The Penultimate Memphis Press Conference --> 1961

Elvis was the "master of the celebrity interview," without a doubt!

It is also said Elvis was master of his domain.

Elvis was the "master of the celebrity interview," without a doubt!

It is also said Elvis was master of his domain.

Are you suggesting that Elvis was a wanker.

That's a bit on the nose.

She kind of rubbed salt on the wound every time she attended an Elvis concert.

Nope. Post-divorce, every evening Priscilla attended at was at Elvis' invitation. Speaking of salt, she was often at shows where Presley also invited and introduced his current girlfriend.[/quote] So Priscilla has an affair with the man Elvis introduced her to and hired to train her, which leads to divorce. Elvis had a major blow to the ego and the only way to fix that was to continuously invite Priscilla to his shows. Now it could go either way depending on how you look at it. He invites a random girl to the same shows as Priscilla, seats them together, introduces the new girl to everyone and maybe even Priscilla if he's feeling the need to publicly throw stones as a way of revenge to show he's still in control. Or he invited her just to make her jealous and show her that he could have any girl he wants at the drop of a hat and that she made a huge mistake in order to get her to run back to him.

She kind of rubbed salt on the wound every time she attended an Elvis concert.

Nope. Post-divorce, every evening Priscilla attended at was at Elvis' invitation. Speaking of salt, she was often at shows where Presley also invited and introduced his current girlfriend.

So Priscilla has an affair with the man Elvis introduced her to and hired to train her, which leads to divorce. Elvis had a major blow to the ego and the only way to fix that was to continuously invite Priscilla to his shows. Now it could go either way depending on how you look at it. He invites a random girl to the same shows as Priscilla, seats them together, introduces the new girl to everyone and maybe even Priscilla if he's feeling the need to publicly throw stones as a way of revenge to show he's still in control. Or he invited her just to make her jealous and show her that he could have any girl he wants at the drop of a hat and that she made a huge mistake in order to get her to run back to him.[/quote]

From all accounts, they remained friends after the divorce, so maybe he had no alterior motive when inviting her to a show, other then perhaps his being able to see his daughter if Priscilla had brought her along on the trip.

From all accounts, they remained friends after the divorce, so maybe he had no ulterior motive when inviting her to a show, other then perhaps his being able to see his daughter if Priscilla had brought her along on the trip.

Spot-on, Joe.

Back on topic, I am surprised no one has made comment on these observations:

Interesting tangents.

One of the things that is striking about this press conference is where it falls in the Elvis timeline.

On February 25, 1961, Elvis had:

- released 30 singles in 7 years (Sun [5] and RCA [25])
- released 12 LPs in 5 years
- debuted 6 films in 5 years
- made 13 national TV appearances
- performed concerts between July 1954 and November 1957
- had sold approximately 75 million records

All of his films to date were decent or better:

Excellent
Jailhouse Rock
King Creole

Very Good
Loving You
Flaming Star

Decent
Love Me Tender
G.I. Blues

The shows he would give in Memphis that day and Honolulu in March would be a stunning overview of his entire career, delivered with all the fire of the 50s, coupled with the maturity of his return from the army.

In other words, he was sitting on top of the world.

"On February 25, 1961...............

.....................In other words, he was sitting on top of the world."

"Again, it was to management and RCA's great disadvantage if Elvis' more "serious" (read: less music) films took off. Thus, they did not put the same effort into either "Flaming Star" or "Wild In The Country" when they were made available to the public."

was he sitting on top of the world or being dumped on by his management?

was he sitting on top of the world or being dumped on by his management?

Both.

He was king of all media -- record, film, concert, TV -- but the ensuing year would see changes that would affect his status in the worst ways possible. No more TV, no more concerts, no more "serious" films, and sub-par film soundtrack recordings dominating his sessions.

Are you unaware of this?

I was unaware there was no more TV and no more concerts. Thank you for enlightening me.

answer to - was he sitting on top of the world or being dumped on by his management? is "both"... thank you for your honest answer.

I was unaware there was no more TV and no more concerts. Thank you for enlightening me.

answer to - was he sitting on top of the world or being dumped on by his management? is "both"... thank you for your honest answer.

You are welcome.

Of course you are obviously aware my reference is to the period being discussed, February 1961, and heading into what would later be known as "the Hollywood Years."

From the point of this press conference on, there would be no more concerts (save that day and a single show a month later), and no more TV, as management focused on films exclusively. So, Elvis was doing great, but management would steer the ship into the proverbial iceberg before the decade was half done. Thus, "both."

It's cool to discuss Elvis in a complex and subtle fashion, isn't it? He was one of the most charismatic and fascinating artists of the 20th century. I only wish he was still here today.

"I only wish he was still here today"

all genuine fans wish this.

"there would be no more concerts (save that day and a single show a month later), and no more TV, as management focused on films exclusively. So, Elvis was doing great, but management would steer the ship into the proverbial iceberg before the decade was half done. Thus, "both."

