Tag Archives: Linda thompson

Some Elvis Photos I’ve Never Seen Before – Part 7

Posted on August 11, 2018 by Phil Arnold | 21 comments

This is probably the most fun series for me to do because it inspires a lot of reader comments. At the end of this post we will look at some of them generated by one photo in Part 6 of this series. Now, let’s look at some new ones.

Does Elvis look like he’s having fun, or what? The tag on this shot simply said 1956, which seems correct. Please go on Comments if you know anything more about it.

Editor’s note: Alert reader Delores advised that this photo was taken on April, 19, 1956 at the Municipal auditorium in Oklahoma City.

The caption on this photo said, “Move over Instagram Duck Lips photos. Here is the original Duck Lips! – and the best looking as well.” I have no idea what Instagram Duck Lips is all about, but I do like this picture.

As you can see, this was a Life magazine photo. Elvis on his Harley in front of Humes High School is obviously a posed shot, but it came out really well

The first photo in this post was Elvis and Vernon working on the Harley in the garage on Audubon Drive.

This is a really strong photo of Elvis. Isn’t that fringe on his shirt? Doesn’t surprise me a bit.

We’ll add one more photo of Elvis on his Harley. At first I thought this was part of the Al Wertheimer collection, but Elvis’ shirt and hat are different than those on Wertheimer’s famous shot.

Editor’s note: Frequent commenter Delores advised this photo was taken on Tuesday, April 2, 1963 at Dixie Queen in Memphis.

Editor’s note #2: More information has come in from another helpful reader, Sandy Van Horn. The photo above was taken by Memphis Commercial Appeal photographer, Robert Williams.

Priscilla had dozens of glamour shots taken over the years, and I have 42 of them in my files. However, this is a new one to me. Someday I should do a blog post on Priscilla’s hottest photographs. This one will be in there.

Linda Thompson and Priscilla. Looks like it’s Photoshopped. What do you think?

Somebody went to a lot of trouble to put this collection of police mug shots together. I’m sure you won’t have trouble identifying them, with the possible exception of Kurt Cobain on the bottom right.

However, there is a clue that this is not a police mugshot of Elvis – his identifier has no numbers on it, just his name. That’s because this was his official Army photo, highly cropped to not show his insignia and darkened a bit to make Elvis look more sinister. Here’s the real thing.

You can find the bogus police mugshot on some websites saying it was taken on October 18, 1956 after his arrest following a fight at a downtown Memphis service station. However, he was not photographed in jail and was quickly released. A week later the service station owner, Clarence Harwell, publicly apologized to Elvis for the incident. Elvis was cleared in city court of misconduct.

Here’s another one that some websites call a police mugshot. However, the photo was taken on November 17, 1970 in Denver, Colorado where Elvis was in town collecting an honorary police badge for donating to the construction of a gym. Elvis was not arrested but rather was taking a photo for his badge.

I like this shot because you don’t often see his hair looking like this (although another was in Part 6 of this series). Here’s something for you Elvis detectives out there who can always seem to find out stuff about the pictures I post. What is the album Elvis is holding?

You don’t see his hair look like this in many photos, either. The tab said it was shot during the filming of Follow That Dream, but I don’t remember it looking like this in the movie. It has to be before he started dying his hair black.

Continuing with the hair theme, he looks sandy-brown here. But is that army fatigues he is wearing? Anybody know?

This is not nearly as famous a haircut photo as the one taken in Ft. Jaffe after Elvis’ induction into the Army. Several months later in Bad Nauheim, Germany, Elvis’ hair had grown back.

Okay, let’s look at some reader responses to one picture in the post five weeks ago.

When I posted this, I wrote:

There was no information with this one. Elvis almost looks like a real law officer with the badge and the jacket passants (shoulder-straps). How do you like that huge TCB ring? I wish the photographer had snapped Elvis with his head up and smiling.

