subsidiary of EMI -- one of the largest players in the industry.

“We are so small and it is truly a long shot for us to be able to win,” Greenhaw said. “We are really a bandstand label in comparison. We are so blessed to have gotten this far, but it sure would be nice to get one of those golden gramophones.”

Greenhaw said receiving the nomination is high praise.

Still, he isn’t sure if he wants to turn into a Randy Newman -- who was nominated for an Oscar for best original song from a film many, many years running.

It wasn’t until just recently that Newman was rewarded with an Academy Award.

So, does Greenhaw Records have a shot at winning in the category?

Absolutely.

“One of the best things about the Grammy award and about the academy is that it isn’t about sales or marketing efforts,” he said. “It’s about excellence in recording ... it’s about the music.

“Still, it’s hard because we don’t have the millions of marketing dollars behind us to promote our product. We just take a mustard seed mentality and try to get our product into as many hands as we can.”

Greenhaw said he’s also pleased with the fact there are no weighted Grammy awards.

The Grammy award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel album carries as much prestige as the award for Song of the Year or Best New Artist.

Even so, it doesn’t hurt to have big time marketing helping drive a particular product.

Greenhaw is at another disadvantage in that he can’t tour on the album.

The Oak Ridge Boys, the Gaither Vocal Band and The Charlie Daniels Band are all able to go on the road and perform concerts to help promote the nominated recordings.

Greenhaw’s project is a tribute album -- featuring his gospel singing idol James Blackwood.

The Jordanaires are predominately featured, as well as famed gospel tenor great Larry Ford.

“Larry Ford is a member of the Gaither group as well,” he said.

Banjo virtuoso Smokey Montgomery is also featured on many tracks.

Montgomery and Blackwood have died.

The recording features many unreleased tracks from Blackwood -- a true pioneer in the Gospel recording field.

In fact, Greenhaw said gospel music can trace its roots to Dallas -- even though its present home is Nashville.

There are a couple of pop show tunes on the recording as well -- such as “Climb Every Mountain” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

“All of the songs here are identifiable with the great James Blackwood and the Blackwood Brothers Quartet,” Greenhaw said. “And, he [Blackwood] loved pop songs that had a spiritual message.”

And, in tribute to Montgomery, Greenhaw has included a bonus track “Music Man Play on.”

“It’s a song I wrote exclusively for him,” Greenhaw said. “If by some chance we would win the Grammy, Smokey would have the last word.”

If producing and arranging all the tracks on the album weren’t enough, Greenhaw also plays many of the instruments and provides much of the vocals.

Winning the Grammy is beyond Greenhaw’s wildest dreams. More importantly, he wants to bring gospel music to prominence and keep it in the forefront of the industry.

To that end, he is trying to establish a foundation that might fund scholarships in the name of American gospel music.

“Wouldn’t it be great that whenever you walk into a respected record store, that, instead of way at the back, gospel music was right in the front,” Greenhaw said. “It would be right next to rock, pop, rap or hip hop.”

The Grammy awards will be televised Feb. 23. 

2003/01/18 Daren Watkins - Mesquite News / Ep.Gold.Com.

LISA MARIE PRESLEY 4 TRACK CD SINGLE WILL BE RELEASED IN FEBRUARY.

1. S.O.B. 
2. The Road Between 
3. Lights Out
4. Nobody Noticed It 

The company Capitol Records confirmed that the release of Lisa-Marie Presley first was scheduled for January 27th, 2003, but now is planned to release a month later at the end of February, 2003.

The Album entitled : "Memphis" is planned to be released on April 3rd, 2003.

More details soon as promised by Capitol Records.

2003/01/17 Capitol Records / Andylon Lensen / Ep.Gold.Com.

THE ELVIS INTERNATIONAL - SHOP HOLLAND.

This is the one stop shop for the real die-hard Elvis Fans in Europe.
Famous for their unique assortment.

Here you find:
Cd's - Promo Cd's - DVD's & VCD's - Video -.
On Vinyl : Singles - Extented 45 - 78's - 10 inch albums - Long Play Albums. ( from all over the World )

Magazines - Books - Orig. Film Posters - Memoribilia - Private Items - 16 mm Films.... etcetera.......

Opening Hours:

Friday : 18.00 - 21.00 
Saturday : 13.00 - 18.00
Sunday : 13.00 - 18.00

THE ELVIS INTERNATIONAL - SHOP HOLLAND.
Sionstraat 12
1947 JT  Beverwijk
 Holland - The Netherlands.

2003/01/17 Ep.Gold.Com.

A LONG OVERDUE HONOR FOR THE JORDANAIRES..

  There are many things in this world that are long overdue. World peace,
  food enough for everyone, the right to an education and fair treatment
  for all. Each of these things require that we try, in our own small way,
  to work toward their solutions every day but they are highly complex
  issues and none are likely to get corrected in our immediate future.
 
