MISC ELVIS
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As Of October 2003: Elvis Makes Forbes Deceased Celebrities Top Earnings List For 3rd Year In a Row
Forbes 3rd annual list of Top Earnings deceased celebrities track the posthumous business dealings of the biggest stars of yester-year.
Elvis remains King of the crypt, earning a stunning $40 million. Visits to Graceland were up 4% in the past year, to 600,000. A techno version of the forgotten song "Rubberneckin' " was used in a Toyota commercial. Bono, Tom Petty and Dave Matthews appeared on an NBC tribute last fall to strum and sing Presley tunes. And in the clearest sign that Elvis never really left the building, his 30 #1 Hits compilation CD sold more than 9 million copies around the world. A follow-up collection, 2nd to None, was released in mid-October and featured more hit singles and the previously unreleased "I'm a Roustabout." It sold 181,000 copies its first week in the stores. --Davide Dukcevich
The #2 spot went to: Charles Schulz for $32 million, #3 went to JRR Token with $22 million, #4 went to John Lennon with $19 million and the #5 spot went to George Harrison with $16 million.
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The following "A Letter To Elvis" was sent to me by a friend of mine. I don't know where it originated from, but I've given credit at the end because that's how I received it. I hope the info I have on it is true, but if it isn't, you can email me and I'll remove it, with proof it's your poem, if that's what you wish for.
A Letter To Elvis
Three days had passed.... since they said he was gone,
And the D.J. s were constantly playing his songs.But I just couldn't listen to the songs that he sang...The sound of his voice would just worsen the pain.
But that morning.... for reasons that still are unclearI thought I was ready for what I might hear...So I turned on the radio and the first voice I heardSent a chill up my spine, when he said his first words...
"Don't look so sad," Elvis sang, soft and sweet...And it seemed he was singing it only to me."I know it's over," he went on to say.
"Just remember the good times, we shared yesterday."
And I wanted to answer the message he sent,Because I wanted to tell him how much he had meantTo all who have loved him and can't let him go...So these are the words that I sat down and wrote.......
Softly, I hear your voice singing,Coming to me from somewhere,Saying, 'Don't look so sad 'cause it's over,Remember the good times we shared."I can't believe that it's over,
I can't believe that it's done.I wish somebody could tell me.....Why must the good die young?You used to make me so happy,Your voice sang only to me.But all I have left is a mem'ry,Of how good the good times could be.
Now it's the end of an era,And I think of my teenage fun.That part of my life died with you...Why must the good die young? Yes, I can remember the good times,All of the years we have shared.We lived through a lifetime together....But you didn't know I was there.
Now all of the good times are over,All of the songs have been sung,But you'll live in my heart forever.....Why must the good die young?
By Jenny O'Brien
© 1977
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Lisa Marie On Elvis
"I remember him very well. It was a very intense feeling to have him around. You would know he was there in the house, you'd know he was there when you drove up the driveway. He was a very powerful person spiritually....he was an incredible and enlightened man. A one-of-a-kind human being."
"That's what he was to me as a child--this huge, electrifying, powerful, grand, beautiful presence."
"He was so extraordinary--a presence--not even as an entertainer, just as a person. Yes, he sang well, and yes, the songs were great, but that was him coming through the music. He was bigger than life--and he still is."
THE LAUGHTER
In the Tarot, the Trickster is represented by the Major Arcana of 'The Magician'. From 'The Merlin Tarot,' by R.J. Stewart, we read: "One of the major paths to enlightenment is through humor; the face of The Magician is full of joy and good humor, discovery and enthusiasm. He is not a somber, pompous 'adept', dictating occult dogma....To relate to The Magician we must become aware of the difference between humor as a spiritual or liberating power, and its inverse or shadow which is that of the malevolent...."
Elvis loved to shake up people's illusions of him in a playful way. There was never any malice connected to his pranks, only an impish spirit. He was a man of contrasting mood who could be very mature, intelligent and serious in his deep understanding of Spirit and Life. Yet, in order to remain sane in the atmosphere which had collected around his 'image,' he sought relief through humor. I believe unconsciously he wielded it as means of teaching others the true joy in living.