Within hours of posting this, in quick succession, I heard from three readers. Vanessa advised me that the photo had been taken at the funeral of a police officer. Selma advised that the deceased was Denver police officer Eugene Kennedy, and she provided links for more photos. And Sandy advised that the date was January 28, 1976, and she also provided links. Here are some other photos these ladies helped me find.

One photo was so large I could crop a blow-up of the rings Elvis wore.

And here is the photo of Elvis in the uniform and smiling, just like I had wished we could see.

© 2018 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.

21 Comments

Posted in FAMILY, Main Page

Tagged Elvis and Harley Motorcycle. Priscilla Presley, Elvis in police uniform, Elvis with sandy-brown hair, Linda thompson

Some Fancy, Some Skimpy — Linda Thompson’s Wardrobe

Posted on November 19, 2017 by Phil Arnold | 4 comments

You all know that Linda Thompson was Elvis’ girlfriend from 1972 to 1976. You might also know that she was third runner-up in the Miss USA Pageant and won the title of Miss Memphis State. But you might not know she was voted the Best Dressed Co-ed at Memphis State University. That tradition of sartorial excellence continued during her time with Elvis.

Elvis loved to dress Linda Thompson up in custom-made designer clothes when she accompanied him on special occasions in public. But he also apparently liked to see her in skimpy, sexy outfits, especially at home in Graceland. We’ll take a look at some of the fancy and the skimpy items Linda kept in her closet while she was with Elvis.

This is the evening gown Elvis had custom-made for Linda to wear to the “Aloha From Hawaii” concert filming. It is beige silk with a brown velvet rose pattern, sleeveless, deep V-neck front and back.

This, on the other hand, is something more casual and skimpier for lounging around the Jungle Room in Graceland.

Elvis loved his jumpsuits so much that he had this sharp two-piece ensemble custom made for Linda. It consists of a long-sleeved bolero jacket with black and white cross-grain ribbon trim and a matching black bell-bottom jumpsuit with spaghetti straps.

Linda with a bare midriff is a familiar image if you go looking for photos of her on Google. As we will see, denim was obviously something she preferred.

So far, this is the only item I have found where Elvis and Linda had matching outfits, but no photos have surfaced with them together wearing these striking jackets. His sold at auction in 2016 for $50,000.

Photographed in Las Vegas 1974

They have brown leather yokes, silver leather body and sleeves, multi-colored ‘star’ appliqués affixed to front and back shoulders, intricate rainbow-colored airbrush-painted designs on front and back. They are called the Eagle Jackets because of the added silhouette of black eagle on back.

This is called Linda’s Green Feather’ Ensemble: a black suede jacket with added black leather patches, adorned with lime green rhinestones and silver-tone studs throughout, trimmed in lime green ostrich feathers.

Here is what Linda had to say about the clothing Elvis gave her:

“When I first met Elvis, I was just a college girl at Memphis State University, and my wardrobe highly reflected that. Elvis immediately wanted me to fly out to Los Angeles and accompany him (the same day via Leer Jet) to Las Vegas for the opening of his engagement at the Las Vegas Hilton International Hotel. Elvis was anxious to show off his new girlfriend, so he sent me to the designer & dresser of the stars at the time, Suzy Creamcheese. Suzy outfitted me with beautifully outrageous clothing befitting a rockstar and a rock star’s girlfriend! These absolutely one-of-a-kind, handmade, studded, bedazzled, feathered & furred, Vegas and Elvis inspired 70s outfits are practically museum quality now. I wore each of these to Elvis’s shows in Las Vegas, and sometimes even on tour with him – much to his delight. There was really nothing subtle about Elvis or his taste in clothing…”

Here’s another shot of Linda wearing denim. Not very much of it, though.

And here’s an example of Linda Thompson’s designer denim. She had a number of pants and tops that could be mixed and matched. This top is a cropped jean jacket with added darker jean patchwork and royal blue rhinestones. The pants started out as a regular pair of Levi’s jeans, but designer “Miss Vintage” added jean patchwork and silver-tone studs

This is Linda in the Graceland kitchen wearing a different set of denim co-ordinates.