  There is however something that's long overdue that we can fix and
  effective immediately, we here at Caitlin Productions are committed to
  seeing it happen. In short, it's about time that the Jordanaires
  received a commemorative star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Who better
  says Elvis Presley to all those who love him, than people like D. J.
  Fontana, Scotty Moore, Bill Black and the Jordanaires, and yet after all
  these years, they still do not have their own stars on that hallowed
  piece of real estate.
 
  Over 2 1/2 years ago, when I begin shooting my documentary on Elvis, I
  knew little about the man or those who were with him back in the day,
  but I must confess that of the over 250 artists that I interviewed I
  found none more gracious than Gordon Stoker and Ray Walker. Right then
  and there I promised them that one of my next projects, once I had some
  free time and could get a few minutes to work on it, was to do
  everything in my power to see that they received a star. Well, I'm still
  buried with work and may never get the extra time I'd like to work on
  this project, but I've decided that if something is important enough you
  simply 'make the time.' To that end and effective immediately I intend
  to focus whatever resources I have to make this happen.
 
  After having spoken to many of my Hollywood friends, there is huge
  support for this project and while the process of being invited to
  receive a star is far from simple, I am convinced that we the Elvis
  fans, can pull this off. Among other things it costs approximately
  $15,000 to qualify for a star and while that is certainly a lot of
  money, especially in this economy, if every Elvis fan sent just $25.00
  each, we'd have the required money overnight.
 
  Accordingly, I am going to start the ball rolling by pledging $1,000 of
  my own personal money to the cause and within the next week I intend to
  open an account to receive donations from those of you who love the
  Jordanaires like I do. If you'd like to speak to me personally about
  this project, feel free to call me at (919) 469-5662 or e-mail me at
  KVRANA@nc.rr.com. I have set a target date for collection of all the
  money by no later than January 1, 2004, but let's not let it take that
  long. Let's show them what Elvis fans can really do when they get
  together.
Sincerely,
Ken Vrana

2003/01/17 Ken Vrana / Andylon Lensen / Ep.Gold.Com.

THE DEFINITIVE ELVIS RE-RELEASE.

"The Definitive Elvis" which has been re-released in a revised edition, I helped re-edit the 14 minutes that were in question by the estate's injunction. The set is available through QVC. It features new photos supplied by Don Wilson and Rockabilly Hall of Famer Glen Glenn.

2003/01/17 Don Wilson / Andylon Lensen / Ep.Gold.Com.

E TELEVISION STARTED A TWO HOUR E TRUE HOLYWOOD STORY OF LISA MARIE PRESLEY.

E Television, started a 2 hour " E True Hollywood Story" of Lisa Marie Presley.The project has just begun and we will keep you posted on the progress.

2003/01/17 Don Wilson / Andylon Lensen / Ep.Gold.Com.

PICTURE OF THE WEEK.

This week we have a great - rare picture from the Elvis Movie : "That's The Way It Is" .
Go to the Menu or


2003/01/17 Patrick Jansen / Ep.Gold.Com 

GRAMMY NOMINATION FOR CATEGORY BEST SOUTHERN COUNTRY OR BLUEGRASS GOSPEL ALBUM.

The Jordanaires, Larry Ford and The Light Crust Doughboys have received
Grammy Nominations for the album, WE CALLED HIM MR. GOSPEL MUSIC: THE
JAMES BLACKWOOD TRIBUTE ALBUM. Voted top four in the category "Best
Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album of the Year", the album is
released on the indie label, Art Greenhaw Records, which has achieved
artistic and critical success with releases featuring Ann-Margret and
others. A highlight of WE CALLED HIM MR. GOSPEL MUSIC: THE JAMES
BLACKWOOD TRIBUTE ALBUM includes a gospel "pocket symphony" featuring
rare, previously unreleased performances by Blackwood Brothers' original
member, James Blackwood himself. Fresh, new original songs honoring the
legacy of James Blackwood combine with Blackwood favorites and songs
long associated with James, "gospel singer of the century".

Says artist and producer Art Greenhaw, "This may be the favorite album
of all we've done. I feel the spirit of James and his
'go-into-all-the-world' philosophy in every track. The Jordanaires,
Larry Ford and The Light Crust Doughboys sing and play with all their
hearts and souls on this album, singing both the Good News and their
thankfulness for the life and music of James Blackwood."

WE CALLED HIM MR. GOSPEL MUSIC: THE JAMES BLACKWOOD TRIBUTE ALBUM is
distributed to the Christian marketplace by New Day. For further
information, call Art Greenhaw Records at 972/285-5441 or email
art@artgreenhaw.com

2003/01/17 Art Greenhaw / Ep.Gold.Com.

BRING BACK BENDETH BACK FOR ELVIS.

Glen D Hardin, David Bendeth the producer, Dj Fontana and James Burton.

The famous Elvis number.Com. web-site started a petition to BRING BACK David Bendeth the Producer from the Elv1s 30 ! hits album ( that now sold over 9 Million units Worldwide ) for a new following-up Elvis Album!!!

2003/01/17 Elvis numberones.com / Ep.Gold.Com.

SHANGHAI EDITION E 1.

An update for the collectors, here we have the Shanghai edition of the 'ELV1S 30 #1 Hits'. The CD itself isn't gold, but blue.

