CURRENT NEWS & EVENTS – NOVEMBER, 2018

Copyright LindaHoodSigmonTruth.com May, 2009 – 2018 All rights reserved. This copyright covers ALL of my original material contained on every page of this website.

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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwcvN-9eB1ZG0vl6EqZqU9w/videos

ELVIS HAS BEEN VOTED THE KING OF MUSIC FOR THREE YEARS IN A ROW!!!

LET’S ALL BAN TOGETHER AND VOTE FOR ELVIS EVERY SINGLE DAY THIS YEAR SO WE CAN MAKE IT FOUR YEARS IN A ROW!!!!

Choose who must hold the title of

THE KING for 2018 !

PLEASE VOTE ONCE EVERY DAY!!!
We are nearing the end of the year and Elvis is losing out to a non-American singer. This is not acceptable!!!

**Also Elvis’ song “Suspicious Minds” was in second place for the Song of Ages and was not far behind the #1**

**Also Elvis’ Album “Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley” was in second place for the Album of Ages and was not far behind the #1**

So do NOT forget to vote for these two categories also!!!

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2018

In working with my earlier data files while organizing them into my new computer, I have been coming across items which bring back memories for me and which I enjoy seeing again after having forgotten all about them.

One such item is the below copy of a very sweet note which Jesse wrote to a dear friend of mine back in 2014. My friend passed away several years ago but I know she would love that I am making others happy by sharing the note which Jesse wrote to her. I don’t believe that Jesse will mind that I share it on here too as I have made sure that there is nothing private included in the display.

I hope others will enjoy seeing this beautiful note as much as I did years ago when my friend shared it with me.

The below image is my personal property. It may not be reproduced or copied in any manner without my explicit permission.

The above image is my personal property. It may not be reproduced or copied in any manner without my explicit permission.

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The below video is an interview with Wayne Carman, a Karate instructor who was friends with Elvis. I do own Mr. Carman’s book and it is a very good book done in a most respectful manner.

Elvis Karate Instructor Wayne Carman The Spa Guy

Published on Nov 1, 2018

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeZ1bNuxjpA&w=560&h=315%5D

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SENT TO JESSE THROUGH THIS POINT

ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2018

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2018

Below is an article about the death of an entertainer who performed with Elvis for a while. You will see the photo of Dave Rowland with J. D. Sumner and others of the Stamps Quartet. I wanted to share this so that Jesse may see it when I print out my news articles for him this week.

I have researched and learned that the man named Jimmy Ellis to whom the photograph is attributed is NOT THE Jimmy Ellis who was ORION. When I saw that name, I wondered and knew that others would perhaps do the same so I did some research.

The Stamps Quartet featured (from left) Bill Baise, Ed Enoch, Dave Rowland and J.D. Sumner. The gospel quartet, which performed and recorded with Elvis Presley, is seen recording on June 13, 1973. (Photo: Jimmy Ellis/The Tennessean)

Country singer Dave Rowland is seen in 2015. (Photo: Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

Rowland was born in Sanger, California, and raised in Los Angeles. In the days before Dave & Sugar, Rowland was part of J.D. Sumner’s Stamps Quartet. The gospel outfit toured and recorded with Elvis Presley between 1971 and 1977; Rowland would wear a gold lightning bolt on a chain with the letters “T.C.B.,” a gift from Presley.

https://www.azcentral.com/story/entertainment/people/2018/11/03/country-singer-dave-rowland-leader-dave-sugar-dies-74-stamps/1883483002/

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I feel so bad sharing a report of the death of another of Elvis’ friends. Jesse just spoke to me about Tony Joe White back on Sept. 23 calling him “my old buddy, Tony Joe White“. Jesse asked me to get one of Tony Joe White’s CD’s for him, which I did do right away.

Tony Joe White, creator of ‘swamp rock’ whose songs were covered by Elvis Presley, Rod Stewart and Tina Turner – obituary

Tony Joe White, who has died aged 75, was a singer-songwriter best known as the progenitor of a musical style that he called “swamp rock”, and as the composer of a number of songs that vividly evoked life in the American rural south.

In a career lasting 50 years White, who sang in a husky, warm-molasses baritone, recorded more than 30 albums, but it was other artists who enjoyed the greater success with his songs. Polk Salad Annie, White’s first single, was a top 10 hit in America in 1969, but became better known as a staple of Elvis Presley’s live performance. Rainy Night In Georgia, which White wrote, was first made popular by Brook Benton, and was recorded by more than 80 artists, including Ray Charles, Rod Stewart and Randy Crawford, whose lustrous version was a British hit in 1981.

Tony Joe White was born on July 23 1943 in Goodwill, Louisiana, in the heart of bayou country, into a part-Cherokee family, the son of Charlie White and Virgie (née Andrews). The youngest of seven children, White grew up working on his father’s farm, harvesting corn and cotton.

The family was a musical one – “everybody played a gi-tar and a pianna, mostly gospel music and country,” he once recalled – but it was not until he was 15 that White started playing guitar in earnest, inspired by listening to a Lightnin’ Hopkins album his brother brought home. “It just took me over, man. After that, I never really did think about doing nothing else.”

White said he liked to relax and wait ‘for a song to drift in on the wind’

With a repertoire largely consisting of Hopkins, John Lee Hooker and Elvis covers, White began playing clubs and joints around Louisiana and Texas – the kind of places, he remembered, where a screen of chicken wire was often in place to stop the beer bottles being thrown from the audience.

He was living in Marieta, Georgia, driving a dump truck for the highway department, when in 1967 he first heard Bobbie Gentry’s hit Ode to Billie Joe on the radio. Gentry’s southern Gothic storytelling song about a suicide (or was it murder?) at the Tallahatchie Bridge inspired White to write his first song, Polk Salad Annie, about a dirt-poor girl called Annie, “that I swear to the world/Made the alligators look tame.” Polk salad is a cooked greens dish made from pokeweed, a staple of poor southern cooking. The second song he wrote was Rainy Night In Georgia.

“I know about polk because I had ate a bunch of it,” he once recalled, “and I knew about rainy nights because I spent a lot of rainy nights in Marietta, Georgia. So I was real lucky with my first tries to write something that was not only real and hit pretty close to the bone, but lasted that long. So it was kind of a guide for me then on through life to always try to write what I know about.”

White took his songs to Nashville, where a series of encounters led him to the offices of Monument records, a label that had enjoyed success with Roy Orbison, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. His first single, Polk Salad Annie, produced by Billy Swan, proved popular with southern radio stations, but it took almost nine months to become a national success, reaching No 8 on the pop charts in July 1969 and giving White what would prove to be his only US Top 40 hit.

Polk Salad Annie’s classic status was cemented when Elvis Presley began performing the song in his Las Vegas shows, turning it into a marathon, pelvis-thrusting tour de force. A live recording by Presley reached No 23 in the UK in 1973.

White’s first album, Black and White, was released in 1969, featuring Polk Salad Annie, Soul Francisco and Willie and Laura Mae Jones – along with a handful of covers, including Little Green Apples and The Look of Love, that suggested the label were unsure quite what audience to aim for, an uncertainty that would be echoed in subsequent recordings over the years. His rootsy mixture of rock, Cajun blues and country would be displayed to greater effect on The Train I’m On (1972), produced by Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd, and Homemade Ice Cream (1973).

In 1973 White appeared in the film Catch My Soul, the rock-opera adaptation of Shakespeare’s Othello, directed by Patrick McGoohan, better known for his role in the television drama The Prisoner. The film was a critical and commercial failure and proved a bad omen for White’s career. Through the remainder of the 1970s and early 1980s he released a series of albums which attempted to marry his own swamp-rock sound with ill-advised attempts at disco music.

Sales were so discouraging that for a while he abandoned recording to concentrate on songwriting and performing. White had enjoyed a hit in France in 1969 with Soul Francisco, and it was his following in Europe and Australia, where he was to perform frequently, that sustained him during a fallow period.

His patience was rewarded in 1988 when Mark Knopfler, who was producing a new album for Tina Turner, approached White to see if he had any material that might be suitable. White provided the title song, Foreign Affair, and three more songs, as well playing guitar and harmonica on the album. It sold 6 million copies, and the single Steamy Windows, written by White, became an international hit, leading to Turner’s manager, Roger Davies, becoming White’s manager and securing him a new contract with Polydor.

White continued to tour frequently, usually working with just a drummer, and to record a number of low-key albums for a variety of labels, notably the critically acclaimed acoustic The Beginning (2001), recorded at his 16-track home studio, followed by Heroines (2004), featuring duets with female vocalists including Jessi Colter, Shelby Lynne, Emmylou Harris, Lucinda Williams, and his daughter, Michelle White, a singer whose voice White likened to “Sade hanging out with John Lee Hooker”. His last album, Bad Mouthin’, was released a few months before his death.

