Sleep in Elvis Presley's Bedroom

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Sleep in Elvis Presley's Bedroom
By: Elvis Australia - Dec 11, 2004
Source: EPE

There is only one place on earth you can stay where Elvis lived. That place is Lauderdale Courts. The Uptown Partnership announces that the former apartment of Elvis Presley and his parents at Lauderdale Courts is now officially open for overnight stays.

In 1949, the Presleys moved into 185 Winchester, #328 at Lauderdale Courts shortly after they moved to Memphis from Tupelo. The 689 square-foot, two-bedroom apartment was originally part of the Roosevelt-era WPA housing development that is now on the National Register of Historic Places. It was here Elvis met other Memphis musicians, practiced in the basement laundry room and gained confidence by performing for family and friends in the community courtyards. He walked to nearby Beale Street, where he listened to the blues artists of the day, and had easy access to Sun Studio and Pop Tunes record store around the corner. Visitors themselves can walk to these historic rock n? roll places that still stand.

Guests will be able to step back in time to the restored apartment that features, vintage furniture, kitchen and bathroom fixtures, and reproductions of Presley family photos and memorabilia. Modern conveniences like microwave, working 1951 refrigerator, plasma HDTV, DVD/CD and free wireless Internet access are also available. Amenities that guests can also enjoy are an outdoor pool, billiard room plus fitness, business and media centers. Up to four guests can stay for a two-night minimum or six-night maximum for an introductory rate of $249.99. Reservations are being accepted from now through April 2005 except for Elvis Birthday Week (January 6 ? 11, 2005) when the apartment will be open for public tours. Reservations will be available for dates beyond April 2005 next spring. Public tours will also be available during Elvis Week (August 10 ? 17, 2005).

?We are offering any rock ?n? roll buff or Elvis fan a chance of a lifetime,? stated Alexandra Mobley, asset manager for the site. ?We have received overwhelming positive feedback about the apartment from the public tours. This is where Elvis? was influenced as a young musician, it?s the ultimate ?sleep where he slept? experience.?

Originally slated for demolition, Lauderdale Courts was saved by the appeals of Elvis fans and the Memphis Heritage preservation organization. The colonial revival 347-unit apartment community is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Renovated and renamed Uptown Square, the model mixed-income property is Memphis? first wireless apartment complex.

Lauderdale Courts at Uptown Square is part of a 1,000-home, 100-city-block downtown development called Uptown Memphis. Uptown Memphis is the concerted public-private revitalization by downtown Memphis developers Jack Belz, of Belz Enterprises and Henry Turley, of Henry Turley Company and the City of Memphis.

? Copyright 2003 by Elvis Australia

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WHO REALLY COINED THE PHRASE?
Horace Logan
Don Walker,
Staff Writer of the Shreveport Times

Former Louisiana Hayride producer and emcee Horace Logan - better known as the man who coined the phrase... "Elvis has left the building" - died October, 2002 aged 86 in Southwest Texas .

It was Logan who introduced radio listeners to the Louisiana Hayride when the country show hit the airwaves in its first broadcast in 1948. The Hayride boosted the careers of 25 artists - including Elvis Presley - into national prominence.

Logan began in radio when he was 16, after winning a contest to become an announcer on KWKH-AM. In 1998, he authored Elvis, Hank & Me, a memoir of his decade (1948-1958) as the original producer of the legendary Hayride, a country music show performed before a live KWKH audience in Shreveport 's Municipal Auditorium.

In 1956, as he tried to quiet a frenzied Hayride audience after another Presley performance, Logan announced, "Elvis has left the building."

"He was in charge of booking artists on the Hayride. I give him lots of credit for making the Hayride what it was," said Tillman Franks, a veteran Shreveport musician and songwriter who was a close friend of Logan 's. Franks became producer of the Hayride when Logan retired.




Logan was a colorful personality and Hayride emcee who "came out all dressed in black like a cowboy with a black hat and actually wore pistols," said Maggie Warwick, Shreveport singer and songwriter. Logan booked her on the Hayride after she and her sister won a talent show in Texas. Her first appearance on the Hayride was in 1957.

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ELVIS CHRISTMAS GREETING
by Lea Frydman

Take a trip down memory lane with Elvis, Colonel Parker and Elvis Presley News




The first Christmas Elvis spent in Graceland was in 1957 surrounded by his parents and girlfriend Anita Wood. Elvis gave Anita a poodle for Christmas.



