July 31 - Charts

The 8 CD / 2 DVD box set for the classic "Elvis That's The Way It Is" concert movie has been released and on it's wat to the fans. The blu-ray edition of this movie is available too, the first review appeared on-line.

The unboxing of the set is available at: For Elvis CD Collectors.
The first review of the Blu-Ray edition of thuis movie is available at: Media Mike.
You van listen to the complete set om Spotify.

Charts

'Heart And Soul' rises from #184 to #182 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart for the week ending August 9, 2014. It also rises from #46 to #39 on the Catalog Album Chart.

The Best Of Elvis Presley

The TCB Limited label will release the CD / DVD-set "The Best Of Elvis Presley" containing the usual public domain hits and a documentary DVD.

CD 1: Heartbreak Hotel - Blue Suede Shoes - I Want You I Need You I Love You - Hound Dog - I Believe - Tutti Frutti - Love Me Tender - Treat Me Nice - Rip It Up - Too Much - All Shook Up - Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear - Lawdy Miss Clawdy - Mystery Train - Big Hunk O' Love.

CD 2: There's Good Rockin' Tonight - Loving You - Hot Dog - As Long As I Have You - Have I Told You Lately That I Love You - Paralysed - Party - Jailhouse Rock - Don't Be Cruel - Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do - I'm Counting On You - King Creole - Long Tall Sally - I Don't Care If The Sun Don't Shine - One Night

DVD:
The Journey.
(Source: FECC \ Brian Quinn \ Elvis Club Berlin)

July 30 - Christmas Comes Early

The Follow That Dream Collectors Label announced the August 2014 releases; "Best Of British - The RCA Years 1957-1959 with CD", "Elvis For Everyone!" in the Classic Album series and a vinyl re-issue of the FTD release "Hot August Night". The details:

Best Of British - The RCA Years 1957-1959 w/CD: 
This is Elvis, with the continuation of the British story now detailing his RCA releases from 1957 - 1958. As a companion to the critically acclaimed and highly successful ‘Elvis: The Best Of British - The HMV Years’, this book contains the full history of over fifty iconic Elvis songs initially released by RCA in Great Britain. Again, each song has been thoroughly researched to the same high standards and is graphically catalogued. Containing over 1000 illustrations, unpublished photographs and charts, together with rare items of memorabilia, this volume of ‘The RCA Years’ moves the story forward to explicitly reveal previously unknown facts and additional British connections to the songs. Within these 500 pages and amongst many formerly unknown fascinating facts, you will discover: The English pub that inspired an Elvis song! Exactly where and when Elvis learned to play piano! The real life characters contained within the lyrics of Jailhouse Rock! 

The CD included with this book features many first-time officially released Elvis tracks. Here, amongst his classic songs, are the songwriters’ demo recordings as Elvis first heard them, plus the message he recorded on his home answer machine! ‘The RCA Years (1957 - 1958)’ chronicles the meteoric rise in Great Britain of the ‘Sun King’ to the man who would ultimately be crowned ‘Artist Of The 20th Century’. Elvis innovated, others imitated! 

The CD first RCA single (RCA-1013): JULY 1957 1. (Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear - 1:51 2. Loving You - 2:16 

SOUNDTRACK SELECTION OF MAGICAL MOVIE MOMENTS 3. Loving You - Movie Trailer - 1:12 4. Road Medley (Party / Teddy Bear / Got A Lot O' Livin' To Do / Hot Dog) - 2:04 5. Mean Woman Blues (Unedited stereo master) - 2:22 6. Party (Alternate movie lyrics) - 1:16 7. Lonesome Cowboy (Composite) - 3:06 8. JAILHOUSE ROCK - Movie Trailer - 2:05 9. Jailhouse Rock (Movie production version) - 2:59 10. Treat Me Nice (Laurel 101 - Take One) - 2:07 11. Don't Leave Me Now - (Everett demo #2 - Take One) - 1:29 12. Young And Beautiful - (Movie end version) - 2:21 13. KING CREOLE - Movie Trailer - 2:34 14. Turtles, Berries And Gumbo / Crawfish (Unedited movie opening medley) - 4:11 15. Steadfast Loyal And True - (Movie dialogue version) - 0:46 16. Lover Doll (EP version) - 2:15 17. New Orleans (Live nightclub version) - 2:01 THE RCA SINGLES * 18. Doncha' Think It's Time - 2:00 19. Don't - 2:51 20. I Beg Of You - 1:54 21. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck - 2:16 SUN RECORDINGS: FIRST ISSUED ON RCA IN 1958 22. I Love You Because (RCA LP version) - 2:45 23. You're A Heartbreaker - 2:12 24. I'll Never Let You Go (Little Darlin') - 2:26 BONUS TRACKS: SONGWRITER DEMO RECORDINGS 25. Teddy Bear (Vocal: Otis Blackwell**) - 2:01 26. Don't Ask Me Why (Vocal: Jimmy Breedlove***) 2:08 27. Trouble (Singer unknown****) - 2:08 28. Hard Headed Woman (Vocal: Jimmy Breedlove**) - 2:06 29. Wear My Ring Around Your Neck (Vocal: Gus Coletti*****) - 2:12 CHRISTMAS SONGS: ISSUED ON ALL THREE FORMATS (45rpm, EP & LP) 30. Santa Bring My Baby Back (To Me) - 1:54 31. Santa Claus Is Back In Town - 2:25 32. Elvis in Germany (October 1st 1958) and Interview edit - 1:32 33. Elvis' Answer Machine - :16

Hot August Night (180 gr. vinyl):

