Blue Christmas UK Single Campaign

Today I spent 9 Swedish crowns (about £0.80p or US$1.20) downloading "Blue Christmas" from iTunes. The reason for this is a campaign orchestrated by the British fan clubs where the goal is to get Elvis high in the UK download singles chart in time for Christmas.

Reading on the Elvis Information Network that hopefully fans from around the world can help them achieve their objective, I decided to do my part. After downloading the song I took a peek at the UK Single Downloads Top 40, but no trace of Elvis and "Blue Christmas" yet.

I for one would be pleasantly surprised if this campaign succeeds in getting Elvis back in the charts. On the other hand: "You'll be surprised what you can do if you will only try."

• Download "Blue Christmas" from Amazon.UK
• Download "Blue Christmas" from HMW
• Download "Blue Christmas" from iTunesUK

Promised Land Next FTD Release?

If one is to believe the Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain one of the November releases from the Follow That Dream label will be Promised Land. In their October/November magazine it's listed as a November 20 release (2 CD 7" Gatefold, track listing to be announced) together with the Four Days In 56 FTD book.

If this is true then it's certainly great news. Promised Land is one of the titles I've been really looking forward to in the classic album series, especially since the top notch Good Times release from FTD in 2009. I actually thought Promised Land would follow shortly after, but apparently the FTD people have been having some difficulty with the tapes, as reported by EIN contributor ElvisSessions from Elvis Week this August.

Ernst discussed “Promised Land” as an example of why it's never a sure thing which FTDs will be coming out in what order. He said he expected that album would have been out more than a year ago, but they were having some trouble with the tapes and had to call in an expert to figure out why the sound wasn't coming out as they expected. Does that mean that project is still in limbo? I wouldn't assume so, just that it is an example of unexpected delays.

Well, maybe the problems have been sorted out and Promised Land has been getting the FTD treatment and is ready for a November release. On the other hand the British fan club has been wrong before, as recently as this summer the June/July magazine reported that G.I. Blues was "understood" to be one of three July releases.

I for one hope the fan club got their facts right this time. He Touched Me and 48 Hours To Memphis followed by Promised Land sounds almost too good to be true.

How The Web Was Woven

Nearly three years ago The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain launched a website on the Internet. As some of you might remember, I wasn't overly impressed, among other things it was poorly updated.

Well, I'm happy to report that the British fan club has a new website up and running, one that is much more professional looking. Granted, the content is a bit limited: an on-line application form, latest news (not updated that often), some information about the travel club (which takes members to Memphis), an image gallery (containing about 25 photos of Elvis), a shop (including the Follow That Dream collector's label CD's and books) and a link to Radio Caroline where Todd Slaughter hosts an Elvis Hour once a week.

That said, the site is a major improvement over the old one, and certainly a step in the right direction. So is the fan club's decision to join Facebook. Unfortunately the same can't be said of FTD, their site is still "currently under construction" (as it was over two years ago).

Destination USA 1972

Yesterday saw the start of Elvis Week in Memphis, and as usual it made me think of my trip to the U.S. and Elvis Week 2005. It was one of the best Elvis experiences I've ever had, meeting fellow fans from all around the world and musicians who played for Elvis. But reading an article in the latest issue of the British fan club magazine, I was reminded that there are those who have experienced even greater things when it comes to Elvis.

The article is titled "Destination USA 1972," and in it Rita Overhead describes the first British Elvis Presley Fan Club trip to America to see Elvis during his Las Vegas engagement in the summer of 1972. It's an amazing story. Not only did she get to see no less than 10 shows, she also met Elvis.

After attending the midnight show on Saturday, September 2, she waited for the extra Sunday morning show together with a couple of other fans outside the showroom. Suddenly the door to what was the manager's office opened and there was Colonel Parker chewing on a long cigar. After "a nice little conversation" with him he asked how many they were and told them to come along.