For his beloved mother, Gladys, Elvis went on a spending spree to and bought up every electrical kitchen appliance he could find. If that was not enough, Elvis bought her the finest cashmere coat he could find on Beale Street.

No matter how much Christmas cheer was toasted, the Presley?s could not overcome their sadness. For it was at Graceland that year that Elvis was serve his induction notice.



Every year that Elvis was in residence a very large (8 foot tall) Christmas tree always held a prime position in the lounge at Graceland.

Last Christmas Elvis spent at Graceland was 1976 when he donated $1,000 to the local police station. Gave away several cars to friends and strangers and contributed $52,00.00 to charity.



Only two days later, December 27, 1976 Elvis performed at the Levitt Arena in Wichita, Kansas. Then on December 28, 1976 in keeping of the Christmas spirit, Elvis included many gospel & religious hymns at the concert in Dallas, Texas.



Elvis loved gift giving. As he could not send a gift to each and every fan he would make it clear how much he appreciated their support by posting Christmas cards to all the Elvis Fan Club in the USA and several overseas ones.

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THE DAY GLADYS PRESLEY DIED
by Lea Frydman

"He didn't seem like Elvis ever again..." Lamar Fike, witness at Gladys' funeral


On 25 March 1958 Elvis reported for induction at Memphis Draft Board. He was accompanied by his parents and his friends. After being sworn in Elvis became Private Presley 3310761. With his fellow draftees he boarded an army bus for Fort Chaffee, Arkansas for basic training. The separation would break his mother's heart.

After ten weeks Elvis was granted a weekend pass. Immediately RCA took the opportunity to have Elvis taken to Nashville for a recording session that resulted in several major hits.

Elvis' main concern was his mother. It was obvious that Gladys was unwell, and admitted to Methodist hospital. Four days later, hepatitis was diagnosed. Elvis reluctantly returned to Army camp.

By August her condition had deteriorated so badly that El vis was given compassionate leave to begin a 24 hours hour vigil with his father. On the night of August 14, Vernon sent Elvis home for same much needed rest. At 3am the phone rang and Elvis was told that his precious mother had died of a heart attack brought on by the hepatitis. In shock and disbelief Elvis rushed to the hospital.

After Elvis entered his mother ward and the door closed, witnesses remember a piercing wild despair of wails from Elvis were heard as he wept and prayed long and loud over his mother?s lifeless body.

Elvis didn't want an autopsy instead had her lie in state at Graceland. For two days Elvis just sat next to the coffin and just stared at his mother. Finally on the second night Vernon insisted that Gladys be buried. Elvis walked out to the front steps of Graceland and wept.

The service at the Memphis Funeral Home was officiated by Reverend James Hamill and the Blackwood Brothers (Gladys, favourite Gospel group) sang: Rock of Ages, In the Garden, I am Redeemed and Precious Memories.
Celebrities such as, Marlon Brando, Dean Martin, Tennessee Ernie, Ricky Nelson and Sammy Davis Jr. sent their condolences.

When it came time to lower the casket into the ground Elvis jumped up and hung on to the coffin, sobbing, "Everything I have is gone!"

It took Vernon, Lamar Fike (Memphis Mafia member and cousin, Billy Smith to pull Elvis off the casket, while all the while Elvis screamed hysterically, "Please don' t take my baby away. She's not dead! She's just sleeping."

[Due to the bizarre August 29, 1977 " break in" to steal Elvis's body - on the evening of October 2, 1977, Elvis and his mother's bodies were moved from their original places of burial at Forest Hill Cemetery and reburied side by side in the grounds of Graceland in an area Elvis had named the Meditation Garden. After Elvis' father, Vernon Elvis Presley died on June 26, 1979 he was laid to rest next to his son.





Many family members re-iterated the same sentiments, that after his mother died, Elvis changed for he never had time alone to grieve.

As Fike recalls, "He carried his mother's nightgown around for weeks... Wouldn't put it down for anything. Slept with it and cried all the time... He didn't seem like Elvis ever again." Four week after Gladys died, Elvis was sailed to Germany.

The star of David was put on glady's tumb stone in honor of her jewish heritage.It was Elvis who wanted it that way.

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WHAT IS ELVIS WORTH?
by Lea Frydman

Elvis was a millionaire in his lifetime, but do you know why he is worth more dead than alive

Since Priscilla Presley opened the musical gates of the Graceland mansion to the public in 1982, it can be said to be the shrewdest business deal and marketing campaign in history!


With 900,000 pilgrims at $65 a pop passing through Elvis's homestead annually, the coffers are being filled to the tune of 22.25 million dollars... and counting.