Larry Strickland, former base singer with the 'Stamps' Quartet, who sang as backup with Elvis in the 1970's, commented to 'Elvis International Forum on Elvis' marvelous sense of humor:
"He'd rather laugh than eat, I guess....A lot of times he would keep you laying on the floor laughing....I'll never forget Tony Brown, who was Elvis' piano player after Glen Hardin left. The first session that we did that Tony was there playing piano, Tony just sat there with his mouth hanging open. He couldn't believe what was happening because Elvis was laying right on the floor, right beside him, just rolling, holding his sides, laughing. I mean here is Elvis laying on the floor. I think that particular night we were talking about Roadrunner cartoons; everybody was telling about different cartoons they had seen."
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John Lennon: "It was his sense of humor that stuck in my mind. He liked to laugh and make others laugh, too."
Wanda Hill recalled a close encounter with an aquatically armed and dangerous Elvis when she worked in the MGM mail room in the 1960's. Elvis came in with a water pistol and decided that Wanda made an easy target. As she later wrote about the incident in her book, 'We Remember, Elvis':
"....he took aim and fired a blast in my face. I stared at him, shocked, and then without thinking who he was, I picked up a paper cup with melting ice from a Coke and tossed it in his direction. It got him, right in the chest, and splattered up his face. The look on that face would have been worth millions on film! He was stunned and speechless. For a few seconds I thought surely he would kill me, as his expression changed from shock to surprise, then anger. Then he slowly relaxed and his handsome face began to smile. He tossed back his head and laughed. Then, brushing off the ice and slowly raising his water pistol, feet spread apart, hip out, he turned slightly and with the meanest and most deadly look I've ever seen he drew aim at my heart and fired his water pistol. Well, it was nearly empty and the stream sort of dribbled at me. That was too much; we fell all over the office laughing. Elvis went off to refill and I went back to work, wet, but totally sure Elvis was something else - just what I hadn't yet decided."
Then Wanda tells about the time a certain female Hollywood reporter was determined to get into Elvis' suite in the Las Vegas Hilton to spy on the 'wild parties' she had heard (and hoped) he was having up there. She disguised herself, as that was the only way she would have been allowed in. However, Elvis had been told she was coming. He decided to have some fun. As Wanda tells the story:
"Well, Elvis had a great sense of humor and when he learned of her plan he had an idea. He hired some Las Vegas girls to come over and had them dress or undress for various roles....He also warned friends who were at the party.
"When the reporter, in disguise, arrived at his suite, Elvis staggered from his bedroom with a naked woman hanging onto him. He pushed her away, staggered to the coffee table, and said, 'clear off the table; who's up next?' and he grabbed the reporter. "She was horrified (or pretended to be) and told him off. Elvis couldn't keep a straight face. He cracked up. The whole room exploded in laughter."
Another 'Elvis moments' as told by Wanda Hill in 'We Remember, Elvis':
"One day while I was staying at the Hilton Hotel (in the 1970's), I was outside for some fresh air when I noticed a group of people staring up at the top of the hotel. Curious, I walked over and looked up. Sailing through the air were several little paper airplanes, and way up on the 30th floor was a tiny figure of a man, waving to us below. It was Elvis, curing his boredom, flying paper airplanes and watching the people running after them - after all Elvis Presley had touched them! "What I did not know was that he also put messages on the airplanes, written in baby talk, and he laughed as the people found them and read his messages while he was observing through his binoculars. It was just silly Elvis putting people on again!"
It is ironic, that in much of the media coverage of Elvis, most especially the screenplays, and the derogatory books written on him, he is depicted as a brooding figure shut away from the world in his own deep misery. Certainly a man who had a difficult marriage with a heartbreaking ending, and who was threatened and held captive by the 'mob,' would have more than a few moments of depression. But for the most part, despite his extreme hardships, Elvis was a man of joy and laughter, no matter how bleak the picture of his life seemed to be.
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