Elvis Unlimited 55

W W W . E L V I S U N L I M I T E D . C O M 1

ISSUE NUMBER 55, 2012

Elvis UnlimitedElvis UnlimitedThe Elvis Experi-ence in BrazilRead all about it!

News from the Circle G Foundation

Elvis’ last vacation

All about Elvis’ Great Gibson

guitars

Always ElvisNew radio from

Graceland Randers

All the latest news!

Loooots of new Cd’s!

4 0 P A G E S C R A M M E D W I T H E L V I S !

The Sweet Inspirations


E D I T O R I A LGRACELAND RANDERS VEJ 3

8960 RANDERS SØDENMARK

TEL. +45 8642 9696FAX +45 8642 8484 MERRY CHRISTMAS BABY

Another year almost gone! We’ve been really busy at Graceland Randers, keeping Elvis’ memory alive. We have made the wildest scoop at the Elvis Museum at Graceland Randers! We’ve acquired Elvis’ Emperor Suit, which he used on stage in Las Vegas in 1974! We have also got hold of the puppets from GI Blues (from the puppet theatre scene where Elvis sings “Wooden Heart (Muss I Denn)”) as well as Glen D. Hardin’s TCB necklace etc.

We have plotted out most of the calendar for 2013 and we have some great goodies in store for you! The first thing – and one that I am personally really looking forward to – is our concert on January 10 with the TCB Band (with Den-nis Jale in front), and The Imperials and Joe Esposito. It will be an evening that both celebrates Elvis’ birthday and the 40-year Aloha From Hawaii anniversary.

On Elvis’ birthday, January 8th 2013, we’ll launch a joint venture with Radio Alfa: “Always Elvis Radio”. A radio station that will be available online (for free), playing Elvis music and airing interviews with people that have cool Elvis stories. One of the first interviews, you can hear is with James Burton. You can find more info on the radio inside the magazine.

I was recently in Brazil as a representative of Graceland Randers on the Crown Prince and Crown Princess’ official visit to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. I was really lucky that it coincided with the temporary exhibition “The Elvis Experience Brasil” in Sao Paulo. I’ve done a little piece for you on the exhibit.

Also included in this magazine is an interview with Estelle Brown and a short rendition of the Sweet Inspirations’ story. You’ll also find a story on Elvis’ Gibson Dove Guitar and the Gibson Guitar Corporation as well as a piece on Elvis’ last vacation, and a Circle G update.

I want to wish you and your families a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Always Elvis,Rikke

PUBLISHERHenrik Knudsen

henrik@graceland- randers.dk

EDITORRikke Friis

marketing@graceland randers.dk

QUESTIONS ETC:info@graceland-

randers.dk

ART DIRECTORKenneth Dokkeberg [email protected]

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4 E L V I S U N L I M I T E D

Linda Gail Lewis at Graceland RandersLinda Gail Lewis did 3 intimate shows with her daughter, Annie Marie Dolan, in the Elvis Museum at Graceland Randers on August 13-15. She also told stories about the times she met Elvis.

ABC 24 News Report about Circle G Foundation“(It’s where the king became a cowboy. That’s how Elvis fans describe the ranch in Horn Lake, Mississippi where he and Priscilla spent their honeymoon. The Circle G Ranch was one of the king’s favorite getaways in the 60’s and 70’s. Now, it’s neglected and falling apart. The ranch has been for sale for years. In 2010 a group of fans started a non-profit to save it. Their campaign has gone worldwide, and if enthusiasm were enough they’d be set. But the foundation is short one very big thing: money.

“This is another place to visit,” says Tony Benison, a fan in town from England. “(Fans) go to Tupelo. They go to Graceland and they just wonder where else can we go?”The Circle G is an Elvis fan’s dream.

“You can’t keep going back and forward to the house all the time,” says Benison. “This is Elvis’ place, where he spent his honeymoon. “And where Elvis rode horses and went to get away from it all.

“We see it as the Elvis Golden Triangle,” says Lesley Pilling, founder of the Circle G Founda-tion. “You have Graceland, Tupelo and the ranch.” But the king’s days are a distant memory from the looks of the ranch today.

“It’s just a lovely place to be and it’s ruining, it’s all falling down,” Benison says.

The Circle G Foundation is trying to turn things around. They want to restore the ranch so fans can experience it the way Elvis did.

“We have ambassadors in Denmark, in Italy, Australia,

South Africa, the UK and in Ireland,” Pilling tells

abc24.com. She and fellow members in town for Elvis Week met with

Horn Lake’s mayor Friday morning. “It’s

the most down to earth reasonable idea so far I’ve

seen,” says Mayor Nat Baker.But the fans have yet to find a buyer. The purchase price is nearly four million dollars. They need someone with money to jump on board.

“An Elvis fan who appreciates the significance of the ranch,” says Pilling. “That’d be brilliant,” adds Benison.

They say Elvis loved the ranch’s lake, its bridge and the cross. They’re worried with time, those will be lost forever.

“If the Elvis part of it disap-pears,” says Pilling. “If the cross falls down, the bridge falls down or if the house deteriorates, then that value’s gone. “That would be these Elvis fans’ nightmare.

The foundation is also applying to put the ranch on the national historic register. They’re going to submit the ap-plication very soon. If approved, the ranch would legally have to be protected. It’s just one of many options the group is working on to save the Circle G)”

Elvis’ bible sold for $95,000!At an auction Saturday in Stock-port, England Elvis’ bible was sold for $95,000 reports BBC News.

Elvis was given the 1,600-page long book by his uncle and aunt at his first Christmas at Graceland in 1957 and it was in his possession until his untimely death in 1977. The Bible contains notes written by Elvis.

The winning bid for the Bible

Find out what’s happpening!

e l v i s n e w s : f i n d o u t w h a t ’ s h a p p e n i n g


came from an American man living in England, who bid over the phone.At the auction there was also a couple of Elvis’ unwashed underpants, but they did not reach the minimum price of just over $103,000. Danish pop act Alphabeat came by!Danish pop band Alphabeat came to Graceland Randers following an interview on Radio Alfa. Thank you for visitting Stine & Anders.

Elvis Championship in OctoberOn October 13 the competition for the best Scandinavian ETA (Elvis Tribute Artist) was held at Graceland Randers. Participants came from Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Henrik Busborg was crowned Scandinavia’s best Elvis 2012. We have uploaded pictures of the event on our website. The judges were: Charles Stone (US), Lesley Pilling (UK), Poul Foged (DK), Steinar Elvis Lyshaug (NO), and Ulf Nilsson (SE)

James Burton, Steen Jorgensen & Hush!Steen Jorgensen sang with Hush and Legendary James Burton at Graceland Randers on October 28th! It was not a pure Elvis show, but more of a James Burton-show. An evening of paying tribute to the many sessions and artists, James has collaborated on and with!

FTD releases in DecemberFTD closes 2012 with 3 releases in December:‘Back In Memphis’ will be a 7” release.’3000 South Paradise Road’ is a 2-CD release which will contain a never-before-released rehearsal from August, 1972, and a soundboard show from August 12th, 1972. The last of the three is a ‘G.I. Blues’ 12” Vinyl release.

ELVIS FILES VOL. 5Erik Lorentzen’s book series continues with Volume 5, cover-ing 1969-1970. Includes every working moment- Every Getting to that Busy Elvis Schedule- Lots of Returning from Each Elvis project.- Elvis AT PLAY Images. (over 200 Newly Discovered - seen for the first time)- Plenty of Off Set CANDID Moments.- All the Recording Sessions have pages of Features- All the “ Interviews” are shown.- Elvis In Las Vegas his return to

live performances- The Tours of 1970 are show-cased with Many Rare Pictures- Houston, Phoenix, St. Louis, Detroit, Miami, Tampa, Mobile, Oakland, Portland, Seattle, San Di-ego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oklahoma City and Denver.- The Movies: Change Of Habit and That’s The way It Is are covered in Great Details with lots of unseen photos.- With many Surprises - more than 1600 PHOTOS on 560 pages.Lots of “UNSEEN” “UNPUB-LISHED” “AMAZING IMAGES”

The Elvis Files Vol. 1, expected in mid-DecemberThe waiting has been long but The Elvis Files Vol. 1 can finally be preordered at Graceland Randers. It’s expected to be released around mid-December.

Mike Andersen at Graceland RandersMike Andersen made his first footsteps on the Danish blues and soul music scene with the album “My Love For The Blues” in 2002, and since then he has shown a constant desire and vision of musical development. Mike did a fantastic duo show at Graceland Randers on November 2.

The Rebel & The KingThe Rebel & The King is a raw, unedited manuscript written by Nick Adams in 1956 about his Hollywood friendship with Elvis Presley. The book was published by his daughter Allyson Adams in 2012.



Elvis’ jewelry for sale in AtlantaTwo pieces of jewelry once owned by Elvis Presley have made their way into an Atlanta jeweler’s vault.

The items include a 4,5 carat tourmaline ring with 4 carats of diamonds, and an 81-gram gold bracelet adorned with dia-monds. If you’d like to see other of Elvis’ jewelry you have the opportunity in the museum at Graceland Randers.

The Sun Singles Collection - LIMITED EDITIONThis is a truly beautiful

deluxe 7” x 7” box set holding five perfect reproduc-tions of

the original sun releases. Each have the original sun catalogue numbers (incl. the run-out) and come dinked and housed in the sun records label sleeves. Limited to 1000 copies in blue, all are factory-sealed.

Disc one: Sun 209 - That’s Alright Mama/Blue Moon of Kentucky

Disc two: Sun 210 - I Don’t Care If The Sun Don’t Shine/Good Rockin’ Tonight

Disc three: Sun 215 - Milkcow Blues Boogie/You’re A Heartbreaker

Disc four: Sun 217 - I’m Left You’re Right She’s Gone/Baby Let’s Play House

Disc five: Sun 223 - Mystery Train/I Forgot To Remember To Forget

Elvis’ to-do listA scrap of paper where Elvis has written down a set list for a Las Vegas Show is put up for auction by Julien’s Auctions in Los Angeles.

