NEW special guests for Elvis Week!
Laurel Goodwin, Elvis’ “Girls! Girls! Girls!” co-star
Randy Starr, who wrote tunes for Elvis’ movies, will be a part of Conversations: Elvis in the Movies.
Two new guests have been announced for the Official Graceland Insiders Conference: rockabilly star Wanda Jackson, who toured with Elvis, and Elvis’ first girlfriend, Dixie Locke Emmons.
WREG, Memphis – The long-awaited Elvis Presley Boulevard Improvements Project in Whitehaven is now a step closer to reality. The city says it’s in final negotiations to buy property before starting the first phase of construction.
However, WREG has learned at least one roadblock means the timeline has been pushed back yet again. A pothole-filled bumpy ride is what you’ll get driving along much of Elvis Presley Boulevard. However, the major thoroughfare is set to get a $35 million makeover. The Elvis Presley Boulevard Improvements Project includes new sidewalks, curbs and bike lanes, covering three miles from Brooks Road to Shelby Drive.
City of Memphis Public Works Director Robert Knecht says the city is much closer to construction, having bought some of the necessary land to get started. “We’re at 24 of the 26 needed right-of-way acquisitions are completed and the final two are wrapping up.” Once that’s complete, Knecht says the city will file paperwork with the state. Knecht added, “Once we have their concurrence, then we can bid the project and start construction.” Despite where the city is in the process, construction won’t start immediately.
One of those 26 property owners Knecht referenced will be forced to relocate, and they get 90 days after the deal is signed to do so. That will likely push construction that was supposed to start this summer into the fall or winter. “We still, though, believe we’re going to be under construction this year. I mean, that’s our goal, we want to have the bids in and the contract awarded and the construction started this year,” said Knecht. It’s progress lots of people have been waiting on.
Rev. Earle Fisher is the pastor at Abyssinian Missionary Baptist Church and president of the newly formed Greater Whitehaven Economic Redevelopment Corporation. Its goal, Fisher says, is to ensure redevelopment benefits everyone in the area. “We want to be an advocate for both the corporations and the community members in a way that provides a more equitable distribution of that wealth and those funds,” explained Fisher, who said the vast majority of redevelopment dollars never made it to the grassroots, or what he calls the “living room” level.
GWERC’S predecessor board was involved with the road improvement project, along with a much larger plan promoting mixed-used development surrounding the airport. Fisher said, “Right now GWERC is trying to figure out what the aerotropolis plan was, is and ought to be, so Elvis Presley is actually the west parameter of our initiative.” Fisher says they’ve been hosting community forums to hear from people about their concerns, including the road improvement plan.
Knecht knows many residents are frustrated the road improvement plan still hasn’t started. “We just ask them to be patient, but trust that we want this project to move forward, we’re excited about it, it’s going to be a tremendous enhancement to Whitehaven.”
Enhancements some say are long overdue. The first phase of the project will cover the area that runs from Brooks to Winchester. The city says it should have a better idea of the timeline once it acquires the property from those last two owners.
BIM: This is better for Graceland as this is the 40th anniversary. Let the construction and changes happen after the 40th anniversary. This is very much needed, as in many cities throughout the USA, due to increased traffic. My town is a nightmare due to road development and the raising of the bridge. God forbid there was an emergency here as we live on a peninsula. So this is good news for Elvis fans and tourists. Let the construction happen after the big anniversary. Better for Elvis fans, tourists and more importantly Memphians!
The Young Warriors debut music video for their first single “Stop The Violence”
BIM: Support these kids! They just want to live in a safe city! I am sure Elvis would have his heart and soul involved in making Memphis a safe city once again! Memphians are amazing and they deserve a safe city. These young people are super talented and they want what is best for Memphis! Let’s support them!
Buy the single here – https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/stop-the-violence-single/id1248843450
MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) – Booker T. Washington Middle School students made a music video they hope will reduce violent crime in Memphis. Violence in Memphis has taken lives, devastated families and put people behind bars.