Side A 01 Blue Suede Shoes 2:25 (Carl Perkins) 02 I Got A Woman 2:43 (Ray Charles) 03 All Shook Up 1:54 (Otis Blackwell/Elvis Presley) 04 Monologue 1:14 05 Love Me Tender 2:28 (Vera Matson/Elvis Presley) 06 Jailhouse Rock/Don’t Be Cruel 3:05 (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller)/(Otis Blackwell/Elvis Presley) 07 Heartbreak Hotel 2:22 (Mae Boren Axton/Tommy Durden/Elvis Presley) 
Side B 01 Hound Dog 4:48 (Jerry Leiber/Mike Stoller) 02 I Can’t Stop Loving You 2:37 (Don Gibson) 03 My Babe 2:28 (Willie Dixon) 04 Mystery Train/Tiger Man 4:18 (Junior Parker/Sam Phillips)/(Joe Hill Louis/Sam Burns) 05 Baby, What You Want Me To Do 2:05 (Jimmy Reed) 

Side C 01 Runaway 2:16 (Max Crook/Del Shannon) 02 Are You Lonesome Tonight? 3:04 (Roy Turk/Lou Handman) 03 Words 2:42 (Robin, Barry and Maurice Gibb) 04 Yesterday/Hey Jude 5:58 (John Lennon/Paul McCartney) 05 Introductions 4:35 
Side D 01 In The Ghetto 2:48 (Mac Davis) 02 Suspicious Minds 7:20 (Mark James) 03 What’d I Say 3:49( Ray Charles) 04 Can’t Help Falling In Love 2:11 (Hugo Peretti/Luigi Creatore/George Weiss) Recorded live on stage at The International Hotel, Las Vegas, Midnight Show, August 25, 1969.

Elvis For Everyone - Classic Album Series:

This 2-disc 7” set celebrates 1965’s classic album “ELVIS FOR EVERYONE.” The original press release posted by RCA in August 1965 says, “This is the first Elvis Presley album since 1962 [POT LUCK] that is not a movie soundtrack album.” In this new album, Presley demonstrates great versatility by singing a wide range of songs, familiar and unfamiliar, slow ballads and hard-driving rock’’n’rollers. Only one of these songs has ever been issued before (“Summer Kisses, Winter Tears”). The lead off-song, “Your Cheatin’ Heart.” Is the title song of the new movie based on the life of Hank Williams., currently playing throughout the country … ..Varied repertoire and Elvis in top form make this really Elvis For Everyone.” Although it was complied from previously unreleased recordings, it appeared like a breath of fresh air to Elvis fans that had become somewhat tired of the formulaic soundtracks. 

The LP hit to the top 10 on both sides of the Atlantic. This 2-CD classic edition features insightful essays, rare memorabilia and great outtakes! It also features the rare overdubbed version of “Wild in The Country” that featured maracas and additional bass guitar. Although, the source remains a mystery to this day, it was supplied to RCA-UK for its stereo version of the album as a replacement for “Summer Kisses.” This track had been issued two months before on RCA-UK’s unique album, Flaming Star And Summer Kisses. Apart from OPTIONAL MASTERS that could have been used, DISC 2 contains 23 Previously Unreleased Outtakes from the ‘60s.

DISC 1 THE ORIGINALALBUM
01 Your Cheatin’ Heart 
02 Summer Kisses, Winter Tears 
03 Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers 
04 In My Way 
05 Tomorrow Night 
06 Memphis, Tennessee 
07 For The Millionth And The Last Time
08 Forget Me Never
09 Sound Advice
10 Santa Lucia
11 I Met Her Today
12 When It Rains, It Really Pours

THE OPTIONAL MASTERS
13 Flaming Star
14 Wild In The Country (U.K.stereo LP version)
15 Lonely Man
16 Mama
17 Plantation Rock
18 Night Life
19 Do The Vega
20 Yellow Rose Of Texas/The Eyes Of Texas
21 What Now, What Next, Where To
22 Western Union
23 Blue River
24 Tell Me Why 

DISC 2 THE OUTTAKES
01 For The Millionth And The Last Time – take 2
02 Lonely Man – take 9
03 I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell – take 10
04 No More – take 9
05 Slicin’ Sand – take 10
06 I’m Not The Marrying Kind –splice of takes 5&6
07 For The Millionth And The Last Time – take 6
08 I Met Her Today – take 7
09 King Of The Whole Wide World – take 6
10 Home Is Where The Heart Is – take 12
11 RidingThe Rainbow – take 6
12 This Is Living – take 8
13 Something Blue – takes 5&6
14 Gonna Get Back Home Somehow – take 6
15 I Feel That I’ve KnownYou Forever – take 2
16 Fountain Of Love – take 6
17 Happy Ending – take 9
18 I’m Falling In Love Tonight – take 5
19 How Would You Like To Be – take 1
20 Bossa Nova Baby – takes 4&5 (2:34)
21 I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here –remake take 15
22 Vino, Dinero Y Amor – take 1

23 The Bullfighter Was A Lady – remake take 10

Christmas Comes Early

Here is the cover-art for the vilyl re-issue of the classic "The Elvis Christmas Album" on the vinyl label. This re-issue is due September 29, 20914 and comes with a download of the album.

(Source: The Elvis Shop London / FECC / Amazon)

July 29 - Words, Pictures And Blitz

The book "Elvis His Life In Words Pictures And Music" by Michael Heatley and Deke Leonard is due for release from Chartwell Books on September 4, 2014. The book comes with a 12 track CD. 

Blitz

The August edition of the Blitz magazine in Portugal has Elvis Presley on the cover and inside 13 pages dedicated to our man.


That's All Right

The Not Now Music vinyl re-issue of Elvis Presley's debut single "That’s All Right" / "Blue Moon Of Kentucky" was released.


(Source: Elvis Club Berlin / Elvis Clube "Burning Star")

July 28 - Out In Hollywood

The Elvis One "import" release "Elvis In Hollywood" was released. This CD contains mono-masters and outtakes from the "Girls! Girls! Girls!" movie-soundtrack with additional radio trailers and promo’s.