New Elvis radio stationIt has been a DREAM for many years to start an ALL ELVIS radio - and now it’s going to come true.

January 8, 2013 we will start a new radio station at Graceland Randers, “Always Elvis Radio”. Elvis music around the clock, online at www.gracelandrand-ers.dk, and www.radioalfa.dk.

Find us and like us on face-

book.com/AlwaysElvisRadio. The radio station is a collabora-tion between Graceland and Radio Alfa. Enjoy...

Elvis Memorial Art exhibit at Graceland RandersArtist Alexandra Kjaergaard exhibits paintings of Elvis in the museum from November 25 until January 2. Alexandra Kjaergaard is especially known for her imaginative, almost graphic zebra motifs called ‘haute couture’. Stop by the see the temporary exhibition and you may win one the paintings, valued at more than $2,000.

Next trip to Memphis will be in May 2013!This trip will go to Memphis and Nashville. Details of the trip are

yet to be determined, also the precise date of departure. Follow the news on the website where we will have

updates about the trip.

Elvis watch from Col. up for auctionA watch which was one of Elvis Presley’s last Christmas presents will be featured at a London auction.The watch, estimated to sell for 6,000 pounds ($9,500) or more, is a diamond-set Rolex given to Presley by his longtime man-ager, Tom Parker. It is engraved, “Elvis merry Christmas your pal Col. Tom Parker.” It was the last Christmas for Presley, who died the following year.



TO SAY THAT we had the most amazing time at Graceland Randers during the weekend 13th/14th October would be an understatement!

We had been looking forward to attending the Scandinavian Elvis Championships for months. From the minute we arrived at Aarhus airport to be met by our great new friend Carsten Ramussen, we were overwhelmed by the hospitality shown to us and we want to thank our Circle G Ambassador Rikke for working so hard to make the whole event such a success and to Henrik and all the fabulous people who work there for their support.

And Graceland Randers – well, it’s amazing! If you haven’t been yet, then you’ve just got to get there. It comes as a bit of shock when you’re driving down the road to see the Graceland Mansion standing there in all its glory – and, if you didn’t know better you’d swear you were in Memphis – it’s that good! The whole thing is a truly wonderful tribute to Elvis – it is done tastefully and respectfully in every tiny detail – and in my opinion EPE could learn a lot from them!

It was an absolute honor to be able to spend time with Mr. Charles Stone, Elvis’ Tour Manager. I learnt an awful lot from him, heard some amazing and fascinating stories and had a lot of laughs too! At the beginning of the weekend Charles asked lots of questions regarding the Circle G Foundation and what we hope to achieve, but I have to say that by Sunday he was TOTALLY on board– the CGF has a valuable new friend and ally in Mr. Charles Stone.

On Sunday afternoon we joined the Danish Fan Club for their meeting held at Graceland Randers where I said a few words about our organization before Charles Stone spoke and answered ques-tions for a while. I always regard it as a privilege to have people who actually knew Elvis share their precious memories with us – and Charles has some great stories! I would also like to thank the Danish Fan Club who made us so welcome at their meeting. They were extremely interested and supportive;

they asked some very pertinent and enquiring questions and I enjoyed my conversations with them a great deal. I know they will do their utmost to support our cause.

The weekend raised a very pleasing amount for the Circle G Foundation and on behalf of all our Team Members and supporters I would like to thank everyone involved in making it such a great success.

But that isn’t the end of the story – oh no. On my return home I received a message from Rikke to say that a supporter of Graceland Randers and huge Elvis fan had contacted her and wished to make a sizeable donation to The Circle G Foundation; this donation has now been deposited in the CGF account. Although the donor wants to remain anonymous I have sent a letter of thanks via Rikke to express our gratitude for this wonderful and extremely generous gesture. This donation has taken our total over the required threshold to apply for registered charity status here in the UK, which will in turn mean that we are more likely to attract substantial sponsorship, investment and donations in the future.

As we fast approach the first anniversary of the Circle G Foundation as a non-profit organization we have some exciting times ahead of us. Our application to the National Historic Register is underway, our submission to the MHT’s 10 Most Endangered Sites in Mississippi is going ahead and we have some great new projects due to launch very early in the New Year.

Yes, we have a long road to travel. But every journey begins with a single step and since we took that first step our footprints have gained weight and momentum. As Founder and Director of The Circle G Foundation I firmly believe that we are well on the way to saving Elvis’ beloved ranch and I sincerely hope that you’ll join us on the journey.

What an amazing (and unique) tribute it would be to Elvis if we, his fans, could achieve this in his name.

Lesley PillingFounder & Director of The Circle G Foundation.

News from the Circle G Foundation

STOP THE PRESS STOP THE PRESS STOP THE PRESS STOP THE PRESS STOP THE PRESS STOP THE PRESS


BACK IN THE DAYS. The Gibson Guitar Corporation is a Nashville, Tennessee-based guitar and instrument manufacturer. It was founded in 1902 in Kalamazoo, Michigan by Orville Gibson as "The Gibson Mandolin-Guitar Mfg. Co., Ltd." and was a maker of mandolin instruments. Gibson invented the

archtop guitar by using the same type of carved, arched tops found on violins. By the 1930s, the company was also making flattop acoustic guitars, as well as one of the first commercially available hollow-body electric guitars, used and popularized by Charlie Christian. The company was sold to Chicago Musical

e l v i s ’ g u i t a r s : t h e g i b s o n g u i t a r c o r p o r a t i o n

Gibson sells guitars under a variety of brand names and has built one of the world’s most iconic guitars, the Gibson Les Paul. Many Gibson instruments are among the most collectible guitars.

GUITAR CORPORATION



Instruments in 1944, which was then acquired by the E.C.L. conglomerate that changed its name to Norlin Inc.

THE FIRST GIBSON ELECTRICS.Gibson was at the forefront of innovation in acoustic guitars, especially in the big band era of the 1930s; the Gibson Super 400 was widely imitated.

By the time Gibson began work on its first electric guitar, the company had a 40-year tradi-tion of quality and innovation to uphold. The first Gibson electric had to be nothing less than the best electric guitar the world had ever seen.

In the spring of 1935, Gibson enlisted musician Alvino Rey to help develop a prototype pickup with engineers at the Lyon & Healy Company in Chicago. Later that year, research was moved in-house, where Gibson employee Walter Fuller came up with the final design. Gibson introduced the distinctive hexagonal pickup on a lap steel model in late 1935. The pickup was installed on an F-hole archtop guitar, dubbed the ES-150 ES for Electric Spanish), and the first one shipped from the Gibson factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on May 20, 1936.

Was the ES-150 the best electric guitar that guitarists in 1936 had ever seen? Jazz musician Charlie Christian, who would establish the electric guitar as an instru-ment with its own unique voice, thought so. Sixty years later, the Gibson ES-150 is still known

as the Charlie Christian model, and some jazz players consider the ES-150's "Charlie Christian" pickup to be the best jazz pickup ever made.

The ES-150's success was a double-edged sword, establish-ing Gibson as the foremost maker of electric guitars but at the same time challenging Gibson to top this monumental achievement. After a production break for World War II, Gibson did just that.

The Golden Age of InnovationIn the years after World War II, the electric guitar came of age and Gibson entered a golden of age of innovation. The P-90 pickup, introduced in 1946, gave guitarists new power and versatility. Under the aggressive leadership of company president Ted McCarty, Gibson debuted two new concepts in 1949 with the ES-5, the first three-pickup guitar, and the ES-175, the first guitar with a sharply pointed cutaway bout.



The advent of the solid body electric guitar posed a new challenge for Gibson. Like the ES-150 in 1936, Gibson's first solid body electric had to uphold Gibson tradition while going a step beyond all other guitars of its kind. A carved contoured top harkened back to the very first Orville Gibson instruments of the late 1800s, and a gold finish signified a value above all others. With the endorsement of the most popular guitarist of the time, Gibson introduced the Les Paul Model in 1952. The Les Paul quickly grew into a family of four models – the Junior, Special, Standard and Custom – all of which would become Gibson clas-sics. Gibson's top models sported McCarty's new tune-o-matic bridge, which was introduced on the Les Paul Custom in 1954 and is still the standard Gibson electric guitar bridge. In 1958 Mc-Carty debuted not one, but two radical new ideas – a semi-hollow body electric and a group of exotic, futuristic solid bodies. The ES-335 was an instant success, combining traditional archtop styling with modern, solid body construction. The Flying V, Explorer and Moderne proved to be decades ahead of their time.

Gibson pushed on into the 1960s with two more bold, modern solid body lines – the double-cutaway SG models of '61 and the reverse-body Firebirds of '63. By the time the McCarty era ended in 1965, a foundation of classic models had been laid that would carry Gibson through the rest of the century.

NORLIN CORPORATION. After being purchased by the Norlin Corporation in the late 1960s Gibson's quality and fortunes took a steep decline until early 1986, when the company was acquired by its present owners. Gibson Guitar is a privately held corporation owned by its chief executive officer Henry Juszkiewicz and its president David H. Berryman.

TODAY. The home of Gibson electric guitars today is "Gibson USA," built in 1974 in Nashville specifically for the production of Gibson's Les Paul guitars. In response to a growing demand for vintage stylings, Gibson tapped its rich history and reissued the dot-neck version of the ES-335 in 1981 and the flametop sunburst Les Paul in 1982. At the same time, two legendary guitarists joined Gibson – B.B. King in 1980 with the Lucille model and Chet Atkins in 1982 with his new concept of a solid body acoustic guitar.

Today's Gibson electric guitars represent the history as well as the future of the electric guitar. The models whose designs have be-come classics – the ES-175, ES-335,

Flying V, Explorer, Firebird, SGs and Les Pauls – are a testament to Gib-son's wide appeal, spanning more than four decades of music styles. Gibson's close relationship with musicians is manifest in endorse-ment models from King, Atkins and jazz greats Howard Roberts and Herb Ellis, plus new Les Pauls made to the personal specifications of rock stars Jimmy Page and Joe Perry. In 1994, Gibson's Centennial year, the new Nighthawk model won an industry award for design, setting the stage for a second hundred years of Gibson quality and innovation.