It must have been an incredible experience, following the Colonel through a "No Exit" door and then down a corridor and realizing they were being taken down to see Elvis. As they entered a large room they noticed The Stamps, The Sweet Inspirations and Kathy Westmoreland sitting down watching a small television.

They were then shown into a small room, first being introduced to Vernon Presley. Then all of a sudden Elvis appeared in the doorway. He asked them if they had a good journey to USA and if they enjoyed the shows. The author of the article also received a kiss.

She then forgot her own name when Elvis was about to sign a menu she had from one of the shows. "You must have a name," he kidded and when she finally remembered it he answered, "Rita, are you sure?" He then signed the menu "I love Rita, Elvis Presley."

To have such a memory of Elvis must be priceless, and while I enjoyed the article immensely, I was also a little bit saddened that I never saw Elvis in person. That one will always be an impossible dream. On the other hand I've done the next best thing: going to Memphis in 2005 was a dream come true, and something I will never forget.

The Truth About Me

Hi, this is Thomas... I'm 23 years old and my interest in Elvis started when one of my two brothers bought the double LP Elvis Forever in the late 70's. I became a real fan a short time later when I borrowed a couple of Elvis albums from a classmate, among them Elvis In Concert.

During the years me and my other brother have built a record collection that we're proud of. Not because it includes a lot of valuable editions, but because we think we own most of the stuff released officially by Elvis, and to us it's the music and not the value of the collection that counts.

My favorite period with Elvis is 1968–77, when Elvis was at the peak, artistically as well as vocally.

When it comes to fan clubs, I joined the British Official Elvis Presley Fan Club in 1982. Two years later I became a member of the Swedish fan club Tidskriften Elvis, and in issue number 1, 1988, my first article was published.

Although I listen to other artists as well, not a day goes by without a dose of Elvis; by listening to a record or occasionally catching a video. Like a certain singer once said (with some slight modifications): "Without an Elvis song a man ain't got a friend. Without an Elvis song the day won't ever end. So I'll just keep listening to his song..."

I wrote the above (in Swedish) 21 years ago, when the members of the staff of the Swedish fan club magazine Tidskriften Elvis presented themselves in issue number 2, 1990. I'd written a couple of articles for that magazine (here's an example) , and felt proud to be considered part of the team.

I stumbled across the short text I'd written back then while leafing through a heap of old Elvis magazines. And although I no longer think Elvis was at his peak in 1977 and I'm no longer a contributor to Tidskriften Elvis, the rest of the stuff still holds true. Especially the last paragraph that actually was the reason I started the Elvis Today blog in 2007.

PS: I remember thinking that the other staff members were looking really old, like in their early to middle 40's or something, and now I'm as old as they were then...

Elvis Presley Sings The Great British Songbook

In a Yuletide Extra from the British fan club in 2008 Todd Slaughter and Victoria Molloy wrote that they were hoping to announce a special CD album release very soon, one that they had been working on for over two years. In a post I speculated about the content of the album, but now, one and a half years later, I know my guesses were all wrong.

On May 24 Sony U.K. will release a 2 CD compilation called Elvis Presley Sings The Great British Songbook. According to the latest issue of the British fan club magazine it's "a high-profile compilation of tracks that were written by some of our greatest songwriters, and we are expecting this double CD to hit the charts throughout the summer months."

This is most certainly not your ordinary run-of-the-mill compilation. As Todd Slaughter points out, most people would have never guessed that the numbers included on the album are in the Elvis Presley repertoire:

CD1:
1. You Don't Have To Say You Love Me
2. Wonderful World
3. Something
4. This Is Our Dance
5. Sweet Angeline
6. It's Easy For You
7. Love Me, Love The Life I Lead
8. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
9. The Fair's Moving On
10. Just Pretend
11. How The Web Was Woven
12. Softly As I Leave You
13. My Boy
14. I've Lost You
15. Girl Of Mine
16. Let Me Be There
17. Let's Be Friends

