It's that time of year

It seems like about this time every year there is a "new" Christmas album with Elvis being released. This year is no exception. In the USA Sony/BMG are issuing "Elvis Home For The Holidays", with the CD thrown into a tin can together with a couple of postcards and of all things, an Elvis guitar candle.

But it's still the usual bunch of Christmas songs, this time those from 1957 together with "Mama Liked The Roses". In other words the updated version of "Elvis Christmas' Album" released in 1970.

The fact is that Elvis recorded 20 Christmas songs in his career (not counting live takes). And these songs have been re-released so many times now its hard to keep track. Just look at the following list:

"Memories Of Christmas" 1982 (some unreleased versions included)
"I Wish You A Merry Christmas" 1987
"If Every Day Was Like Christmas" 1994 (the best of them all)
"White Christmas" 2000
"Christmas Peace" 2003
"Christmas Peace" 2004 (this time without the religious songs)
"Christmas Wishes" 2005
"Elvis Christmas" 2006
"Elvis Home For The Holidays" 2007

It seems the pace has actually increased in the last couple years, and the question I ask myself is: Why?

When "If Every Day Was Like Christmas" was released in 1994 I thought it was the ultimate Christmas CD, with all the Christmas songs and even some unreleased alternate takes included. I still think it is. (Especially the limited edition with a pop-up of Graceland!)

All the other Christmas albums after that one have been absolutely unnecessary in my opinion. And the only reason I can come up with is the usual one: money.

And let's face it, it isn't just the general public that pick up these records in the store, a lot of fans do too. I'm the first to admit that I was one of those, but during the last few years I have passed. There is a limit for everything and when it comes to re-packed and re-wrapped Christmas albums I have reached mine. How about you?

Being steadfast, loyal and true

This Saturday, the Swedish Film Institute had the decency to screen a 70 mm copy of "That's The Way It Is" in a cinema in Stockholm. As I nowadays live in a smaller city a long way from the capital, I wasn't able to make it.

A shame really, as I have only seen a real Elvis movie on the big screen one time before, (if you don't count "This Is Elvis"). But I find comfort in the fact that it was "King Creole" that I saw.

It must have been in 1985. Since it was 50 years since Elvis was born a cinema in Stockholm showed "King Creole" and "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" for a couple of nights. "Paradise, Hawaiian Style" was one of the few Elvis films I had seen on TV, so I choose "King Creole" instead.

I clearly remember arriving at the cinema only a few minutes before the film was to be shown, and nervously asking if there were any tickets left. Yes, was the reassuring answer and I happily payed for my ticket.

I shouldn't have worried. No more than three or for other persons were in the movie theatre with me. For some reason I thought that a little embarrassing, both for me and Elvis. But those feelings quickly disappeared as the opening credits started to appear on the screen together with that big paddle-steamer. Finally I was watching an Elvis movie in a real cinema. And I found myself thinking about how proud I was over being an Elvis fan.

It sounds silly, but in those days you had to fight for Elvis. In my school it wasn't easy being an Elvis fan and it took guts to wear an Elvis badge. But sitting there in the dark cinema, I knew I was doing the right thing, sticking to Elvis. Here was proof, if needed, that Elvis was the greatest entertainer ever, and that someday, more people around me would realise that.

And they did. Today it's another ballgame all together. It's kind of cool to like Elvis, and certainly nobody thinks it's strange. But that was something I didn't know in that movie theatre 22 years ago.

By popular demand - colorization part 3

As I was looking through some old fan club magazines the other day I stumbled across the answer to a question I asked a few days ago: Is there a colorized version of the movie "Love Me Tender"? The add from the October/November 2001 issue tells me there is:

My guess is the colorized version originates from some Asian country, judging by the characters below the English title. And that fits with the clip on Youtube that has subtitles in the same language.

The fact that VCDs (Video Compact Discs) are popular in Asia (except in Japan) because they are cheaper to make than regular DVDs also supports my case. What do you think?

Go for the money and lead the pack

Not since the movie "Speedway" filmed in 1967 has Elvis made an appearance on the race track. But now, 40 years later, he's back. At least his image is, painted on a Chevrolet together with advertisement for Budweiser (see a picture here).