DISPUTE. Gibson has pursued legal action against manufactur-ers selling similar guitars and been active in environmental issues. In the late 2000s the company came under scrutiny for potential violations of the Lacey law. Authorities say wood was mislabelled to hide illegal ebony wood exports from India and that emails show an intent to illegally import rosewood and ebony wood from Madagascar. Gibson's CEO claims authorities are bullying him without filing charges. The issues has raised concerns among guitar owners on whether they could be punished for unknow-ingly owning guitars with illegally obtained wood, which led to some initiatives to protect individual consumers from the Lacey Act.

ELVIS PRESLEY’ GIBSON DOVE GUITAR. Gibson introduced the Dove in 1962 as their fanciest, dreadnought, following the square-shouldered pattern that

«TODAY’S GIBSON ELECTRIC GUITARS REPRE-

SENT THE HIS-TORY AS WELL

AS THE FUTURE OF THE ELECTRIC

GUITAR.»





originated with the Hummingbird model in 1960s. While Gibson’s other dreadnoughts featured bodies made from rosewood and mahogany, the Dove was constructed from flamed maple, like the J-200, the most expensive flat top the company offered. This choice of wood contributes to a slightly brighter tone quality than is traditional for dreadnought models, especially those of Gibson.

Both guitars have solid spruce tops and engraved pickguards. The Dove has solid maple back and sides instead of the solid mahogany used for the Hum-mingbird, and the Dove's longer scale length and maple back and sides make it a louder, brighter guitar than the Hummingbird.

The Dove has a 3-piece maple neck, 20-fret rosewood or ebony

fingerboard, and an ornate dove inlaid pickguard.

During the early 1970s the Gibson Dove model became the Gibson Dove Custom guitar, which gained extreme popularity ever since Elvis Presley toured with it in 1975-1976.

There is hardly any difference be-tween a Dove Custom model and the so-called Dove guitar except for little minor finishes and they are considered the same guitar. From 1962 to 1986 these Gibson guitars were available in natural and cherry sunburst colours.

In 1987-1993 they were made only in a natural finish, and in 1994 they went back to produc-ing the sunburst colour. In 2007 the Dove became one of Gibson's Modern Classics,

designed for the contemporary player. For a number of years the Dove has been a Custom Shop instrument available in special limited runs.

On the last night of his July 1975 tour in Asheville, NC Elvis gave away his custom Ebony Gibson Dove guitar that he had used from 1971 to 1973 and had only recently brought out of retirement. Beginning in Las Vegas on August 18, 1975 his new performance guitar was an early to mid 1970s Cherry Sunburst Gibson Dove Custom. He performed with this one exclusively on subsequent tours through April 27, 1976. This Cherry Sunburst Gibson Dove Custom that Elvis used in 1975 and 1976 is on display in the museum at Graceland Randers.


ON ELVIS' birthday January 8, 2013 a new radio channel starts. It's ’Always Elvis Radio’, which will broadcast music around the clock with interviews, features and much more about and with Elvis Presley. The radio is a collaboration between Graceland Randers and Radio Alfa.

Henrik Knudsen from Graceland Randers is thrilled: "It is an old dream coming true. At the same time, we also cover a need for a radio channel dedicated only to Elvis. A radio channel where fans can tune in and, beyond the music, be informed about Elvis, get news about upcoming activities and hear exciting interviews with many famous guests from here and abroad that visit Graceland Randers."

’Always Elvis Radio’ is a collaboration between Graceland and Radio Alfa, and Radio Alfa program director Poul Foged feels that for him personally, it a great thrill to get the project started: "I also am an old Elvis fan and actually ran an Elvis Fan Club back in the sixties, so it has been a delightful task to find all the music - and there's a lot - and find

other items such as Elvis interviews, ex-citing concert footage and much more. Over the years, I have interviewed many exciting personalities for ’Always Elvis Radio’, recently I have had James Burton in the studio, talking about his life with Elvis - the interview airs one of the first days on air."

Henrik Knudsen and Poul Foged has collaborated for several years on spreading the word about Elvis and his music on Radio Alfa, with a number of special broadcasts on Elvis anniversary dates. A few years ago, Radio Alfa started a weekly broadcast "Always Elvis", where Henrik Knudsen tells anecdotes about Elvis.

"It was during the production of one of the programs that we got the idea for the Elvis radio," says Henrik Knudsen.

"Radio Alfa is part of the Radio ABC Group and director

Ole Sondergaard was quick to explore the possibilities in terms of rights and other legal matters - and on January 8th we are ready".

’Always Elvis Radio’ from Graceland Randers is free of charge - as opposed to the Elvis Radio Channel from Graceland in Memphis, where you need to subscribe.

You can listen to ‘Always Elvis Radio’ online and through an app for your phone. You’ll also find it on Graceland Randers' website at www.gracelandrand-ers. Information on how and when will be released at the end of December on www.grace-landranders.dk. Find and like us on facebook at www.facebook.com/AlwaysElvisRadio.

Elvis radio around the clock from Graceland Randers

New radio with Elvis music starts on January 8, 2013

n e w e l v i s r a d i o : l i v e f r o m g r a c e l a n d r a n d e r s


BY CHARRO (TRANSLATION BY MARIE WELLING/ RIKKE FRIIS)

last vacationElvis loved Hawaii. And therefore it’s no wonder that he took another vacation in Hawaii in March 1977.

e l v i s ’ l a s t v a c a t i o n ‘ 7 7



IN ELVIS' HEAD The holiday had already begun several months earlier. He believed that everyone – himself no less – had worked hard and was in need of a vacation. As he was usually in the habit of, Elvis wouldn’t tell anyone the destination. The first preparations for the trip were made in February 1977, after Elvis had finally told people that he wanted to go to Hawaii. Not just himself and his new girlfriend, Ginger Alden, no, he wanted all 38 people in his entourage to come along.

After a tour in February the departure date was set for March 3rd. At 6pm that day, most partici-pants gathered at Graceland. Elvis' chief of security, Dick Grob, had been given the responsibility of coordinating the journey. Everybody was ready except for Elvis, who was not ready for departure until 7.30pm, which was according to the plan.

After Elvis had kissed his grandmother, Minnie Mae, goodbye at Graceland, the entourage drove the short distance to the airport in Memphis.

At 8pm Elvis' airplane, "Lisa Marie", was ready for take off. The plane flew from Memphis to Oakland Inter-national Airport in California where it needed a fresh tank of fuel before heading out over the Pacific. Oakland was chosen over Los Angeles because it was closer to Hawaii, and it was a better solu-tion in terms of fuel. Besides, two guests from Los Angeles boarded the plane close to midnight, which made the total count 29 passengers plus five crewmembers.

At 1am – Memphis time – the plane took off for the sunny islands. When they finally reached Hawaii, Elvis and his entourage met up with four additional guests. It was early morning on March 4th and Elvis was looking forward to his vacation in his beloved Hawaii.

Elvis checked in directly on the 31st floor at

the Rainbow Towers, which belonged to the Hilton chain. From the balcony Elvis and Ginger Alden could enjoy the view of the beautiful Waikiki Beach. The

remaining 15 rooms on the 31st floor were booked for the

other guests to enjoy. The next two days were spent

in and around the hotel. But then Elvis rented a beach house in Kailua on the other side

of the island of Oahu. Not all participants actually wound up staying in the house (which has since been demolished), only Elvis, Ginger, her sisters, Elvis’ cousin Billy Smith and Dick Grob. The rest of the holiday entourage made their way daily from the hotel, over the Pali pass in the mountains to the beach house.

Elvis spent the next four days in the house. He bathed in the sun by the house, which was located at Kaapuni Drive, or somewhere close to the beach.



He went shopping at Ala Mona Center in Honolulu and other stores in the Kailua area. He also went out one evening to see some local dances and enjoyed the local cuisine in the cultural, Polynesian Centre at Bingham

Young University Hawaii Campus, located near Laie. Or he watched TV, talked and enjoyed himself. And of course he bought things for himself and his friends.

In the evening they would barbeque and in the day they would play football, even though Elvis was in a poor physical constitution. Elvis received minor injuries by hitting into fences or palm trees, when he wanted to catch the ball. Like the others, he was amused. Elvis ate a good portion of burgers, pizzas, bacon and eggs throughout the day.

Elvis had last visited Hawaii in connection with its magnificent Aloha From Hawaii-show in January 1973. It was almost four years ago. He had used a limousine service in his movie recordings in Hawaii in 1960, where the local Kalani Simerson, was formerly employed. Now he was invited to meet with Elvis. He was shocked to see Elvis' physical condition.

"We played football and it was really, really sad. Elvis was overweight and not able to function normally. I guess it's all the drugs he took. Some threw the ball to him and he would grab it and run and he could not stop. He was not able to control his body. At one point he ran into a fence and cut his hand," Simerson has told the author Jerry Hopkins.

One day, when Elvis was out shopping, he saw a man who had bought some gifts for his wife. Just as the man was about to pay Elvis flew in front of him and bought the gift for him. The man was completely out of it and ran to the nearest phone and called home to his wife to tell her what had happened.

The trip itself was a good one for Elvis. He had more energy and was re-charged. Unfortunately, it was cut short because Elvis got sand in his eyes and required treatment. Therefore the whole group travelled home to the mainland on the 13th March.

Elvis went back to his old ways: Tour replaced by another tour. The bad habits stuck. The holiday was the last he would ever have.




E X P E R I E N C E B R A Z I L

T H E

In September, Graceland Randers was invited by the Danish Crown Prince and Crown Princess’ official visit to Brazil. As with the state

visit to Russia the year before, I was the lucky one who was allowed to represent Graceland Randers and Danish tourism.

BY RIKKE FRIIS

I COULDN’T believe my luck when I found out that during my visit there would be a temporary exhibition, "The Elvis Experi-ence Brasil", organized by Elvis Presley Enterprises and a local partner as a prelude to the “Elvis Presley In Concert” set to hit Brazil the following month.

The exhibition took place in the largest tent I have ever in my life seen! It was lined up next to a shopping center and included more than 500 effects from Graceland in Memphis.