2003/01/17 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

GIVE ELVIS A PUSH.

The BBC have been conducting an Elvis vs Beatles Poll since last June and at present, Elvis has a narrow lead. As of two days ago, the vote had remained fairly static but now it appears that Beatle fans have been made aware of this and are trying to overturn the result. Can we let this happen?

Vote For Elvis In BBC Poll

2003/01/17 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

THREE RUSSIANS MP3 CD-ROM RELEASES 

Today we recieved the news that also Russia has made some MP3 CD-ROM. First we had Malaysia with some releases earlier this month, and Russia. 

The first cd-rom is full with the era 1954-1959, second with the era 1959-1966 and the third with the era 1967-1971. We did not recieve the info that there is also a fourth releases.

Tracklisting:
DISC ONE 1954-1959 contains the following albums: Elvis Great Country Songs - Loving you - King Creole - Elvis Presley - Jailhouse Rock - Christmas Album - Golden Records - Greatest Jukebox Hits - Elvis 56 - Elvis’ Gold Records vol.2. DISC TWO 1959-1966 contains the following albums: Gold Records 4 - Blue Hawaii - G.I. Blues - Golden Records Volume 3 - How Great Thou Art - The Great Performances - Elvis Is Back! DISC THREE 1967-1971 contains: Elvis Presley / NBC-TV Special - Elvis Country - Gold Records Volume 5 - He Touched Me - Elvis Great Country Songs - His Hand In Mine Elvis Presley Interview Disk - Black In Memphis - That’s The Way It Is.

Note from Ep.Gold.Com : These 3 MPS cd-rom were released two years ago and officially licensed from the company even mentioning their address on the back cover.

2003/01/17 Solid-gold -Elvis.com / Ep.Gold.Com.

HOT TO TROT.

MEMPHIS - ''Is that Graceland there?'' asks Tony Curtis. ''Oh my God, look at this,'' he says, indicating the gates, the grounds, the columns. Then he notices a woman at the wheel of a bus blocking the entrance. Regard gives way to irreverence: ''What is that lady waiting for? Ah, the return of Elvis!'' 

Curtis didn't come to Memphis to visit Graceland. He's here because he's touring in a musical version of ''Some Like It Hot,'' the gender-bending 1959 comedy he starred in - a film some consider the funniest movie ever made. The tour is also why he's coming to Boston. ''Some Like It Hot'' has its press opening tonight at the Wang Center and runs through Sunday. 

But since Curtis is in Memphis, he's decided to see the home of its most famous son, an old acquaintance, who dyed his hair black in imitation of Curtis and adopted the same duck-tailed pompadour. 

''Elvis, Elvis,'' Curtis murmurs as a reporter accompanies him up the driveway. ''One day I was working at Paramount Pictures. I was walking on the back lot, and there was a big camper. A door opened, and a guy reached out and pulled me in: Elvis. `Mr. Curtis, it's been such a pleasure to watch you in the movies. When I was a kid, I loved you so much, Mr. Curtis. It's a privilege to meet you.' I said, `Listen, don't call me Mr. Curtis. Call me Tony.' He said, ` OK, Tony.' `What can I call you?' He said, `Mr. Presley.''' Curtis explodes with laughter. 

He can afford to laugh. Elvis has been gone 25 years now. Curtis keeps rolling along: 120 movies behind him, five months of touring ahead. 

Curtis looks terrific. The body's thickened, the hair's white, but every 77-year-old should have such thickening, such whitening. ''Boy, this is the survivor of all time,'' says Barry Paris, who collaborated with Curtis on his 1993 autobiography. ''And not just a 

survivor, but much more when you look at all he's done.'' 

''I've been in movies 52 years,'' Curtis says. ''Still around. People recognize me. Otherwise, you'd be sitting on some porch in North Hollywood overlooking nothing. I've got a telephone book at home, about 30 years old, everybody in it gone.'' 

They just don't make lives like Curtis's anymore. He's been married to movie stars (Janet Leigh, Christine Kaufmann). He's the father of a movie star (Jamie Lee Curtis). His fifth wife, Jill, is more than four decades his junior. He lives outside Las Vegas (where else?). Yes, he's a little over the top - profane, unapologetic, a cheerfully loose cannon - but there's nothing forced about it. He's emphatic the way a fire alarm is: It's just part of his job description. Tony Curtis is a movie star, thank you very much, and loves every minute of it. 

''I do, I do,'' he says in that unmistakable head-cold voice. Gargling in the East River couldn't produce a more Noo Yawk accent. ''I've never been able to understand how other actors could not appreciate it,'' he adds. ''There isn't an autograph I sign that I don't look in the person's eye. Let them meet me, and I meet them. It's a glorifying feeling, the way people look at you.'' 

Before leaving for Graceland, Curtis talks to a reporter and photographer in his hotel lobby. A woman musters the nerve to ask to take his picture. He does her one better. Handing her camera to the photographer, Curtis has him shoot them together. ''At last we meet,'' he tells her. It's earnest and jokey and natural all at once. The declaration leaves them both beaming. 

