Restore It

Tennessee (TN) is Elvis' home state. The state of Tennessee is divided into West, Middle and East Tennessee, home to about 7,2 million people. Tennessee has 95 counties, of which Shelby County is located in West-Tennessee. Elvis' hometown, Memphis, is situated in Shelby County, West-Tennessee. 

When Nicolette, Rita and I visited Memphis in 2007, we happen upon one of the few Elvis childhood homes still standing, namely 2414 Lamar Ave.

The Presleys rented 2414 Lamar Ave from May-Nov 1955, after which an extension was added to the front of the house. When we were there, the house was seemingly used as a creche. We couldn't go inside and wished someone would restore it to how it looked like when Elvis lived there. I was sad to hear the place fell victim to a fire in 1923. 

Seemingly Shelby County now owns 2414 Lamar Ave and the mayor seems optimistic to restore it as a new kind of showcase to represent part of Elvis' youth and some of his musical influences.

One Hour Lay Over

Recently, more unseen footage of Elvis was found, originating from a local ABC TV station in Fort Worth, Texas. In the early hours of 11 Jan 1958 (only 9 days before the filming of King Creole) Elvis was on his way to Hollywood via train. During a one hour lay over at the Fort Worth train station he stepped off to chat with fans and give autographs. Inside the train Elvis talked to news reporters. During all of the answers there were lots of laughs.

Reporter: What do you think about jerks like the one in Kentucky who quit the draft board because you were given a 60-day deferment?  

Elvis: Mr. Hershey? Well, I'm just like him, I was expecting it.   

Reporter: Would you rather be a lover or a fighter?

Elvis: It's just according to what the situation is, you know what I mean? Sometimes you'd have to be both.  

Reporter: Do you mind cutting your sideburns as part of the army induction?

Elvis: No, they'll grow back. If it was a situation if they cut them off and I never could have any more then I would worry about them. 

Reporter: The sideburns look shorter today. Have you worn them shorter than usual?

Elvis: Well, I wore them shorter than I use to, uh-huh. 

Reporter: What's the reason for that, maybe?

Elvis: Well, I don't know... 

No. 1

Remember the Elvis CHRISTMAS DUETS CD release of 2008? 

All Elvis/female duets. Yeah, I didn't much like it. But it did break into the US Billboard 200 at No.17. 

And what turns up 4 years later in 2012? Yes, another Christmas compilation, the CLASSIC CHRISTMAS album. Much better album cover! And on it? Material from Elvis' two original Christmas albums, the single If Everyday Was Like Christmas PLUS 2 duets from the 2008 CHRISTMAS DUETS album. 

They DID surprise us with a marvellous promotional video, though: Fantasy Martina McBride and Elvis '68. Guess what? The audio from this video has never been released. 

Fast forward 12 years. Out of nowhere the CLASSIC CHRISTMAS album shoots to No.1 on the Top ROCK Albums Chart.

A tip of the hat to all the new Elvis fans everywhere.  

Elvis In The Making

Director Baz Luhrman, writer/director/producer of the marvellous Elvis (2022) film, has a new Elvis project in the making! We are overjoyed because we've been waiting for an official release of the hours of unseen footage of Elvis' two thrilling rockumentaries for over half a century. It's not that we've not been asking, we have, but to no avail. 

Fortunately for Elvis fans, it seems Lurhman not only gave most fans joy with his 2022 film, but also got a new generation PLUS himself hooked on Elvis. 

According to Baz the film will neither be a documentary nor a concert film, so how it will look like is a mystery. The contents, however, is from unreleased footage of Elvis: That's The Way It Is (1970) and Elvis On Tour (1972). 

Baz recently announced on social media: We HAVE found the footage. We found it, and a lot of it, and sound ... inside, where they were storing it. I will do that extra concert film. 

When Baz was asked if he's seen the footage, he replied: Oh, I've seen a lot of it. It's extraordinary what's there. It shocked even me what is there. And, more importantly, we have the SOUND.

A trailer of this exciting announcement has been released. At long last, it seems the decades long dream of many an Elvis fan may come true.   

Red Robinson

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

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

Red described the Elvis concert in Vancouver as troublesome pandemonium: 

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