Tracks:
Complete Masters & Alternate Takes (Part 1): Where Do You Come From (Master Take With Count In) - Mexico (Dubbed Film Version) - The Bullfighter Was A Lady (Take 9) - I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here (Take 10) - El Toro (Take 2) / Original "Girls! Girls! Girls!" 

Mono Masters: I Don’t Want To - We’re Comin’ In Loaded - Thanks To The Rolling Sea - Where Do You Come From - Girls! Girls! Girls! - Return To Sender - Because Of Love - The Walls Have Ears - Song Of The Shrimp - A Boy Like Me, A Girl Like You - Earth Boy - I Don’t Wanna Be Tied - We’ll Be Together

Complete Masters & Alternate Takes (Part 2): If You Think I Don’t Need You (Take 9) - Earth Boy (Undubbed Film Version) - Plantation Rock (Take 17 + Vocal Repair) - If You Think I Don’t Need You (Take 10) - Blackstar (Composite Master take 13 &  Insert #1 Take 5)

Movie radio Trailers And Promo’s: Double Trouble - Live A Little, Love A Little - Charro! (Audio Featurette) - Charro! (#1) - Charro! (#2) - Charro! (#3) - Charro! (#4) - Charro! (#5) - The Trouble With Girls (#1) - The Trouble With Girls (#2)

Bonus Songs: Guadalajara (Backing Group And Choir) - Marguerita (Instrumental Take 6) - Shoppin’ Around (Instrumental Take 2 And 3) - Shoppin’ Around (Instrumental Take 4) - Plantation Rock (Instrumental).

James Shigeta Died

James Shigeta, who co-starred with Elvis in "'Paradise, Hawaiian Style" died at the age of 81. Hawaiian-born, he was, for a time, the biggest East Asian U.S. star the country had known for decades. His up-and-down career reflected the country's changing interest in films with East Asian themes, but, when called upon, he filled both A-movie starring roles and minor T.V. guest appearances with the same cool and classy style. 

In the 1966 Paramount movie 'Paradise, Hawaiian Style', James Shigeta played Danny Kohana, along side Elvis who played Rick Richards, and together they set up a charter flying service in Hawaii -- along the way Elvis makes some friends, romances some girls and sings a few songs.


James passed away on 28 July 2014 in Los Angeles, California, USA aged 81.

(Source: Elvis And His Music / Elvis Express)

July 27 - That's The Way The Outtakes Are

Warner Brothers Senior Vice-President of Catalog Marketing George Feltenstein has provided more details on the 12 outtakes included as special features on the "Elvis: That's The Way It Is : Two Disc Special Edition" Blu-ray due out on August 12. As suspected, the content mirrors that of the 2007 2-DVD set, except with a new twist. On DVD, the outtakes were presented in abysmal quality, but on Blu-ray, they will be pristine. 

"The Blu-ray has high-definition, incredible new presentation, [and an] all-new master, but we also have, with really impressive quality, additional songs that were not included in the Special Edition. They were on a prior DVD but with, really, not very impressive quality because that’s the best that we had at the time, and it really was disappointing to fans.

So, we were unable to locate the actual master tapes that had the outtakes that we intended to use in 2007, and, finally, now, that tape was located, and that is now on the Blu-ray. So people will be able to see the – I think there are about ten – additional performances, and they’re going to look and sound much better than they did on the 2007 DVD – which was really a heartbreaker for us because we always want to give the consumers the best thing we can, and now we can do that, and it’s very, very exciting. We are always looking for new ways to make Elvis fans happy".

The outtakes are:
01) 'You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me' (Rehearsal-July 14)
02) Eating Sequence (July 14)
03) 'Cattle Call', 'Baby Let’s Play House,' and 'Don’t' (Rehearsal-July 29)
04) 'Farther Along' (Rehearsal-August 4)
05) 'Oh Happy Day' (Rehearsal-August 7)
06) 'I Just Can’t Help Believin’' (Live-August 11 Dinner Show)
07) 'Walk A Mile In My Shoes' (Live-August 11 Midnight Show)
08) 'I’ve Lost You' (Live-August 12 Dinner Show)
09) 'Sweet Caroline' (Live-August 12 Midnight Show)
10) 'Little Sister' / 'Get Back'* (Live-August 12 Midnight Show)
11) 'Stranger In The Crowd' (Live-August 13 Dinner Show)
12) After Show Party (August 10 Opening Show)

*The 'Get Back' portions of this live medley were edited out of the 2007 DVD release. It is unclear as of yet whether they have been restored for the 2014 Blu-ray release. 

** But the first reviews revealed that the out-takes were still in the " original bad" quality and "Get Back" is missing (update August 20, 2014).

Elvis' Smashed Guitar Strikes Sour Note
 
An acoustic guitar Elvis Presley smashed during his final tour has sparked a custody fight between the South Dakota museum that currently displays it and a collector who insists the instrument never should have ended up there. Now a federal judge must sort out whether blues guitarist Robert A. Johnson even technically owned the broken instrument last year when he donated it to the National Music Museum along with one of Bob Dylan's harmonicas, a guitar made for Johnny Cash and two other items.

The museum - based in Vermillion, N.D. - insists in a lawsuit that it is the legal owner of the Martin D-35, which the rock-and roll king played during his 1977 tour and gave to a fan in St. Petersburg, Fla. after he broke it when a strap and string snapped.

But Larry Moss - who has a long history of litigation against Johnson - contacted the museum, arguing that Johnson agreed to sell the guitar to him before it was donated. Johnson and Moss, both of whom live in Memphis, Tenn., are each listed as defendants in the museum's complaint.

