Elvis Presley | Interviews and Articles. All about The King of Rock 'n' Roll.
Read all the latest Interviews and Articles about Elvis Presley. The King of Rock 'n' Roll.
Elvis in Hollywood | A Time to Reassess?
Elvis' Hollywood years have tended to be dismissed as a failure, both artistically and musically. Whilst some may concede that some his 1950's output is of value, and others might argue that 'GI Blues', 'Blue Hawaii' and even 'Viva Las Vegas' film and soundtracks aren't that bad, the majority of fan and general public opinion is dismissive to such an extent that this part of Elvis' musical heritage is widely ignored. This article sets out to re-visit the movie musical output to establish the truth.
Review | Love Letters FTD Special Edition 2 CD
'That's The Way It Is' and 'Elvis Country' were two of the most artistic albums in Elvis' career. What makes them special, is a true concept behind the selection of the songs. 'Love Letters' could not live up to this high standard, since it was a strange mixture of songs, that could not make it on the 'TTWII' and 'Country' releases in the first place, for reasons of available time, quality or strategy.
Why Roustabout remains a cult classic
Elvis' 16th movie is hardly the kind of film that's going to change the world. At first glance, Roustabout is formulaic enough to understand why, in 1964, the New York Times flatly refused to review it. Many critics lamented the way this musical comedy 'totally wasted' the talents of Barbara Stanwyck, the acclaimed star of such classics as 'Ball Of Fire' and 'Cattle Queen Of Montana' (a performance that especially impressed Elvis). Yet despite a clichéd plot - hard-hearted business types try to shut down struggling carnival - and some below par songs - Roustabout has, if anything, improved with age.
Interview with Jerry Weintraub | Elvis' Concert Promoter
I started to call Tom Parker who was Elvis' manager every morning at 8:30 in the morning. 'Good morning, Colonel, this is Jerry Weintraub. I want to take Elvis on tour'. Finally, one morning he said to me, 'You still want to take my boy on tour'. I said, 'Yes'. He said, 'Okay, you be in Vegas tomorrow at 11:00 o'clock with a million dollars and we'll talk a deal' .... I said, 'Okay I'll get it and I'll be there'.
Marty Lacker on Elvis' 1969 Memphis recording sessions
One of Elvis' trusted friends, Marty Lacker was instrumental in arranging Elvis' seminal recording sessions at American Sound Studios with producer Chips Moman in January and February of 1969. Marty shares the genesis behind those historic sessions, which yielded the hits, 'Suspicious Minds', 'In The Ghetto', 'Don't Cry Daddy', and 'Kentucky Rain' and marked an artistic rebirth for the singer.
Jack Lord's Special Memory of Elvis
Elvis Presley had the ability to touch others' lives as few human beings ever could. Just as people were magnetically drawn to him, so too, he had an almost fan-like devotion to those he admired. Among that group was Hawaii 5-0's Jack Lord and his wife, Marie. Theirs was a relatively brief but extremely intense friendship so illustrative of the rapid magnet-like attraction Elvis had for those comparatively few people he ever really got close to once fame had crowded in on him.
The Making of 'From Elvis In Nashville'
For a few freewheeling days in June of 1970, Elvis Presley assembled some of Nashville's best session players to jam in RCA Studio B on Music Row. Elvis chose the songs himself, everything from Simon & Garfunkel's 'Bridge Over Troubled Water' and Bob Wills' 'Faded Love' to Willie Nelson's 'Funny How Time Slips Away' and Eddie Rabbitt's 'Patch It Up'. The sessions were marathon affairs, and naturally the musicians - and Elvis - would get hungry. Charlie McCoy, the multi-tool player who first recorded with Elvis on the soundtrack to 1965's awful Harum Scarum, vividly recalls trays of cheeseburgers and fries laid out cafeteria-style in the studio's control room. McCoy and his colleagues - like drummer Jerry Carrigan and bassist Norbert Putnam - would get in line and fill their plates.
Christmas With Elvis
The arrival of winter at Graceland was always a special time of year for Elvis. It meant the holiday season was fast approaching and the anticipation of all the fun things the season would bring, including decorating for Christmas, opening Christmas presents with friends and family, the annual New Year's Eve party, Elvis' birthday, building snowmen in the front yard of Graceland and more.
