Elvis Presley Interviews and Articles by By David Adams
Interviews and articles about Elvis Presley by By David Adams.
Interview with legendary guitarist, Reggie Young
One of the most recorded guitar players of all time, Reggie Young has played on hundreds of hit songs in multiple genres. His career spans over 50 years and between the years 1967 thru 1971 alone his guitar was on 120 Top 40 pop and R&B hits. He's recorded with Elvis and opened for The Beatles along with playing guitar on several hundred different artists recordings, playing rockabilly, R&B, rock, pop, country and jazz with some of the greatest of all time: ... Do you have a special memory with Elvis? Well, it's all a special moment. But especially American, the one on one, when we were just sittin' around talking and you know, after the fact I look back and say, man I was just sittin' around talking to Elvis.
Interview with Susan Henning
Susan Henning was born in North Hollywood, raised in the San Fernando Valley, the blonde, tan, blue-eyed California girl epitomized the Healthy All American girl. She won 'Miss Teen USA' in 1965. Susan appeared in Elvis' movie, 'Live A Little, Love A Little' and says her all-time favorite was the 1968 'Elvis Special' where 'Elvis and I came together again igniting our chemistry to thrill the fans'.
Freddy Bienstock | Music Publishing and Elvis Presley
Although Freddy Bienstock is not a household name, he is famous to many as the music publisher and plugger for Elvis Presley. But still, even to Elvis fans, he is something of a mystery figure. We know about James Burton, Scotty Moore, Red West and Colonel Parker, but who can tell you much about Freddy Bienstock? And yet look in the index of any Elvis Presley biography and you will find references to him. He runs through Peter Guralnick's definitive biographies, and, quite clearly, he is an essential component in the Elvis story.
Interview with Sheila Ryan
Interview with Sheila Ryan who was was Elvis' girlfriend after Linda Thompson. Sheila was the Oct.'73 Playboy cover girl and married James Caan in '76 (divorced in '77). Elvis had qualities that no other human being has, had, will have. Some of them are so hard to describe because the charisma, the qualities that he had were almost not of this world, you know. They were, a lot of times, angelic. He knew things before I knew things. He knew things that I was feeling before I was feeling them.
Interview with Hal Kanter Director of Loving You
Interview with Hal Kanter, screenwriter and director for the Elvis Presley movie Loving You. Previously Hal had written for variety shows, graduating to screenplays and specializing in comedies. He wrote for Bob Hope as well as the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. Over the years, Hal Kanter received six Emmy Award nominations, winning the last two for his writing on the annual Academy Awards telecast. He also wrote the script for Elvis Presley's 1961 hit film Blue Hawaii, which garnered him a 'Best Written American Musical' nomination from the Writers Guild of America.
Interview with Rita Rogers
Elvis was gonna perform at the Armory and my friend and I, we were so excited to go and we went and everybody was screaming and all the girls and everything and then my friend wanted me to go back stage to get his autograph and I wouldn't go and she goes, 'Are you crazy?' and I go, 'I don't want to'. She goes, 'Why not?' I said, 'Because I'm gonna go to Hollywood and he is gonna be my friend' ... And she goes, 'You're crazy ...', because my name Aidieme, 'You're crazy Aidieme, you're never gonna be a movie star and you should go back. At least you get to see him in person'. And I wouldn't do it.
Interview with Charlie Hodge
Charlie Hodge began his musical career at age 20 in a gospel quartet with Bill Gaither. He went on to be the lead singer for the Foggy River Boys. At 5'3", the guitarist had to stand on an empty Coke crate to reach the microphone. Elvis Presley first met Hodge backstage after the group performed in Memphis, Tennessee.
Interview with Anita Wood
Anita Marie Wood Brewer was a TV performer, recording artist and girlfriend to Elvis Presley. She later married NFL football player Johnny Brewer. Elvis Presley and Anita Wood met in 1957 and in the same year Elvis referred to Wood as his 'No. 1 Girl'. The two dated seriously for several years from 1957 to 1962. Anita signed a contract to work as an actress for Paramount Pictures but later gave it up for Elvis. While he was in the army, he sent her letters which he told her never to show anyone. Anita recorded for ABC-Paramount (1958); Sun (1961); and Santo (1963). She also worked on the Andy Williams TV Show (summer 1958) and is the uncredited vocalist with Williams on 'The Hawaiian Wedding Song (Ke Kali Nei Au)', a Top 15 hit in early 1959.