A group of Booker T. Washington Middle School students has had enough. So, they made a music video they hope reduces Memphis’ violent crime rate.
“We wanted to stop the violence because a whole lot of crime is going on today,” student Antonio Luster said. Luster is one of the six kids in the video. He’s also a victim of gun violence. He was once shot in the leg. It took him two months to walk again.
“I just prayed that I could walk again,” says Luster.
Others are not as lucky.
Last year there were 228 homicides in Memphis. This year there have already been more than 90.
Terence Gray mentors these talented preteens. He said more positive role models would equal less violent crime. “Because they would have healthy outlets for what’s already in them,” Gray said. It’s an outlet these middle schoolers have found with their music. It’s music they hope transfers a powerful message from the studio to the streets of Memphis.
For Texas troubadour Dale Watson, Memphis has long been something of a second home — he’s recorded frequently at the historic Sun Studios, been a regular performer at Beale Street clubs, and drawn much inspiration from the city’s rich roots music history.
“Memphis has always been a dear part of my life since I started coming in the ’80s,” says Watson. “The place just rejuvenates me.” In the meantime, he’ll continue to split time between the Bluff City and his longtime Austin residence. “I’ve got a place in Austin, with a recording studio built up in the back. It’s a good property and it’s home,” says Watson. “But Austin is changing quite a bit — it’s almost turning into a little San Francisco. It’s losing a lot of the roots that I loved. They’re tearing down all the cool places I used to play at and go to, so they can build condos. Breaks my heart to see it.”
“I see a lot of growth in Memphis but they won’t necessarily tear down a building — usually they’ll (repurpose) the building, make it part of whatever the new thing is. There’s a sense of history here. That’s what appeals to me.” Earlier this spring, Watson purchased a home in Whitehaven, part of a long-term plan for the 54-year-old Alabama-born honky-tonker. “It’s my parachute for whenever I get taxed out of Austin. They’re raising taxes down there so much that it’s probably doubled since I’ve moved in, and will probably triple soon. The property values are so high I’ll be able to sell (the house) and live off that when the time comes.”
Until then, Watson is planning on making his Memphis abode a retro Airbnb rental. “The entire house is gonna done up in ’50s style, from the appliances to the décor. It’s going to be an experience,” says Watson. “It’s got a finished basement and I’m getting a vintage console and a putting in a vinyl lathe. So people who stay there can do a live recording and walk out with the vinyl.”
Watson’s new Memphis living situation means he’ll be performing in town more regularly. He’s started a monthly residency at Murphy’s — billed as Dalevis & the Memphis Two — that will see him backed by a cast of locals including Mario Monterossoon guitar. Their next Murphy’s show is set for June 28. Watson will also headline a concert with his regular road band atLafayette’s Music Room on August 23.
In early August, he’ll working on a new album at Sam Phillips Recording. Watson says the record will be made up of original material, but will mine the spirit of his Memphis heroes like Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley. “It’s gonna have that flavor, but with a country element,” says Watson. “I can’t ever escape the honky-tonk vibe of what I do, but hopefully it will showcase the Sun influence I’ve always had as well.”
In between tours, Watson says he plans on staying in Memphis as much as possible, in part to collaborate with more local players and songwriters. “There’s a lot of great musicians and writers there,” he says, “and I look forward to working with a lot of them.”
Click Here to read FULL Article from Commercial Appeal
BIM: Sounds like a cool place for fans to stay in the future while visiting Memphis especially Elvis Week and Birthday Celebration. Knowing Dale, much more affordable than the guesthouse which promised fans Super 8 price which are now higher than Peabody rates. You have options, folks!
The estate of the bluegrass legend and Grand Ole Opry star is selling his name and likeness, along with his hundreds of personal items and live recordings.
Chance of a lifetime, friends!