White’s laid-back demeanour and funky garb – his Fender Stratocaster hung with a rattlesnake skin guitar strap, alligator skin boots, battered stetson and shades, a cigarette burning between his fingers – reflected his bayou roots as surely as his favourite pastimes, fishing, building a fire at the river behind his home and “just relaxin’ and thinkin’ ’bout havin’ a coupla more drinks” and waiting “for a song to drift in on the wind”.

Tony Joe White is survived by his wife, Leann, and by their three children.

Tony Joe White, born July 23 1943, died October 24 2018

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2018/11/02/tony-joe-white-creator-swamp-rock-whose-songs-covered-elvis/

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2018

I have had a number of very negative reactions to the book “Letters From Elvis“. So, I am withdrawing my original favorable mention of this book.

I apologize to those who have been offended by the content of the book. I had no advance way of knowing exactly what would be in the book when I posted about it based upon the video interview with the author who appeared to be a good gentleman and has a history of accomplishment.

So, having said that, I hereby suggest that:

NO ONE SHOULD BUY THE BOOK “LETTERS FROM ELVIS” BY GARY LINDBERG.

I regret that I recommended this book without having read it myself first. Lesson learned…people turn on me personally if they don’t like something which I attempt to share ahead of publication.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2018

Below is an interesting article about Elvis’ time in Germany and a new museum devoted to his time there.

Newly-found letters, photos highlight Elvis’ GI times in Grafenwoehr

Old and recently discovered photos of Elvis at the Culture and Military Museum of Grafenwoehr, Germany, Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. The museum is celebrating the 60-year anniversary of when Elvis was in the town and training area.

MARTIN EGNASH/STARS AND STRIPES

By MARTIN EGNASH AND MARCUS KLOECKNER | STARS AND STRIPES Published: November 5, 2018

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — A special exhibition featuring newly recovered photos of Elvis Presley’s time as a soldier in Germany nearly 60 years ago has opened at a museum near the U.S. Army base in Grafenwoehr.

The exhibit at Grafenwoehr’s Culture and Military museum, which opened Saturday and includes newly discovered pictures, documents and over 30 witness accounts, highlights Elvis’ military career. This includes his stay at Grafenwoehr, where Pfc. Presley conducted maneuver training, just as thousands of soldiers still do today.

Birgit Ploessner, the curator who came up with the idea for the exhibit, told Stars and Stripes that intensive research had uncovered new facts connected with the King’s time here.

“For a long time it was believed that Elvis was just twice in Grafenwoehr,” Ploessner said. But a book the museum recently found showed that Elvis was not just in town from November to December 1958 and in January and February 1960, but also in March 1959.

Some of the new photos of Elvis’ time in Grafenwoehr include him playing the guitar to entertain fellow soldiers and signing autographs for locals.

Local historians studied the photos and determined the buildings Elvis was in, many of which are still standing. They include a barracks in Camp Aachen and the post movie theater where Elvis met a local German girl, who he proceeded to have a short romantic fling with. The theater is still used by soldiers and families.

Decorations at the Cuture and Military Museum of Grafenwoehr, Germany, which is celebrating the 60-year anniversary of when Elvis Presley was in the town, Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. MARTIN EGNASH/STARS AND STRIPES

The museum also tracked down a letter that was believed to be lost, which Elvis had written to Sepp Anderl Mueller, a reporter with the local newspaper Amberger Zeitung.

When Elvis was in Hirschau, a town about 17 miles south of Grafenwoehr, he asked Mueller to send photos he had taken.

“The reporter did so and Elvis wrote back to the reporter,” Ploessner said. “Unfortunately, when the reporter died, we did not know where the letter was.”

The museum recently found out that the reporter’s daughter had the letter. She gave it to the museum.

Ploessner also said the museum tracked down more than 30 people who had met Elvis personally and interviewed them.

She said that the Army was very cooperative in providing base access to assist the museum project.

The exhibit, which includes the clothes worn by the rock n’ roll icon and an autographed beer coaster, also features a piano on which Elvis performed during a private concert at a local boarding house.

Elvis spent a week at the boarding house together with his father. Since the owner allowed them to stay for free, he performed for the owner and his staff. Ploessner said that Elvis’ record company, RCA, wouldn’t let him perform. The King just ignored them.

The exhibition will continue until March 31. Admission costs 4 euros for adults and 2 euros for children.

https://www.stripes.com/news/newly-found-letters-photos-highlight-elvis-gi-times-in-grafenwoehr-1.555309

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Many Elvises watch over cast and crew at the Shakespeare Theatre’s Lansburgh stage.

Tyrone Turner / WAMU

WAMU, NOV 5

Much Ado About Elvis: Why The Shakespeare Theatre Has A Shrine To The King

Mikaela Lefrak

D.C.’s Shakespeare Theatre has a secret. A very kitschy secret.

Backstage at the company’s two locations — the Lansburgh Theatre and Sidney Harman Hall, both in Gallery Place — actors and crew members maintain elaborate shrines to a creative icon. Not the Bard, as one might expect — but the King, Elvis Presley.

Why, a curious reader might ask, would highly trained Shakespearean actors in the nation’s capital pay nightly tribute to a Mississippi native known for rock ‘n’ roll hits like “Hound Dog” and “Jailhouse Rock”?

The tradition started one night in 1989, when the company still operated out of the Folger Theater on Capitol Hill. During a performance of “The Beggar’s Opera,” stage manager James Latus heard a loud sound during the show and asked his assistant, Audrey Brown, if she knew who was responsible.

“Uh, um, uh…Elvis!” Brown responded, per Latus’s retelling. (He’s now based in New York, but was more than happy to share the story over the phone.)

Brown, a Memphis native, refused to rat out the real culprit, which led Latus to take the joke to its natural conclusion and create a full-blown shrine to the King.

At first, it consisted of a tasteful Elvis postcard and candle. Then, two velvet Elvis portraits appeared. Actors and crew people started donating items for good luck: Elvis shot glasses, album covers, boxer shorts, even commemorative Elvis Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups.

When the company moved to the Lansburgh Theatre in the 1990s, the Elvis shrine came, too. They set it up in a wall niche in the hallway between the actors’ dressing rooms and the stage. Actor Richard Thomas donated one of the shrine’s larger objects — an Elvis throw blanket — after he was cast as the title character in “Richard II.”

Around this time, the theater received a letter from then-First Lady Hillary Clinton’s press secretary. The Clintons were planning to come see a show, but they wouldn’t have time to visit the shrine. The letter was promptly framed and added to the shrine.

But when the Clintons showed up, Hillary insisted on making a pilgrimage. The shrine now holds a photo of her pointing at the copy of her press secretary’s letter.

“I love it! I love the conundrum that is this shrine,” said actress Veanne Cox. She’s been working at the theater for about 12 years — enough time to formulate some connective theories about the Bard and the King.

“He was a country boy,” she said of Presley, “and he became famous and rich. And then, you know, the tragedy of wealth and fame. So it’s not surprising that [the shrine] exists right here in the Shakespeare theater because he is Shakespearean in his experience.”

Cox then picked up a bag of Elvis coffee grounds and shook it, before returning to her dressing room.

The theater world is notoriously full of superstitions — like saying “break a leg” instead of “good luck.” During Latus’s tenure at the Shakespeare Theatre, the crew would light an Elvis votive candle before every single show.

“On nights it wasn’t lit, something would happen. Something would break, a prop would break, or a prop would break, or someone would forget an entrance,” he said. Eventually, the fire department mandated that the votive candle be replaced with an electric version.

Over at Harman Hall, the shrine is a bit more upscale: All the kitsch is under lock and key in a dark wood display case with a glass front.

Latus said he’d like to see an Elvis-inspired Shakespeare adaptation one day. His vote is for “King Lear,” while Cox would like to see an Elvis “Macbeth.” Both, of course, are tragedies.

The Shakespeare Theatre doesn’t have any Elvis-themed projects in the works right now, but maybe, with enough prayers at the shrine, some day it will happen.

FILED UNDER: Architecture, Arts & Culture, DC, Music, Theater.

Mikaela Lefrak is WAMU’s Arts and Culture reporter.

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SENT TO JESSE THROUGH THIS POINT

ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2018

(due to US Postal holiday on Monday 12th)

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

Jesse called me late this afternoon. We couldn’t have a long visit because he was heading out for a Dr. visit. He is having some pain in his leg which is causing him to limp which he thinks may be arthritis. But, he sounded wonderful and we enjoyed our phone visit.

