1995

Elvis’ ALOHA cape comes full circle [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 20 when I wrote this article back in 1995 for The Elvis Beat #13, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

Millions are watching live via satellite. It is the closing moment of the final song. Elvis reaches up to his collar, grabs the top of his beautiful American Eagle cape and hurls it into the audience. It is the climax of one of the highest points of his career.

It is January 14, 1973, and the event, of course, is Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii. [. . . .] Elvis gives a final salute to the crowd and leaves the stage. In the audience, the pandemonium is far from over.

Sportswriter Bruce Spinks is clutching most of the jeweled cape, while a fan behind him has a tight grip on a smaller portion of it. A security guard hurries over to settle the dispute, and Spinks ends up with the treasure.

Elvis fan Andrew Kern, 20, is one of those who watches the event on television. Like every fan, he also wants the cape. Eventually, he will buy it from Spinks for over three thousand dollars.

Kern was only ten when he met Elvis during location shooting of Viva Las Vegas, a decade before the Aloha From Hawaii cancer benefit concert. Kern would be a fan for the rest of his life, seeing Elvis in concert dozens of times while amassing an enormous collection.

The American Eagle cape became the most cherished part of that spectacular collection, which included original Sun records and items once owned by Elvis. Kern even turned down an offer of $50,000 for the cape alone.

Sadly, Kern died of cancer earlier this year at the age of 42. Shortly before his death, he asked that the cape be given to Graceland.

The American Eagle cape is now on exhibit alongside the Aloha From Hawaii jumpsuit in the Trophy Room at Graceland for fans from all over the world to enjoy.

It was generosity that caused Elvis to throw his cape into the ecstatic audience that night 22 years ago, and it was generosity that brought it back home. It’s one of the things Elvis taught us all.

Six Elvis songs named among rock’s most influential [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 20 when I wrote this article back in 1995 for The Elvis Beat #13, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

In Cleveland on Labor Day Weekend, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame & Museum opened its doors for the first time.

Elvis was mentioned only briefly at the seven-hour concert that celebrated the event, but he is featured prominently in the hall and museum. As mentioned in The Elvis Beat #12, among many Elvis exhibits is an entire section of the museum devoted to his 1968 NBC television special, ELVIS, which rejuvenated his career.

Elvis and over a hundred other artists are also part of an exhibit called “The 500 Songs.” The list displays the most influential songs in rock history and was compiled by chief curator Jim Henke with the aid of rock writers from all over the country.

Six Elvis songs made the list:

  • That’s All Right (1954)
  • Mystery Train (1955)
  • Heartbreak Hotel (1956)
  • Love Me Tender (1956)
  • Jailhouse Rock (1957)
  • Suspicious Minds (1969)

With the possible exception of “Love Me Tender,” I agree with their choices of Elvis songs for being the most influential on rock music. His 1950s songs had the biggest influence on rock, and I also give the compilers credit for choosing “Suspicious Minds” to recognize his later music. [. . . .]

The long wait ends: Elvis’ 70s MASTERS arrives [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 20 when I wrote this article back in 1995 for The Elvis Beat #13, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

A little late, Elvis’ new boxed set hit the stores on October 10. The 5-CD release from RCA is titled ELVIS: Walk A Mile In My Shoes – The Essential 70s Masters. The set contains 26 previously unreleased tracks, including seven new songs.

The Essential 70s Masters features 120 tracks in all, many of which have never been available on CD. An accompanying 94-page booklet contains many rare photographs as well as liner notes by Dave Marsh. A sheet of stamps depicting some of Elvis’ LP album covers from the period is also in the boxed set. Each of the 5 CDs is pressed with a different photograph of Elvis on the top.

Discs 1 and 2 contain all of Elvis’ 1970s singles, with the exception of those released after his death. Discs 3 and 4 contain other studio highlights of the era. Disc 4 is devoted to a sampling of his 1970s concert performances and rehearsal tracks.

Among the previously unreleased tracks are studio versions of “My Way” and “For The Good Times,” prior releases of which had been concert recordings.

The “new” songs never before released by Elvis in any form are:

  • A Hundred Years From Now
  • Lady Madonna
  • I Shall Be Released
  • It’s Diff’rent Now
  • The Twelfth Of Never
  • Alla’ En El “Rancho Grande”
  • Froggy Went A Courtin’

All of the new songs are either informal jams or rehearsals.