Fans of the father of bluegrass have the chance to buy the rebuilt cabin and 2 1/2 acres in Kentucky where Bill Monroe lived and played music with his Uncle Pen. The buyer will also own the rights to Monroe’s name and image, which can be used in things like advertising and TV shows, along with his merchandise story.
But Monroe died in 1996. So why is this happening now?
“The simple, honest answer is that there’s only one heir to this estate, which is his son, James,” says Tony Conway, the agent for the family’s estate. James “feels like there’s someone out there who can do a much better job.”
Conway says James is looking to sell his father’s assets to someone who will preserve and promote his legacy. In fact, conditions written into the contract will require that the buyer actively markets Bill Monroe for the next few decades. It will also stipulate that they won’t involve his name with a product the family considers immoral.
“It’s not necessarily about just who has the money, but who has the money and can do the best job,” Conway says. Conway wouldn’t say how much money the family is hoping for.
Source – Nashville Public Radio
In July of 1953, an 18-year-old Elvis Presley walked into the offices of Sun Records to record two songs, “My Happiness” and “That’s When Your Heartaches Begin,” as a gift for his mother.
When asked by receptionist Marion Keisker about his style and whom he sounded like, Elvis had two answers: “I sing all kinds,” and “I don’t sound like nobody.”
A Boy From Tupelo: The Complete 1953-1955 Recordings chronicles the rise of the singer who “don’t sound like nobody,” before he became The King of Rock and Roll. It includes every surviving demo and master recording Elvis recorded for the Sun label, rare session takes and live recordings on local radio stations and at the Louisiana Hayride, where Elvis enjoyed his breakthrough success as a live performer. Sun founder Sam Phillips, who’d cut the first records for artists like Howlin’ Wolf and Junior Parker, believed that blues songs written by predominantly black artists had the potential to reach white audiences, and was taken by Presley’s voice.
After recording another acetate in early 1954, Presley—struggling to find his footing in the record business and driving a truck to support himself and his family—was recruited by Phillips to formally record single sides with local guitarist Winfield “Scotty” Moore and bassist Bill Black. The first session, held on July 5, 1954, consisted largely of country ballads. But late in the evening, Presley spontaneously launched into an Arthur Crudup blues tune, “That’s All Right,” and galvanized everyone in the room.
Within two weeks, its first plays on Memphis radio spurred some 6,000 advance orders, and the single (backed with “Blue Moon of Kentucky”) became a regional hit throughout that year. Through 1954 and 1955, Presley, Moore and Black toured throughout the South, becoming a fixture at the Louisiana Hayride (the South’s greatest rival to the Grand Ole Opry). Elvis’ arresting voice and unprecedented onstage gyrations drove fans into a frenzy, and it was clear his popularity could spread throughout the rest of the United States.
At the end of 1955, Phillips sold Elvis’ contract to RCA Victor for a then record-breaking sum of $40,000; the label re-released all five Sun singles nationally and Elvis earned a smash hit with his first RCA single, “Heartbreak Hotel,” in 1956.
First released in 2012 by the European Elvis collector’s label Follow That Dream Records as a limited edition 3CD set (weighing in at 11 pounds and retailing for over $100) with a 512-page,
12” x 12” hardcover book of liner notes, this mass market edition of A Boy From Tupelo features all the music from that set (plus one bonus track—a recently discovered wire recording of “I Forgot to Remember to Forget” from a 1955 Louisiana Hayride performance), and a cut-down version of the accompanying booklet, featuring in-depth liner notes and a treasure trove of rarely seen photos.
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Stillrealtous – Next month WWE Great Balls of Fire will air live on the WWE Network. No, you didn’t read that wrong, WWE actually named a pay-per-view Great Balls of Fire. When people hear the title they usually either think inappropriate thoughts, or they think of the Jerry Lee Lewis song of the same name.
It turns out that WWE had to work out a deal with Jerry Lee Lewis in order to use the name, and on the latest episode of his podcast, Dinner with the King, Jerry Lawler revealed how it all went down.
