by admin, August 11th, 2007
Earlier this year on the hit television show “American Idol,” a young, tanned Elvis Presley walked onto the stage and performed a roughly three-minute duet with Celine Dion.
The stunning performance, which left viewers across the world asking “How did they do that?” could be routine once Robert F.X. Sillerman is finished recreating Graceland. […]
by admin, August 11th, 2007
The lip curls. The hips gyrate. The hands and arms aren’t just holding the microphone, but treating it like a prop.
Elvis Presley was dead before most of the contestants in the Tupelo Elvis Contest were born. To perform as their hero, they have to do like contestant Brandon Bennett. “I watch and listen to […]
by admin, August 10th, 2007
As NASCAR’s most recognizable and popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has thousands of fans screaming his name every weekend.
His red-clad supporters strain and crowd for the chance to get an autograph, a handshake or even just some eye contact every time he’s at the racetrack.
It has given Earnhardt an insider’s view of […]
by Bob Mehr, August 10th, 2007
For the thousands of visitors who’ll make the pilgrimage to Memphis this week to mark the 30th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s death, the next seven days will be filled with a mix of sightseeing and book-signings, concerts and celebratory events.
But for those who knew Presley best, like his longtime friend Jerry Schilling, […]
by Bob Mehr, August 10th, 2007
One of the byproducts of Elvis Presley’s personal demise was the decline — both in quantity and quality — of his studio output during the latter years of his life.
Following the ‘68 Comeback Special on television, Presley achieved a kind of creative and commercial high-watermark with the 1969 sessions at American Sound Studio […]
by Bob Mehr, August 10th, 2007
“I don’t know if I was Elvis’ best friend,” says “Diamond” Joe Esposito, “but he was definitely my best friend.”
The Chicago-born Esposito first met Presley in 1958, during their respective stints in the Army in West Germany. Esposito went to work for Elvis in 1960, and he rode shotgun for the next 17 […]
by Bob Mehr, August 10th, 2007
Delbert “Sonny” West may be the most controversial and outspoken former member of the Memphis Mafia. As Elvis’ bodyguard and security chief, West was a trusted confidant of the King, accompanying him everywhere from concert halls to the inner sanctum of the White House.
West, his cousin Red West and Dave Hebler were fired […]
by Michael Lollar, August 10th, 2007
Girls in poodle skirts and bobby socks helped turn Frank Sinatra into the first singer who opened up a young audience for pop music in the 1940s. Screaming teenage girls were part of “Sinatra mania,” but a decade later Elvis Presley upped the ante.
“There was something about Elvis Presley that gave them a joy […]
by admin, July 31st, 2007
The Cannon Center for the Performing Arts at the Memphis Cook Convention Center in downtown Memphis. The finale of the first-ever official Elvis tribute artist contest. Finalists from qualifying rounds earlier in the week compete for the title of Elvis Tribute Artist of the Year. Attendees at the show will see the best Elvis Tribute […]
by Cindy Wolff, July 5th, 2007
When squirrels and rabbits began nibbling swaths into the flowery landscape of Elvis Presley’s former Palm Springs home, the owners asked themselves a simple question.
What would Elvis do?
The animal-friendly King of rock and roll kept a furry and feathery menagerie at Graceland, his Memphis estate. Ducks, chickens, dogs, chimpanzees, guinea pigs, donkeys, even peacocks all […]