IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Elvis and Mary Ann Mobley from the movie Girl Happy. Girl Happy is one of my favorite movies and Mary Ann is on of my favorite actresses of all time. She was so pretty.

I have been away for a week due to a very busy work schedule. I never got out of the office before 9:00 last week so I was pretty exhausted. Hopefully this week will be a little better and I can get back to posting on here.

The Rock wanted to be Elvis

Dwayne Johnson also known as The Rock is a huge Elvis fan. Here he mentions wanting to be Elvis when he was growing up. I have heard him talk about Elvis a lot and how much of a fan he is. He is even know to bust out singing some Elvis. I was not a big fan of his as a wrestler, but I have changed my opinion of him over the years. He is pretty damn cool.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

This has always been one of my favorite pictures. This was taken in Hawaii in 1961.

DOLL OF THE WEEK

Tuesday Weld is the doll of the week. I have always loved her. She played in the movie Wild In The Country with Elvis. They also dated while filming this movie. I have been in the mood to watch that movie and think I will this weekend.

Pictures from Memphis

This is the "Millionaires Suit" from the movie Clambake I discussed a few weeks ago on here. I still have not figured out if this is the real suit Elvis has in the movie or not. As I said I know one had been cut up into small pieces to be sold with and Elvis album. I do know this suit is not EPE's, but it being loaned to them by a couple from Memphis. I am still going to research this at some point. It was pretty cool to see it anyway, I have always been curious about this outfit.

This is the Blue Hawaii part of the Elvis In Hollywood exhibit. Blue Hawaii has always been on of my favorite movies. It was very cool to see some of this stuff that is tied in with the movie.

Two of the horses from Graceland.

This is me getting my picture took in front of the sign at the entrance across from Graceland. It is a tradition for Vince and I to get our pictures took in front of it.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

This has always been one of my favorite pictures of Elvis.

Our weekend in Memphis

Well Vince and I had a good time in Memphis even if it was way too short of a trip. We left at about 1:30 in the morning Friday and arrived in Memphis at about 9:00. We went straight to Graceland after getting a quick bite to eat. It was just opening up for tours and we just walked around and checked out all the shops. We spent the afternoon going to some stores in Horn Lake. We finally got to check in at the Heartbreak Hotel about 3:30 so we could get a little rest before the meet and greet with Darlene Tompkins and the screening of Blue Hawaii. Darlene spoke some before the movie came on about the movie and Elvis. The movie started and Darlene kind of mixed with the crowd and spoke some about things throughout the movie. Unfortunately I missed a good portion of the movie because I was out in the hall on the phone tending to some things going on back home. After the movie we got some food and headed back to the room. We turned on the 24 hour Elvis channel the hotel had and watched Girl Happy as we went to sleep. We both could barley function by that time!
Saturday we got up pretty early and headed over to Graceland for our VIP tour. Going up to the mansion was as great as it always is. This was my thirteenth time and it was as moving as the first time I ever went in. As soon as I step into that house I just get the best feeling. You feel so welcomed and know Elvis would be glad you were there. I can't really come close to describing it. The reason for this big weekend trip was to see the new exhibits. The special VIP only Graceland exhibit was very cool. A lot of the same stuff as usual was in the room but a lot of stuff had been added as well. Old documents, receipts, letters, and such telling the history of the home. I was very fascinated by this. The thing that intrigued me the most was some of the receipts from when Elvis redecorated Graceland after he has purchased it. It kind of gives you insight of how the house looked and the feel it might have had. I was trying to imagine that anyway. You could really tell he was going all out and was for sure making good on his promise to give his mother the nicest home in town. The automobile museum also had two new additions to it. They added another Rolls Royce Elvis owned as well as a 6-door Mercedes Benz limousine featured in the movie Elvis on Tour. I has seen the limo last EW at the expo, but I had never seen the Rolls. That was a pretty sharp car. Another new thing added was the exhibit Elvis Lives: The King and Pop Culture. It was loaded with books, collectibles, cd's, movies, and more that has to do with Elvis over the years. The last exhibit was called Elvis In Hollywood. This was my favorite part of the tour because I am such a big fan of his movies. It showcases all 33 movies and documentaries Elvis made. Some cool stuff from Jailhouse Rock, Clambake, Viva Las Vegas, and Blue Hawaii I never have seen are on display. I was very excited over getting to see that stuff. After spending way too much money on cd's we finally started to make our way home late Saturday.
Overall it was a great trip. I am glad we decided to go. It was very tiring(I am still dead tired!) and I was a little preoccupied by some other stuff but I don't regret going. I really can't wait to go back in August. I picked up some new FTD's while out in Memphis. No way I was going to be in those shops and not buy a few. Nevada Lights,On Tour,Blue Hawaii,Kid Galahad, Elvis Today,Raised On Rock, and Wild In The Country was added to the collection. I have really enjoyed what I have got to hear from them. I will be doing some reviews on here for sure.
That puts my cd collection up to 157. I am really getting it built up now!