Curtis came in at the end of Hollywood's legendary studio era. He became a very big star as a teen idol in the early '50s. ''I was an attractive lad,'' he says, ''very disarming in my behavior. Somewhat gregarious - and funny. I always tried to be funny because I knew to get close to a girl you got to make her laugh. You can't buy her a good dinner and talk about philosophy.'' 

Curtis graduated to more serious roles, and even bigger stardom. He earned an Oscar nomination for ''The Defiant Ones'' (1958). He worked with A-list directors such as Carol Reed (''Trapeze,'' 1956), Stanley Kubrick (''Spartacus,'' 1960), and John Huston (''The List of Adrian Messenger,'' 1963). 

The movie that showed Curtis could act - could really act - was ''Sweet Smell of Success'' (1957). He plays a sleazy New York press agent named Sidney Falco. Early on, he's at a bustling Manhattan jazz club, surveying the room, while his cigarette-girl mistress tries to get his attention. ''Sidney, are you listening to me?'' she pleads. ''Avidly, avidly,'' he says with all the sincerity of a cat cautioning a canary. 

''Avidly, avidly'': In the dazzlingly disingenuous expression of those six breathy syllables you pretty much have Tony Curtis's persona. Always there's an avidity to him, a hunger. It's the eagerness of a man so clearly on the make he disarms you with the transparency of it all. Yet there's also a certain detachment, a sense of being in on this big, ongoing joke for which he is both teller and punch line. Few stars have ever been better at having it both ways on camera - or off. 

A phenomenal balancing act, it finally caught up with him in the late '60s. Curtis gave what he considers his finest performance, the title role in ''The Boston Strangler'' (1968). Then things began to go wrong. The movies got worse. The parts got smaller. He got deeply into drugs. 

''You start out like a king,'' Curtis says, ''and end up like a pauper - for a while.'' He savors the last three words, then shrugs. ''I worked my way through it.'' He checked into the Betty Ford Center twice during the mid-'80s. The second time worked. 

The career goes on, but there's no question ''Some Like It Hot'' remains its peak. Curtis remembers being asked to a meeting to discuss the project. ''I got really excited,'' he says. ''To have Billy Wilder [the film's director] interested in me? Well, I got over there early.'' 

In the movie, Curtis and Jack Lemmon play Joe and Jerry, a pair of musicians on the lam from the mob in Prohibition-era Chicago. They become Josephine and Daphne to hide out in an all-female band whose singer is Marilyn Monroe. ''I was very nervous about getting dressed up as a girl,'' Curtis admits. ''Jack was like a three-dollar hooker. He came out swinging. ... We realized it was the perfect symmetry for the two of us. Let him be the flaunty one, let me be the more quiet one.'' 

Curtis's days in drag are far behind him. In the musical, he's Osgood Fielding III, the playboy millionaire who romances Daphne. It's the fourth-biggest part, but Curtis is the show's headliner; as the movie's sole surviving principal, he connects the musical to its source. The tour, says producer and general manager Rich Martini, ''would not have happened without him.'' Martini attributes ''a big chunk of its success'' to Curtis's presence in the cast. 

Curtis is enjoying himself onstage, but that wasn't always the case. ''The original producers did me dirt,'' he says. ''I wasn't able to get enough rehearsals. The wardrobe wasn't the way I wanted it to be. I wasn't a singer, a dancer, and I had to hire some people to help me. We had only three weeks to prepare. I didn't even know the part yet! ... But we worked at it, it evolved, and now my Osgood Fielding is a really intriguing fellow. Eccentric, handsome millionaire: There isn't anything in the world he can't have.... It's typecasting!'' 

The tour opened in Houston, in June, and ends in Portland, Ore., in May. ''I'm having a lot of fun,'' Curtis says. ''I come on and I do it without doing it, you know?'' 

He displays a similar nonchalance taking the tour at Graceland. Not even the Jungle Room fazes him. ''Neat,'' Curtis says. ''Intriguing.'' Just once does polite interest turn into something greater. At the end of the Trophy Building, there's life-size oil of Elvis. A candidate for the National Gallery it's not. Yet Curtis, an artist whose own paintings have been shown in museums and galleries, lingers over it. He asks the guide several questions, then excitedly turns to his wife, who joined him during the Graceland tour. ''Jilly, Jilly, that's by Ralph Wolfe Cowan. Remember the guy? He did my portrait, too.'' On canvas, no less than on the back lot at Paramount, stardom is its own fraternity. 

The tour ends in the Meditation Garden, with the gravesites of Elvis and his parents. Tony Curtis, survivor, respectfully regards the scene before posing for photographs with his wife. Taking aside a reporter, he recalls some advice a stuntman once gave him about action movies. ''He said, `Never walk if you can run. And never run if you can fly.' I use that as a modus operandi.'' 

2003/01/17 Mark Feeney - The Boston Globe / Ep.Gold.Com.

HER PRESLEY ROOTS RADIATE FROM LIGHTS OUT.

That voice coming over FM 100, the one that could be a huskier Sheryl Crow, is Lisa Marie Presley, whose single Lights Out has been getting advance spins by the station. 

