EW Day 1 report by ElvisSessions

Elvissessions has posted 2 reports already about Elvis week and has given me permission to repost them here, since I'm not there to do my own reporting yet.

Thanks, Chris!

File this under "no where to go but up." We pulled into town rested and ready for the kick-off party, which was moved from the Hard Rock Cafe to EP's Delta Kitchen and Bar because of "capacity reasons."

Anyone who remembers our dispatches from previous years knows we're the most enthusiastic boosters and gentlest critics of Elvis Week events.

But finally: our first truly negative review.

First, it's easy enough to imagine that the "capacity reasons" were too much capacity, not too little. Although in the first half-hour, there were people sitting at almost every table in the VIP area, that was a very temporary condition and there was pleny of room elsewhere in the restaurant.

That's not EPE's fault, certainly, and many Elvis Weeks start slowly and still build to remarkable clilmaxes.

But it's hard to overlook the event's other shortcomings.

First, the band, billed as Elmo and the Shades, was way off the mark for an event advertised as an Elvis Week "kick-off."

Any Elvis connection appeared to be coincidental. Yes, there were run-throughs of Johnny B. Goode and Big Boss Man. But for the most part it was more a tribute to Memphis music in general, especially to the Stax sound.

The band was good. The second set, for example, opened with some remarkable solo guitar work. But simply put, who ever imagined the Theme From Shaft was going to put anyone in an Elvis frame of mind?

As far as the food for the VIPs .... ummmm ... ick.

The nacho cheese, for example, tasted as if it had been reconstituted from powder. The only less-appetizing possibility was that the grit in it could be explained some other way.

Some of the desserts, obviously pulled from a refrigerator (freezer?) shortly before the event, had been turned to mush by condensation that had collected on them. Only a few lemon bars survived at all.Small barbecue sandwiches just weren't good, and the same could be said for most of the rest.

At first, rather disappointed at the paltry selection, we were temporarily heartened by the arrival of a new tray about a half-hour into the event. Our hope turned to dismay as we realized that even after tasting it, we could not state for certain what it was. (Pork, perhaps?) Certainly, it was none too savory, and we set most of it aside.

There's no sense belaboring the point; Elvis Week isn't about fine dining. However, it was hard not to spend the evening calculating where the $40 per "VIP" had gone.

The wait staff was friendly -- and forgiving on our bar tab. And it's always great to start to see the familiar faces begin to gather.

But clearly we weren't alone in our negative assessment. The audience thinned out fast. We lasted longer than most, but we threw in the towel not long after midnight. We'd love to hear from anyone who actually made it through to 3 a.m. But our guess is most of the wait staff got a chance to turn in early.

After leaving Beale Street, we paid our traditional first late-night visit to Graceland to check the week's pulse. By this measure, things look promising. Still a good crowd at the tent, and still a performer on the stage.

We couldn't stick around long, as we have to be up for the 8:30 a.m. gospel "brunch." (By the way, EPE, if it's 8:30 a.m., it ain't a brunch )

We hope to be back soon with more (better) reports.
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Audubon Drive posted a comment to this report:

I was there too, but I had the cheap ticket so was forced to sit by the bar. Literally forced to: I was upstairs visiting, hanging out and the bouncer noticed that I didn't have the "VIP wristband". Which is not a bad thing to sit by the bar, just couldn't stay all night. Had a Tupelo tour to do the next day (today).

The band was good, I have heard them many times here in town. Half the band played with Isaac Hayes on the Theme from Shaft" recordings. No, its not Elvis related, but Memphis related. You may have missed what "Elmo" the lead singer said: that he played for one of Elvis' New Years Eve parties at the old Club Manhattan. So there was a little Elvis after all.

In all, I got the better of the deal by getting the cheaper ticket.

Elvis Week '08

I finally decided - 2 days ago - to attend Elvis week this year. Although I'm not going for the whole week, I will be able to cover the Insiders' Conference, some evening events, and whatever I participate in Friday and Saturday, including vigil day.

Look forward to writing about it again.

Todd Morgan's Memorial Service

I’m here at the sound check for Todd’s service. I was hoping to blog live but since I didn’t make arrangements in advance I can’t get connected. It’s really too bad.

They are singing “Somewhere over the Rainbow” and the tears are already welling up in my eyes. The Imperials are here, Joe Guercio.

Terry Mike Jeffrey is rehearsing now. I’ll do the blow by blow when I blog the actual performance.

I’m sitting in the back of the auditorium now. By myself, near the sound board where I can plug in my laptop.