BACK FROM MEMPHIS

Vince and I made it back from Memphis late last night. I am totally worn out but it was a lot of fun. I will be back at some point to post but I am tired and have to deal with some family stuff. I will get rested up and come back later.

We're taking a walk down Lonely St. to Heartbreak Hotel

All plans are final, we got our days off and we are heading to Memphis late Thursday night/Friday morning to Memphis to enjoy our Graceland VIP Package. We're gonna get to stay in the Heartbeark Hotel, see a screening of Blue Hawaii, got to a meet and greet with Blue Hawaii co star Darlene Tompkins and enjoy our VIP passes to Graceland Mansion to see the opening of three new exhibits. I'm psyched up and ready to go and I know Mike is whipping around wildly ready to leave. I'll take my psp and try to blog from the hotel and you know that many pics will be taken and posted on here. Take it easy!

Vince

Ann-Margret talks about Elvis

I ran across this video some time ago and have enjoyed watching it.This is from an interview Ann did in 1994 where she talked about Elvis. She doesn't talk about Elvis all the much. I respect that about her. She could make all kinds of cash talking about the relationship between the two. Though she doesn't talk all that much about Elvis you can tell she cared about him very much. She is pure class and always been on of my favorite people ever.

Elvis makes list of The 50 Most Stylish Men Of The Past 50 Years

Elvis was named by GQ magazine as one of the 50 most stylish men of the past 50 years. Here is what was wrote in GQ magazine.

"Elvis may have been more about bling and booze in his later years, but early on - according to Bernard Lansky, self-proclaimed clothier to the King - his style was always “clean as Ajax.” A hard thing to pull off as a muddy Mississippi white boy who popularized a defiantly black way of dressing; pegged pants, hi-boy collars, immaculate hair, and the plaid jacket that Lansky tailored for Elvis’s star-turning appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. The King set the sartorial tone for Jerry Lee Lewis and a host of other Memphis rock ’n’ roll legends, all of whom made Lansky’s men’s shop the place to go if you were an up-and-coming musician. And though he may have gone Vegas in later years, Elvis ultimately returned to his roots. “I picked the white linen suit, blue shirt, and white tie he was buried in,” says Lansky, one of the honorary pallbearers at Presley’s funeral. “It was sharp.”"

Alright first of all as great as it is that Elvis was on this list, who the hell wrote this? They obviously don't know much about Elvis. Bling and booze? Ok, Elvis was about some bling, but never booze! Elvis never liked to drink really, and this is just the kind of thing that make me so mad. People who write about Elvis now always seem to just throw stuff out there that they think it right. They never actually do any research if they don't know. Sad thing is that most people that really don't know Elvis might buy into this. Just gives people more to be negative about when talking about Elvis.

Anyway, as far as Elvis and his style of the 50's, he is dead on. One of the first things I really liked about Elvis was his clothing style of the 50's. It was different yet so cool to me. The oversize pegged pants, the oversize jackets, and colors. The white shoes also always appealed to me. Lansky's was the place to shop back in the 50's after Elvis blew up. They still are the place to shop and I try to buy something every time I go to Memphis. Mr. Lanksy is super cool and it is a must to go speak with him when you are in town.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Elvis in 1969 from the movie The Trouble With Girls.

Vince's Movie Poster Of The Week - The Trouble With Girls

Memphis Bound?