The museum in court filings argues that even if Moss was the owner of the Elvis guitar before Johnson donated it to the facility, his ownership ended when the museum acquired it. The complaint states that if Moss believes he was wronged, he should sue Johnson for damages.

"There are significant issues with his claim including the fact that this guitar was apparently on display for an extended period of time in his hometown and he made no effort to go get the guitar," the museum's attorney, Mitchell Peterson, said Thursday. Johnson, who played with singer Isaac Hayes and The Who's John Entwistle's side project, Ox, in the 1970s, donated the Elvis guitar and other items to the museum in April 2013 and in exchange received $250,000 for his 1967 Gibson Explorer Korina wood guitar. That instrument was formerly owned by Entwistle.

Moss's attorney, Randall Fishman, moved this week to transfer the case from state court to federal court. Moss did not return phone messages left at his businesses and Fishman declined to comment about the specifics of the suit. Records for a libel and defamation lawsuit filed by Johnson against Moss in state court in Tennessee in January 2014 shed light on the collector's dispute over the guitar.

The lawsuit's exhibits include a payment agreement signed by both collectors in 2008, in which Moss agreed to pay Johnson $120,000 for various guitars including the one now on display at the museum. Those records also include an email Moss sent to the museum in December 2013 claiming ownership.

"Johnson did not have the right to transfer ownership of that guitar in any way, via sale, via donation, via trade, via loan, or any other method," the email stated. "(I) will not yet claim that the guitar is stolen, but I paid him for that guitar 5 years ago, and have been trying to get possession ever since." In an affidavit filed in the federal lawsuit in South Dakota, Moss claims that the value of the Elvis guitar is "well in excess of $75,000."

(Source: Warner Bros. / ElvisMatters)

July 26 - Poplar Marker For The Boys

The 2014 edition of Elvis Week (Aug. 8-17) is fast approaching. The calendar of Presley-related events is packed, as ever, with concerts, panels, film screenings and celebrations of all kinds. And while the King will be the focus of most of the proceedings, another set of Memphis icons will also be given the spotlight.

On Wednesday, August 13, Chips Moman and the American Studios band will finally get some long-overdue recognition with the unveiling of a Shelby County Historical Marker near 827 Thomas Street. The address — at Thomas and Chelsea Avenue — is the site of the former American Recording Studio, the place where Moman and the band cut Elvis’ crucial 1969 “comeback” sessions, and recorded dozens and dozens (roughly 120, depending on the source) of chart hits between 1962 and 1972.

Moman — who’d also been a catalyst in helping develop Stax Records — wooed members of the staff bands at Hi Records and Phillips to form the classic American Studios group: guitarist Reggie Young, drummer Gene Chrisman, pianist Bobby Wood, organist Bobby Emmons and bassists Mike Leech and Tommy Cogbill. Mostly with Moman at the helm, that unit — known variously as the 827 Thomas Street Band, the American Group, and, later, the Memphis Boys — would help sire a succession of hits for artists such as Dusty Springfield (“Son of a Preacher Man”), Neil Diamond (“Sweet Caroline), Merrilee Rush (“Angel of the Morning”), B.J. Thomas (“Hooked on a Feeling”), Joe Tex (“I Gotcha”), Bobby Womack (“Fly Me To The Moon”) and, most famously, Presley (“Suspicious Minds”).

The push to honor Moman and his musicians has been an organic and collaborative effort among a group of fans, educators and civic-minded Memphians. This contingent includes WEVL radio hosts Eddie Hankins and Chuck Porter and program director Brian Craig, attorney Eric Plumley, deejay Kenny Bosak, former Rhodes fellow Charles Hughes, and John Bass, head of Rhodes’ Mike Curb Institute for Music.

“We felt somebody needed to not just speak up, but to do something concrete to honor the legacy of Chips and the studio,” says Hankins, who wrote a long 2007 feature for Memphis magazine on American and has helped spearhead the campaign.

“At the time when there were so many great Memphis studios, American drew artists, not just from the South or solely from the R&B world, but from everywhere and every genre,” says Hankins. “You think about Dusty Springfield coming from England to record and record successfully. And there are so many songs that people would recognize immediately but wouldn’t necessarily associate with Memphis that were recorded at the studio. ‘Sweet Caroline’ — everyone knows it, but no one thinks of American. ‘Angel of the Morning’ — people don’t associate that with American. ‘Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues.’ All these hits were cut at that studio. The fact that those musicians were so versatile … they could cut soul songs, pop songs, rock songs, R&B, little bit of country, they even had a No. 1 jazz album — those musicians could play anything. They were musical chameleons under Chips’ guidance; he steered them to the right sound for so many artists and created this incredible body of work.”

Hankins and his fellow American enthusiasts had been congregating on a Facebook page run by Erick Crews, son of American studio partner Don Crews, when the marker effort took shape.

“It had come up on the page a few times, like ‘Oh, it’s a shame there’s not a marker.’ It was something we had thought and talked about for a while,” says Hankins. “It sort of seemed like our group came together naturally and that everybody was interested enough to really follow through.”

With the help of local historian Jimmy Ogle, the American marker initiative was shepherded through the Shelby County Historical Commission office and finally approved late last year.

The original American Studios building was razed in the late ’80s with little fanfare. A new building — used as an auto-parts store and later a day care center — took its place. Another more recent structure replaced that one, and currently houses a Family Dollar store, where the marker will be placed (officially at 831 Thomas Street).

The Aug. 13 unveiling event will take place at 2 p.m. Memphis television personality Dave Brown will serve as emcee, and various guests are scheduled to attend. Among those tentatively slated to appear are Moman and American band members Young, Wood, Emmons and Chrisman. Relatives of the late Tommy Cogbill will also be there. Don Crews, longtime studio manager Marty Lacker, American writers/artists Johnny Christopher and Mark James, along with author Roben Jones, who wore the definitive biography of the studio, “The Memphis Boys,” are also expected.

