E-Photo of the month  GracelandCam - Live

   Sierpień z Elvisem w TV - Piątkowe, sierpniowe, wieczory TCM poświęci królowi rock'n'rolla, Elvisowi Presleyowi,
      prezentując dokumenty (m.in. " Elvis - taki właśnie był" - 1970), filmy z jego udziałem oraz programy, w których
      rodzina, przyjaciele i wielbiciele Elvisa zabiorą widzów w ostatnią podróż po jego świecie ... pełna informacja  

August 10, 2003

The Masters Behind the Masters
    
   Just doing their thing, songwriters Mike Stoller and Jerry Leiber helped give birth to rock and roll when
   they wrote Hound Dog in 1952

   By Michael Lollar, The Commercial Appeal - August 10, 2003


Their list of hits sounds like the very history of rock and roll almost from the moment of its birth, with classic songs recorded by everybody from Elvis Presley to the Drifters to John Lennon. 

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller were like the rap artists of the early '50s, pushing buttons, inviting scorn and testing the limits, as rock roared into being from its roots as blues and rhythm and blues. They were writing music for black artists, when one of their songs, Hound Dog, was heard by a young Elvis Presley. His adaptation turned it into a No. 1 hit and helped aim Leiber and Stoller toward the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. 

They wrote 20 songs for Elvis until the brash young songwriters had a falling out with Col. Tom Parker, the Svengali they now remember as a "bully" and a "foul, greedy" man who helped destroy Elvis. But the estrangement didn't change their respect for Elvis. 

"We feel that Elvis Presley was the high water mark of the 20th Century. He's legend. No, he's myth. He's in that celestial place for mythological figures. At the time, we just thought he was a white kid trying to make it as a singer," says Leiber, the man who supplied the words as lyricist of one of the worlds' best-known songwriting duos. 

Stoller, the composer of the duo, will join Elvis fans in Memphis on Monday for a Jailhouse Rock version of Rocky Horror Picture Show. (Leiber said he had planned to attend but had to cancel because of a songwriting project). Audience members at Elvis Presley's club on Beale are invited to dress up as a favorite character from the movie and sing, dance or act along with the characters during a screening of Jailhouse Rock. 

It will also be an autograph session with Stoller, one of the few men with at least as much stake in the history of rock and roll as Elvis himself. And it will be a formal recognition by Graceland, Elvis Presley Enterprises and BMG/RCA Records of Leiber and Stoller's role in music history. 

Stoller, originally of Long Island, and Leiber, originally of Baltimore, are, at 70, still writing songs and involved in two theater projects. "What else can you do? That's all we know how to do," says Leiber, whose partnership with Stoller began at 17 and has lasted 53 years. 

They met in 1950, sharing a love of the blues and boogie woogie. They were writing for black artists, their earliest songs recorded by Jimmy Witherspoon, Little Esther, Amos Milburn, Charles Brown, Little Willie Littlefield and, among others, Willie Mae 'Big Mama' Thornton. 

It was for Big Mama Thornton that they wrote Hound Dog in 1952. Her version came out in 1953 and was adapted by several groups. Stoller had gone to Europe with royalties from some of those early songs and was on his way home aboard the Andrea Doria when it sank in 1956. 

Rescued by a lifeboat, Stoller arrived in New York with Leiber yelling from the dock: "We've got a smash hit." 

"I said, 'You mean Big Mama Thornton's record?' He said, 'No, some white kid named Elvis Presley.' Elvis had heard Hound Dog in a Vegas Lounge by a group called Freddie Bell and the Bellboys," says Stoller. 

Released the same year as Heartbreak Hotel, it put Elvis on TV and turned him into the hip-swiveling phenomenon that some claim was the beginning of the generation gap. The rebellion and sexual innuendo that came with it weren't intentional on the part of Leiber and Stoller. 

"We were completely unconscious of what it might imply. We were just doing numbers," says Leiber. Stoller says those numbers were unfamiliar to white audiences because he and Leiber had written "almost exclusively for black performers, so we wrote in a black idiom. People started thinking it was entirely new, but the base we started from was the blues and boogie woogie." 

Stoller says they didn't specifically tailor songs to that early Elvis persona but began by supplying songs they had already written, like Love Me, a ballad they had already recorded. "Then we were asked to write for a movie, Loving You, with Elvis and Lizabeth Scott." The next project, Jailhouse Rock, included four songs Leiber and Stoller wrote while held captive in a New York hotel. 

They had been living in Los Angeles, and Stoller says they rented a New York hotel suite with a piano in the living area. "We were given a script for the movie and kind of tossed it in the corner. We were having a ball in New York, going to jazz clubs, cabaret, going to the theater and hanging out. Finally, Jean Aberbach who ran Elvis Presley Music knocked on the door and said, 'Well boys, where are my songs?' I think Jerry said, 'Oh, Jean, you're going to get them.' Jean then pushed a big overstuffed chair in front of the door and said, 'I'm not leaving until I get my songs.' " 

They wrote four songs in five hours, including the movie's title song and Treat Me Nice, both major hits. 

After that, Elvis "wanted us in the studio with him whenever we recorded," says Stoller. It was part of Elvis's "perfectionist" tendencies in the early stages of his career, says Jerry Schilling, a member of Elvis's Memphis Mafia. Leiber says Elvis "was like an Olympic champion. He could do 40 to 50 takes. I never saw him happier than when he was on a microphone, performing." 

Both songwriters say that studio time was their primary contact with Elvis, who was kept at arm's length from them by Colonel Parker. Stoller says Elvis once asked, "Mike, could you write me a real pretty ballad?" Over the weekend, they wrote the song Don't for him and handed it to him only to be berated by Parker. 

"He was upset that I handed a song directly to Elvis. They didn't want anybody to have direct access to Elvis. It was like Elvis was kept kind of in a glass box and away from contact except for the Memphis Mafia. They were like paid companions." 

Like almost everyone else, they also had little contact with Parker himself. "The longest I ever spent with him was a dinner at the Beverly Hills Hotel around 1956, after Hound Dog," says Stoller. 

The breaking point for them came when Leiber was recovering from a bout with pneumonia about two years later, and Parker ordered them to California to write songs for a new movie project. Leiber explained that he had just been released from the hospital and was unable to travel. "Parker said, 'You'd better get your ass out here.' " He then sent a packet with a contract for them to sign. Leiber says he pulled the contract from the packet and found only a dark line across the middle of a blank page for his signature. 

"I called and said, 'I think you made a mistake. There's no contract in here.' He said, 'Don't worry about that, boy. Just sign your name, and I'll fill it in later.' " 

Leiber says he then discussed it with Stoller, who told him to tell Parker "to screw himself." 

They did and never worked for Elvis again, says Leiber. Like many others, he wondered about Parker's hold on Elvis. "I think he (Elvis) had a very weak father and didn't get a sense of what a father was like. Parker came along, and his attitude was, 'Do this, do that, and I'll take care of everything.' Parker became his surrogate family." 

Stoller says Parker was a "bully," and Leiber says he was a "foul, greedy man." 

"Parker had a money machine - Elvis - that he kept squeezing the blood and the life out of and never gave him anything back. No other producer ever extracted more money." A normal agent or manager's fee was 15 percent, high was 20 percent. Parker took 50 percent, Stoller says. 

Leiber and Stoller's break with Parker ended that phase of their career, but not their music. They helped define music for a generation with monster hits from Love Potion #9 to Peggy Lee's pop classic Is That All There Is. 

The inspiration for Is That All There Is illustrates the scope of their songwriting flair. A plaintive song about disillusionment, Leiber says it stemmed from his mood after reading a collection of short stories by Thomas Mann, an author heavily influenced by German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. The 1969 song became a Top 20 hit, shoving aside Grand Funk Railroad and other acid rockers at the top of the charts at the time. 

The songwriters had no idea they were part of the birth of a new form of music when rock and roll became the new idiom in America. "Those are labels. We were busy doing what we were doing. We didn't have a historical sense of who we were or what we were," Stoller says. 