A further 20 million dollars is generated from the Elvis image copyrights and merchandising. That is to say, gaining copyright for eg: the Elvis Cabbagepatch doll, Elvis jigsaw puzzles etc. Recently EPE Inc struck a deal with Bernard Lasky of Lasky Brothers to manufacture Elvis 50's streetwear. Which is due in stores in time for the 25th anniversary of the death August, 2002.

Capitalising on the Elvis name the Graceland Plaza (opposite Graceland) was specifically designed to pry-open wallets at every cash register. A further 15 million dollars is amassed through EPE Inc stock list of 3000 posthumous Made in Taiwan Elvis products.

The average Elvis tourist spends more than $50 on Elvis memorabilia. On such items as nail-clippers, towels, buckles, aftershave, sunglasses, and ashtrays that could eliminate unemployment in Tennessee into the next generation should an Elvis cottage industry be developed.

Knowing what Elvis was on film, on vinyl and now on remastered CD, Elvis Presley Enterprises Inc and BMG Music continue to release anniversary videos and CD specials to coincide with the King's birthday, January 8, and death, August 16, year in and year out for the past 23 years. Claiming 40% of the royalties EPE Inc are reiterating the same merchandising ploy that Colonel Tom Parker used when he signed Elvis in 1955.

Despite holding the most gold records during his reign, Elvis's after-death sales now stand at 1 billion. By the end of 2001 every Elvis album will have been digitally re-mastered onto CD. Offering Elvis fans countless hours of Sun Studio through to 50's, 60's and 70's recordings sessions transformed by modern technology some 45 years after the fact. But the most famous posthumous Elvis product to hit all record-breaking sales has been the January 1993 release of USA Elvis, 29-cent postage stamp. (Once again EPE Inc claimed royalties for the use of the Elvis image. However for the first time in history they lost their bid.

No so previously when in 1992 EPE Inc. allowed the Republic of the Marshall Islands to become the first government in the world to issue Elvis Presley coins as legal tender. The sales from the $5, $10, and $50 dollars coin collection meant millions in profit.

While net profits cleared the tiny Pacific atoll's national debt, Graceland reaped an undisclosed royalty fee. Hot on the heels of the Elvis postage stamp a US telecommunications company has issued the "World of Elvis" PhoneCards. They have become the second most sought after Elvis collectable after the Elvis stamp.

With a self-professed Elvis devotee in the White House, President Bill Clinton is an avid Elvis PhoneCard collector and user. But not satisfied with 27 million plus 25 per cent royalty's gross annual income, EPE Inc. has sought new ways to resurrect Elvis via computer technology.

The latest Presley promotional ploy is a computer-animated King extolling the wonders of his home state, Tennessee. The 60-second commercial is a television campaign by Tennessee and Graceland to lure fellow American tourists to visit... to spend more

Although Elvis Aaron Presley single-handedly ushered in a new music era, today he is worth more dead than he ever was alive.

Daughter, Lisa Marie Presley sole heir to the King's fortune since she turned 30 on February 1, 1998 is estimated to be worth 500 million... and that's does not including the re-sale value of the Graceland mansion. Like Elvis, it remains priceless.

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THE DAY ELVIS CRIED
by Lea Frydman

Interview with Jerry Schilling #1

Even after 23 years after the death of Elvis Presley, Jerry Schilling, close family friend and Memphis Mafia member is still haunted by some sorrowful memories.

One of the least outspoken members of Elvis' renowned entourage who lived and travelled everywhere with Elvis for 20 years, Schilling finds it difficult to talk about some of the private times he shared with Elvis Presley.

"I treasure the fond memories. The good times when Elvis was at his prime, when was looking handsome, and performing at his best. But there are certain memories that give a cold shiver down every time I think about it," admits Schilling in a soft voice. "I've had a few sleepless nights when those memories trigger off a nightmare."

Jerry Schilling first met Elvis in 1957. At the time, Elvis already had a hit single, THAT'S ALRIGHT MAMA but only in the Southern States - international fame was yet to come.

Because Schilling was a football star at school he was asked me to join Elvis' football team, by school-buddy, Red West.

"Red was already a part of Elvis entourage. They used to play football on weekends at the Humes High School football field. Even than Elvis took the games seriously. Red warned me to not play hard. Never tackle Elvis to the ground. Always let him win. Those were the rules if I wanted to play on Elvis' team," says Schilling.

"The moment I met him, I realised there was something very special about Elvis. It was as if he was born to be famous. And Elvis also believed that fame was his destiny."