Mike and I are hoping to be able to head to Graceland and actually get to stay at the Heartbreak Hotel this coming weekend. It pretty much rests on if I can get off saturday and Sunday off. I've got my fingers crossed and i'm about 60% sure I can pull it off. Wish us luck!!

New item to the collection

I just ordered me a die cast model of the Dale Earnhardt legends car that features Elvis on it. I am super excited about this. Dale and Elvis are for sure two of the coolest people to ever walk this earth. This will look great beside my Dale Jr die cast I have with Elvis on it.

DOLL OF THE WEEK

Donna Douglas is the doll of the week. She played with Elvis in the movie Frankie and Johnny. It is probably my least favorite Elvis movie. Though I still dig it and Donna is one of the reasons way. She is most famous for a role on the television show The Beverly Hillbillies. That happens to be one of my favorite shows ever.

Insult to Elvis' Memory

I was just sitting around thinking of all the trash people rip off from Elvis today and this is number one on my list......The F'n Honkey Tonk Man. This shit makes me wanna kick Vince McMahon in the nuts.

Where have the FTD's gone?

I am going to have to rant a little on here for a moment. I have been wanting to order some cd's from the FTD label for a few weeks now. Though two of the cd's I want to get, Wild In The Country and Kid Galahad are not available. I got to thinking and I can't remember them being available for some time now. I have not heard anything about these being discontinued but I do not know what the cause could be. It is pissing me off a little because I really want both of these releases. Hopefully they have them in stock soon because I am itching to buy several new Elvis cd's.

Vince's Movie Poster Of The Week - Charro!

Don't Be Cruel

"Don't Be Cruel" is definately in my top five favorite Elvis songs of all time. When I hear other artists try to record it, it's like mixing pizza and peanut butter, they just don't mix. One exception to the rule is from the Elvis: Viva Las Vegas documentary when Chris Isaak and Brandi Carlile team up to sing the song as a duet. It's a really good rendition of the classic song especially hearing them sing like they are singing to each other. It's different but pretty damn good. Check out the video!

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

From the 1961 movie Blue Hawaii.

Jailhouse Rock: Black and White or Color?

I'm a huge fan of Jailhouse Rock (obviously with my pen name) because it shows the raw Elvis of the 50's in a badass sort of way. To me, Jailhouse Rock was never meant to be seen in color even though you can see it that way. It takes away the rawness of the movie and just looks very unnatural to me. This past Elvis Week was awesome because I got to watch Jailhouse Rock on the front lawn of Graceland at the Music and Movies event. Sadly, they wont be doing that this year. Another thing that I love about the move is the awesome soundtrack with my favorite song being "Young and Beautiful." What's sad about the whole thing is three days after completing the film, Elvis' co-star Judy Tyler was killed in an automobile accident which prevented Elvis watching the movie because they were close friends. On a lighter note, the movie has one of the most famous dancing scenes in history and is sometimes credited to be the first music video and that is of course the sequence of "Jailhouse Rock". Little do people know that the choreographer for the movie, Alex Romero, originally created a dance in a style that was geared for a more classically trained dancer than Elvis. After Romero saw that it wasn't going to work for the song, he asked Elvis how would he normally move to the song thus creating Elvis as an uncredited choreographer for the film. Flippy.... real flippy

Vince is back!

Hey everybody! I want to apologize for my hiatus from the best damn Elvis blog on the net. The only excuse I have is that I kept drawing blanks for topics. Don't get me wrong, i'm a huge Elvis fan but Mike is way more knowledgeable towards the King than I ever could be. I want to thank him for keeping the blog going strong and keeping his creation going. I got to thinking and I just said screw it and with the help of Mike's persuasiveness, If I cant make topics to blog about, i'll just rant about Elvis. I hope to make ya'll happy, thanks again!

