If you live in Iowa, New Hampshire, or South Carolina (as I do), you have withstood a barrage of political pitches on TV, in the mail, and on the telephone.  After a while, it gets to be too much, and you can’t wait for it all to move on to the next state.

So, with politics taking center stage around here this week, it reminded me that I have a pretty good file of pictures about Elvis running for President.  As impossible as that idea is, it is fun to see how the concept has intrigued people for over 50 years.

 

 

CaféPress.com has a selection of Elvis for President T-shirts including this long sleeve black one for $32.50.  There are several other models all using the same graphic design.

                    

 

The idea of Elvis for President isn’t limited to clothing.  Here are examples of books, CDs and DVDs.

                           

 

The title of this DVD is misleading.  It has nothing to do with Elvis running for President.  It is simply another bootleg concert video, primarily the March 20, 1976 show in Charlotte, NC, plus snippets from Syracuse, Buffalo, Memphis, and Macon.  The closest thing to politics on it is Elvis walking across the stage carrying an American flag.

 

Here’s a variation on the Presidential Seal.  If Elvis can’t be President, at least he will always be king.

 

The idea of Elvis for President can be traced all the way back to 1956.

 

This picture was taken at the Los Angeles airport as Elvis arrived to begin filming “Love Me Tender.”  According to the Graceland archives, Elvis received 5,000 write-in votes for President in the 1956 election.

 

I like this idea.  After the madness of these last two weeks with back-to-back-to-back TV ads and unending robo-calls, if Elvis was on the ballot here in South Carolina, he would get a large backlash vote.

 

Presumably, this shot was taken during the election years of 1972 or 1976, because the hat says “Elvis for President.”

 

                     
      

This Weekly World News cover story was the topic of an interesting ElvisBlog article a few years ago.  The image is the best artist’s depiction I’ve ever seen of what old Elvis might have looked like.

 

Here’s an interesting attitude that probably appeals to some folks.  It might be the result if we get to a deadlocked convention.   If that happens, I have the perfect compromise candidate:

 

 

©  2011    Philip R Arnold, Original Elvis Blogmeister    All Rights Reserved    www.ElvisBlog.net

 

Elvis, Elvis Presley, and Graceland are registered trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

 

Changes Coming:

For the second time in the 7-1/2 year history of ElvisBlog, our blogware provider has decided to close up shop and migrate us off to a different platform.  The first time this happened, the number of visitors and total hits dropped off drastically, and it took almost a year to get them back up.

Perhaps it will be better this time, because ElvisBlog is moving to WordPress, and a number of other bloggers seem to be very happy they use it.

Supposedly the transition will be easy, and there will be tech support available to help with any snags.  I’m not so sure, because I always seem to have trouble with this sort of thing.  One expected problem may be self-inflicted.  ElvisBlog will be going from 2-column format to 3-column, which means the width of the center space for articles will shrink.  This probably means that the layout of pictures in articles will change and require going back and adjusting each one.  Sounds pretty time consuming.

Anyway, this is an advance warning that the appearance of old articles on ElvisBlog may look screwed up for a while.  Sometime in the next two weeks, we’ll pull the trigger and switch to WordPress and see how it goes.  Please bear with us.

 

Phil Arnold
Original Elvis Blogmeister
ElvisBlog

When coming attractions are shown at your local movie theater, they usually start with a montage of short exciting scenes, plus a booming announcer voice-over to hype your interest.  Believe it or not, there is an old VHS tape titled “Elvis in the Movies” that shows the trailers for all 31 of Elvis’ acting movies.  This string of three minute coming attractions makes it possible to compile those announcer tag-lines.  Most are pretty strange, and some seem downright awful all these years later.

 

 

So, here’s a challenging little quiz for you.  Below are the actual tag-lines used on all of Elvis’ movies.  Have some fun and try to identify the film for each one.  Answers are at the end.

1)  Yes, it’s Elvis as a swinging, singing cowboy.  A Rodeo ridin’, bronco bustin’ champ, whose job is wrangling fillies on a dude ranch.

2) He’s a high flying stock car jockey with a room full of trophies.  Elvis has a one-track mind and a winning streak that couldn’t be broken… until he found a gorgeous, groovy government agent in his slip-stream.

3) Here, against the fabulous panorama of one of the most glamorous and exciting events of recent times, is everything that made Elvis Presley one of the greatest entertainment stars in the world.

4) His first great motion picture.  Out of the great Southwest comes the sensational adventure of the notorious Reno brothers and the girl they fought over.

5) It’s a blow-up, it’s a blast.  A love affair between a photographer, his pussycat, her playboy, and a pooch… is all about passion, punches, pleasure, pandemonium.

6) Flip-out with Elvis.  Elvis, making the scene, and he’s with some of the most luscious lovelies that ever filled out a bikini.  Elvis rockin’ and sockin’ on the waterfront.