After having waited in line, first at the ticket counter and then outside for quite a while in the soaring heat of the sun (it was 110 F) we were sent into a small glass house, filled with computer screens, for the sole purpose of checking in at the exhibitions facebook page – except only few of the screens were working! From there on we were sent into the huge tent, just to wait in another line! It was really hot inside the tent that had no air

conditioning and with my time running short because of all the waiting (more than an hour so far), so was my patience. We waited for another half hour and then it was finally our turn to walk inside.

The first room was a dark room with – I think – 5 podium rows and in front of each row was a railing on which earphones hang. We all put on a set of earphones and locked our eyes on the huge screen in front of us. It must have been 30 feet long and 7 feet tall. On the screen images of Elvis began to appear as a voice introduced a 19-year old Elvis Presley in the earphones. Then “Suspicious Minds” started playing and the images shifting.

t h e e l v i s e x p e r i e n c e b r a z i l


During the course of the song, Elvis’ life was told in images, shifting on the screen in various locations, sometimes on the left, sometimes in the middle, sometimes going from left to right. This was a very moving way to tell his story and people were clapping and cheering at the end.

I think we were about 50 people in the room watching this video. All of us were sent into the exhi-bition hall at the same time which was a really bad idea, since the first part of the hall was divided

by partition walls, decorated with Elvis’ Tupelo days and with lots of text to read. This meant that no one moved anywhere the first 10 minutes. By this time, I was really sick of waiting. The heat was unbearable and there was nowhere to get any water. Finally the line went around the

corner into the huge area of the tent and we were finally free to walk around at our own pace.

The exhibition was cool, although all text just being in Portuguese

left a lot to be desired. The items were cool and the way they were displayed was too. Entire walls would be decorated with one big image or a collage of images. An entire wall had been made into the front of Sun Studios in Memphis – windows, neon lights and all. They had a wall with a picture of the dining room at Graceland and from the wall a piece of real table comes out, complete with a place setting. The use of photography and real


«THIS WAS A VERY MOVING WAY TO TELL HIS STORY AND PEOPLE WERE CLAPPING AND CHEERING AT THE END»



items, that combined give a full image, is really clever and makes the exhibit vivid and brings it to life.

Among the exhibited items were one of Elvis’ Gibson guitars, his army uniform, suitcase, telegrams to and from Elvis, a TV-set that was shot through, toys, shoes, police badges,

his FBI badge, many pieces of jewelry, watches, belt buckles, telephone, his Ferrari and the MG from “Blue Hawaii”, his Harley Davidson, golf-carts, go-carts,

keys, awards and gold records, several items from the 68 Comeback Special (the white “If I Can Dream”-suit, Elvis’ light blue chair, the leather cuffs and other outfits), clothes as far as your eyes could see (the Young Man

of the Nation-outfit, the outfit he wore at the White House for his meeting with President Nixon) and there was even a copy of the Colonel’s office.

Several jumpsuits had also made the trip to Brazil: The American Eagle, the Tiger Suit, the White Wing Suit, the Black Spanish Flower (with red stones), the Gold Vine Suit, the Light Blue Teal Suit, the Egyptian Suit, the Blue

«ONE OF MY FAVORITE ITEMS IN THE WHOLE EXHIBIT WAS NIXON’S THANK-YOU LETTER THAT HE SENT TO ELVIS ON NEW YEAR’S EVE 1970»



Tapestry (Aqua) Jumpsuit, The Chain Jumpsuit, and a few others.

One section of the exhibit was devoted entirely to his movies with TV-screens coming down from the ceiling all around us play-ing his movies and original movie posters decorated the walls.

In the final section there was a fantastic miniature model of Graceland and the entire property surrounding it. It was so detailed and life-like and for a miniature model it was actually quite big, around 19 feet long and 4-5 feet wide. Beautiful.

One of my favorite items in the whole exhibit was Nixon’s thank-you letter that he sent to Elvis on New Year’s Eve 1970:

“Dear Mr. Presley:It was a pleasure to meet with you in my office recently, and I want you to know once again how much I appreciate your thoughtfulness in giving me the commemorative World War II Colt 45 pistol, encased in the handsome wooden chest. You were particularly kind to remember me with this impres-sive gift, as well as your family photographs, and I am delighted

to have them for my collection of special mementos.

With my best wishes to you, Mrs. Presley, and to your daughter, Lisa, for a happy and peaceful 1971,

Sincerely, Richard Nixon.”

Another cool thing about the exhibit was the fact that you could walk around some of the jumpsuits, so it was possible to see the back of them and the back of the beautiful capes.

Despite the heat and all the waiting, I am really happy and grateful that I got to Experience Elvis in Brazil.


The CD descriptions have been written by the labels themselves and should only be viewed as descriptions, not reviews from our part. The intention behind the CD News section is just to let you know what’s being released. We aim to give you all releases, we can find and are aware of.

RAISING HIS OWN BAR

Coming very soon from “CONVAIR” is a CD release

called “Raising his own bar” featuring the previously un-released Dinner Show August 14, 1969 by Elvis Presley. Just recently the “Convair” Label released “Bright Light City” featuring Elvis Presley’s Dinner Show August 12, 1969. With its stunning artwork and of course with a great show, the fans demanded more. You may now say that you have an old Import CD at home called “The Winner Back In Vegas” also claiming that this release featured the August 14, 1969 Dinner Show but during the years fans and research proved that this information was wrong and it was a compilation of songs from various shows. “Convair” has all the information tracked down and it’s compiled in the 20-page booklet that comes with the new release.

It’s the raw and powerful Elvis who is trying to raise

his own bar from show to show. It’s the third week of his first engagement after the Hollywood era and one can feel that he enjoys himself in front of the audience. His jokes and his nervousness can be found during the monologue, which often gets referred to as “Life Story”. Hear him telling his own career is pure fun. As a special bonus we have included a rare audioclip of Jerry Scheff, bass player in 1969 of the famous TCB Band talking about being on stage with Elvis. This release comes once more with a stunning cover and is again limited to 300 copies only. Get it while you can.

Tracklisting: 01. Opening Riff / Blue Suede Shoes 02. I Got A Woman 03. All Shook Up 04. Love Me Tender 05. Jailhouse Rock / Don’t Be Cruel (Medley) 06. Heartbreak Hotel 07. Hound Dog 08. Memories 09. Mystery Train / Tiger Man (Medley) 10. Monologue (Life Story) 11. Baby What You Want Me To Do 12. Runaway 13. Are You Lonesome Tonight 14. Yesterday / Hey Jude (Medley) 15. Band Introductions 16. In The Ghetto 17. Suspicious Minds 18. What’d I Say 19. Can’t Help Falling In Love 20. Bonus Track: Jerry Scheff talks about how he became Elvis´ bass player in 1969

CHICAGO DOUBLE-STRIKE & LEFT A GOOD JOB IN THE CITY

The new Straight Arrow release “Chicago Double-

Strike” is out now. It contains both Chicago 1977-concerts from newly uncovered audience recordings, which have not been in distribution previously (completely different tapes from previous Chicago ’77 release). The sound quality is surprisingly good and you will feel that you are right in the middle of the crowd, cheering Elvis on as he delivers two solid, no-nonsense shows with plenty of highlights. His voice was strong and he was particu-larly impressive on songs like ‘Fairytale’, ‘Trying To Get To You’, ‘My Way’ and ‘Hurt’, with his voice really soaring on the high notes. Whatever the reason may have been for Elvis ‘upping his game’ on those two nights – some have suggested that it may have been due to the pres-ence of several CBS execs – the Chicago ’77 concerts now stand out as genuine highlights from those final, sad months in the life and career of Elvis Aaron Presley. Both recordings have a tremendous ‘you are there’ feel to them. Presented with the

e l v i s c d ’ s : a l l t h e l a t e s t r e l e a s e s

Stop, look and listen!

CD’S


professionalism that you have come to expect from us, don’t miss this terrific release that will bring you back to those final glimpses of greatness of the greatest entertainer ever.

CD 1 / Sunday, May 1, 1977, 8:30pm, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois 01. Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 02. C. C. Rider / When The Saints Go Marching In (excerpt) - 03. I Got A Woman / Amen - 04. Love Me - 05. Fairytale - 06. You Gave Me A Mountain - 07. Jailhouse Rock - 08. O Sole Mio (Sherrill Nielsen) / It’s Now Or Never - 09. Tryin’ To Get To You - 10. Little Sister - 11. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don’t Be Cruel - 12. And I Love You So - 13. My Way - 14. Introduction of vocalists, musicians - 15. Early Mornin’ Rain - 16. What’d I Say - 17. Johnny B. Goode - 18. Drum Solo (Ronnie Tutt) - 19. Bass Solo (Battle Of New Orleans theme, Jerry Scheff) - 20. Piano Solo (Tony Brown) - 21. Electric Piano Solo (Bobby Ogdin) - 22. School Day - 23. Hurt (with reprise) - 24. Introduction of Joe Esposito - 25. Hound Dog - 26. Can’t Help Falling In Love - 27. Closing Vamp / Announcements. CD 2 / Monday, May 2, 1977, 8:30pm, Chicago Stadium, Chicago, Illinois 01. Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 02. C. C. Rider - 03. I Got A Woman / Amen - 04. Love Me - 05. Fairytale - 06. You Gave Me A Mountain - 07.

Jailhouse Rock - 08. O Sole Mio (Sherrill Nielsen) / It’s Now Or Never - 09. Little Sister - 10. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don’t Be Cruel - 11. My Way - 12. Polk Salad Annie (with false start) - 13. Introduction of vocalists, musicians - 14. Early Mornin’ Rain - 15. What’d I Say - 16. Johnny B. Goode - 17. Drum Solo (Ronnie Tutt) - 18. Bass Solo (Blues theme, Jerry Scheff) - 19. Piano Solo (Tony Brown) - 20. Electric Piano Solo (Bobby Ogdin) - 21. School Day - 22. Hurt (with reprise) - 23. Hound Dog - 24. Can’t Help Falling In Love - 25. Closing Vamp / Announcements.