Linda Thompson must have looked elegant wearing this to the opening of one of Elvis’ Las Vegas engagements. The dark purple gown had two side slits, long sleeves slit to expose a white lining, deep V-neck front, and tailored waist.

Not quite so elegant, but Linda sure looks great.

Worn to another Las Vegas opening, this black full-length, V-neck sleeveless gown features outstanding embroidered design.

I’m not sure how to describe this outfit, but it’s interesting that she is sitting on the nine-foot bed in Elvis’ Graceland bedroom.

Linda even got dressed up to visit Elvis in the hospital. The web information on this says she wore it on February 12, 1975 when she went to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee to visit Elvis in his recovery room. I’m not sure why Elvis was there, but several press photographers were outside the hospital and snapped shots of Linda going in.

This dusty pink suede, waist-length cape is trimmed in white fox fur, lined in rose-colored satin, and the label reads “Helen of Memphis.”

Here’s another jump suit top. – a black suede jacket, adorned with white ostrich feathers, brown peacock feathers, and rhinestones.

There’s a matching pair of black bellbottom pants with the same feather and rhinestone treatment. Doesn’t sound very practical to me.

This photo of Elvis and Linda Thompson was shot in 1974. It’s not one of Elvis’ better images, but Linda — wow.

© 2017 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.

4 Comments

Posted in ELVIS and OTHER STARS, FRIENDS of ELVIS, Main Page

Tagged Linda thompson

ElvisBlog Mini-Nuggets – #18

Posted on March 28, 2014 by Phil Arnold | 2 comments

We haven’t done Mini-Nuggets in over two years, so I’m glad to have enough stuff in the files to do another one.

The ELVIS:

My son took this photo before he polished off the stack of waffles with peanut butter, bananas, candied bacon, chocolate and caramel sauce. Offered by the Superchefs restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, this tempting stack of pure indulgence is called The ELVIS. Just $9.95. Can’t you see Elvis chowing down on one?

Britney Spears to be Wed at Graceland – Don’t Bet On It:

I haven’t seen Elvis’ face on a supermarket tabloid in years, so this one caught my eye. After a little checking, I think the outraged Elvis fans can probably cool it. This thing about Britney Spears getting married at Graceland is just hype.

For one thing, she’s not yet officially engaged to boyfriend David Lucado. Plus, she has not asked EPE or Lisa Marie if the wedding could take place at Graceland. And finally, would they even say yes to such a request. According to a source at www.dailymail.co.uk, “Britney wants to get as much attention and money for pictures with her third wedding as she did for her second.” Looks like the self-promotion has started early.

I learned two things researching this piece. Britney Spears is now 32, and she sure looks fine in an Elvis jumpsuit.

ElvisBlog Now #1 and #2 in Crummy Elvis Shit:

ElvisBlog was number 1 in ‘Crummy Elvis Shit’ in 2008 and again in 2012. Now in 2014, ElvisBlog takes the top two spots in Google’s results. The scary thing is that they found 1,080,000 results for ‘Crummy Elvis Shit.’ To find out why ElvisBlog gets these results, click here.

Elvis’ TCB Ring Located:

TCB Ring An 11.5-carat diamond solitaire two lightning bolts make up the edges. cost $35,000 in 1974

Back in 2012, the second installment of Elvis’ Fabulous Rings showed this picture and the following comment:

“This has to be the most expensive ring Elvis ever had special-made for him, or at least in the top three. It contains 56 diamonds, including an 11.5 carat solitaire. Elvis paid $35,000 for it in 1974, which would be $163,000 in today’s dollars. So far, I have been unable to find if it has ever been sold at auction.”

Well, now we know why it has never shown up at an auction. It has been on display at the Graceland exhibit Elvis… Through his Daughter’s Eyes, that ended its two-year run on February 13. To celebrate the event, EPE created a 27 minute video of Lisa walking around the exhibit and reminiscing. And look what was inside a glass display case:

Man, that’s a whole bunch of diamonds.