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2018

Our talented, hard-working, and diligently supportive friend, Simon Laxon, has created three more fantastic comparison videos of Jesse’s face and photos of Elvis’ face. One picture is worth a thousand words…so Simon has provided the proof in the pictures. Heartfelt thanks to Simon as always.

Elvis / Jesse Comparison 81

Elvis / Jesse Video Comparisons

Published on Nov 7, 2018

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0Xfb_bFE38&w=560&h=315%5D

Elvis / Jesse Comparison 82

Elvis / Jesse Video Comparisons

Published on Nov 7, 2018

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrHAefJiWRc&w=560&h=315%5D

Elvis / Jesse Comparison 83

Elvis / Jesse Video Comparisons

Published on Nov 7, 2018

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMaQEidW9ic&w=560&h=315%5D

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2018

I am bursting with joy and pride about the below wonderful news announcement. Hats off to Elvis and President Trump for this prestigious honor and award.

To make it even grander, the ceremony is being held on the 16th which is such an important number for Elvis/Jesse.

Elvis Presley to Receive Presidential Medal of Freedom

The King “remains an enduring American icon four decades after his death,” Trump administration says of posthumous honor

By

DANIEL KREPS

Elvis Presley is among the seven “distinguished individuals” that will receive a Presidential Medal of Freedom from Donald Trump at a November 16th ceremony.

Yankees great Babe Ruth and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia will also posthumously receive the prestigious award, “the Nation’s highest civilian honor, which may be awarded by the President to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors,” the Office of the Press Secretary said in a statement Saturday.

“Elvis Presley defined American culture to billions of adoring fans around the world. Elvis fused gospel, country, and rhythm and blues to create a sound all his own, selling more than a billion records,” The White House said of the honor.

“Elvis also served nearly 2 years in the United States Army, humbly accepting the call to serve despite his fame. He later starred in 31 films, drew record-breaking audiences to his shows, sent television ratings soaring, and earned 14 Grammy Award nominations. He ultimately won 3 Grammy Awards for his gospel music. Elvis Presley remains an enduring American icon four decades after his death.”

While its common for musicians to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom – honorees during the Obama administration included Bob Dylan, Stevie Wonder, Gloria Estefan, Diana Ross, Loretta Lynn and Bruce Springsteen – Presley is only the third musician to receive the honor posthumously, following bandleader Meredith Willson and jazz great Count Basie during the Reagan administration.

As the entertainment industry has largely cold-shouldered Trump during his presidency, the administration instead opted to honor late American icons, like Presley and Ruth, for the 2018 ceremony.

Senator Orrin Hatch, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach, football player-turned-judge Alan Page and Republican mega-donor Miriam Adelson will also receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/elvis-presley-presidential-medal-of-freedom-754501/

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 10. 2018

November 9, 2018 at 1:15 pm

Elvis Presley is probably one of a handful of deceased rock and roll artists still making money for their estate and, in his case, he’s been doing it since August 1977 — some 41 years ago — and better than most!

In 1956, Elvis recorded and released the song “Blue Suede Shoes”, written and first recorded by Carl Perkins. Presley performed the song three different times on network television, including The Milton Berle Show and The Steve Allen Show. In the most recent version of the Billboard Book Of Top 40 Hits, the song charted three times in the top 40: Perkins and Presley in 1956 and Johnny Rivers in 1973. The Presley version hit #20 on Billboard and had five weeks on the chart, but a top 20 best seller. He also re-recorded the song for the soundtrack of the movie G.I. Blues in which he starred. After his death, RCA Records released a music video of his original version, shown in a contemporary style but with him in archival footage and Carl Perkins in a cameo appearance (Perkins died in 1998). In 1999, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) certified the Presley version of the song as a gold record. Nearly 30 other artists have performed the song, including Buddy Holly, Dave Clark Five, The Beatles, Ten Years After, and many more.

On Sirius XM Channel 19 (All Elvis Presley), I have been hearing a “remix” version of Blue Suede Shoes. As best as I can determine, this track is part of a remix album of the Cirque du Soleil show “Viva Elvis”. Released in November 2010 by SONY Music and running a little over 3 minutes, the lyrics go like this:

Well, it’s one for the money
Two for the show
Three to get ready
Now go, cat, go

But don’t you
Step on my blue suede shoes
Well you can do anything
But stay off of my blue suede shoes

Well, you can knock me down
Step in my face
Slander my name all over the place
Well do anything that you want to do

But uh-uh, honey lay off of them shoes
And don’t you step on my blue suede shoes
Well, you can do anything
But stay off of my blue suede shoes

Long live the King!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLPZezX8Hj8&w=426&h=251%5D

https://dfw.cbslocal.com/2018/11/09/the-foote-files-elvis-presley-remix-of-blue-suede-shoes/

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Elvis served our country in the military and today we don’t forget that. We also honor and respect all those who have served our nation so that we may be free.

I loved the below image created by Sandi Fox Norton and shared with me by my friend, Dennis F. Miller.

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2018

Below are photos of the antique watch which Jesse sent to me for my birthday in September. It is so delicate and beautiful. I will treasure it always just as I do everything he has ever given to me. Hugs to Jesse for such a sweet gift.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2018

This could be good news for some lucky people. I used to tell Tom that I needed a job as a tour guide at Graceland ’cause I could get paid for walking around and talking about Elvis all day every day since that is what I have done anyway. LOL Of course, that was back in the early days when they actually had live people conducting the tours.

Elvis Presley’s Graceland to host job fair Monday

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis job seekers could soon work for the King of Rock and Roll.

Elvis Presley’s Graceland will be hosting a hiring event Monday, November 12, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Vernon’s Smokehouse Restaurant.

The company said they are searching for Tour Operations Associates to work both full and part-time. They also have a Tour Operations Lead full-time position open. Descriptions of those jobs are available online at graceland.com/jobs.

Those interested in attending the event are encouraged to bring a printed resume with them and to dress to impress.

https://wreg.com/2018/11/12/elvis-presleys-graceland-to-host-job-fair-monday/

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 15, 2018

Thanks to my friend Steven R. who shared the below video of Graceland being decorated for Christmas with me. Looks like lots of fun!

The annual Christmas lighting ceremony will take place this evening at Graceland. Below is the announcement from Graceland. Those of us who aren’t able to attend can watch it on Livestream.

Celebrate the Beginning of the Christmas Season at Graceland with Two Star-Studded Events on November 15

The World Premiere of Hallmark Channel’s “Christmas At Graceland” Movie will be held on the Graceland Soundstage Immediately Following

WHAT: Holiday Lighting Ceremony at Elvis Presley’s Graceland and the World Premiere of Hallmark Channel’s “Christmas at Graceland”
WHO: Country music stars Scotty McCreery and Marty Stuart and actors Eric Close and Wes Brown
WHEN: November 15
Lighting and Entertainment at 6:00 p.m. CST
Red Carpet and Performer Interviews at 6:30 p.m. CST
Movie Premiere at 7:00 p.m. CST
WHERE: Graceland Plaza Green and Elvis Presley’s Memphis Soundstage

Elvis Presley’s Graceland will officially begin the holiday season when country music stars Scotty McCreery and Marty Stuart flip the switch on the traditional lights and decorations lighting up Elvis Presley’s iconic home. This time honored tradition will feature a special performance by McCreery.

The extensive Christmas display at the king’s castle includes hundreds of blue lights along the driveway, a life-size Nativity scene, Santa and his sleigh, and much more, all originally displayed at Graceland by Elvis and the Presley family.

Immediately following, Hallmark Channel’s “Christmas At Graceland” will have its World Premiere on the Soundstage at Elvis Presley’s Memphis. This all-new holiday film, shot on location at Graceland, is filled with music made famous by Elvis, and stars 2018 Daytime Emmy Award nominee Kellie Pickler (“Pickler & Ben”). Director Eric Close(“Nashville”) and star Wes Brown (“True Blood”) will attend both the Lighting Ceremony and the World Premiere to debut their new film.

In “Christmas At Graceland,” Laurel (Pickler), a Chicago-based business executive, travels to Memphis to secure one of the city’s oldest family-owned banks. While in Memphis, Laurel reunites with an old flame Clay (Brown), a local music promoter with loftier aspirations. Though Laurel tries to keep her eye on the prize of the business acquisition, Clay is very persuasive reminding her of the days when they were a performing duo on the brink of stardom. Now Laurel’s focus turns to the home of the blues and dreams of making music again. “Christmas At Graceland” is part of Hallmark Channel’s #1-rated program event, COUNTDOWN TO CHRISTMAS, and will air exclusively on the Hallmark Channel on Saturday, November 17 at 8 pm/7c.