CD2:
1. Yesterday
2. Words
3. Amazing Grace
4. Hey Jude
5. If You Love Me (Let Me Know)
6. This Is The Story
7. The Last Farewell
8. Sylvia
9. A Little Bit Of Green
10. Heart Of Rome
11. It's A Matter Of Time
12. Danny Boy
13. Twenty Days And Twenty Nights
14. Stay Away
15. How Great Thou Art

Bonus Recordings:
16. O Come, All Ye Faithful
17. If I Get Home On Christmas Day
18. Lady Madonna (Studio Rehearsal)

What makes the album so interesting in my view, is that it includes material solely from the late sixties and the seventies. (So why choose a picture from the 50's for the cover?) Many of the songs were hits previously from the Beatles, Tom Jones, Engleburt Humperdinck, The Bee Gees, Dusty Springfield and Cliff Richard.

My only objection, though a very small one, is that "How Great Thou Art" isn't entirely a British composition. In fact, the original text was written by the Swedish reverend Carl Boberg in 1886. When his colleague from England, reverend Stuart K Hine, heard it in the 1920's, he wrote the original English words, and made his own arrangement of the Swedish melody.

That said, I wish the fan club the very best of luck with Elvis Presley Sings The Great British Songbook. I will buy it, for one!

PS: According to an Internet record shop add the Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice composition "It's Easy For You" is supposed to be a rare version, so I guess it's the one featured on The Jungle Room Sessions.

Reshaping the Elvis catalog

Yesterday I was sitting at my kitchen table, leafing through old Elvis magazines like I sometimes do. I like to "time travel" in this way, as it reminds me of how it was like being a fan in say 1985, and what was going on in the Elvis world back then.

The magazines on the table were all from the British fan club, and one I found particularly interesting was the December/January 1986 issue. Starting with the editorial, a clearly frustrated Todd Slaughter writes the following:

"Although 1985 has been Elvis' 50th anniversary year you wouldn't know it from looking at the record charts... Packages such as The Rocker, Always On My Mind and A Valentines Gift For You, have about as much finesse as Elvis Sings For Children and Grown Ups Too."

Interestingly enough, a couple of pages later the fan club magazine publishes an interview with the guy behind the above mentioned releases, the then "Elvis RCA boss" Gregg Geller. The interview was originally published in the record collectors magazine Goldmine, and has Geller talking about creating a new Elvis Presley catalogue that would make sense to someone who arrives from another planet in the year 2077 and goes to a record store!

He also speaks of unreleased material, and that he so far has found three things he didn't know existed: "Tomorrow Night" without the overdubs, an alternate take of "That's All Right" and the alternate take of "Ain't That Loving You Baby." "Other than that, nothing has turned up," he says, but after getting a question about later material, answers:

"There are many, many concert recordings from the '70s. There's so much of the stuff that we're still at our leisure cataloging it. But there were so many live Elvis records released in the '70s, there's not much to add to the picture. I think we can allow for some time to lapse before we get to those."

That answer made me think about the box set A Golden Celebration, that originally was to include a 1976 soundboard concert. As Gregg Geller was the "Project A&R Director" for that one, maybe it was he who ordered the concert removed. But, when getting a question about why material from the 1968 comeback was included, he says:

"The ideal album would have been called Elvis '56 in my opinion. It should have included every piece of music Elvis recorded in 1956."

Unfortunately, the interviewer doesn't ask why this wasn't to be, instead moving on to Gregg Geller's concept albums. Geller reveals that his own favourite among the bunch is Reconsider Baby, and I have to agree with him on that. It's one of the best Elvis compilations around that at the time included a couple of gems such as the fast version of "Ain't That Loving You Baby," the undubbed "Tomorrow Night," an alternate mix of "Stranger In My Own Home Town" as well as "One Night (Of Sin)."

I then had to smile when Gregg Geller talked about the Always On My Mind album, telling the interviewer that "Somebody actually suggested calling it Priscilla." Yeah, I wonder what she would've thought about that!?

