Coolest cup car ever

As you probably have figured out I am a huge fan of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Last year he drove an Elvis themed car at Richmond last September. Jr has said it is one of his favorite schemas he has ever had since he is such an avid Elvis fan. The unveiled this car last year during EW at Graceland. Dale's grandmother, who is a big Elvis fan and got him into Elvis, was there as well. I ran across this picture last night and thought it was worth posting. Jr fan or not, you must admit this car is cool as all get out.

Come and drive the Fox-5 for me Mr. McCoy

The movie review im gonna do today is "Spinout". Released in 1966, Elvis stars as Mike McCoy, a part-time lead singer and a part-time racecar driver. The movie begins as Mike McCoy is taking a cruise in his race car when suddenly Cynthia Foxhugh (daughter of Howard Foxhugh) runs him off he road into a pond. When singing at a gig Mike McCoy is approached by Howard Foxhugh to sing at his daughter's birthday party and to drive his new race car "The Fox-5". Throughout the movie Elvis is approched by three women wanting to marry them, Cynthia, Diana (An author researching a book to find the perfect man), and Les (Mike McCoy's Drummer) Will he be the driver of the new Fox-5 and who will he choose as a wife?? It's not his greatest movie and definately not his worst. Im pretty keen on the songs spinout and smorgasbord. Overall it's pretty enjoyable and Diana is some really good Eye candy so CHECK IT OUT!!

SPEEDWAY!

Tonight I have been watching the movie Speedway. Elvis would start filming the movie sometime in the middle of 1967 and would be released in the summer of 1968. This would be Elvis's twenty-seventh film. He played the part of a race car driver named Steve Grayson. He has a manager who he trust with all his money that is not very good had handling it. He in turns gets into trouble with the IRS. A agent comes to break the bad news and set them on a payment plan that leaves them strapped because the have such a huge debt to the government. Along the way Steve had tried to help out people in need, but his manager had got that stuff on credit. When the government came in, they took it all away from them. So Steve had to go win races to help not only himself and his manager but all the people he helped out. Along the way Steve falls for the female agent form the IRS who is played by Nancy Sinatra. In the end Steve wins a big race to help with the bills. As usual Elvis also get the beautiful girl. I really do enjoy this movie a great deal. The soundtrack has a few good songs on it as well. I would rate the the movie and soundtrack both middle of the road, but it is definitely worth owning and watching over and over again. Then again I think all Elvis movies are worth watching over and over. I also really enjoy Bill Bixby in the movie. He is really good and interacts with Elvis well. Of course I love Nancy Sinatra, she is great. peedway would gross about 3 million for the last part of 68 and rank #40 on the list of top grossing films. A little bit better then some of his later movie roles, especially for the amount of time it was out in theaters for the year. It is worth saying that this is Dale Jr's favorite movie along with Clambake. Now enjoy the Speedway trailer movie below then go watch this movie.

There Must be Lights Burning Brighter Somewhere...

In June of 1968 Elvis recorded his hit NBC special "Elvis" (aka The 68' Comeback Special). The show was originally supposed to be dominantly Christmas Songs and was supposed to have "I'll Be Home For Christmas" as the finale. Earl Brown was asked to write a song to replace ''Ill Be Home For Christmas" and he came up with "If I Can Dream". Clad in a total white suit and a red tie, Elvis sang "If I Can Dream" as the grand finale of his NBC Special. You can clearly hear Elvis singing his heart out on the song. It was then first released as single If I Can Dream/Edge Of Reality in November 1968. It peaked on Billboard's Hot 100 at #12 for 13 weeks, one million plus sales. This personally one of my favorite Elvis songs and it defiantly is in my top performances of his. I searched the longest time for Elvis singing this song live or during a concert only to find out that he never performed it in that manner. "If I Can Dream" was one of the dearest songs to Elvis because it was written as an inspirational song in a time soon after the assasinations of RFK and Martin Luther King Jr. Although Elvis thought very highly of this song, Col. Tom Parker refused to let Elvis sing it live because he considered it to be too controversial and didnt want Elvis to be considered a hippy.

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.

Graceland

A 13.8 acre estate with a white columned mansion is where Elvis called home from 1957-1977. Graceland was purchased by Elvis for more privacy and security compared to the Audubon Drive home. He purchased the estate for $100,000. The estate was named after the original owners daughter Grace. Soon after Elvis moved his mom, dad, and grandmother in, he started making modifications which that were a field stone wall surrounding the grounds, a wrought-iron music styled gate, a swimming pool, a racquetball court, and the famous "jungle room" (which features an indoor waterfall), and the Meditation Garden. I must admit, walking through the door was a feeling I never had, I was actually standing in Elvis' home which was very dear to him. In future blogs I will go into detail of the rooms and other parts of the property.