Interview with Elvis Presley's Sound Engineer, Bill Porter by Michael Fremer
This is an interview I conducted with the great recording engineer Bill Porter back in 1987. I met up with Porter at Denver audio dealer Listen Up! We chatted and listened to some of his recordings. In one week of 1960, Bill Porter-engineered recordings accounted for 15 of Billboard's Top 100 Singles. You could chalk it up to his having folks like Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, Chet Atkins and the Everly Brothers to record, but then you'd have to explain why, with Porter out of the picture, so many of their careers took a nose-dive. The fact is, the original pressings of many of those classic Porter recordings possess a natural, spacious, jump-out-at-you 'live' feel that today's engineers don't seem capable of achieving.
Review | Good Times FTD Special Edition 2 CD Classic Album
Good Times marked the second album released from Elvis' 1973 sessions at Stax studio in Memphis. This version from the Follow That Dream collectors label includes all ten tracks from the original album and thirty-seven additional tracks of alternate takes and undubbed masters. FTD's Classic Album series serves as the best possible format for this album, with sound quality in most cases as good or better than previous releases. FTD's version of 'Good Times' turns out to be a fine upgrade of the original album.
Review | Moody Blue 2 CD Set from FTD
There's a great moment on CD-2 of the new FTD 'Moody Blue' release - two fabulous rehearsals of the funky 'Way Down' start the disc - with Elvis and his band joking amid jamming and a throbbing bass guitar. Take 1 is reminiscent in feel to the funky jam intro to, 'I Got A Feeling In My Body' (Elvis At Stax 3-CD). After the first breakdown, Elvis say's: 'When Briggs fingers start bleeding' see, we know we've got it!' Ronnie Tutt's thumping drums herald take 2A, followed by David Briggs electric piano, and Norbert Putnam's supercool bass - fabulous! Again Ernst Jorgensen and the Follow That Dream team deserve credit for this magnum opus - 'Moody Blue' is the sound of the mature Elvis. Most highly recommended.
Interview with John Wilkinson
John Wilkinson was Elvis' rhythm guitarist from 1969 to 1977 and - along with lead guitarist James Burton - was the only one of the TCB Band never to miss a single show in all those years, notching up over 1100 performances with the King on stage. He's had a long and distinguished career in the music business, and has been playing the guitar since he was five. I spoke to John via telephone from his home in Springfield Missouri.
Elvis Presley's Cars | Cadillacs | Stutz Blackhawk | BMW | Rolls Royce
Elvis Presley had a life-long love affair with motor cars. Beginning in the '50s with Cadillacs, including the Pink Cadillac that he eventually gave to his mother - probably the most famous car in the world - to a second hand Volkswagen and two BMW 507s in Germany. In the '60s there where more Cadillacs, Ford Lincoln's and a Rolls Royce among many others. In the '70s, again Elvis purchased Cadillacs, a Mercedes-Benz 600, even a Ford T-Bird - but his most prized cars of the 1970s were his Stutz Blackhawk's. Elvis was the first person to own a Stutz Blackhawk, and there can be no doubt his favourite car of the 1970s was his 1973 Stutz Blackhawk III.
Paul McCartney Remembers Elvis Presley
Paul McCartney: 'Elvis is a truly great vocalist, and you can hear why on this song. His phrasing, his use of echo, it's all so beautiful. It's the way he sings it, too. As if he's singing it from the depths of Hell. It's a perfect example of a singer being in command of the song. Musically it's perfect, too. The double-bass and the walk-in piano create this incredibly haunting atmosphere. It's so full of mystery, and it's never lost that for me. The echo is just stunning. When The Beatles were recording, we'd often ask George Martin for 'the Elvis echo. I think we got it down perfectly on A Day in the Life'.
Ben Weisman | Why Elvis Recorded 57 Of My Songs
'I approached writing for Elvis differently than I did for any other artist. The songs had to have acombination of blues, country, rock and pop [what came to becalled 'rockabilly']. It was like walking in his musical shoes. With each new Elvis movie, more of my songs were being recorded. It became more and more exciting, for I was becoming the only songwriter to have so many songs recorded by him.