The interview ends with Geller talking about his plans for the future, all compilations, "a country Elvis package... a couple more Rockers... a gospel album... an album of the real straight ballad singing that he did in the '60s."

In retrospect, I'm sure Gregg Geller did what he thought was best and that he had some good ideas, but clearly that wasn't enough. Thankfully, Roger Semon then took the helm and showed which course to steer with releases such as Essential Elvis and Stereo '57. Then, in 1992, together with a certain Ernst Mikeal Jorgensen, he put Elvis on the map again with the '50s box set and, well, you all know the story.

Whole Lot-ta Elvis Goin' On

So far this week has been a busy one when it comes to Elvis, at least for my mailman. Monday he brought me the April/May issue of the The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain magazine, Tuesday he delivered my copy of Madison's Opening Night - January 1970 and yesterday Blue Hawaii from FTD arrived.

Starting with the magazine, I guess the biggest piece of news was that Todd Slaughter revealed that the CD the fan club is putting together will be "a unique theme album featuring those tracks which Elvis recorded which were written by UK song-smiths." The album is expected to be released in August and according to Todd, could be "one of Elvis most powerful and commercial releases for some time."

The only British songwriter that comes to mind is Roger Whittaker, who recorded "The Last Farewell" and of course the members of a certain group called the Beatles. By the way, want to know what "The Last Farewell" is all about?

Moving on to Opening Night - January 1970, I have to say it's just as impressive as its companion Closing Night - February 1970. Not only is the show first class (even "Teddy Bear"/"Don't Be Cruel" rocks), so is the accompanying booklet with liner notes and lots of photos. Also, the album includes the rare live version of "True Love Travels On A Gravel Road."

As for Blue Hawaii, I'm afraid that one will have to wait until tomorrow. This evening is dedicated to Opening Night. Right now "Suspicious Minds" is blasting through the speakers and it's hard to sit still in front of the computer. So I'll sign off for now and go enjoy this fantastic CD one more time.

Elvis In Demand Vol. 2?

I have to admit I haven't been caught up in the Christmas spirit quite yet, having worked long hours the last couple of days. But a Christmas card from The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain is as good start as any.

The fan club sends one each Christmas, and I think it's a nice gesture. This time around, a Yuletide Extra was included with the card, where Todd Slaughter and Victoria Molloy wrote the following:

"In our next Fan Club Magazine, we hope to be in a position to announce a very special CD album release - one which we have been working on for over two years. We are very proud of this project, which we believe to be both unique, and extremely marketable. We are just now awaiting the approval on EPE and Sony USA, so please keep your fingers crossed. This will be an album that will enhance Elvis Presley's standing in the UK, and one which will be applauded by our music industry."

What this is all about, I have no idea, but I gotta admit I'm curious. Here are three wild guesses:

1. The EP Collection Vol. 3. This is a favourite idea of mine, a follow up to the beautiful The EP Collection and its successor The EP Collection Vol. 2, both released in the early 80s. But no, that can't be it, as it would be a vinyl, and not a CD album release.

2. A remix of "Let Yourself Go", done in the same style as "A Little Less Conversation". Surely a winner. But, no album that one, only a single, so that guess can't be right, either.

3. A second volume of the successful LP album Elvis In Demand, which was put together by the British Fan Club and released in 1977. The idea was for the fans to write down five Elvis songs they would like to see on the album, and in that way try to stay away from the mainstream compilations at the time.

My third guess isn't so bad, is it? With songs such as "Hi-Heel Sneakers," "Long Lonely Highway," "Suspicion" and "The Sound Of Your Cry" Elvis In Demand sold well and reached the number 12 spot on the LP charts. And the single drawn from the LP to help promote the album was successfull, as well.

Actually, a guy called Andy Swanson wrote about the idea of an Elvis In Demand Vol. 2 in the latest fan club magazine, stating that "it would be interesting now with such a different fan base if we could find out what tracks would be on there today." I for one agree.