(note: you can click on a picture to enlarge it. To return, click on your browser's back arrow)

There are a couple of people in the first 2 rows that appear to be family members. I see Jerry Schilling and Gary Hovey chatting.

Scott Williams just came in. This is tough. Big hug, repeating what we’ve already said – wish it could be seeing each other under happier circumstances.

The Service begins

“Peace in the Valley” accompanies lots of pictures of Todd growing up. What a hoot!

More pictures of Todd, voiced over by Bill Rock with the story of his life. There is video of Todd throughout the years with EPE. Background music is “Bridge Over Troubled Waters”. Video of Todd at last year’s 30th Anny concert. Video of Todd with Matt Lauer. Pictures of Todd and his charities. Pictures, many pictures, of Todd and friends. His favorite song now under the voiceover: "My Way".

The Imperials come on stage. Sing “Peace in the Valley”. My throat is tightening again.

Jack Soden – Todd deserved credit for far more than anything you’ve seen him get credit for. From the beginning fans knew they had a kindred soul in Todd. He fought their battles and showed them wisdom when he thought patience was the better path.

Jack’s voice is cracking. He talks about the all-nighters. He talks about rewriting scripts for the next day. Todd would ask about Lisa – would she ever appreciate what we do? Reads statement from Lisa: His heart soul and dedication will never be replaced. I hope he knows how much I appreciated how much he did. Words can hardly describe what we have felt in this time (since Todd's death).

Sound Fuzion plays “A Little Less Conversation”. Awesome! Making me cry just thinking about Todd watching them.

Kevin Kern – Todd was his boss, but more of a friend than a coworker. Todd was the voice of Graceland, Now the voices of Graceland workers. (He quotes a number of them but I hope they post these because I cannot type fast enough. "Nobody did Steel Magnolias better than you." "Quiet kindesses."

Video clips of Todd on camera. Todd with a beard talking about the Graceland wall. Todd in the car museum, Todd with Matt Lauer. Larry King’s tribute.

Jerry Schilling – March 3rd – I needed to call Todd about the end-all documentary he’s been interested in. I couldn’t believe it when Gary Hovey called me later that day to tell me that Todd was gone. Normally at a time like this (the service) I would show Todd what I was going to say. We’ll all never be as eloquent without Todd. (His voice is cracking). Todd knew I had a book in me before I knew it. I thank him for his time, his expertise, and most of all for his friendship. Col. Beaulieu said “what I loved the most about coming to Graceland was to come to hear Todd speak”. I can’t imagine Elvis week without Todd. But as someone said, the show must go on. But because of all the work he did over the years we will always feel his presence.

Priscilla called, too and I’ve never heard her so devastated.

Video from Priscilla - Priscilla’s videotaped message was wonderful. He was a great friend. You could hear her voice cracking as she mentioned that Todd was supposed to have come out to cheer her on in Dancing With the Stars. She said had he been there he would have said “Love your hair. Hope you win”. It was an ongoing thing they had. We’ll miss him, she said.

Gary Hovey – Todd and I worked together. He was the creative guy and I was the one when I tried to make it work. (Voice cracking). I met Todd in 1990. No one cared about Elvis more than Todd. One day he called and said “Can you get Elvis’ voice track out of a video”? Well, why not? … led to the Symphony, then on to the Elvis the Concert. Stig Edgren, the producer, says working with Todd was the most fun he’d ever had. Todd was a perfectionist for all things, big or small. It was a working relationship between us, but also a friendship.

Todd always took the time to explain to the fans why something they wanted couldn’t happen, not just that EPE couldn’t do it. Todd named me Dr. No for all the things I had to say no to. At the end of last year Todd had been moved into my department. We had lots of projects we were going to work on together. We will miss his caring, his Candlelight talks. Nobody will replace Todd. In 2003 we got to do something we had been dreaming about – remastering the ’68 Special. During the edit, we had an hour left in the editing room. That’s when we put together what is now known as the “black and white” If I Can Dream.

Video - If I Can Dream – black and white version.