Interview with Scotty Moore | Scotty Moore Way Ahead Of The Gang
This interview with Scotty Moore took place in May 1973 at Music City Recorders in Nashville, Tennessee, several years before the death of Elvis Presley and the avalanche of Elvis books which followed. We found Scotty to be very easy going and he genuinely seemed to enjoy reminiscing about the early years of his career in the music business. The interview was originally published in the August 1973 issue.
Interview with Bones Howe
Bones Howe. Recognize the name? You should. For more than 40 years, Bones Howe has been producing hit records and putting music in the movies. The Grammy he won for producing one of the '60s' top hits sits tarnished on an out-of-the-way shelf in the den. His stack of gold records 'are in a box around here someplace'. That's Bones Howe-a 40-year veteran of the L.A. music scene, labeled 'legendary' by the trades, who's made records with Elvis Presley and movies with Steven Spielberg without getting wrapped up in the Hollywood tinsel.
Interview with Teri Garr
Interview with Teri Garr who started out as a background dancer in uncredited roles for youth-oriented films and TV shows like 'Pajama Party', a beach party film, the 'T.A.M.I. Show', 'Shindig!', 'Hullabaloo', 'Movin' with Nancy' (a Nancy Sinatra / Frank Sinatra Special), and nine Elvis Presley movies ...
Interview with Myrna Smith
Myrna Smith is one of the original Sweet Inspirations, the backing group who sang with Elvis in concert from 1969 until the end. The Sweet Inspirations had success with R&B, gospel and pop recordings of their own, most notably their first hit single Sweet Inspiration, which gave the group their name in the late sixties and earned them a Grammy nomination. It was that song that caught the attention of Elvis Presley, who signed them to provide backing vocals and be an opening act for his record-breaking 1969 Las Vegas engagement, his official return to the live concert stage after his triumphant '68 TV special and the end of his Hollywood movie contract obligations. No audition was required. The Sweet Inspirations met him when they arrived for the first rehearsals for the '69 engagement. The 'Sweets' worked with Elvis in Vegas, on his national concert tours and on recordings from 1969 to 1977. Myrna also backed Elvis up during his 1976 Graceland recordings, both in February of that year and in the October/November sessions.
Interview with Mike Stoller Legendary Songwriter
Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber helped give birth to rock and roll when they wrote Hound Dog in 1952. Their list of hits sounds like the very history of rock and roll almost from the moment of its birth. The roll call is staggering - Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, John Lennon, Otis Redding, Jimi Hendrix, and Frank Sinatra are just some of the artists who have recorded songs written by the golden team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. They boast a rich catalog of songs that will live forever. Among the luminous jewels framing the Leiber And Stoller songbook include standards such as Jailhouse Rock, Stand By Me, Don't, Love Potion Number Nine, On Broadway, Love Me, She's Not You, Hound Dog, There Goes My Baby, Yakety Yak, Poison Ivy and numerous others.
The Real Story of Elvis Presley | Vernon and Gladys Talked About Raising Young Elvis
Young Elvis Presley had become a phenomenon, and in the fall of 1956, the New York Daily Mirror decided it was time to give him a serious look. And so in early September, columnist Sidney Fields headed down to Memphis to gather material for a series of articles in the Mirror. He didn't get a chance to talk with Elvis, who was in Hollywood shooting Love Me Tender at the time, but Fields was able to get an extensive interview with Elvis' parents, who invited him into the Presley home. That interview with Gladys and Vernon Presley was the basis for a five-part expose entitled 'The Real Story of Elvis Presley', which ran in the Daily Mirror from September 23-27, 1956
Review | Stay Away, Joe FTD Classic Movie Soundtrack CD
I never quite know what to make of Stay Away, Joe. The first time I tried to watch the movie as a teenager in the early 1990s, I couldn't get past the non-stop party scene near the beginning. The whole thing just seemed so unbearable. Yet, over the years, I have come to love most of the five songs Elvis recorded for this film. While Elvis performed many country songs in his career, he rarely delved into 'outdoor' country songs that celebrate nature like Stay Away (Greensleeves) and Goin' Home do.