The Lighting is free and open to the public. The Premiere is a by-invitation, ticketed event and is now fully booked. A limited number of tickets may open up that night just prior to the start of the screening. This is subject to availability and on a first-come, first-served basis.

Seasonal holiday tours of the interior of Graceland mansion, featuring the Presley family’s personal Christmas décor, will be offered through January 8.

Can’t make it to Memphis for the Lighting Ceremony? Watch it on Livestream!

The holiday festivities continue with Graceland’s 2nd Annual Holiday Concert Weekend December 14-15, 2018. Last year’s inaugural Concert Weekend was a runaway success, delighting both visitors and local Memphians alike, and this year’s event promises to be even more exciting! The weekend will feature three incredible live concerts on the Graceland Soundstage as well as various Christmas Tips, Tricks and Crafts seminars at The Guest House at Graceland hosted by Lifestyle Expert JJ Keras, who has been regularly featured on the Today Show and Good Morning America.

The concert on Friday, December 14, will feature Elvis’ biggest Christmas hits with a live orchestra led by renown UK conductor Robin Smith, featuring local Memphis musicians, vocalists, choirs and dancers. On Saturday, December 15, there will be two themed concerts on one night: an Elvis Gospel Christmas concert starring former members of JD Sumner and The Stamps Quartet and The Blackwood Brothers,; and an Elvis Star-Studded Rock ‘n’ Roll show starring legendary guitarist James Burton of Elvis’ TCB Band. The Guest House at Graceland hotel packages, ticket-only packages and individual tickets are now available. For more detailed information please visit Graceland.com/Holiday or call 901.332.3322.

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We can vote for Graceland every day for the next 24 days. Please share with all other fans. Right now Graceland is number 2 of 20. We CAN make it number 1!

https://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-holiday-historic-home-tour/graceland-memphis/share/

Vote for Graceland

Best Holiday Historic Home Tour

Graceland is one of the most-visited private homes in the nation. Every year, more than 600,000 people go to Elvis Presley’s former estate in Memphis. The Christmas season at Graceland kicks off with a lighting ceremony mid-November, after which visitors can tour the home decorated for the season with traditional lights, a live-size nativity scene and Santa. Presley family Christmas artifacts are on display during this special time of year.

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SENT TO JESSE THROUGH THIS POINT

ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2018

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FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2018

This afternoon I enjoyed watching President Trump hosting the Presidential Medal of Freedom 2018 ceremony.

I watched it in it’s entirety but, of course, my foremost interest was in seeing the award presented “posthumously” to Elvis.

I recorded the Elvis presentation in full in order that I could share it on my web site and on my Facebook pages. I also recorded the entire ceremony and I will be sending the Elvis segment as well as a copy of the full ceremony to Jesse.

This award was long overdue and I am so thankful to President Trump for choosing to do this today for Elvis and all of us who love him so very much.

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SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2018

It is nice to see that the Mayor of Tupelo traveled to Washington to be present for the Presidential Medal of Freedom presentation to Elvis. I thank my good friend, Tracey H. who posted this to my Facebook timeline thereby making me aware of this good article.

PRESIDENT TRUMP HONORS ELVIS

By

Robert Davidson

November 16, 2018

WASHINGTON, D.C. (WCBI) – The legend of Elvis Presley continues to grow 41 years after his death. President Donald Trump Friday awarded Presley the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The honor, along with the Congressional Gold Medal, is the highest award a private citizen can receive.

Mayor Jason Shelton traveled to the nation’s capital to witness the awarding of the medal. Jack Snowden, who heads up Elvis Presley Enterprises, accepted the award on behalf of the Presley estate.

https://www.wcbi.com/president-trump-honors-elvis/?fbclid=IwAR0uCf_zxJ9V8NVY9Wf5NJ7FvHHLohl09Pd7d3nmMe1Hth-AfvPsqf2vIVc

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Below is another article about the Mayor of Tupelo attending the ceremony yesterday in Washington. In this article you may watch the entire ceremony for all of those being awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

TUPELO MAYOR ATTENDS CEREMONY AT WHITE HOUSE HONORING ELVIS

MGN Online

Presley is posthumously receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Posted: Nov. 16, 2018 11:03 AM

Updated: Nov. 16, 2018 4:40 PM

Posted By: Zac Carlisle

TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) – Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton was in the nation’s capital to attend a ceremony at the White House honoring the city’s famous son Elvis Presley, among others.

Presley is posthumously receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

(L-R): Tupelo Mayor Jason Shelton, Jack Soden – President and CEO of Elvis Presley Enterprises | Photo: City of Tupelo

“Tupelo is where a boy and his mother walked into a hardware store to buy a gun, came out with a guitar and went on to change the world of music forever,” Shelton stated.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Other honorees include Hall of Fame baseball player Babe Ruth, late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach.

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2018

I have created a Messages to Jesse page here on my new continuation web site.

Everyone is invited to post your greetings to Jesse for the holidays and his upcoming birthday on Jan. 8th.

This messages page will only be open for posting until early in January. I will close it down once I have printed off his birthday greetings and mailed them out to Jesse.

I will be compiling your messages and sending them along to Jesse each week through the time that I close this page.

Everyone is welcome to post more than once. I do stipulate that no photos, no videos, and no attachments of any kind are contained within your messages.

I know Jesse will enjoy reading your thoughts of love and support very much.

My thanks to each one who participates.❤️🎵🎶😘

Messages for Jesse new header

https://lindahoodsigmontruthcontd.com/messages-to-jesse-for-christmas-2018-and-his-birthday-jan-8-2019/comment-page-1/#comment-5

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20, 2018

Jesse called late this afternoon. He sounded great and said that he is doing well. His only aches and pains now are those which come to all of us with age. We had time for a good visit this time and talked about a lot of different things. I never share his private comments so there isn’t a lot that I am able to share this time.

As I have told some people fairly recently, Jesse shrugs off most things that come along in a philosophical way. He said that he used to get riled over things but he does not have the same reaction to things now days. Most things are from his past life and he has seen and heard it all before.

We did speak of the Medal of Freedom award ceremony briefly. Jesse would have loved for Benjamin to be there to accept the award in his behalf. That would have been so wonderful.

Jesse’s calls mean the world to me and I know how very blessed I am to be able to hear from him.

🎵🎶❤️😁🎼🎵🎶

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I have created a new avatar for myself and will try to get it changed wherever I use one. It was such a joy speaking with J. D. and I do treasure this photo with him. I thank my wonderful Tom for taking this photo.

J. D. Sumner with Linda Sigmon

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While we are all still thinking about the wonderful honor bestowed upon Elvis last Friday by President Trump, there is a topic which I want to cover once more. I have covered this before years ago and it has been something which I have loved and given a lot of thought to for many, many years.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is more relevant to Elvis Presley than any other American. I have NO doubt that Elvis was chosen by God to be the face of America to the world long before he was born.

Take a look at the following and stop to digest the meaning of this all.

Below is a rare photo of the Statue of Liberty under construction in 1883.

I think it is very significant that the image of Elvis on the face of the Statue of Liberty is that of Elvis during his stint in the United States Army.

Remember, “There are no coincidences, everything has a meaning.“

Quote of Elvis

Rare Photos of the Statue of Liberty Being Built in 1883 -½TwistedSifter

Jesse with Statue of Liberty

Elvis and Statue of Liberty (2018_10_24 19_45_10 UTC)

Beautiful Statue of Liberty face...

Below another photo taken while the Statue of Liberty was under construction in 1883.

Elvis and Statue of Liberty while under construction

Below is a copy of my letterhead on which I wrote my letters to Jesse for many years long ago.

Letterhead-to-Jesse-Elvis-Statue-and-flags-for-site_705e60a8

Below is another version of one of my letterheads to Jesse from some years back:

More images of the Statue of Liberty…

Statue-of-Liberty-black-and-white-Elvis_ba963b06 Statue of Liberty

Statue of Liberty ' Statue of Liberty .

This one is my personal favorite.

I have been studying this topic for many years…long before I was in touch with Jesse. Back in 1992, when Jesse and I first began corresponding, I had a lot of material and I couldn’t wait to show it to him.

Below is one of the Bible codes which I worked up years ago. I used a computer program which found words, names, etc. in the Bible which grouped together often predicting modern day events.