The Memphis Boys will be playing a concert at Graceland that night as well. 

This coming January is, hopefully, the dedication for the Poplar Tunes marker on Poplar Avenue.

(Source: Commercial Appeal / ElvisMatters)

July 25 - Ride With The Phanthom

Elvis Presley's old limousine will go under the hammer during a Bonhams auction in California next month at a Bonhams sale in The Quail, California and is expected to sell for between $200,000 and $300,000. 

Elvis bought the Rolls-Royce Phantom V brand new in 1963 and had it custom-fitted with the latest gadgets including a telephone, electric windows and a microphone. The car was initially midnight blue, but he was forced to have it re-painted a lighter silver because his mother's chickens would repeatedly peck at their reflections when he visited her. 

The centre rear armrest featured a writing pad, mirror and clothes brush while a fitted cabinet contained cut glass decanters and crystal glasses. Under the bonnet was a 6.2-litre, V8 engine which gave the 2.6-ton car 200bhp and a top speed of around 100mph. Elvis, then a 28-year-old global sensation, had the 20-foot long car shipped out to his home in Bel Air, Los Angeles, where he entertained the likes of The Beatles.

Memphis's most famous son held on to the car for five years before donating it to charity, where it sold for $35,000. It then disappeared for the next 20 years until it was bought by its current owner at a memorabilia auction in London. They have kept it in a private museum and used it sparingly, with the car regularly maintained by English Rolls-Royce restorers Frank Dale and Stepsons. Bonhams described the Rolls-Royce as 'one of the more significant Phantom V's to have come up for sale in recent years'. The auction house added: 'It is a most interesting model of this highly desirable motorcar complete with undisputed Elvis provenance. 'It is offered with copy of its original chassis card confirming the original owner as well as his exacting specifications. 'This important and significant Rolls-Royce Phantom V, with its undisputed place in pop culture history, will surely be jewel in the crown for any Elvis collector.'

Weekend Charts

The 1995 compilation "Heart & Soul" dropped from #177 to #184 on the US Album chart. It also dropped from #44 to #46 on the Catalog Album Chart for the week ending August 02, 2014.

(Source: Daily Mail / The King's World)

July 24 - Reconstructed And Relive

The Italian producer and DJ Ago Carollo, a.k.a. DJ Spankox, announced the release of a new remix-album entitled "Elvis Relive" with August 1 as the release-date. 

The press-release:
London, 23 July 2014. On August 1 2014 a new groundbreaking Elvis Presley album will be proudly released. It is titled Relive and is an innovative and forward-thinking album that includes fantastic new modern versions of a selection of Elvis Presley’s hits that preserve the original artistry and enhance it with better and fuller instrumentation. All the songs feature Elvis’ original voice, restored and enhanced using the most advanced technology for an amazing listening experience. The track list of Relive includes, among the others, new versions of We’re Coming In Loaded, Suspicion, Tutti Frutti and Shake Rattle And Roll. It also includes ten additional bonus tracks from some of the best previous releases, for a total playing time of 53 minutes. The album Relive is the best ever celebration of Elvis and his music in a whole new context. This cutting-edge album, produced by Grammy nominated producer Ago Carollo, is a new milestone for the King and a must have for every Elvis fan. It truly is Elvis as you’ve never heard him before. For more information, please visit www.elvisrelive.com

Relive is a wonderful musical experience, so creative and so contemporary, that places Elvis in a current context and appeals to fans of all ages and all kinds of music. The surprising freshness of these songs grabs you and shakes you and testifies to the remarkable artist Elvis remains to this very day. Relive is the album that far better than any other builds a bridge between Elvis’ music and a whole new generation of fans.

"Before Elvis, there was nothing” said John Lennon and Elvis Presley remains one of the most iconic and powerful forces in popular culture. With the power of his voice and a swivel of his hips Elvis shattered the status quo, revolutionizing the worlds of music, film and fashion. “The Elvis revolution continues today with Relive – says the producer Ago Carollo – and the new sound echoes Elvis' own versatility and ability to master all music genres. I deeply love Elvis and the goal of the whole production of Relive was to capture and enhance the excitement of the original recordings. I invite all Elvis fans to listen and enjoy Relive”.

The new album Relive is a modern studio masterwork that presents the essence of the King from a contemporary perspective while giving a boost to the revolutionary impulses of Elvis' sound. Elvis’ music lives with Relive. You have already the opportunity to hear a sample from this groundbreaking album visiting www.elvisrelive.com.

Tracks:
1.We're Coming In Loaded (Relive Version)
2.Please Don't Drag That String Around (Relive Version)
3.Suspicion (Relive Version)
4.Tutti Frutti (Relive Version)
5.Earth Boy (Relive Version)
6.Riding The Rainbow (Relive Version)
7.Shake Rattle And Roll (Relive Version)
8.I Got Lucky (Relive Version)
9.A Whistling Tune (Relive Version)
10. (You're So Square) Baby I Don't Care (Relive Version)

Bonus tracks:
11.Gonna Get Back Home Somehow (Relive Version)
12.Good Luck Charm (Relive Version)
13.Little Sister (Relive Version)
14.(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame (Relive Version)
15.Pocketful Of Rainbows (Relive Version)
16.You Give Me Fever (Relive Version)
17.I Gotta Know (Relive Version)
18.Baby Let's Play House (Relive Version)
19.Blue Moon Of Kentucky (Relive Version)
20.Jailhouse Rock (Relive Version)

About Ago Carollo, producer

Ago Carollo is a progressive producer, composer, sound engineer, artist, singer and deejay also known as Spankox. He’s the creator of Elvis Presley's hit remix of Baby Let's Play House which brought the King back to the top of the international record sales charts in 2008. He also produced Elvis’ first official remix album, Reversions. He then produced six others, praised by some of Elvis’ original producers, songwriters and musicians who also joined him onstage for live concerts. With his original song Fly Away, released under the stage name Eyes Cream, he reached in 2000 the n.1 spot of the Billboard USA charts. He recently received his first Grammy Nomination for his contribution as songwriter, producer and singer to the last album of Spanish superstar Miguel Bosé. You can find him performing as deejay in some of the best clubs of the planet or directing innovative music & arts events featuring orchestras and live musicians.

