How to determine dates of photo's

[Leroy]

The rest of the year 1974 Elvis kept wearing the "Diamond Maltese Cross" sometimes in combination with the "Blue Cross". During a concert in Monroe in March 1974 Elvis gave a gold necklace to a five-year-old child in the audience. This could be the "Blue Cross".
During one of the Monroe concerts he also wore the "Hawaiian Male Vine" again while during his Roanoke concert only the "Hawaiian Male Vine" was used. This was also the case in Richmond on March 12th. During the rest of the tour he would wear the "Diamond Maltese Cross".

[Leroy]

On August 29th during the midnight show Elvis introduced one new necklace and re-introduced another one he wore briefly in 1972. It was a combination of the "White Necklace" and the "Kenpo Necklace". The first one would only last as long as the duration of the Summer Festival. The "Kenpo Necklace" would made it through until the end of Elvis' next and final tour of 1974. This necklace is a coin with a kenpo fist on it. He wore it at least one time during the November 1972 tour on a simple gold chain. The story goes that Lisa Marie made a new chain for it in 1974. And off course let's not forget the "Diamond Maltese Cross".

[Leroy]

The beginning of 1975 was very poor in terms of necklaces. The only one ever present was the "Diamond Maltese Cross". During the April/May tour of that year Elvis would wear a necklace made of beads during a couple of concert among them the concert in Jackson, Mississippi.

And on July 14th Elvis started to wear colourful chokers both on- and off stage. Some of them belonged to the "Dark Blue Gypsy" and the "Black Aztec" and a few others were part of the infamous "Two-toned Street Suits".
With them off course the "Diamond Maltese Cross". I'm going to review the chokers in the forthcoming jumpsuit story.
The last mentioned would also be dominant during the December 1975 Vegas season.
During his closing show on December 15th Elvis wore a large disc I can't quite make out but it almost has the format of a CD. If anyone can help me here please do so.

Elvis closed 1975 in Detroit, Michigan with only the "Diamond Maltese Cross" (and a jumpsuit off course)!!!!

[Leroy]

A new year (1976) which will show us no surprises jewelry-wise. During the first tour in March Elvis would only use the "Diamond Maltese Cross". During the second tour in April Elvis re-introduced the "Kenpo Necklace" and would wear it throughout the year together with the earlier mentioned "Diamond Maltese Cross".



At least at one date during his very last Las Vegas season Elvis wore some kind of medallion (see picture below)This could well be the "Combi Necklace" I've put below. It's a coin which contains a Christian cross, the TCB sign, the Star of David, the Hebrew Chai and an Angel. Someone asked him why he replied: "I do not want to be refused in heaven on a technicality!"



And during the last tour in December 1976 Elvis added a the "Black Cross" to his collection.

[Leroy]

We're coming to the final stage now; 1977. During the first tour in February we can spot some differences right away. The "Diamond Maltese Cross" is disbanded and would not return. The "Kenpo Necklace" also seems to have disappeared but a close and detailed look will reveal that it only has shape shifted. The coin with the kenpo fist was layed into some kind of medallion so it's still here. During this first tour Elvis also wore the "Black Cross" and a new item was added which would stay with him for the rest of the year. A "Hebrew Chai" which was a sign for a long and healthy life (!?).

[Leroy]

During the second tour in March Elvis would set in the routine that would last for the remaining concert tours of 1977. the "Kenpo Medallion" and the "Hebrew Chai".
This is it folks! I hope this information will give a little back up to determine dates of pictures. It could be that I will discover some forgotten pieces, if so I will update this section and let you all know.

[Tommy]

Thank you Leroy for the great jewerly information and photos.

[PiersEIN]

Just got back to this thread.
Fascinating stuff Leroy
- & thanks for taking it through to 1977.

Now back to those mis-labelled photos of mine!!