So where should the management have steered Elvis? and how would this direction have been better for Elvis? concerts were for a single audience and tv for a single country (at best) but movies could shipped.

So where should the management have steered Elvis? and how would this direction have been better for Elvis? concerts were for a single audience and tv for a single country (at best) but movies could shipped.

Less movies.
Better movies.
Better movie songs.
TV exposure when appropriate.
Concert tours (US).
Concert tours (UK and beyond).

Management chose none of the above.

it must have been so easy for them. what a shame.

Thanks Doc....
PEP

From all accounts, they remained friends after the divorce, so maybe he had no ulterior motive when inviting her to a show, other then perhaps his being able to see his daughter if Priscilla had brought her along on the trip.

Spot-on, Joe.

Back on topic, I am surprised no one has made comment on these observations:

Interesting tangents.

One of the things that is striking about this press conference is where it falls in the Elvis timeline.

On February 25, 1961, Elvis had:

- released 30 singles in 7 years (Sun [5] and RCA [25])
- released 12 LPs in 5 years
- debuted 6 films in 5 years
- made 13 national TV appearances
- performed concerts between July 1954 and November 1957
- had sold approximately 75 million records

All of his films to date were decent or better:

Excellent
Jailhouse Rock
King Creole

Very Good
Loving You
Flaming Star

Decent
Love Me Tender
G.I. Blues

The shows he would give in Memphis that day and Honolulu in March would be a stunning overview of his entire career, delivered with all the fire of the 50s, coupled with the maturity of his return from the army.

In other words, he was sitting on top of the world.

Well the movies certainly went from to decent to poor to awful after 1961 and it would be a while till he was king of the celebrity interview again only really showing his true personality in Singer Presents Elvis ,TTWII and again in press conferences for Maddison Square Garden and later Aloha

Elvis was the "master of the celebrity interview," without a doubt!

It is also said Elvis was master of his domain.

Are you suggesting that Elvis was a wanker.

That's a bit on the nose.

LOL...That word may be lost on DJC.

Why is this thread a sticky ?

Elvis was the "master of the celebrity interview," without a doubt!

It is also said Elvis was master of his domain.

Are you suggesting that Elvis was a wanker.

That's a bit on the nose.

LOL...That word may be lost on DJC.

Why is this thread a sticky ?

I know right?

He posts a transcription of a press conference that has been published for decades, and
has been out on cd as well, for years. What's the big deal.

Why is this a sticky?

Nothing new here.

Blue Hawaii a kind of drama? Poor Elvis...could he not see what was coming? Not yet anyway...

Why is this a sticky?

Nothing new here.

Well, to some it maybe...Nevertheless do not concern yourself with this.
Move on...
Fine something better to do with your time, in a positive fashion.
That goes for any of you wanting to derail the thread.

Thank you.
PEP

Why is this a sticky?

Nothing new here.

Well, to some it maybe...Nevertheless do not concern yourself with this.
Move on...
Fine something better to do with your time, in a positive fashion.
That goes for any of you wanting to derail the thread.

Thank you.
PEP

That's fine but it would be nice if when you decide arbitrarily to delete some posts you delete ALL the offending
posts, so that you can at least give the illusion that there is no favortism.
There are offending posts on this thread and others that should be taken care of.
Thanks in advance.

Sill no reason why this should be a sticky

Sill no reason why this should be a sticky

KiwiAlan the reason is a simple one.
It's a worth while thread, that we felt should not be past by.
No other reason, than that,
PEP

I suggest the September Sony releases should be made a sticky.

It is more of interest being 2011 material on a CD Collectors board than a 40 year old press conference.

Nice post, Doc.

The transcript may not be new, but its poignant to note the time frame of
Feb. '61. Elvis was, as stated, the king of all media, with a bulletproof career which had actually grown through the army years.
Poignant, in that he was staring at the abyss to follow, the quickie movies and
mostly wasted Hollywood soundtracks.

On a side note, I'm always amazed that the Hotel Claridge dragged out a
beaten, chipped wooden lectern for the world's biggest entertainer.
Little did they know we would be viewing pictures of this event 50 years later.

Nice post, Doc.

The transcript may not be new, but its poignant to note the time frame of
Feb. '61. Elvis was, as stated, the king of all media, with a bulletproof career which had actually grown through the army years.
Poignant, in that he was staring at the abyss to follow, the quickie movies and
mostly wasted Hollywood soundtracks.

On a side note, I'm always amazed that the Hotel Claridge dragged out a
beaten, chipped wooden lectern for the world's biggest entertainer.
Little did they know we would be viewing pictures of this event 50 years later.

Indeed. Elvis was on the brink of many things, both good and bad.

As for the lectern, interesting observation! Maybe people still found rock 'n' roll -- and Elvis -- a passing fad in early 1961, not worth any extra attention.

And yet -- how ironic, as you note -- here we are revisiting this press conference 50 years later.

It's nice this topic has become a "sticky," if only because it is a fun topic to read, and the fact that I spent over two and 1/2 hours transcribing the dialogue. Some was very hard to decipher.