Elvis' BMW - Reconstructed

Elvis Presley’s red 1958 BMW 507 will be rest orated and displayed in Germany. 

The car, in the US since 1960 and stored near San Francisco since 1973 returns to it’s country of origin and put on display at the BMW Classic Center in München (Munich) in the “Elvis’ BMW 507: lost & found” exhibition. 

More images at:BimmerToday.

Las Vegas - December 07, 1976


Released today is the fan label import release “Elvis As Recorded Live In Las Vegas” containing a soundboard recording of the December 7, 1976 9 PM show, as recorded at the Las vegas Hilton Hotel. 

The concert was originally released on the 1998 Row Productions “Run On”.

Collecting Elvis


Volume 67 in the German Elvis Sammlung was released. This edition contains a magazine, memorabilia reproductions and a mini-poster for “Kissin’ Cousins”. 

(Source: FECC / Elvis Relive / Elvis Sammlung / Elvis For The Good Times)

July 23 - Wall Street Hotel

A preview of the song "Heartbreak Hotel", from the upcoming "That's The Way it Is" box-set, is featured in the online version of the Wall Street Journal. This take on the song comes from the “dinner show” on Aug. 12, 1970 (he was performing two shows a night), and after Presley calls out chords, he and the band launch into the song to a wave of applause from the audience at the International Hotel.

Click here to listen.  

(Source: FECC / Wall Street Journal)

July 22 - A Listener's Guide To Elvis Vinyl

The Friday Music label released their re-issue of the "Elvis Gold Records - Volume 5" on 180g vinyl.

Side A:
Suspicious Minds - Kentucky Rain - In The Ghetto - Clean Up Your Own Back Yard - Burning Love - If You Talk In Your Sleep - For The Heart - Moody Blue
Side B:
Way Down - Big Boss Man - Guitar Man - U.S. Male - You Don't Have To Say You Love Me - Edge Of Reality - Memories - If I Can Dream.

Elvis Presley: A Listener's Guide

Shane Brown announced the release of his book "Elvis Presley: A Listener's Guide" which is due for release this august.

From his blog:
July 5th, 2014 saw the 60th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s first commercial recording session, the night on which he cut That’s all Right, the song that would launch his career. Less than six months later, on January 8th, 2015, will be celebrations for what would have been Elvis’s 80th birthday. Since Elvis’s death in 1977, hundreds (probably thousands) of books have been written about Presley, but very few concentrate on the most important thing: the music.

When I first became interested in the music of Elvis Presley as a teenager back in the early 1990s, the first book I bought was Elvis Presley: A Study in Music by Robert Matthew-Walker.   It was hardly a hefty tome, but it did what I wanted at the time – it gave me some guidance through the minefield of Elvis’s legacy which was then being issued, slowly but surely, on CD. In 1995, Matthew-Walker updated his book, calling the new version Heartbreak Hotel, but much of the new material centred of details of Elvis’s life, rather than his music. In fact, even in this extended work, the author managed to discuss individually virtually all of Elvis’s recordings within less than one hundred pages. As far as I’m aware Matthew-Walker’s book(s) are the only one to discuss the merits (or otherwise) of all of Elvis’s music literally on a song by song basis.

Matthew-Walker’s A Study in Music was/is an important book, and it seems rather strange that other full-length works of a similar nature did not follow it.  Bearing this in mind, I hope that Elvis Presley: A Listener’s Guide will manage to be a rather more thorough critique of Elvis’s music. Working through from 1953 to 1977 one session at a time, one song at a time, the book discusses the remarkable (and yet often frustrating) legacy that Elvis left behind. All recordings released during Elvis’s lifetime are discussed, as well as those released posthumously where appropriate.

Why do we need a new critique? Well, times change and opinions change with them. Our views on Elvis’s music are still based on what critics wrote forty or more years ago. Of course, the critics who panned Elvis in the 1950s were quickly proven wrong as the years passed, but the accepted view of the 1960s and 1970s recordings is still based on contemporary reviews, often from rock critics who somehow couldn’t see how or why Elvis was recording material outside of rock ‘n’ roll. As I discuss each session, therefore, I make reference to, and quote from, those contemporary reviews from the 1950s to the 1970s – around 170 of them – in order to put into context my own evaluation of the recordings.

This is not primarily a book of facts or figures – there are plenty of other works on the market that can supply those. What there isn’t on the market is a “listener’s guide” to Elvis’s music, in which each and every master recording is discussed. I haven’t written this because I think people should agree with my evaluations or thoughts but because, as we approach what would have been Elvis’s 80th birthday, it seems important to take a fresh look at the one thing that seems to be ignored most: the music.

Elvis Presley Song by Song: A Listener’s Guide will be available in mid-August, 2014. The paperback edition will be 6in x 9in, and will contain approx. 320 pages. A Kindle version will also be available.  

(http://silentmovieblog.wordpress.com / For The Good Times)

July 21 - Elvis Rocks!

An upgraded re-release of the original 1989 Bilko bootleg release "Elvis Rocks Little Rock" will be re-issued on CD. According to the press-release "This is the best Elvis 1956 live album!". 

This re-issue comes with the completely remastered May 16, 1956 concert as original recorded and now remastered and speed corrected. Also, the story behind this recording as told by disc jockey Ray Green and the complete dressing room interview by Ray Green, the Don Davis interviews Elvis (March 1956). 