August 10, 2003

Elvis's empire as strong as ever
   By Michael Lollar, The Commercial Appeal - August 10, 2003

When Elvis Presley Enterprises laid off 50 employees two years ago, naysayers suspected they might finally be able to say, "See, we knew it wouldn't last." 

The layoffs came as an already sputtering economy was thrown headlong into the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. With a third of its visitors from outside the United States, EPE and Graceland suddenly faced their first downturn since Elvis Presley's death. 

The economy remained stagnant last year, but the 25th anniversary of Elvis's death was an international spectacle. Elvis was a theme in a Disney movie (and part of its soundtrack). A remix of a 1968 Elvis song, A Little Less Conversation, became a global hit single. A new "Elv1s: 30 #1 Hits" CD went triple platinum. Graceland broke its own merchandising records. 

For anyone who expected that to be the last hurrah - the blazing finale of a celestial object - 2003 is proving that Elvis has almost as much hold on the planet as gravity, apple pie and motherhood. "Waiting for the demise of the Elvis Presley phenomenon is a long, lonely wait," says Elvis Presley Enterprises CEO Jack Soden, who fended off the doubtful as early as two years after Graceland opened. "They would say, 'Well, I guess you're hoping to do well the next couple of years, because it's going to die off.' " 

Graceland, which had 600,000 ticket-buying visitors last year, expects to draw more than 640,000 visitors to Memphis this year, he says. The Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the University of Memphis estimates that will pump up to $400 million into the economy for the year - roughly $50 million of that this week alone as anywhere from 50,000 to 75,000 fans descend on Memphis for the 26th anniversary of Elvis's death. 

Last year's 25th anniversary was the "biggest year ever," says EPE merchandising director Danny Hiltenbrand. It was up 21 percent from the year before. "But, through July of this year, we've already matched what we did in fiscal 2002." 

Hiltenbrand says he can't explain it except for the huge surge of publicity last year, which moved tourists to plan a Memphis visit this season. The biggest tourism influx was in 1997, the 20th anniversary of the death, with 750,000 visitors. Soden thinks that number was helped along by a Wonders Series exhibition on the Titanic the same year. 

But Soden says no one needs to look for deep explanations about the undiminished appeal of Elvis. "You don't have to re-invent Elvis or repackage Elvis or change the fan base. Elvis grabs fans the same way he did in 1954, 1955 and 1956." 

Among dead celebrities, he last year topped the Forbes magazine list of biggest incomes, $37 million, beating out Peanuts comics creator Charles Schulz, Beatle John Lennon and NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt. 

While Soden says Elvis needs no repackaging, Graceland is, in fact, constantly repackaging him and watching his fan base grow progressively younger. Elvis would have been 68 this year. His manager, Col. Tom Parker, once paired Elvis with Frank Sinatra in a TV special in hopes of making the notorious "Elvis the Pelvis" appeal to an older audience. The trick now is to make dead Elvis appeal to the young. 

Soden says 53 percent of the fan base is 35 or younger. 

The Disney movie Lilo & Stitch last year exposed Elvis and his music to young children with four Elvis songs and a running Elvis theme. It reinforced Elvis as indivisible from American culture and as much a part of history as George Washington, the Louisiana Purchase or Bob Hope. 

The EPE licensing division isn't taking that for granted, licensing an array of products in "junior" sizes and categories to appeal to younger fans. Carol Butler, director of worldwide licensing, says licensing revenue has increased every year since she arrived nine years ago. "I feel safe in saying our licensing is going to be up 10 percent over last year. I think that's because of all the exposure in the 25th anniversary year." 

Wal-Mart became a licensee with a line of boxer shorts to appeal to a young audience. Russell Stover candies, a major licensee with an older demographic, asked for suggestions about declining sales, and Butler suggested "something colorful to appeal to a younger audience. They now have a CD box with a chocolate CD inside, and that's doing really well." 

Graceland is exploring electronic licensing avenues, for instance Elvis tunes as downloadable ring tones for cell phones. This year's licenses include a line of "Jibber Jabber" infant clothing with Elvis themes like the T-shirt messages, "Shake, Rattle and Roll Over" or "Elvis May Be the King of Rock and Roll, But I'm A Princess." 

Hiltenbrand and Butler say one of the most successful new products is a line of Elvis purses with rhinestones and glitter, which Hiltenbrand says "are flying out the doors." 

The most popular Elvis items in terms of revenue for EPE are collectible plates, Elvis sculpted figures, Christmas ornaments, paper products (such ascalendars), Russell Stover candies, the new MBNA Elvis credit card and Elvis lottery tickets. Items once licensed "but that didn't last long" include metallic helium balloons, wallpaper, neckties (the country "went casual") and party goods for adults. 

Among items she expects to do well this year are a line of collectibles by California designer Paul Frank, including several remakes of 1956 collectibles. Other items include a brightly colored marbled Brunswick bowling ball, Zippo lighters, pet accessories, an Elvis-themed Lionel train car and several items licensed through Spencer Gifts and aimed at young buyers. 

Another EPE venture, Heartbreak Hotel, is booked a year in advance for Elvis anniversary weeks with guests given first option to register year after year. "On an annual basis, it probably has 80 percent occupancy, while hotels typically average 60 to 65 percent," says Soden. 

EPE's Elvis Presley's Memphis club, competing with the entire Beale Street entertainment district and its heavy focus on the blues, has not been as successful as EPE had hoped. It also has suffered because of competition from Tunica casinos, which can afford to pay higher fees for performers on a regular basis. Figures for the club are proprietary, but Soden is cryptic about its future: 

"If Elvis Presley's downtown gets better and works great, it will be there for a long time. If it doesn't, I don't see that as a cornerstone to our whole presence in Memphis." 

Hiltenbrand says the rest of Elvis Presley Enterprises is beneficiary of the Elvis persona: "Elvis is one of those kinds of comfort foods in tough economic times, with security concerns, stress and war. Elvis hearkens people back to a simple, light-hearted time." 

August 09, 2003

New Memphis Visitor Center To Be Built Near Graceland 
   ------------------------------------------------------- EPE 8/8/2003 

Following is a press release from the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau:

All Shook Up in Whitehaven Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau Breaks Ground on a New Visitor Center in Whitehaven

The gates to Graceland will no longer be the only musical welcome for visitors heading to Whitehaven on I-55. The Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau is breaking ground on a new gateway project and full service visitor center at the corner of Elvis Presley and Brooks Road on August 12. In addition to providing information to Graceland visitors and Memphis tourists, the 3,286 square-foot building will also pay homage to many Memphis music icons.

“The Whitehaven Visitor Center will be located on a street that is home to the second most visited house in the country, Graceland,” Councilwoman TaJuan Stout Mitchell says. “In addition to providing information to visitors, the center will also address a gateway beautification project, and I am committed to insuring that all Memphis gateways are attractive entrances to our communities. This project is quite an achievement for our community and our city."

According to Councilwoman Mitchell, while she was campaigning in 1999, a citizen suggested using the site at Elvis Presley and Brooks Road as a visitor information center. Today, that wish has become a reality through the efforts of Kevin Kane, the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau and the City of Memphis. 

“The Memphis CVB’s long-term objective has always been to expand our visitor service opportunities. This location is ideal because of its strategic positioning to the Graceland area and its visitors. We hope to extend the visitors length of stay in the Memphis area by showcasing our unique amenities to an audience that has not always been accessible,” says Kevin Kane, president and CEO of the Memphis Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Archimania and Self Tucker Architects, Inc. designed the building as a symbol of the musical spirit of Memphis. The billboard-type roof will be laced with images of artists who have recorded albums in Memphis. Retail items and Memphis collectibles will also be available in the building. Construction will be completed by summer 2004. 

“Many millions of visitors have crossed this threshold to Whitehaven and Graceland. Now the millions yet to come will be greeted and welcomed to our community in grand Memphis style! Our heartfelt thanks to the Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau!” says Jack Soden, CEO, Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc.

GROUNDBREAKING
Date: August 12, 2003
Time: 10:00 AM

Location: Southwest corner of Elvis Presley and Brooks Road, 3205 Elvis Presley Blvd.

