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!

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 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.

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.

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!

ELVIS WEEK 09 ALREADY STARTING TO TAKE SHAPE

It was announced that EW 09 will be from August 8th-August 16th. A few of events have been listed so far, with many more to come. I have been ready for it since I got home this past August. It looks like some of the same great things will be happening and I am looking forward to that. One thing they are doing away is the Elvis Insiders Conference. I am very disappointed in this. EPE says that they feedback had started to get negative on the event. People said they were sick of the current format, the cost, and the long hours it ran. I have enjoyed it a lot the times I have got to go. It was one of the highlights of the last EW for me. The whole point of going to EW is the Vigil and honoring Elvis. I will go every year not matter what because of that. Though if they start killing events I enjoy maybe I need to think about cutting back on going seven or eight days. Hopefully they have the Movies and Music event again. I know they have had some mixed reviews about that as well. I absolutely love that event, and will be highly pissed if it gets done away with. Either way though I can't wait for EW 09. I think I am going to have to make a short trip out there after the first of the year just because I don't think I can wait that long. I need to get to Graceland!

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

This picture was took at Graceland in 1960. It was the day Elvis returned home for the first time after he got back from Germany. I have seen many pictures before from Elvis in the backyard with his cake, but never this one. It looks as if he is in Graceland. Notice the pictures in the background that fans had made Elvis and sent him in. I notice on of them that I have seen in many books that are in the current archives. Elvis always saved pretty much anything and everything his fans sent him. Graceland still carries on with that tradition for the most part today.

Elvis and his Stutz Blackhawk's

Our good friend The King Of Cool from over at The Dino Lounge had a cool picture of Dean and his Stutz. That got me thinking about the two at Graceland. They are some cool cars and Elvis was very fond of them. The second picture is the first one Elvis ever owned. It was a prototype that was sent to the US to be used to show around to potential dealers and buyers. Jules Meyers who was a Stutz dealer took the car to show Elvis and he of course had to have one. Jules told Elvis they could make him one but Elvis was having none of it. He wanted the one in his driveway. The guy did not want to get rid of it at first because he was using this one to gain publicity and Frank Sinatra was interested in it as well. Elvis being Elvis charmed the guy into letting him have the car. Elvis was also willing to take some pictures for publicity and let the car be shown at a car show before taking delivery. Frank was not willing to do this. So the guy was glad to let Elvis have the car. Elvis would have it sent George Barris to do some customizing, and then the car was delivered to Vegas for Elvis. A driver for Elvis wrecked it pretty bad in the summer of 71. Elvis has it put in storage after that.

The first picture here is of Elvis' 1973 Stutz. It was for sure his favorite car in the 70's. It is very nice and had golf trimming in the inside and all. It was the car Elvis drove on the final night of his life and a fan snapped the last ever picture of Elvis driving into Graceland in it.Elvis would own a few other Stutz in the 70's but this are the only two in Memphis. Elvis also had a pearl white Stutz that I have seen pictures of. Man that thing is sharp!

New Graceland DVD delivers

I am going to talk a little about the new DVD, Elvis Presley's Graceland. This DVD has been a long time coming. It was worth the wait. It is one of the best buys I have made in a long time. It is a two disc special that is great from beginning to end. Disc one is really about Graceland and its history. Elvis' career is documented throughout the production. It is a great look at the house as it is presented currently. Also, what got me real excited was some of the pictures and footage I had never seen before. I have always wanted to step back in time and see Graceland how it was in 57 or 62 in those years. Some pictures are shown to give you an idea and that was the best part of this whole thing for me. Disc two is full of extra footage that is great. You get a sneak peak into the archives. I have seen most of the stuff they show but it was cool to see and another chance to actually see into the places where the house all this stuff from Elvis' life. It is really cool that they have so much stuff connected with Elvis. It was a good thing that the Presley's and Tom Parker kept everything! Now us fans can enjoy it today and get a better understanding of all things Elvis. There are some home movies seen here of Elvis messing around at Graceland on horses and such. Some of the footage has been seen many many times in documentaries and such, but this is the first time most have been seen in there entirety. The coolest thing on this disc is the footage from Graceland in 58. It is when it is covered in snow. A small part of it has also been shown in many things before but the full fourteen or so minutes are shown here. Elvis was off filming King Creole at the time and he wanted to see Graceland in the snow so he has the film made. You get to see much of the property and many of Elvis' cars. It is neat to see the back of the house when the garages were still there, and there was no den added on yet. You can see the back and what it was like. You also get to see how this was really an isolated spot and how nothing was built up around it really. Then see the home movies from 68 where Elvis is out front, and all kinds of stuff is around. I really can't say enough for this DVD, it is terrific. I am glad I have it so I can watch it on a regular biases and not miss Graceland as much. Also it is worth noting this was the last project finished by Todd Morgan. Man he did great work, and he is missed in so many ways. Not hearing him at Elvis Week this year was so upsetting. It is not the same without him.

