IMAGE OF THE WEEK

The image of the week comes from Viva Las Vegas. I was really just looking for some excuse to put a picture of Ann on here.

EDWARDS TOP 5

I have not got to be on a lot the last few days because I was not really at home much this last weekend. I was gone tonight as well with Vince to look for golf clubs and Elvis stuff. We got some cool stuff I was jabber about later. I have been watching a lot of Viva Las Vegas the last few days so I plan on a review of the Viva FTD tomorrow. So to my top five of the week.

1.Love Me
2.The Lady Loves Me
3.Girl Happy
4.Cross My Heart and Hope To Die
5.Burning Love

DOLL OF THE WEEK

Pamela Tiffin is the doll of the week. She appeared in many films in the 60's and was a real beauty at one time. Her connections with Elvis was that she was offered roles in three films with him but turned them down. She was offered Blue Hawaii, Girls! Girls! Girls! and Fun In Acapulco. She said the reason she did not do the movies was because Peter Glenville and Dolores Hart poisoned her mind against it. She said Hal Wallis said she did not have to do the movies unless she wanted to. So since everyone had said not to do it, she didn't. She has to to have met Elvis and she considered him adorable and a gentleman. She later said she regretted not doing the movies. I wish she had done a movie with Elvis. I could have handled seeing her run around in a bikini on the beach In Blue Hawaii!

FRANKIE AND JOHNNY

I was driving down the road the other day listening to Elvis radio and caught the long production version of the song Frankie and Johnny from the movie with the same name. I have not seen this movie in several months and had not thought about this in some time. I have always liked this song, but hearing the long version reminded me of how much I like it. I really dig this song and the whole production number as well. The music from this movie is not at the top of my list as far as movie music goes but this song alone brings it up a few spots. I have already decided I will have to pick up the Frankie and Johnny FTD in Memphis this year, if not before that, so I can have the seven minute version to listen to anytime I want to.

44 days to go

44 days until I will be in Memphis. August can't get here fast enough, I am going to be out of town most of the month. I have not got a chance to blog tonight because Vince and I was trying to map out a route in Memphis of places we are going to see. I will be back tomorrow to blog about something or another.

Vince's Flippy Five

1. Money Honey
2. Baby Let's Play House
3. In The Ghetto (Take 4)
4. Don't Be Cruel
5. Love Me

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Mike's top 5

My top five favorite Elvis songs of the moment are:

1.Love Me
2.Tryin To Get To You
3.Frankie and Johnny
4.That's All Right
5.You Don't Have To Say You Love Me

Elvis had a secret Diary?

A college professor claims he has a seven volume secret diary that Elvis kept. He says he bought them with a bunch of used books in Memphis a short time back. The man says the diary spans from November of 1956 until August of 1977. This guy swears up in down these are real and says two different people have confirmed that this was Elvis' handwriting. Below are some of the entries that are suppose to have been written by Elvis.

August 14, 1958-Where are you, Mama? I know you’re here. You’re not dead. You can’t be dead. You can’t leave me, Mama. You said you’d never leave me. You promised. I’m not ready. Mama, I’m scared.

August 28, 1965The Beatles are O.K. I don’t know why John [Lennon] was so nervous [when Elvis and the Beatles met]. What did he think I was going to do, bite him? He said I inspired him. We played and sang some but we’d never make it on one stage. I’m a show. The Beatles are just a band.

April 27, 1973Should I cut my sideburns? I wonder what the girls would say? I wonder what The Colonel would say? I wonder what I’d say after they went down the drain?

August 27, 1974If I have to kiss one more fat girl I’ll puke. Where the hell are my pills?

August 15, 1977It won’t be long now, Mama. I’m coming home.

August 16, 1977I can’t go on

Why in the hell would anyone even try to pass this crap off as actual thoughts of Elvis'? Most everyone is saying this is just a bunch of nonsense, and it does not take a smart person to realize that. There is a lot of crap you read about Elvis in book and on the Internet people actually believe, but really, who would buy this? This is the most ridicules thing ever, anyone that knows anything about Elvis knows this does not even sound like him or the way he would try to convey something. You think he would really write something down about a fat girl then finish it with where the hell is my pills? I just can't get over why this dumb ass person is even trying to pass this off.

Today in Elvis History

June 22, 1965 Elvis starts filming on his seventeenth film, Girl Happy. Girl Happy is not Elvis' best movie, but certainly not his worst. It has always been in my top ten favorites because I love the soundtrack and the story. what pushes this ahead of many other for me is Shelley Fabares and Mary Ann Mobley.