The set itself comes with a 12-page booklet, original art-work and is limited to 500 copies. 

Tracks: 
16.05.1956 Little Rock / Arkansas:
Heartbreak Hotel - Long Tall Sally - I Was The One - Money Honey - I Got A Woman - Blue Suede Shoes - Hound Dog
Interviews:
The Story Behind This Recording As Told By Disc Jockey Ray Green -  Ray Green Backstage (Including Part Of "Hound Dog" - Elvis Dressing Room Interview - Ray Green Again (Concert Extracts)
15.12.1956 - Louisiana Fairgrounds, Shreveport:
Heartbreak Hotel - Long Tall Sally - I Was The One - Love Me Tender - Don't Be Cruel - Love Me - I Got A Woman - When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again - Paralyzed - Hound Dog
Interviews:
Don Davis Interviews Elvis In March 1956

(Source: Essential Elvis)

July 20 - Some Call It Folk

A new import-release, entitled "Some Call It Folk" is due for release soon. 

From the press-release:
Elvis’ 1970 Country album was a great idea, but it’s a shame that with Elvis’ interest in contemporary folk music he didn’t release a “Folk” themed album. For the May 1971 session Elvis had even used folk group The Nashville Edition as backing singers and selected some interesting songs to record.

However, from a marketing perspective we can hardly see an LP called Elvis Folk appealing to his fans in 1971, and let’s face it Elvis wasn’t recording what the general public would consider Folk. Instead the sound was more of a spontaneous “unplugged acoustic” feel as opposed to the more recent big ballads or soulful stew of the Memphis sessions.  But still… some call it folk.

Now for the very first time we finally have an Elvis ‘Folk’  album. Housed in a stunning 3-panel digipack, this is a top notch Elvis CD release.

Tracks:
Fools Rush In (unedited master) /I’m Leavin’ (unedited master) /Tomorrow Is A Long Time (take 2) /Until It’s Time For You To Go (take 7) /Early Morning Rain (take 11) /I Will Be There (take 2) /Put Your Hand In The Hand (unedited master) / The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (overdubbed master – differend mix) /Snowbird (take 2) /It’s Still Here ( unedited master) /Help Me Make It Through The Night (take 3) /Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright (take 2 – edited) /It’s Only Love (unedited master) /(That’s What You Get) For Loving Me (take 10) /500 Miles (home recording) /Blowin’ In The Wind (home recording) /I’m Leavin’ (recorded live, 21/08/1974) /Early Morning Rain (recorded live, 21/06/1977).

(Source: Essential Elvis)

July 19 - Elvis: That’s the Way It Is Trailer

As EPE get ready to celebrate Elvis Week and the world-premiere of the recently remastered "Elvis: That's The Way It Is," Elvis fans can now check out the new movie trailer for the "Elvis: That’s the Way It Is" Blu-Ray release which is due this august. 

(Source: Elvis Aktuell / USA Today)

July 18 - Elvis, The New Leader In Vegas

Essential Elvis UK will publish a 144 page book entitled "Elvis: The New Leader In Vegas" containing rare and unseen pictures of Elvis in 1969 according to the press-release. It will be printed on luxury paper and the hardcover book wil have a cardboard slipcase. Included is an 8x10" glossy photo signed by Joe Esposito.

(Source: Essential Elvis)

July 17 - Graceland Auction Charts

The "Heart And Soul" compilation drops from #166 to #177 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart for the week ending July 26, 2014.

Graceland Authenticated Auction

Graceland has recently announced the first-ever “Auction at Graceland,” which will take place on August 14, featuring Elvis artifacts authenticated by Graceland Authenticated LLC. The official catalog of the auction is now available for purchase and features over 70 pages of stunning images and descriptions of the items that will be included in this first-ever event. 
In addition, the catalog includes beautiful images of Elvis Presley himself, plus two special bonus ticket replicas– one from Elvis’ 1973 Aloha from Hawaii concert and one from Elvis’ 1961 concert at Bloch Arena at Pearl Harbor -- direct from the Graceland Archives. This official, inaugural catalog offers an up-close look at these special pieces of Elvis history and is a wonderful collector’s item. Domestic shipping of the catalog is free. 

(Source: Brian Quinn FECC / Graceland)

July 15 - Christmas Vinyl With A Big Beat

Due from the "vinyl"  label on September 29, 2014 is "The Elvis Christmas Album" on vinyl. 

The box-set "Young Man With The Big Beat" will be re-issued as a 5 CD budget edition by Sony on September 15, 2014.

Unreleased Elvis

Officially "back," Elvis Presley spent the summer of 1969 and February of 1970 in Las Vegas, playing well over 50 shows at the International Hotel. On July 14th, 1970 – 34 years ago today – he went to the MGM lot in Culver City, California, to start rehearsals for his third run, scheduled to begin on August 10th and be filmed for a new documentary, Elvis: That's the Way It Is.

This fall, that documentary and the album of the same name will be getting another reissue, blown out across eight CDs and two DVDs. These include the original album, outtakes, the film's theatrical release and 2000 extended reissue and six discs of live sets. Disc two, for instance, contains opening night, and disc five contains the August 12th dinner show. Below, you can stream the previously unreleased take on "I Just Can't Help Believin'" that Elvis sang mid-way through this latter performance.

In his Rolling Stone review of the 2003 That's the Way It Is reissue, Tom Nawrocki wrote, "Drawing inspiration from the Kris Kristofferson singer-songwriter movement that was encroaching on Nashville in the early Seventies, That's the Way It Is may be Presley's most grown-up collection of songs: Love affairs are negotiated around unpaid bills and babies crying at 6 a.m."

