I arrived in Hacienda Heights, CA on June 5 and met a long-time fan, Kathy Garrison.  Man was she excited to see me.  She showed me her house, which is under renovation, but she has me everywhere in that house!!!!!

 Kathy took me to her office at Nutro Products, where they make premium dog and cat food.  I met some of her co-workers and got to check out her impressive collection of ‘me’!!  She has pictures on her desk hutch  a calendar, clock, paperweight, stationery and, best of all, her computer is loaded with pictures of me and my music, which she listens to all day long.

Saturday evening, June 10, Kathy and I went to her niece,  Stacy’s wedding.  It was a great time, though Stacy got a little bit frisky with me but I had fun hanging at the table with  Kathy’s friends, Tina, Jim, JoAnn and Loretta .

On Friday Kathy is taking me to Palm Springs for a few days and she promises to take me around to some of my favorite places.

Well, here we are in Palm Springs.  Lord Almighty, I feel my temperature rising!  Man is it hot down here!!  Kathy & her friend JoAnn have a nice time-share condo just a short drive from my Chino Canyon house and the house on Ladera Circle.  Kathy called Laura, who is taking care of the Ladera Circle house, but she wasn’t there.  As soon as we get a return phone call, we can schedule our visit.

Had a great weekend; friends Daniel & Mary Young and Candace, Sue & Connie Killian and JoAnn’s family were here for a b-b-q and swimming.

It’s Monday and we finally got the call from Laura, so we’re off to Ladera Circle.  Man, it’s good to be back; sure brings back a lot of memories!!!

We found Laura, she had other guests she was showing around so we went on in.  I just had to go right over and visit with Scatter on the table,  man did that bring up some hilarious thoughts and memories!!!!!  

       
Then we went over and checked out the jukebox
 
Then we headed upstairs to the bedroom.  I decided to call Billy Reed’s to let them know I would be stopping by later on that evening. Then we went outside to check out the pool.  It sure would have been great to take a dip, but we had to leave.  It was sure great fun checking out the old place.  I guess they are always having some big event there; in fact, I just missed the annual Honeymoon Weekend that is held there every May.


 
Well, we’re off to the Chino Canyon house.  I really wanted to see it; Kathy tells me it really looked great after they finished the addition I ordered, but there isn’t anyone living there now.  Just as we get to the house and are turning around to park,  some guy comes out and is looking at us kinda suspiciously.  Kathy explains why we are there and, hey, he offers to take us inside. Well, I’m sure excited as all get out; I’m going to get to check the place out!!!!!

Oh my God, this is a shock – the place is totally empty!!!!!!  We are all in shock.  Kathy told me the house had been sold a time or two, but no one expected it to be completely bare.  Not 1 stick of furniture at all.  The ONLY thing that even suggests I was ever there was a post-a-note on the fireplace mantle; giving a little recording history.  What a bummer; no reason to stick around here!!!!

I love the EPE Elvis Meet-up!

 
 

After recoverin' from the shock of seein' my head displayed (or should I say "displaced") in Cheri's Elvis den, Saturday I had a gig at the official EPE Elvis meet-up.

Besides meetin' all my loyal fans who were shocked to learn I was still alive, I also saw my ol' friend Gloria Pall, the showgirl from my movie "Jailhouse Rock," famous for the much photographed  "legs" shot at the bar.

 Talkin' about legs, I can't find my feet. Maybe they're in Cheri's Elvis den, too. Here's our group photo- lots of legs and no-feet flat Elvis! (At least I got my head.)

 Lordy, lordy! What a way to spend a Sunday afternoon. It turns out Cheri's neighbor is the family of my ol' friend, Dorsey Burnette, who I grew up with back in Lauderdale Court, in Memphis. Both Dorsey ("Hey, little one," "Tall oak tree") & his brother, Johnny ("Dreamin'," "You're 16") sadly passed away at an early age.

I am visiting Tina Metz
and her family

THIS HAS BEEN A GREAT TOUR!

    
  While she was TCBing there, I had fun with the family and her favorite cat AJ.   Black was the wrong color to wear with him-he is all
 white!!!!  
 