"We got a leaked copy of the song last week," says Chris Taylor, program director for the Hot Adult Contemporary radio station (WMC-FM 99.7). 

"I was hearing rumblings it was heard in other cities. . . . We finally got a copy a couple days ago, and played it on the morning show. We challenged listeners to guess the artist and 99 percent of the people guessed who it was, all except one guy who thought it was Pink." 

The song is the slated lead single for Presley's coming debut album, "To Whom It May Concern," which has been given an April 8 release date by the album's label Capitol Records. 

Delivered in a roots rock vein, Lights Out is a song that seems to address Lisa Marie's feelings about being the daughter of Elvis Presley; Lisa Marie is Presley's only child. Among its lyrics is a chorus that states: "Someone turned the lights out there in Memphis / That's where my family's buried and gone." (To hear a snippet of the song, go to http://lisamarie.tripod.co.jp/lisanews.htm. 

Taylor said the single was serviced to FM 100 on Tuesday, though the station sneaked it beginning last Friday. It is in new music rotation, meaning it gets a few spins daily, a good reaction given that FM 100's target audience is not typically Elvis-crazy. 

"People have been anticipating what it must sound like because of who she is," he says. "It's edgy enough, pop enough, adult enough that if she were going to showcase to the world who she is, this is a good direction." 

Taylor says that according to radio monitoring service MediaBase, FM 100 was the first station to play Lights Out nationally. Other stations locally are considering playing it, including the Memphis Pig (WMPS-FM 107.5). 

"We're looking at it," says Pig program director Steve Richards. "It's a good-sounding record and it has a lot of Memphis references." 

Former Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission president Jerry Schilling, who managed Lisa Marie for several years in the early '90s, heard FM 100 play the song and was pleased at the result. 

"Since she was 6 years old, Lisa has had music in her soul," says Schilling. "(Elvis-backing vocalists) The Sweet Inspirations used to bring her records and she would listen like an artist. I would see her in her room putting the needle back on the parts she wanted to hear."

Schilling says Lisa Marie, 34, shied away from a career in music for years, one reason being the perception of living up to her father's legendary legacy. Nevertheless, Lisa Marie had several offers on the table in the early '90s, including a production deal at one label that Schilling says he snagged without using her name "to make sure that what I was hearing was good." 

"We were closing a deal at Epic Records and we had a firm offer from RCA," continues Schilling. "And she called me and said, 'I can't sign the deal.' I said, 'What do you mean?' I thought she was kidding. She said, 'Jerry, I just can't do it, and you'll know why.' 

"And a couple of days later she married Michael Jackson." 

Lisa Marie married Jackson in 1994. They divorced less than two years later in 1996. Her third marriage, to actor Nicolas Cage, ended in November after mere months. 

Lisa Marie announced her singing talents at the Mid-South Coliseum's "Elvis in Concert '97." There, she sang a combined live/video duet with her filmed father a la the Natalie Cole/Nat King Cole song Unforgettable. Lisa Marie then gave fans a preview of her album - a self-penned tribute to her father, Nobody Noticed It - that was part of last year's spectacle, "Elvis - The Concert," at The Pyramid. 

Lisa Marie signed with Glen Ballard to his Capitol imprint Java Records in 1998. Ballard, a Natchez native and Ole Miss grad, is best known for his work with Alanis Morissette, but has an extensive list of credentials from Aerosmith and Michael Jackson to No Doubt and Christina Aguilera. 

Ballard did not produce "To Whom It May Concern," though he shows up as a songwriter on several tracks (notably Lights Out). Lisa Marie also co-wrote several tunes with first husband Danny Keough and former Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan. 

Lisa Marie is principal lyricist on the record, which includes such song titles as The Road Between, Gone, Indifferent, Excuse Me, To Whom It May Concern, So Lovely, SOB, Savior and Better Beware. 

"I'm so happy for her," says Schilling. "I don't care if she has great success or no success. I think it's important for her as a human being to give it a shot. But I think she's going to be huge because she can sing." 

2003/01/17 Bill Ellis - The Commercial Appeal / Ep.Gold.Com.

MADE IN FRANCE.

A short review from France on the French fan club release 'Made In France'.

Design
This 10 CD set is a limited edition of 1000 copies. it includes a 48 pages booklet with images in colour and black and white. All pictures on the sleeves were taken in Paris in 1959 and 1960. All discs are picture discs. 

Content
The box contains a huge part of Elvis catalogue in French. 250 French versions of song recorded by Elvis by the most important (French) artist from the last 50 years. Artists like Johnny Hallyday, Eddy Mitchell, Dick Rivers, Nana Mouskouri, Petula Clark, Dario Moreno, Claude François and many more. 

Each CD contains one song by Elvis, the titles are. Padre, Let It Be Me, O Come All Ye Faithful, Tonight Is So Right For Love, What Now My Love, Almost Always True, My Heart Cries For You, I Love Only One Girl, My Boy and My Way.

2003/01/15 My Happiness / ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

ELVIS PRESLEY REISSUES CHRONICAL PHASES OF HIS CAREER.

