Greatest Alternate Hits
Due for release on August 9, 2017 from the French VPI label is the vinyl double album '40th Anniversary Best of Singles A & B' containing 32 hits in alternate versions. This release comes on 180 Gr. vinyl and is limited to 1000 copies. Vinyl No. 1 - Side A: I Got A Woman (Alternate Take) - Heartbreak Hotel (Take 5) - Shake, Rattle And Roll (Take 8) - I Want You, I Need You, I Love You (Take 15) - One Night Of Sin - Jailhouse Rock (Take 5) - King Creole (Take 18) - A Big Hunk O´ Love (Take 3)
Side B: A Fool Such As I (Take 8) - Stuck On You (Take 1) - I Feel So Bad (Take 1) - His Latest Flame (Take 2) - Can´t Help Falling In Love (Take 13) - Good Luck Charm (Take 1) - She´s Not You (Take 2) - One Broken Heart For Sale (Take 1)
Vinyl No. 2 - Side A: Blue Moon (Take 5) - Lawdy, Miss Clawdy (Take 12) - I Was The One (Take 7A) - I Beg Of You (Take 12) - That´s When Your Heartaches Begin (Take 6) - Loving You ( (Take 8 - Fast Version) - Treat Me Nice (Take 19 - Film Version) - Doncha´ Think It´s Time (Take 39)
Side B: I Need Your Love Tonight (Take 10) - Ain´t That Loving You Baby (Take 11) - I Got Stung (Take 16) - A Mess Of Blues (Take 1) - Fame And Fortune (Take 5) - Rock-A-Hula Baby (Take 3) - Little Sister (Take 3) - Just Tell Her Jim Said Hello (Take 1)
Elvis Presley Manager Biopic The Colonel in Development
Spencer Proffer, Steve Binder, and Joe Berlinger are developing a feature film about Elvis Presley’s manger Colonel Tom Parker. Production is slated for early 2018. Parker, who died in 1997 at age 87, arrived in America as a 20-year old undocumented Dutch immigrant, and took great pains to hide his past. Before leaving Holland, he might have committed murder.
The screenplay will be based on Alanna Nash’s book, “The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley,” published by Simon & Schuster and one of four Presley books she authored. The team will work from an outline developed by Nash and Berlinger, and Nash will co-write the screenplay. Parker became Presley’s manager in 1956 shortly before the singer broke out with the single “Heartbreak Hotel.” He remained the manager until Presley’s death in 1977.
“I have wanted to work with Joe for years, given his unique filmmaker’s eye toward marrying music-anchored stories with dramatic storytelling,” said Proffer. “Given that I am a big fan of his Metallica and Paul Simon films, plus Joe’s award-winning crime documentaries, he became my first choice to direct this evergreen and important film. Parker’s story has such a dark edge, and this is precisely why Berlinger’s combo of crime and music documentaries lends the perfect tone for the film.”
Binder’s credits include producing and directing the 1968 NBC special “Elvis.” “I look forward to working with Spencer, Joe, and Alanna on the making of this film. The Colonel’s ‘real’ story has never been told, and I promise it will have you on the edge of your seat. I was there and I knew the Colonel.
Move over P.T. Barnum, the ride is about to begin!” Berlinger was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary for 2011’s “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” and has received seven Emmy nominations. His credits include “Brother’s Keeper,” “Metallica: Some King of Monster,” “Crude,” “Under African Skies,” and “Intent to Destroy.” “Throughout my career I have tackled unexpected and surprising stories, going beyond the easy headline to get to the truth of the real story,” Berlinger said. “And in ‘The Colonel,’ I see the same exciting opportunity.” Berlinger is currently in pre-production for the feature film “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile,” a Ted Bundy biopic starring Zac Efron.
Elvis: Las Vegas April - May 1956
There is a new book out by Paul Berlard entitled 'Elvis: Las Vegas April - May 1956'. The book is a soft cover and has 235 pages. Synopsis:
On April 23, 1956. Elvis and his band - Scotty Moore, Bill Black and DJ. Fontana - began a two week engagement at the New Frontier Hotel in Los Vegas. Freddy Martin and his orchestra had been scheduled for a while, as was comedian Shecky Green. Elvis was a belated added attraction.
He was referred to as the "Atomic Powered Singer", since Nevada was where the first atomic bombs were developed. Elvis' manager probably thought the name would be catchy? What he had not figured on was how an older nightclub crowd react to Elvis.
It has been widely reported that Elvis bombed in Las Vegas, even that his contract was canceled after a week. That the middle-aged audience that could afford to visit Las Vegas at the time reacted coolly to Elvis is true enough, but his contract was never broken. Elvis dutifully soldiered on for the contracted two weeks, closing with his last performance on May 6, 1956.
It was Elvis' manager who bombed, proving early on that he had no clue about what made Elvis so popular. "Heartbreak Hotel" was a number one hit, his first album Elvis Presley was on its way to becoming a million seller. Still what escaped Parker was the reality that the single and the album were not bought by the people who come to see an orchestra playing tunes from the Broadway show 'Oklahoma' or a comedian's shlick.
(Source: Variety / UEPS / Elvis Express / EM)