New Hollywood exhibit at Graceland

One of the new exhibits at Graceland is centered around Elvis' time spent making movies. I was listening to Elvis Radio the other day and they had been talking about one of the things on display is the "Clambake Suit". Which is what Elvis has on in the picture above. The say it is the first time is has been on display. I will have to say it is awful, but for some reason I have always found it interesting. Maybe because it is so odd. Or It might have to do with the fact I have always been a big Clambake fan. Now in a post a while back I was talking about this suit being auctioned off. That suit was the first one made for Elvis but was too small and never used. From everything I have ever seen wrote about this suit, it says it was cut up into tiny bits. Then sold in the record "Elvis: The Other Sides — Worldwide Gold Award Hits, Volume 2". So I am curious to what suit Graceland has. I will for sure have to investigate this some more.

ELVIS WEEK 09 LOGO

The logo for EW this year was unveiled a few days ago. It has me all excited because I am ready to go back to Memphis!

DOLL OF THE WEEK

Sue Ane Langdon is the doll of the week. She played in the movies Roustabout and Frankie and Johnny with Elvis. I really enjoyed her role as Madame Mijanou. She was hilarious in that part.

I have not done a very good job with the blog this week. I have been working fourteen hour days and it has about done me in. I haven't felt like doing much, hopefully I will get several post in this weekend to make up for it.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

This looks like a publicity picture from around the time of Girls!Girls!Girls! in 1962.

Dale Earnhardt and Elvis to be on race car together

It has been announced that later this month a #3 race car will be introduced with Dale Earnhardt and Elvis both on it. It is part of the "Enduring Legends" series that has saw Earnhardt share a car before with Johnny Cash and John Wayne. The car with Elvis will be unveiled in Las Vegas where it will be in display through the Vegas race. At the first of March the car will be sent to Graceland to be displayed in the automobile museum where it will stay until April. Then the car will be sent to the home office of DEI for display. Collectible editions of this car will be available for purchase. I am very excited about this because I am a huge fan of the Earnhardt's and they are big fans of Elvis'. Dale Jr often speaks of his love for Elvis. It is going to be neat to see this car, hopefully I can make it out to Memphis to see the car in person. I will for sure be getting on the the collectible reproductions to put along with my Budweiser #8 Elvis themed car Dale Jr drove a few years ago.

Favorite Album Cover #1-Elvis Presley

My favorite album cover is from the self titled first RCA release from early 1956. This is one of the more iconic covers of all time and has been very influential. A lot of people of copied this cover to some degree, most famous of course is the London Calling album by the clash. RCA couldn't have picked a better picture for this release in my opinion. This new thing Elvis Presley was a part of is all summed up in the picture. It is wild, loud, and out of control. You get a sense of just how out of control this music is in this picture. The twenty year old Elvis is flat out getting it on stage. The pink and green lettering was interesting as well, and something that has always been the theme of the artist who copied this cover.

DOLL OF THE WEEK

Cynthia Pepper is the doll of the week. She played in the movie Kissin' Cousins with Elvis.

Favorite Album Cover #2-Elvis Country

My second favorite album cover is from the 1970 album (I'm 10, 000 Years Old ) Elvis Country. I have always thought the picture on Elvis and his parents was very cool. One of my favorite pictures of Elvis period. Elvis was only 2 years old at the time of the picture.

Favorite Album Cover #3-Elvis Is Back!

This album was Elvis' first release after getting back from Germany. It was released in April on 1960. It has always been one of my favorite albums, and is one of Elvis' best. The cover for this album is cool and I dig Elvis' hair.

Favorite Album Cover #4-Elvis In Person

Elvis In Person is from the 1970 and contains a recording of a 1969 concert in Vegas. It was a very good show. I remember being very young and wanting this CD just because I thought it looked so cool. I love this picture and the way it is set in the black background with Elvis having the black suit on is very cool.

Favorite Album Cover #5

This week I am counting down my favorite album covers from Elvis. They are not necessarily my favorite albums. These don't include albums from movies either. Later I will have a separate countdown for those. Number five on my list is the cover from Elvis Golden Records Vol. 2, 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong. This was released in 1959 and is one of the more famous Elvis album covers. A few artist have borrowed the idea of this cover over the years.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

This is a shot from the movie It Happened At The Worlds Fair. Of course this is the movie that Elvis' character was named Mike Edwards. One of his coolest characters, and where my pen name came from.