Interview with Anita Wood Part II
Interview with Anita Wood Part II. Anita talks about the death of Elvis' mother, Priscilla, Elvis' return from Germany, letters from Priscilla and breaking up with Elvis, the name similar to Lisa Marie they would have given their child if they had a girl and if a boy he was to be Elvis Presley Jr, the death of Elvis and much more.
Interview with Dr. Lester Hoffman | Elvis' Dentist
Interview with Elvis' dentist, Dr. Lester Hoffman who first met Elvis just after he had come back from Hawaii, from making Blue Hawaii. 'It was my day out of the office, the girl called me and said, There's a phone call, somebody said Elvis Presley needs a dentist'.
Interview with Glen D. Hardin
Interview with Glen D. Hardin. I Elvis him the first time when I went to an audition to play the Las Vegas show. I didn't go the first time in 1969. But I, after that, Larry Muhoberac, playing the piano before me, for reasons of his own, didn't want to go on the road anymore. Anyway, the boys in the band leaned on me and wanted to come and do it, so I went down for a little audition.
Interview with Bobby Wood
Interview with Bobby Wood. Working with Elvis was definitely one of the highlights of my career. I'll never forget those days. We just had a good time.
Interview with Barbara Leigh
Barbara Leigh is an accomplished model and actress who currently works for the Playboy organization. As an actress, Barbara has appeared in numerous TV series and on the big screen with major stars including Rock Hudson and Steve McQueen. Barbara is also fondly remembered as the 'original' Vampirella. In 1970 Barbara was introduced to Elvis and that meeting began a torrid, two-year affair. Barbara speaks candidly about her time with Elvis.
Interview with Johnny Tillotson
Johnny Tillotson wrote the song, It Keeps Right On A Hurtin' early in 1962 inspired by the terminal illness of his father. He recorded the song himself and it became one of his biggest hits, reaching # 3 in the US pop chart and becoming the first of his records to make the country music charts, where it peaked at # 4. It earned him his first Grammy nomination, for Best Country & Western Recording, and was later recorded by over 100 performers including Elvis Presley in 1969 at his legendary American Sound Studios Sessions.
Interview with Steve Wynn
Interview with Steve Wynn, bother of Kenny who we recently featured an interview with. Steve Wynn graduated from The Manlius School, a private boys' school in upstate New York, in 1959. Wynn's father, Michael Weinberg, ran a string of bingo parlors in the eastern United States, and died of complications from heart surgery shortly before Wynn graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1963. At college, he studied Cultural Anthropology and English Literature. After college he took over running the family's bingo operation in Maryland. He did well enough at it to accumulate the money to buy a small stake in the Frontier Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, where he and his wife, Elaine, moved in 1967. Wynn managed to parlay his profits from a land deal in the early 1970s (the deal involved two established titans of the Las Vegas casino business, Howard Hughes and Caesars Palace) into a controlling interest in a dusty downtown casino, the Golden Nugget Las Vegas (he also owned The Golden Nugget in Atlantic City). Wynn renovated, revamped and expanded the Golden Nugget with enormous success, in the process attracting a new upscale clientele to downtown Las Vegas'. Steve Wynn literally helped build over half the casinos in Las Vegas and having a road was not good enough for him, in 2005 construction completed on The Wynn hotel.
Review | Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD
The Memphis Recording Service (MRS), the producers of the 'Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD, boldly state on the front cover that never before have we ever had live film footage (i.e., with synchronized sound) of an Elvis concert from the 50's ... until this time. Well, we certainly do now! Elvis performing 6 songs, including Heartbreak Hotel and Don't Be Cruel, live in Tupelo Mississippi 1956. Included we see a live performance of the elusive Long Tall Sally seen here for the first time ever. This is an excellent release no fan should be without it.