DOLL OF THE WEEK

The doll this week is Millie Perkins. She played alongside Elvis in the 1961 movie Wild In The Country. She played the part of Betty Lee Parsons, one of three ladies involved with Glenn. I always thought she was pretty good in the movie and found her to be very pretty. Millie also would go on to portray Gladys in the short lived TV series Elvis The Early Years. I thought she was also wonderful in that role. She has continued to work ever since the late 50's when she made her first movie. I have always found it interesting that mostly she has worked on TV shows and mini series and just a few movies here and there. I have always been curious why this was, I thought she was a pretty good actress.

Item I charish the most

I was talking with a guy at work not that long ago and he was asking me about my Elvis collection. He was wanting to know what item was my favorite. Without a doubt the picture above from Jailhouse Rock is my favorite. It is one of the nicest things I have. Though that is just part of the reason this is so dear to me. Back in 2005 when I first seen this on the Internet I knew I had to have it. For one I love the movie Jailhouse Rock. Also I just think this is a really cool image from the movie. It is hard to find good quality prints framed and matted right. This one has it all. Anyway the only problem was that is was about $450. I did not have the money to throw around at the time and decided I would save up for it. So monthly I put back money for it and about four months later I thought I had enough to get it. I had been keeping my money back in my bedroom. I came to find out this dirty poor guy who is my cousin had stole my money. He has took off with $800 which was not only for my picture but also for the next EW coming up. So by the time I had saved up the money to get the print again, you could not find it anywhere. American Royal Arts did this print but I could not find it on there site, as they are limited editions. I ran across one in Memphis during EW in 2006. I did not get it because I wanted to think on it a day. When I went back I decided to get it, but it was gone. I was truly crushed, I had never wanted an Elvis item so bad. So I said if I ever see one again I would get it, nothing would get in my way. When I arrived in Memphis last August the first thing I did was go to Gallery Elvis at Graceland to see if by some chance they had one. I was in luck, they had one on the wall! I snatched it up and took it with my, I did not care the cost! This is without a doubt the most money I have ever spent on anything in my collection. I have spent more money at one time on various Elvis items, but never on one single thing. Though because of the story above, The print is my favorite item ever.

I hope to get another one similar to it in August from the same people who put this one out. They are really nice and look great.

Random Elvis Song Of The Week

1956 Cadillac Eldorado

Im gonna start blogging about the cars of Elvis since car shopping was a huge hobby of his. The first car im gonna blog about is my favorite, The Purple 1956 Cadillac Eldorado Convertable. Elvis flew to Houston to purchase this car on June 12, 1956 at a cost of $10,000. Originally white (As seen on the left) with a black interior, Elvis squashed a handful of grapes on the fender and told the customiser, Jimmy Sanders of Memphis (who also customised the pink caddy), that was the color he wanted. The upholstery was changed to white roll and pleated leather, and the floor covered in fur dyed purple. Elvis's initials "EP" with a guitar and two musical notes were inscribed in the leather, the floormats and overhead. It is believed Elvis always had problems with this car, which is probably why he traded it in on December 23rd 1957. The car was then purchased by a fan of Elvis's, Mrs Lena Moskovitz of Memphis for $4893. After her death in 1974, the car was abandoned in an open field where it weathered badly. On July 31st 1976 the car was sold at auction to used car dealer James N. Cantrell of Columbus, Georgia for $975. This made news across the USA and the next day the new owner was offered $10,000 for it, but turned it down. Instead he started a slow, ground up $28,000 restoration, hoping to show it to Elvis when it was finished but, Elvis passed away before he had a chance.

The Dempseys!!!!

This past Monday Mike and I got to catch The Dempseys at Barley's Taproom in Knoxville. We we're both yelling the whole time because they played some cool Elvis tunes like "That's Alright Mama" and "Burning Love". I really yelled when they sing 'Blue Moon Of Kentucky" but it was just one line of the song. All night long we kept yelling "Little Sister" because Mike and I heard them sing that at Elvis Week 07, wouldnt ya know the bass player said "the song sucked" and they didn't play it. Anyways bsides that, they put on an awesome show and id definately love to see them live again. LITTLE SISTER!!!

Not much going on tonight

I do not have much to chatter on about tonight. I have been watching a lot of the Ed Sullivan shows from the three DVD set of Elvis's performances. I am going to take a break and watch Top Chef and then finish them up. I plan on going into detail about the three appearances and sharing my thoughts about them.