Top 5

My top five favorite Elvis songs of the moment.

1.Love Me
2.I, John
3.Playing For Keeps
4.Young Dreams
5.Way Down

Audubon Drive

This video was took in 2002 inside a house Elvis once owned in Memphis on Audubon Drive. This was the first house Elvis actually bought. It was his gift to his mom. It is a cool home and was once owned by Mike Freeman and his former wife. Mike is the coolest. He does tours and such of Memphis and Tupelo. Anyway no the house has been sold since. This house has a strong connection to Elvis because this is where he lived from 56-57 when he was taking over the world of entertainment. The inside for the most part is like it was when Elvis lived there. Many of the things in the house are things from the 50's similar to what Elvis had in the house. The glass trophy case if you notice is one of the many things Elvis had done when he moved into the house. He also added a pool in the back that never worked right when he was there. It was there until a short time ago when it was tore up and filled in by the people that bought it. A producer out of Nashville bought the house and has had done work to it and was going to donate it to a college to run a musical education class out of it or something. It almost got into the hands of some psychic and I was not comfortable about that. I did not go by the house this year but I was our there in 07 and it looked great and work was still being done on the outside. Anyway check this video out and hear Wink Martindale as he interviews Elvis in the 1950's. This is pretty cool.

Eagle's Nest or not?

For years now I have thought the above building was the site of the what was once known as

The Eagle's Nest. The Eagle's Nest was a a nightclub in the 50's that mostly middle class white folks came to to enjoy drinking and country and western music. Elvis, Scotty, and Bill performed there many times in 1954. The Eagle's Nest was part of a two story building that had a dance floor on the second floor where people would dance and such and live acts would perform from time to time. The first floor housed a 24 hour restaurant, the only one in Memphis at the time. It also has dressing rooms for the pool that sat outside. The place sounds so damn cool. Just once more reason to wish I was a teenager in Memphis in the early 50's. Anyway for years now I had saw in several books that this was the site on the Eagle's Nest and some even said this was the actual building. So for a while I thought it was. A few years ago I had heard things saying that this was not the actual building and the old site had been torn down and very long time ago. Some said it was at this site, and some said it was across the street. The building in the picture shown above that was last know as the Americana is on the corner of Lamar and Winchester. On Scotty Moore's website they have some information on this and his thoughts on where the old place once stood. I really do not know what to think about this because I have heard about twenty different stories on this but it stands to reason that the old building in the picture above was not the old club. Sad, because I feel that one more of the significant places in Elvis history and Memphis is gone. The few places that stand to this day I love to visit because I feel like I am getting to see and know a little of the real Elvis at 19 and 20 and how it was like for him back then. Anyway be sure to check out Scotty's site to see more on this and some great rare picture from the Eagle's Nest.

http://scottymoore.net/eaglesnest.html

DOLL OF THE WEEK

Cybill Shepherd is our doll of the week. She is from the great city of Memphis and of course dated Elvis for a short time. I have always thought she was crazy as hell but she was pretty hot back in her day. Not so much now though.

Too little time

Sorry I have not been around this week. It has been crazy at work to say the least. I have been working some long days. I am hoping to catch back up this weekend.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

From Roustabout

Mike's top 5

I have not been around in a few days because I had been in Florida this past weekend watching football. I am going to hopefully get caught back up on the blog this week if work allows it. I have a ton of FTD's I want to talk about that I had got in Memphis. Now to my favorite Elvis songs of the moment.

1.Love Me
2.Moonlight Swim
3.Wolf Call
4.As Long As I Have You
5.Promised Land

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.

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.

IMAGE OF THE WEEK

From the movie Charro. I have not got to see this movie in a few months. It is pretty underrated film in my opinion.

Mike's top 5

My favorite Elvis songs of the moment

1.Love Me
2.All Shook Up
3.Frankie and Johnny
4.One Night
5.Shake A Hand

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.