More EW pictures

This is some furniture that was in the den at Graceland before Elvis put all the Polynesian style pieces in there.
This was from the night of the vigil. Chris Drummond does something like this every years on the street. He is awesome and he can sing great as well. He is on of my favorite people to see during Elvis Week.
Vince with some guy who was wondering around on Elvis Presley Boulevard the night of the vigil. I have seen him every August for several years now during EW.
This is the Zippin Pippin the oldest wooden coaster in America. It was Elvis' favorite ride and sits at the fairgrounds In Memphis. Liberty Land closed in 2005 and the coaster has not been used since. It is up in the air as what will happen but hopefully something will be done with it and it will be used again.

Liberty Land has been closed and I am very upset I did not get to go when I had the chance some years back. The Mid South Fair has been held on this site for a long time and Elvis frequented it many times. When Liberty Land opened on this site Elvis was known to rent the whole park out many times for himself and his friends in the middle of the night. I am glad I finally found time to go visit the grounds.

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.

A look back at Elvis Week 08

I have had to neglect the blog for the most part this week. I have been having to work twelve hour day and then come home and rest. I am going to catch back up hopefully this weekend. Anyway to the week I spent in Memphis. Elvis Week was a blast as usual. The attendance was the smallest It has been in the eight years I have been going. I know it was coming off a anniversary year, which means usually the fallowing year less people show up. Other factors I know caused this but it was still a bit shocking. Although It was still a lot of fun. Music and Movies and Club Elvis at the first of the week was awesome. It was as good as last year. The only thing missing for me was The Dempsey's. I really like them and would not have minded them playing again this year. The Insiders Conference turned out to be pretty awesome as well, even though the first day was pretty slow. I think this is when I really started realizing how much of a difference this year was. The seating was not even half full for either day. The vigil was great and it is the reason we come. The rain did not bother me at all, although I was glad it pretty much stopped when the evening hit. Vince and I had a fun time before we left seeing Memphis and some sites we had not seen before that held meaning to Elvis fans. I bought lots of cool stuff as usual. Overall I got to say I had a blast and I can't wait to go back. I guess I just felt a let down after last year. When I look back on my past Elvis Weeks I point to 08 and 03 as weeks that did not have the same energy and feel. It has to be because those years came off the 25th and 30th anniversary. Those weeks I do not think will ever be topped. For me those were far and away the best weeks I have spent in Memphis. Last year was the best times I have ever had, so no matter what happened this past week it was not going to be the same.

I will say getting to go to the expo and meeting Chris Noel was one of the coolest things ever! She was freaking awesome. Also the Graceland VIP tour was really cool. I only do it every now and then but thought it was worth the money. I actaully saw more around back of the house this time. The last time I did the VIP tour they rushed me around and I hardly could see a thing.

Also a quick rundown of the things I got while in Memphis.

A few Elvis t shirts, Elvis and Priscilla Barbie set, Lansky shirt, The Complete 68 Comeback Special CD set, new Graceland DVD, Elvis Number 1 performances vol 2 DVD, picture of Elvis from It Happened, 56 Gibson instrument form the old Collectors Club collection, How Great Thou Art CD, and many other small things. I was really happy with what I got.

Also I got the fallowing FTD's....

Frankie and Johnny soundtrack,Elvis Sings Memphis, Tennessee, Out In Hollywood, The Impossible Dream,Elvis New Years Eve,and The Way It Was.

With these addition's my CD collection is now up to 144. My FTD collection 36 which is a total 44 counting the ones that are 2 disc. I am focusing on buying only FTD's now unless something is released mainstream that I really feel I need for the collection or if it is an old release I think is cool for some reason.

I am really digging into the Frankie and Johnny soundtrack at the moment and will do a review in the next few days.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

I am always glad to go to Graceland. It feels like my second home every time I walk in. This year was extra exciting because the leather jacket from the movie It Happened At The Worlds Fair was on display. I have never got to see this. I am so glad to know they still have this in the archives. As you can tell by my name I am a huge fan of the character Mike Edwards from It Happened. One reason is his cool duds. This jacket was the staple of the wardrobe from this movie which was around $20,000. This jacket alone cost $10,000. Notice the name Mike Edwards on the jacket.

