The internet news accounts of entertainer Jimmy Dean’s recent passing contained this information: “In 2009, a fire gutted their home… Lost were a collection of celebrity-autographed books, posters of Dean with Elvis Presley, and other prized possessions.”    more »

I recently found something interesting on the website for a Rock and Roll memorabilia auction. It was a movie theater lobby card from Elvis’ 1957 film Loving You. Most Elvis movie cards and posters show pictures of him with one or more of his lovely female co-stars, but this one included Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana, his original guitarist and drummer.   more »

Last week we started our look at Elvis’ presence in the movies. Not the old films where he was an actor, but new ones where an allusion is made to Elvis. The research for this was done by John Beifuss, movie critic for the Memphis Commercial Appeal. We can presume his job enabled him to see just about every movie that came to town, and since that town is the home of Elvis, he noted every connection to him in these films.   more »

My idea was to come up with a connection between Elvis and Star Trek. Believe it or not, there actually is one. Three actresses have appeared in both Elvis movies and Star Trek TV episodes.   more »

Hey everyone, this is Tygrrius. I'll be filling in while Phil helps his wife to recover from her recent surgery. Being a "guest host" for Phil is somewhat daunting. He has a very unique blog going here. I imagine this must be how Jay Leno felt all those times he filled in for Johnny Carson way back when on The Tonight Show. Phil has his own style, and I won't be able to duplicate that. I am, however, going to try to keep my posts within the spirit of ElvisBlog. Hopefully, I'll be in the right ballpark.    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 »

For the past several weeks, I have been watching Dancing With The Stars and rooting for Priscilla Presley. Give the woman some credit. She is sixty-two years old and has already out-danced four other competitors. It did get a little hairy last Tuesday when she came in next-to-last, but the week before Priscilla and partner earned the second-highest score by the panel of judges.   more »

After Boots Randolph passed away last week, I checked out several large websites devoted to Elvis and didn’t find much delving deep into the connection between Boots and Elvis. That was surprising, because there was a significant relationship between these two music legends. There was certainly much more than just “Reconsider Baby” and “Return To Sender,” the two Elvis songs on which Boots played that were mentioned in most news reports.    more »

If you read Elvisblog, you probably also visit other websites devoted to Elvis. So, it is safe to assume you have already read articles recounting the death of Boots Randolph and the connection between him and Elvis. Rather than retread that same ground, I would like to reminisce about my one occasion to get close and personal with Mr. Yackety Sax.   more »

Early in 1956, as Elvis’ career took off, Ed Sullivan was not interested in booking Elvis on his show. Sullivan even stated to the press, “He is not my cup of tea.” So, when Col. Parker offered to book Elvis for $5,000, Sullivan turned it down.   more »

In the late 50’s and early 60’s there were three blond bombshells sometimes referred to as “The 3 M’s”: ”Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, and Mamie Van Doren. Howard Hughes discovered Mamie Van Doren at age 16, and she signed a contract with Universal Studios in 1953.    more »

The host of a very popular comic book blog recently posted a four-part series advocating the idea that super-hero Captain Marvel Jr. influenced much of Elvis’ life and appearance. If you’d like to read the long and very complete essays, with lots of pictures, go to www.dialbforblog.com. If not, here’s the short version.   more »

Stories about Elvis and Ann-Margret have floated around for years, but there’s no way to verify the accuracy of them. Ann-Margret has certainly kept mum about her relationship with Elvis, allowing only that she and Elvis were close friends. One story we can put some credence in comes from Alan Fortas, a member of Elvis’ Memphis Mafia.    more »

Elvira, the campy Mistress of the Dark, has an interesting website, and she waits until only line six in her bio to mention her “evening with Elvis.” She’s not telling much, however. Just that he saw her perform as a Las Vegas showgirl and encouraged her to pursue a singing career. Boy, did she leave out the good part.   more »

Michael Jackson is not the only person being painted as a slime ball at his current trial. Some of the prosecution’s witnesses have less than stellar histories, too. Take for example, Adrian McManus, a maid for Jackson from 1990 to1994. She and four other former employees sued Jackson for $16 million back in the mid-1990’s   more »