Although Schilling is willing to discuss the happy moments with a smile, ask him about Elvis' final years of drug abuse, or his divorce from Priscilla, and Schilling's mood become immediately sombre, his voice drops into a whisper as he fights back the tears.

"My worst memory, and the worst day of my life has to be the day Priscilla took Lisa Marie away from Graceland," says Schilling. "To this day, that image still haunts me..."

On October 9, 1973, after 5 years of marriage Elvis and Priscilla were divorced. It was Elvis who filed for the divorce, as token gesture to save Priscilla the embarrassment as she was the mother of his daughter, Lisa Marie, who only 4 years old at the time.

"It was I very sad day for all of us," says Schilling. "I remember how Elvis just stood in Lisa's bedroom and watched in silence as Alberta (Graceland's cook) helped Priscilla pack Lisa's clothes and toys into several suitcases... Elvis said nothing, but I could see the pain in his eyes," recalls Schilling.

"Suddenly, he yelled out to me and Joe (Esposito) to help Priscilla put the baggage into the car. Elvis just couldn't bring himself to carry the bags out to the car, himself," whispers Schilling.

Unaware of the happening between her parents in her bedroom, Lisa Marie played happily with her nanny outside the grounds of Graceland.

In an aim to spare Lisa the sorry of their separation, Elvis and Priscilla had told her that she was going away on a vacation with her mother to Los Angeles, where she was going to attend school. "It broke my heart to see Elvis, a man who had everything, suddenly be lose the most important person in his life - his daughter."

"Lisa was more important than life itself to Elvis." Now she was being taken away from him," says Schilling.

Schilling believed that Elvis was understandably naive about the whole issue of divorce, because there had never been a divorce in the Presley family until now. And Elvis could not comprehend why Priscilla was not happy being married to him. After all, he had given her the whole world on a silver platter. Mostly, he couldn't understand why Priscilla needed to take Lisa away from the home she knew and loved Graceland.
THE DAY ELVIS CRIED
by Lea Frydman
Interview with Jerry Schilling #2


Although, the court ruled Priscilla gets custody of Lisa Marie, Elvis believed his daughter would be far better off raised with small town of values in Memphis, just like he was, than in a big city like Los Angeles.

After days of arguing, Priscilla convinced Elvis that Lisa would be happier with a constant parent, rather than one that was on the road. Touring most of the year, much to his despair, Elvis had to concede to the truth of his usual life-style was not conducive to raising a child on his own.

"Elvis just stood watching as we load up Priscilla's blue Mercedes. By than Priscilla was in tears and shaking," says Schilling.

"Elvis took Priscilla into his arms, kissed her gently on the mouth, and said. 'If you need anything, Cilla. Anything at all? You know to let me know'."

Until that finally moment, Elvis was still composed, but when it was time to bid farewell to his daughter, Elvis broke down and cried as he swooped his beloved Lisa into his arms. Elvis held Lisa tight for a very long time. "Be a good girl, Button-head," whispered Elvis. (Button-head was Elvis' pet name for Lisa) "You come and visit often, you hear," said Elvis trying to hold back the tears. Then out of sheer desperation Elvis insisted, "Get mummy to teach you how to use the phone, so you can call me everyday, okay."

As Schilling recalls, "Lisa Marie, was always a very perceptive child. She realised this was not the usual way her daddy said goodbye. Normally, Elvis would says, 'Button-head I'm off to work. What do you want daddy to bring you back, this time?'"

"This day was strange, and Lisa knew it. She looked into her daddy's eyes and asked him, 'Are you crying, daddy?"

At the point, Elvis flashed Priscilla a look that could kill, then delivered Lisa into her mother's awaiting arms, turned on his heels, walked back into the house, without looking back.
"I'd seen that look before in Elvis eyes," says Schilling. "It a look that still sends a chill went down my spine, when I think of it... It's was a look of pain, anger, desperation and hurt."

"For the rest of that day, till about 4 am that night, Elvis closed himself up in his bedroom. He wouldn't eat or take our calls."

"We got very worried. We thought maybe he had knocked myself out with a whole lot of sleeping pills."

"From time to time, Joe and I would sneak up to his bedroom and listen at the door. Once I heard him cursing. Another times I heard him screaming. But mostly we heard Elvis just sobbing."

Finally, Schilling admitted, "I now know, that day was the beginning of the end for the Elvis I had once know and loved."

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SEXY ELVIS
by Lea Frydman

Was it his eyes? Was it his voice? No, no it was his smile


If he was a revolutionary, then he was an accidental one, an innately talented young man who arrived on the scene at the right place at the right times.

