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.

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!

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.

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.

Tom Hanks digs Elvis movies!

This is a clip of Tom Hanks on the David Letterman show a long time ago. He talks about Elvis movies and even mentions Clambake!

EW 08 pictures

I am going to share some of my pictures of the next few days I took in Memphis. The first one is from night one of Music and Movies when we watched Jailhouse Rock. Seeing Elvis on the big screen is awesome but seeing Judy Tyler on it was pretty sweet too. She was so beautiful. Love seeing her. I though this shot was pretty cool.
Me posted up by the Clambake movie poster. One of my all time favorite movies and the inspiration for this blogs name.
These trailers sit behind Graceland and are two of many Elvis has for friends and family to stay in. These are the only two that remain from his lifetime and are now are used for offices.
These chairs are from Ellis Auditorium. It was tore down and now the convention center sits on that site. A lot of history when it comes to Elvis happened in Ellis. The center has many of these chairs in it to sit in. For some reason this really fascinated me. I will share more pictures later on.

An Instant Classic.....A look at Jailhouse Rock(part2)

I am finally back to finish my thoughts on Jailhouse Rock. This movie seems to have been perfect for Elvis. It came about at just the right time. It served notice this guy could cut it in Hollywood. First lets start with the story. The script is pretty good. No it is not the best one he was a part of in my opinion. Though overall I thought it fit. I would have had to wonder, how many times can we see this story about the young guy discovering his musical talent and making it big? Well three times in a row in the 50's and it paid off. The reason it did was because of the great music and the fact Elvis was actually becoming a good actor. The character is really nothing like the 22 year old boy who was playing him. Vince Everette was a tough guy who had a soft side, but really wanted to put out that vibe that he was not to be messed with. It is one of Elvis' coolest characters. Elvis has a pretty good cast to work with as well. I don't think it was as solid as the cast in King Creole, but it was still solid. I love Judy Tyler in the role of Peggy Van Alden. She and Elvis worked well together. She was a very pretty lady and seemed very talented. It is such a tragedy the way her life ended. The music was very good in the movie. Jailhouse Rock was an instant classic and defines the Rock and Roll side of Elvis to many people. It is one of the songs a lot of the general public thinks of when they thinks of Elvis. My personal favorite from the movie is (You're So Square)Baby I Don't Care. Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller wrote some great music for the film.The wardrobe it also far out. I love Elvis' style from the 50's and it is reflected in this movie. I don't know if Elvis ever looked cooler then in the scene by the pool.
We all know the story about Elvis swallowing a tooth cap during production of the movie. He was rushed the hospital. It was a pretty serious deal, though Elvis made it through it alright. The most interesting part of the film to me is the Jailhouse Rock production number. It is without a doubt Elvis' best number on film, and was said to be his favorite. I believe it is the best production number from any movie ever, period. Alex Romero was the choreographer for the movie. Most people think Elvis came up with the dance, but this is false. Romero came up with something in the style of Fred Astaire. Elvis was not feeling it, and frankly couldn't have made it work. Romero asked Elvis to perform some of his songs and move like he did on stage, He left that night with some ideas, and had a new number by the next morning. Elvis still did not have an easy time with it. There is a great story about Elvis working on it and finally getting it. I should put it in here, but I am not. I might save that for another day. Romero and Presley sure came up with something special. Interestingly enough they would work together one more time years later. That would be in the 1967 movie, Clambake. That is one of the more odd things ever to me. Are two movies more on the opposite sides of the spectrum when it comes to Elvis? Clambake is a personal favorite of mine, but the none of the musical numbers are really that great to most people. Even though Hey Hey Hey is pretty key. Sorry, I have got off on a Clambake ramble now. Easy thing for me to do.
Jailhouse Rock is a classic, which ranks as some of Elvis' best work. I personally think it is one of his best movies along with King Creole and Wild In The Country. It is also on of my favorite movies. It does not top It Happened At The Worlds Fair, but it is probably a close second. I will discuss the music of this movie in the near future. I am going to finish this off with a clip from the movie. This is my favorite movie. The songs is cool. Elvis looks far out in his duds, and the whole vibe just rocks. This inspired me to go out and by a damn sweater just like his!

The Elvis Conspiracy(alive in 85)

I can't remember exactly when I first learned about Elvis. I can remember being very small and my mom talking about Memphis and Graceland. I had no idea though what Graceland was, Elvis did no register to me really. I can remember the fallowing video. It was from 1992, I would have been nine years old. I had an idea of Elvis by then, but this was my first real memory of learning something about it. It is a shame it had to be something like this. I don't really remember anything about the show other then he was suppose to be alive and I remember the two pictures of Elvis above the stage. They scared the hell out of me! Don't ask me why, I just remember it did.Check them out in the corners at about 42 seconds into the clip. I think it was the mood set by the show and the odd crap on there, whole thing was not right. I can't believe Bill Bixby took part in this. As we all know he stared in two Elvis movies, Clambake and Speedway. Anyway here is a clip of the The Elvis Conspiracy(alive in 85) from 1992.

NOTE- Don't pay any attention to the alive in 85 nonsense, it is a inside joke.

Today in Elvis History

April 27th 1967, Elvis completes work on Clambake. What a classic! No not really, but one of my all time favorites.

Something I really want.....but should not even look into

gottahaveit.com is having a online auction with some rare memorabilia from Elvis, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, and many other stars. The highlight of a auction is going to be an Elvis jumpsuit,"Peacock". Though that is not what has got me interested. They are also offering the Clambake millionaire suit. I do not know what that is going for, but that would be the coolest thing ever to have. I am a huge fan of Clambake. I am almost tempted to seriously look into this. I am sure it is a lot of money, but if it was half way reasonable, Id buy it even though I don't have the money. I still think I am going to shoot an e mail to the site and gather more info on it.

DOLL OF THE WEEK

Shelley Fabares is my second favorite actress from the Elvis movies. She was Elvis's most frequent leading lady. She appeared in Girl Happy,Spinout,and Clambake.Elvis was documented as saying Shelley was his favorite person to work with. She was not only a great actress but an accomplished singer in the early 60's. She had a number one hit with Johnny Angel in 1962. Actually she got knocked from the number one spot by some cat from Memphis with the song Good Luck Charm. In honor of one my my favorite actresses of all time I am going to watch Spin,Girl, and Clam this weekend.

Hey world you've gotta know

I am going to jabber about the great movies Elvis made from time to time. My boy Vince will chime in as well on them as he feels the need. I have to start with one of my all time favorites and the movie that inspired this blogs name. CLAMBAKE! This movie is one of my favorites for some reason but I couldn't tell you why. The script is not that great. The music is not that much better either. You can tell by watching it Elvis had lost all interest in the crap he was being given. With all that I still love this movie. The big part is Elvis of course. I am a fan of most everything he did and enjoy it all. Shelly Fabares is one of my all time favorite leading lady's of Elvis films. This was like the second Elvis movie I ever owned. I have seen it probably over 500 times. I still laugh every time I see it. The song You Don't Know Me is pretty good. Hey, Hey, Hey and How Can You Lose What You Never Had all two of my favorite songs from this movie as well.