Don Robertson: Writing For The King
Elvis first recorded one of Don Robertson's songs, I'm Counting On You, in 1956 for his first RCA album, Elvis Presley. A few years later, Elvis invited Don to come to Radio Recorders in Hollywood to meet with him. They met and talked and hit it off. After the session, he invited Don to come up to his house for the evening. This was the first of many get-togethers in Hollywood, Bel Air and Las Vegas. Elvis not only admired Don as a songwriter but also as a pianist. Don can be heard accompanying Elvis on piano, organ and electric piano on the soundtrack of the movie, It Happened At The World's Fair. In total Elvis Presley recorded 14 of Don Robertson's songs.
Benjamin Storm Keough laid to rest in the Meditation Garden at Graceland
Benjamin Storm Keough was laid to rest in the Meditation Garden at Graceland with his family including his grandfather, Elvis Presley, great-grandmother, Gladys Presley, great-grandfather, Vernon Presley and great-great-grandmother, Minnie Mae Presley.
Interview with Malcom Leo | Director of This Is Elvis
Interview with Malcom Leo, director (With Andrew Solt) of This Is Elvis. Q: When was the first time you saw Elvis? A: It was the first time I saw Elvis Presley, the Pan Pacific Auditorium on October 28th, 1957, he wore the gold suit and danced with the RCA Victor dog. It became even doubly memorable when we found the police footage used later and were able to incorporate it in a motion picture I directed, 'This Is Elvis' ...
Interview with Wayne Jackson
Wayne Jackson has played on over 300 Number 1 records. Born in West Memphis, Arkansas, Jackson rose to prominence while still in high school as a member of Stax Records' famed studio band the Mar-Keys, a crew of expert musicians that included guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald 'Duck' Dunn, keyboardist Booker T. Jones, organist Isaac Hayes and saxophonist Andrew Love, Jackson's future Memphis Horns partner. Jackson's love of music began with a guitar but one night his mother came home with a trumpet for her 11 year-old son. By 12th grade Wayne Jackson found himself playing with a group called The Mar-Keys.
The King and I - Interview with Bernard Lansky
'He always called me Mister Lansky'. The unmistakable Southern accent echoes through the clothing store in the lobby of the regal Peabody Hotel at 149 Union Avenue, Memphis. 'I told him, 'Call me Bernard.' But Elvis always said, 'Thank you, Mister Lansky'. He was brought up right. His mother brought him up a gentleman'.
James Burton Remembers Elvis Presley
James Burton has remembered Elvis on Facebook: It's so hard to believe it's been 43 years today since we buried my friend, Elvis. We stopped to refuel in Colorado to head back to Las Vegas when we heard the news that Elvis had passed. My first question was, 'Is this a joke?' Unfortunately….it wasn't.
Remembering Elvis Presley | 1935-1977
On August 16, 1977, a part of America died. Elvis Presley forever changed our music, our culture and our country and indeed the world. It has now been 43 years since the man known as the 'King of Rock and Roll' passed away. Even so, a recent poll showed that 47% of Americans still consider themselves Elvis Presley fans. Even in the 18-34 age demographic, 43% are Elvis fans. According to the poll, 55% of his fans are Republicans and 46% are Democrats. On that August day 43 years ago, I was a young boy visiting relatives in Georgia. Elvis did not trend on Twitter that day but it came on the news that he died and there was nothing else on the television. I watched the coverage with great interest. I'm not sure if I had even heard of Elvis Presley before that day but I remember they were showing scenes from 'Jailhouse Rock' and I thought he was coolest person I had ever seen or heard.
Interview with Marlyn Mason | Elvis Presley's co-star The Trouble With Girls
Interview with Marlyn Mason who made her film debut, as Charlene in The Trouble With Girls (And How To Get Into It). He surpasses Monroe and Jimmy Dean. I mean, they've -- I mean, they grow in stature in their deaths. But Elvis, there's just no... I mean, he's just the king. There's only one Elvis. There's only one Marilyn, there's only one Jimmy Dean. But Elvis, I think, the music because people hear the music more.
