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.

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.

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.

EW pictures

I took so many picture this year I had to share a few more. The picture above is the Overton Shell Park. I can't explain the feeling I got sitting there looking at this place. Knowing Elvis took this stage at 19 and tore the place down. I am so happy they are doing something with this place so people can enjoy the property in the future.
This old building was the Hotel Chisca. It is close to 100 years old. It was a very nice hotel in its day, though not on par with the Peabody or some of the other fine Memphis hotels. It is connected with Elvis. Dewey Phillips broadcast his "Red, Hot, and Blue" show form here. It is here where he first played Elvis' first record in the summer of 54. He also would interview Elvis here. Elvis visited this place many times. This building is sitting and just going to waste at the moment. Many plans have been batted around for this place but none of them have gained any life that I know of yet. I really wish they would do something with this. More and more places in Memphis that hold significant history for Elvis fans is going to waste. It makes me sad. Vince and I took this picture because we were kind of poking fun of this large crowd taking pictures of all this odd stuff. So I stopped by the first thing and was like, take a picture! I felt the need to post this to show off the shirt. It is the one Mr. Lansky talked me into buying. It is awesome, it is stylish and comfortable. I have the same one that is pink, with the collar black.

This is the crowd at the crossing the night before we left. I miss it so much. As much as I can;t stand SOME of the people performing, I miss the atmosphere. A big mess of Elvis fans enjoying each other and the work of Elvis Presley, awesome.

EW DAY 7 AND 8

I am going to let you in on some of the things we did our last two days in Memphis. Saturday we went around Memphis looking at places that related to Elvis in some way. We started out at the fairgrounds where we saw the old wooden coaster. Right across the parking lot was the Mid South Coliseum. Elvis performed to sold out shows here many times. A lot of history in this old building. Sad to see it sit and pretty much be useless. The great live album from 73, Elvis Live On Stage In Memphis. It was recorded in 1974 and is honestly one of the best live albums I have ever heard. It has inspired me to make it a point to due a review of it at some point. Anyway next we went out to Lauderdale Courts. This was Elvis' home for a time during his teen years in a very poor part of North Memphis. We saw a few other spots before going down to Beale Street. We visited some shops before going over to the Peabody. It is such a beautiful and historic place I can't wait to go in there every time I am in Memphis. One day I am going to just say the hell with it and throw down the $250 and stay a night or two. Also I had to stop in Lanskys. I knew I would talk myself into buying something probably. As soon as Mr. Lansky saw me he took me right over to a rack to put me in a pink high collar shirt. I quickly told him I had that one so he put me in a black and green one. I has wanted it for a time, and it was on sale. So I had no doubt I was taking it home. I let him do his thing and make his sale and I wore it out of the store. It was cool to know the same guy who dressed Elvis starting in his early days and would continue to do so for the rest of Elvis' life. Then we went back to the room to get cleaned up. We decided to go eat a really nice meal while in Memphis. I took Vince to my favorite restaurant Ruths Chris. It was awesome. A nice filet with a glass of wine did me well. We spent the evening at Graceland crossing at the tent listening to the music and wondering around back and forth to the plaza and in front of Graceland. We did not want to leave knowing it was the last night. Sunday we pretty much messed around in the room until we just had to leave. We had to go back down to Graceland to do some shopping before I left. Vince and I stayed down there several hours as I was just wanting to spend money. I never can make myself leave those shops! I got some awesome stuff though. I will give my overview of the week and share some pictures hopefully tomorrow. Also I got fourteen new CD's so I will be doing a lot of reviews in the next month or so.

ITS FUN IN ACAPULCO

I have not done anything on any Elvis movies in a long time and feel it is time to post some thoughts and facts about one. I have been watching a lot more Elvis movies than usual the last week or so. Tonight I am going to talk about one of my favorites, Fun In Acapulco. In January of 1963 Elvis would arrive in Hollywood to start filming. The movie was set in Mexico but Elvis filmed all his shots in Hollywood. Another crew went to Mexico to film some of the background shots used in the film. Elvis plays the part of Mike Windgren who is in Mexico working on a boat as a deck hand of sorts. He was part of a circus act with his family and had been involved in an accident that left him shook up pretty bad. He ends up getting fired from his job as a deckhand and is stuck in Mexico. He becomes friends with a young boy names Raoul. Together they work to find Mike work. Mike ends up becoming a lifeguard by day and a entertainer by night. Along the way Mike is of course involved with the ladies. He has two after him. One of them is Dolores, a lady bullfighter. The other is Marguerita, who is played by the beautiful Ursual Andress. Mike is also working on his fear of height's. In the end Mike takes care of this fear by jumping 136 feet off a cliff into water. In the end everything works out, Mike ends up with the girl he wants Margaurita, and along with Raoul they head back to America.

Fun In Acapulco is not the best movie Elvis made, but certainly not the worst. For some reason it has always ranked high with me for as long as I can remember. I think the supporting cast has something to do with it. Larry Domasin plays Raoul Almeido the young boy Elvis befriends. He cracks me up and he plays the part really well. Elsa Cardenas plays the part of Doloras. She is smoking hot and I would love to see more things with here in it even if I can't make out most of what she is saying hardly. Morano, who plays Mike's rival for Margurita's affection, is played by Alejandro Rey who is a good actor. Along with Elvis being pretty good in the movie and a few tunes I really like this movie probably ranks in my top ten or twelve favorite Elvis movies ever.

