3000 Miles To Graceland

I just recently watched a movie called 3000 Miles To Graceland. It's a great action flick that stars Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner. This movie is about a gang of guys that rob a casino in Las Vegas during International Elvis Week. This movie has so many Elvis references it's crazy. The soundtrack includes "Trouble" "My Way" "Such A Night" and though it's not sang by Elvis "Money Honey. Since Kurt Russell was in 'It Happened At The World's Fair" with Elvis, they have a couple of references towards the movie such as Kurt Russell getting kicked in the shin like Kurt did to Elvis and Kurt Russell autographing the vinyl copy of the "It Happened At The Worlds Fair" soundtrack. All in all it's a decent movie and pretty fun to watch.

Elvis and the girls

I ran across this by pure accident tonight looking for something else Elvis related. I will admit it, I am a fan of the Golden Girls. That shows has always cracked me up. I was watching this video and totally lost it during this first scene when talking about seeing Harum Scarum over fifty times. Who the hell has seen Harum Scarum over fifty times? Alright, I have seen it that many times or more. Also at the end of the clip there is a scene with all the Elvis impersonators. Quentin Tarantino plays the young Elvis in the back row. He actually appeared in a few episodes of Golden Girls as Elvis.

Elvis Remixed

With the release of ELVIS 30 #1 Hits a remixed version of "A Little Less Conversation" was added to the cd. Composed by JXL, the remix is really cool but Elvis' voice is almost flooded out with the music. After that, 2nd To None was released with a remixed version of "Rubberneckin" was added at the end of the cd. Composed by Paul Oakenfield, this actually the first version I ever heard of "Rubberneckin" and thought it was freakin awesome. Recently there has been a another remix release of Spankox "Baby Let's Play House", Ive heard it a couple times and thought it was pretty cool but I wanna hear it more to get a full judgement of the song. In conclusion, not anyone can mix Elvis songs without ruining them, you'll see alot of versions on the net but these 3 are definately the ones that haven't butchered his songs. Ive attached the videos of each song ENJOY!!!!

The Gospel Side Of Elvis

I recently purchased "He Touched Me The Gospel Side Of Elvis" and I must say I was very impressed with it. I'm not a avid church goer or a bible thumper but this documentary showed you how truly Elvis was staying with his roots warming up with gospel songs. Everyone knows that after Elvis' mother died he was never the same. Gospel was his way to remember his mother and relax. The interviews on the movie talked about how Elvis would sing after a concert and go all the way up to the next morning. This DVD goes into detail how Elvis met JD Sumner and how he was influenced by black gospel groups One particular story I thought was cool is that when Elvis was supposed to record the Jailhouse Rock soundtrack, the executives were getting mad that he was warming up with gospel songs and just kept singing them, wasting heir time and money. Finally the execs told the Jordaniares I believe not to go to the piano to sing gospel with Elvis because he wouldn't quit. Elvis got wind of what was said and he was mad and took them back to his penthouse and sang gospel all night and coming back the next morning to record the soundtrack. The interviews in this documentary are really good and it's awesome to hear how they brag how Elvis was so big hearted. Its a definite must see.

Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup and his influence on Elvis

Tonight I am going to talk a little bit about one of Elvis's greatest influences, Arthur Crudup. I am also a huge fan of his and enjoy his original recordings every bit as much as the same ones Elvis would go on to cover. Crudup was born in Mississippi in 1905. He went to Chicago in the late 30's or early 40's and begin working as a street singer but could barely get by. He was later on discovered and would record a lot of songs in the 40's and early 50's. He actually got paid very little for his record sales and it would cause him to leave the business in the 50's. He tried to comeback in the 60's but never made it all that far with it. He wrote and sang three great blues numbers. That's All Right, So Glad Your Mine, and My Baby Left Me. All three Elvis would record early on. My favorite song on the three is So Glad Your Mine. I love Big Boy's and Elvis' version. We all know of course That's All Right helped Elvis as it was his first record and would go down in history. My Baby Left me is an awesome song Elvis did and I like even more then That's All Right. So Glad Your Mine though is a true blues song and Elvis keeps it true to its original form in his recording. When Elvis did honest to god blues, he was the baddest white boy to ever sing it. He just never sang it as much as he should have. Especially post 1970. Anyway, back to Big Boy. He would eventually just go to moon shining in his later days. Crudup would pass away in 1976 at the age of 70. Elvis really thought a lot of Big Boy and loved his music and fell back on it a lot in his early days. Elvis would even pay for one of Crudup's recording sessions in the 1960's since Arthur did not have the money to do so. Elvis said the fallowing in 1956, "I used to hear old Arthur Crudup bang his box the way I do now, and I said if I ever got to the place I could feel all old Arthur felt, I'd be a music man like nobody ever saw.". Elvis was right, he was a music man like nobody ever saw. We will never see one like him again either. Listen Arthur's classic My Baby Left Me. It is truly something great. Listen, you hear some of the ingredients of the early Elvis sound.

Do You Smell What The Rock Is Cooking?

I recently watched a movie called "The Gameplan" starring "The Rock" as a star football player who has recently found out he's a father. This movie has so many Elvis references in it. The Rock's character is such an Elvis fan he has lots of gold records from Sun Studios displayed throughout his his home along with pictures and movie posters. To top things off, he has a replica Gibson guitar that he uses to sing a horrible rendition of "Are You Lonesome" and the "Burning Love" jumpsuit dislpayed in his daughters room. If you pay attention closely even his doorbell is "Love Me Tender". It's not a terrible movie, I actually recommend Elvis fans to check it out. I think it's pretty enjoyable.

Elvis and the Man Of Steel

Im a huge Smallville fan and as I was watching a few episodes I noticed that there was a couple of Elvis songs in the series. I thought there were more but I was wrong but you can find the following songs on Smallville:

Season 2- A Little Less Conversation, Episode - "Heat"

Season 3- (It's not a song by Elvis but it's about him) Walking In Memphis, Episode - "Perry"

Season 4- It's Now Or Never, Episode - "Unsafe"

I swear I heard Burning Love on an episode and i'm gonna keep researching it. Anyways this was a pointless blog pretty much but im a huge Superman and Elvis fan, I thought it was cool they were together in a couple episodes.

True Romance

I like you, Clarence. Always have. Always will. -Elvis talking to Clarence

True Romance is a movie from the genius of Quentin Tarantino. It is a great movie that even ranks up there with Pulp Fiction. Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette star in this movie. A loser is set up with a hooker for his birthday. They get married after the first date and the guy has to kill his girls pimp. He steals a large amount of cocaine by mistake and throughout the movie the men who the drugs belong to chase the couple down. Meanwhile the couple go to LA to try to off it for a few hundred grand. That pretty much sums up what the movie is all about. I am not going to give the ending away in case some of you have not seen it. It is for sure worth seeing. The main character in the movie Clarence is a huge Elvis fan. He is always looking to Elvis for answers to his problems. He starts out his conversations with a lot of the people he comes across by talking about E. If you notice in the movie all kinds of small stuff is Elvis related. His glasses, shoes,car, Alabama's ring, ect. Val Kilmer played the part of Elvis. You really don't ever get a good shot of him. You just see him walking about and talking, which is the way it should be. We don't need to see anymore terrible looking people trying to pull Elvis off. Good story, good actors, and Elvis. A movie can't get much better. I give it high praise and it is for sure one of the best movies of the last 25 years. Also it is interesting to not that Tarantino is a huge Elvis fan and often references him or pays tribute to him in some small way in his work.