Elvis Presley's Paradise, Hawaiian Style co-star Irene Tsu remembers the King
Irene Tsu (born November 4, 1944) is a Chinese American actress who made her debut in the film adaptation of Flower Drum Song in 1961, and has had many subsequent roles in TV and films. Irene Tsu co-starred with Elvis Presley in the 1966 film, Paradise, Hawaiian Style and was featured playing the wiki wiki girl in the Wiki wiki dollar advertising campaign for Chevron Corporation in the 1960s.
Pat Boone recalls meeting Elvis Presley
Pat Boone still vividly remembers meeting his opening act Elvis Presley, 'the scared young kid' from Tennessee, in 1955. The life-changing encounter took place in Cleveland, Ohio, where the former teen pop idol was headlining a sock hop for 3,000 kids hosted by renowned DJ Bill Randle.
Riley Keough Pays Tribute to Brother Benjamin Keough
Riley Keough is honoring and remembering her late brother. The Lodge actress took to Instagram on Saturday morning to share a special and heartfelt tribute to Benjamin Keough, who tragically passed away last Sunday (July 12). His death was ruled a suicide by the Los Angeles County Dept. of Medical Examiner-Coroner's office.
Interview with Ben Weisman
There's a photograph of you and Elvis here that looked like a plaque. Can you tell us a little background about what happened there? Well, Elvis and I took a picture together, because we wrote a song called 'I'll Be Back', which was voted in the top ten in the motion picture category.
Lisa Marie Presley's son Benjamin Keough dies at 27
Benjamin Keough, the son of Lisa Marie Presley and the grandson of Elvis Presley has died at 27. Lisa Marie Presley's manager Roger Widynowski confirmed the death in a statement, 'She is completely heartbroken, inconsolable and beyond devastated over the death of her son', whom she shared with ex-husband Danny Keough, 'but trying to stay strong for her 11-year-old twin daughters, Harper and Finley and her oldest daughter Riley.
Interview with Joe Guercio
Interview with Joe Guercio, the musical director and conductor of Elvis Presley's band from 1970 until 1977.
Elvis Presley Meets the Beatles | August 27, 1965
... no one was ever greater, for either John Lennon and Paul McCartney that Elvis Presley, who'd already cut the soundtrack of their youth. Elvis Presley was God, it was as simple as that. John and Paul listened to his records in the only way besotted fans do, catching and trying to analyze all the little inexplicable sounds, like the laugh he couldn't stifle at the end of Baby Let's Play House and the muttered asides at the end of Hound Dog.
Tom Jones Remembers Elvis Presley
Back in the days when I was a teenager in South Wales, there was a disc jockey called Jack Jackson on the BBC Light Programme - the forerunner of day's Radio One. He was old enough to be my granddad, but everyone regarded him as really cool because he played all the latest American hit records, weeks before they were released here. That was how I first heard Elvis Presley. There was this new phenomenon, rock 'n' roll, which had given Bill Haley And His Comets a string of hits during 1955, from Shake Rattle And Roll to Rock Around The Clock and See You Later Alligator, and suddenly the world was waking up to a musical revolution.
Interview with Richard Davis
Interview with Richard Davis a longtime member of Elvis' Memphis Mafia. Richard started working for Elvis after Elvis returned from the Army and continued to work for him until 1971 as a body guard, a stand-in in 23 movies and eventually a wardrobe manager. He remained friends with Elvis until the end. Known among the other Memphis Mafia members for his quick wit and for being a bit of a prankster he once dropped a water balloon on Elvis' head as he walked out of his trailer in fresh makeup for a movie shoot. Richard Davis : There's so many things it's hard to pinpoint. Well I got one thing. I don't remember what year it was. And one thing that happened is back in the dressing room before he went on one night, somebody came back and told Elvis, 'Muhammad Ali is in the audience and he would like to meet you'. And Elvis said, 'Oh, yeah, yeah, bring him on back' ...
Jack Lord and Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley and Jack Lord first met on January 14, 1973 following Elvis' triumphant Aloha From Hawaii television special. Elvis made special mention that Jack was in the audience which completely 'floored' the Lords., 'One of my favorite actors is in the audience, Jack Lord, I gotta say that, you know, Hawaii 5-0'. Afterwards, they went backstage and met Elvis for the first time, and met later at The Lords home facing the ocean on the Oahu side of the island. They met again on February 10, 1973 in Las Vegas.