“My personal attorney here in Memphis is Joe Barton. Good friend of mine and my attorney. I got a phone call from Joe a few weeks ago, and Joe also represents Jerry Lee Lewis. And Joe said, ‘Hey Jerry, do you happen to know who I would contact at the WWE about copyright infringement?’ I go, “What? What are you talking about?” He goes, “Well, we understand they are doing a pay-per-view called Great Balls of Fire and Jerry Lee has that phrase trademarked. He has ever since they recorded the song.” So, I put him in touch with the WWE people, gave him a name. Apparently he called them and got everything worked out. Not only are they using the name, they are using Jerry Lee’s song, which is awesome.”
As of this writing the only match confirmed for the event is the WWE Universal Title match which will see Brock Lesnar defend his title against Samoa Joe.
Source – Josh Foster, http://stillrealtous.com/wwe-work-deal-jerry-lee-lewis-use-name-great-balls-fire/
Check out the promo for the WWE event here:
Watch Universal Champion Brock Lesnar, Raw Women’s Champion Alexa Bliss, Roman Reigns and your favorite Superstars at WWE Great Balls of Fire, streaming live on Sunday, July 9 at 8 ET/5 PT on the award-winning WWE Network.
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The Elvis Presley Birthplace invites everyone to join us Saturday, August 12, for the 40th annual Elvis Presley Fan Appreciation Day.
The all-day celebration will begin with breakfast at 8:30 a.m. and continue throughout the day.
BIM: Looking for an AFFORDABLE day with Elvis fans during Elvis Week?
Make the short trip over to Elvis Presley’s birthplace in Tupelo, Miss! You will not regret this!
Tupelo prides itself on it’s Southern Hospitality, and NO city does it quite like Tupelo.
There’s the birthplace, museum, chapel and school for first timers or those who haven’t been here in awhile. Or you can just spend the day celebrating Elvis Presley all day long with your fellow Elvis fans.
From Mississippi Today – “Tupelo is the soul of Elvis. It really is,” said actress Allyson Adams, daughter of late Academy Award-nominated actor Nick Adams. Allyson, in Tupelo for the 19th Annual Elvis Festival June 3, reminisced about her father’s friendship with Elvis. Nick Adams also starred in ABC’s late-1950s television series The Rebel.
“The birthplace and the people here really portray that and share that with people from all over the world,” Adams said.
Her father and Presley struck up a friendship in Hollywood after Presley recognized Nick, despite his minuscule role in Rebel Without a Cause (1955).
“Elvis could make you feel like a million bucks,” Allyson Adams said during a panel discussion at the festival.
Adams did not realize the extent of that friendship until decades after her father’s death when she uncovered a manuscript he had written, The Rebel and the King. A first-person account of their friendship, the book recounts eight days Presley spent in Memphis with Nick Adams just before Elvis’ 1956 Homecoming Concert at the Tupelo Fairgrounds. Forty-five years later, Adams published her father’s work.
“The people here are very generous with their love of Elvis and sharing stories and making people feel really comfortable,” said Adams, who signed copies of the book as part of the festivities.
Jim Beane is one of those generous people. A lifelong Tupelo citizen, owner of BBQ by Jim and an Elvis Festival volunteer since its inaugural year in 1998 Beane has a few Elvis stories of his own.
“I saw Elvis when I was growing up here in Tupelo. He would come in and out of the Lee Drive-In,” Beane said.
The drive-in movie theater, then owned by the Heard family, was located on Robert E. Lee Drive and operated from the 1960s until the 1990s. According to Julian Riley, historian and author of The Roots of Elvis Presley, the King visited the drive-in not to catch the latest blockbuster, but for another — very secretive — reason.
“This was in the ’70s,” Riley said. “After Janelle McComb met Elvis, she kind of mothered him.”
McComb, a native of Tupelo and eventual chairperson of the Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation, was a lifelong family friend of the Presleys. And, though Presley was in his 30s at the time, his lifestyle in the early 1970s warranted a trustworthy and protective mother figure. His own mother, Gladys, had died in 1958.
