You get to read an extra column this week. In five years of doing ElvisBlog, I’ve never had such an abundance of articles as right now. For weeks, I’ve been sitting on a story about Elvis’ last concert, planning to post it this past Sunday, close to the date of the concert, June 26, 1977. That makes it the 32nd anniversary. Not a big one, but a good excuse to write the article, anyway.
Then Michael Jackson died, and ElvisBlog just had to do a quick story on Michael and Lisa Marie instead. But, on the same day as he died, there was a huge auction of Hollywood memorabilia that contained three dozen Elvis items and about a dozen for Michael Jackson. So, that story had to be covered while it was hot, and it will appear next Sunday, July 5. Elvis’ last concert had to be pushed back not one week, but two, to the following Sunday, July 12.
Which means -- a special Elvis 4th of July tribute has to be posted now.
Speaking of Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie, there is one interesting thing to report. For a few days, ElvisBlog was the #4 ranked site by Google for the search item, “Did Lisa Marie and Michael Jackson have sex?” I feel kind of weird to be proud of that, but I am.
A lot of Photoshop people have come up with clever ideas with patriotic Elvis themes. If anyone who created one of these picture has a problem with them being seen on ElvisBlog, let me know and I’ll take them off. Actually, I’m thinking you’ll be proud to have lots of Elvis fans appreciating your art.
The 4th of July was an important date for Elvis. In fact, it is the date that his career got started. On July 4, 1954, at Sam Phillips suggestion, Elvis went over to Scotty Moore’s house and did an impromptu audition. Bill Black also dropped in, but he and Scotty were not overly impressed. However, Sam Phillips decided it might be worth another try at the studio. On July 5, Elvis, Scotty and Bill recorded “That’s All Right,” and the rest is history.
Are these Elvis Photoshop artists good, or what? I really should be giving them credit and a link. Let me know and I will.
I will end this article with a YouTube video. It is a film showing the demolition of the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas on November 13, 2007. This was where Col. Parker booked Elvis to perform back in May 1956. It didn’t go so well, and Elvis didn’t come back to Vegas to perform again until 1969. The 1956 appearance is an interesting story you can read about here.
The cool thing about the YouTube video is that it blends July 4th fireworks with the demolition. I’ve watched this vide a bunch of times, and as the walls of the Frontier tumble down, I always say “Good bye, Elvis.”
I've never much cared for Michael Jackson, and I am certainly glad of one thing about him. Decades ago, the media bestowed the title "King of Pop" on Jackson. If the media had taken away Elvis' title as the "King of Rock and Roll" and given it to Michael Jackson, I would have been very upset. I hope the autopsy doesn't reveal Jackson had a system full of prescription drugs when he died. We can do without the endless comparisons to Elvis that would result.
I never figured on writing about Lisa Marie and Michael Jackson in ElvisBlog, so I never accumulated much about them in my files of possible story ideas. However, with Jackson's passing yesterday, it was time to dig up something to write. Within minutes of hearing the news about Michael Jackson passing, I was on the computer gathering information for this article.
I was particularly pleased to find six photos of the happily married couple. They were posted at 7:38 last night. By midnight, ElvisBlog had more hits than on any day since Elvis Week, when interest is always high. Google did a great job bringing people to the site. Then, Lisa Marie made a public statement about Jackson's death, and all the news and entertainment websites picked it up. Now, ElvisBlog is way down the list of sites on the Google list about Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie. Oh, well.
Here is Lisa's statement: "I am heartbroken for his children who I know were everything to him and for his family. This is such a massive loss on so many levels, words fail me." Words did not fail her during two appearances on the Oprah Winfrey show. During the first one, Oprah asked her to describe her marriage to Jackson, and she replied, "Holy Mother of God. It was insane." In 2005, Oprah asked, "Do you think he loved you?" Lisa replied, "It's hard for me to answer that question. I don't know the answer to that, to be honest with you." In answer to a follow up question, Lisa said Jackson loved her as much as he was capable of loving someone. Lisa also confirmed to Oprah, "It was a consummated marriage. Yeah, that's all I have to say on it." However, ten years earlier on ABC's Primetime Live, Diane Sawyer wondered about the same thing. Lisa answered, "Do we have sex? Yes! Yes! Yes!"
