Graceland

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.

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.

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.”

Elvis’ new job [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.

Fans visiting Graceland this summer can look forward to a revamped tour of the mansion, featuring a new audio guide system and the addition of the home’s kitchen to the experience.

The audio tours were slated to begin in the spring. According to Graceland Express, “Guests will pick up a headset and tape machine in the visitor center. . . . Then the tour of the house, grounds, fan mail office, racquetball building, and trophy room will be presented almost entirely on tape.”

The audio tour will include a narrator, but will primarily feature the voice of Elvis from spoken material and musical recordings. “It is expected to feel very much as if Elvis himself is giving the tour, especially in the trophy room,” stated Graceland Express.

The kitchen is the first new room added to the public tour since the opening of the mansion in 1982. The kitchen has been restored to the way it was when Elvis was alive. “It has harvest gold appliances and avocado-colored appliances. It’s very much the ’70’s,” a Graceland spokesperson said.

The audio tour was expected to be available in several different languages by the summer. In the future, the audio concept will also be considered for the other Graceland attractions, including the airplanes and the car museum. Traditional tour guides will remain on staff at the mansion to answer questions or offer other services.

Elvis’ new CDs highlight gospel, Christmas, and love songs [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 20 when I wrote this piece back in 1995 for The Elvis Beat #11, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

RCA has issued three new Elvis albums since the last Elvis Beat newsletter.

Elvis Presley: Amazing Grace – His Greatest Sacred Performances is a two-CD set containing over 50 songs from his gospel releases. It also contains a previously unreleased jam session captured in 1972 for Elvis On Tour, including the songs “You Better Run,” “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus,” and “Nearer My God To Thee.”

If Every Day Was Like Christmas contains 24 recordings and, and for the first time, gathers all of his Christmas songs on one CD. It also contains four previously unreleased versions. Some editions of this album include a 3-D Graceland pop-up, featuring the mansion as it is decorated for Christmas.

Elvis’ latest album, Heart & Soul, made its debut in February. It contains previously released love songs from the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. There are only two or three songs of real interest to long-time fans. “Love Me Tender” and “I’ve Lost You” are in stereo for the first time. The studio version of “Bridge Over Troubled Water” is without the artificially-dubbed applause used on its original That’s The Way It Is release.

The long anticipated boxed set for The 70s Masters is due to be released by the end of this year.

Elvis statue to move [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 19 when I wrote this article back in 1994 for The Elvis Beat #9, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

The Elvis statue on Beale Street in Memphis will soon be moving. Eric Parks’ 1979 bronze statue has fallen prey to erosion and other deterioration in its current location, which is outside at Elvis Presley Plaza. The 10-foot statue, which is a stunning likeness of Elvis, will be completely restored before being moved inside to a new multi-million dollar welcome center being built in downtown Memphis.

Todd Morgan, Director of Communications for Graceland, said, “The center’s lobby is expected to feature imagery celebrating Memphis music, with the Elvis statue dominating the area as its centerpiece.”

Morgan reports that Graceland is planning to place a weather-proof statue or tribute at the old Beale Street location.

The new Memphis welcome center is scheduled to open by the end of this year.

Elvis Who? [The Elvis Beat newsletter]

/ TY

I was 18 when I wrote this article back in 1993 for The Elvis Beat #4, my official Elvis Presley Fan Club newsletter.

The Elvis stamp will be returning to post offices in June as part of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Music/Rhythm ‘n’ Blues stamp booklet. This Elvis stamp will be slightly different than the one issued in January. While the image of Elvis will remain the same, the new stamp will read “Elvis Presley” instead of just “Elvis” as it appeared on the original.

Also to be featured in the booklet are: Buddy Holly, Bill Haley, Ritchie Valens, Otis Redding, Dinah Washington, and Clyde McPhatter.