The Memphis Convention & Visitors’ Bureau is a private, non-profit, membership corporation responsible for marketing Memphis and Shelby County as a convention site and visitor destination. Visitors to West Tennessee have an estimated impact of $1.6 billion annually, generating nearly $105 million in local and state taxes and providing 37,000 jobs with an $808 million payroll.

Web site: www.memphistravel.com

August 09, 2003

Sam Phillips saw music as way to unite people 
   By Peter Cooper, The Tennessean - 08/08/03


Memorial tribute held in Memphis for Sun producer

MEMPHIS — They laid Sam Phillips to rest yesterday morning and brought him back to life yesterday afternoon.

After a private burial, the legendary producer of Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Jerry Lee Lewis, Howlin' Wolf, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison and numerous others was remembered with songs and stories during a memorial tribute at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts.

Speaker after speaker recalled the Alabama native who, at his tiny Sun Records studio at 706 Union Ave. here, quite literally changed the world.

He brought numerous great artists to popular attention, and his decision to record a teenage Presley's swaggering take on R&B song That's All Right (Mama) led to the culture-altering rock 'n' roll revolution. People around the globe talk, dress and listen differently because of Sam Phillips.

The most entertaining portions of the program were film clips of Phillips gesturing wildly, looking wide-eyed at his interviewers and pontificating on the cultural revolution spawned by the music he recorded in the tiny studio of Sun Records.

''I sure do like naturalness, in women and in sound,'' the innovative producer and member of the Rock and Roll and Country Music halls of fame said in one clip.

With another, he drew applause for his fervor-filled proclamation, ''I'm a perfect imperfectionalist. You know? Absolutely!''

Nashville's Jack Clement, who served as Phillips' right-hand man for years at Sun, told mourners that Phillips' line of talk ''was always profound, even when it was full of (expletive).''

Clement's comments were right in line with the irreverent tone of the proceedings. Phillips — who died last week at age 80 — never gave a whit about formality, and no one was expecting a fire-and-brimstone sermon during a service for a man who once cautioned Jerry Lee Lewis: ''Now look, Jerry, religious conviction doesn't mean anything resembling extremism.''

He said that to Lewis in 1957, at a Sun session when Lewis was slurry and hopped up and had decided that recording a song called Great Balls of Fire would make him an instrument of the devil. Phillips responded that, by using God-given musical talent, ''You can save souls.''

For Phillips, that belief was deeply held. He saw music as a common denominator, a uniter of races and sexes and creeds. In early '50s Memphis, he was ridiculed by white residents for the time he spent recording black blues and R&B singers.

''It was a segregated society, and I noticed he was altogether different,'' said B.B. King in a video clip, recalling his first meeting with Philips.

Blues man Little Milton Campbell, who began recording with Phillips in 1953, said at the funeral, ''He stuck to his guns. After all the criticism and the verbal abuse, the music started to catch on.''

Before performing with guitarist Kenny Vaughan, Nashville singer-songwriter Marty Stuart talked about the deep and lasting impact of Phillips' Sun singles.

''He left a lot of footprints for a lot of us to follow,'' Stuart said. ''It had a lot to do with the word 'freedom.' ''

He was, as author Peter Guralnick wrote in the tribute's program notes, ''the avatar of the revolution, whose vision gave birth to a moment of freedom and individuation.''

That's what he was to the world. To others, including Johnny Cash, he was also a friend. Cash recorded some words for play at the memorial:

''I wish you a perfect peace and rest,'' he said. ''May the angels surround you. I love you very much.''

Wednesday evening, friends and fans gathered at the Memorial Park Funeral Home for a visitation and viewing. That's All Right and Billy Lee Riley's Flying Saucer Rock 'n' Roll played through speakers, as people filed by an open casket and greeted Phillips' surviving family members.

The cold and waxen body lying in the casket, though, did not provide for a suitably spiritual visitation.

The most satisfying Phillips visitations took place miles away from the funeral home, at the Bluff City locales that have for decades been held as sacred for devotees of the rock 'n' roll church, a congregation that would not exist in its past or present form had it not been for Sam Phillips.

Outside 706 Union, a yellow wreath decorated the door that Presley, Cash and the other legends walked through. A snare drum thwack could be heard by anyone passing on the street, as original Sun rockabilly artist Sonny Burgess and his band, The Pacers, were recording for a new album.

Poplar Tunes, the store that claims to have sold the first Elvis records to the first Elvis fans, owes its long commercial life in no small part to the legacy of the music made at Sun. The sign outside Poplar carried a simple message this week: ''Thankya Mr. Phillips.''

At the Overton Park band shell, where 19-year-old Presley played his first concert, a collection of volunteers were selling beer, cooking barbecue and preparing the stage for a show. It was 49 years ago, just behind that shell, where Phillips huddled with a nervous Presley and told him, ''Look, Elvis, we'll find out whether they like you or not. They're gonna love you.''

Of course, they did love him. A few years later, Presley headlined at the shell, and his opening act was an upstart group called Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Two.

''I woke up last week, turned on the Channel 13 news, and they said Sam had died,'' said Overton Park volunteer Terry Bradshaw, struggling not to cry at the remembrance. ''I went to the Kroger, cleaned out their carnations and took them over to Sun Studio. I mean, this guy brought Elvis to us. He brought Cash, and all of them. He gave us so much music.''

In a clip that aired during the service, Phillips explained his contribution by saying, ''I wanted to do what I wanted to do,'' and then offered an evaluation of a rich and fruitful life:

''How… lucky… can … one … man … be?''

 August 08, 2003

Laughter, loving music see Phillips off
   By Bill Ellis, The Commercial Appeal - August 8, 2003



The blue 1960 Cadillac center stage said it all. 

Sam Phillips's memorial tribute Thursday at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts was a flamboyant, spirited farewell that befitted this larger-than-life personality and music legend, who died of respiratory failure July 30 at 80. 

If Sam Phillips captured the essence of the people he recorded, then this ceremony captured the essence of Sam. From the stage, son Knox Phillips said initial plans were to present a respectful, reverent service for his father. 

"And then we kind of looked around at each other and said, 'Nah,' " he said. "We thought we'd try to do something that would give you a sense of Sam's style. After all, he is the guy who taught Elvis style." 

Phillips not only hot-wired popular music through his recordings, largely in the 1950s, of Elvis Presley and many others at Sun Records, he altered the course of American and world culture as a result, something not lost on those in attendance. Said honorary pallbearer George Klein: "Before the guys in Washington passed the Civil Rights Act, (Phillips) had already passed the rock and roll act." 

The colorful Sun Records founder and producer was buried Thursday morning in a private entombment at Memorial Park Mausoleum. 

In the two-hour tribute later in the day, friends, family, professional acquaintances and musical legends all paid homage through anecdotes, words of praise, music and a good dose of humor. Phillips himself was there through comments on video screen, many from the local Recording Academy's interviews with him for its award-winning Sounds of Memphis project. Anyone who expected a somber send-off didn't know Sam. 

"I sure do like naturalness in women and in sound, not necessarily in that order," went one Phillips quote that got a roar from those gathered. 

The Cannon Center, which seats 2,100, was about two-thirds full for the ceremony, put together by the Phillips family with help from Pat Kerr Tigrett and Joe Mulherin. WKNO-FM 91.1 will air the tribute from 2-4 p.m. today. 

Dr. Benjamin Hooks, former national director of the NAACP, gave the opening prayer. 

"We thank you that you're going to call us from a place where we have to cry we're all shook up." 

A musical segment featured country music star Marty Stuart, who performed with second guitarist Kenny Vaughn. Stuart recalled seeing an "Uncle Sam Wants You" sign at the post office during his Philadelphia, Miss., youth. 

"I found out that my life had a different calling to a different Uncle Sam - Uncle Sam Phillips," said Stuart. "He laid a lot of footprints for a lot of us to follow." 

Onetime Sun engineer/producer/songwriter Jack Clement joined Stuart and Vaughn for several tunes including readings of the Rolling Stones number No Expectations, which Johnny Cash had once covered, and Ballad of a Teenage Queen, the Cash Sun tune penned by Clement. 

"Sam hated that song," quipped Clement. 

"We ought to do it then," Stuart chimed back to a hall full of laughter. 