(1/13/03, 7 a.m. ET) -- To coincide with Elvis Presley's recent 68th birthday, RCA/BMG Heritage has released four essential Presley reissue compilations that chronicle various phases of his career.

Longtime Presley friend Diamond Joe Esposito explained that the most important thing to remember about Presley is his music. "Overall, the most important thing that I want people to remember Elvis about is his music and how he made them feel when he sang," Esposito said.

Each of the reissue discs represents a key segment of Presley's musical career--seminal early tracks are included on Elvis 56; love songs make up the tracks on Heart And Soul; Hollywood hits highlight Can't Help Falling In Love; and classic country is heard on Great Country Songs.

The releases have been mixed and mastered directly from the original source tapes using DSD technology, and each one features rare photos and expansive liner notes.

Elvis 56 returns to the year 1956--a remarkable year for Presley, when he spent a full 26 weeks of the year at Number One, selling 12.5 million singles and 2.75 million albums in the U.S. alone. The disc features 22 tracks including "Hound Dog," "Tutti Frutti," "Shake, Rattle And Roll," "Ready Teddy," "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," and "Heartbreak Hotel," including a previously unreleased alternate version of that song.

Heart And Soul also contains 22 tracks featuring Presley's most romantic ballads and love songs, such as "Love Me Tender," "Can't Help Falling In Love," "It's Now Or Never," "Always On My Mind," "Suspicious Minds," "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me," and "Bridge Over Troubled Water." 

Can't Help Falling In Love - The Hollywood Hits features songs from the 33 movies Presley made between 1956 and 1972. Tracks include "Jailhouse Rock," "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear," "Rock-A-Hula Baby," "Return To Sender," "Viva Las Vegas," and "Roustabout."

Great Country Songs takes Presley back to his roots, highlighting such classic tracks as "Blue Moon Of Kentucky," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Kentucky Rain," "Green, Green Grass Of Home," and "He'll Have To Go."

2003/01/15 Launch - Yahoo / Ep.Gold.Com.

MILLION -DOLLAR LIMO HIGHLIGHTS PHILLY AUTO SHOW.

An appearance by a limousine once owned by Elvis Presley highlights the opening of the 2003 Philadelphia International Auto Show, which is now under way in Philadelphia. 

The limo (picture above) is worth about $1,000,000, according to the organizers of the show. It is being displayed by Eastern U.S. Concours D'Elegance, which says the vehicle is a special 1969 Mercedes Benz Pullman 600 SWB Limousine. 

The show features more than 700 vehicles from more than 40 participating manufacturers, including hundreds of concept, classic, luxury, new production and exotic vehicles. 

Many concept vehicles featured at past Philadelphia shows have gone on to be manufactured, including the Chrysler PT Cruiser, Ford Thunderbird, Chevrolet SSR and VW Beetle. 

Concepts making an appearance in this year include the Jeep Willys2 and a Lexus concept vehicle from the movie "Minority Report." 

The gathering is the fifth-largest show in the country and is produced by the Automobile Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia. 

It is being held at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Center City, Philadelphia, until Jan. 19.

2003/01/15 The KCRA- Channel.Com / Ep.Gold.Com.

FACT.

Elvis Presley's trophy room at Graceland is filled with gold and platinum records and awards of all kinds from around the world. Some of the countries represented are: Norway, Yugoslavia, Japan, Australia, South Africa, England, Sweden, Germany, France, Canada, Belgium, and the Netherlands. It is interesting to note that, except for a handful of movie soundtrack songs, Elvis did not record in other languages, and, except for five shows in three Canadian cities in 1957, he did not perform in concert outside the United States. Still, his recordings and films enjoyed, and continue to enjoy, popularity all over the globe, and he is known throughout the world by his first name.

2003/01/15 EIN / Ep.Gold.Com.

ELVIS TRACK NAMED AS WORLD -SHAKER.

Elvis Presley's 50-year-old classic 'That's All Right' has been named the song that shook the world. The song, which was his first release and which many say gave the world rock'n'roll, was chosen by the experts and musicians as the most influential track yet made.

The Beatles are the highest-ranking British act for the song which cracked the US, 'I Wanna Hold Your Hand', which is at number two in the list for a special edition of Q magazine. 'That's All Right', recorded in 1954, was never actually released as a single in the UK but the Elvis's delivery started his musical career in the US on a high.

American music bible Billboard called the singer "a potent new chanter who comes through with a solid performance" in their review of the track, which he recorded for his mother. Music legend Bob Dylan, who recorded the song himself three times in the Sixties said: "When I first heard Elvis's voice I just knew that nobody was going to be my boss. It was like busting out of jail."

God Save The Queen by The Sex Pistols, a song largely banned by radio stations, came third in the list. The punk classic, a call to arms for disaffected youth, was given a 25-year anniversary makeover last year. The most recent song on the list is 'My Name Is' by Eminem from 1999 which is at 37. 

