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I have
been told there were over 1,000 people at the funeral of Al
Dvorin and there were amazing tributes to him posted on the official tribute paper
Chicago
Sun-Times.
The tributes were wonderful with
over 55 pages to date that read like a who's who in the
Elvis World. There were many fan club presidents, tribute artists and people from the entourage
and who performed with Elvis. The huge
list included
Ginger Alden, Patsy Andersen, Ed Enoch and the Stamps, Joe Esposito,
DJ Fontana, Larry Geller, Myrna Smith, The
Jordanaires, Sam Thompson, Linda Thompson, Ronnie Tutt, Sonny West and
Kathy Westmoreland to name just a few. Reading through these wonderful
tributes shows how Al touched so many people
and how "he gave out love like he was giving out candy", as eloquently
put in one tribute. Myrna
Smith wrote a poem, Kathy Westmoreland a touching tribute and the only
person from EPE to write was an ex-employee, Patsy Andersen. There
was no tribute from Soden, Priscilla or Lisa....shame on them, unless
they have written private messages to the family, but don't hold your
breath.
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Just a few hours before he
died, Al phoned his agent Kristy Royle and told her he had been put in
hospital in Vegas for a day previously, suffering from exhaustion. He
should have flown from Palm Springs to Vegas but for some unknown
reason was driven and he was dreading the journey. Al told Kristy
to make sure she had all his family numbers, as if he had a
premonition. Throughout his life Al gave out so much love but sadly at his death
his family were not united in grief. Al Dvorin was Jewish and in the
Jewish religion there is a period of grieving called "sitting
shiva". The closest relatives sit on
low stools in the family
home and other family or friends come to pay their respects usually
for one week. Sadly, Al
would have been heartbroken to know that his daughter had to sit shiva
in his house while her two brothers, one a rabbi, sat shiva elsewhere.
For a man that gave out so much love it seems his son, the rabbi,
won't speak to his daughter even when their father had died. It may be none of my business but Al was
so good, so kind, so caring, so forgiving, so loving it would be nice
to think his legacy will continue through his children and the memory
of his love will bring them back
together. Without this forgiveness, by none other than a rabbi, I
don't think Al Dvorin or his beloved
wife Bernice will rest in peace.
I
think there should be a memorial service to Al Dvorin in America so
that at some future date family, friends and fans can gather to pay
their respects to a truly great man. I don't recall ever seeing so
much love shared at the death of someone closely associated with Elvis
Presley.
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To
the family and friends of Al Dvorin:
In times like these, words are not enough to ease
the
grief of one so dear.
We were with Al in Las
Vegas August 13 and 14. He was in
great spirits,
even though we always knew how much he
missed
his lovely wife, Bernice. He always requested her
favorite song, SPANISH EYES, and would listen
with tears
in his eyes.
He genuinely loved his family
and was so excited about
going to Israel for his
grandson's barmitzvah, though
his heart was heavy
because Bernice wouldn't be with
him.
HE GAVE HIS GRACE AND KINDNESS
A FRIEND TO EVERYONE
AND I JUST WANT TO THANK YOU, AL
FOR ALL THE THINGS YOU'VE DONE
GOD GAVE TO US A TREASURE
AND MEMORIES LIVE ON
AL, REST IN PEACE WITH YOUR BERNICE
UNTIL OUR REUNION
MYRNA
THE SWEET INSPIRATIONS
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dear friend, Al.
You have given me
memories that will live
forever in my soul. There
was never one day that
you didn't brighten all of
our spirits. Always
cheerful, peaceful, never once
did I see you '
frazzled' or angry. Just to see
your face each day
made me happy. I am out of
words...I love you,
and will miss you here. You
truly were one of the
most "wonderful"
...(this word just doesn't quite
say it all)...
people I had the good fortune to
know. Although I
cry today for you, just thinking
of you will always make me happy.
What a unique, special, brilliant, honorable man.
Thank you for your friendship.
Kathy Westmoreland
(CA )
During the twenty two years that I worked for the
Estate of Elvis Presley, Al was always
accommodating and willing to help me any way
possible. He was wonderful to the Elvis fans and
always had a smile. Thank you, Al, for being
there
and sharing all the wonderful Elvis stories
with us.
Each and every time I hear, "Elvis Has
Left The
Building", I will remember you. Rest in
Peace, my dear friend. We love you.