Clement was overwhelmed while reading hisobservances about Phillips. 

"Sam still calls me sometimes in the middle of the night," he said, trying to hold back tears. 

Videotaped messages from Cash and another legend that Phillips recorded in the 1950s - B. B. King - were played, as was a video clip by famed Atlantic Rec ords producer/executive Jerry Wexler. 

King told how Phillips, who recorded many blues artists before turning his attention to rock and roll, was helpful in some of his first sides, licensed to RPM/Modern. 

"He was one of the pioneers because he put it out for people to get it," said King. "Sam Phillips was a guy that didn't only just think, he did. He was a great man. A whole lot of us are going to miss him." 

Cash told the story about having his first Sun single, Hey, Porter backed with Cry! Cry! Cry!, handed to him by Phillips. 

"It said 'Johnny Cash.' That was the first time I ever saw my name in print. Nobody called me Johnny except my wife." 

When Cash brought the single down to WMPS, "guarding that record fiercely," it got broken. 

To the naive new artist, "I thought my music career was over . . . I made only one record and that was it." 

Offered Cash in closing: "I wish God's blessing for you, a perfect, peaceful rest. And may the angels surround you. I love you very much." 

"I lost a dear old friend this week," Wexler said. "Sam was the high priest of the church of rock and roll, a fervent believer of its power to bring people together, not just in southern America, but all over the globe." 

Graceland CEO Jack Soden said Elvis fans honor Phillips not only for launching Presley's career and recording those revolutionary first sides but for being an on-hand celebrity in his own right in later years. 

"I want to give voice to the millions of Elvis fans all over the world who wish they could be here right now to say in a hundred different languages, 'Thank you, Sam Phillips,' " said Soden. 

Author Peter Guralnick offered a glimpse of Phillips in his formative years, when a philosophy stuck that would eventually lead him to record a string of legendary folks from Howlin' Wolf, Rufus Thomas and Ike Turner to Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Charlie Rich. 

"Sound was a vehicle," said Gural nick. "It was sound that carried him away, the sound of the whippoorwill, the sound of the mockingbird's song, the sound of the sharecroppers working and singing in the field, the sound of a hoe striking the ground and the sound of the silence in-between. As Sam said, 'I would hear somebody speak to a mule harshly. I heard that. Nothing passed my ears.' " 

Everybody who met Phillips had an opinion of him; the portrait was of a complex man, a self-described "perfect imperfectionist." 

"He was a teacher, a big brother, a boss, everything," said Sun session guitar great and Sam Phillips Recording Service studio pro Roland Janes before the service. Janes was one of 33 honorary pallbearers along with Isaac Hayes, David Porter, Margaret Ann Rich, Jim Dickinson, Dr. George Nichopoulos and Isaac Tigrett. 

Some 1,000 people also attended a visitation on Wednesday at Memorial Park Funeral Home, including saxophone legend Ace Cannon, who couldn't attend Thursday's tribute due to obligations in Jackson, Tenn., for a Sun Record Company Awards ceremony. 

"I've loved him for 50 years," said Cannon, who played on many Sun sides. 

Speaking as well the night before at Memorial Park was singer Reba Russell, who recalled the many colorful speeches Phillips gave at local events. 

"He reminded me of an oracle," she said. 

Addressing the Thursday crowd as well was onetime Sun artist Little Milton, who praised Phillips for giving him the opportunity to realize his dream to record. 

"Back then it wasn't the most popular thing for a Southern white man to be interested in what they called black music," he said. "But Sam Phillips stayed fast to his belief. . . . Then the music started to catch on. All of a sudden when he was widely accepted, he became a hero and he said I told you so. 

"Here's a guy that I feel there's no such thing as he's dead. Let's just say he's retiring. As long as there's music, as long as there's Memphis, Tennessee, as long as there's people like myself that still do soul music, R&B, whatever you want to call it, rock and roll, believe me, Sam Phillips is still alive." 

To many, Phillips will ultimately be remembered as a life teacher, one whose message was to "be the best individual human being they could possibly be," said his son Knox. "If you were a yard man or a professional wrestler, be the best yard man, be the best professional wrestler that you could be. Trust yourself. That was everything for him." 

Of course, Phillips had the last word at his own tribute. As a final video image of the man faded, he spoke loud and clear: "How lucky can one man be?" 

The family requests that any memorials be sent to the Sam Phillips Scholarship Fund at the University of Memphis's Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music. 

August 08, 2003

Luminaries, locals celebrate memories, a musical legacy
   By Jody Callahan, The Commercial Appeal - August 8, 2003

Marty Stuart remembers a day, about a year and a half ago, when he came to Memphis seeking counsel with Sam Phillips. 

The country maverick was about to put out a new record, one that diverged from what Nashville normally allows, and he wanted advice from the original iconoclast. 

So he paid a visit to Phillips. They ate lunch ("He paid," Stuart remembered, with a chuckle). They sat in his living room. They talked and talked. Phillips gave Stuart a copy of an Ernest Withers photography book and a Sun Studio watch. 

Stuart, who played acoustic guitar and mandolin at Phillips's memorial tribute at the Cannon Center on Thursday afternoon, treasures that memory. 

"He was Uncle Sam. He's family," said Stuart, who canceled a gig in Cincinnati to make the memorial. "I've always regretted the fact that he didn't produce a record outta me." 

Stuart, Isaac Hayes, former Sun affiliate Jack Clement, Elvis biographer Peter Guralnick, soul legend Little Milton and television composer Mike Post were among the well-known personalities who attended the service for Phillips, Sun Records founder who died July 30 at the age of 80. 

Local folks who attended included Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton, Elvis Presley Enterprises head Jack Soden, Hard Rock Cafe founder Isaac Tigrett and musicians Isaac Hayes, Jimmy Davis, Cordell Jackson and Jason D. Williams, who wore his blue suede shoes in tribute. 

"Without Sam Phillips," Williams said, "there wouldn't be a reason to wear blue suede shoes." 

Those who did travel to Memphis, though, had nothing but praise for the man many consider the father of rock and roll. 

It was fitting that the crowd was composed mainly of everyday folks, people Phillips touched during his 80 years. Many of the mythic names associated with Phillips and Sun Records were unknown before they walked into the studio at 706 Union. 

Phillips's rebellious spirit brought something out of an artist the performer didn't know he had. 

"He tried to get the best out of everyone who worked with him, even if they didn't know it was in them," said Post, composer of the themes to Hill Street Blues and Magnum, P.I., a seemingly unlikely Sun acolyte. "There's nothing I do on television that doesn't have a piece of this." 

Little Milton, an early Sun recording artist, believes the Phillips heritage will always define its source city. 

"The legacy that you leave behind is forever," he said. "How could you think of Memphis, Tennessee, or Sun Records and not think of Sam Phillips?" 

Although Phillips's significant recordings with artists including Howlin' Wolf, B. B. King, Ike Turner, Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash were made in the 1950s, people who attended the memorial ranged in age. 

Sue Cook, 23, wore a red T-shirt held together with safety pins. Her hair was a bright orange. Rings lined her ears and nose. A tattoo of the comic characters Dream and Death spread down her left arm. 

"I wanted to pay my respects to the man who's responsible for my lifestyle," she said. "I listen to music all day long. 

"I clean houses, and I listen to music. I drive my car, I listen to music. I go out, I listen to music," she added. "You can't listen to music without Sun." 

Clement didn't hear Cook say that, but if he had, he'd probably have smiled and nodded. 

Phillips was a mentor to Clement, who engineered and produced songs at the famed Studio. 

One day, Clement asked Phillips a question. 

"Sam, tell me something. Do you consider yourself the father of rock and roll?" 

As Clement tells it, Phillips didn't even hesitate. 

"Absolutely." 

Paying tribute

Listen to Sam Phillips discuss some influential Memphis musicians (Flash presentation)

 GoMemphis.com

August 07, 2003

Phillips's visitation is light-hearted
   By Michael Donahue, The Commercial Appeal - August 7, 2003

Elvis Presley's recording of That's All Right played while guests filed past the casket of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips Wednesday at Memorial Park Funeral Home. 