The soundtrack is either hit or miss for me, but overall I still dig it. See the review I did for the Fun In Acapulco FTD if you have not already. The movie would open on November 27th and by the end of 1963 would do 1.5 Million and reach number 33 for the top grossing films of 1963. That number might not seem that great but considering it was released at the end of November, that is a pretty good number. A few Elvis films from the early 60's got released late in the year and the numbers did not look as good as they actually were. Interesting note that the working titles for the movie had been Holiday In Acapulco and Vacation In Acapulco. I do not think either work as well as Fun In Acapulco.

Below is a video of my favorite number of the film. It is key and Elvis is in top form in this clip. The suit rocks as well, he was still wearing some key clothes in his movies at this point.

New from Lansky's

Check out the cool shirts Elvis has on in these pictures. Lansky Brothers are going to be offering shirts and sweaters just like these. They should be out at the first of August. Damn, something else I am going to have to find money for when I am in Memphis. I am sure like anything else Lanksy's puts out, these will be top notch.

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.

Elvis and Ed part two

It Has been a long time since I have done any of my blogs about Elvis on TV. I am going to continue tonight talking about Elvis' second appearance on the Ed Sullivan show. On October 28 1956 Elvis and the boys would be in New York to be on Sullivan's show. Ed was back by this time to see up close and personal the Hillbilly Cat take off. This is my favorite TV appearance from Elvis ever! More then Aloha, The NBC special, or any other thing he did. This is my all time favorite. He is performing with such energy. He sings some of my favorites. Also the outfit is damn cool. The white shoes, loose fitting pants, the over-sized jacket, and the cool tie. That outfit was one of the coolest ever.

Elvis starts out the show with Don't Be Cruel. The performance is great, but might be a notch below the version from the next Sullivan show. He then sings the title track from his debut movie, Love Me Tender. He does a pretty good job on it. Elvis would be back later in the show to sing another new song from his latest album called Love Me. This of course is probably one of my all time favorite songs. He does a wonderful job with it and plays with the crowd from time to time during the song. Elvis would sing Hound Dog for his last number. This for me is Elvis rockin at his best. When I think of Elvis and REAL Rock and Roll one of the things I think of is this song. When I hear Elvis songs different images of Elvis often float around in my head. Though It never fails, If I hear Hound Dog I always think of this performance.

This show was just one more stepping stone to the top. Elvis was already the biggest thing in the business. Now he had just done a movie and was on his way. One sad note though would be that there was no need for TV anymore. The movies would do for Elvis what TV had done but to a larger extent. Only one more TV appearance would be left. Now enjoy the video below of Love Me and Hound Dog. My favorite six minutes of Elvis footage ever.

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.

New from Clothier To The King

Lansky has got a new shirt out for 2008 under the Clothier To The King line. It is called the Zippin Pippin. Named after the famous coaster that was Elvis' favorite ride. I think this is one of the coolest shirts I have seen in a long time and I am going to get at least one of them for sure. They also have them in black and blue. I like the white one the best but If I can swing it, I might get the black on in the future. As usual Lansky's produces another great piece of clothing. I can't wait to get this.

Danny Fisher jacket

This is a jacket a ran across on a site that has a lot of 50's and 60's style clothing. This is a jacket much like Elvis has in the movie King Creole. It is nothing really flashy or special. I still would like to have one. I think it could be key.

Look whats new on exbit on Graceland

I just got in and decided to check out the the Elvis Insiders forum before I went to bed. A lady was talking about going to Graceland and seeing the new exhibits. She has a picture of the leather bombers jackets Elvis(Mike Edwards) wore in It Happened At The Worlds Fair. I am having a fit. I have been wanting to see this forever. I knew that had it in archives but had just about gave up on it. I have been to Graceland now elven times and had never seen it. It is on display now and I hope it is still there in August. This is the best news I have heard in a long time. I have had seeing this jacket as one of my top goals for a long time. I am truly having a fit over this. If I see this jacket during EW it will be the highlight for sure. If I could have anything from the Graceland archives this might just be it.

I want this jacket...

The jacket pictured here is a jacket you can buy from the store Love Me Tender in Memphis. This jacket is supposed to look like one that Elvis wore a lot in 1957. I don't know when Elvis got the jacket but in the pictures of him at Graceland when he was buying it, he has it on. You also see it on him in a lot of pictures while out in Hollywood during the filming of Jailhouse Rock. Elvis must have liked this jacket because he would sport it for the next few years. Anyway, you can buy this jacket for around $600. It would be key, but I don't know If I would spend that much for it. Love Me Tender is a store in the old Lansky building that has a lot of old rockabilly type clothing. They have a line that are items inspired by famous Elvis clothing from the 1950's.

PIMP CLOTHING

I was checking out the Lansky's site and ran across this shirt. It is made by Nat Nast. This is a key shirt that I might need to get at some point. It is silk/cotton with pick stitch detail. The name of the shirt is Santorini. It also available in white. This is for sure a shirt a baller would were. I got to have it.

My favorite shirt

I have not wrote anything on duds in a while. This shirt is my favorite. I got it last year just before Elvis Week so I could wear it at the concert. You can pick one of these up at Lansky's. I might just have to get another in a different color combination.

Stylin Memphis style

I am all about some cool duds. This shirt which you can pick up from Lansky's is going to be a must. I am slowly building a nice wardrobe from Mr. Lansky's store. I must say that this stuff is top of the line. Great quality of materials. The sales staff is the best around. It is worth the money to get top notch clothing and look so sharp. So I am telling you go to Lansky's and get you something!