DOLL OF THE WEEK

Debra Paget is my doll of the week. She has been my DOW before but I ran across this picture the other day and was thinking about how much I have always liked her. I believe she is one of the more underrated beauties of the 50's. She played with Elvis in his first movie Love Me Tender, and Elvis had a huge crush one her! She had a boyfriend at the time but they became very good friends during the filming. Her mother loved Elvis and thought a lot of him. She played in a few good movies in the 50's including The Ten Commandments but unfortunately her film career declined in the late 50's. She still is one of my favorite actresses from all of Elvis' movies.

SUCH A NIGHT

I ran across this live version of Such A Night the other day. It was one of my favorite songs off the Elvis Is Back album. It is not a song Elvis would sing live later on when he returned to the stage. This version if from the 1961 concert in Hawaii to benefit the Pearl Harbour site. I would love to have this entire concert on cd because I would say it was a pretty good one. It was one of the few times Elvis performed live in the early sixties. I know one thing, he still was as good as he was in 58 when he left. Hopefully one day FTD will give this show some work and put it out.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Elvis in Memphis about to give out a bunch of money to various charities around Memphis and some others that were important to him. He did this many many times year after year. His favorite thing to do once he came into money was to give back to others. Nothing pleased him more. One of the many reasons I admire Elvis.

DOLL OF THE WEEK

The doll of the week is Chris Noel. She played with Elvis in the movie Girl Happy which is one of my all time favorites. Here she is visiting troops in Vietnam. She spent a lot of time doing this and very involved with helping solders. I got to visit with her in Memphis this past EW and she was very nice. I enjoyed talking to her and got a copy of the Girl Happy script along with an autographed picture from the Girl Happy.

You've got to Fallow That Dream

I have not done a movie review in a long time so I thought I might do one tonight. The movie I am going to discuss is Fallow That Dream. Elvis would start filming the movie in July of 61 and the movie would open in May of 62. The film would be Elvis' ninth and fifth since getting out of the Army. Elvis plays the role of Toby Kwimper. Arthur O'Connell played his father "Pop". They have took in twin boys that are some sort of cousins, a baby girl who is a orphan, and a young lady named Holly whose parents died when she was thirteen. The whole bunch are on their way to Florida for vacation when they run out of gas on a new highway that has not been opened yet and has not got the first thing on the road. So they set up on the side of the road beside the water until someone can come by to help. A government official stops by and gives the family a hard time and Pop says they are homesteading there just to rile the official. Holly seems to like the idea of starting a life here and making her a real home for herself and she expresses this to Toby. They talk Pop into doing that so they decide to stay put. After finding out they have a perfect spot for fishing right in their backyard, they decide to open a business that ties into the fishing. In the meantime the government official had not forgot about the Kwimper's and is hatching a plan to get rid of them. Joanne Moore plays a social worker who the government official has brought in to help plan to run the Kwimpers off. She has a an immediate interest in Toby even though he pays her no mind. That would come back to hurt them later. More problems were beginning to arise for the family. Some traveling gangsters who run a gambling ring have just popped in next door. After they find out that the Kwimper's are homesteading and trying to make their own little town and no government officials had any rule there, they decide to stay. The gangsters try to get the Kwimper's to leave but the family will have none off it. After they have some disagreements about the rowdy ways of the gangsters crowd, they try to get a hit on Toby. It fails of course, and they finally leave after Toby blows up their trailer, which was a total accident. The social worker and government official have been at work to get back at the Kwimper's and they have the twin boys and little girl took away by a children welfare group. The Kwimper's go to court, and they are made out to look really bad by the social worker and official. Though Toby comes in and acts as the lawyer for the family and tells the total truth. The judge sees this was all brought on just to make the Kwimper's look bad and that they are good people and should get the kids back. The young girl Holly(Anne Helm) seems to be interested in Toby throughout the movie but Toby doesn't seem interested in her or any other girl. Finally at the end of the movie she makes a real move and Toby ends up with her in his arms and kissing her. This is an Elvis movies of course you knew he was going to end up with the beautiful girl in the end!

