Magic of Elvis lives on at O.C. festival

On stage, a man in gold-sequined coat and finely coiffed hair did an earnest rendition of "Can't Help Falling in Love." Nearby, fans posed for photos with a 12-foot-tall Elvis on stilts, flanked by an equally tall Priscilla and, below, Mini Elvis – a little person in a white, high-collared jumpsuit and jet-black pompadour.
And in another tent at the Orange County Market Place, Darlene Tompkins, who co-starred with Elvis Presley in the movie "Blue Hawaii," struggled to answer a fan's question: What is the one word you would use to describe Elvis, and why?
"Elvis was so many things – kind and smart – that just about every word could be used to describe him," she said.
"But if I had to use one word," she said, pausing, "it would have to be: inspirational."
Thirty-five years after his death, the man known as Elvis the Pelvis and simply as The King is still clearly inspiring a lot of things, as witnessed Sunday at "The Magic of Elvis" festival at the Orange County Fair & Events Center.
The day inspired dozens of versions of Elvis songs, some performed bluegrass style, others with Hula dancers, and a karaoke contest with singers male and female, white and Latino, young and old – each with a lasting love for Elvis.
Jeff Abbitt, 54, of Irvine, who performs a comedy and magic act as "Abbitt the Average," dressed up in oversized metal sunglasses and an exaggerated black hairdo to look like The King.
A big part of his act is getting people to warm up to him and trust him as he performs his juggling and comedy routine. A little Elvis costuming goes a long way.
"When I put on this outfit, people immediately point and say, 'Hey there's Elvis.' It kind of puts them at ease," Abbitt said.
Judy Ri Chard, 72, a Realtor from Las Vegas and president of the All Shook Up in Vegas fan club, came to enjoy the festivities and sell some of her vast collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia. Among the items: A Young Elvis collector's plate ($25), a Russell Stover collection of Old Elvis chocolates ($5) and an autographed photo of Presley during his stint in the U.S. Army ($10).
"There is just such a spirit about Elvis that still lives today," she said. "Many of us never got a chance to meet him, but we can feel that spirit.
"You feel it in these hundreds of people who dress like him and keep singing his songs," she added. "There are millions of people who still want to be like Elvis – but they won't be. He was one of a kind."

Elvis Presley fans descend on Graceland for candlelight vigil

Elvis Presley fans descend on Graceland for candlelight vigil on 35th anniversary of his death

Elvis Presley fans hoisted colorful umbrellas against a hot sun and massed in folding chairs outside Graceland on Wednesday, awaiting a candlelight vigil marking the 35th anniversary of the death of the rock ‘n’ roll icon.
Elvis admirers flocked by the thousands to Memphis from around the U.S. and from as far off as England and Japan, many waiting for hours to enter the Memphis mansion where Presley is buried on the grounds.

Presley died on Aug. 16, 1977, of a heart attack after suffering from prescription drug abuse. His death at 42 marked the end of a soaring musical career that ended all too abruptly for legions of fans still mesmerized today by his singing, sex appeal and on-stage charisma.
The vigil marks the high point of Elvis Week, the annual celebration of Presley’s life and career. Organizers have said they expected 75,000 people to attend Elvis Week, with many taking part in the vigil that was beginning Wednesday evening and to last into Thursday.
This year also brings another highlight with a 35th-anniversary tribute concert planned at an area arena Thursday night. Ex-wife Priscilla Presley and daughter Lisa Marie Presley were expected to attend the concert featuring live musicians playing along with videotaped footage of Elvis singing.
On Wednesday afternoon, Cheryl Skogen and friend Susan Struss held up black umbrellas with polka dots near the front of the line as they waited to enter Graceland’s grounds. As longtime Elvis fans and neighbors in Los Angeles, they said they decided to come to Elvis Week without their husbands. They got up well before dawn Wednesday for a prime spot in the line.
There, women wore pink and black T-shirts emblazoned with Elvis’ picture. Some men dressed in black shirts, dark sunglasses and pompadours, Elvis-style.
Skogen said she first came to Graceland in 1981 — before the home became a museum and a tourist attraction — and has visited several times since. She remembers first seeing Elvis on “The Ed Sullivan Show” and being enthralled with his hip-swiveling performance at a Lack Tahoe concert.
“The first time I saw him he changed my life,” said Skogen, now 66 and retired. “I had never seen anybody dance like he did or sing like he did or look like he did. He captured my heart.”
A few spots down the line, Allen Black, 47, who sat in a blue and white chair alongside the outer wall of Graceland and talked about his memories of where he was when he first heard Elvis had died. He was 12 at the time.
“I was trying to record a song off the radio, and the news came on the radio, and I went to tell my dad,” Black said, tears welling in his eyes. “He didn’t believe me. It just stunned him.”
Black — who is from Aurora, Colo., scene of the July 20 movie theatre shooting massacre — said Elvis was a great performer but also someone who treated others well.
“For some people, it’s the music, but for a lot of people, it’s the man, the charisma, the humanitarian,” Black said. “At first, they probably got drawn in by the music, and then the more they learn about the man, and the way he treated people, it draws them in even more.”
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