Elvis Presley on CNN.com (Well Kinda)

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) -- Celebrity psychic Uri Geller and two partners have lost a federal lawsuit claiming the former owners of Elvis Presley's pre-Graceland house breached an eBay contract to sell the Memphis home.
Elvis Presley bought a four-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot house in 1956 with his early song royalties.
Geller, who gained fame in the 1970s for his alleged power to bend spoons and other objects with his mind, and his partners bid $905,100 for the ranch-style home in a 2006 auction by owners Cindy Hazen and Mike Freeman.
But the deal fell apart. Hazen said Geller's group altered terms of the real estate deal so that it was unacceptable. Geller said Hazen and Freeman reneged on the deal in order to sell it for more to Nashville record producer Mike Curb, who bought the house for $1 million.
On Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla ruled that the eBay auction was more of an advertising vehicle than a binding sale.
Even if it was a contract, the judge said, Geller and his partners breached it when they altered the closing terms after the sale.
"I'm relieved that this is all over," Hazen told the Memphis newspaper The Commercial Appeal.
Presley bought the four-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot house in 1956 with his early song royalties. The singer, his parents and grandmother lived there for 13 months before throngs of fans forced them to move to more secluded Graceland in 1957.
Curb plans to let Rhodes College use the home as part of a new Mike Curb Music Institute.

Source: http://www.cnn.com/

Elvis On Elvis

I recently purchased a DVD titled "Elvis On Elvis". This DVD is pretty much a compilation of pictures of Elvis with interviews over the years about his career. It also has a few performances from different TV show appearences and some concert footage from the 50's. Even though the quality isnt top notch and the audio is not been cleaned up very well, it still is a pretty good documentary with rare footage, interviews with members of the Memphis Mafia, and rare pictures. When I first saw the the DVD on Amazon, I was immediately curious on what it was all about. Finally I ran across a deal I couldn't pass and bought it. The DVD is low budget and has special features that include The Karate Years and a slideshow of rare photos with songs in the background. All in all, for it to be low budget and not endorsed by EPE, it's not half bad. I would reccomend for you to find a good deal and not spend alot of money on it though

Vince's Random Song Of The Week

DOLL OF THE WEEK

Hope Lange is the doll of the week. She played in the movie Wild In The Country with Elvis. I have always thought of her as a pretty talented actress who never reached the heights she probably should have, for whatever reason.

Elvis Gold Records Vol. 2

I am going to talk about another one of the FTD's I got a few weeks ago. 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong is a classic. The album cover is one of the most famous Elvis covers ever. This has long been one of my favorite albums. I am so glad to get this wonderful 2 disc edition from FTD. Disc 1 has the ten LP masters as well as three bonus masters. All 13 are solid. I Need Your Love Tonight starts out the first disc. I have always thought this was a pretty good song, but not one of my personal favorites. Song two is one of my favorites, and one of Elvis' best, Don't. I think this song is wonderful and Elvis does a great job with this. I think this song is perfect the was Elvis delivers it. I Got Stung is on here and always been a song I like to listen to just for the fact it seems so out on control. It is fast paced and I have always had a hard time keeping up with it. Though I think that is why it appeals to me for some odd reason. It is just pure fun for more. My absolute favorite song from this album is (Now And The There's) A Fool Such As I. Probably one of my top ten favorite Elvis songs from the 50's. Doncha' Think It's Time in my opinion is a very underrated song. Disc one also contains takes from the February and June 58 sessions. Disc two is nothing but outtakes of I Need Your Love Tonight, (Now And The There's)A Fool Such As I, and I got Stung. As I have said many many times before, I love , love, love outtakes. Elvis was known to do take after take trying to get what he thinks is the right sound. That was really the case in the early RCA years. I only wish we had more of these gems to hear. I just love to hear the progression of a song and how he changes things and try different things. Most of the time I still think the master released was the best, but I do often find myself liking some outtakes better then the takes released. The first 18 takes of I Need Your Love Tonight are on this disc. I probably spent a half a day when I got this Cd just listening to these 18 takes over and over. I am fascinated by these takes. It teaches me so much more about Elvis' wonderful talent for making music and knowing what sounds good. I have found I appreciate this song so much more. I have done this with every song on this disc. I only with I had every take of every Elvis song. Now that would be awesome, even though I would never come out of my room. Overall I am very pleased as usual with FTD and the effort. This is a great addition to any Elvis music lovers collection. As much as I loved this CD it was my least favorite of the four FTD's I just bought. I still have yet to discuss Something For Everybody and Studio B. I will soon, but I am saving them for when I have the time to put some serious effort into the review. They are among my favorites ever!