Patsy Andersen (Memphis, TN )
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"Jailhouse Rock
the Musical" rocks
on and on and on and
on...
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EPE tried
everything they could to sabotage "Jailhouse Rock the
Musical". I am delighted to say reports from the
American producer Rene Sheridan are that the show is so
successful in London it will stay here for years and
discussions have started to launch the show in other
territories, including Vegas, Japan, Australia and
Germany. With all the aggravation EPE and especially Gary
Hovey has given Rene over ten years, they have failed. Even
though the Musical cannot use the song "Jailhouse
Rock" the show is a huge success and every night
there are standing ovations with the audience singing,
clapping, dancing along to some other great Elvis hit
songs.
Leiber and
Stoller have lost a golden opportunity to share in this
huge success and God knows how much money they have lost
in royalties. I am still cannot understand how two of the
greatest songwriters in history would not want
millions of people to hear their music. Will they go to
their graves just remembered for denying the world the
right to hear their songs performed in a stage musical of
"Jailhouse Rock". What will Elvis say to them when they get
to Blue Suede Heaven ? ...probably, "You're the Devil
in Disguise" and "Return to
Sender".
We will
keep you informed of worldwide progress of the show and if you haven't seen "Jailhouse Rock the
Musical" yet...you must...its great !!
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Book today at
the Piccadilly Theatre, London.
Telephone now: 0870-060-6630
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Elvisly Yours
Restaurants
Negotiations have
started with a number of potential investors in several countries to
launch a chain of
"Elvisly Yours Restaurants". This list includes some
famous people in the Music business. It
will take many
months to finalize negotiations before we can find a location for
the first Restaurant in Central
London. Although we have had enquiries for some locations outside
London but our plan has always been to have the inaugural and
flagship "Elvisly Yours Restaurant"
in London.
Special Features
Everyone has their
favourite restaurant and a combination of features make a good
restaurant. The food, the service and
the atmosphere of any restaurant must be good if you want customers
to come back time and again. For "Elvisly
Yours Restaurants" there will be a rigid quality control
structure making sure that the food is only
fresh (not frozen and reheated), the service friendly and
charming, the atmosphere
fabulous and the entertainment the best in town. Regular spot checks
will be made to ensure customers have great food, great service and with
everything 100% Elvis everywhere
there will be no problem
creating a great atmosphere for Elvis and music fans. We will choose
the best acts
from Britain, Europe and hopefully the world. There will not only
ETAs but blues, gospel, country and soul singing styles that
influenced Elvis and were part of his musical legacy. There will be
tributes such as Jackie Wilson, Brenda Lee, Bill Haley, Everly Brothers,
Roy Orbison and acts that reflect the
period when Elvis' career developed in the 1950's, 60's and 70's.
We want all of our
customers to feel like kings (or queens) and that they are special
to us. We will send
customers a birthday card on their birthday, wherever they are from
in the world. Ladies, will be given a rose
after an
evening meal, in appreciation of their visit as
they line up with their
partners or friends
to be announced by name... "Ladies and gentlemen, Jane has
left the building, thank you and goodnight" as they leave through the 25 feet high
animatronic 1950's Elvis' legs.
The menu will be a
collector's item and will be available for sale. It will be in "blue
suede" with an
embossed image of Elvis and the neatest names for dishes and drinks
of any menu in the world.
The menu and
cocktail lists will feature names from many of Elvis songs and
films. There will be Elvis wine, Elvis champagne, Elvis whisky and
Elvis decanters, Elvis peanut butter, Elvis place mats, Elvis
napkins and all will be available for sale in the unique "Elvisly Yours" gift shop in each restaurant as well as the standard
t-shirts, key rings, posters and mugs.
The 'ladies' will
feature wonderful, sexy photographs of Elvis, giant size and the
mirrors will also be adorned with even more images of Elvis. Every
aspect of the Restaurants has been carefully
thought out with Elvis in mind
and that is why each Restaurant will cost £3 million to build and
equip. That is 4.5 million Euros
and about US $5.5 million, in case you win the lottery in the near
future. So many fans have
asked to be the first in the line when the first Restaurant opens
that fans will be lining up around the block for
weeks and weeks.
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PORTHCAWL GOES ELVIS CRAZY
The Welsh seaside town of Porthcawl is
going Elvis Crazy on the weekend of October 1st-3rd. The whole
town is supporting this fabulous Event with even the Mayor and
Mayoress renewing their wedding vows in a special Elvis themed
chapel, along with many other couples.