"We couldn't have a visitation without Sun playing," said Jerry Phillips, one of the sons of the man who discovered Elvis and released his first recordings and those of a list of pre-eminent rock and roll and rhythm and blues artists. 

A thousand people attended the four-and-a-half-hour visitation. Phillips died July 30 of respiratory failure at St. Francis Hospital after a long illness. He was 80. 

Davia Nelson, one of the "Kitchen Sisters" of San Francisco, who chronicled Phillips's life on National Public Radio's Lost & Found Sound, was impressed by the recording of Moanin' at Midnight playing in the background. "How many times do you go to a chapel and hear Howlin' Wolf?" she said. 

Nelson said she once asked Phillips the name of his favorite flower because she wanted to send him some. "He said, 'Sunflowers, of course.' " 

Jerry and his brother, Knox, their mother, Becky Phillips, and Sally Wilbourn, Phillips's long-time companion, were among those greeting guests near the open casket. Sam Phillips was dressed in a dark double-breasted blazer, a white collarless shirt and wore brown-tinted sunglasses. A large yellow Sun logo made of flowers stood near the casket. 

Laughter could be heard among the guests as they shared memories of Phillips. "I know he'd want us to have a jovial spirit," Jerry said. 

Knox wants today's memorial at the Cannon Center to be slightly "irreverent," because that's what his dad would have wanted. "Not morose or down - a celebration," he said. 

The visitation was scheduled to open to non-family members at 3:30 p.m., but by 3:45 p.m., guests were still waiting to get in the chapel. 

"This is typical Phillips. Makes you wait," joked former Shelby County Mayor Bill Morris. 

Morris was working at S. C. Toof & Co. when he met Phillips. He sold him office furniture for Sun Records on Marshall. "Those creative juices were working. You could just feel it." 

James Alexander of the Bar-Kays said, "He was just like us musicians - eccentric, but right straight to the point." 

Jerry Schilling, a friend of Phillips and Elvis and former head of the Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission, said he'll remember Phillips for his "belief and passion in the human spirit and his courage to promote that." 

"He just had a great ear for music," said Ken Lovelace, who's played guitar for Jerry Lee Lewis for 37 years. 

"His contribution to modern music is seminal and his family is a living legacy to everything he accomplished in his 80 years," said Mike Post from Los Angeles. Post, who composed music for TV's Law & Order, NYPD Blue and Dragnet, is a family friend. 

"He was humble enough not to rattle his credentials. Always," said Sam 'the Sham' Samudio. "He left a wide furrow and I don't think there'll be anyone to plow another one like it." 

Scotty Moore, Elvis's long-time guitarist, remembered when Elvis recorded That's All Right at Sun on July 5, 1954. "I'm the last one who was in the room that night - me, Sam, Elvis and Bill Black." 

As he listened to that Elvis recording, movie director Craig Brewer said, "It makes you realize Heaven's rockin' tonight." 

A public memorial tribute will be at 4:30 today at the Cannon Center for the Performing Arts. Doors will open at 4 p.m. A private burial will be held earlier today at Memorial Park Mausoleum.

August 07, 2003

Keith's Elvis Photo Gallery - Elvis Week - August 2003




Keith Alverson will be in Memphis August 10 Sunday - Saturday August 16 at THE CLARION HOTEL (formerly THE RAMADA INN) on BROOKS ROAD.... about a mile and a half from GRACELAND. Keith will have his photos there available to the fans all week! Keith looks forward to meeting all of you and talking about ELVIS!!!!  

Keith Alverson Website

August 07, 2003

RCA/BMG Press Conference and Open House at Presley Place

RCA/BMG is having a special fan & press conference at Graceland on the morning of August 15th. To get all the details about this and and open house event at Presley Place, follow this link to the news article on Elvis.com:
http://www.elvis.com/news/full_story.asp?id=420

August 06, 2003

CMA Announces Newest Members of Country Music Hall of Fame; Floyd Cramer and Carl Smith to Be
   Inducted on the CMA Awards in November 

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Aug. 6  -- The Country Music Association has announced that musical legends Floyd Cramer and Carl Smith will become the newest members of the coveted Country Music Hall of Fame. Formal induction for the pair will take place during "The 37th Annual CMA Awards," which will be broadcast live on the CBS Television Network, Wednesday, Nov. 5 (8:00-11:00 PM/EST) from the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville. 

Cramer, who died in 1998, is the first to be inducted in the new "Recording and/or Touring Musician Active Prior to 1980" category, while Smith is to be inducted in the annual "Open" category. All inductees are chosen by CMA's Hall of Fame panel of electors, consisting of more than 300 anonymous voters appointed by the CMA Board of Directors. Cramer and Smith will become the 89th and 90th members of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Reached at his ranch just outside of Nashville by CMA Executive Director Ed Benson, Smith interrupted his daily walk to get the news. "Well, that's fantastic. I'm honored, I really am. I appreciate it very much. I was afraid I was gonna have to die first," he said with a chuckle. Cramer's widow, Mary, was nearly moved to tears. "Well, how wonderful," she told Benson. "You're going to have me crying. I don't know what to say. I wish Floyd could be here to enjoy that, but I think somehow he'll know. The children will be so happy. I was hoping this would happen one day and I was hoping it would happen during my lifetime." "One of the highlights of my year is telling our inductees that they have been elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame," Benson said. "The emotion, surprise and gratification that comes with being included in this impressive role call of talented and influential leaders is unparalleled by any other announcement in our industry."

Floyd Cramer -- The sound of Country Music in the early 1960s was changing and the piano played a pivotal role. And Floyd Cramer was Middle C shouldering most of the responsibility and progressive licks. He popularized the "slip-note" technique and won acclaim for his discriminating ear -- as much for the notes he skipped as the ones he played. Born Oct. 27, 1933 near Shreveport, La., Cramer grew up in the sawmill town of Huttig, Ark. A self-taught piano player, he landed a job fresh out of high school in 1951 on the renowned "The Louisiana Hayride" on Shreveport's radio station KWKH, where he performed with a young Elvis Presley and Hank Williams Sr. He honed a style he referred to as a "plinking honky-tonk-type piano" and played that way on Jim Reeves' "Mexican Joe." Cramer made his first record for Abbott Records in 1953. On the advice of Chet Atkins, Cramer moved to Nashville in 1955. Within two years, Cramer recalled that he was in "day and night" doing session work. There were many artists who wouldn't record unless Cramer was at the keys. In addition to recording with Presley and Patsy Cline, Cramer played for Eddy Arnold, Roy Orbison and The Everly Brothers.

Atkins signed Cramer to RCA Records in the late '50s as an instrumental act. Four singles into his deal, Cramer gained his first chart hit with "Last Date" (1960-1961), Atkins had encouraged him to write the song to spotlight the style Cramer incorporated on Hank Locklin's recording of "Please Help Me, I'm Falling" in 1960. In the demo, composer Don Robertson played piano sliding up into a note from the one beneath, and that was the slur technique Cramer used to develop his signature style -- a cornerstone of what would be known as the "Nashville Sound." Cramer's biggest single came in 1961 with his No. 8 Country rendition of the Bob Wills classic "San Antonio Rose." By mid-decade, Cramer was established as an album act, recording prolifically for RCA Records while working recording sessions at a furious pace. He also toured in an act he formed with saxophonist Boots Randolph and Atkins. He continued to do sessions, play occasional concerts and make television-marketed albums until he was diagnosed with the cancer that eventually took his life at the age of 64 on Dec. 31, 1997. Cramer left behind his longtime wife Mary and two daughters. ... Full story

E-News Archive - March 21, 2003 Cramer earns posthumous honor   

August 06, 2003

Kim Basinger to star in Elvis film

HOLLYWOOD, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Kim Basinger will star as a cosmetics saleswoman whose life is strangely entangled with Elvis Presley in Joel Zwick's "Elvis Has Left the Building."

It will be Zwick's first feature film since he hit the jackpot with "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

Basinger will play Harmony, born during an Elvis concert and ever after linked in some way to "the King," Daily Variety reported. 

While on the road hawking lipstick, Basinger's character accidentally kills a couple of Elvis impersonators and ends up on the run from the FBI. A depressed advertising executive crosses paths with Harmony and the pair head toward the picture's climax at an Elvis convention in Las Vegas.