7) A different kind of role, a different kind of man.  On his neck he wore the brand of a killer, on his hip he wore vengeance.

8) Follow that car.  It’s headed toward this theater, loaded with the most happy-go-lucky group of wanderers who ever came down the pike chasing after the rainbow.

9) Elvis is in trouble, big trouble.  Elvis is on his way.  He’s off to mod London and swinging Europe – and mystery.

10) Now and again, the West produces a man who stands away from the crowd.  Noble as the valley, rugged as the rocks, a man of action who makes an unforgettable impact. [ed. note: this is tongue-in-cheek]

11) Rambling, roving, restless, reckless.  Elvis getting the chicks all worked up, but cutting loose from any dolly that can tie him down.

12) Elvis is back and so is his biggest hit movie.  A tough Blackboard Jungle kid.  The astounding success story of this rebel with a voice that rocked the world.

13) The red, white and blue show of the year.  It’s a three-day pass at those frolicking frauleins, but the dancing darling who blocks every pass has all the guys in a spin – and guess who the boys are betting on to break through her defenses.

14) Elvis, your personal guide to America’s exotic Eden, our Polynesian paradise.  He hits the beach with the most luscious armful of delight on the island.

15) It’s a knockout.  It’s a honey of a picture, filled with that Elvis kind of action, that Elvis kind of love.

16) On fire with a Latin lilt, Latin love, Latin rhythm.

17) It’s Elvis swinging.  It’s Elvis singing.  It’s Elvis racing.  With his foot on the gas – and no breaks on the fun.

18) Elvis Presley, in the change of pace roll as a doctor doing his best to keep the lid on a red-hot ghetto.

19) The first big modern musical built around the fiery personality of Elvis Presley.  Follow him through the barn-storming days, the one-night stands, the big moment when the girls discover him – and he discovers girls.

20) The excitement when these two let themselves go on a wild and woolly whirl through Funtown, USA.  A jumpin’ jackpot of melody.

21) Now Elvis brings the legend to fun-filled life.

22) Across the burning sands rides a dauntless stranger, meeting every challenge with clashing swords and bare-handed daring.

23) It’s Elvis cooking up a storm of entertainment.  Elvis throws the wildest beach party since they invented the bikini and the beat.

24) They’ve crowned a new king on the street where jazz was born.  Now he crowns his meteoric rise to fame with a fiery burst dramatic power.

25) The two greatest lovers in the Great Smokies.

26) Songs, songs, songs.  Skipper Elvis serenades a port full of lovelies.  The greatest of all Elvis Presley musicals with a whole album full of brand new songs.

27) Running wild as a copter flyboy with more co-pilots than he can handle.

28) It’s Elvis Presley.  He’s the boss, boss-man of a groovy travelling tent show.  It’s a little wicked and wild, weird and wacky – wallopin’ way-out entertainment.

29) Elvis Presley sings songs of love to Hope Lang, songs of love to Tuesday Weld, songs of love to Millie Perkins.  And wherever Elvis goes, excitement follows.  Tense, torrid, tempestuous.

30) The white man’s song was on his lips, but an Indian war-cry was in his heart, as he is torn between two loyalties, two loves, and he fought to save them both.

31) Elvis invades the land of the bikinis on those spring vacation revels.  And thousands of college kids go, go, go.

 

ANSWERS:

1) Tickle Me                                       17)  Spinout
2) Speedway                                      18)  Change of Habit
3) It Happened at the World’s Fair      19)  Loving You
4) Love Me Tender                             20)  Viva Las Vegas
5) Live A Little, Love A Little               21)  Frankie and Johnny
6) Easy Come, Easy Go                     22)  Harum Scarum
7) Charro                                            23)  Clambake
8) Follow that Dream                          24)  King Creole
9) Double Trouble                               25)  Kissin’ Cousins
10) Stay Away Joe                             26)  Girls, Girls, Girls
11) Roustabout                                   27)  Paradise – Hawaiian Style
12) Jailhouse Rock                             28)  The Trouble with Girls
13) G.I. Blues                                     29)  Wild in the Country
14) Blue Hawaii                                  30)  Flaming Star
15) Kid Galahad                                 31)  Girl Happy
16) Fun in Acapulco

 

Does the hype from these Elvis movie trailers make you want to watch one of his films tonight?  It works for me.  Let’s see, maybe it would be cool to watch Elvis wrangling fillies, or getting chicks all worked up, or making a pass at frolicking frauleins. No, I think I’ll go for Elvis hitting the beach with the most luscious armful of delight on the island.

How can critics say all Elvis movies are all the same?  Who cares?  They’re all wallopin’ way-out entertainment.