- The DVD Audio section gives you sound quality superior to CD
- The DVD Video Section Contains both Video Film and synchronized Sound
Interview with Glen Glenn
Well, he couldn't get out, he tried to get out one time, and walk down Hollywood Blvd. and he got all the people recognized him and pretty soon he had a mob down there and they had to call the cops to get him back to the Knickerbocker. And, one night, it must have been about 10 or 11 o'clock, where the Pantages Theatre, it's around the corner from the Knickerbocker. And, across the street from the Knickerbocker was a car, I mean a parking lot. So, people would park their car there and go to the movies at the Pantages Theatre. So, all the people were walking down Hollywood Blvd. and they'd walk across the street to go to their cars, so they wouldn't actually walk right past the Knickerbocker.
Lindalee Wakely (Jimmy Wakely's Daughter) Remembers Elvis and Charle Hodge
For me, it was a horrible scene, Just horrible. But Elvis turned it all around. I did a Hollywood gossip column for a fan magazine called Teen Scene. You may remember it. Well, Dad had known Elvis' manager, Col. Tom Parker, and his wife, Marie, for many years. So Dad was able to get me an interview with the great Elvis who had just come back from Germany and had come out to the West Coast to make movies. The interview was going to take a place on the set of GI Blues. It really was a fantastic break for a kid like me. I knew it. I bought new shoes. I chose a new dress. I got an appointment with an expensive hairdresser. I was shaking but I was going to look sharp and make a great impression on Elvis.
Interview with Patti Page
In the course of her remarkable recording career, Patti Page has sold approximately 100 million plus records, making her one of the biggest, if not the biggest selling female recording artist in history. She has 15 certified gold records and her recording of 'Tennessee Waltz', at ten million sold, remains, the biggest selling single ever recorded by a female artist.
'T-R-O-U-B-L-E' : Jerry Chesnut Remembers Elvis Presley (And his hit song)
Jerry Chesnut : I met Elvis through a mutual friend of ours, and so called Memphis Mafia member, Lamar Fike ... in 1974 Priscilla came to see Elvis perform. They sat in the booth Elvis always reserved for her and when he spotted them, He sang Priscilla's Favorite song 'It's Midnight'. He walked to the edge of the stage, looked at her, and tears were streaming down his cheeks. He was all broke up. She was the only girl he really ever loved ... The Nashville songwriting great originally wrote the clever tune 'T-R-O-U-B-L-E' for singer Little David Wilkins, who really did play from '9 til half past 1' in a Nashville bar, and he had a stroke of genius when he realized he could rhyme certain words if he spelled them out.
Donnie Sumner, 'Voice', and Elvis Presley
For six years, Donnie Sumner toured with and was a close personal friend of the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. His father was a Pentecostal preacher, and his uncle, J.D. Sumner, was a legendary musical figure. Listen to a private recording where Elvis sings 'Let Me Be The One'.
Interview with Ray Walker of the Jordanaires
Interview with Ray Walker of the Jordanaires. We were looking the other way when Elvis came in. When I turned around, he stuck his hand out and said, 'I'm Elvis Presley'. I said, 'I know who you are. I'm Ray Walker'. Elvis replied to me, 'And I know who you are'. We stood there and talked, and the minute I looked in to his face all his fame left. I saw one of the nicest guys. I'm not really one to keep my mouth shut most of the time, as long as I know there's no harm, so during that all-night session I said to him, 'You know, your heart's going to take a beating in this business. And I've only been in it three weeks'. (Laughs) I really liked him right off. There was just an aura about him, he was one of the most impressive people I have ever met in my life.
Interview with Bones Howe
Bones Howe. Recognize the name? You should. For more than 40 years, Bones Howe has been producing hit records and putting music in the movies. The Grammy he won for producing one of the '60s' top hits sits tarnished on an out-of-the-way shelf in the den. His stack of gold records 'are in a box around here someplace'. That's Bones Howe-a 40-year veteran of the L.A. music scene, labeled 'legendary' by the trades, who's made records with Elvis Presley and movies with Steven Spielberg without getting wrapped up in the Hollywood tinsel.