The movie is fully financed by London-based Capitol Films, which is handling worldwide distribution.

Tova Laiter of "Varsity Blues" will produce and the screenplay will be written by Adam-Michael Barber. 

August 05, 2003

Elvis Recipe In Clinton Cookbook
   Tue Aug 5, 6:00 AM ET 

LAUNCH Radio Networks 

A King and a President chowing down junk food together--it's an image that's not too hard to conjure up if it's the King Of Rock and Roll and former president Bill Clinton you're thinking about. 

Clinton, an avowed Elvis Presley fan, never got the chance to dine with Elvis, but in the new cookbook, the Clinton Presidential Center Cookbook: A Collection Of Recipes For Family And Friends, he's included a recipe from Elvis Presley's Memphis restaurant on Beale Street for a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich--along with a photo of his official Elvis Collectors Club membership card. 

The Clinton Presidential Center Cookbook: A Collection Of Recipes For Family And Friends includes 250 recipes from celebrities including Muhammad Ali, Bono, Christie Brinkley, Chevy Chase, Whoopi Goldberg, Don Henley, Quincy Jones, Bruce Lee, Sophia Loren, Mary Steenburgen, Barbra Streisand and Elizabeth Taylor, among others. The former president even includes his own recipe for chicken enchiladas. 

The cookbook, which was produced by the Clinton Presidential Foundation is available online for $35 at clintonpresidentialcenter.com. Proceeds from the sale of the book go to Clinton's presidential library and center, under construction in Little Rock. The $160 million project is scheduled to open sometime in 2004. 

August 04, 2003

If I can dream: Gandhi, Elvis share vision
   By Michael Donahue, The Commercial Appeal - August 4, 2003

Mohandas Gandhi and Elvis Presley were alike in at least one way, said Lalit Mansingh, India's ambassador to the United States: They cared about children. 

The ambassador was the special guest at the Gandhi Exhibit Inaugural Gala presented by the Indian Community Fund for Greater Memphis Friday night at Woodland Hills. The dinner followed an inauguration ceremony for the exhibit at the National Civil Rights Museum. The exhibit was installed in April for the 35th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's death. 

During his speech before dinner, the ambassador concluded with some words "from the most famous son of Memphis, Elvis Presley." 

He quoted Elvis: "I figure all any kids need is hope and the feeling that he or she belongs. If I could do or say anything that would give some kid that feeling, I would believe I had contributed something to the world." 

The ambassador said, "It is difficult to imagine two more dissimilar personalities than Elvis Presley and Mahatma Gandhi. And yet the words of Elvis Presley are strangely close to Gandhi's thinking when he said that he dreamt of an India where he would be able to wipe the last tears of the last child." 

The ambassador said he was impressed with the National Civil Rights Museum. "I was expecting to feel his (King's) presence and I did when I to the museum." 

August 03, 2003

Tributes Pour In For The Late Sam Phillips
   Sun Aug 3,12:00 AM ET 

LAUNCH Radio Networks 

Tributes for Sam Phillips, the legendary producer and founder of Sun Records who died on Wednesday (July 30), continue to pour in. Phillips who was 80, was often called "the inventor of rock and roll." 


At Sun Records, the record label and recording studio he founded in Memphis in the early 1950s, he discovered Elvis Presley--in addition to launching the careers of countless rock and country music stars including Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, B.B. King and Conway Twitty. 


In a statement, Johnny Cash said, "Sam Phillips was a good friend. I'll miss him very much. He didn't just create rock and roll, he helped create me." Sun Studios, which Phillips sold in 1969, was designated as an historical landmark by the U.S. Department of the Interior on Thursday (July 31). 


LAUNCH spoke with industry insiders and friends about the late Sam Phillips: 


Dick Clark said: "Sam was a one of a kind. He discovered so much talent in a short length of time. The big question was, why did he sell his rights in Elvis to RCA for $35,000? I'm sure he must have asked himself that question many times." 

Todd Morgan, director of media for Graceland and Elvis Presley Enterprises said: "One can't help but wonder how different Elvis' life and career would have been, or how the world of music and pop culture would have been different, had Sam not been there, at that moment. Sam was a nurturing presence in the lives of a lot of musicians. He contributed so much to our community, here in Memphis, and to the world." 

Howard Kramer, curator of the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in Cleveland, said he was impressed by Phillips’ confidence. "Sam Phillips was the kind of personality that whenever he walked into the room every eye turned," Kramer said. "He just was an amazingly commanding presence; the type of confidence that you don't see anywhere. Literally, his mythic nature was founded in the fact that he really was this otherworldly type of guy." Sam Phillips was inducted into the Hall's first class, in 1986, alongside Sun Records' artists Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. 

Anthony DeCurtis, well-known writer for Rolling Stone magazine, music critic, and host of VH1's the A-List With Anthony DeCurtis discussed Phillips role in the history of rock music. "Sam Phillips really was on the ground zero of what became the big bang of rock and roll," DeCurtis said. "He was one of the architects of this sound. And even more than the sound, which was important enough, he was almost a kind of architect of the sensibility, the idea that you could cross racial lines, cross musical lines. You know, he always talked about rock and roll as fun." 

Jerry Schilling, a friend of Elvis Presley's since the late '50s and member of the "Memphis Mafia," said Phillips' impacted more than just rock and roll. "My friend was Elvis Presley and my hero was Sam Phillips," Schilling said. "Sam had the eye and the vision of knowing what American music and black music, blues and R&B was all about it. You know, Sam was the godfather of the whole thing." Schilling was a consultant for the documentary This Is Elvis, and executive producer of the A&E Biography program, Sam Phillips: The Father Of Rock n' Roll. 

Memphis TV and radio personality George Klein, a lifelong friend of Elvis Presley's since they were in school together at Homes High, said Phillips paved the way for many rock and rollers. "Cutting to the chase, Sam Phillips was the Godfather of rock and roll. He's the guy that didn't open the door, he kicked it down when it came to music and had those acts walk right on through. The guy did a tremendous thing for the world of music." 


Leading Elvis Presley expert Stephen Christopher, who has appeared on radio stations around the world, challenging fans to stump him on Elvis trivia in a show called "Elvis On The Air," said Phillips was also a humanitarian. "He's a super personality," Christopher said. "If you've seen him, you know that and he's going to be sorely missed. Quite active in a lot of charity, helped raise money for a lot of good causes. He was still out there and so alive and vivacious, much younger than his years would indicate, that this was really a sudden, tragic surprise to everyone." 


Bill Beeny, owner of the Elvis Is Alive Museum in Wright City, Missouri, said Phillips was an important part of Elvis' career. "I think that Sam Phillips was without question a very vital part of Elvis' career, where otherwise he could've either gone unnoticed and been a star burned-out before its time, or her could've ended up playing in honky-tonks the rest of his life," Beeny said. 

August 02, 2003

Details Announced for Sam Phillips Memorial
   ----------------------------------------EPE 8/2/2003 

Following is information distributed to the media by the family of Sam Phillips:

Sam Phillips Visitation and Memorial Service Details

Visitation:
Wednesday, August 6th
3:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. 
Memorial Park 
Poplar and I-240: 5668 Poplar Avenue

Public Memorial Tribute: 
Thursday, August 7th
4:30 p.m. 
The Cannon Center for the Performing Arts (at the Memphis Cook Convention Center)
Downtown: 255 North Main Street 
Seating will be available on a first come, first serve basis

There will be a private burial open to family members only.


Statement from the Phillips Family (7/31/03):

Sam Phillips died at the Saint Francis Hospital in Memphis Wednesday evening, July 30, 2003 at the age of 80. He had been in ill health for some time and was recovering at home. While watching the Chicago Cubs baseball game, he died of respiratory failure. 

Sam’s belief in the individual, his dedication to giving a voice to those who had never previously had a voice, served as an inspiration not just to the world, but to his family as well. He was a communicator and a teacher first and foremost, and the lesson that he taught to his friends and family as much as to the artists that he recorded was: Be yourself. Trust yourself. Be the best self that you can possibly be in your own way. 