The car is driven by NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. who apparently is a big Elvis fan. That's nice, but the problem as I see it, Elvis wasn't a big beer fan. That doesn't stop Elvis Presley Enterprises from making a lot of the usual merchandise, this time with Elvis and Bud side by side on t-shirts, mugs, magnets, key chains and the like.

Speaking of "Speedway", I always thought the race sequence was pretty lame, despite the fact that it was filmed by ten cameras. And I never really understood what the story was with those professional racers who made a brief appearance in the beginning. But today a search on the Internet revealed to me that these are really famous guys, like Buddy Baker and Cale Yarborough.

Then in the 70's, they were challenged by a certain Dale Earnhardt, the father of Dale Earnhardt Jr. who is now driving a Chevrolet with Elvis image on the hood. So I guess the Elvis connection is a bit stronger than I thought at first.

"Bubba Ho-tep is dead to me"

About a week ago I wrote about the movie "Bubba Ho-tep" from 2002, remember? Well, now the guy who played Elvis, actor Bruce Campbell, has turned down the offer to star in the sequel "Bubba Nosferatu And The Curso Of The She-Vampires".

Evidently, Campbell and director Don Coscarelli couldn't agree about the screenplay, which features Elvis battling a clan of Las Vegas vampires and some robotic versions of his manager, Colonel Tom Parker.

Sure, it sounds a little weird, but what about the first one, where Elvis and JFK were fighting a mummy eating the souls of their fellow residents at a nursing home?

Whatever the reason, Bruce Campbell told the American horror magazine "Fangoria" that the sequel is "dead to me and sleeps with the fishes". Coscarelli the director is considering making the movie anyway but admits that it will be difficult to find a replacement for Campell.

How about asking Kurt Russell, he has donned the jumpsuit two times before ("Elvis The Movie" and "3000 Miles To Graceland"), and he can do it again. Why don’t you give him a call, Mr Coscarelli?

Tickle Me - an exception to the rule

I finally got around to ordering the DVD box set "Elvis - The Hollywood Collection" this evening. The six Elvis films it contains are the last ones I don't own on DVD (except "On Tour" which has not been officially released yet) so it really was just a matter of time.

The one of the bunch I'm looking forward to the most is "Tickle Me" which I think is really amusing and certainly stands out among Elvis mid 60's motion pictures. Though certainly low-budget like the rest of them, it has some great comedy, especially the final scenes in the haunted hotel.

It is ironical that because of budget reasons, the soundtrack is one of the strongest from this period as well. The explanation is, of course, that it's made up of previously released songs dating as far back as from the 1960 "Elvis Is Back"-sessions.

You just have to compare songs like "Dirty, Dirty Feeling" and "I'm Yours" with "Wolf Call" and "Fort Lauderdale Chamber Of Commerce" from Elvis previous movie "Girl Happy" (by the way included in the DVD box set as well) to understand how that worked out for the better.

"Tickle Me" helped save the movie company Allied Artists from financial ruin, at least for another year. I'm looking forward to seeing it in perfect picture quality for the first time, that will certainly help save my day!

More colorized Elvis

The colorized version of "Jailhouse Rock" that I wrote about yesterday has been released on bootleg DVD, ElvisNews.com is reporting today. Judging by the opinions expressed in connection with that piece of news, not many seem to be in favour of colorized versions of Elvis black and white films.

I guess a lot of fans feel the same way about the remixes of "A Little Less Conversation" and "Rubberneckin'". I agree, to a certain extent. But if the remixes are done with care I see no harm in it. And if it helps keeping the interest in Elvis alive and gets him new fans, I'm all for it.

The same goes for the colorization of his movies, I guess. That's why I thought it was interesting watching two colorized clips of "Love Me Tender" on Youtube, that to me look like they are professionally done. One is of Elvis singing the title song (view it here), the other is the closing scene of the movie:



Does this mean there exists a colorized version of "Love Me Tender", like it does of "Jailhouse Rock"? Anyone out there who can shed some light on this?