 

Fans flock to Graceland in memory of Elvis Presley

Fans flock to Graceland in memory of Elvis Presley

Fans of Elvis Presley are flocking to his Graceland estate for Thursday’s 35th anniversary of his death, and their enthusiasm for the king of rock ‘n’ roll is undiminished by the years.
Organizers of the annual Elvis Week expect this year’s edition to be the largest ever, with his widow Priscilla and daughter Lisa Marie Presley participating.
“Elvis is fan-driven,” said Joe Guercio, Presley’s musical director from 1970 until the star’s sudden death on August 16, 1977 at the age of 42, “and there are not a lot of people (in show business) who are fan-driven.”
Actually nine days long, Elvis Week started in Memphis last Friday, centered around a 1,200-seat air conditioned tent across Elvis Presley Boulevard from Graceland and next to the preserved remains of the singer’s private jet.
Highlights include an all-night candlelight vigil Wednesday at Graceland’s gates, where fans this year will have the option of lighting real wax candles or switching on virtual candles on a special Elvis Week smartphone app.
On Thursday, a concert at a downtown stadium — featuring Priscilla and Lisa Marie, as well as surviving members of Presley’s band — will review the legend’s roots in blues, gospel and country music.
Folded into Elvis Week is the sixth annual Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contest — never, ever call them impersonators — with contestants from as far afield as Australia and Japan.
“I always look like this, minus some of the make up — but the hair is always the same, sideburns and everything,” immaculately coifed Rick Huntress, an award-winning Elvis tribute artist from New England, said.
Tuesday saw hundreds of Elvis fan club presidents get the lowdown from Elvis Presley Enterprises, which closely oversees the rights to Presley’s posthumous image, on his enduring legacy in film, commercials and merchandising.
Good-humored boos filled the Elvis Week Main Stage tent when Carol Butler, vice president for international licensing, revealed a Mr Potato Head character resembling Presley in his “Aloha from Hawaii” period.
Much more of a crowd-pleaser — it was greeted with cheers — was a Canadian-made suitcase emblazoned with an airbrushed portrait of Presley. “It’s really nice,” said Butler, who listed its price at $100.
And in a cross-cultural fusion of pop culture icons, Butler lifted the wraps off a forthcoming Elvis version of Japan’s Hello Kitty doll. “We just love it,” she said. “She’s just cute in her little Elvis duds.”
In another part of Memphis, Presley artifacts went under an auctioneer’s hammer, including — of all things — an empty plastic bottle of tetracycline, an antibiotic, prescribed to Presley in 1974. It sold for $5,500.
A pair of yellow-tinted sunglasses, custom-made in Germany for the singer, sold for $22,500 while a gold Longines watch — a gift from his manager Colonel Tom Parker — realized $16,250, Heritage Auctions said.
But the auction’s marquee item, a concert poster from 1954 estimated at $30,000, failed to find a buyer.
It had been hand-made for a gig that Presley gave near Memphis just a few months after he released his first hit single “That’s All Right.”
Other memorabilia that did sell included a Colt Python double-action revolver that Presley used for target practice in the backyard of Graceland. It went for $13,750.