There's only one fault with guess number three. The fan club hasn't asked us which songs should be on it. So it must be something else. Guesses, anyone?

The other side of the story

Yesterday I picked up a copy of the Record Collector magazine at the train station in Stockholm. The reason for this was that it featured Elvis on the cover and "the inside story of the King's greatest show," the '68 Comeback Special.

Turned out this was a good day to buy the magazine, as it was exactly 40 years since the show aired. So I felt it a fitting tribute, sitting on the train bound for home, reading the article and listening to Burbank 68 and Let Yourself Go! on my faithful Ipod.

The article was based mainly on an interview with director Steve Binder. In all fairness, there wasn't much in it that I hadn't heard before. More interesting (at least to me) were some short interviews made with people connected with the show, such as guitarist Mike Deasy and Elvis fan Maria Columbus, who was lucky enough too attend both sit down shows.

Reading Steve Binder's words made me think of an article I mentioned briefly in one of my earliest postings, from August last year. The article was published in the April/May issue of the Official Elvis Presley Fan Club magazine and titled "The Other Side of the Story." In it, Alfred di Scipio, the Singer Sewing Executive for the TV-special, was interviewed by Bill Bram (author of Elvis: Frame by Frame).

What's so interesting with the article, is that di Scipio offers a different look at the making of the TV-special than the one Steve Binder does. For example, he says that it was he, and not Binder, that convinced the Colonel that the special should not be a Christmas special.

What makes this believable is the reproduction of a memo dated May 16th, 1868 (prior to Binder's involvement) that summarize a meeting between NBC, Singer and the Colonel. The memo states that "di Scipio was able to convince Parker that the program ought not to be a purely Christmas oriented show but rather a program which would give audiences an opportunity to hear most of Presley's major hits..."

Also, according to the article, di Scipio was the one that laid out the basic format of the show, based on earlier TV specials he had worked on. It included a "live" segment," an "informal" segment," a "gospel" segment and a "Christmas" segment. And there is no mistaking his resentment against Steve Binder:

"Steve Binder, for some reason, each year, has increasingly less memory of the truth... He said he talked Colonel Parker out of doing a Christmas show. Now it was two months after I had gone to see the Colonel before Steve was hired to direct the show. He had nothing to do with that and I have trouble understanding how a very talented person can do that. You know they say if you tell a story and you tell it often enough, it becomes the truth..."

I think it's strange that nothing more has been written about this. Maybe it's because the article was published in the fan club magazine only and not on the Internet or in another, more renowned Elvis publication. But the memo seems proof enough, and the article also features photos of Elvis and Al di Scipio together. Clearly, there's another side to the story...

If I can dream - part two

In my latest posting I wrote about how great it would have been if Elvis toured overseas after the Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite show. Therefore it was interesting reading an interview with Charles Stone, Elvis' tour manager during the 70's, in the December/January issue of the fan club magazine from Great Britain.

What particularly caught my interest was the following question and answer:

Q: I've heard you speaking in the past about the time you had a flight booked to come to London and book Elvis to play at Wembley. Would you be so kind as to tell the account here for those who have not heard it before?

A: Yes we were coming to England. At the time of his death I had reservations to come to London to book Wembley Arena for a week. The Colonel was not coming but Tom Hulett and myself had always handled the shows and both Elvis and The Colonel were comfortable with us doing the Elvis shows.

Unfortunately the interviewer then moves on to another subject instead of following up this interesting piece of information (a journalistic sin, no less!) so no more facts are available.

Personally, I think it highly unlikely that Elvis was planning to play London in 1977, mainly because of the shape he was in then. But then again, maybe this was the challenge he needed to pull himself together and get well. One thing's for sure, these plans (if they ever existed) would have been better put to use four years earlier, in 1973.