It is great to see a whole community
behind such an exciting venture and there will be tribute acts
from around the world. Fans who have read about Al Dvorin's sad
death may know that he was with one of the ETA's, Kraig Parker
in a show in Vegas shortly before he died. Kraig is a famous
tribute artist in the States and is managed by Charles Stone
who worked closely with Elvis, the Colonel and Al Dvorin putting on
Elvis Shows from 1972-77. Charles' friend, Elvis fan club
president Sandi Pichon has just released a new book
"Raised on Elvis! Elvis! Elvis!" that has had wonderful reviews in
the Elvis World and she will be in Porthcawl launching her
book.
You can see the 'Black Elvis', Colbert
Hamilton and 'Maltese Elvis', Martin who both supported our
promotion to launch "Elvisly Yours Restaurants" on July 5th.
Colbert and Martin both made the final ten places in our
contest. Then there is Dave Riley, the Welsh Elvis and a dear
friend, Linda Gail Lewis. If you haven't seen Linda Gail Lewis
perform you don't know what you are missing. Her version of
"Great Balls of Fire" is as good as her brother's,
Jerry Lee. Linda Gail was performing with Jerry for years. In
fact, her dear brother knocked her off stage in Memphis during
a gig after she got married to an Elvis Tribute Artist so she
started her own solo career and has never looked back. She is
the greatest female rock 'n' roll artist in the world and just
watching her fingers fly across the keyboards as she plays is
a sight to behold.
There will be karaoke sessions,
competitions and most of the events are FREE with over 30
different events in the town. A neat idea is a Welsh Male
Voice Choir singing Elvis songs. Will they include
"Green, Green Grass of home" and I wonder if Tom Jones
will make an appearance?
Full details about all the events and all
the participating acts and artists can be found on the
official "Porthcawl Elvis Festival"
website: www.elvies.co.uk
. You will find Porthcawl just off the
M4 about half way between Cardiff and Swansea. It is the
biggest Elvis Festival in Europe this year and promises to
become an annual event that Elvis fans cannot afford to miss.
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For
those the Gods are about to destroy they first make mad
It
just amazes me the stories coming out of Graceland and they
get more and more curious. The latest bombshell is Debbie
Johnson has quit Graceland and will leave early October. When
I was at Graceland in 1982 when it first opened I was warmly
welcomed by the general management. EPE were buying Elvisly
Yours souvenirs to sell in their gift shop and there was a
cute, petite secretary whose name was Debbie Johnson. I
believe she was a secretary but in those days with everything
so new everyone did all sorts of jobs. Somehow Debbie survived
all the various upheavals at Graceland as more and more of the
earlier Management team got fired, along with lawyers, a
Trustee and then finally there was just Patsy Andersen, Debbie
and Jack Soden from the original Management. Of course, Patsy
was forced to resign because of the way she was treated by
Soden who vastly underestimated her worth to EPE. Now we are
told that Debbie was no.2 to Jack and she is off so that
leaves just one person left from the original team, Soden.
We
are hoping and praying that Soden will be the next to quit EPE
and that a decent, hard working, honest, astute, caring,
friendly CEO takes over. We want someone who loves Elvis and
really wants to protect his memory instead of ripping off the
fans for their own personal gain. We will be singing
"Glory, Glory Hallelujah.." with Elvis when Soden is
finally kicked out or forced to resign from EPE.
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Inside the
King Creole Bar
King Creole Bar - the Elvis sign
above the entrance
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KING CREOLE BAR
Deke Rivers now has an Elvis and Rock 'n' Roll
Bar opened in Tunbridge Wells called the "King Creole" full
details can be seen on www.thekingcreole.co.uk.
Soon, a restaurant will be open in the basement and we will
provide full details of the grand opening.
The
bar features live acts, great cocktails and snacks and the
ideal place for Elvis fans to spend a relaxing
and enjoyable evening and receive a warm welcome from
Jeanette and Deke.