Sam leaves Sally Wilbourn, Becky, Knox, Jerry and Roxanne Phillips, Kim Phillips (granddaughter deceased), Diane Duncan, Halley, Justin, and Preston McAlexander. 

The family requests any memorials be sent to the Sam Phillips Scholarship Fund at the University of Memphis School of Music. 

The Phillips Family

August 02, 2003

Phillips praised from all corners for music vision
   By Bill Ellis, The Commercial Appeal - August 1, 2003

News of the death of Sun Records founder Sam Phillips, who died Wednesday at 80, was met internationally with sadness and a great deal of respect for his achievements. 

People reflected on Phillips's role as a musical and cultural force, one who changed the face of popular music through his blues and rock recordings in the 1950s, most for his Sun label. 

"My heart goes out to his family," said Lisa Marie Presley, whose father, Elvis Presley, was the most famous in the long line of artists Phillips discovered and produced. "He was both legendary and inspirational. And his loss will be felt by all of us." 

Jerry Lee Lewis's daughter, Phoebe Lewis, said her father was "very upset" by Phillips's death and had only one comment: "I'm very sad about losing the man that made me a star." 

Elvis Presley Enterprises CEO Jack Soden said he expected the Graceland Web site, http://www.elvis.com, to be inundated with messages from around the world. 

"Over these years he was always so great with the Elvis fans," said Soden, who added that Phillips would be remembered in some permanent fashion at Graceland. "Elvis fans just couldn't get enough of him. Being around him was like getting your batteries recharged." 

In addition to Presley, the numerous important artists who recorded for Phillips included B. B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Ike Turner, Rufus Thomas, James Cotton, Little Milton, Rosco Gordon, Billy Lee Riley, Sonny Burgess, Charlie Rich and Roy Orbison. 

"Sam will be remembered as a great revolutionary," said author Peter Guralnick, whose books include two definitive volumes on Presley. "He will be remembered as someone like Mark Twain or William Faulkner who contributed tremendously to the American cultural panorama." 

Music scribe Chris Morris of Billboard magazine said, "Sam was the ultimate independent record guy. There was no one that even comes close in terms of what he brought to the table as a talent scout, producer and independent label owner." 

State Sen. Steve Cohen said Phillips put Tennessee on the map as the music center of the 20th Century. 

"What speaks most to Tennessee is our music heritage and Sam Phillips was the essential individual in all of that," he said. "Memphis has always been a city of innovations and creators, from Kemmons Wilson to Fred Smith; Sam Phillips fits right in that mold as an original thinker who affected the world." 

Many pointed out Phillips's uncanny ability to capture the right musical moment, even when it collided with convention. 

"If Sam's going to be remembered for anything it's thinking outside the box," said English-born writer Colin Escott, co-author of Good Rockin' Tonight: Sun Records and the Birth of Rock 'n' Roll. "And having the courage to go with something different regardless of whether it fit the norms of what was selling." 

Escott offered several examples, notably Phillips's defining moment in the studio when he recorded Elvis Presley doing That's All Right, a tune hailed as the birth of rock and roll. 

"When every other record producer would have told Elvis to quit fooling around with That's All Right, Sam was drawn to it and realized that this was the way forward. It didn't sound like anything that was selling, it didn't sound like anything that had ever sold, but it felt good to Sam Phillips, so he pushed ahead with it." 

People also commented on the crucial role Phillips played in recording black musicians in the early 1950s. Phillips offered more than hope in a segregated South; he offered opportunity. 

"He opened the way for everybody, and what he did he had the nerve to do it when everybody else was afraid to do it," said Ike Turner, who recorded the classic Rocket 88 under Phillips. "He was a great man who played a real important part in my life. He will be missed." 

Phillips's impact on blues music didn't go unnoticed in 2001 when one of the first educational programs by Seattle museum Experience Music Project (EMP) was a monthlong celebration of the producer and Sun Records. 

"It was precisely because of Sam's huge influence not just on rock and roll but also on the blues (that he was chosen)," said EMP director and CEO Bob Santelli. "In this Year of the Blues we don't want to forget how important Sam Phillips was in the field of blues." 

Shelby County Mayor A C Wharton said, "His byproduct was breaking down one of the many barriers that has divided the world - race. Sam's music gave life to the old saying that music, particularly the blues, is the universal medium." 

Many made note as well of Phillips's innate ability to inspire those he came in contact with, especially when it was inside a studio. 

"Sam always said, 'I was the kid without personality in the class,' " said Guralnick. " 'What I did have and what I felt was my God-given gift was the ability to look inside of a person and sum them up to see what they had to offer. Then it was my job to help bring it out of them.' " 

Touring Sun Studio on the day it was proclaimed a National Historic Landmark were a group from Liverpool, England. They acknowledged Phillips's role in the recordings of Presley and others, pointing out the Sun influence on British artists such as the Beatles. 

"He was the man," said tourist Rob Morgan. "He had vision." 

Said friend Alan Stucliffe: "What he did for music was unbelievable. Maybe he's organizing some session in heaven." 

Son Knox Phillips said Sam Phillips was proud to see Sun - the physical manifestation of his musical vision - embraced as a cultural treasure. 

Music producer Shelby Singleton, who purchased the Sun catalog from Phillips in 1969, also paid tribute to Phillips's talent for innovation. 

"Sam will never die because his sound will live on forever with all the records he produced and the artists that he discovered and developed. And the music that he made - he is the real father of rock and roll." 

Jerry Schilling, a Presley friend and former Memphis and Shelby County Music Commission head, said, "Our musical heroes like Elvis and Rufus; without Sam I don't know how many of those we would have known." 

August 01, 2003

Rock 'n' Roll Studio Designated as National Historic Landmark
   Yahoo Daily News - July 31, 2003

WASHINGTON, July 31 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton announced today that Sun Records, Memphis Recording Service located in Memphis, Tenn., has been designated as a National Historic Landmark. The small brick building on 706 Union Ave. was founded by Sam Phillips and is known as the birthplace of the first great rock-and-roll record label.

Secretary Norton dedicated today's announcement to the memory of Phillips. The legendary producer passed away Wednesday in Memphis. "National historic landmarks are our country's most important places that illustrate our American story," Norton said. "It would be impossible for us to tell the story of rock and roll in America without Sam Phillips and Sun Records."

Norton was joined at a Capitol Hill signing ceremony by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (TN) and U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander (TN).

The National Historic Landmarks designation is the highest such recognition accorded by our nation to historic properties. They are places where significant historical events occurred, or where prominent Americans worked or lived, that represent those ideas that shaped the nation and that provide important information about our past.

The Sun Records Studio, considered by many as the home of the blues and the birthplace of rock and roll, provided some of the South's greatest contributions to American music. Since the late 1950s, the small Memphis recording studio produced recordings for musical giants, such as Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Howlin Wolf, Ike Turner, Rufus Thomas, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Charlie Rich, Roy Orbison, and many other notable singers, musicians and groups.

"The history and culture of this little studio often reflected the mood of America through music," Norton said. "It was a popular hub for the recording of diverse musical styles and traditions that transcended several decades. It now shares a new recognition as a National Historic Landmark to preserve its amazing musical heritage that has touched the hearts and spirits of so many Americans. "

Norton noted that the state of Tennessee is well known for its roots in all types of music from rock and roll and blues to country western. "We look forward to working together to preserve this rich history and musical heritage for future generations to learn from and enjoy," she said.

.

Rock 'n' roll pioneer Sam Phillips dead 

   SUN 209  November 28, 2001 National Public Radio interview with Sam Phillips     

August 01, 2003

'They're pretty to the bone' - Lisa Marie talks music 

The 35-year-old is on tour, promoting her debut album 

   By Bill Ellis, The Commercial Appeal - August 1, 2003


Being the only child of Elvis Presley would certainly have its perks, foremost that all eyes would attend the day you made a record. 

Lisa Marie Presley, 35, took her time making that record. Released earlier this year, "To Whom It May Concern" has gone gold for sales of a half-million, thanks in part to its hit lead single Lights Out and the media frenzy that surrounded the event, in which Presley showed a rare willingness to speak out on her fascinating (to put it mildly) life. Now she's out there promoting the album the old-fashioned way, touring. 

