Description: This compilation of the King of Rock and Roll's vinyl, collects 16 recordings that were originally released as "B-sides" for his hit-singles in the U.S. in the fifties and sixties. Usually, the B-sides of records were considered 'less appealing', but 'Elvis the Pelvis' managed to make them equally iconic.
Side A: Don't Ask Me Why - I Got Stung - (Now And Then There's) A Fool Such As I - My Wish Came True - Fame And Fortune - A Mess Of Blues - I Gotta Know - Lonely Man.
Side B: Wild In Th Country - Little Sister - Rock-A-Hula Baby - Anything That's Part Of You - Just Tell Jim Said Hello - Where Do You Come From - Pleas Don't Drag That String Around - Witchcraft.
Jan Shepard Died
Actress Jan Shepard, died. She was 96.
Shepard portrayed Mimi, the sister of Presley’s Danny Fisher, in the Michael Curtiz directed movie 'King Creole' (1958) and the wife of Danny Kohana (James Shigeta), who partners with Presley’s Rick Richards in a helicopter business, in 'Paradise, Hawaiian Style' (1966).
Her other notable film credits include Attack of the Giant Leeches (1959).
Presley gave her a pair of 10-cent earrings as a joke while they worked on the Paramount film, then presented her with a huge stuffed tiger and a movie camera when Hart threw a surprise birthday party for her.
Reflecting on her first encounter with the Rock and Roll, Shepard once shared a humorous anecdote: "When you’re assigned a film role, you have to go to the doctor, because of the insurance company. They have to make sure you don’t have a bad heart, any of that nonsense. They made my appointment for me at the studio, so I was there and I had on a white shirt and these slacks my mother had made for me that were like wine colored. I went in the office and I was waiting to be called in. In walks Elvis with two of his buddies. I looked at him and he looked at me and we started to laugh. His jacket was the identical material and color of my slacks. He looked at me and he said, ‘Honey, I’m either going to have to give you my jacket or you’re going to have to give me your pants’ (laughing). That was my first meeting with Elvis.”
On Elvis' acting: Oh, he was just marvelous! I will never forget. You know every person that sings is a good actor. Because they have the sense of timing, the sense of rhythm, a sense of what words mean. He was a brilliant actor because he didn’t need any advice. He knew automatically what to do and act, as the show was going on. I kept saying to him, “Oh, Elvis, for God sake, you’re doing such a great job.”
On the last time she saw Elvis: I saw him in Las Vegas. We went to a Caeser's Palace and I was so disappointed because he was into the karate stuff and he was turning his back to the audience all the time. And I just wanted to just go up there and spank him, you know.
Outside of her film career, Shepard was a prominent presence on television, appearing in westerns like Rawhide, The Virginian, and Gunsmoke. Her remarkable contributions to film and television, especially her iconic collaborations with Elvis Presley, cement her status as a cherished figure in Hollywood’s golden age.
(Source: Pascal Matteo / Sprea Editori / Hollywood Reporter / eBay / Legacy / Joe Krein)