KING CREOLE BAR
73 Camden
Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent, TN1 2QL
Opening Hours :
Mon-Fri
5.30pm-11.00pm
Saturday 2.00pm-11pm
To
find out what's going on or for directions
please
call 01892 614525 or mobile 0771
9132207
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UNUSUAL ELVIS TRIBUTE ARTISTS
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As
we get more and more publicity around the world about "Elvisly Yours Restaurants" we are
getting all sorts of Elvis Tribute Artists approach us from all over
the world. We hope to run
an occasional feature on the more unusual Elvis Tribute Artists that
contact Elvisly Yours. If
you were at the Notting Hill Carnival in London at the end of August you might
have seen the "Calypso Elvis". He actually calls himself
"Soca Elvis" which is a term for Calypso Music in the West
Indies. But, I said internationally it would be far better for his
career if he were known as the "Calypso Elvis". He has a great
voice and sings Elvis songs in a Calypso style. He is often supported
by "Cyclops" a midget Rastafarian Elvis. I questioned "Calypso
Elvis" if this was exploitation and he gave me a good answer that justified
his working regularly with "Cyclops".
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He told me whenever he works with
"Cyclops" he shares the booking fee and that is Cyclops' only real
income so he is very happy to perform with him and apparently they have a great
double act. We will certainly be booking "Calypso Elvis" at some
future date and maybe his pal, "Cyclops".
The real name of "Calypso
Elvis" is Michael Salloum and he is from Trinidad. His
parents are from Lebanon, in the Middle East but Michael has a very strong
Trinidadian accent. I am sure you will be hearing a lot more about Michael in
the years to come. When he was in England there was a large feature about him in
the Times newspaper.
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Graceland
and EPE are for Sale
at $350 million ?
Yes the rumours are still around that
Graceland and EPE are for sale and the asking price is
$350,000,000.00. Our sources are still stating negotiations are
ongoing with one or more Casino Chains to buy out Graceland. Is the
sudden departure of Debbie Johnson anything to do with these rumours?
There has been very little information of why she is leaving. I
wonder if Debbie has signed an oath of silence about her 22 years
working at Graceland. She must have some great stories to tell about
the inner workings of the most hated leisure operators in the world.
We will keep you posted of any developments and if Debbie and/or Patsy
want to write to me or phone "I am all ears".... |
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ELVISLY YOURS
Competition Winner
Winner of the Elvisly Yours monthly draw is :
Miss
Kathrine Jones from Ely, UK
she wins the 2005 Elvisly Yours Calendar
GOING DOWN MEMORY
LANE
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Jimmy Kingsley
I
had very few friends in Memphis after I was sued by EPE in 1985.
Fans, fan club presidents and some of Elvis' family and friends gave
me a wide berth. Fans I had known for many years, meeting them each
"Elvis Week" completely ignored me, such as Lee Lynch. I
had even stayed as a guest at Lee's apartment in New York and she
contributed to many of our charity drives. I will never know why
because sadly Lee died. But there was one friend who always supported me
and that was the one time President of the USA
Stuntman Union, Jimmy Kingsley. Jimmy
was a true gentleman and I met him for the first time through George
Klein who used to invite some of Elvis' old buddies along to meet
the fans on the Elvisly Yours fans club trips to Memphis in the
1980's. A group of the guys would come along and just mingle with
the fans at our parties. They were very informal and just a chance
for fans to be one-to-one with a close friend of Elvis. Jimmy
was a twin and his brother has a son who is a Special Olympics
Champion and Jimmy was so proud of his nephew. Through Jimmy I met
Elvis' secretary, Becky Yancey who was a close friend of his
brother. Becky would also meet the British fans and at the hotel we
would always raise money for "Special Olympics" with all
sorts of crazy games like "Elvis Musical Chairs". Fans
paid to
enter the competition and fight for the last chair and win a
prize...blood was almost spilt watching grown adults rush for the
nearest chair, fighting to sit down as Elvis stopped singing. Sadly,
Jimmy took his own life in 1989 after his new, young bride of 11
days left him for a local drummer and instead of shooting her he
shot himself. Jimmy was one of the nicest guys you could meet.
Whereas most of the Memphis Mafia would sell all the presents Elvis
gave them, Jimmy said he would rather die than sell anything so
treasured. His lousy new wife kept the lot and would not give Elvis' gifts to
Jimmy's family. The Photos
that Parker Banned on an Album We
were approached by an independent record company,
"Everest", in the early 1980's to supply photographs for
an album they were releasing called "Elvis in Hollywood".