PS: You can read more about Charles Stone here.

www.elvispresleyfanclubuk.co.uk

Leafing through the latest issue of the magazine from The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain I spotted a small add reading:

"Elvis online: Visit the Website of the Official Elvis Presley Fan Club on www.elvispresleyfanclubuk.co.uk for Elvis news, views, pictures, travel offers and the new on-line shop featuring a wide range of dvds, cds, books, vinyl and miscellaneous merchandise."

I nearly choked on my coffee. Could this be true? As you may know, I've written earlier about how strange it is that the English fan club in this time and age doesn't have a site on the Internet where you can read the latest news and pay your membership fee, amongst other things.

Quickly, I scrambled to my computer, punched in the address and was greeted by this:

Not the most imaginative of layouts, but that isn't the problem. Actually, I prefer simple solutions on the Internet without blinking adds and so much information you don't know where it begins or end. (Would've been nice with a picture of Elvis, though...)

No, the problem with this site is that it isn't updated. Clicking on "News" I noticed the last posting was from August 7 this year, two months ago! Also, on the first page, Todd Slaughter writes:

Like our fan club magazine, this site is your site. You will have the opportunity to contribute, support, and participate in its development. The only "editorial" control, will be my daily utterings, and the reading and vetting of contributions for libel and decency.

Unfortunately, there aren't any "utterings" and how I as a member and reader can "contribute, support and participate" is, to say the least, pretty unclear. I tried to register but nothing happened, and nowhere on the site did I find a messageboard or any other way to contribute to the page.

Under the capture "Galleries" I found two fan photos, dating from the summer of 2007, and no fans pictures whatsoever. I'll gladly contribute with some of my own photos from Memphis, but how?

The one thing that seems to be working on the site is the shop, which have a decent selection of CDs, both from Sony BMG and FTD. Also, the paintings by artist Teresa Winston look cool, although expensive, to say the least. But the range of DVDs and books is unimpressive with only two titles in each category up for sale.

I for one applaud the fan club for finally being online, but if it's gonna work the site must be regularly updated. And if the fans are to play an important part, then the possibility for that must exist. Otherwise, no one will visit www.elvispresleyfanclubuk.co.uk, and it will fall into oblivion.

Time to renew my membership

Yesterday I finally got around to renew my membership in The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain. If I count correctly, it was the 26th time I've done so.

I remember how I became a member back in 1982. Me and my family had visited some good friends and my father was at the wheel driving home. I was sitting in the back enjoying a comic when, on the readers letter page, a picture of Elvis from the Aloha show caught my eye. Next to the picture, one of the readers asked if there existed an Elvis Presley fan club.

The editor assured the reader it certainly did, and attached the address to The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain. Don't know how an editor of a Swedish comic magazine managed to pull that one off, but I was quick in sending the fan club a letter telling them I wished to become a member.

That's 26 years ago, and I'm still loyal to the club. I've written about the pros and cons of being a member in the British fan club before (read about it here), but the fact is I continue to pay the membership fee every year. In the beginning I had to send a postal check to do this, then in later years my credit card number.

Nowadays you would expect the possibility to renew the membership on the Internet, via Pay Pal or some other online payment service, but that's not the case. I still have to painstakingly write down my credit card number on a piece of paper and send it with ordinary (snail) mail to the fan club's address in Leicester, England.

Not that this is a insurmountable operation, it's just that in this day and age people do tend to use the Internet for such things, and I wouldn't be surprised if The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain loses members in this way. My renewal form was on my desk for months before I got a grip and sent it in. Same story last year, and the year before that.

When I became a member I remember reading that club had over 30.000 members, which I thought was an pretty impressing number. I have no idea how many there are today, but surely a lot fewer. I also wonder how many have been members for 26 years or more?

Take me to the fair

In the latest issue of the magazine from The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain there's an interesting article called The "fair" side of Elvis. It's written by Albert Fisher, who in 1962 had the chance to hang out with Elvis during the filming of It Happened At The World's Fair.

Albert Fisher, who was 21 at the time, held a position as head of Television and Motion Pictures for the World's Fair in Seattle. It was his job to talk film and TV producers into bringing their productions to the Fair, and then assist them while they were there.