 

©  2011    Philip R Arnold, Original Elvis Blogmeister    All Rights Reserved    www.ElvisBlog.net

Elvis, Elvis Presley, and Graceland are registered trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

Perhaps you have seen this photo on the internet.  I run into it from time to time, but nobody has ever included a caption or text explaining the story of Elvis and this old car.

 

 

It turns out, there is quite a story.  While doing research on an upcoming article in Elvis International magazine, I found something in the book “Baby Let’s Play House: Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him,” by Alanna Nash.

The book stated that Elvis’ father purchased him a 1942 Lincoln Zephyr for his 18th birthday.  That’s the car in the photograph.  It cost $50, which was a lot of money back in 1953, especially for a man of modest means like Vernon Presley.

Elvis owned hundreds of Cadillacs, Lincolns, and other fancy cars in his life, but it is unlikely that any of them had the kind of impact on his life that this worn out old Lincoln did.  The reason is simple.  The car sparked a big jump in Elvis’ social life. It enabled him to go out on dates with teenage girls.

According to the book, in the first three months after his 18th birthday, Elvis used the Lincoln for at least five different dating opportunities:

 

Driving to a party and giving a pretty girl a ride to her home afterward.

Going to the “Teen Canteen” at McKellar Lake and enjoying hamburgers and shakes.

Attending the All-Night Gospel Singings at Ellis Auditorium to see the Statesmen and the Blackwood Brothers perform.

Parking on a bluff overlooking the Mississippi River and watching the water roll by.

Taking in a movie at the drive-in theater in West Memphis, Arkansas.

 

The last two on the list would seem to be perfect places for serious making-out, which the book says Elvis enjoyed during this period.  You can bet Elvis loved having his own car.

Elvis had enough money to pay for his gas and dating expenses, because he worked part-time at night ushering at Loew’s movie theater and selling soft drinks at Ellis Auditorium.

So, when it came time to attend his Senior Prom on April 17, 1953, Elvis used some of those earnings to rent a shiny new, dark-blue Chevy.  The next day it was back to the old Lincoln again, and certainly Elvis longed for the days when he could afford to buy his own fancy new car.

That happened twenty-three months later when he purchased a 1954 pink and white Cadillac, but Elvis had to cherish his happy memories of dating in the car he received for his eighteenth birthday.

Elvis’ birthday on January 8 is always a special day for his fans.

 

Happy Birthday, Elvis.

 

©  2011    Philip R Arnold, Original Elvis Blogmeister    All Rights Reserved    www.ElvisBlog.net
 

Elvis, Elvis Presley, and Graceland are registered trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

One Million Hits:

It took the first five years and three months for ElvisBlog to accumulate 1 million total hits.  Now, that magic number has been achieved in one year.  The final tally for 2011 was actually 1,217,847 hits, as measured by total page views.  This compares with 729,000 in 2010 and 339,000 in 2009.

I guess people like what they see on ElvisBlog because the number of readers keeps growing.  Thanks so much for all your support.

 

Phil Arnold, Original Elvis Blogmeister

Elvis spent his last New Year’s Eve performing on stage at the Civic Center Arena in Pittsburgh. At 11:25 PM on December 31, 1976, Elvis came on stage and ignited the 16,000 fans who had come for a big party.   more »

It’s time once again to post ElvisBlog’s annual collection of images connecting Elvis and Christmas. Fortunately, creative fans keep coming up with new ideas and put them on the internet for us to enjoy.   more »

Knowledgeable Elvis fans are aware that he had a penchant for flashy, unconventional clothing. In the 50s, this inclination was frequently expressed in pink wardrobe items, especially shirts. On December 13, Heritage Auctions held another of their Music and Entertainment Auctions, and two pink Elvis shirts went to new owners for healthy prices. We have seen these shirts in iconic photos for years, and now the story behind them has been told in the auction catalog.   more »

Back in July 2010, ElvisBlog critiqued the items offered by EPE in their big summer sale, “12 Days of Christmas in July” . Some item drew praise, while others were blasted.   more »

The above quote was made by Jerry Schilling, Elvis’ long time buddy. The meeting he referred to was when Elvis met President Nixon in the Oval Office on December 21, 1970. Schilling made the quote while participating last year in a panel discussion presented by the National Archives Administration. It was titled "We Were There When Nixon Met Elvis."   more »

Blue Hawaii was released fifty years ago in November 1961. It was Elvis’ seventh film and was his most commercially successful movie, in spite of a rather skimpy plot. There is lots of great scenery, and 26-year-old Elvis looked in top form in his skin-tight swim trunks. Plus, there’s no shortage of skimpily-clad young ladies cavorting on the beach.   more »

Elvis fans know he always travelled with an entourage. Four, five or six members of his Memphis Mafia accompanied Elvis everywhere, and they took care of all arrangements and logistics of the trips. This included any expenses incurred, so Elvis never had the need to carry much money. Somebody else always handled it.   more »