Interview with Teri Garr
Interview with Teri Garr who started out as a background dancer in uncredited roles for youth-oriented films and TV shows like 'Pajama Party', a beach party film, the 'T.A.M.I. Show', 'Shindig!', 'Hullabaloo', 'Movin' with Nancy' (a Nancy Sinatra / Frank Sinatra Special), and nine Elvis Presley movies ...
Interview with Myrna Smith
Myrna Smith is one of the original Sweet Inspirations, the backing group who sang with Elvis in concert from 1969 until the end. The Sweet Inspirations had success with R&B, gospel and pop recordings of their own, most notably their first hit single Sweet Inspiration, which gave the group their name in the late sixties and earned them a Grammy nomination. It was that song that caught the attention of Elvis Presley, who signed them to provide backing vocals and be an opening act for his record-breaking 1969 Las Vegas engagement, his official return to the live concert stage after his triumphant '68 TV special and the end of his Hollywood movie contract obligations. No audition was required. The Sweet Inspirations met him when they arrived for the first rehearsals for the '69 engagement. The 'Sweets' worked with Elvis in Vegas, on his national concert tours and on recordings from 1969 to 1977. Myrna also backed Elvis up during his 1976 Graceland recordings, both in February of that year and in the October/November sessions.
Interview with Malcom Leo | Director of This Is Elvis
Interview with Malcom Leo, director (With Andrew Solt) of This Is Elvis. Q: When was the first time you saw Elvis? A: It was the first time I saw Elvis Presley, the Pan Pacific Auditorium on October 28th, 1957, he wore the gold suit and danced with the RCA Victor dog. It became even doubly memorable when we found the police footage used later and were able to incorporate it in a motion picture I directed, 'This Is Elvis' ...
Interview with Wayne Jackson
Wayne Jackson has played on over 300 Number 1 records. Born in West Memphis, Arkansas, Jackson rose to prominence while still in high school as a member of Stax Records' famed studio band the Mar-Keys, a crew of expert musicians that included guitarist Steve Cropper, bassist Donald 'Duck' Dunn, keyboardist Booker T. Jones, organist Isaac Hayes and saxophonist Andrew Love, Jackson's future Memphis Horns partner. Jackson's love of music began with a guitar but one night his mother came home with a trumpet for her 11 year-old son. By 12th grade Wayne Jackson found himself playing with a group called The Mar-Keys.
The King and I - Interview with Bernard Lansky
'He always called me Mister Lansky'. The unmistakable Southern accent echoes through the clothing store in the lobby of the regal Peabody Hotel at 149 Union Avenue, Memphis. 'I told him, 'Call me Bernard.' But Elvis always said, 'Thank you, Mister Lansky'. He was brought up right. His mother brought him up a gentleman'.
Interview with Marlyn Mason | Elvis Presley's co-star The Trouble With Girls
Interview with Marlyn Mason who made her film debut, as Charlene in The Trouble With Girls (And How To Get Into It). He surpasses Monroe and Jimmy Dean. I mean, they've -- I mean, they grow in stature in their deaths. But Elvis, there's just no... I mean, he's just the king. There's only one Elvis. There's only one Marilyn, there's only one Jimmy Dean. But Elvis, I think, the music because people hear the music more.
Interview with Ben Weisman
There's a photograph of you and Elvis here that looked like a plaque. Can you tell us a little background about what happened there? Well, Elvis and I took a picture together, because we wrote a song called 'I'll Be Back', which was voted in the top ten in the motion picture category.
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Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD
Never before have we seen an Elvis Presley concert from the 1950's with sound. Until Now! The DVD Contains recently discovered unreleased film of Elvis performing 6 songs, including Heartbreak Hotel and Don't Be Cruel, live in Tupelo Mississippi 1956. Included we see a live performance of the elusive Long Tall Sally seen here for the first time ever. + Plus Bonus DVD Audio.
This is an excellent release no fan should be without it.
The 'parade' footage is good to see as it puts you in the right context with color and b&w footage. The interviews of Elvis' Parents are well worth hearing too. The afternoon show footage is wonderful and electrifying : Here is Elvis in his prime rocking and rolling in front of 11.000 people. Highly recommended.
Tupelo's Own Elvis Presley DVD Video with Sound.