In the article, Fisher remembers his first meeting with Elvis: "I was impressed. I was a nobody and Elvis stood up to great me. Colonel Parker didn't budge...nor did he even hint at extending his hand."

After a couple of days Albert Fisher became comfortable being around Elvis and got his permission to bring along an 8mm movie camera and shoot home movies during the making of the picture. This rare footage was released by Fisher himself on DVD in 2005. Here's a sample:



When Elvis was to resume the movie in Hollywood he asked Albert Fisher to be Technical Advisor on the film. Apparently, this was light and pleasant duty. Fisher writes that he would walk onto the set, take a look around and say: "Yep. This looks like the World's Fair." He would then hang out on the set or go sightseeing.

In 1963, when the film premiered, Albert Fisher got his friends together and went to the first showing of the film to see his name among the screen credits. But as the credits began to roll he was heartbroken. Because guess who was credited as Technical Advisor? Yeah, of course, a certain Colonel Tom Parker.

Still, Albert Fisher, now a well respected TV producer himself, treasures his time with Elvis: "I hold on to my memories of my brief time being able to pal around with one of the greatest entertainment legends in history...Elvis Presley."

You gotta stop, you're wrong again

Seems The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain have it all wrong. Again. In the latest issue of their magazine that I received with the mail today, you can order two January 2008 FTD releases, "one studio out-takes title and the other a movie soundtrack, rumoured as being Elvis For Everyone and GI Blues."

Well, thanks to Internet we know by now that there is only one FTD release in January, the Wild In The Country soundtrack. (Besides, how likely is it that Elvis For Everyone is released when two of its tracks, including outtakes, just saw the light of day on Pot Luck?)

A similar mistake was made a couple of months ago when the British fan club announced the next FTD records would be a classic album and a two CD set they believed would consist of "two superior audience recordings of Elvis last two shows recorded 30 years ago". That turned out to be false information. Instead we got I Sing All Kinds, Raised On Rock and Easy Come, Easy Go.

Those weren't bad releases, on the contrary, but that's not the point. The point is that the fan club looses credibility when they get our hopes up with information that isn't correct. What's the point ordering FTD records that don't exist?

This also raises the question why the fan club in England doesn't have a site on the Internet. That way, at least mistakes like these could easily be corrected there.

As regard to Wild In The Country, I think it's a bit strange that Jorgensen and company is releasing it as a classic album, as it never was a LP, in fact not even an EP. And why wasn't the cover from the single used instead of a fictitious one?

But then again, it's nice to have all the songs from this movie, with the outtakes, on one album. And anyway, wasn't the original idea with the FTD gatefold albums to do just that - release the movie soundtracks?

Long distance information

This week I found the latest issue of the magazine from The Official Elvis Presley Fan Club of Great Britain in the mail. And to be perfectly honest, there weren't many things in it that were news to me.

Why is that? Well, nowadays you can read about Elvis news the same day they are made public (and sometimes before that) on the Internet. To give you an example: I already knew three weeks ago that the new FTD-releases were to be "Girls! Girls! Girls!" and "Put Luck".

When I became a member of the fan club back in 1982, the magazine played a much more important role. It was my sole channel for information about what was happening in the Elvis community.

For example, in some of the first issues I received I learned that Graceland was to be open to the general public by August 1982. I also read a review of a book written by Albert Goldman that didn't seem worth buying and found out that the soundtrack from "This Is Elvis" was to be released as a double LP.

Now, 25 years later, it's a completely different matter. Nor does it help that the print in the magazine is so small I can barely make out the text, and that the fan club doesn't have its own site on the Internet.

So why am I still a member? Well, I think the number 25 is the answer to that one. How can I quit after so many years? I'm a sentimental fool.

One thing impresses me, though, and that's the amount of articles Anne E Nixon has written. No matter what issue I pull from the shelf, she's in it. In my book, that's worth a salute!