The original founder of this program discovered that there was a prediction of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli Prime Minister, on November 4, 1995 contained within a Bible Code. The program became very well known. I discovered so many Bible codes relating to Elvis. Below are two copies showing my Bible code in which I used words related to Elvis, Presley, Liberty, Symbol, Musician, etc. At the bottom of the slide is the color coded list of words which appear in the Bible in Genesis 47.

Here is an enlarged view of the color coded list of words so you may see them more clearly:

I divided this slide into two images in order to make the images large enough to be seen. The first image below is the top of the slide.

It is significant when you see a repeating pattern of the same words lining up. For instance below at the top of the slide, you will see that the words Presley, USA, and Symbol appear together in a repeated sequence.

The next repeating group of words is USA and Presley.

The next repeating group of words is Elvis, Presley, and Songster.

The next repeating group of words is Elvis, Presley and LIBERTY.

The very bottom group which is cut off has the words Biblical, LIBERTY, Musician, and Elvis. This continues on the bottom half of the slide shown below.

Elvis-liberty-musician-etc.-in-Genesis-47-1024x636_e9a307d7

Continued slide description:

Picking up from the group of words which are cut off on the above image. Below you will see the continuation of the words Biblical, LIBERTY, Musician, and Elvis.

Scrolling down, the next grouping of words is Biblical, LIBERTY, and Elvis.

Scrolling down, the final grouping of words is Biblical, Songster, LIBERTY, Prophet, and Elvis.

Elvis-liberty-musician-etc.-in-Genesis-47-bottom-half-1024x780_ec710547

Just so everyone understands what they are seeing: One cannot in any way force these results to appear. It is simply a matter of using the computerized program and entering whatever words you wish into the search option. The computer searches the Old Testament for the words which you enter and the results are as those shown above. I often started with just Elvis and Presley and then once the slide began to appear, I entered more relevant words for my train of thought. In this case I was thinking about the Statue of Liberty and Elvis.

I purchased my Bible Code software on a CD very soon after it became available in the mid 90’s. I see that a search for it now produces many versions. I have no idea if the various versions available now are reliable. I loved using mine and felt confident in it because it was the first version based upon the founder’s own knowledge.

I thank everyone for spending some of your time perusing my above article. I hope it will be as meaningful to you as it has been to me. Perhaps it will inspire someone else to begin their own research into the history of the Statue of Liberty, etc.

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2018

I enjoyed this article and especially the knowledgeable response from one of their listeners.

Elvis Gets Presidential Medal of Freedom

Elvis Presley is an American Icon. He literally changed the world. And now, he’s finally being honored for his contributions to the world. President Donald Trump on Friday honored several key American figures, including Elvis, with the highest honor a civilian can receive, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Also receiving the award was former Cowboys Quarterback Roger Staubach, baseball legend Babe Ruth and late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Now, if you’re wondering “why Elvis?”, the answer is simple he changed the world. If you go back to 1955 when Elvis began making national waves while performing on the Louisiana Hayride, the world and music business were completely different. White people were relatively unaware of black music in the 1950s. Elvis exposed America to music from that community, which made artists like Little Richard, Chuck Berry and countless other black musicians household names.

He also changed the structure of music as a whole. Pop music/Country music never used a drummer. It was typically just stringed instruments and vocals. However, thanks to Elvis bass player pounding his stand up into oblivion, when he left Sun to go to RCA they re-recorded some of his Sun hits with drums. From that point forward, drummers became a staple of pop and country music. Oh yeah, it also helped form a new style of music called rock and roll.

And those are just his professional accomplishments. On a human level, Elvis was known to use his fortune to help those in need. Elvis reportedly donated thousands of dollars every year to numerous charities around the US. He was also an Army vet.

Elvis joins a lengthy list of musical stars to be awarded the medal, including Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Dylan, and Stevie Wonder.

Explaining the posthumous award, the White House said: “Presley defined American culture to billions of adoring fans around the world. Fusing gospel, country and rhythm and blues” the star had created ‘a sound all his own’.”

Comments:

Guillermo F. Perez-Argüello

Great article. Thankfully the writer left the details about the merits for Presley getting this medal for commenters, so I will just proceed to name them. The first great contribution Presley made to society was probably the one where he touched the most quantity of people. On October 28, 1956, he became the primer mover in the exponential increase in the immunization level of all americans when he took the third version of Dr. Jonan Salk’s anti polio vaccine. He did that in front of the entire world’s press, and by April of 1957 the aforementioned level had risen from 0.6% to 80%. This took place 4 hours before he faced 55 million viewers who watched his second appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, and not during it, as erroneoslly reported. Now, since this coincided with the double invasion of Hungary by the then Soviet Union, of October 24 and 31, Presley took it upon himself that by his next appearance on the Sullivan Show, which was on January 6, 1957, a mere two months later, he would launch an appeal for emergency assistance to lessen the plight of what by then he knew had become a true nightmare for some 250,000 Hungarian refugees fleeing for their lives. The appeal, which was not followed up by the mainstream media, nor the major newspapers, yielded some US$6 million in 6 months, the equivalent of US$49.5 in 2018 dollars which the International Red Cross in Geneva distributed, throughout 1957, after converting them into perishables and non persihables to the quarter million in Austria and England, where they happily settled for life. These are in addition to the couple of thousand refugees who made it to both Canada and the US, under DIFFERENT auspices. Now, in 2011, the Mayor of Budapest, who by his own admission does not own a single Presley record, honoured him posthumously, as a gesture of gratitude, for his advocacy, naming a park after him, as well as making him an honorary citizen, thus making Presley the only US born individual to be so honoured, and joining a list that includes Swedish Diplomat and WWII martyr, Raul Wallenberg (Schindler multiplied by 10, in the number of lived he saved), Polish activist then Head of State and Nobel Laureate Lech Walesa and, US naturalized-Hungarian born Edward Teller, known as the Father of the hydrogen Bomb, the latter two, coincidentally, former recipients of the US Presidential Medal of Freedom. Presley’ s advocacies continued in 1957, when he agreed to fill up an entire stadium with donors, which he did on the night of June 28 of that year, at the request of Danny Thomas, whose dream of building St Jude’s by organizing a benefit show had yet to materialize in spite of two tries, in the previous biennium. Presley stood there, did not sing, spoke to the 11,000 who came from TN, MS and AR, and by December of 1957 enough funding had been received to start the planning towards the construction of Thomas’ dream. Another dream that had yet to materialize, in 1961, was that of the Memorial for the 1,177 sailors who perished during the Japanese Imperial Air Force’s attack on Pearl Harbor of December 6 1941. On March 26, 1961 Presley heralded a benefit concert whose gross turned out to be 17% of the Memorial’s total cost, leading to its speedy contruction by 1962, when it was dedicated NOT by another posthumous recipient, then Pres. John F. Kennedy ( as should have been the case), but by then Texas Congressman and Chairman of Veteran Affairs Olin E. Teague and Hawaii”s Governor John A. Burns. Since that day, some 67 million have toured it, from every corner of the world.

Guillermo F. Perez-Argüello

In early 1964, Presley gifted the USS Potomac, FDR’s Presidential yatch to St Jude’s so that they could auction it for a big profit, which they did, late that same year. It is a testament to the good judgement Presley exercised in his advocacies, as well as in his 50 other charities, that the historic vessel, once visited by George VI and Queen Elizabeth, mother of the current Queen, sailing as they all did, with FDR and his wife, Eleanor from Washington, D.C. to Mount Vernon on June 9, 1939 and which for 3 decades after its being auctioned was misused, and had even sunk, then salvaged by the Coast Guard which renovated it, is now NOT JUST anchored at a dock in Oakland, but does a magnificient job at taking marvelled tourists on a lovely ride to the Golden Gate and back. And it all started with Elvis’ giving it to St Jude’s. Finally, I leave you with these thoughts. Just a couple of months ago, the personal and CONFIDENTIAL letters from, and to, the South African activist, then jailed for life, then freed, then elected to become his country’s Head of State, then Nobel Peace prize laureate, Nelson Mandela have been assembled and published in London. There, from his solitary confinement at Robben Island, and in his own handwriting, he delighted at the love her then 12 year old daughter, now Princess and South African Diplomat Zenani Mandela-Dlamini had for Elvis, her constant reminders to him to hold on ( her 1971 scribble in an envelop to be strong (“be like Elvis, go man, go” ), a particularly touching moment, yielding his approval as he noted to her that he loved his music too. Nuff said

http://710keel.com/elvis-gets-presidential-medal-of-freedom/

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SENT TO JESSE THROUGH THIS POINT

ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2018

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2018

This video by Billy Smith and family reflects the feelings of many of us about the award ceremony which took place on Friday, November 16th. I heartily agree that this was the highest honor of Elvis’ lifetime. I am so very thankful that President Trump made the decision to bestow this honor upon Elvis “posthumously”. I hope that the medal itself will be passed to Jesse rather than just put on display at Graceland.