Justin Morgan, Todd's brother – "he never said 'love your hair hope, you win' to me". Thanks to EPE for the immense support. Growing up Todd was such a support to me and our brother Trevor. A guide, a champion, a refuge for me through my best times, my worst times. Funny cards, a great listener. Great memories. For my 11th birthday Todd was still a tour guide and he arranged for a tour of Graceland for me. It was a huge treat for me, including the special treatment he arranged. At the end of the tour Todd gave me a book on the life and times of EP. All the guides, including Billy Smith signed it, including Rising Sun (!). Later in life, the big tribute concert at the Pyramid, with all the musicians who were heroes of mine. At the end of the show Todd put a VIP pass around my neck. We went upstairs, there was Joe E. Firs tperson in the room is James Burton. I met them all – the Sweets, Ronnie Tutt. I was overwhelmed by the whole thing. I’m usually talkative but I was speechless that night. Todd was not only my brother but my friend. Words cannot describe how much my family misses him right now. We all shared a passion for music and we used to sing all the time. But we couldn’t get him to sing much. But one of the songs we did sing together was “Lead Me”. Todd and I would often sing this together in the car. Being on the stage with some of the people who worked with Elvis at such an event (Todd’s memorial) was not what he had in mind, but this is for Todd.

Justin sings “Lead Me” a cappella. He has a beautiful voice and this is so, so sad.

Terry Mike Jeffrey – I’ve known Todd for 22 years. We used to compete unofficially in Elvis trivia. One of Todd’s favorite Elvis songs was “Wonder of You”. He sings this with the Imperials. Asking the Imperials was impromptu, as they didn’t do it this way in rehearsal.

Joe Mosecho – I haven’t been appointed spokesman for the vocal groups Elvis sang with. But I think I can speak for all of them when I say we’re going to miss Todd. He was our best friend. He had a way of making you think everything was ok. He was someone you trusted. It’s difficult these days to have someone you can trust. He was sympathetic to our cause, which was gospel music. When we were planning the “He Touched Me” DVD he was so instrumental in helping us with details. His life was too brief. We will miss him.

The Imperials: “He Touched Me”. This is so hard.

Larry Edwards – friend of Todd. I direct Sound Fuzion. That’s how I met Todd. Todd had a way of making everyone feel good about themselves. He had the ability to make everyone feel important. Todd refurbished a 2 bedroom 1 bath house in Memphis. He knew what he wanted and was looking for another one. He found one and on closing day he invited some of his friends went with him to see it. He told us “I found the ugliest ranch house in Memphis”. And he did! We were at this house after he died and we were sitting around talking about this house. There wasn’t any “ugly duckling” that he didn’t think was beautiful and he made everyone feel good.

Joe Guercio. Joe told several stories about working with Todd but I couldn't get them all.... "After I did something with the Pope he called me “Pontiff”. When he did something particularly great I “promoted” him to “Cardinal” and that’s the way he signed his emails from then on. "

First time he walked into my condo in Nashville he saw a picture I had of Judy Garland. He was a huge Garland fan. So in honor of his love of Judy, Ruby Wilson sings “Over the Rainbow”.

Imperials – Sweet, Sweet Spirit. Surprise for me! I didn’t hear this at the sound check. I love this song!

Oh my. How beautiful. Makes my heart ache. I requested this song on Bill Rock’s show in memory of Todd, but because Elvis never recorded it, he had to pick my second choice, “He Touched Me”.

“How Great Thou Art” Joe says "the night we finished mixing this I called Todd and we played this version for him over the phone. This is for you, Todd. " Ruby sings with the Imperials and Joe is conducting.

Last vision: Joe Petruccio’s portrait of Todd!

It was a beautiful service. We got the chance to chat a little with everyone afterward. It's clear to me how much the "bigwigs" are missing Todd. Jack said he bets there isn't a soul on earth who didn't have a high opinion of Todd. Jerry is still reeling from not having Todd to bounce ideas off of. Scott tells me they still start many sentences at Graceland with "Todd did.." or "Ask Todd..." etc. Life goes on there, but it's still very surreal that Todd isn't there.

Others who were there, please feel free to add comments and pictures.

Thanks, EPE, for doing so right by Todd.

Todd's memorial service will be Apr 1st, 2008

I have booked my flights and reserved a room and a car.

It has been almost 2 weeks since we got the news, but I'm still not over the shock of Todd's untimely passing. I hope it helps his family to know how much Todd was loved, admired and respected by friends, coworkers and thousands of people who only knew him a little, or just knew his work.

He will be irreplaceable but he will also be unforgettable

I will be blogging about my trip to Memphis.

Todd Morgan RIP

Some of you may have no idea who Todd is- was. He worked for 25 years at Elvis Presley Enterprises (EPE). He was responsible for the deluxe re-editing of 2 major Elvis shows, the '68 Special and the Aloha concert. He was the personification of EPE to the press and to the fans. And he was as big an Elvis fan as any of us. For him it was a dream job. He loved what he did and it showed.