Alice Cooper and Elvis:

Here’s another Elvis-related story from a British tabloid website. According to www,mirror.co.uk, this story happened in 1971 at the Las Vegas Hilton:

“He had the penthouse – this was when he was at the top of his game. I had always been a fan as a kid, so I jumped at the chance to go upstairs and meet him. When I got to the lift I found it was me, Liza Minnelli and the porn actress Linda Lovelace.

“Arriving at Presley’s suite, the unlikely group were frisked for guns by the King’s security team. “I don’t know why they bothered – when we got inside the place was full of guns,” Alice recalls.

“Elvis took me into the kitchen, opened a drawer, and pulled out a loaded pistol, telling me to put it to his head. I recognized it straight away, a snub .32. I didn’t know what to do. “I had this gun in my hand and was expecting one of his security to come in any second, see me holding a weapon and shoot me dead.
“A little voice in my left ear was telling me, ‘Go on, this is history, kill him, you’ll always be the guy who killed Elvis’. In my other ear was another voice saying, ‘You can’t kill him, it’s Elvis Presley – wound him instead, you’ll only get a few years.’

“A fraction of a second later Elvis did a flying kick on the gun, and sent it flying, before tripping me and pinning me to the ground by my neck, announcing, ‘that’s how you stop a man with a gun.’”

If this really happened, I’m glad Elvis showed his moves before Alice Cooper could listen to the voice in either ear. Elvis saved him from becoming the most hated person in America.

Linda Thompson – Song Writer:

I recently saw a bio on Elvis’ girlfriend Linda Thompson. It said she was a songwriter who had been nominated for an Oscar and a Grammy, and who won an Emmy. My first reaction was “Really. I didn’t know that.” Turns out that she has been a prolific writer of song lyrics, collaborating with a number of significant songwriters.

“I Have Nothing” was sung by Whitney Houston in the 1992 motion picture, The Bodyguard. Linda and collaborator David Foster (also her husband from 1991 to 2005) wrote the song and were nominated both for the Academy Award for Best Song in 1993 and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or for Television in 1994.

Linda and Foster did win the 2003 Emmy for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for “Aren’t They All Our Children” for the 2002 TV special The Concert for World Children’s Day.

Well, good for Linda Thompson. I will never again think of her as just an Elvis girlfriend with a pretty face.

© 2013 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.

2 Comments

Posted in COOL STUFF OUT THERE IN ELVISWORLD, ELVIS COMMENTARY MINI-NUGGETS, Main Page

Tagged Alice Cooper, Elvis Peanut-butter and Bannana, Elvis rings, Elvis' Graceland, Linda thompson

Elvis’ Custom-Made “SuperTrike”

Posted on November 23, 2013 by Phil Arnold | 2 comments

On November 14, Elvis.Com/News announced a new exhibit of Elvis memorabilia at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The press release says it “provides a compelling look into Elvis’ Army career, the 1968 television special and his appearances in Lake Tahoe.” However, look at the two photographs used to illustrate the announcement.

That’s a shot of Elvis performing in the early days, plus a three-wheeled motorcycle. Because neither had anything to do with the Army days, the ’68 Special or the Lake Tahoe performances, I clicked on the link that takes you to the Hall of Fame website. Here’s another photo shown in the Hall’s announcement about the exhibit.

You’ve probably seen this shot of Elvis and Linda Thompson on what is called Elvis’ SuperTrike. I have it in my digital files along with some other interesting ones. Here’s a rarer picture showing an alternate perspective from that day of cruising around in Memphis.

Here, Elvis is turning into the Graceland drive (notice the Graceland wall on the left).

Linda wasn’t the only person Elvis drove around on his SuperTrike. Here is cousin Billy Smith in the second seat. Doesn’t look all that comfortable, does he?