MMK Family’s Reaction to Elvis Receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom Award

Memphis Mafia Kid

Published on Nov 17, 2018

Episode 79. Our reaction to the reward and some viewers questions answered.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXtid4G-opE&w=560&h=315%5D

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I enjoyed the following article very much and want to share it with my visitors.

HILLSBORO, Ohio — When Elvis Presley was included among President Trump’s honorees for the Presidential Medal of Freedom, my first thought was, “It’s about time,” followed by the recognition that it would reignite the popular revisionist claim that Presley “appropriated” black culture and music, a nonsensical allegation that wasn’t shared by most of the black artists of the 1950s.

That sentiment is most succinctly summed up by Public Enemy’s Chuck D in the 1989 hit “Fight the Power,” which includes the line, “Elvis was a hero to most, but he never meant s— to me.” Obviously, Chuck D likewise means nothing to Presley, but the rapper’s follow-up line that Presley was “straight up racist” indicates a lack of awareness.

Presley was raised in poverty in the Tupelo, Miss., slums, side-by-side with African-Americans, and the rhythm and blues and black gospel that influenced him were as much his music as anyone’s. It was in his DNA. Far from making a calculated decision to capitalize on it, Presley performed it as naturally as he downed the fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches that his mother prepared as part of her poor family’s menu.

Presley, again merely by instinct, merged rhythm and blues with another genre he loved, country music — white music — to create a brand-new sound. Comparing the rhythm songs like “That’s All Right” as originally performed by Arthur Crudup with Presley’s version makes clear the creativity and distinction he brought to bear.

Rather than being hailed by critics as an innovator, Presley was initially reviled and shunned by polite society for performing “race music,” embraced only by teenagers of all races. Economics eventually forced the popular variety shows of the day, hosted by Milton Berle, Steve Allen and, most famously, Ed Sullivan, to relent and feature Presley on their airwaves. Once Presley knocked down the door, multiple black artists stepped through it, suddenly welcome on television and in concert halls.

It is noteworthy that Presley’s biggest hit was not a rock ‘n’ roll number. It was instead a song called “It’s Now or Never,” based on the operatic “O Sole Mio,” making it somewhat surprising that Presley hasn’t been accused of appropriating Italian music.

A recent documentary by Eugene Jarecki called “The King” examines Presley’s life as a metaphor for America in the age of Trump, with the director implying that the United States is in its “late Elvis” stage — self-indulgent, sick and dying. Among the criticisms from the many celebrities and musicians who are interviewed is that Presley never participated in the civil rights movement. He never marched for the cause.

In fact, Presley participated the only way he ever participated, through his music. Two of his biggest hits — both recorded against the wishes of his management – spoke out against social injustice. “If I Can Dream,” which Presley used to close his famous 1968 “comeback” TV special on the heels of the assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F. Kennedy, had Presley dreaming “of a better land where all my brothers walk hand in hand.” He followed it up the following year with “In the Ghetto,” which told the story of “a poor little baby child” born in the ghetto who, by song’s end, is gunned down in the street, while “his mama cries.”

But what is particularly misleading about labeling Presley a thief of black music is that it ignores what truly makes him worthy of last Friday’s honor — his embrace and mastery of music in multiple forms, including rock, gospel, country, ballads and pop. His stage performances of the 1970s blended many genres into his unique vision of the universality of all people. He insisted on being backed up by the black, blues-tinged Sweet Inspirations side by side with the white, gospel melodies of the Imperials and, later, the Stamps Quartet.

During his later years, many of Presley’s contemporaries complained that he had abandoned his roots. They wanted him to come out with a five-piece band and perform “That’s All Right” and other early hits. But to do so would have made Presley nothing more than another oldies act.

While he always included a sampling of his early hits in his 1970s concerts, Presley focused more intently on contemporary music, covering a wide range from Simon and Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” to Olivia Newton-John’s “Let Me Be There” to Tony Joe White’s “Polk Salad Annie.” After too many midcareer years of being forced to sing bad movie songs, by the 1970s Presley did what he wanted. If he liked it, he performed it, critics be damned.

By honoring Presley with the Medal of Freedom, Trump may have been playing to his Middle America base. But he also paid tribute to someone who arguably did as much to bridge the cultural and racial divide as anyone who ever lived, an impressive and unifying act from someone usually considered the most divisive of presidents.

https://www.journalnow.com/opinion/columnists/gary-abernathy-trump-honoring-elvis-it-s-about-time/article_24f056aa-edd5-11e8-97fa-d79181e09c08.html

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2018

Elvis Presley News Report 2018: November

Emiel Maier

Published on Nov 23, 2018

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BJefpzPhu8&w=560&h=315%5D

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2018

Below is the latest news about the upcoming Elvis Tribute show commemorating the 1968 Special. This is slated to air early in 2019.

KEITH URBAN COLLABORATED WITH POST MALONE FOR AN ELVIS TV SPECIAL

CARENA LIPTAK

November 26, 2018

Keith Urban has revealed that he collaborated with rapper and singer Post Malone for a new TV special honoring legendary cross-genre musician Elvis Presley. The special will feature performances from a wide swatch of artists on all ends of the genre spectrum, including Shawn Mendes and Mac Davis as well as country stars such as Little Big Town, Blake Shelton, the Pistol Annies and Darius Rucker.

In a recent interview with E! News, Urban explained that he is a big fan of Post Malone, and admires his musical diversity. “He’s the real deal,” the country superstar comments. “He’s so eclectic. So steeped in all kinds of music. I love him.”

Urban is not the first country artist to show an appreciation for Malone’s style. In November of 2018, Michael Ray shared his own soulful, slowed-down take on the rapper’s chart-topper, “Psycho.” Likewise, Jon Langston — the flagship artist of Luke Bryan‘s recently announced record label, 32 Bridge Entertainment — is known for covering the rapper’s “I Fall Apart” in live shows.

The new Elvis tribute special was taped over the course of two days in front of a live audience, and took place on the same stage where NBC’s The Voice is filmed. The event commemorates Presley’s iconic 1968 television special, in which the icon performed live on NBC for the first time in seven years, garnering the network its highest-rating show that television season. Presley’s daughter and granddaughter, Lisa Marie Presley and Riley Keough, will participate as co-hosts in the new tribute. The show is slotted to air early in 2019.

http://theboot.com/keith-urban-post-malone-collaboration/

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2018

It is a very interesting “coincidence” that the logo of the company for which Elvis worked when he cut his very first record at the Sun Studio was that of a crown with lightening bolts. As Elvis said “There are no coincidences; everything has a meaning.“

That first record was Elvis’ first “taking care of business” experience which lead to him becoming known as “the King“.

Elvis Crown Electric Truck Driver Dispel Myth The Spa Guy YouTube

My copy of the Crown Electric ad is a screen capture which I made from the YouTube video by The Spa Guy as shown in the caption above.

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Today I stumbled upon something which I think Jesse may find interesting. It is an article about the significance of the number 42. We all know that Elvis chose to reinvent himself as his stillborn brother, Jesse, in order to give Jesse 42 years of life as Elvis had. So, the number 42 was very important to Elvis and now to Jesse. Jesse will reach his 42nd year as Jesse next year. That does NOT mean that he is planning to leave us.

This article is written about Christ but I have taken the excerpt about the number 42.

As a die-hard baseball fan, the number “42” has a very special place in my heart. It is the only number in the major leagues that has been “retired” by all teams. Until this week, I did not know how much significance the number “42” has outside baseball. Here are just a couple of examples:

• The world’s first book printed with movable type is the Gutenberg Bible which has 42 lines per page.

• On page 42 of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry discovers he’s a wizard.

• Elvis Presley died at the age of 42.

• Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear’s spaceship is named 42.

• In the Book of Revelation, it is prophesied that the beast will hold dominion over the earth for 42 months.

But perhaps the most famous use of “42” (besides Jackie Robinson’s number) is found in a cosmic science fiction novel, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which is about the end of the world, other intelligent life in the universe, and ultimate answers. The story revolves around a computer named Deep Thought who is asked the question, “What is the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe and Everything?”

When asked the question, Deep Thought’s initial response is to “think about it.” Well, after seven and a half million years of thinking and calculations, Deep Thought reveals that the answer to that question is “42.” And then, to those baffled folks wondering what they can possibly do with that answer, Deep Thought suggests that maybe the problem is that they’ve never really thought “what is the ultimate question?”