Acording to www.whosdatingwho.com, Lisa first saw Michael Jackson when Elvis took her to a Jackson 5 concert in Las Vegas in 1975. Supposedly, they met backstage. When Lisa was sixteen, Michael asked Priscilla to meet him for dinner, and he was very insistent that she bring Lisa with her. Priscilla thought Lisa was too young and said no. Michael persisted, but Priscilla held her ground. Years later, Michael and Lisa were connected by a mutual friend. They married on May 24, 1994, at the elegant Case de Campo resort in La Romana, Dominican Republic. The couple kept their marriage secret for as long as they could. On August 1, 1994 they finally confirmed the rumors and announced their marriage. Lisa said, "I am very much in love with Michael. I dedicate my life to being his wife."
Seventeen months later, Lisa Marie filed for divorce. It was finalized on August 20, 1996.
Michael Jackson's life was pretty weird, and it spawned its share of jokes. There are even a dozen Michael/Lisa jokes listed on www.gusworld.com. Most are pretty lame, but here are two better ones:
Q - What was Lisa Marie's newlywed complaint about Michael Jackson? A - He leaves the lid off the mascara, causing it to dry out.
Q - What did Elvis say after seeing Michael and Lisa Marie on television? A - "Boy, that's a relief. I thought she married a black guy."
Likewise, www.getback.com had an interesting comment on the question, "How did Michael Jackson get Lisa Marie Presley to marry him?" They offered this list of perks: Neverland, a house that actually trumps Graceland; a pet chimp (named Bubbles); and the bones of the Elephant Man.
Now, maybe the jokes will stop. Rest in peace, Michael.
(C) 2009 Philip R Arnold, Original Elvis Blogmeister All Rights Reserved www.ElvisBlog.net
You have to hand it to the supermarket tabloid Weekly World News. Elvis has been dead for thirty-two years, but they are still publishing cover stories about him. Two weeks ago, I’m in the checkout line, and what is staring back at me? Just my old favorite Weekly World News with a photo of Elvis on the cover. Actually, it’s just a small picture, with a tease line, sharing a side column with two other stories. It’s not as prominent as the Elvis headlines used to be, but that’s OK. Nowadays, you wouldn’t expect the world’s shortest marriage or Elvis to beat out a Senate steroid scandal for the top spot below the masthead.
Beside the tiny Elvis face is an image that’s hard to recognize. It’s a car that is upside and on fire. Below that was the title: “ELVIS DIED LAST WEEK – In Tragic Car Wreck.”
In spite of that sad news, I was so happy. My face beamed. Weekly World News finally had Elvis on the cover again. After a long four-year absence, I had been starting to think maybe Elvis had seen his last days on the tabloids. Now, my patient vigil was being rewarded, and I couldn’t wait to plop down $3 for a copy.
The management of the Weekly World News probably doesn’t figure that Elvis fans have saved any of their old issues, but they underestimate us. I’ve got boxes full of tabloids, classic ones from the late seventies, like National Enquirer, Midnight Globe and The Sun. Each issue tried to outdo the others with outrageous Elvis cover stories.
In the eighties, my interest in owning every Elvis tabloid waned, but for some reason I have picked up Weekly World News over the years. It’s been fun to follow their sequence of alive and dead Elvises.
This is an early eighties issue announcing “ELVIS IS ALIVE.” It played right into the Elvis is still alive mentality possessed by a substantial number of Elvis fans at that time. How about that headline? Elvis is still alive and secretly living in Michigan. Check out the ridiculous picture of Elvis. Some staff artist altered a photo by adding a beard and mustache and removing all the hair on the top of Elvis’ head. It’s so stupid, it’s funny.
Then in June, 1993, the Weekly World News had another scoop: "ELVIS DEAD AT 58." This time they had Elvis moving around, living in Florida, Arkansas, and Tennessee, before finally succumbing to a diabetic coma. The 1993 photo had Elvis with thinning hair on top, combed down in front, almost in bangs. Not a good look for him, at all.
In May 2005, the Weekly World News came up with a wonderful headline for us fans: “ELVIS IS ALIVE -- That was a double in my coffin.” And check out the picture. That’s a good looking man in his seventies. Inside, the article said Elvis was not only alive, but that he was running for president. I was ready to vote for him, but somehow Elvis’ campaign never materialized.
During the entire time I waited for a new Weekly World News article on Elvis, I knew what the next storyline would be.With a pattern of Elvis being alive, dead, and alive, it was an easy call.It was time for Elvis to be dead, again.
Supposedly, Elvis’ fiery car crash took place in Las Vegas. Weekly World News had him travelling all over the place: Memphis, Michigan, Florida, Arkansas, Tennessee, and now Las Vegas. I love the clever proof the paper offered to confirm it was Elvis. It was an autopsy report on file at the Las Vegas Police Department, which describes the decedent as, “an obese male in his mid-seventies, who was dressed in a rhinestone jumpsuit and wearing a bouffant hairpiece.”