And here is a picture of Elvis giving a ride to an unnamed fan on September 15, 1975.

So, I wondered what’s the story behind this strange-looking motorcycle. A little research turned up lots of interesting stuff about Elvis and his SuperTrike.

This is a shot of Elvis with his “first big bike”, a black 1957 Harley Davidson FLH purchased from Barfield’s Harley-Davidson in Memphis. Pictured with Elvis are B. W. Barfield (owner) on the right and Big Al McAlexander (Sales and Service Manager). Not pictured is the mechanic who actually prepped the bike for Elvis. His name is Earl Smith. Nineteen years later, Smith worked at a Memphis company called Super Cycle, and he did the prep work on Elvis’ custom-made Volkswagen powered SuperTrike. Here is the check that paid for it.

You will note three things about the check. Vernon, not Elvis, singed it. The sale price was only $3,100, which sounds like Elvis got a real bargain. And finally, the date is August 16, 1975, exactly two years before Elvis died.

Back in 2007, Mr. Smith, at age 87, still worked at Super Cycle, as did the men who had built Elvis’ SuperTrike and the man who painted the unique design on it. These old-timers embarked on a project to build a replica of it. This is a photo on the website about the replica project, but it doesn’t really look like the original. Also, there doesn’t seem to be any update about the success of the project.

Photos have shown up on the internet suggesting that Elvis owned other three-wheel motorcycles.

This one is parked in front of Graceland (note the white lion statue on right). If Elvis didn’t own it, he at least drove it, as evidenced by this photo.

And the website for ELVIS – The Private Collection of the King on Tour, an attraction that travels around to fairs and festivals, shows this as an Elvis-owned trike.

Maybe the exhibit includes some information on the Moody Blue Supertrike and some photos of Elvis on it, but the website does not.

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame exhibition sounds like it might be pretty good. Graceland has loaned them more than forty artifacts, including:

A selection of Elvis’ personal jewelry
The “If I Can Dream” white suit from the “’68 Comeback Special”
A rehearsal schedule for Lake Tahoe performances in 1971
ID bracelet and several rings
Official U.S. Army induction portrait (wallet size) that was taken and issued upon his arrival for basic training in 1958

However, if you go to Graceland in the next few months, you will note that Elvis’ SuperTrike will be missing from this display in the Car Museum.

© 2013 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.

2 Comments

Posted in AUCTIONS / MEMORABILIA, Main Page, NEWS

Tagged Elvis Car Museum, Elvis Motorcycle, Elvis SuperTrike, Linda thompson, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

ELVIS: The King Revealed

Posted on July 28, 2013 by Phil Arnold | 4 comments

A recent news article on Elvis.com announced a so-called instant keepsake – the magazine ELVIS: The King Revealed. This “Official Graceland Special Edition” is touted for going deep into their Elvis historical archives, accessing thousands of photos, documents, interviews and Elvis memorabilia, and sharing them with the public for the first time.

With over 350 ‘rare’ photos, the magazine is probably worth its $9.99 price. But I wish they had used a different title. The King Revealed just sounds too much like those Midnight Globe and National Enquirer tabloid headlines from the late 70s and early 80s. I remembered that many of them proclaimed all sorts of different stuff they supposedly revealed about Elvis.

That was enough motivation to look in my large box of old tabloid issues with Elvis cover stories to see how many had the words Elvis and Revealed in the headlines. To my great surprise, there were none.

However, there were three Elvis tabloids featuring variations on the word revealed, like Starlet Reveals, or New Tapes Reveal.

Midnight Globe — November 22, 1977:

The starlet who revealed why she said no to Elvis is Joan Freeman, his co-star in Blue Hawaii and Kid Galahad. According to the article, “When we first set eyes on each other, there was a spark, a magic in the air… There was just that special something between us, sometimes so warm and wonderful you could almost reach out and touch it.”

Wow, that special something sure sounds like lust to this reader.