And though his music symbolized the coming together of black and white cultures into the mainstream in a way that had never happened before, that seemed to hold little interest for him.

What Elvis Aaron Presley really wanted from the start was to go to Hollywood and become a movie star like his heroes, James Dean and Marlon Brando. And just like them to be the rebel up on the screen.
It was almost as if the music that shook the world was incidental, Brando and Dean were his role models.

When he finally got to Hollywood and met director of Rebel Without A Cause, Nicholas Ray, Elvis got down on his knee and started reciting whole pages from the script.

Obviously Elvis had seen Rebel at least a dozen times and memorized every line that Dean spoke.

However, Elvis was never given the chance to rival Brando and Dean as a movie actor, but he did learn from them one critical lesson: never smile.

Elvis was convinced that that serious, sultry and sexy look was the key to their success. Now even Robert Mitchum (another favourite actors of Elvis) used that down cast appearance at times.

He was sure he could manage the same kind of sultry and sexy persona of his Hollywood idols. As a teenager, in the privacy of his bedroom Elvis spent hours in front of the mirror working on the look and used it to maximum effect own screen and stage appearance.

The perfect example of this can be seen in the movie "Jailhouse Rock" when Elvis impulsively grabs his new manager (Judy Tyler) and kisses her. When she objects he claims "It's just the beast in me... " A sexually charged moment in the movie as he walks away with a sneer.

And again, if you care to notice, all professional photo shoots of the 50's rarely show Elvis with a smile on his face.

However, the difference between Dean, Brando, and Elvis was that although a sinner on-stage, he was a saint off-stage. Whereas, Dean and Brando remained sullen, self-obsessed and at times completely anti-social.

It was not until Hollywood tamed the rebel and sterilised the beast in Elvis that we are subjected to the well-rehearsed smile. A smile we the audience soon realised was there out of character and false. So we stop going to watch it.

The smile and the sideburns were revisited in the 70's. This time Elvis fans welcomed the perfect but sincere smile between, kisses, scarf throwing and songs on stage, followed by the now famous phrase: thankyouverymuch...

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ELVIS 1969 VEGAS INTERVIEW
by Lea Frydman

After opening in Las Vegas 1969 Elvis gave this rare interview


Throughout his lifetime Elvis gave very few interviews. When he did, the questions where so blase we discovered little about the man behind the legend. In this rare interview, the first in 9 years Elvis spoke determined to set the record straight while displaying an ability to joke about himself. Following the opening of his Las Vegas show at the International Hilton on 29 July 1969. No longer contracted to Hollywood and with the success of 68' Television Special looming fresh, a mature Elvis was reawakened with his return to performing live on stage.

For opening night, Elvis trimmed off the Hollywood fat. Now slim and handsome, looking healthy and relaxed in a simple black suit, he held off the press questions with all the bravado of an icon while he seated himself and took a deliberate, long sip of water.


Without the benefit of one question being fired, Elvis went into his spiel. "How I got in this business and how I got started, where and when, and so forth... Its been written up so many times, people don't even know - the true story," Elvis explained in his cool Southern accent.

"When Awh was a boy, I always saw myself as a hero in comic books and in movies. I grew up believing this dream... When I got outta High School I was driving a truck. Ya know, I was just a poor-boy from Memphis, Memphis," said Elvis, denoting the name of his home with an exaggerated Southern accent. "I was driving a truck and training to be an electrician. He grinned. "I suppose I got wired the wrong way round somewhere along the line," laughed, Elvis.

"One day, I went into a recording studio and made a record for a guy named Sam Phillips on Sun Records. He put the record out in about a week. I went back to driving a truck and just forgot about it, man... The record came out and was real big in Memphis. They started playing it, and it got real big. Don't know why? (laughs) The lyrics had no meaning. I was just this kid, who went awopah-awh-a-awh on record," Elvis said impersonating his vocals.

"Anyway, they put the record out and it got pretty big in the South. But I still had my job. Awh was driving a truck daytimes and working nightclubs at night... and things like that.

the 1970 concert documentary has been remastered, revised and is on sale now! This latest offering audience's get to see the superb musical instincts and raw charisma of the man who, single-handedly defined @{Rock-n-Roll}@ in the '50s.

Directed by Denis Sanders, the documentary chronicles Elvis' triumphant Las Vegas appearances - which were widely cheered Elvis fans when first, released in 1970.