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/hear-elvis-unreleased-just-cant-help-believin-live-from-vegas-20140714#ixzz37lImX6Zd 

(Source: Amazon / FECC / Billboard)

July 14 - Channelling Wahooo From The Theaters

After the immediate sell out of "Las Vegas" the first volume in this series, this second volume will bring you "Wahooo From Omaha" containing the Omaha, NE July 1, 1974 show. 

From the press-release:
Be prepared for over 47 minutes in superb quality, perfectly synced with a tremendously improved soundboard recording of the show. As a bonus we've also included much better footage of Dayton, OH, October 6, 1974, also synced with a SB recording. To round it off, we also included a bonus CD. We're pleased to present you the Omaha show in soundboard quality, the correct sequence, the right pitch (for the first time) and a much better sound than you've ever heard before. To pack the DVD and CD, we designed a 304 page, full color hardcover book with countless rare and unseen pictures. 

Elvis: That's The Way It Is in Theaters

Elvis fans will have the chance to experience the world premiere of the newly re-mastered "Elvis: That's The Way It Is" on the big screen at Elvis Week 2014. The screening will be held on the evening of August 16 at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis. 

For fans unable to attend the Elvis Week world premiere, they will still have a chance to see Elvis on the big screen when the newly-remastered "Elvis: That’s The Way It Is" hits almost 300 theaters in the U.S. following Elvis Week for  a limited engagement. 

Channeling Elvis: How Television Saved the King of Rock 'n' Roll

Allen Wiener's latest book, “Channeling Elvis: How Television Saved the King of Rock 'n' Roll”, is being published in October.

Synopsis:
Based on more than a decade of research, dozens of fresh interviews, and careful review of hours of television and other footage, this book focuses on Elvis' TV career and the role it played in creating, sustaining, and reviving his unrivaled popularity. 

Only television captured the full arc of the King's career, from his initial steps on the national stage and highly anticipated return from the U.S. Army, to his resurrection in the wake of some lame recordings and lousy movies, renewed acclaim as a concert artist, and premature, self-inflicted 1977 exit. Television captured it all. And Elvis Presley's TV appearances also provided us with the most extensive visual record of this incredible man doing what he loved best: performing live. 

Elvis Presley was a virtual unknown when, in 1956, he strutted his stuff in front of a national television audience for the very first time. By year’s end, following a dozen TV appearances, he was an international superstar.
Over the next two decades, Elvis turned to TV whenever his career required a boost or a complete makeover. Channeling Elvis: How Television Saved the King of Rock 'n' Roll takes a close-up look at his 20-year career through the unique lens of television. 
Featuring the insights and observations of some of his closest associates, Channeling Elvis: How Television Saved the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll places the reader behind the camera as well as in front of the small screen to explore one of the most fascinating and revealing aspects of a legendary career.

Released

The budget compilation “Girls! Girls! Girls! Plus Loving You” was released by the Spanish HooDoo Records while the French Wagram Music released the 5 CD set “The Very Best Of Elvis” containing public domain recordings. 

(Source: The King’s World / FECC / Amazon)

July 13 - From Charlotte To Memphis

Joseph A. Tunzi's JAT Productions announced a new book entitled "Elvis Photographed Live On Stage In Charlotte and Memphis" featuring pictures from the shows in Charlotte, North Carolina on March 9, 1974 and in Memphis, Tennessee on March 16, 17 and 20, 1974. The book is due for release in the fall of 2014.

(Source: JAT Publishing)

July 12 - Ultimate Preview

The team behind the Elvis Files books have a special release due out in August; "Ultimate Elvis" documenting the complete recording-sessio information on Elvis Presley in three hefty illustrated volumes. Here are a few new previews.

From the press-release: 
Ultimate Elvis: The Complete & Definitive Recording Sessions', will be a three-volume, individually numbered, deluxe set (in a beautiful slipcase), that not only comprises all the recording session details that are available to date, with the help of the fantastic Keith Flynn and his superb research. It also includes detailed discographies, reviews of every single, EP and album release, original release dates, facsimiles of RCA's paperwork, session logs, listing notices, letters from Colonel Parker's office and RCA's archive, the reproduction of original sheet music covers, a huge index and a host of other things. And as you have come to expect from 'The Elvis Files', the icing on the cake is a wealth of stunning photographs - approximately 1500 of them! - many of them previously unseen. 

Final Countdown Is Over

The Backdraft import-release "Final Countdown To Midnight" was released. 

From the original press-release:
This release, "Final Countdown To Midnight", follows from Backdraft’s first offering, "Rebooked at the International". It contains a hardback book with over 100 pages of many rare and unpublished photos, all taken from original slides with detailed information including eyewitness text, facts and more!

Incorporated with the book is a 2CD set offering for the first time ever, the complete show of the Pittsburgh 1976 New Years Eve concert re-mastered from a newly acquired source, now running well over 92 mins that is guaranteed to please the listener as Elvis rings in the new year of 1977, his final countdown. The sound will attest to the best near soundboard quality ever!

The DVD premieres to the world, newly discovered footage and has been edited from over 2 hours and 20 mins allowing us to present this near complete show running at 85 mins in multiple-angle format. Some of the footage transferred in High Definition is positively stunning! The rich and vibrant colors will provide a truly stunning viewing experience. This Pittsburgh experience package has been a mammoth task to complete to finally bring the ultimate experience of what was the greatest show on earth, to the fans.

(Source: ElvisFiles / FECC)

July 10 - US Charts

The "Heart And Soul" compilation re-entered the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart at #166 and on the Top Catalog Album chart at# 47 for the week ending July 19, 2014.

On the Music Video Sales chart "Elvis On Tour" jumped from #18 to #17.

The CD “Elvis Sings…” dropped from #18 to #31 on the Album chart in New Zealand. 


Also down under, In Australia, the DVD “The King Of Rock And Roll” dropped off the Music DVD chart. 

(Source: FECC / The King's World)