LEFT A GOOD JOB IN THE CITY

Straight Arrow is very proud to present LEFT A

GOOD JOB IN THE CITY – Elvis’ First Show In New York, June 9, 1972. We couldn’t believe our luck when we were offered an original tape as recorded by a member of the audience that special night. For many years there was a recording in circula-tion that was basically unlisten-able. With great anticipation we purchased this new tape, and imagine our excitement when we could hear for ourselves that this tape is indeed much better and clearer, and with a good bass definition. This must be the most historically important

audience tape to have turned up in recent years from the concert years. The MSG Garden shows were a true career highlight for Elvis, and opening night on June 9, 1972 was The Night. Moments before this recording started, Jackie Kahane was booed off the stage, but all that was forgotten once Elvis stepped on stage. He gave New York a night to remember. In fact, this may well be the best of the four MSG shows. Elvis’ performance is super-tight and his voice is just incredible. THIS is the show that the New York media all attended; and now, after 40 years, you can finally hear the actual performance that got him so many glowing reviews.

This new Straight Arrow re-lease is the perfect companion to the recent Sony set ‘Prince From Another Planet’, and one that you simply must own. This is one of Elvis’ best and most critically acclaimed shows, and we consider it a sensation that this tape has turned up after all these years. The recording was carefully enhanced by some of the best audio people in the business (don’t worry, no ‘No Noise’ or other forms of audio squashing were used… A historical recording like this deserves respect, so we went the full nine yards to present this show in the best and most natural audio possible). By the way, the show includes a stunning ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ – the only time he sang it in New York. Presented in the



usual Straight Arrow fashion with topnotch 16-page booklet with photos from all four NYC shows as well as a terrific essay, this new release is a beauty that you can’t afford to miss.

Tracks: 01. Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 02. That’s All Right - 03. Proud Mary - 04. Never Been To Spain - 05. Until It’s Time For You To Go - 06. You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me - 07. You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’ - 08. Polk Salad Annie – 09. Love Me – 10. All Shook Up - 11. Heartbreak Hotel - 12. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don’t Be Cruel - 13. Love Me Tender - 14. Blue Suede Shoes - 15. Hound Dog - 16. Bridge Over Troubled Water - 17. Suspicious Minds - 18. Introduction of vocalists, musi-cians - 19. For The Good Times - 20. An American Trilogy - 21. Funny How Time Slips Away - 22. Can’t Help Falling In Love - 23. Closing Vamp / Announcements.

SNOOPIN’ ROUND MY DOOR (1955 – 1977)

Elvis revisits his best year. 1956 is without any doubt the most crucial year of Elvis’ career. The

Hillbilly Cat became the King of Rock & Roll during that year. His television appearances rocked the nation, and his recordings redefined popular culture. Elvis was the first true rock star, and 1956 was the year where the whole thing just exploded for him. With a fresh RCA Victor recording contract in his pocket, an ambitious new manager named Thomas A. Parker promoting him, and nationwide television exposure to look forward to, the year looked very promising right from the outset. Even though some of the RCA Victor execs expressed concern about the quality of the material recorded at the January 1956 session in Nashville, the first single from that session, ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, became a huge hit thanks to his appearances on the Dorsey Brothers ‘Stage Show’. From that point onwards, Elvis could do no wrong. He recorded so many great, classic songs that year, that it’s quite a task to list them all: ‘I Was The One’, ‘Blue Suede Shoes’, ‘My Baby Left Me’, ‘Lawdy Miss Clawdy’, ‘I Want You, I Need You, I Love You’, ‘Hound Dog’, ‘Don’t Be Cruel’, ‘Love Me Tender’, ‘Too Much’, ‘Love Me’, ‘Paralyzed’… the list goes on and on. These record-ings define Elvis’ greatness: they are the reason why we still listen to him today, more than 35 years after his death.

With this release we want to pay tribute to that remarkable year. But instead of using the

regular versions, we wanted to dig a little deeper. So we searched out alternate versions from jam sessions, rehearsals, live shows, and in one instance, a re-recording. Most are complete versions, some are fragments, a few are mere one-liners.

FOR THE FIRST TIME ON CD: I Want You I Need You I Love

You, July 1971 Lake Tahoe – Old Shep, May 1973 Lake Tahoe – Don´t Be Cruel, February 1971 Las Vegas – Hound Dog (original lyrics), August 1971 Las Vegas – When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again, March 1975 Las Vegas - Love Me, February 1971 Las Vegas and many more.

CD1: „Embrionic“ Versions 1) „50´s Era“ interview excerpt, Recorded June 9, 1972; New York Hilton, NY 2) Shake, Rattle And Roll, Recorded January 6, 1955; Lubbock, TX 3) Money Honey, Recorded January 22, 1955; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA 4) Long Tall Sally, Recorded May 6, 1956; New Frontier Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 5) Hound Dog, Recorded May 16, 1956; Little Rock, AR Alternate Masters 6) „Old Shep“ interview excerpt, Recorded August 29, Hol-lywood, CA 7) Old Shep, alt. take 5, Recorded September 2, 1956; Radio Recorders, Hollywood, CA 8) Blue Suede Shoes, Recorded April 28, 1960; RCA Studios, Hollywood, CA Rockin´ On Television 9) Shake, Rattle And Roll / Flip, Flop And Fly, Recorded January 28,



1956; CBS Studios, New York, NY 10) Was The One, Recorded February 18, 1956; CBS Studios, New York, NY 11) Tutti Frutti, Recorded February 18, 1956; CBS Studios, New York, NY, 12) Heartbreak Hotel, Recorded March 24, 1956; CBS Studios, New York, NY 13) Blue Suede Shoes, Recorded April 3, 1956; The U.S.S. Hancock, San Diego Naval Station 14) I Want You, I Need You, I Love You, Recorded July 1, 1956; The Hudson The-atre, New York, NY 15) Love Me Tender, Recorded September 9, 1956; CBS Studios, Los Angeles, CA 16) Ready Teddy, Recorded September 9, 1956; CBS Studios, Los Angeles, CA 17)„Ed Sullivan Show“ monologue excerpt, Recorded August 24, 1969 (DS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 18) Don´t Be Cruel, Recorded January 6, 1957; CBS Studios, New York, NY 19) When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again, Recorded January 6, 1957; CBS Studios, New York, NY 20) Too Much, Recorded January 6, 1957; CBS Studios, New York, NY 21) „TV Appearances“ monologue excerpt, Recorded August 26, 1969 (DS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV Moments Of Greatness 22) Heartbreak Hotel, Recorded September 26, 1956 (AS); Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, Tupelo, MS 23) Lawdy Miss Clawdy, alt. take 1, Recorded February 3, 1956; RCA Studios, New York, NY 24) Don´t Be Cruel, Recorded December 16, 1956;

Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA 25) I Was The One, fragment, Recorded August 31, 1957; Empire Stadium, Vancouver, Canada 26) Blue Suede Shoes, Recorded September 26, 1956 (ES); Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, Tupelo, MS 27) Heartbreak Hotel, frag-ments, Recorded April 2, 1957; Maple Leaf Garden, Toronto, Canada 28) Love Me, Recorded December 16, 1956; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA 29) Money Honey, Recorded May 16, 1956; Little Rock, AR 30) Hound Dog, Recorded March, 25, 1961; Bloch Arena, Honolulu, HA 31) Rip It Up, alt. take 15, Recorded September 3, 1956; Radio Recorders, Hollywood 32) Don´t Be Cruel Recorded September 26, 1956 (AS); Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, Tupelo, MS 33) Long Tall Sally, Recorded December 16, 1956; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA 34) Love Me, Recorded March, 25, 1961; Bloch Arena, Honolulu, HA 35) When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again, Recorded December 16, 1956; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA 36) Heartbreak Hotel, Recorded March, 25, 1961; Bloch Arena, Honolulu, HA 37) Paralyzed, Recorded December 16, 1956; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA 38) Ready Teddy, Recorded September 26, 1956 (AS); Mississippi-Alabama Fair and Dairy Show, Tupelo, MS 39) Don´t Be Cruel, Recorded March, 25, 1961; Bloch Arena, Honolulu, HA 40) Shake, Rattle And Roll,

alt. take 7, Recorded February 3, 1956; RCA Studios, New York, NY 41) I Was The One, Recorded December 16, 1956; Louisiana Hayride, Shreveport, LA CD2: Redefining the masters 1) „Rockń´Roll“ interview excerpt, Recorded September 22, 1958; Library at U.S.S. Randall, Brooklyn, New York, NY 2) Que Sera Sera /Hound Dog, Recorded April, 1959; Goethestrasse, Bad Nauheim, Germany 3) Don´t Be Cruel, 1st version, Recorded December 4, 1956; Sun Records, Memphis, TN 4) Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Recorded June 25, 1968; Dress-ing Room at NBC, Burbank, CA 5) Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Recorded March 27, 1977; Taylor County Coliseum, Abilene, TX 6) Hound Dog, Recorded April 10, 1972; Coliseum, Richmond, VA 7) Don´t Be Cruel, 2nd version, Recorded December 4, 1956; Sun Records, Memphis, TN 8) „Heartbreak Hotel“ interview excerpt, Recorded September 1956; NBC´s Monitor 9) Heartbreak Hotel, Re-corded April 10, 1972; Coliseum, Richmond, VA 10) Hound Dog, Recorded August 30, 1971 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 11) Paralyzed, Recorded December 4, 1956; Sun Records, Memphis, TN 12) Don´t Be Cruel, 3rd version, Recorded December 4, 1956; Sun Records, Memphis, TN 13) Hound Dog, Recorded August 31, 1971 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV Having Fun With Classics 14) Heartbreak Hotel, fragment,