Cheers
Piers

[elvislady]

Thanks for all the info you have provided i especially get mixed up with dates of photos.
elvislady

[elvislady]

Elvis wore "pork chop" sideburns during the 1970s.
In fact, it was during THIS decade, that Elvis let them puppies grow nice and big.
The pork chop sideburns were full and spread out on the lower corners of his cheek, near his lower jaw. They were shaped at a slant, almost like a triangle. The hair was long in length and dyed to match
i just got this pic as a example of his hair styles and side burns.
elvislady

[Joe Car]

Thanks again Leroy for the info. During his August 1974 Vegas engagment, EP had really short sideburns, almost like that of the 68 special, though not quite as tidy. I wish I knew how to post pics, he was wearing sort of a western two-piece outfit.

[Leroy]

Joe, the western outfits, as yo called them were leather two pieces. They are hand made and a Los Angeles called North Beach Leather. Elvis owned several of them but they were all bought, not specially made. These outfits were very popular in the seventies and were used by a lot of celebrities. Elvis only used a few species on stage:

Emperor
Native Flower
Sparkling Fountain
Mermaid
Wine Glass

[1100ccRider]

Excellent stuff! We need more of this sort of thing, I think.

That ankh he wore on stage, was adorned with lapis, I believe, so the stone was a dark royal blue rather than black. He also wore at least one other ankh offstage, a much larger one (silver?) on a long chain that can be seen -- if memory serves -- in the August 30, 1974 backstage photos when Elvis is wearing the wineglass Hoban leather outfit.

The white necklace from the second 1974 Vegas season was a puka/pukka/pucca shell necklace, from Hawaii...they seem to be very trendy now but I'm the only person I've seen around yet who's got one anywhere like the size of Elvis' (most have shells or fragments of shells that are very small, maybe 5-9mm in diameter).

The diamond Maltese cross featured at the center interlocking hearts of green (emerald, I guess) and red (garnet?) stones that I believe characterized, respectively, Linda's and Elvis' birthstones.

By the way, by sheer coincidence I know a woman who has been a friend since childhood of the girl to whom Elvis gave that bejeweled cross in 1974 (in Monroe, LA)...she's handled the cross and told me she thinks the stones are tourmaline. I don't know if she's right, or who determined what the stones were cut from (a jeweler, I'd guess), but tourmaline's one of those gems that comes in a wide array of colors.

What I'd like to know more about is Elvis' '70s microphones (onstage, anyway...he used a lot more in rehearsals and so on). I know he used the re-15 (and re-10?) from 1969 to 1973, along with the SM-57 (1969 and part of '72) and the SM-53 or 54 (11/70) and whatever he used in Vegas in '71 (re-11? re-16? ds-35?), but what the heck was the one with the very long barrel he used in 1973-1974 (re-55?) and the one he used from 1975 on?

[Leroy]

Excellent stuff! We need more of this sort of thing, I think.

That ankh he wore on stage, was adorned with lapis, I believe, so the stone was a dark royal blue rather than black. He also wore at least one other ankh offstage, a much larger one (silver?) on a long chain that can be seen -- if memory serves -- in the August 30, 1974 backstage photos when Elvis is wearing the wineglass Hoban leather outfit.

The white necklace from the second 1974 Vegas season was a puka/pukka/pucca shell necklace, from Hawaii...they seem to be very trendy now but I'm the only person I've seen around yet who's got one anywhere like the size of Elvis' (most have shells or fragments of shells that are very small, maybe 5-9mm in diameter).

The diamond Maltese cross featured at the center interlocking hearts of green (emerald, I guess) and red (garnet?) stones that I believe characterized, respectively, Linda's and Elvis' birthstones.

By the way, by sheer coincidence I know a woman who has been a friend since childhood of the girl to whom Elvis gave that bejeweled cross in 1974 (in Monroe, LA)...she's handled the cross and told me she thinks the stones are tourmaline. I don't know if she's right, or who determined what the stones were cut from (a jeweler, I'd guess), but tourmaline's one of those gems that comes in a wide array of colors.

What I'd like to know more about is Elvis' '70s microphones (onstage, anyway...he used a lot more in rehearsals and so on). I know he used the re-15 (and re-10?) from 1969 to 1973, along with the SM-57 (1969 and part of '72) and the SM-53 or 54 (11/70) and whatever he used in Vegas in '71 (re-11? re-16? ds-35?), but what the heck was the one with the very long barrel he used in 1973-1974 (re-55?) and the one he used from 1975 on?