The above excerpt was written by:

Marty Vershel

Vershel

a preacher looks at forty, fifty, and beyond . . .

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/32786636

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Below is a very good compilation of the photo of Jesse and one of Elvis. I came across this recently in my collection. I am so very sorry that I don’t recall who created this and gave it to me. But, I think everyone will enjoy seeing this again.

PS: My dear friend, Lucilia, has reminded me that she was the person who created this. Hugs to her for all she does.

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This is a very good blog post which I enjoyed. Being the recipient of many gifts from Jesse over the years, I can attest to the fact that just being in touch with him, getting letters from him and, most of all, speaking with him on the phone are the greatest gifts he has ever given me. These are enough to make me happy eternally without a single material gift.

I thank my Facebook friend, Terry Evans, who shared this article with me.

Elvis Presley and His Gift-giving

Miss Cellania • Wednesday, December 23, 2015 at 5:00 AM

Neatorama presents a guest post from actor, comedian, and voiceover artist Eddie Deezen. Visit Eddie at his website or at Facebook.

Elvis Presley’s gift-giving was legendary. Elvis referred to his gifts as his “happies.” No one Elvis was even remotely close to came up empty-handed. According to many recipients over the years, the reason Elvis gave gifts so lavishly over the years was because he loved seeing the look on their face.

Anyone familiar with Elvis knows of his fondness for giving away Cadillacs, and this part of Elvis’ “legend” is, indeed, true. But Cadillacs were just the tip of the gigantic iceberg of gift-giving by Elvis.

The gifts Elvis gave were generally given out of genuine and pure love, admiration, and affinity, but some served as a reward for loyalty, some re-inforced the power balance in a relationship, and sometimes Elvis (who never liked to apologize for anything) would give gifts as a way of saying “I’m sorry”.

Not everybody accepted: early girlfriend June Juanico, adhering to southern custom, declined the many gifts her boyfriend offered her because she understood that a man giving a gift to a woman would want something in return. She later said: “Think of all the Cadillacs I passed up!”

Another early girlfriend, Anita Wood, wasn’t quite so “Southern,” and received a diamond ring, a new car, and endless toys and jewelry.

In 1956, Elvis gave a maid who looked after his family a car when he found out she had to walk a mile from her home to get to the nearest bus stop.

When future wife, Priscilla, first visited Memphis for Christmas 1962, Elvis gave her a poodle puppy, which she named “Honey.” When she came to live there the following year, Elvis gave her a Corvair to get her to and from school (Priscilla was still a teenager). One of the first things he did was buy her a $1,500 wardrobe of clothes (all of which he picked himself). Elvis was still buying her gifts a decade later, after their divorce.

With Elvis’ gifts, it wasn’t always big ticket items, either. Elvis always made it a point to welcome the female co-stars of his films with lavish bunches of flowers. He gave his co-star in King Creole(1958) a stuffed tiger at her birthday party.

After Elvis discovered one of his favorite books The Impersonal Life, he gave copies with a personal dedication and often his own scribbled annotations, to several people who really mattered to him.

When filming of Frankie and Johnny (1965) wrapped, Elvis gave the entire cast and crew a special watch designed by jeweler Harry Levitch, depicting a cross and a Jewish star. That same year, he gave his aide, Lamar Fike, enough money to buy himself a large house. He also gave his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, an electric golf cart.

When the Beatles came to visit him at Graceland in ’65, they left with cowboy holsters and guns, stagecoach lamps, and a full collection of Elvis records.

Faron Young once told Elvis he liked the look of one of his Harleys. Elvis threw him the keys and told him to take it.

Another acquaintence recalled admiring the shirt Elvis was wearing, only to watch as Elvis, literally, gave him the shirt off his back.

In 1967, he gave his Speedway co-star Nancy Sinatra a car with the name of the movie on one door, and their names on the other.

Because of his love of gift-giving, as would be expected, his favorite holiday was Christmas. Christmas 1957 was Elvis’ first at his new home Graceland. He gave six of his employees a $1,000 bill as a Christmas bonus. (He handed out $100 bills to his younger cousins.) Elvis gave the newsboy who brought him the paper $100 and told him to keep the change.

For Christmas 1967, he gave Colonel Tom a $595 gold Accutron watch. (Over the years, he also gave Parker a bubble car, a boat, and an airplane (!!!) -Parker had to graciously decline the plane because of the cost of upkeep.)

In January of 1969, Elvis gave one his most special and unique gifts. He was so pleased to be working at American Studios at the same time as Roy Hamilton, one of his musical heroes, that he gave him a song, “Angelica,” that he had intended to record himself.

Elvis went on a major shopping spree during the Christmas holidays of 1970. After buying a small arsenal of guns for himself and his friends, he bought a house for his close friend and aide Joe Esposito. Then he purchased three Mercedes cars, one for himself, one for pal Jerry Schilling, and one for his girlfriend Barbara Leigh. (At this time he gave all his girlfriends guns to make sure they were safe.)

Elvis presented Priscilla’s brother with a brand new Mustang when he came to visit in the late sixties.

For a spell in the seventies, Elvis travelled with his own personal jeweler, Lowell Hayes, so that he could have a ready supply for when he felt the urge to give a gift.

The first Christmas Elvis spent with girlfriend Linda Thompson, he gave her a mink coat plus a fox suede coat. Two assistants, Red and Sonny West, suggest that over their four-year relationship, Elvis bought her more than A quarter-million dollars worth of jewelry.

Not all of Elvis’ gifts were appreciated. Elvis loved and admired boxer Muhammad Ali and gave him a beautiful boxing robe with the inscription “The People’s Champion.” However, after Ali wore it to fight and was defeated, he refuse to ever don it again, considering it bad luck.

They also estimate that Elvis gave drummer J.D. Sumner around $100,000 worth of jewelry as gifts.

He pushed a car on his karate instructor, Ed Parker, despite his protests that he already had three. Then he bought Parker’s wife a $12,000 mink coat.

Red and Sonny also recall when Elvis took his gift-giving to new heights by handing out rings to members of the audience, and the band, at a Greensboro, North Carolina show, in 1975. On that tour, Elvis threw his customized Gibson guitar out into the audience.

Within weeks of meeting his new girlfriend, Ginger Alden, in 1976, Elvis had already given her a Lincoln Continental, a Triumph tr6, as many as five fur coats, and extended his generosity to her family (fur coats and jewelry, as well as money for improvements to their home).

Ironically, although Elvis did give (and receive) genuine joy with his incredible, lavish gift-giving, most of his girlfriends, family, relatives, friends, aides, employees and fans all agree on one thing. Just being around Elvis- experiencing his talent, his friendliness, his humor, his great “spirit of play,” was the greatest gift of all.

https://www.neatorama.com/2015/12/23/Elvis-Presley-and-his-Gift-giving/?fbclid=IwAR0hKBYUzYg-hxsz8AuhDStPeBUidiz7Zx8C1DvknARvDQNs9GdINv2oD3Q

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2018

Another article regarding the Elvis Tribute show devoted to his 1968 Comeback Special Show. This one has a little more information than the one which we saw recently.

NEWS

Keith Urban and Post Malone team up for Elvis special

Newsdesk

Country star Keith Urban has formed an unlikely duo with rapper Post Malone for an Elvis Presley TV tribute.

The two artists are among a host of top musicians invited to pay homage to the late King of Rock and Roll and his famed 1968 TV special, which was performed live, and Keith reveals he really hit it off with the rockstar hitmaker.

“He’s the real deal,” the singer told E!. “He’s so eclectic. So steeped in all kinds of music. I love him.”

Post Malone’s taste in tunes wasn’t the only thing Keith admired about his new pal: “I wanted his suit,” Nicole Kidman’s husband laughed. “It was so bad a**.”

It’s not known which Elvis song the pair collaborated on, but Post and Keith will feature alongside Shawn Mendes, Blake Shelton, Darius Rucker, Little Big Town, Adam Lambert, Dierks Bentley, the Pistol Annies, and John Fogerty on the upcoming show, which will be co-hosted by Elvis’ only child, Lisa Marie Presley, and her actress daughter Riley Keough.

The 50th Anniversary of the Elvis Comeback Special, which was recorded in Los Angeles over two days in October (18), also includes pre-taped sets performed by the likes of Jennifer Lopez, Carrie Underwood, Ed Sheeran, John Legend, Alessia Cara, and Yolanda Adams, who all chose classic Elvis cuts for the tribute.