Blackman claims she knew Elvis prior to working with him on Blue Hawaii in March and April 1961. It’s possible she met Elvis in Hollywood in 1957, while she was filming her first role in Good Day for a Hanging, but all of her other parts were in movies made while Elvis was in Germany. Anyway, she said Elvis begged her repeatedly to appear in one of his movies, but she turned him down each time. “I wanted parts because of my ability, not because I was dating Elvis.” She maintains she got the role in Blue Hawaii because producer Hal Wallis picked her.

The special something between Blackman and Elvis heated up when they got to Honolulu in 1961. The Midnight Globe asserts they had a wild, tumultuous love affair while there. “We had rooms next to each other in the hotel, and for weeks we just lived together.” This led Elvis to propose marriage. “He really wanted me to be his wife… But I said no… I was in love with another actor, Hampton Fancher III (mostly TV work, lots of westerns).

So, Elvis got shot down in his wish to marry Joan Blackman, but for some reason, he wanted her to appear with him two films later in Kid Galahad. Who needs marriage when you can still have that special something?

The Star — June 27, 1978:

Elvis didn’t make the cover of this issue (just a promo tease in the bottom right corner), and he barely was shown in the centerfold photo-spread. The new tapes referenced came from Wanda June Hill, who used them to write her book We Remember Elvis. She says she first met Elvis in a Hollywood studio and kept in contact with him for fifteen years, right up to his death. Apparently, she had a tape recorder going much of the time during their phone conversations.

The Star article does emphasize the continuing love Elvis and Priscilla had for each other, even after their divorce in 1971. That seems to be accepted narrative these days, but maybe it was considered a revelation back in 1978 when the article appeared.

What’s interesting is the choice of photos under the banner “The Eternal Love of Elvis and Priscilla.” There’s one tiny picture of them in the upper right-hand corner.

There is a considerably larger photo of Priscilla and Karate trainer Mike Stone on the lower right. He is not mentioned in the article, except for the photo caption that says, “He [Elvis] forgave the relationship she developed with Mike Stone after the separation. (After?)

There is an even larger photo of Priscilla with her ‘latest escort,’ Hollywood hairdresser Elie Erzer. What ever happened to calling them boyfriends or lovers?

There is also a great shot of Linda Thompson I’ve never seen before. She gets treated rather kindly in the article.

Finally, there is a familiar glamour shot of Ginger Alden. She doesn’t come out too well in the article. In fact, the author says Elvis was about to cut off the relationship shortly before his death. Supposedly, he had a beautiful blonde woman waiting in the wings.

Midnight Globe – Dec 13, 1977 :

Dee Stanley is the stepmom who reveals the truth behind the Presley divorces. She and Vernon were married for fourteen years, but they separated in 1974 when she found out he had been seeing another woman he met in Las Vegas. The article says she never thought for a second that the separation would lead to a divorce. However, three years later, Vernon was still living with the woman. A few months after Elvis died, Vernon and Dee had a quickie divorce in the Dominican Republic.

Ninety percent of the Midnight Globe article is about this divorce and the aftermath. The only time Dee mentions Elvis and Priscilla’s divorce is when she compares it to hers. “The two marriages… succumbed to the same sort of strains – Elvis’ work on the road, in Las Vegas and other places, and Vernon going off with him. The two of them felt the same way, that there was a separate man’s world where women shouldn’t be allowed to enter… ” Dee called it the reverse of an old saying: “Like son, like father.”

Dee also discussed her divorce settlement as fair and generous, and that Vernon had always been that way. Later in the article, she admitted it was enough for her to live an opulent lifestyle for the rest of her life. Near the end of the article, Dee says she still feels for Vernon. She tells him she still loves him and she prays someday they might marry each other again. That didn’t happen for Elvis, and we know how that old saying goes.

© 2013 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.