Todd had just been promoted to a new position and was to report directly to Gary Hovey in Los Angeles, though he would remain in Memphis. He was due to go out to dinner Saturday night with friends to celebrate his promotion, but did not show. He had died, apparently of a massive heart attack, at the obscenely young age of 45.

I remember watching Todd watch us a few years ago in Memphis as we took in the revised version of "Aloha" before its release. The look on his face was combined pride and anxiety as he waited to hear our reactions. He was so proud of the work he'd done - and, of course, rightly so. He'd seen every inch of the raw footage of that show and the '68 Special and was such a fount of information he will be impossible to replace.

We got lots of support from many people at EPE, and Todd bent over backwards to help us release "200 Cadillacs". He allowed us to film at the car museum - for free. He (in cooperation with Gary Hovey) got me the names and phone numbers of the people at the Frank Sinatra Estate, SOFA Entertainment, Warner, etc. where we needs rights and clearances. This help was priceless.

For the next project he told me to be sure to use his name with the contacts he gave me. We had talked about this project during Elvis Week and I was supposed to call him when I had some news. Two emails from Todd have been sitting in my inbox - at the top of the list - waiting for news so I could just hit 'reply'.

Last August, during the Elvis Week celebrations, I loved watching his excitement as he told us to anticipate something really cool at the big Elvis concert. It was so cute when he tried to keep all the camera flashes from going off so we could see the special effects at the beginning of the show. His enthusiasm was always contagious.

There is so much more.

I didn't know him all that well, but he was the kind of guy that made everyone feel important when he was with them. I have surprised myself by how deeply this is affecting me. He was quite a guy.

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I changed the picture. Isn't this a great one of Todd?

The Memphis Sessions Boys concert

I saw these fabulous musicians several years ago during EW when they played at the Daisy theatre on Beale St. So I just had to stay in Memphis long enough to see this performance(otherwise I would have left that day).

This was a fabulous concert. We all got our money's worth and then some. BJ Thomas was totally awesome and Mark James rocked the place with his songs.







Reggie and Mike share a thought together:




I must admit I really don't understand why the TCB band was there, certainly not to back up the Danish singer who was reading the lyrics of the songs he sang. It's always wonderful to see them, but I couldn't help wondering why, with all the trouble it probably took to get them, why they weren't used to better advantage.






Additional performers included Dickey Lee, who wrote "She Thinks I Still Care", among other songs. Here's a link to a bio: http://www.tsimon.com/dickeylee.htm





Bill Black's daughter, Nancy, sang 2 songs, too.



My final comment: I wish this had been a strictly Memphis Sessions band concert with just BJ Thomas and Mark James doing the singing. Having said that, I still enjoyed the show immensely!

The 2 Concerts – Part 1

What a night. It’s 4:00 am and I’m wired, so I’m blogging about it, even though I haven’t finished the Dolan house and vigil entries yet.

I had a VIP seat which entitled me to go to this lounge and wait for the concert started. Just before it was to start Todd came in to introduce Priscilla AND Lisa!! They were just there for a minute to thank us for being such loyal fans. That was very cool. And Priscilla autographed over 500 reprints of one of the famous family portraits for us to have. Yikes! My hand hurts just thinking about it! Thank you, Priscilla.

Do you remember how the previous big concerts started out with Elvis’ arrival with motorcycles and limos? This time he came via helicopter. They did a reenactment of an arrival on film. Joe E, Jerry Schilling (in tour jackets) and “Elvis” in costume ready to go to a concert go out to the field at Graceland to get into a waiting helicopter. You see shots in the helicopter – of Joe and Jerry and a profile of “Elvis” looking out the window. Then you see an aerial shot of the Fed Ex Forum. They land and get out. As you hear Elvis’ entry music all of a sudden you see Elvis walk across the stage – sort of. They have Aloha footage of him walking across the stage behind the curtain and it looks like a spotlighted Elvis entering the stage WE are looking at. Very cool. And that’s just for starters.

Knowing that this is the last time we’ll see these shows, I paid more attention to the live musicians than to the filmed Elvis. I’ll always have the DVDs of Elvis, but to see these guys and gals – that’s a finite proposition. So I concentrated on them this time. They are all legends in their own right and I so appreciate their talent and their bodies of work.

The Jordanaires, Stamps and Imperials were part of the show and each had full solo songs, as did the Sweet Inspirations.