EW DAY 3

Today we were out early and down at Graceland a little after 8:00. We had a ticket for the VIP tour. For you that have not been to Graceland, or have not done the VIP tour, a short explanation. It means you can tour the mansion and all the exhibits as many times as you want. You get to see an extra room, see the back of the property, and straight to the front of the line access. Anyway we were in a bind today. The Elvis and Priscilla barbies went on sale today at 10:00. Our tour was at 9:15. They has a ceremony for the unavailing of the dolls with an auction for doll set number one and then you could buy one of the first one's to come straight from Graceland. I had to be part of this. I had been wanting these dolls for a long time now. I was not going to order one from the Internet or get one in another store. No, I had to have one of the first ones from Graceland. So we went up to the house and just rushed in and out quick like. We got back in like 20 minutes, which is way fast. It usually takes me an hour or two to go through the house. We charged down to the place where the Barbies were going to be sold to get in line.
First they auctioned off doll set number one. That doll was autographed by Cilla and the money was to go to a good cause, Presley Place. The doll ended up going for $6,800! Then they gave out some signed wedding pictures from Elvis and Priscilla's wedding. Finally after an hour and a half, I got my doll. It was the highlight of the week so far. I think these are super cool and look cool. They are limited, so between all the crazy Elvis fans and all the Barbie collectors, these should be in demand and be worth some money. We finally got to start out day at Graceland and do the tour right. We did some of the exhibits first such as the car museum, Sincerely Elvis, and the Jets. Nothing new but still as cool as ever to see that stuff. Then we did the tour of the house the right way. Some cool new stuff in the trophy room and in the bonus room that is the VIP only room. I will go into more detail next week when I get home and post some pictures. We also saw the new Private Presley exhibit. I thought it was really well done. I will go into that more later on as well. Finally we went back to the room for some rest to get ready for second day of Music and Movie's day 2.
The night started off with Terry Mike Jeffrey and Band. He was joined later by some members of the TCB band that played with Elvis as well as the Imperials. It was a pretty good show. I was very excited because Terry played some Elvis movie music. He played Drums Of The Island from Paradise Hawaiian Style. You do not hear that often at Elvis events. Finally we got to what everyone on the lawn came to see, ELVIS! They played the 2001 edition of That's The Way It Is. It was cool seeing it on the big screen. When Elvis broke into Polk Salad Annie I was going nuts. After that was over it was around 11:00 and we were still not done. We went to Club Elvis at the Car museum. It is a dance party with Elvis music. It was pretty cool. Spankox, the DJ who just did the Baby Let's Play House Remix was on hand to do some of his other Elvis remixes. It was a lot of fun, I just wish I could have got there earlier to enjoy more beverages and really get into things. We only had an hour or so when we got there until it ended because it was so late when we got there.



Sorry I have no pictures from the event. No flash photography in the museum and the pictures I got are not that good. They are not even worth posting. Tomorrow is day one of the Elvis Insiders conference. It should be a lot of fun. I will be back with a post on it at some point. For now I am off to sleep. I hope this makes sense and I did not leave anything out. I am running on no sleep and I have been partaking in some beer drinking.

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.

Elvis at Graceland

This is some footage from Elvis at Graceland from 1957, not 56 as the vid says. Anyway, I had seen it some time ago but thought it would be nice to post and preserve on our blog. I enjoy anything Elvis in the early days, and this footage is priceless.

Tony on live from Graceland

Tony Stewart was at Graceland in Memphis yesterday to do his radio show and be special host for Elvis radio channel 13 on Sirius. I was able to catch the first few minutes of the show and the last ten or fifteen minutes of the show. It seemed pretty cool. I wish I could have listened tho the whole thing. Stewart got to tour the house of course, but it was not his first trip to the house. It was his third time from what I understand. I came away thinking Tony was very good at show as well and would not mind hearing it if I had Sirius. Tony is pretty cool and did a great job. I understand he digs Elvis and they makes him even cooler. He still is not as cool as Junior though, no one is.

Graceland Puzzle

A co-worker of mine bought me a 1000 piece puzzle this past week of Graceland painted by Thomas Kincaid. My plan is to put it together, frame it and hang it up. Hopefully it will occupy my mind after this god awful week ive had.

Tony Stewart to air live from Graceland

NASCAR driver Tony Stewart will do his weekly radio show on SIRIUS live from Graceland on May 12. Tony has a serious car collection with over 40 vehicles. He is going to talk about all the stuff in the automobile museum at Graceland discussing Elvis' love of cars while playing some Elvis tunes. SIRIUS has an all Elvis channel and Tony will be a gust DJ on Elvis radio channal 13 then do his show afterwards that usually airs on channal 128. Tony is pretty key but I wish Dale Jr could do this seeing he is a real deal Elvis fan. Impossible though since he has a show on XM, and Tony plays in with the SIRIUS angle seeing he does a show for them already. Hopefully he does well and pays respect to Elvis. Maybe once they merge the two satellite providers, Junior can guest DJ sometime. That would be the coolest, and he would be entertaining to hear.