The 'new' version has been vastly reworked with more than half an hour of new concert and rehearsal footage that focuses more on Elvis's creative process than his celebrity. Producer Rick Schmidlin, editor Michael Salomon and rerecording mixer Bruce Botnick, spearheaded the new project.

Unlike the actor of the previous 29 Hollywood formula films, Elvis comes alive in front of the camera in this documentary, whether horsing around with his musicians during rehearsal or losing himself on stage in the music. Elvis is a t his consummated best in front of a live audience.

As soon as, "Heartbreak Hotel" established the Pelvis in 1956, Elvis headed for Hollywood. Just as rock 'n' roll was viewed as a passing fad, Elvis enticed his manager, Col. Tom Parker, to help make his dream come true of becoming an actor like his heroes James Dean and Marlon Brando.

Sure Elvis made a few decent films, but any hopes of being a serious actor were soon sabotaged by Parker, who wanted long-term, big-money guarantees rather than creative control of the films.

So, the promise of such films as, "Loving You," "Jailhouse Rock" and "King Creole" gave way to travelogue tales, pretty women, and asinine soundtracks. Presley complained in private, but he continued to make 31 Hollywood movies over 16 years.

By 1968, and after the success of his television Comeback Special, Elvis was desperate for the excitement and creative outlet that performing live offered. He headed for Las Vegas for a four-week engagement at the International Hotel (now the Las Vegas Hilton).

Elvis received rave reviews and set box-office records that even Frank Sinatra couldn't match. After a second spectacular engagement at the International in January 1970, Parker signed with MGM to do a documentary of Presley's third International stint . In retrospect, the documentary might have been stronger if Sanders had shot it during the second engagement.

Driven by the challenge of performing to a live audience after a decade away, Elvis was thoroughly focused in the first two engagements. However, by the summer the challenge was gone, and Elvis was fast becoming a caricature of his former self. Still, some insightful moments are thrilling, when Elvis like a man uncaged, makes all his songs a unique experience.

In 1956 I met Colonel Sanders," Elvis burst into a laugh. "Nay, nay, Parker, I mean Parker. He arranged to have me go on television."

Elvis drew a deep breath remembering the unsavory episode of being forced to sing HOUND DOG to a basset dog dressed in a top hat.

"So they put me on television. And the whole thing broke loose. It was wild. I tell ya for sure. I did the Ed Sullivan show, four times. I did the Steve Allen show. I did the Jackie Gleason show. They had me singing to a dog and filmed me from here up," Elvis put his hand to his waist.

"All the time, they were telling me. 'Hey! You! Stand still! Stand still!' And they kept asking me, 'we're you from white-boy?' I told them, Memphis, Memphis. They thought, 'he's a dummy, we'll just put him in back." Elvis broke up and laughed.

"I gotta tell you," continued Elvis in a sombre tone. "The first time I auditioned for the Arthur Godffrey talent show they turned me down! They said, 'm-a-n get him outta here! Get him out!" They took that jerk-off, instead! What's his name?" Elvis looked to his father for the answer. Vernon shrugged his shoulders. "Pat Boone, yea, it was Pat. That was okay by me, cause he had a pretty good voice...""Anyway, later on they send me to Hollywood. To make movies. It was all new to me. I was only 21 years old... When they yelled 'action' Aaah didn't know what to do. So I yelled, Memphis! Memphis!" joked, Elvis jerking his right shoulder. "They looked at me and said, 'Is that all we can get outta him...'"

"I made four movies, and in 1958, I got drafted... I went into the army and stayed a couple of years. That was loads-a-fun..."

"They made a big deal outta cuttin' all my hair off and all that jazz. I was a soldier, now." Elvis stood up and saluted. "Yes sir!"

"The next thing I knew, I was out of the service and making movies, again. My first picture was called, GI BLUES and I thought I was still in the army, " said Elvis, blinking madly and turned his head around as if not knowing where he was.

"I did some good picture that did very well for me, like Blue Hawaii... and some pretty forgettable ones too!"

When asked whether he felt it had been a mistake to release those terrible soundtrack albums, Elvis admitted, "I sure lost my musical direction in Hollywood. My songs were the same conveyer belt mass production, just like most of my movies were..."

"Now I'm back and on the right road..." He raised his glass, toasted the press. "Those movies sure got me into a rut. I want to make amends. I really missed working live, in front of an audience, that's why I'm here..." Elvis stood up and took a bow. The reporters gave him a standing ovation. In a soft polite voice, he ended. "Ah hope I didn't bore you too much, with mah life story..."


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