With the releases of ELVIS: The King Of Rock ‘n’ Roll – The Complete 50s Masters in 1992 and ELVIS: From Nashville To Memphis – The Essential 60s Masters I in 1993, many fans anticipated seeing the 70s set last year. Instead, the 2-CD Elvis Presley: Amazing Grace – His Greatest Sacred Performances collection was released and The Essential 70s Masters was pushed back a year.

This year, RCA originally scheduled the 70s set’s release to be September 12 – which was soon moved to September 26. When the release date was changed once again, this time to October 10, many fans undoubtedly wondered if it would ever be released.

On the tenth of October, what seemed like the “Twelfth Of Never” was finally here.

According to posts to an Elvis newsgroup on the Internet, Roger Semon of RCA states the next big Elvis project will be a boxed set for his legendary 1968 ELVIS “comeback” television special.

Elvis takes his place at new Rock Hall [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 20 when I wrote this article back in 1995 for The Elvis Beat #12, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

On Labor Day Weekend, the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame & Museum will finally be opening. Although there have been annual inductions into the “hall” as a concept since 1986, the physical building itself has been plagued by delays.

Elvis will be prominent in many of the exhibits, and an entire section of the museum will be devoted to his 1968 ELVIS television special.

To complement clips from the show, which has become known as ELVIS: ’68 Comeback Special, some key items will be on display. An article in Graceland Express said, “Graceland presented to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame the black leather suit Elvis wore in the special, along with his gold album award for the soundtrack, his personal scrapbook and script from the production, and his 1960 Gibson J-200 guitar which was one of several he played in the show.” The items are considered “on loan” to the museum.

Rock fashions will be featured in another section of the museum, for which Graceland loaned a jumpsuit worn in his 1970 documentary Elvis: That’s The Way It Is.

The items “are the most valuable that have ever left Graceland’s archive for any extended length of time. . . . The sacrifice was deemed worthwhile to ensure that Elvis is represented in the best possible way in the museum,” stated Graceland Express.

In 1992, the museum acquired Elvis’ karate jacket, a blue suede coat, and a sign from the Crown Electric Company, where Elvis worked in the early 1950s. The Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame & Museum is expected to draw 800,000 visitors each year.

“Elvis On Beale” restored to glory [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 20 when I wrote this article back in 1995 for The Elvis Beat #12, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

The restoration of the statue formerly known as “Elvis On Beale” has been completed. Although the awesome Memphis statue, created by Eric Parks, once had an outside home on Beale Street, it will now be displayed inside a new Tennessee welcome center, scheduled to be opened in Memphis by early next year.

The 10-foot-tall bronze statue was originally unveiled in 1979 but fell prey to erosion and other deterioration.

A new, weather-proof statue of Elvis is being designed to fill the vacancy on Beale Street. There will also be a better plan for the care of the statue and the surrounding Elvis Presley Plaza.

The “E” in “E-mail” [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 20 when I wrote this article back in 1995 for The Elvis Beat #12, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

E-mail has a new meaning. Forget “Electronic mail.” Now there is only one definition: “Elvis mail.” Graceland now has two Internet E-mail addresses for fans with access to a computer and a modem.

Fans can send questions, comments, or suggestions about Graceland or Elvis directly to the Graceland corporate office. The addresses are: [. . .].

The Internet addresses are the result of Graceland recently opening the Elvis Presley Fan Club Forum on the InterComm Bulletin Board Service. To connect to the InterComm service for the first time with a modem, dial [. . .].

According to Graceland Express, the fan club forum will include “a bulletin section which lists the latest news from Graceland, Elvis Week and other event information . . . and interesting Elvis facts and trivia.”

“Tenere me ama” [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 20 when I wrote this piece back in 1995 for The Elvis Beat #12, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

“Latin is an eternal language, so what better way to immortalize a legend?” asked Professor Jukka Ammondt of Finland. He is the creator of a new CD that contains songs made famous by Elvis performed in Latin by the Eurovision Choir.

Some of the songs featured on the unusual disc are “It’s Now Or Never” (“Nunc hic aut numquam“), “Surrender” (“Nunc aeternitatis“), “Love Me Tender” (“Tenere me ama“), and “Can’t Help Falling In Love” (“Non adamare non possum“).

Presently, the CD has solely been released in Finland, where Latin has a devoted following. Ammondt said the idea for the project came to him in a dream.