Well, that settles it. What more proof do we need? It had to be Elvis. You can explain the wig by rationalizing that the older Elvis lost his hair. Being dead for thirty-two years will do that to you.
The story continues and tells us that the man crashed a 1957 Cadillac into a dumpster behind an all-night barbeque restaurant. What could be more Elvis? That was the last of the facts, but the fiction that followed in the article was so much fun.
There were several quotations attributed to officers on the scene. As to the cause of the crash, they speculated he was: “attempting to maneuver into position at the establishment’s drive-through window, and that the steering wheel became wedged beneath his ample girth.”
The crash victim was still alive when police and paramedics arrived. Supposedly, the police report revealed the victim was babbling incoherently about a hound dog, Heartbreak Hotel, Lisa Marie, and thank you, thank you very much.
I’m a little skeptical of that police report. It listed the contents of the victim’s stomach:
Six eggs A pound of bacon Half a pound of pork sausages 12 buttermilk biscuits A large jar of peanut butter Five cheeseburgers Two pounds of mashed potatoes
Wow. No jelly donuts or grape jam? They ought to send that report to the Guinness Book of World Records. Of course, it might actually be possible. The report says he weighed a staggering 343 pounds.
The story says the crash victim died in the hospital, but was never identified before two mysterious women arrived at the medical examiner’s office and carried off the body in an unmarked hearse. You know what that means, don’t you? He’s not really gone for good. In a few years we’ll get to read about how Elvis’ body was cloned and yes, he is back.
I can already see the Weekly World News headline: “ELVIS IS ALIVE, AGAIN.” I’m buying that one, too.
In the past two weeks, ElvisBlog has been the recipient of two new photos of Elvis’ only grandson, Benjamin Keough . One of this blog’s loyal readers has an uncanny way of uncovering these pictures, and she chooses to send them here so we can share them with many other fans. more»
Everybody knows that Colonel Parker killed Elvis’ chances of becoming a serious actor. All Parker wanted was simple, light-weight plots with lots of songs. To him, the movies were simply a means to sell soundtrack albums. Of course, the films made a nice profit, too, for a long time, as the fans kept coming no matter what was served up to them. more»
With 287 articles now posted on ElvisBlog, it is pretty common to run into something on the web or elsewhere related to a topic we have already covered. Here are some interesting ones: more»
ElvisBlog readers who are also fans of American Idol know that heavy-favorite Adam Lambert surprisingly missed the top spot this week. I don’t think that matters a bit, his career is going to take off starting now, and he will be a huge star. What I like is that there have been some references to the fact that Adam Lambert looks a lot like Elvis, and affects certain Elvis-style mannerisms. more»
Do you know how many members of Elvis’ family lived at Graceland with him? Only the really dedicated Elvis fans will know the name of the other Presley family member that lived in Graceland. One of Vernon’s three sisters was named Delta Mae. When her husband died in 1966, she moved into Graceland. more»
OK, now that DJ Fontana and Bill Black have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, we fans are happy that all of Elvis’ bandmates of the 50s are honored in the “Sidemen” category. We’ve talked about that here, and I’ve also asserted that the rest of the 70s TCB guys should join them next year. Surely there aren’t any more Elvis-related musicians worthy of Rock Hall cheerleading. more»
A thought struck me while watching the 2009 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. Now that drummer DJ Fontana and bass player Bill Black have been honored in the “Sideman” category, all of Elvis’ 50s bandmates are in the Hall. more»
Elvis fans seem to be interested in every facet of his life, including some pretty obscure ones. So, what do these folks do to satisfy their curiosity? They Google it, of course. more»
Four weeks ago, this blog discussed the upcoming auction of Elvis items presented by Gotta-Have-Rock-and-Roll. Although I didn’t express it in print, I did wonder how it would fare in these shaky financial times. The results are in, and, with the exception of Elvis’ jewelry and clothes, you could not call it a huge success. more»
I hope you aren’t tired of articles about Elvis-connected people who were recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, because there is one more. Elvis had a lot to do with Wanda Jackson becoming the first queen of rock and roll, as the Hall website calls her. Like many other Wanda Jackson fans, I believe this Hall of Fame recognition was long overdue. more»
Every ten years or so, there is a big auction of Elvis memorabilia and collectibles. Back in 1999, I was fortunate to be in Las Vegas for a convention during the time that the Archives of Graceland auction had all the items on display at the MGM Grand Hotel. I spent three hours studying every item and reading all the information placards that accompanied them. more»