Top ten of Q’s 100 Songs That Changed The World:
1. Elvis Presley – That’s All Right.
2. The Beatles – I Wanna Hold Your Hand.
3. Sex Pistols – God Save The Queen.
4. Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight.
5. Nirvana – Smells Like Teen Spirit.
6. Billie Holiday – Strange Fruit.
7. Bob Dylan – Like A Rolling Stone.
8. Run DMC – Walk This Way.
9. New Order – Blue Monday.
10. Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas? 

2003/01/15 Ananova / Ep.Gold.Com.

ANOTHER ELVIS MP3 CD - ROM.

Out in Malaysia is a new 'Mega Elvis' CD-Rom featuring 680 Elvis songs on 3 MP3 CDs with a special 16 page booklet. The disc also contains a biography, photos and links to Elvis on the WWW.

2003/01/15 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

CANADA PLATINUM AWARD.

Here is the BMG - Canada Platinum Award ( 6 times ) that was presented to Graceland last week for the sales of " Elvis 30 #1 Hits " in Canada. This CD has sold so far 600,000 copies in Canada and still selling pretty well.

2003/01/15 Barry Mc Clean / Ep.Gold.Com.

CANADIAN SALES FIT FOR A KING.

Fans who gathered at Graceland to celebrate the 68th anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth on Jan. 8 learned that as far as album sales go, the King is most loved, actually, by the Great White North. On a per capita basis, Canadian fans have bought more copies of "Elv1s: 20 No. 1 Hits" than the citizens of any other country, including the U.S. The King's annual birthday celebration included a ceremony marking album sales by nation, with 27 territories going gold or better. 

None beat Canada, where the hits album has gone platinum six times over since its September release. The U.S .and the U.K. were next, each with triple-platinum sales. BMG plans a follow-up disc next year.

2003/01/15 Reuters / Ep.Gold.Com.

BILL CLINTON COLLECTION OF THE KING.

In Little Rock, Christmas 2003 will ring with Bill Clinton and the King. 
A third preview of the Clinton presidential collection will showcase collectors’ books, gifts from all 50 states and a sample of Elvis Presley memorabilia. Five days before the "Holidays in the White House" exhibit closes in the River Market District, presidential library planners announced Monday that they are already working on the next one, which will open in the Cox Creative Center on Nov. 24. 

Called "America Presents: A Collection of Gifts and Books to the Clinton Presidency," the future exhibit will be the final preview before the William J. Clinton Presidential Center opens its doors in the fall of 2004. "Everyone has advised me not to do another one of these things," said Skip Rutherford, president of the William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation, surrounded by the current exhibit’s Christmas trees and photographs. After all, Rutherford noted, archivists indexing Clinton’s materials will be busy helping put together the library’s permanent displays. 

Despite all of the work ahead, Rutherford, a public relations executive, said he couldn’t resist a little more marketing. "The more we could talk about this library in advance, the more we could do to promote this neighborhood, we should do," he said. Organizers have found that the preview exhibits give visitors a better idea of what to expect when the presidential library opens. The facility will include a museum, an archive, the Clinton School for Public Service and a policy school. Its steel form is taking shape on a 28-acre city park east of the River Market District. Beyond its museum and educational components, the Clinton library also will serve as a place to store — and for historians to study — the former president’s White House documents and memorabilia — not a place where visitors can thumb through books. 

With access restricted to such items, the preview exhibits offer a rare opportunity for the public to see pieces of history that have been amassed during the Clinton years. The "America Presents" exhibit will feature a variety of crafts and folk art, as well as several pieces from Clinton’s Elvis collection. "You know, President Clinton’s Secret Service code name was Elvis," Rutherford said. 

The former president’s Elvis collection tops several hundred pieces — gifts from friends and other folks who heard Clinton was a big fan of the Memphis Flash. "I have some great pictures, including the famous one of Elvis on the train from Tupelo to Memphis," Clinton told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazettein November 2001. "I also have a scarf he autographed at a 1971 concert." 

Other items include an Elvis Presley phone, a book of Elvis recipes, the King’s cookie-jar piano and a clock featuring Presley in a blue plaid shirt, blue pants and blue suede shoes. Clinton’s Elvis assemblage is a mere fraction of the 625 tons of material he collected during his eight years in the White House, which includes 100 million pages of documents, 2 million photographs and more than 75,000 artifacts. 

2003/01/15 Arkansas Democrat - Gazette. / Ep.Gold.Com.

LEGACY IS CLOUDY THROUGH LENS OF RACE.

How do negroes feel about Elvis?
Read this great article written by Christoher Blank.

Go to the Menu : Reviews or


2003/01/13 Christopher Blank - Go Memphis.Com / Ep.Gold.Com.

BEE GEES SINGER MAURICE GIBB DIES.
MIAMI BEACH, Florida -- Bee Gee Maurice Gibb died in hospital on Sunday, his family said. 
|

The 53-year-old had been critically ill since an operation to remove an intestinal blockage after he collapsed at his Florida home last week. 
A statement released by his family said: "It is with great sadness and sorrow that we regretfully announce the passing of Maurice Gibb. 
"His love and enthusiasm and energy for life remain an inspiration to all of us. We will all deeply miss him." 