4 Comments

Posted in FAMILY, HISTORY, IMAGES, Main Page

Tagged Dee Stanley Presley, Ginger Alden, Joan Blackman, Linda thompson, Midnight Globe, Mike Stone, The King Revealed, The Sun

Six Degrees of Elvis Presley

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Phil Arnold | Leave a comment

Do you remember the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon that became popular in the late 90s and still enjoyed by some folks to this day. It was created by four students at Albright College in Pennsylvania who came up with the concept while watching Footloose. It was invented on the notion that any actor could be linked to Kevin Bacon through no more than six connections. Originally, connections meant appearing in a movie together, but over time it has come to include spouses, siblings, parents or children, girlfriends/boyfriends, etc.

If it takes six connections to make the chain from someone to Kevin Bacon, that person is said to have a Bacon Number of 6. Elvis has a Bacon Number of 2. It goes like this: Elvis appeared in Change of Habit with Ed Asner, and Asner appeared in JFK with Kevin Bacon. Two steps (degrees of separation) = a Bacon Number of 2.

So, let’s look at a variation of this we will call Six Degrees of Elvis. Believe it or not, we can find an Elvis/Bacon Number of 6 for this guy.

Kanye West

As scary as that connection sounds, here’s how it works.

Former beauty queen Linda Thompson was Elvis’ girlfriend for four years. She moved out of Graceland in 1976.

Elvis and Linda (in see-through dress)

Then, in 1981 Linda Thompson married former Olympic decathlon champion Bruce Jenner. They had two boys, but ultimately ended up divorcing.

Linda Thompson and Bruce Jenner – 1981

In 1991, Bruce Jenner married Kris Kardashian. They remain married to this day, and have two teenaged daughters.

Recent Photo of Bruce and Kris Jenner

Kris Jenner has three daughters from her previous marriage, including media favorite Kim Kardashian.

Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West just had a baby, although they aren’t married.

Kanye West and Kim Kardashian

So that’s the six degrees of separation between Elvis and Kanye West. Maybe it would have been smart to stop after the five degrees of separation between Elvis and Kim Kardashian. She’s a lot easier to look at than an arrogant rapper.

Speaking of good looking women, let’s go back to Linda Thompson and look at some interesting photos of her.

Linda on Jungle Room Chair

Linda and Son Brody Jenner

Autographed Glamour Photo

Linda Thompson at 58

Elvis and Linda – 1975 or 76

If you’ve ever played six degrees of separation between Elvis and another star, e-mail your successful connection to philarnold@charter.net. If enough come in, we’ll look at them on an ElvisBlog post.

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

The Tease

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Phil Arnold | 6 comments

Did you know that Elvis had his own little private trailer village tucked away in the far reaches of his 163 acre Circle G Ranch in Mississippi? His foray into cowboy communal living is an interesting story, especially because spring 1967 may well have been the happiest period of his life.

I received an e-mail from a member of The Circle G Foundation who asked if I could write a story on ElvisBlog about their efforts to get the ranch purchased and save it from slow destruction. It sounded like something I could do, and it might help, so I said sure. Then, I realized I knew almost nothing about Elvis’ Circle G Ranch in Mississippi.

After two weeks of research, I now know enough to write a three-part ElvisBlog series. I’ve found so much information on the web and in books I own, and Lesley Pilling of the Circle G Foundation has been very helpful.

But I need time to get it all together. So, this week, all you get is that first paragraph tease. Instead, we are going back in the archives again to find old stories that would improve the most with photos added. Here is one from 2007 that really improved.

The Women Who Loved Elvis

That enticing title graced the cover of the August 2007 issue of the Ladies Home Journal. As soon as I read the first line of the subtitle, “Very Private Confessions,” I knew this was prime material for an Elvisblog article.

A good many Elvisblog readers probably missed the Ladies Home Journal article by leading Elvis writer Alanna Nash. It featured seven lovely ladies associated with Elvis in a variety of ways.

The subtitle “Very Private Confessions” turned out to be quite a stretch. I looked specifically for them and have listed below my best guess at each woman’s “Confession.”