In addition, rare clips and interviews with Elvis himself will air as part of the TV event, which is expected to be broadcast in early 2019.

http://www.music-news.com/news/UK/117578/Keith-Urban-and-Post-Malone-team-up-for-Elvis-special

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SENT TO JESSE THROUGH THIS POINT

ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 2018

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Below is the link to the new page for December

https://lindahoodsigmontruthcontd.com/current-news-and-events-index/current-news-events-december-2018/

Elvis as Orion (?)

MENU OF PAGES

CURRENT NEWS & EVENTS – NOVEMBER, 2018

Copyright LindaHoodSigmonTruth.com May, 2009 – 2018 All rights reserved. This copyright covers ALL of my original material contained on every page of this website.

Please do visit my new YouTube channel:

ELVIS HAS BEEN VOTED THE KING OF MUSIC FOR THREE YEARS IN A ROW!!!

LET’S ALL BAN TOGETHER AND VOTE FOR ELVIS EVERY SINGLE DAY THIS YEAR SO WE CAN MAKE IT FOUR YEARS IN A ROW!!!!

Choose who must hold the title of

THE KING for 2018 !

PLEASE VOTE ONCE EVERY DAY!!! We are nearing the end of the year and Elvis is losing out to a non-American singer. This is not acceptable!!!

Also Elvis’ song “Suspicious Minds” was in second place for the Song of Ages and was not far behind the #1

Also Elvis’ Album “Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley” was in second place for the Album of Ages and was not far behind the #1

So do NOT forget to vote for these two categories also!!!

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 2018

In working with my earlier data files while organizing them into my new computer, I have been coming across items which bring back memories for me and which I enjoy seeing again after having forgotten all about them.

I hope others will enjoy seeing this beautiful note as much as I did years ago when my friend shared it with me.

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The below video is an interview with Wayne Carman, a Karate instructor who was friends with Elvis. I do own Mr. Carman’s book and it is a very good book done in a most respectful manner.

Elvis Karate Instructor Wayne Carman The Spa Guy

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SENT TO JESSE THROUGH THIS POINT

ON FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2018

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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2018

Below is an article about the death of an entertainer who performed with Elvis for a while. You will see the photo of Dave Rowland with J. D. Sumner and others of the Stamps Quartet. I wanted to share this so that Jesse may see it when I print out my news articles for him this week.

I have researched and learned that the man named Jimmy Ellis to whom the photograph is attributed is NOT THE Jimmy Ellis who was ORION. When I saw that name, I wondered and knew that others would perhaps do the same so I did some research.

The Stamps Quartet featured (from left) Bill Baise, Ed Enoch, Dave Rowland and J.D. Sumner. The gospel quartet, which performed and recorded with Elvis Presley, is seen recording on June 13, 1973. (Photo: Jimmy Ellis/The Tennessean)

Tony Joe White, who has died aged 75, was a singer-songwriter best known as the progenitor of a musical style that he called “swamp rock”, and as the composer of a number of songs that vividly evoked life in the American rural south.

Tony Joe White was born on July 23 1943 in Goodwill, Louisiana, in the heart of bayou country, into a part-Cherokee family, the son of Charlie White and Virgie (née Andrews). The youngest of seven children, White grew up working on his father’s farm, harvesting corn and cotton.

White said he liked to relax and wait ‘for a song to drift in on the wind’

With a repertoire largely consisting of Hopkins, John Lee Hooker and Elvis covers, White began playing clubs and joints around Louisiana and Texas – the kind of places, he remembered, where a screen of chicken wire was often in place to stop the beer bottles being thrown from the audience.

Polk Salad Annie’s classic status was cemented when Elvis Presley began performing the song in his Las Vegas shows, turning it into a marathon, pelvis-thrusting tour de force. A live recording by Presley reached No 23 in the UK in 1973.

Tony Joe White is survived by his wife, Leann, and by their three children.

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MONDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2018

I have had a number of very negative reactions to the book “Letters From Elvis“. So, I am withdrawing my original favorable mention of this book.

I apologize to those who have been offended by the content of the book. I had no advance way of knowing exactly what would be in the book when I posted about it based upon the video interview with the author who appeared to be a good gentleman and has a history of accomplishment.

So, having said that, I hereby suggest that:

NO ONE SHOULD BUY THE BOOK “LETTERS FROM ELVIS” BY GARY LINDBERG.

I regret that I recommended this book without having read it myself first. Lesson learned…people turn on me personally if they don’t like something which I attempt to share ahead of publication.

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 6, 2018

Below is an interesting article about Elvis’ time in Germany and a new museum devoted to his time there.

Newly-found letters, photos highlight Elvis’ GI times in Grafenwoehr

Old and recently discovered photos of Elvis at the Culture and Military Museum of Grafenwoehr, Germany, Monday, Nov. 5, 2018. The museum is celebrating the 60-year anniversary of when Elvis was in the town and training area.

MARTIN EGNASH/STARS AND STRIPES

By MARTIN EGNASH AND MARCUS KLOECKNER | STARS AND STRIPES Published: November 5, 2018

GRAFENWOEHR, Germany — A special exhibition featuring newly recovered photos of Elvis Presley’s time as a soldier in Germany nearly 60 years ago has opened at a museum near the U.S. Army base in Grafenwoehr.

Birgit Ploessner, the curator who came up with the idea for the exhibit, told Stars and Stripes that intensive research had uncovered new facts connected with the King’s time here.

“For a long time it was believed that Elvis was just twice in Grafenwoehr,” Ploessner said. But a book the museum recently found showed that Elvis was not just in town from November to December 1958 and in January and February 1960, but also in March 1959.

Some of the new photos of Elvis’ time in Grafenwoehr include him playing the guitar to entertain fellow soldiers and signing autographs for locals.

The museum also tracked down a letter that was believed to be lost, which Elvis had written to Sepp Anderl Mueller, a reporter with the local newspaper Amberger Zeitung.

When Elvis was in Hirschau, a town about 17 miles south of Grafenwoehr, he asked Mueller to send photos he had taken.

“The reporter did so and Elvis wrote back to the reporter,” Ploessner said. “Unfortunately, when the reporter died, we did not know where the letter was.”

The museum recently found out that the reporter’s daughter had the letter. She gave it to the museum.

Ploessner also said the museum tracked down more than 30 people who had met Elvis personally and interviewed them.

She said that the Army was very cooperative in providing base access to assist the museum project.

The exhibit, which includes the clothes worn by the rock n’ roll icon and an autographed beer coaster, also features a piano on which Elvis performed during a private concert at a local boarding house.

Elvis spent a week at the boarding house together with his father. Since the owner allowed them to stay for free, he performed for the owner and his staff. Ploessner said that Elvis’ record company, RCA, wouldn’t let him perform. The King just ignored them.

The exhibition will continue until March 31. Admission costs 4 euros for adults and 2 euros for children.

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Many Elvises watch over cast and crew at the Shakespeare Theatre’s Lansburgh stage.

Tyrone Turner / WAMU

WAMU, NOV 5

Much Ado About Elvis: Why The Shakespeare Theatre Has A Shrine To The King

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SENT TO JESSE THROUGH THIS POINT

ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2018

(due to US Postal holiday on Monday 12th)

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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2018

Jesse called me late this afternoon. We couldn’t have a long visit because he was heading out for a Dr. visit. He is having some pain in his leg which is causing him to limp which he thinks may be arthritis. But, he sounded wonderful and we enjoyed our phone visit.

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THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2018

Our talented, hard-working, and diligently supportive friend, Simon Laxon, has created three more fantastic comparison videos of Jesse’s face and photos of Elvis’ face. One picture is worth a thousand words…so Simon has provided the proof in the pictures. Heartfelt thanks to Simon as always.

Elvis / Jesse Comparison 81

Published on Nov 7, 2018

Elvis / Jesse Comparison 82

PLEASE VOTE ONCE EVERY DAY!!!
We are nearing the end of the year and Elvis is losing out to a non-American singer. This is not acceptable!!!

**Also Elvis’ song “Suspicious Minds” was in second place for the Song of Ages and was not far behind the #1**

**Also Elvis’ Album “Elvis Presley – Elvis Presley” was in second place for the Album of Ages and was not far behind the #1**

Well, it’s one for the money
Two for the show
Three to get ready
Now go, cat, go

But don’t you
Step on my blue suede shoes
Well you can do anything
But stay off of my blue suede shoes

Well, you can knock me down
Step in my face
Slander my name all over the place
Well do anything that you want to do

But uh-uh, honey lay off of them shoes
And don’t you step on my blue suede shoes
Well, you can do anything
But stay off of my blue suede shoes