Gibb collapsed at his Miami home with intense stomach pains and was rushed to the hospital on Thursday. 
After surgery on an intestinal blockage, he was listed as critical but stable for three days before his death. 
The hospital had said that before his surgery he had "experienced cardiac arrest." 
His wife Yvonne and his two children had been with him at the Mount Sinai Medical Centre in Miami since the surgery. 

Gibb's twin brother, Robin, said in a television interview on Friday in Britain that his brother's collapse took everyone by surprise but that Maurice's "vital organs are A-1 and he's recovering." 
But he had also warned doctors had told the family that the following 48 hours would be crucial. 
Pete Bassett, Robin Gibb's spokesman, said on Sunday: "It's a huge shock to us all. It's the worst possible news anyone could have expected. There's just complete and utter shock. This is an unbelievable blow." 

Maurice played bass and keyboard for the group, whose name is short for the Brothers Gibb. 

The Bee Gees -- Maurice, Robin and their older brother Barry -- have lived in South Florida since the late 1970s. Their younger brother, Andy, who had a successful solo career, died in 1988 at age 30 from a heart ailment. 

Known for their close harmonies and original sound, the Bee Gees are members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and their 1977 contributions to the "Saturday Night Fever" album made it one of the best selling movie soundtracks ever. Among their disco hits on that album are "Stayin' Alive," "More Than a Woman" and "How Deep Is Your Love." 

They also had hits in other genres, including the haunting "New York Mining Disaster 1941" and "I Started a Joke." 
The group won seven Grammy Awards together. The Bee Gees last album was in 2001, titled "This Is Where I Came In." 

2003/01/13 CNN.Com / Ep.Gold.Com.

E 1 CHART UPDATE FINLAND.

The Elvis 30 # 1 Hits Album dropped this week 5 spots from # 4 to # 9.

2003/01/13 Kari Paju - Finland / Ep.Gold.Com.

E 1 CHART UPDATE UK.

The Elvis 30 # 1 Hits album dropped from  # 14 to  # 18 in the Top 75 Albums Chart UK.

2003/01/13 Dot Music.Com.

ELV1S 30 # 1 HITS ALBUM SIX TIMES PLATINUM IN CANADA.

Fans who gathered at Graceland to celebrate the 68th anniversary of Elvis Presley's birth on Jan. 8 learned that as far as album sales go, the King is most loved, actually, by the Great White North. On a per capita basis, Canadian fans have bought more copies of "Elv1s: 20 No. 1 Hits" than the citizens of any other country, including the U.S. The King's annual birthday celebration included a ceremony marking album sales by nation, with 27 territories going gold or better. 

None beat Canada, where the hits album has gone platinum six times over since its September release. The U.S .and the U.K. were next, each with triple-platinum sales. BMG plans a follow-up disc next year.


2003/01/13 Barry Mc Clean / Ep.Gold.Com.

THE CULT OF ELVIS.

This is the latest issue ( no 166 ) of the Magazine Fortean Times, UK with Elvis on the frontcover entitled : Elvis The Cult The King Of Rock 'N Roll died for your sins.

2003/01/13 Ep.Gold.Com.

DID YOU VISIT GRACELAND FOR ELVIS WEEK!!!

OUR AUSTRALIAN CORRESPONDENT BOB HAYDEN WOULD LIKE TO
HEAR FROM ANYBODY THAT WAS AT GRACELAND ON THE 8th JANUARY
FOR THE AWARDS CEREMONY.
BOB WOULD LIKE TO OBTAIN PICTURES FROM FANS THAT USED THEIR CAMERA
WHEN EACH PLAQUE WAS PRESENTED BY GRACELAND STAFF.
ANY ASSISTANCE WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED..
YOU CAN CONTACT BOB AT THE FOLLOWING EMAIL ADDRESS
bobhayden@ozemail.com.au

IF YOU CAN HELP PLEASE EMAIL BOB AND HE WILL ANSWER ALL EMAILS.

2003/01/13 Bob Hayden / Ep.Gold.Com.

AMERICAN ROUTES RADIO SHOW.

American Routes: On the 25th anniversary of his death, Elvis Presley is remembered. Exclusive interviews with band mates DJ Fontana, Scotty Moore, producer Sam Phillips, and biographer Peter Guralnick focus on the social and cultural interactions unique to Memphis and the Deep South that sparked Elvis' musical explosiveness.

This radio show will be b-cast tomorrow, January 12th, on WFUV 90.7 between 5pm-7pm in New York City. For more information visit the website at: http://wfuv.org/

2003/01/13 ElvisNews / Ep.Gold.Com.

ELVIS SUN STAMPERS.

I have searched for four years for someone to swap me a Jerry Lee master - but none has been found. Many of the fans who have written to me think I have had them for far too long and that they should be on public display. Accordingly - they are up for sale. I will keep the two records that EMI pressed up from the originals.

I have put a great many more pictures and story about the records on this page:

http://www.kyleesplin.com/ELVISMASTERRECORDSFOUND.htm

regards and keep rockin'

Graham.

2003/01/13 Graham / EPGold.com