After Elvis won the Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 1971 — the first rock and roll singer to do so — the following years were a roller coaster. His divorce from Priscilla Presley was finalized in October 1973, the same year Elvis performed 168 concerts — his busiest schedule ever. Three albums recorded between 1975 and 1977 — Promised Land, From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennessee and Moody Blue — reached No. 1 on the country chart. For his gospel recordings, Presley won a second and third Grammy in the category for best inspirational performance for He Touched Me (1972) and How Great Thou Art (1974) .
In the midst of all this, Presley knew he could call on McComb, who knew the Heards well.
“They had a house out at Lake Piomingo,” Riley said of the Heards. “If (Elvis) wanted to spend some time alone, he would call Mrs. McComb, who would get the key from Mr. Heard, and Elvis would come by and pick it up.”
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| Photo courtesy of Lake Piomingo Residents Association |
Lake Piomingo, named for Chickasaw Chief Piomingo, is northeast of Tupelo fewer than 10 miles from the Elvis Presley Birthplace, now a museum for visitors to learn about Elvis’ early life in Tupelo. In addition to being a recreational hot spot, Lake Piomingo is home to a private, residential community.
“We’d see his F-150 white Ford pickup and two guys pull up to the front, and that was the advance security,” Beane said. “Then you see three Cadillacs go in, then maybe a pickup or two with bags, and we’d say, ‘Well, Elvis is in town.’”
According to Riley, Elvis wouldn’t go many places without that entourage — not even out to the lake for a getaway.
“Usually he didn’t go anywhere without that group of friends of his. They were kind of bodyguards and there to make sure nothing would happen to him,” he said. “When he needed some time alone, that’s where they’d go. They’d go out there and spend time fishing and water skiing, swimming and just hanging out. And nobody would even know they were there.”
No one except for, on occasion, people like Beane.
“People didn’t see him a lot in Tupelo, but I know he was here,” he said. “A lot of the times, you’d know after the fact that he had been here. He’d come in on Monday and stay until about Friday before everybody got back.”
Though the Heards are no longer living, their lakefront cabin still stands.
“He used to come out here to get away sometimes,” said Wayne Fitzner of the Lake Piomingo Residents Association and owner of the house since 2006. “And he’d go over to our neighbors’ house on either side, and he’d borrow their pontoon boat.”
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| Photo courtesy of Wayne Fitzner |
This photo of the house on Lake Piomingo was taken around the time Elvis would have been staying there.
But, according to Fitzner, the house has become unrecognizable from its original form over the decades.
“It’s completely different from when Elvis stayed here,” he said. “In some areas, there were like four layers of linoleum, so that tells you how many times it’s been remodeled.”
Though the neighbors Elvis would have been in contact with have died over the years, stories of the King in his hometown live on through people like Beane and fellow Tupelo citizens. And, to Adams, that’s the real magic of the Elvis Festival.
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| Photo courtesy The Rebel and The King |
“There’s pictures of my dad with Elvis on this Harley, and I’ve literally met the woman in the background of the picture. So you meet the actual people. That’s what’s so incredible,” Adams said. “It’s much different than Graceland in that way. It’s like two sides of Elvis. So the Tupelo side, I always say, is the soul.”
And that connection to people and place — which brought Elvis home for refuge in the 1970s — still lures hoards of fans to the North Mississippi town in early June of each year.
“I think he’s done a lot for Tupelo,” Beane said. “I think the thing is that he came from nothing and built up to what he was — a great entertainer. I think that’s a big thing.”
Source – By Anna McCollum June 10, 2017, Read Full Article HERE
BIM: Make sure you visit Tupelo during Elvis Week! You won’t regret it!
The town of Tupelo prides itself on Southern Hospitality!
You will fall in love with the people of Tupelo. And for sure see why Elvis loved Tupelo so much.
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