Recorded January 15, 1968; RCA´s Studio B, Nashville, TN 15) Rip It Up, fragment, Recorded December 4, 1956; Sun Records, Memphis, TN 16) Money Honey, Recorded July 29, 1970; MGM Studios, Culver City, CA 17) Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Recorded at fall 1960; Monovale Drive, Hollywood 18) I Was The One, Recorded July 29, 1970; MGM Studios, Culver City, CA 19) Old Shep, request, Recorded May 6, 1973 (MS); Lake Tahoe, NV 20) Love Me, Recorded June 24, 1968; Dress-ing Room at NBC, Burbank, CA 21) „I Was The One“ interview excerpt, Recorded May 16, 1956; Robinson Auditorium, Little Rock, AR 22) I Was The One, Recorded August 12, 1970 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 23) Old Shep, request, Recorded August 12, 1973 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 24) Lawdy Miss Clawdy, instrumental, Recorded March-May, 1969, Universal Studios, Los Angeles, CA 25) When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again, Recorded February 9, 1974 (DS); Interna-tional Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 26) I Want You, I Need You, I Love You, oneliner, Recorded July 31, 1971 (MS); Lake Tahoe, NV 27) Hound Dog, Recorded August 23, 1972 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 28) „Love Me Tender“ interview excerpt, Recorded October 14, 1956; Country Coliseum, San Antonio, TX 29) Love Me Tender, fragment, Recorded December

4, 1956; Sun Records, Memphis, TN 30) Love Me, Recorded June 25, 1968; Dressing Room at NBC, Burbank, CA 31) When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again, Recorded December 10, 1975; International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 32) Old Shep, request, Recorded June 24, 1977; Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI 33) Rip It Up, oneliner, Recorded March 29, 1975 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 34) Hound Dog, Recorded September 28, 1974; College Park – University, MD 35) Rip It Up, oneliner, Recorded April 29, 1977; Arena, Duluth, MN 36) „I Want You, I Need You, I Love You“ interview excerpt, Recorded May 16, 1956; Rob-inson Auditorium, Little Rock, AR 37) I Want You, I Need You, I Love You, fragment, Recorded March 15, 1971; RCA´s Studio B, Nashville, TN CD3: Back With Bang 1) „Vitality“ interview excerpt, Recorded June 9, 1972; New York Hilton, NY 2) Blue Suede Shoes, Recorded January 27, 1971 (DS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 3) Love Me, Recorded February 23, 1971 (CS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 4) Heartbreak Hotel, Recorded August 24, 1969 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 5) My Baby Left Me, Recorded July 29, 1970; MGM Studios, Culver City, CA 6) Don´t Be Cruel, Recorded February 23, 1971 (CS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 7) Lawdy Miss

Clawdy, Recorded August 14, 1971 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 8) Old Shep, oneliner, Recorded February 19, 1971 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 9) Don´t Be Cruel, Recorded August 11, 1970 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 10) Love Me Tender, Recorded August 3, 1969 (DS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 11) Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Recorded February 23, 1970 (CS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 12) Love Me, Recorded July 15, 1970; MGM Studios, Culver City, CA 13) „Don´t Be Cruel“ interview excerpt, Recorded August 9, 1956; Daytona, FL 14) Don´t Be Cruel, Recorded February 21, 1971 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 15) When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again, Recorded June 24, 1968; Dress-ing Room at NBC, Burbank, CA 16) When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again, Recorded June 25, 1968; Dressing Room at NBC, Burbank, CA 17) Love Me, Recorded February 5, 1970 (DS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 18) Long Tall Sally, Recorded February 23, 1970 (CS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 19) Blue Suede Shoes, Recorded August 12, 1970 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV Nostalgia Ride 20) „Tired Of Old Songs“ interview excerpt, Recorded June 9, 1972; New York Hilton, NY 21) Heartbreak Hotel, Recorded July 19, 1975; Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, NY 22)



Love Me Tender, Recorded April 14, 1972; Coliseum, Greensboro, NC 23) Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Recorded October 6, 1974; University, Dayton, OH 24) My Baby Left Me, Recorded Janu-ary 28, 1974 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 25) Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin´ Goin´ On, Recorded April 27, 1973; Coliseum, Portland, OR 26) Don´t Be Cruel, Recorded April 1, 1975 (CS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 27) Heartbreak Hotel, Recorded April 14, 1972; Coliseum, Greensboro, NC 28) „Blue Suede Shoes“ interview excerpt, Recorded May 14, 1956; Sawyer Auditorium, Lacrosse, WI 29) Blue Suede Shoes, Recorded June 30, 1976; Coliseum, Greensboro, NC 30) Love Me, Recorded January 26, 1972 (OS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 31) My Baby Left Me, Recorded August 19, 1974 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 32) Love Me Tender, Recorded March 3, 1974; The Astrodome, Houston, TX 33) Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Recorded December 4, 1976 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 34) When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again, oneliner, Recorded March 21, 1975 (MS); International Hotel, Las Vegas, NV 35) Don´t Be Cruel, Recorded June 23, 1973; Nassau Veteran Memorial Coliseum, Uniondale, NY 36) Love Me Tender, Recorded May 7, 1975; Mid-Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro, TN 37) Heartbreak Hotel, Recorded

March 21, 1976; Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OH 38) Blue Suede Shoes, Recorded March 26, 1977; University Of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 39) Love Me Tender, Recorded June 24, 1977; Dane County Coliseum, Madison, WI 40) Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Recorded April 9, 1972; Coliseum, Hampton Roads, VA 41) „Personal Change“ interview excerpt, Recorded August 1962, Hollywood, CA

THE BICENTENNIAL KING VOL. 5

Introducing the fifth release on a label by the name of MILL-

BRANCH MUSIC here is another complete performance by Elvis Presley in the year of 1976. This time we chose to release a complete recording of Elvis´ performance from May 6, 1976.

It’s factory pressed and limited to only 300 copies with an 8-page booklet containing lots of photos and information regarding Elvis´ last concert series in Lake Tahoe. The sound is very good for an audience recording and Elvis is delivering a decent show with some rare songs, being in good spirits. This concert has NOT been released yet on factory pressed CD. All you fans out there know what to expect from Elvis´ 76 Lake Tahoe performances - so if you are interested be advised to get your copy as soon as you can.

Tracklist: CD1: 01. Also Sprach Zarathustra 02. C. C. Rider 03. I Got A Woman / Amen 04. Love Me 05. If You Love Me (Let Me Know) 06. You Gave Me A Mountain 07. Hawaiian Wedding Song 08. All Shook Up 09. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear / Don’t Be Cruel 10. Tryin’ To Get To You 11. Softly As I Leave You (with Sherrill Nielsen) 12. Polk Salad Annie CD2: 01. Band Introductions 02. Early Mornin’ Rain 03. What’d I Say 04. Drum Solo (Ronnie Tutt) 05. Bass Solo (Blues - Jerry Scheff) 06. Piano Solo #1 (Tony Brown) 07. Piano Solo #2 (Tony Brown) 08. Electric Piano Solo (David Briggs) 09. Love Letters 10. School Day 11. Hurt #1 12. Hurt #2 13. Hound Dog 14. It’s Midnight (with false start) 15. I’ll Remem-ber You (with false start) 16. How Great Thou Art 17. Introduction of Marty Passeta 18. Bridge Over Troubled Water (by request, with false start) 19. It’s Now Or Never 20. Crying In The Chapel (by request, last live version) 21. Loving You (by request, last live version) 22. Young And Beautiful (by request, excerpt) 23. Jailhouse Rock 24. Can’t Help Falling In Love 25. Closing Vamp

SPRING SPIRIT ´74

Here’s the new release from Showroom Rec. It is an

audience recorded Dinner Show from February 9, 1974 in Las



Vegas and comes in a 16-page booklet.

Tracklisting: 01 See See Rider 2:52 02 When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again 0:15 03 I Got A Woman / Amen 4:26 04 The Lord’s Prayer 0:07 05 Love Me 1:30 06 Trying To Get To You 2:01 07 Sweet Caroline 2:12 08 Love Me Tender 1:48 09 Fever 2:50 10 Johnny B. Goode 1:36 11 Hound Dog 1:18 12 Polk Salad Annie [incl. false start] 3:29 13 Killing Me Softly [Voice] 2:53 14 Span-ish Eyes 3:09 15 Why Me Lord [Voice] 2:48 16 Suspicious Minds 3:32 17 Band Introductions 1:46 18 Introduction of Pierre Adidge 0:28 19 I Can’t Stop Loving You 2:14 20 Help Me 2:35 21 An American Trilogy 3:49 22 Let Me Be There [incl. reprise] 3:26 23 Can’t Help Falling In Love 1:38 24 Closing Vamp 0:37

A MATTER OF DUTY

A new release from “manage-ment” label

titled “A Matter Of Duty”. It’s re-corded live on stage in Mobile, Alabama on August 29,1976 Evening Show and comes with a 12-page booklet.

Tracklisting: 01 Also sprach Zarathustra 1:04 02 See See Rider 3:29 03 Elvis talks 1:44 04 I Got A Woman / Amen 5:58 05 Elvis talks 1:52 06 Love Me

2:22 07 If You Love Me (Let Me Know) 3:14 08 You Gave Me A Mountain 3:49 09 All Shook 1:02 10 Teddy Bear / Don’t Be Cruel 2:14 11 And I Love You So 3:19 12 Jailhouse Rock 1:53 13 Fever 3:02 14 America The Beautiful 3:06 15 Band Introductions 2:21 16 Early Morning Rain 1:00 17 What’d I Say 0:46 18 Johnny B. Goode 1:05 19 Drum Solo [Ronnie Tutt] 1:27 20 Bass Solo #1 [Jerry Scheff] 1:32 21 Bass Solo #2 [Jerry Scheff] 1:04 22 Piano Solo [Tony Brown] 1:36 23 Electric Clavinet Solo [David Briggs] 1:06 24 Love Letters 2:47 25 School Days 1:04 26 Hurt #1 1:52 27 Hurt #2 1:57 28 Hound Dog 1:20 29 My Heavenly Father [Kathy Westmoreland] 3:29 30 Elvis talks 0:49 31 That’s All Right 2:20 32 Mystery Train / Tiger Man 3:13 33 Can’t Help Falling In Love 1:38 34 Closing Vamp 1:45total playing time 72:21BONUS TRACKS: 25.11.1976 ES, Eugene / Oregon .35 It’s Now Or Never 2:57 36 Hurt 2:03 37 Hawaiian Wedding Song 2:33

MIDNIGHT DELIGHT

“Midnight Delight” includes for the first time the

complete midnight show from August 19, 1975 in very good qual-ity! The CD comes as you’re used to by now with a 16-page booklet with lots and lots of rare pictures from Elvis’ shortest engagement in Las Vegas.