On October 24, the Hollywood Reporter broke the news that a movie would be made about Elvis’ 1970 meeting with President Richard Nixon at the Whitehouse. Within 24 hours, the story was on dozens of websites and media sources.   more »

There are all sorts of Elvis costumes available at www.ShopElvis.com right now. Certainly, it's fun for fans to dress themselves up as Elvis for Halloween. However, some fans with artistic talents have created images that morph Elvis into iconic Halloween decorating and costume themes. Here are some interesting ones.    more »

Reference books state that Elvis gave performances in 79 cities in 1956. How many cities do you think hosted Elvis Tribute Artists in 2011? My guess is that it could be ten times that number.   more »

On September 15, Elvis.com/news featured an interview with the designer of the new Elvis Barbie doll. Maybe I missed something, but I never knew it was already on the market. As you can see, Elvis Barbie is wearing an outfit inspired by his famous gold lamé suit. She is touted as wearing a ‘pompadour ponytail, and can be yours for only $49.99.    more »

This past Wednesday, October 5, a new Elvis exhibit opened in England. It is titled “Elvis and Us,” and is stocked with a wonderful selection of items loaned by EPE. Some of the rare artifacts have never even been displayed at Graceland.    more »

Did you see the news earlier this week that the US Postal Service has changed its rules and will now consider stamp designs that feature people who are still alive. According to the Postmaster General, “This change will enable us to pay tribute to individuals for their achievements while they are still alive to enjoy the honor.”    more »

Mid-September seems like an odd time to post a blog about an auction of Elvis items that took place back in July, but there have been reasons for the delay. Nothing big related to Elvis was in the news this week, so let’s look at some interesting Elvis things that changed hands at the auction.    more »

Elvis had been dead for more than twenty-four years when the tragic events of 9-11 occurred. Yet, as the nation has observed the anniversary each year, some creative Elvis fans have included him in images of remembrance. Now, on the tenth anniversary, here are some of the best.    more »

Every August I enjoy going to GoMemphis.com and reading John Beifuss’ annual report on movies that contain something, anything, about Elvis in them. For example, it could be Elvis jumpsuits, or his iconic sunglasses, or anything else associated with him. It can be an Elvis song, a picture of him, or a character trying to sound like him. And sometimes, his name is used in the dialog of the movie.    more »

If you read other Elvis websites, you already know about the death of songwriter Jerry Leiber. The other sites informed you that Leiber and his partner Mike Stoller wrote more than a dozen Elvis hits, including “Hound Dog,” “Jailhouse Rock” and “King Creole.” For ElvisBlog, I thought it would be more fun to tell you some Jerry Leiber stories. They all involve my favorite Elvis song, which happens to be written by Leiber & Stoller.    more »

No matter what network you watch the news on, you probably saw a feature two weeks ago about the newly revealed identity of the girl in “The Kiss,” Alfred Wertheimer’s iconic Elvis photo. She is Charleston, SC resident Barbara (Bobbi) Gray, who is now 75. “The Kiss” was photographed in 1956, so it took 55 years for her identity to be revealed.   more »

The celebration of Elvis Week is going on right now in Memphis. I start early each year trying to figure out a new way to blog about the anniversary of Elvis’ death. A few weeks ago, I came across my copy of the September 20, 1977, issue of the National Enquirer. On the cover was a photo of Elvis in a car, and the tag was “Hours Before He Died.” The caption under the picture was, “The Last Photo of Elvis Alive.”    more »

July was a good months for auctions containing Elvis memorabilia items. Gotta Have It had 25 of them up for bidding that closed on July 22. So, let’s take a look at the Elvis wardrobe items that changed hands at The Rock and Roll Auction from Gotta Have It.    more »

The above title was the heading of a recent news announcement on the official Elvis website, Elvis.com. The announcement heralded a new oversized coffee-table book called Graphic Elvis.   more »

If you follow the news, you certainly know about the cell phone hacking scandal involving the British tabloid News of the World. The current issue of Time Magazine has a cover story that digs into the history of Murdock and his media empire. One illustration for the story was a shot of his six tabloid papers. When I saw that one of them was The Star, I remembered my collection of supermarket tabloids with cover stories about Elvis.    more »

My friend Alan Hanson writes a wonderful blog about Elvis Presley. He and I have often come up with similar ideas, but usually they are years apart after time has dulled our memory of the other’s work. This week we both independently decided to do a blog on Elvis’ hair.   more »

A few weeks ago, when I was reviewing pictures in my files for the recurring feature Postscripts to Earlier Elvisblogs, there were several photos from Elvis’ first appearance in Las Vegas. That was his two-week engagement at the New Frontier Hotel’s Venus Showroom from April 23 to May 6, 1956.    more »

You have probably seen the news that former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was convicted Monday of a wide range of corruption charges, including trying to sell President Obama's Senate seat.   more »