Interview with Sheila Ryan
Interview with Sheila Ryan who was was Elvis' girlfriend after Linda Thompson. Sheila was the Oct.'73 Playboy cover girl and married James Caan in '76 (divorced in '77). Elvis had qualities that no other human being has, had, will have. Some of them are so hard to describe because the charisma, the qualities that he had were almost not of this world, you know. They were, a lot of times, angelic. He knew things before I knew things. He knew things that I was feeling before I was feeling them.
We're Gonna' Move ... Elvis Presley's Home Sweet Homes
A man's home is his castle - and so Graceland is definitely the king's castle.
Interview with Ed Bonja Elvis Presley's photographer 1970-1975
Here is a candid interview with Elvis' principal photographer Ed Bonja (1970-1975). This interview by Tracy Bymoem was conducted at the Elvis Festival in Bad Nauheim, Germany 2012. Elvis lived in Bad Nauheim while in the army.
Interview with Sam Thompson, Elvis bodyguard and Linda's brother
Interview/article with Sam Thompson about his time as bodyguard for Elvis Presley and much more.
This is an excellent article and we have added two small parts from answers given in another interview. All up it is very informative - if you only read one article on our website this year, make it this one.
This is an excellent article and we have added two small parts from answers given in another interview. All up it is very informative - if you only read one article on our website this year, make it this one.
Interview with William A. Graham Change Of Habit Director
Interview with 'Change Of Habit' director, William A. Graham. Of all the people I've ever worked with in my entire life, and I've been a director for 47 years, Elvis was the nicest man I've ever worked with.
Too Much Monkey Business | The story of Scatter, Elvis Presley's Pet Chimpanzee
In the early sixties, Elvis Presley's 'Memphis Mafia' (a bit of editorial license taken here) took on its most problematic and entertaining member, a forty-pound chimpanzee named Scatter. However, before Elvis, Scatter was a TV star, on local Memphis station WMC-TV. The program hosted by 'Captain' (actually, he preferred it spelled 'Cap'n') Bill Killebrew - well actually he wasn't really a captain of anything, kinda like 'Colonel' Tom Parker, well except Elvis' manager was an honorary one!
Interview with Bill Belew
Bill Belew has the distinction of having designed Elvis Presley's costumes and personal wardrobe from 1968 until his death in 1977. A graduate of the Parsons School of Design in New York, Belew has also designed costumes for a multitude of entertainers, including Lynne Redgrave, Lena Horne, Josephine Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, Gloria Swanson, Sandy Duncan, Victoria Principal, Pia Zadora, Joan Van Ark, Brooke Shields, Jaclyn Smith, Joan Rivers, Gloria Estefan, Gladys Knight, Roberta Flack and Dionne Warwick, as well as Milton Berle among others.
Elvis Presley 42 Years ... Gone too soon ... Gone too long
Elvis lived 15,561 days. On March 23, 2020, we reached the point when he had been gone the same number of days. That's exactly 42 years, 7 months and 8 days. So he has now been gone longer than he was with us.
Elvis Presley and the Memphis Mafia
The group of friends around Elvis became known as the Memphis Mafia.
Elvis and the coronavirus
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson have tested positive for the coronavirus. Both are down in Australia for the pre-production of Baz Luhrmann's untitled Elvis Presley film from Warner Bros.
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Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD
Never before have we seen an Elvis Presley concert from the 1950's with sound. Until Now! The DVD Contains recently discovered unreleased film of Elvis performing 6 songs, including Heartbreak Hotel and Don't Be Cruel, live in Tupelo Mississippi 1956. Included we see a live performance of the elusive Long Tall Sally seen here for the first time ever. + Plus Bonus DVD Audio.
This is an excellent release no fan should be without it.
The 'parade' footage is good to see as it puts you in the right context with color and b&w footage. The interviews of Elvis' Parents are well worth hearing too. The afternoon show footage is wonderful and electrifying : Here is Elvis in his prime rocking and rolling in front of 11.000 people. Highly recommended.
Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD Video with Sound.