Part of her road itinerary has been opening dates for, fittingly enough, roots star and Sun acolyte Chris Isaak, which should make quite the pairing tonight in Presley's childhood hometown of Memphis. 

Having already been pummeled in interviews about everything from her short-lived marriages to Michael Jackson and Nicolas Cage to Scientology to growing up the scion of the King of Rock and Roll, the emerging performer - calling from Los Angeles - enjoyed reflecting for a change on something less sensational, her relationship with music. 

How does it feel to have a gold record? 

I'm happy about that. I had no expectations. I just wanted it out there. I didn't think about all that stuff - that was more for the record company (Capitol) to be worrying about. So I didn't go there. But I'm kind of glad I didn't know about all of it, because as it's happening, they tell me what it is, what it means, and then I go, 'Okay, good.' But I don't know anything. 

You are getting a lot of stuff out of your system on this record. What would be the album's most revealing song? 

Excuse Me would be. [Sample lyric: "Did you know I broke up my family/And the guilt is never gone."] 

They're all revealing. My God, they're pretty to the bone. 

And Nobody Noticed It is about your dad. 

It can be about my dad. It can be about the death or loss of a loved one, period. I tried to make it an ode to that for anyone, not just me personally. But, yeah, it was inspired by something along those lines. 

Lights Out was the first single. Was that the song you wanted to lead with? 

No, not in any way, shape or form. I thought it would be cheesy to have something out first that was aiming at my lineage. That's not my style. But they heard a single, and I couldn't argue. 

What lyric that you've written on the record best describes Lisa Marie Presley? 

It's in Better Beware, I have to say. "I'm no longer (laughs) your erection or your congregation, I'm your disease." There you go. That's probably my favorite line. It's metaphorical and literal; so many different angles on that one suit me on every level. 

Talk about your influences, artists you respect most. 

Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Mazzy Star, P.J. Harvey. Um, Lucinda Williams. Tracy Chapman, Tori Amos. They just move me. 

I'm not opposed to any particular style. I listen to Alice in Chains, Rage Against the Machine. 

Talk about a song you wish you had written. 

The Last Goodbye by Jeff Buckley and also Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd. It just kills me that I didn't write them. I did think about (covering) Comfortably Numb live, but then I thought I don't want to do that thing injustice. It's got it's own life. 

Did you ever run into Buck ley when he was living in Memphis? 

I didn't. I wish I had. (His death) was just horrifying. That man was so talented. I thought he was like an angel. I think I would have stalked him. I would have been at every show. 

What about your favorite Elvis song? 

I don't have a favorite song particularly. There's too many of them. I'm definitely prone to the '70s stuff. Love the early stuff but more partial probably because I was around more for the '70s things, recordings and live shows. There's so many of them. . . . I can never answer that question properly. 

What would be your favorite Michael Jackson song? 

Uh, good God. I can't even answer that question. 

Who is the singer people say you most sound like? 

You know, I hear the Cher thing all the time. It's one of those things where I have a low register, and therefore, it's gotta be clocked somewhere. If you hear the whole record, I use different (singing) ranges. The lower one obviously gets compared there, and the rest of them, I don't know. I've heard Sheryl Crow. Who else did I hear? Patti Smith. I've also heard Chrissie Hynde. 

I don't have any response. People need to compare it with something, I guess. 

In the process of making this record, which took some time, how do you feel your voice has grown? 

I'm more comfortable with it. Finding my way with it was a nightmare because you've got to use it as an instrument. It kind of goes, my voice. I don't know what happens. It doesn't come from anything technical, I'll tell you that. It's just simply coming out of my gut. 

So you're not doing vocal exercises, things like that? 

I make very strange dying-cow noises just to open up my throat. But I don't do scales or anything. 

You've been singing for a long time. 

Yeah, since I was 22. I never thought of ever having it go out. I just did it for me. And then the idea that it would ever go out made me neurotic, which made me wait another nine years. 

What made you finally want to do it this time? 

It came at the right time, where I was aimless and felt the need to put my own thumbprint somewhere, where it was good or bad, just sort of do it for myself, for my own sanity. For some acknowledgment of my own existence, not whom I married, not whom I was born. 

Are you thinking about a second record? 

I'm probably going to start it after the New Year's. 

So we can look for a follow-up . . . 

In about five years (laughs). 

Just in time for your mid-life crisis. 

Exactly. Oh yeah, that'll be a good one. 

August 01, 2003

Group 'plots' to entice Elvis fans 
   Daily Journal - BY M. SCOTT MORRIS 7/31/2003 12:00:59 AM


Elvis Presley was born here; pretty soon his fans can be buried here.

In January, William and Linda Kinard purchased nearly 16 acres of land to be developed into Elvis Presley Heights Memorial Gardens.

The pair developed the plan to provide plots for Elvis fans more than a decade ago when they watched observances on TV in memory of the King of Rock n' Roll.

"We thought it would be a great idea for the fans," said William Kinard, president and CEO of Fans Forever. 

The Kinards and their partners first looked for a potential site in Memphis, then someone told them about a place called Elvis Presley Heights off Briar Ridge Road, just a stone's throw from Lawhon Elementary School, where Elvis attended, and a mere hop, skip and jump from his birthplace.

"It was amazing to find a place in walking distance from his house," William Kinard said. 

The city of Tupelo has approved initial plans for the cemetery, but the project design still needs to be submitted for final approval by the city. 



In a name

As many fans know, "Elvis" and "Elvis Presley" are registered trademarks of Elvis Presley Enterprises, which declined opportunities to be part of the project.

"We don't use Elvis Presley," William Kinard said. "We always use Elvis Presley Heights."

There will be no statues or salutes to Elvis on the cemetery grounds, but a four-room shotgun shack on the property will house portions of Becky Martin's collection of memorabilia. Martin was one of Elvis' childhood friends.

The project does have an official Presley presence. Donna Presley Early, Elvis' first cousin, has been hired for public relations duties.

"We think this will really appeal to his fans," she said. "It's a tribute."

An official ground-breaking will take place 10 a.m. today at the site behind the Dollar General on East Main Street.

After that, Fans Forever will begin taking money for plots ($2,500), mausoleums ($5,000), urn niches ($1,500) and more. For information, check www.elvispresleyheights.com.

August 01, 2003

BMG plans second Elvis compilation CD 
   By Thomas Clark, Financial Times - July 31 2003 

BMG, the US-based music company owned by German media giant Bertelsmann, plans to roll out a $10m campaign this autumn for a new compilation record on Elvis Presley, according to people involved with the project.

With the worldwide campaign for the CD, called Elvis 2nd to None, which is set to be released in early October, BMG plans to follow last year's unexpected success with an album of number one hits from the King of Rock ´n Roll.

The jubilee CD, commemorating the 25th anniversary of Elvis' death, was BMG's biggest sales-hit in 2002, selling over 9m units. This was second only to Avril Lavigne's "Let's go", which sold over 10m, and outstripped the new album sales of current pop stars such as Santana, Christina Aguillera and Pink.

BMG, one of the big five music groups, last year had only about 30 records that sold more than 500,000 units, according to the company. The Bertelsmann subsidiary, with is currently in merger talks with AOL?s Warner Music, made a profit of E252m on revenues of E2.7bn in 2002.

While it is unlikely that last year's Elvis sales success can be matched, BMG has high hopes for the new record, shipping more than 1m units to US retailers alone.

With the majority of the campaign budget going into television and radio advertising, the company plans to sell about 4m-4.5m by the end of the year, half as much as Elvis 1.

Given that the margins for a catalogue product such as this tend to be higher than a new album release from a living superstar, this sales target will still boost BMG's stretched balance sheet.

"The margins are always higher with catalogue products, as you don't have to pay the typical superstar royalty", said Joe diMuro, executive vice-president at BMG's strategic marketing group.

EMI, the UK-based music company, sold more than 20m units of a similar memorial CD for the Beatles in 2000, making it by far the top seller in that business year. However, the spread of music piracy and illegal CD burning makes it almost impossible these days to achieve such sales.

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