This movie would end up doing pretty well and would get to as high as #5 at the box office. I have always thought Fallow That Dream was a really good movie and toward the top of the list as far as decent Elvis films and good performance's. Toby is a character that seems to maybe be a little slow, but in face he is just laid back and a lot smarter than giving credit for. Elvis plays a kind of backwoods type of guy but does it in such a charming way you don't really even think about that. I think his speech in the courtroom ranks as one of his two or three best moments on film. This movie has everything I love about Elvis movies. Great scenery, good music, humor, and lots of beautiful women. Arthur O'Connell who plays the father is wonderful and I have always been a big fan of his. Joanne Moore, who I always remember from the Andy Griffith show, was good in her role as well. I can't forget Anne Helm. She's not just knock dead gorgeous like some women of Elvis movies, but she is very pretty. She has a certain innocent vibe about her I always have liked. Her and Elvis dated for a while during filming and got pretty hot and heavy during breaks during filming from what I have heard. I usually do a music review separate so I will not go into much detail about that. The film doesn't contain many songs. Some are a hit and some are a miss but Elvis' voice is great. Overall I give this film very high marks. It is a film I think maybe even the non Elvis fan might enjoy and is worth finding if you have not seen it.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Elvis in concert in 1972.

Sound Advice

I am still in a serious Elvis movie marathon. I watched Blue Hawaii about 6 times, Girl Happy a few times yesterday. Today is has been Fallow That Dream and Spinout a few times each. I am hoping to get to do a review on Fallow That Dream tomorrow. Until then enjoy the song below from Fallow That Dream.

DOLL OF THE WEEK

I am going to start doing my posts again honoring some of the hot ladies I have always had a thing for. Quentin Dean played in the movie Stay Away Joe with Elvis. I have been watching this movie a lot this week. She was so freaking hot! Too bad she pretty much disappeared in the late sixties. She cracked me up in Stay Away Joe.

My Internet has been down for this whole week so I am going to catch up on some stuff this weekend on here. I am pretty much doing nothing but listening and watching Elvis this weekend.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

From the movie Stay Away Joe.

Finally!

It was announced last week that DJ Fontana and Bill Black will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame in April. It is long overdue. Elvis fans have been yelling about this for a long time. It is only right they are in the hall considering they were instrumental in Elvis' early success.

FTD to release Blue Hawaii

FTD is going to be releasing a 2 disc edition of the Blue Hawaii soundtrack. I have been waiting on this for years. Blue Hawaii is on of my favorite Elvis movies and contains some of my favorite music from his films. Some Elvis fans have a negative reaction to this upcoming release for various reasons. I don't understand the complaints really. I think it is a very good collection of Elvis tunes and one of his best efforts during the movie years. I am excited and can't wait for this to come out.

Aloha!

The Image Of The Week comes from the 1973 Aloha From Hawaii concert. I have been listening to it a lot the last few days.

New additons to Graceland tour

It was announced that some new stuff is to be added to the Graceland tour to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Graceland. Some new stuff is being added to the automobile museum including a skit boat Elvis owned named after his mother. An interactive exhibit called " Elvis Lives: The King and Pop Culture". Also an exhibit called Elvis in Hollywood charting Elvis rise in the movies. I am excited about it all but really think the Elvis in Hollywood thing is going to be cool. Even though a lot of people mock his movies I love them and they are one of the first things I can remember watching when I was young and they introduced me to Elvis. Also he did make a few good movies. Now I am ready to go to Memphis and visit Graceland!

A late Happy Birthday

This past Thursday was Elvis' birthday. I was so wrapped up in the National Championship I didn't have time to get on here to post. Also I was busy watching Elvis On Tour waiting for the game to come on. Some good Elvis movies and documentaries were on this week to celebrate Elvis.

CLAMBAKE!

I finally was able to hunt down a Clambake movie poster. I have been wanting one of these for a long time now. It was not very easy to find one. I am very excited about it because Clambake is one of my favorites and also I think it just looks cool.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

Elvis with a group of girls in 1957.

Sorry I have not been around in a few weeks. The holidays were very busy for me and I have been slammed at work. We have been pretty much running the store with just two of us(compared to four under normal conditions) and I have not had time for much else. A lot of work and sleep is been about all I have had time. What little time I have had on the internet I have been tied up in fallowing Florida 2009 recruiting class. I am going to get back to posting here every few days very soon hopefully.