The Dempseys played with DJ for the 50’s stuff. I’m really sorry Scotty, for whatever his reasons, decided not to participate. He is missed and I can’t help thinking he has cut off his nose to spite his face (hope you all know that expression!). Considering this is the very last one of these concerts it would have been really nice for him to be there.

They threw in more modern clips of Elvis singing the 50s songs along with the usual 50’s TV footage. You know, like from the ’68 special. That was lots of fun, too.

I think the 60’s “movie songs” section is new. Neither the TCB band or DJ Fontana participated, although the Dempseys and the Jordanaires performed for these for various songs. James came out to play dueling guitars with Bradley Dean Birkedahl of the Dempseys.

Then came the 70s stuff. I can’t be sure, but it looks to me like they added new footage on the side screens. I’m really not sure, but do you remember seeing timing stamping at the bottom of the film? I don’t.

The place was electric and people were on their feet all the time to sing, sway, applaud, wave..

I’ve just hit a wall (sleep-wise) It’s 3:30am and I’ve got to get some sleep. But I had to get started. Later

Scotty Moore - Last Man Standing

What can I say about this concert? It was happy, sad and exhilarating – all at the same time.

I saw the second-to-the-last ever performance of Scotty Moore (the last being the 5:00 show after this 2:00 show).

Scotty came out with Darwin at the beginning and answered a couple of questions. As Darwin noted, Scotty was as verbose as we’ve ever seen him. I didn’t take notes but one story that stood out to me - he talked about what it was like to meet Elvis and listen to him for the first time. The most impressive thing to Scotty was that even though Elvis didn’t know the chords to all the songs he was singing (at his “audition”), he would stop playing the guitar when he knew he didn’t know the chords, keep singing, and then jump right back in when he did know the chords, without missing a beat. The fact that Elvis knew the lyrics to so many songs also impressed Scotty.

During the interview I observed that Scotty had the biggest grin on his face I have EVER seen.



This was a tribute to Scotty, but it was also a tribute to Boots Randolf who just passed away. In fact, Gail Pollack came out to tell us of the CD that they had just finished recording 3 weeks before he died. Understandably, she was all torn up about it. But if you can find one of the 1000 copies that are signed by all the musicians (except Boots, of course) GO GET IT! It’s called “The Mighty Handful”.



The tribute opened with the band Scotty has toured with in Europe- the Grundy-Pritchard Band. (I apologize, my pics of them were just too fuzzy to post). I can sure see why Scotty likes to work with them. These guys are GREAT! Paul Ansell was amazing on vocals. They played mostly Elvis songs and we enjoyed several of their own creations. If you’re in Europe, go see them. I asked about seeing them here in the States and was told that was unlikely. Too bad.

Next up was “The Mighty Handful”. The place rocked. The Jordanaires came out and sang a set with Billy and the gang. When Billy Swan introduced the Nashville sessions sax player who was “replacing” Boots, his voice cracked. It was so, so sad. Of course he did NOT play “Yakity Sax”, but he did play a wonderful solo tribute to Boots. Beautiful. When they played a song that had featured Boots at the Legends concert they “simulcasted” the video of Boots playing at that show. The music we were hearing was live, but you got to see Boots playing on film. I hope they release the Legends concert on DVD someday. Perhaps 2 concerts on one DVD – that one and this one. Darwin, can you hear me? :-)




After a while I noticed Scotty standing in the wings watching the concert.



Scotty isn’t up to playing an entire concert anymore, but for the final 2 songs Scotty came out and played. What a treat!





A quick private moment.



They brought the Grundy-Pritchard band back out for the finale and they rocked.



This was sad and exhilarating at the same time. I am so glad I was there.

FE Comes to Graceland

If you don’t know who or what Flat Elvis is, please check out this website:
Flat Elvis website

After all the hoopla at the gate we finally walked up to the house. There was a slew of motorcycles in front of the house. These were all won in a raffle and the winners were there, too. So our ceremony was not at the front door as we had expected. Instead, Sandi and Bev handed over all the FEs in a gorgeous display box. Take note of the FE that came back from Hawaii with a teeny little lei around his neck. In addition, Bev printed out all the pages of the website – onto 300 paper pages! It’s amazing and she really put hours and hours into this project. KUDOs to Bev and Sandi.

A beautiful tribute was written and read Charlotte Cameron.

One of Elvis’ youngest fans. That’s Ash’s little boy (whose name I can’t remember as I write).

They put FE and flowers at the gravesite. Right at Elvis’ grave. Isn’t that awesome?