Elvis History E-zine #1 — April 2008
Welcome to the First Issue
of Elvis History E-Zine
Do you feel special today? You should. You’re one of special few to view the very first issue of Elvis History E-zine. In fact, yesterday when I checked the subscriber list, it revealed that only four people had filled out the subscription form on Elvis-History-Blog.com. But this e-zine has to start sometime. Check out the e-zine contents below and let me know what you think. What did you like? What can you do without? What else would you like to see in this e-zine? I’m in this for the long haul, and I hope you are as well. Let’s make this worthwhile for both of us. Elvis History E-Zine will be published at the beginning of each month.
Contents of Elvis History E-Zine #1
• April Anniversaries … A list of important events that occurred in April during the life and career of Elvis Presley.
• An Elvis Anecdote … Read about what happened when Elvis bit a girl reporter in 1956.
• April Birthdays … A list of people in Elvis’s world who were born during the month of April.
• Quotation of the Month … Read what Frank Sinatra said about Elvis in 1956.
• What’s new and what’s coming … on Elvis-History-Blog.com.
April Anniversaries in Elvis’s Life and Career
April 2 — 51st anniversary of Elvis wearing his full gold lamé suit for the last time at his evening show in Toronto in 1957.
April 3 — 52nd anniversary of Elvis’s first appearance on the Milton Berle Show in 1956.
April 3 — 48th anniversary of Elvis recording “It’s Now or Never” and “Are You Lonesome Tonight?” in Nashville in 1960.
April 4 — 35th anniversary of Elvis’s “Aloha From Hawaii” 1973 broadcast in the U.S.
April 5 — 41st anniversary of the nationwide opening of “Double Trouble” in 1967.
Apri 7 — 43rd anniversary of the nationwide opening of “Girl Happy” in 1965.
April 10 — 45th anniversary of the nationwide opening of “It Happened at the World’s Fair” in 1963.
April 13 — 52nd anniversary of the chartered flight that experienced mechanical difficulties while carrying Elvis and his band from Amarillo to Nashville in 1956.
April 22 — 51st anniversary of the installment of Graceland’s custom front gates in 1957.
April 23 — 52nd anniversary of the opening of Elvis’s ill-fated two-week engagement at the New Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas in 1956.
April 28 — 52nd anniversary of “Heartbreak Hotel” hitting #1 on the pop charts in 1956.
April 30 — 51st anniversary of Elvis recording “Jailhouse Rock” in Hollywood in 1957.
This Month’s Elvis Anecdote
The following was reported in a short article in The Charlotte Observer on June 29, 1956. It seems Elvis was sitting in his “baby blue” limousine after his Thursday night show in Charleston, SC, when a girl reporter for The News and Courier approached his car to take a picture. Elvis bit her on the hand.
Many girls probably would have enjoyed being bitten by Elvis. This reporter was not one of them. “Hey, you big bruiser, what’s the big idea?” she asked him. “You trying to make like Marlon Brando or something?”
“I was only being friendly, like a little puppy dog,” Elvis responded.
The reporter told Elvis it was the first time anyone had ever bitten her as a sign of friendship. “Lady, if you want to get ahead, you gotta be different,” explained Elvis. It was a different era. No lawsuit was filed.
April Birthdays in Elvis’s World
April 7 — Norman Taurog (director of nine Presley films) was born in 1899.
April 9 — Carl Perkins was born in 1932.
April 18 — Glen Hardin (Elvis’s pianist) was born in 1939.
April 19 — Vernon Presley was born in 1916.
April 25 — Gladys Presley was born in 1912.
April 25 — Jerry Leiber (of the Leiber-Stoller song-writing team) was born in 1933.
April 28 — Ann-Margret was born in 1941.
This Month’s Quotation
Frank Sinatra on the set of Pal Joey in 1956: “Presley has no training at all. When he goes into something serious, a bigger kind of singing, we’ll find out if he is a singer. He has a natural, animalistic talent … only time will tell. They said I was a freak when I first hit, but I’m still around.”
What’s New and What’s Coming on Elvis-History-Blog.com
In the “Elvis Movies” section, I’ve recently posted my reviews of G.I. Blues and Flaming Star. The two films were released within a month of each other in late 1960. In my reviews I explain how, even though Flaming Star was the better acting vehicle for Elvis, its comparison with G.I.Blues effectively put an end to Presley’s dream of being a serious actor. Also, in the “Elvis in 1957” section, take a look at Gaylene Pope’s story of her encounter with Elvis at the Spokane train station that year.
My weekly blog entry will be posted on Thursday, April 3. It will deal with the preoccupation many Elvis fans have with citing numbers (gold records, sales figures, etc.) to prove Presley is the top recording artist of all time. There are other, better ways to gage his historical importance. Also, later this week my review of Wild in the Country will be posted in the movie section. That will make seven Elvis movie reviews down; only 26 more to go!
Like this E-Zine and Elvis-History-Blog.com? Pass it on!
Tell your Elvis fan friends, the members of your Elvis fan club, and everybody else you know to go to elvis-history-blog.com and sign-up for this e-zine. Consider purchasing a copy of Elvis’57: The Final Fifties Tours for yourself or as a gift for a friend. Check out the Elvis photo galleries on the site. Soon I’ll be posting a gallery of photos I took during Elvis’s 1976 concert in Spokane. I’ll be back in your mailbox a month from now with the May issue of Elvis-History E-Zine. Until then, I'll see you in the blog, and I look forward to getting your feedback.— Alan Hanson
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