Tracklisting: 1. See See Rider 3,37 2. Bathroom Story 1,15 3. Blue Suede Shoes 1,13 4. Young And Beautiful 2,08 5. Are You Lonesome Tonight? 3,37 6. If You Love Me Let Me Know 2,52 7. Softly as I Leave You 3,00 8. It´s Now Or Never 2,27 9. Polk Salad Annie 3,47 10. Band Introductions Part One 2,01 11. Johnny B. Goode 1,09 12. Drum Solo 1,32 13. Bass Solo 1,44 14. Piano Solo 1,05 15. Band Introductions Part Two 16. Introduction Of the Righteous Brothers 3,01 17. T-R-O-U-B-L-E (with false start) 3,45 18. Why Me Lord? 2,42 19. Love Me Tender 2,40 20. All Shook Up 1,05 21. Love Me 2,01 22. Hound Dog 2,21 23. My Boy 3,58 24. Elvis Talks To The Audience 0,46 25. Can´t Help Falling In Love 1,57 26. Closing Vamp 1,06

GLITTER OF THE NIGHT LIFE

Come as a 2-CD set which offers you on the first CD the

former unreleased dinner show from August 10, 1973, in very good sound quality!

The second CD includes recordings from August 11 & 19, 1973 in excellent quality. The shows have been released before, but at the wrong speed and in a much inferior sound than you can hear them now.

Tracklisting: 1. See See Rider



2. I Got A Woman/Amen 3. Love Me 4. Steamroller Blues 5. You Gave Me A Mountain 6. Trouble 7. Blue Suede Shoes 8. Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin´GoinÓn/Mama Don´t Dance/Jailhouse Rock/Whole Lotta Shakin´GoinÓn 9. Love Me Tender 10. Hound Dog 11. Fever 12. What Now My Love 13. Suspicious Minds 14. Introduc-tions 15. My Boy 16. I Can´t Stop Loving You 17. An American Trilogy 18. Mystery Train/Tiger Man 19. Release Me 20. Teddy Bear/Don´t Be Cruel 21. Can´t Help Falling In Love 22. Closing Vamp 23. Bridge Over Troubled Water - Bonus Track CD 2 - Tracks 1-17 recorded on August 19,1973 at the Midnight Show. Tracks 18-28 recorded on August 11,1973 at the M.S..1. Also Sprach Zarathustra 2. See See Rider 3. I Got A Woman/Amen 4. Love Me 5. You Gave Me A Mountain 6. Love Me Tender 7. Blue Suede Shoes 8. Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta Shakin´GoinÓn/Mama Don´t Dance/Flip,Flop & Fly/Whole Lotta Shakin´GoinÓn 9. Fever 10. What Now My Love 11. Suspicious Minds 12. Introduc-tions - incomplete 13. Help Me Make It Through The Night 14. An American Trilogy 15. A BIg Hunk O´Love 16. How Great Thou Art 17. Can´t Help Falling In Love/Closing Vamp 18. See See Rider 19. I Got A Woman/Amen 20. Love Me 21. Steamroller Blues 22. You Gave Me A Mountain 23. Trouble 24. Blue Suede Shoes 25. Long Tall Sally/Whole Lotta

Shakin´GoinÓn/Mama Don´t Dance/Jailhouse Rock/Whole Lotta Shakin´GoinÓn 26. Love Me Tender 27. Fever 28. Bridge Over Trouble Water - incomplete

WILD TIGER AT THE HILTON VOL. 4

The MxF label has released their fourth volume of “Wild Tiger at the Hilton’’ featuring the COMPLETE and UNRELE-SEAD Las Vegas January 28, 1974 Dinner Show.

After almost five months of rest, Elvis is back at the Hilton in better shape and stronger than the previous season. The early season show presented here is without a doubt better quality than the one included in the volume 3. Elvis appears focused and his performance is superb. Elvis was very energetic on stage, full of enthusiasm. He sang with power and sensitivity, delivering a solid and heartfelt repertoire like the “new” songs “Spanish Eyes”, “Help Me“ and “Let Me Be There” and the classic “Trying to Get To You”.

At the same time he introduces the oldie “My Baby Left me” not forgetting the classic early 70’ songs like “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling”, “Polk Salad Annie” and “Sweet Caroline”. The show is previously unreleased and complete. We present the show directly from a first generation copy of a privately-recorded 60-minute cassette. The sound was painstakingly restored for your listening plea-sure. The sound quality here is incredibly good, considering it was taped from the audience. Elvis’ voice is loud and clear, the band sounds very powerful in very good balanced mix with some great James Burton guitar solos. The audience is never too intrusive giving instead the real feeling of the concert.

Tracklisting: As recorded live at Las Vegas Hilton, January 28, 1974 DS 01. Intro 02. CC Rider 03. I Got a Woman 04. Love Me 05. My Baby Left Me 06. You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling 07. Sweet Caroline 08. Love Me Tender 09. Trying To Get To You 10. Rock Medley 11. Fever 12. Polk Salad Annie 13. Killing Me Softly (by Voice) 14. Spanish Eyes 15. Why Me Lord ? (by Stamps) 16. Suspicious Minds 17. Band Introduction 18. I Can’t Stop Loving You 19. Help Me 20. An American Trilogy 21. Let Me Be There (+ reprise) 22. Can’t Help Falling In Love 23. Closing Vamp CD time about 60.00 min



WITH A HUMBLE HEART

Straight Arrow is continu-ing their popular collec-

tor’s series of 2 shows from one evening, released in a single package. This time the producers have chosen two excellent performances from Sunday, February 3, 1974 at the Las Vegas Hilton.

On this collection there are worthy performances of revived songs like “Tryin’ To Get To You”, “Sweet Caroline” and a powerful “Polk Salad Annie”, The December ’73 Stax sessions are represented here with pleasant renditions of “Spanish Eyes” and “Help Me”. “An American Trilogy” is as powerful as ever and Elvis’ passion for Olivia Newton-John’s “Let Me Be There” is evident too, with the ending being reprised in both shows.

As fans have come to expect from us, the tapes are of very good quality, sourced from early generation copies of the original cassettes. The double digipack contains liner notes and is filled with photos from the Montgomery, AL, March 6th, 1974 show, due to a lack of quality images from Presley’s January-February 1974 engage-ment.

As usual, these recordings have been carefully engineered to be presented in the best possible sound.

Tracks: CD 1 / Sunday, February 3, 1974 Dinner Show: 01. Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 02. C. C. Rider - 03. I Got A Woman / Amen - 04. Love Me - 05. Tryin’ To Get To You - 06. Sweet Caroline - 07. Love Me Tender - 08. Johnny B. Goode - 09. Hound Dog - 10. Fever - 11. Polk Salad Annie - 12. Killing Me Softly with His Song (Voice) - 13. Spanish Eyes - 14. Why Me Lord? - 15. Suspicious Minds - 16. Introduction of vocal-ists, musicians - 17. I Can’t Stop Loving You - 18. Help Me - 19. An American Trilogy - 20. Let Me Be There (with reprise) - 21. Can’t Help Falling In Love - 22. Closing Vamp / Announcements. CD 2 / Sunday, February 3, 1974

Midnight Show: 01. Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra - 02. C. C. Rider - 03. I Got A Woman / Amen - 04. Love Me - 05. Tryin’ To Get To You - 06. Sweet Caroline - 07. Love Me Tender - 08. Johnny B. Goode - 09. Hound Dog - 10. Fever - 11. Polk Salad Annie - 12. Killing Me Softly with His Song (Voice) - 13. Spanish Eyes - 14. Why Me Lord? - 15. Suspicious Minds - 16. Introduction of vocalists, musicians - 17. I Can’t Stop Loving You - 18. Help Me - 19. An American Trilogy - 20. Let Me Be There (with reprise) - 21. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - 22. Can’t Help Falling In Love - 23. Closing Vamp / Announcements.

Elvis Presley With Memphis boxer Joey Hadley, Las Vegas Hilton, January 29-31, 1973 - Elvis is looking at Joey’s broken right thumb, from his match in Vegas.


Elvis’ stage outfit!The Emperor Suit is the first ‘stage worn’ Elvis suit ever in Denmark and is 1 of only 15 suits outside Graceland in Memphis! Glen D. Hardin’s TCB necklaceThat he got from Elvis!

Elvis’ diamond rings!Two of the most amazing and big diamond rings that Elvis wore in the 1970s! Dolls from “Wooden Heart (Muss I Denn)”!Two of the dolls, that Elvis does the puppet theatre scene with in the movie “GI Blues”


e l v i s ’ b a c k i n g g r o u p : t h e s w e e t i n s p i r a t i o n s

IN 1963 Cissy Houston formed the Sweet Inspirations with Doris Troy and niece Dee Dee Warwick.

However, in the early 1960s the original backup group consisted of Doris Troy, the sisters, Dionne and Dee Dee Warwick, with both Doris and Dionne enjoying solo careers with hits in 1963. They group was in very much in demand among producers, publishers, artists, and songwriters at that time. Sylvia Shemwell replaced Doris, while Cissy Houston took over from Dionne, with Dee Dee Warwick

as the group’s official leader. The group sang backup for many stars, including Wilson Pickett, Solomon Burke, Esther Phillips and Aretha Franklin. Dee Dee left in 1965, when her solo career began to take off. She was replaced by Myrna Smith and Estelle Brown joined the team soon after. The line-up that was to become an Atlantic recording group was set.

The Sweet Inspirations recorded by themselves for the first time in April 1967 for Atlantic Records. That session produced the first


two singles released by Atlantic, a version of “Why (Am I Treated So Bad)”, a song previously recorded by The Staple Singers and a soulful version of “Let It Be Me”, a French song which had been a pop and R&B hit for Betty Everett & Jerry Butler in 1964. Though their first singles lacked much chart success, Atlantic was committed to the group, and an August session in Memphis yielded the bulk of songs used for the group's self-titled debut album, released in the late fall of 1967. The group’s most success-ful song was “Sweet Inspiration”, which was cut during a two-day session at American Sound in Memphis in August 1967. The track hit the number five spot on the R&B chart and was a top-20 pop hit. The song also caught Elvis Presley's attention.