Images from Hawaii

My sister just got back from the island of Kauai. That is BS she got to go, when I have been wanting to go forever. Nah not really, I am glad she got to go. She was nice enough to go check out the site of the old Coco Palms and get a few pictures for me. It was a waste of a lot of money because she paid to travel to the other side of the island and it was all shut up and you can't get in. I am still glad she got me these pictures though. The sign above I am thinking is in the front at the old entrance.
She said the whole area was really beautiful. I really want to go, and I want to go check it out before they get rid of this place all together. I will say screw it and break in, and get some key pictures. She said she had heard while she was there they might try to do something with this soon. I have heard different and that it is not looking good for the property. I tend to think at this point there is no hope for it. I am sentimental when it comes to any historic spot from way back when it comes to Elvis history.
It never made any sense to me why this place has just sit in ruin since 92. This was the top resort in Hawaii for many years. It has a lot of history and deserves to be brought back to life. I hope it happens. Elvis fan or not I respect the importance and beauty of this great place. I have a few more pictures of the area that I might post in the next few days.

Also don't forget the great song "Island Of Love" from the movie Blue Hawaii. It is a very overlooked song. I have always thought it was key. Actually the whole damn soundtrack is key.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

From the set of Paradise, Hawaiian Style.

GO GO GO ON THE SPEEDWAY!

As some of you might know, Dale Jr is my favorite drive in NASCAR. He finally got him a win this year breaking a long dry spell. He is now closing in on second in the points. Now that he has got one out of the way, expect him to win many more this year and contend for a championship. To honor him, I am going to watch one of his favorite Elvis movies tonight, Speedway.

Poll Results

This weeks question was which Sun B side did you like the best. Mystery Train ran away with it. I had trouble with this because You're A Heartbreaker and I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine have both always been two of my favorites, but in the end I had to go with You're A Heartbreaker.

Mike's top 5

I have not got to spend much time on here the last four or five days. I have been watching golf constantly. When Tiger is on, especially in a Major, everything else gets pushed to the side. I am going to be back strong this week with all kinds of stuff. Now for my favorite Elvis songs of the moment.

1.Love Me
2.All Shook Up
3.Promised Land
4.(Such An) Easy Question
5. Sentimental Me

Vince's Random Song

"Feels So Right"

Sorry Guys

Sorry about the lack of blogs from me. Ive been so busy with a new job at work and had an health issue on top of all that. I appreciate the patience from everybody especially Mike for carrying the blog as usual. Take it easy!!


- Vince

Vince's Flippy Five

1. Feels So Right
2. Solider Boy
3. Mess Of Blues
4. Don't Be Cruel
5. Love me

DOLL OF THE WEEK

Dolores Hart is the doll of the week. She played in the movies Loving You and King Creole alongside Elvis. I thought she and Elvis worked well together. She was for sure a pretty girl, and was very young when the two movies came out. She would go on to make some more movies. She played in the movie Where The Boys Are, which I have always thought was a key movie. She found however Hollywood did not bring her the happiness she had hoped for. She entered a convent around 1963 and took her vows to become a nun in 1970. I will always remember her from her early days, she was hot and a decent actress.

Complete '68 Comeback Special Deluxe Package

2008 marks the 40th anniversary of the 1968 NBC special. In August BMG will release a 4 CD set focusing on the special. Several different Internet sites have talked about what the discs will contain but they all have had something different. Either way this is not something I am going to run out to pick up. I have Memories, Tiger Man, Burbank 68, and Let Yourself Go. So I cant imagine there is going to be much on this if anything, that I do not have. I will get it done day I suppose, because that's just what I do. I buy most anything to do with Elvis that's actually nice or worth buying. It is a nice looking set. I just think for the money I can find a lot better things to buy.

NEW ADDITION TO THE COLLECTION

I got my Baby Let's Play House remix today. I was glad to get it so I would have it to add to the collection. It has the original cover Elvis did and two remixes by Spankox. As I have said before, I like the remix alright so I will enjoy this. The extra long remix is pretty good.

This puts the CD collection up to 132 now.

POLL RESULTS

This week Mike posed the question of which back up group you liked best. In a heated contest The Jordanaires took The Sweet Inspirations 5 votes to 4. The Stamps also got a vote.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Elvis in concert sometime during 1970

Mike's Top 5

My favorite Elvis songs at the moment.