Thank you very much for the extra info upon Elvis jewlry. You are right about the 1973 "Maltese Cross". At the time of writing this piece I didn't have a proper picture of it with the red and green stones so I used the one I had. I knew people would recognize it anyway.

As for the different microphones I can add the following.
During the rehearsals for "TTWII" Elvis used a Shure PE- 585 Dynamic.
There are also pictures of 1969 where he used a Shure 545 and a RCA HK 102.

During the September tour of 1970 he also used several different mikes.
Offcourse the usual Electrovoice RE-15, the Sure SM-53 and the AKG 1200.

The microphone he used between April 1973 and September 1973 is a mystery for me. The same goes for the microphone he used during the June tour of 1974 and during his August/September 1974 Las Vegas season.

After that he kept using the Electrovoice CS-15 E with a foam windscreen attached with electrical tape.

[Polk-Salad-Annie]

Leroy,

Thanks for this great thread.
Fascinating stuff.

[Jumpsuit Junkie]

This thread has been moved to the Jumpsuit section as a sticky thread so that it doesn't get lost in time

Matt

[Tommy]

Good idea, thanks for moving it.

[medleyofcostumes]

Hello everybody,
I find it extremely difficult to determine 1977 pics since most of the time Elvis wore thSundial and King of Spades. Any help?

[Leroy]

The years 1976 and 1977 are very difficult to date. What might help (sometimes) are the suits the band wore, rings Elvis used, electrical tape on Elvis microphone, the way Elvis' hair was fixed. At least it will narrow down the possibilities. But even I have a folder with undated pictures of 1976 and 1977 that contains a truck load.

[medleyofcostumes]

One could determine the date of photos by looking at the members of the tcb band playing with Elvis. On some tours or Vegas engagements, other musicians filled in for the regular band. As far as I know the only 2 musicians, apart from Charlie Hodge, who played with Elvis throughout the concert years were the two guitarists ? James Burton and John Wilkinson. I will start with the drummers Elvis used live between 1969 and 1977. In 1969, Ronnie Tutt played drums in Vegas using what looks like a sparkling beige drumkit. This drumkit was only used during this engagement.

http://www.tcb-world.com/gallery/sho...p?i=39172&c=41

Ronnie was not available for the Jan-Feb 1970 Vegas stint. So Bob Lanning sat in for him. Bob used a smaller drumkit with one bass drum nor two as Ronnie always used with Elvis. Lanning also played at the Astrodome:

http://www.tcb-world.com/gallery/sho...p?i=29790&c=28

Ronnie returned for the Aug-Sept 1970 Vegas engagement with a black drumkit. This was replaced either in Vegas or after the engagement with a blue one which was used until July 1974. This kit is seen in ?On Tour? and ?Aloha from Hawaii?. As from the August-September 1974 Ronnie used a new larger silverish Ludwig drumkit. This was used until his final show with Elvis ? 23rd June 1977. Photos of Ronnie using this kit:

http://www.tcb-world.com/gallery/sho...p?i=37990&c=35

Ronnie Tutt missed the first tour of 1976 (17 ? 22 March 1976), and Larrie London a 300 pound super drummer joined the band (Larry sadly passed away on 24 October 1992). He used a huge blue drumkit with the ?Pearl? logo on the two bass drums.

Larry played again with Elvis on the last 2 shows ? 25th and 26th June 1977 using the same drumkit.

Larry in1976 :
March 21st : http://www.tcb-world.com/gallery/sho...p?i=28050&c=34

Larry in 1977:
June 25th : http://www.tcb-world.com/gallery/sho...p?i=35380&c=35
June 26th : http://www.tcb-world.com/gallery/sho...p?i=30990&c=35

Jerome Monroe sat for Ron Tutt on the 24th of June 1977 for his sole performance with Elvis. I have not seen any clear photos of Jerome. The only one I know of where he is partially visible is:

http://www.tcb-world.com/gallery/sho...p?i=27034&c=35

I hope this info was helpful to you. Next time I will talk about bass players.