We supplied that great image of Elvis on one of our plaques and that
was used for a gift box. In fact, it is my favourite photo of Elvis
from the 50's. This photo was for the cover but on the back we had
lots of movie photos from many of Elvis' movies and these formed a
large collage of photographs. The
album was released with our photos and a credit to "Elvisly
Yours". We were informed by the record company that Todd
Slaughter had told Colonel Parker about our photographs and the
Colonel immediately threatened RCA. Everest had to recall all the
albums from the stores but some were sold and are serious
collector's items now. The new album sleeve had the same front cover
but the back was just a series of stars and no photos of Elvis. Elvis
Week 1987 This was going
to be the biggest week ever for Elvisly Yours in Memphis because it
was the first major anniversary, ten years since Elvis died.
We had negotiated an exclusive deal with Thomas cook, the world
famous Travel Agency to launch joint tours to Memphis
and they were going to take many media along to promote future
Memphis Tours with the Elvisly Yours Fan Club with big
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Jim Kingsley on right
Jim
Kingsley on right, Sid, Richard Davis
and Bena (1982)
50's Elvis image
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SOUVENIRS OF THE QUEEN
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EPE
turned what should have been a great week into a "wake".
Firstly, they won their Appeal in the US Court
of Appeals in our
Court Case. On the back of a Tennessee Judgement, EPE threatened the
Chief Executive
Officer of Thomas Cook that they could not promote
trips to Memphis with Sid Shaw or Elvisly Yours. Instead
of
promoting the Tours through 404 branches Thomas Cook cancelled all
promotions with us and just operated
the tour through one store.
Instead of taking thousands of fans each year to Memphis the city
lost all that
business and Graceland cut their own throats... what
absolute idiots. We had about 150 fans on the August 1987 Tour and,
of course, no media were invited. To add insult to injury the Thomas
Cook Tour Guide got blind drunk at the airport as she was given a
lot of drinks vouchers for fans because of a three hour delay at
Gatwick and overdid it on the "free" drink. Maureen had to help escort 150 Elvis fans through
customs, immigration and a change of terminal in Boston for an
onward flight to Memphis, having had no previous experience.
There
was then an injunction against me in America that prevented me
selling any of my Elvis souvenirs.
I hired a film company to go
around with me filming all the unlicensed merchandise in Memphis.
All the other
fans, fan clubs and dealers could sell what Elvis products they
wanted including all sorts of bootlegs, but Elvisly Yours was banned
by US Law from selling anything with Elvis' image on it. Since we could
not sell souvenirs of the KING we sold souvenirs of the Queen. We
had a room at the hotel called "Days Inn" and filled the
room with all sorts of wonderful British and Union Jack products
plus Elvis books and magazines that are protected by the 1st
Amendment of the US Constitution. It is absolutely farcical that
anyone else could sell unlicensed products
except me. There were
dealers set -up with car boot sales opposite Graceland, all
selling completely unlicensed products.
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NEW ELVIS
HANDBAGS
Elvisly Yours are proud to offer these wonderful Elvis
handbags at discounted prices
£ 12.95
each (£2.00 p&p UK)
Bags measure 14ins x
11ins
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ELVIS
MOUSEMAT
(and noteholder)
Elvis
computer mouse mat & note holder/bookmark
£6.95
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ELVISLY YOURS 2005
CALENDAR
Be the first to own the
fantastic
2005 calendar now released.
Calendar £7.95 each
(£1.55 p&p UK)
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ELVIS
FLAG
now back in
stock
Elvis Flag (5ft x 3ft)
£11.95 (£1.00
p&p UK)
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Remember, each month a
member of the Elvisly Yours Cyber Club is drawn at
random to win an Elvis memorabilia prize from our catalogue.
Get your family and friends to join our FREE Elvis Presley
Club.
They can simply join
ONLINE at http://www.elvisly-yours.com/
You must visit
The Elvisly Yours
shop!
We are open
7 days a week 10.30am-6.30pm
next door to
the London Beatles Store open 8 days a week
How to find
us:
233 Baker Street, London NW1
6XE
tel: 020 7486 2005
We are just 100 yards
north of Baker Street Station at the top end of Baker Street near
Regent's Park, plenty of parking in side streets or Regent's Park if
driving.
COPY &
PRINT THIS AD & GET A FREE POSTER
WHEN YOU COME TO THE
SHOP
  
Baker Street Tube
Station ->
Elvisly
Yours,
Sid
Shaw
www.elvisly-yours.com
Please inform us if you change your email
address |
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Copyright ©
Elvisly Yours
2004
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