Within a month of their chart climb, the group began work on their second album - a gospel record entitled “Songs of Faith &

Inspiration”. It was released in 1968 under the name Cissy Drinkard & The Sweet Inspirations. Cissy's last recording session with The Sweet Inspirations was in October 1969. She wanted to pursue a solo career and concentrate on her family. The session produced the group's biggest R&B hit in some time, a Gamble & Huff-composition called “Gotta Find Me A Brand New Lover”.

As stated previously, the song “Sweet Inspiration” caught Elvis' attention. However, it was the group The Blossoms, who backed Elvis on his “'68 Comeback Special” that were first choice for his 1969-return to the stage in Las Vegas. When they were unable to come to Vegas because of prior commitments, Elvis didn't hesitate; he signed the 'Sweets' with no audition required. The Sweet Inspirations

met him when they arrived for the first rehearsals for the '69 engagement. The 'Sweets' worked with Elvis in Vegas, on his na-tional concert tours and on recordings from 1969 to 1977. Myrna Smith also backed Elvis during his 1976-Graceland recordings, both in February of

that year, and in the October/November sessions, resulting in two albums.

Elvis demonstrated his desire for racial reconciliation in the musicians he chose, and in the treatment they received. When he made his first appearance in Texas at the Astrodome, according to Myrna Smith, Elvis was told, 'Well, you can leave the black girls at home. You don't have to bring them'.

Myrna Smith: Elvis responded with, 'Well, if they don't come, I don't come'. But he was really upset about it. There was one person in particular who had sent the message. So when we got there, we were greeted by this little blonde in a convertible and she had to drive us around and she was his daughter. So, Elvis always made sure he got even. I'm sure he said, 'And I want your daughter to drive them'.

The ladies went down to Fame, Muscle Shoals, and cut the brilliant “Sweets For My Sweet”



in early 1969, and the single they chose to release from the LP, “Crying In The Rain” (a cover of the Everly Brothers hit) would just miss the R&B top forty. The album is great and captures the fabled 'second rhythm section' at the height of their powers. The Sweets were still singing backup for everybody from Yusef Lateef to The Rascals for the label, and they were brought down to work with Pickett and Cold Grits at Atlantic South in Miami.

At the end of the year, The Sweets would record “Sweet Sweet Soul” with Ugene Dozier and Thom Bell at Sigma Sound in Philadelphia, and “Gotta Find Me A Brand New Lover” would become their big-gest hit since “Sweet Inspiration” in early 1970. Two more singles released from the LP failed to chart, however, and Cissy Houston left the group shortly after that. Although they would hit the R&B chart twice more for the label, by 1971, the Warner owned company's focus shifting to acts like Led Zeppelin, Derek & the Dominoes and Crosby, Stills and Nash, they chose not to renew The Sweets' contract in 1972.

Unbowed, they would sign with Stax (a company where it was still okay to be Black) as a trio in 1973. Despite excellent song writing and production from David Porter and Ronnie Williams, 'Slipped and Tripped', the 45 released from Estelle, Myrna and Sylvia failed to

dent the charts. One more single that didn't do much would follow in 1974 and, when Stax went under the following year, they took their contract with them. Through this they were still performing with Elvis. When he died on

August 16, 1977, The Sweet Inspirations were scheduled to perform with him in Portland, Maine the following evening.

In 1978, The Sweet Inspirations sang background on Frankie Valli's number one smash, “Grease”, which had been written and produced by Barry Gibb and released on RSO records. In 1979, after Estelle Brown left the group, they were asked by The Bee Gees to go on tour with them and were signed by Robert Stig-wood to RSO. Pat Terry would take Estelle's place on their disco flavoured album, “Hot Butterfly”, which didn't sell much - probably due to the fact that the company had overextended itself by then and was busy fighting off a lawsuit from the Brothers Gibb.

By mutual agreement, the girls broke up later that year.

In 1994, original members Es-telle, Myrna and Sylvia reformed The Sweet Inspirations, adding a fourth singer, Portia Griffin.

They began performing again, and were in demand by the legions of Elvis fans who had seen them in the seventies with the King, in addition to the Soul intelligentsia overseas, where they retained a huge following. In 2001, Sylvia suffered a stroke, which left her unable to perform. The group continued on, however, and recorded their first album in 25 years, “In The Right Place”, in 2005.

They also recorded choir backing for The Killers' 2004 recording, "Hot Fuss", on songs "Andy, You're a Star" and "All These Things That I've Done". Sylvia Shemwell died on Febru-ary 13, 2010.

In March 2010, while on a European tour for “Elvis: The Concert”, Myrna Smith developed pneumonia. Once back in the U.S., her condition continued to dete-riorate, as she suffered kidney failure, further complicated by a severe stroke. Myrna Smith died on December 24, 2010.

Estelle Brown made the dif-ficult decision to replace Myrna; as of March 2011, The Sweet Inspirations are continuing to perform backup vocals with “Elvis: The Concert”.





e s t e l l e b r o w n : t h e s w e e t i n s p i r a t i o n s

ESTELLE BROWN doesn’t remember much anymore. Not that she is old and frail and suffering from amnesia. She just cannot distinguish between the many things that happened back then, more than 30 years ago.

“I cannot separate the concerts from each other,” she says, looking at some photo-graphs of herself and Elvis on stage. The many photos are from

a German fan. She sits at the old and fashionable Hotel Randers looking at the photos spread out on a table.

“I cannot separate them from each other,” Estelle Brown admits. She was a choir member of Elvis’ female vocal group The Sweet Inspirations from 1969 to 1977.

Thus, Estelle does not remember anything about the

two New Year’s shows Elvis did in 1975 and 1976. We look at a photo, but no, the memories are gone. Henrik Knudsen, who owns Graceland Randers, also owns the guitar that Elvis used during the New Year’s show in 1975. It’s on display in the Elvis Museum and Estelle went and had a look at it, when she and the new mem-bers of The Sweet Inspirations visited Graceland Randers in

BY CHARRO (TRANSLATED BY MARIE WELLING/RIKKE FRIIS)

ELVIS UNLIMITED MET ELVIS’ FORMER CHOIR SINGER.

PHOT

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late September for the big show with Elvis impersonator, Donny Edwards. This is the reason we meet her for this talk.

Maybe it’s not that strange that Estelle Brown cannot remember. After all, she did do more than 1100 concerts with Elvis. However, Estelle Brown does remember one of the great moments in Elvis’ career – Aloha From Hawaii on January 14, 1973.

“It was great. Elvis was great. We were all great. We arrived there a week before to rehearse. He came to us after the show and said, “Girls, it was a great show,” Estelle Brown recalls.

In 1965 Estelle Brown was a gospel singer in Harlem, New York. But then she was discov-ered and became a member of

the gospel group The Sweet Inspirations. This is how Estelle Brown came to sing with stars such as Aretha Franklin, Van Morrison, Dusty Springfield and Dionne Warwick. – And of course later, with Elvis.

It was Whitney Houston’s mother, Cissy Houston, who started The Sweet Inspirations. All “Sweets” were in their own respective gospel groups at that time. But Cissy Houston was recording at Atlantic Records and needed some choir singers. At Atlantic they hired, among others, Estelle and now-de-

ceased Myrna Smith and Sylvia Shemwell. The Atlantic-people loved what they heard and asked the girls to form a group called The Sweet Inspirations.

The group grew and began to record for themselves.

“Elvis was on top then. So were we. He had not seen us when he made his comeback in 1969. But we had a record out, “The Sweet Inspirations”, which he had heard and knew well. He hired us and said he wanted us with him in Las Vegas, “says Estelle Brown.

So The Sweet Inspirations travelled to Las Vegas a week before Elvis’ first stage appear-ance at the new International Hotel on July 31, 1969.

“We received an uncountable number of records that we had



to memorize. We memorized his music and when we met him, it was very intimidating. He was such a big superstar. I was so scared. But after I met him, I calmed down a bit. He said: I’m not your boss, I am your brother,” says Estelle Brown.

Then came the opening night. Everyone was nervous, especially Elvis, Estelle Brown remembers.

“I don’t think I had ever seen so many people (2000, ed.), as I did that night. There were also big stars in the venue. I don’t remember it all, but I remember that Elvis was nervous and was pacing around all the time. But the audience loved him of course,” says Estelle Brown.

The more concerts they played, the less they rehearsed, especially Elvis and the band. They would “just” show up.

“At the Aloha show we rehearsed a week before, and

then not much more, because we knew the material. We knew what we had to do, “says Estelle Brown.

On stage Elvis was very conservative. They would always play the same songs over and over again with a few exceptions. Possibly because in the end it couldn’t keep him interested, and why change your repertoire when people cry out in joy all the time?

Estelle Brown herself likes “I’ll Remember You” the best, which Elvis carried out beautifully during Aloha From Hawaii.

“It was my favourite and the version performed in Hawaii was very good. It’s a quiet and moving song which is very meaningful”, says Estelle Brown.

She didn’t notice, that Elvis over the years became more and more ill. In 1977 it came as a shock when Elvis suddenly died.

“No one could have foreseen in 1977 that it was his final year.

He did not look sick. Not to me. It was natural that he gained weight, but I did not know he was as sick as he was. I could see it sometimes in his eyes, but Elvis was good at hiding it, “says Estelle Brown.

“Elvis is perhaps out of his body, but the spirit of him is still here. Elvis was an angel to me. I miss him. This isn’t an understate-ment. I can’t describe how much I miss him, “says the now 69-year-old Estelle Brown, who still wears the TLC necklace, Elvis gave her.

“I will never take it off,” she says. “The last concert was a

‘normal day at the office’. When we heard he was dead, it was unreal. I believe that God spoke to us through Elvis; Elvis was sent here, “says Estelle Brown, who now lives in Los Angeles, but performs worldwide with Elvis imitators.




Documents

Elvis Unlimited 55