June Jaunico: Elvis’ girlfriend for over a year in 1955/56.

“We got so wrapped up in kissing on our very first date – nothing too sloppy, it was marvelous – a little pecking here and there, a little nibble here and there, then a serious bite.” (This one is a very sweet confession, but wouldn’t a real confession have been about what she and Elvis did on date number five or six, not on the first one?)

Wanda Jackson: sang in concerts on tour with Elvis and was his girlfriend in 1955/56.

“In the early part of ’56, he gave me one of his rings… We stood by his car and he asked me to be his girl… I had a crush on him, and being able to know him and know his heart made me admire him a lot. So, I said I’d be his girl.” (Good move, Wanda)

Raquel Welch: had a bit part in the 1964 movie Roustabout.

“One of his guys came over and said, “Elvis is having a little party at the house, and if you’d like to come up…” I had a very strict upbringing, and I didn’t like the setup, so I didn’t go.” (Big mistake. Bet you wish you had that one to do over again, Raquel.)

Mary Ann Mobley: appeared in Girl Happy and Harum Scarum

“Elvis and I felt a common bond, coming from Mississippi. He thought I understood him… This is an odd thing to say about Elvis Presley, but it was like I was working with my brother. We never dated.” (Sorry, but there is nothing else remotely approaching a confession in Mary Ann’s section.)

Jo Smith: wife of Elvis’ very close cousin Billy Smith

“He loved you to talk babytalk to him, and we had to take care of him and cater to him like a small child… He liked to be put in bed and be told good night.” (You have to assume this took place in the time after Priscilla and before Linda Thompson. Can’t see Jo Smith tucking Elvis in bed when either of them was around.)

Linda Thompson: Elvis’ girlfriend from 1972-76.

“But I think it’s wonderful if you can be all things to each other. And he and I were. He called me ‘Mommy.’ And he was like my father at times. And we were like brother and sister at times, and we were like lovers at times. (Looks like they played ‘cowboys and Indians’ at times, too.)

Kathy Westmoreland: recorded and toured with Elvis in the 70s.

“My last in-depth conversation with Elvis was just a few weeks before he died. I remember he said, ‘Kathy, what’s it all about?’ And I said, “I think that is for you to find out for yourself.’” (Kathy’s section in the article was very short and mostly about sad topics. This is about the most upbeat thing she said.)

Here is a selection of other interesting quotes by some of the ladies.

June Jaunico didn’t hear from Elvis for a while after that first date. “It turned out he was calling and my older brother wasn’t bothering to tell me. Finally, he said, ‘Some guy with a hillbilly accent called.’”

Wanda Jackson and her dad were backstage on the first stop of a tour with Elvis in 1955. “All of a sudden my dad and I started hearing screaming. My daddy said, ‘I wonder if there’s a fire or something. Let me go look.’ I started getting my things, and he came back and said, ‘No, relax. But you’ve got to see this for yourself.’ He took me to the wings, and there was Elvis singing and moving and gyrating, and all these girls standing at the foot of the stage, screaming and reaching for him.”

Raquel Welch had a revelation about how sexy a guy could be when she saw Elvis in concert for the first time. “Like many adolescents of the 50s, I had been completely gaga over Elvis. I saw him live in San Diego in one of his early shows. It was my first rock ‘n’ roll concert ever.”

A Linda Thompson quote seems to dispute reports that Elvis knew he would die young. “I think it’s terrible for people to say they couldn’t imagine Elvis growing old. Everybody has that right, even if they are a sex symbol. He wanted to live to be an old man.”

And, we sure wish he had.

Remember, lots of good stuff coming up the next three week on the Circle G Ranch.

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Posted in ELVIS and OTHER STARS, HISTORY, Main Page

Tagged girlfriends, Jo Smith, June Jaunico, Kathy Westmoreland, Linda thompson, Mary Ann Mabley, Raquel Welch, Wanda Jackson

Tag Archives: Linda thompson

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