Elvis Presley: PRINCE FROM ANOTHER PLANET

Elvis Presley: PRINCE FROM ANOTHER PLANET, as Recorded Live at Madison Square Garden, New York City, June 10, 1972

Adding to the historic weight of PRINCE FROM ANOTHER PLANET is an evocative 5,000-word essay written by Lenny Kaye, longtime guitarist for Patti Smith.  Kaye actually covered the press conference and the concerts for his gig as music editor of Cavalier magazine in the '70s.  In addition to his roles as a musician and a producer of numerous reissues and compilations, Kaye has been annotating albums for more than four decades.
Accompanying the two CDs is a bonus DVD that presents unseen footage of the Saturday afternoon show, captured on hand-held camera by a fan, and now acquired by Legacy from that fan decades later for this package.  Rarely is unseen footage of Elvis in concert discovered, so this footage lends historical importance to the package.  The film is a revealing portrait of a physically commanding Elvis and his power­house TCB Band, background vocalists, and orchestra.
The recently discovered footage is set to make its world premiere during Elvis Week in Memphis on Friday, August 17^th, at 4:30 p.m. at a free event in the Elvis Week Entertainment Pavilion.
Along with the concert film on the DVD is another video document, the press conference that took place on Friday afternoon before the big weekend.  Attended by Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis' father, Vernon Presley, Elvis disarms and wins over the New York press corps with his good-natured demeanor.
For example, when asked "Which kind of song do you like doing the best?" Elvis answers, "I like to mix 'em up.  In other words, I like to do a song like 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' or 'American Trilogy,' or something.  Then mix it up and do some rock and roll, some of the hard rock stuff.  I'm not the least bit ashamed of 'Hound Dog' or 'Heartbreak Hotel'..."
A closer look at the concert repertoire confirms his answer.  The set lists for the afternoon and evening shows are an eclectic mix, something for everyone.  After the bombastic "Also Sprach Zarathustra" theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey, both shows are bookended at the start by "That's All Right" (from 1956), Creedence's "Proud Mary" (via Ike & Tina Turner), Hoyt Axton's "Never Been To Spain" (via Three Dog Night), and Dusty Springfield's "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me."  Both shows end with "Suspicious Minds," Kristofferson's "For The Good Times," Mickey Newbury's "American Trilogy," Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away," Don Gibson's "I Can't Stop Loving You" (via Ray Charles), and of course, "Can't Help Falling In Love."
The set lists are virtually identical, though four songs from the afternoon show were not performed at the evening show: Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Until It's Time For You To Go," "Blue Suede Shoes," Lowell Fulsom's "Reconsider Baby," and Don Ho's "I'll Remember You."  And one song from the evening show was not performed at the afternoon show: Man Of La Mancha's "The Impossible Dream."
With those exceptions, the central portion of each show is very nearly the same something-for-everyone program, starting with the Righteous Brothers' "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'" and Tony Joe White's "Polk Salad Annie," then straight back to 1956-57 for "Love Me," "All Shook Up," "Heartbreak Hotel," the medley of "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" c/w "Don't Be Cruel," "Love Me Tender," and "Hound Dog."
After being roundly excoriated by New York critics after his televised visits of 1956 (on Jackie Gleason's Stage Show, in January, February and March), and 1957 (Ed Sullivan's Toast Of the Town in January; and The Steve Allen Show in July), Elvis and his manager Tom Parker did not schedule another New York performance for some 15 years.  Even after Elvis triumphed on his black leather NBC-TV "comeback" special of December 1968, and returned to public concert touring fulltime in August 1969 (at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, chronicled in 2010 on RCA/Legacy's On Stage: Legacy Edition), they still waited three years to play New York.
When asked at the press conference why it took so long, Elvis answers with a straight face: "I think it was a matter of not getting the building, the proper building.  We had to wait our turn in order to get the building.  Couldn't get a good building in fifteen years.  No, all kidding aside, we had to wait our turn to get in ... into the Garden, you know.  I just hope we put on a good show for everybody. Oh, I like it. I enjoy it."

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Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/07/31/4678281/elvis-presley-prince-from-another.html#storylink=cpy