1.Love Me
2.Funny How Time Slips Away
3.Sentimental Me
4.It's Now Or Never
5.Blue Hawaii

New DVD Now Available

The new 2 disc DVD of Elvis Presley's Graceland is now available. I have been waiting on this for a long time. This set shows off the home and tells the history of the property. Elvis and his career is discussed at length as well. Footage from home movies and many rare photos are shown in this with many other bonus features. I never got the old DVD and i held off getting for the last year because I knew this was coming. I have to have this. When I get to missing Memphis and Graceland and I can throw it in and feel a little bit better.

DOLL OF THE WEEK

The doll of the week is Joan Blackman. Joan appeared with Elvis in the movies Blue Hawaii and Kid Galahad. Elvis as usual had a little something going on with her but it was nothing serious. She tried to make it out as some big love affair years later but most people know better. I have read a mixture of things on her. Some say she can be very nice and a lovely person. Some say though she is crazy as hell and can be awful. I don't know really, shes probably somewhere in between. From what I have read she seems crazy. She was still a pretty lady at one time. She was not bad to look at. She is not in the Mary Ann or Ann category, but she was pretty enough to earn the distinction of doll of the week.

EW calender is starting to fill up

64 days to go! I am so ready to go to Memphis. Vince and I booked our VIP tour for Graceland during Elvis Week and we are pretty much got every day packed with stuff to do. I am afraid we are not going to get to do all we want in the eight days we are out there. We have a couple more things to iron out but we are almost set on what is going down for the week.

Item I am needing

Fame and Fortune is a FTD that has been discontinued that I missed out on. This is something I just have to get somehow. I love Elvis from 60-64 and his work in 60 and 61 is some of his best, if not his best. If anyone happens to know where I might pick up a copy, let me know. I also missed out on the FTD's Out In Hollywood and Silver Screen Stereo. I really wish I could get those as well. I am really into the music from the movies and would love to hear those.

FLASHBACK

I am going to discuss one of my latest additions to my collection. Flashback is a book with many never before seen photos with a CD of outtake from 1958-1958. The book is from the people at FTD so it is top notch all the way. Sherif Hanna and Ernst Jorgensen has done a great job with this project. First off lets talk about the book. I enjoy seeing any new pictures of Elvis that I have not seen before. I have seen some of these pictures before, but most of them I have never seen. The pictures range from Elvis' signing at RCA to Elvis' on recording session while in the Army. I found the pictures of Elvis on stage in Miami interesting. You can just see Elvis on stage moving about in these pictures and seems to be putting on a hell of a show. I can only imagine the electricity in that auditorium. Also some pictures from the dressing room in Miami are featured. These are really neat getting to see Red and Gene. Pictures from the Love Me Tender recording session are featured here. A Reminder Elvis still did not have total control. Scotty,Bill, and DJ are nowhere to be found. Studio musician's from Nashville are put in there place because RCA made that call for a few different reasons.

Now on to the music. The disc is made up of twenty-five outtakes from the 50's. It starts out with a version of Heartbreak Hotel that has takes 5(1st part) and takes 4(2nd part). It is outstanding. I Was The One take 7 is on here and was really something I looked forward to hearing. This is one of my all time favorite songs and wanted to hear this. Blueberry Hill take 3 is found on here as well and it is interesting to hear the difference between this song and the take used for release. Many other great songs are on this disc. One song however jumps out at me and I like above all the rest. Treat Me Nice(1st version). This song really sounds different then the one used in Jailhouse Rock that we have heard over the years. The background melody and the overall feel to the song is different. Elvis' delivery is different but great. I actually think the song sounds better this way. I do not know the story behind this song and how it turned out the way it did, but it has me curious. This song has instantly became on of my favorite songs. This is exactly why I love the outtakes. When you hear several of them you can see where Elvis works his magic and how the songs take shape over various takes. It is a shame more of the outtakes from the 50's are not available.

Overall I am very happy with the purchase of this book. Some might not think the book and CD is not worth $65. The CD would have been around thirty if it was just a release, and thirty five bucks for the book is not all that bad. I think this was a great addition to my collection. I would recommend this book for sure.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

This is from one of my favorite movies ever, Girl Happy. Rusty is standing in a tree singing "The Clam". I have always enjoyed the song as well. I am digging this shirt as well. It is pretty key and I have always been a big fan of that color.

Mike Edwards Top 5

My favorite Elvis songs of the last week are the fallowing.

1.Love Me
2.I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell
3.Little Sister(take3)
4.Treat Me Nice(1st version)
5.Please Don't Drag That String Around

Poll Results

This week poll results shows that "Baby Lets Play House" was picked as the favorite song of the A side Sun Records. HEre's a video of the song ENJOY!!