For supper that night, they fried out (grilling or BBQ in other parts of the world) a thing called a brat which was served on a hard roll.   Sounds strange boy let me tell you for sure, but it was delicious!!!!!         

Visiting Suzanne Burlew

Relaxing at the beach

Sittin' On the dock of the Bay with my fan Suzanne.


Here at the beach with my buddy Devin

    
Great fun on the beach with a bike.

Having lunch with the Red Hatters Ladies

Here I am at the Pensacola  Beach Pier



 I'm talking to Suz to keep her mind off the pain.

Suz took me to the Naval Aviation Museum

Not exactly s Clambake, it's a Shark!

Having fun with Suz at the beach



Ouch! Look, Suz is getting another tattoo of me, I'm honored.

 Check out the Blue Angels Planes!

Imagine this, here I am on velvet!

Thank you Suzanne for a fun visit to Florida.

Having fun with Brandi Paustian

My Fans are the best!

 The next day Brandi had to work so I relaxed around her house.  I even had my very own room that everyone refers to as the "Elvis room".  It was a little wild sleeping in a room with a big stand-up of me in my gold lame suit standing next to the bed.

On Wednesday Brandi and her friend, Tammy Smith, took me over to Huntsville.  We went to the Space and Rocket Center first.


 

Man those were some big rockets. 
  
 

    

When we got back to Tammy's I hung out and played for a few minutes with Will and Tammy's son, Colby. 

     

I sure did have an exciting time with Brandi and Tammy.  On my last day there I even helped them with their yard sale they had to raise money for their Elvis week trip. 

"Elvis was the only man from Northeast Mississippi who could shake his hips and still be loved by rednecks, cops, and hippies."

Visiting Cindy Weigold

HANGIN' OUT

I arrived safe & sound at Cindy's house in Fort Wayne, In. After a nice welcome and posing for pictures with Cindy, I settled in for a few days of rest in the warm Indiana sunshine. Boy was I mistaken! Cindy proceeded to drag me along with her all over God's green earth.

 

On July 19th she took me to se Alice Cooper perform in Elkhart,  Indiana. Man oh man was that a trip! I mean, people thought I was far out back in the day. We hung out after the show while Cindy talked to Alice's band members, his daughter Calico Cooper and his opening band.

Now I am off to visit another friend and see what adventures they have in store for me, though after a week with Cindy, I feel like I need some rest.

Thank you for the invitation Cindy I had a very nice time! This is just a temporary good bye since you invited me to come back, I will see you again in a couple of months!

Back at Lor's house, we were greeted by these two crazy looking dogs. She called the "pugs" and their names were Cheech and Chong but they were weird lookin dogs man, weird.
 

Visiting Joann Smith

Joann, thanks for the memories

Would believe Joann met me at the state line  when I came back to Jacksonville for the Elvis Event at the FL Theater.

  

Here I am, had my own table for autographs and pictures. That's a picture of me then, on one of the posters like they had when I was appearing there.
   

Here I am with Rick Marino  the ETA he  loved having his picture with me.

I think she likes me!!

Visiting Lacy Mitchell

Well after quite a week in Memphis, Tennessee I headed two hours across the Mississippi River to visit Lacy at her small hometown in Arkansas. Smithville, only has about 73 people in the town and Lacy was a little worried that I would be bored in an area that is mostly wooded land, back roads, a three-way stop and more cows than people, but to Lacy’s surprise I was thrilled to be back in the country—it reminded me of Tupelo when I was little.  
 After arriving at Lacy’s house, I relaxed on her bed and looked around her room at all the stuff she has of me and relating to me—what a collection. Knowing that her and other fans collect things of me is really humbling even after all this time—and Lacy is one of the younger fans.

“Man, I see guitar over there to my left….looks like a great opportunity to do some jamming here at Lacy’s.”

 Despite her town being so small, the region is filled with history of my early career when I started out in the music business and Lacy thought I might like to take a trip down memory lane to see a few of those early spots where I performed in 1955.

One of the first spots Lacy and her boyfriend Luke took me was Batesville which is about 45 minutes from Smithville. It was Aug. 6, 1955 that I performed here for their annual White River Water Carnival.
This is the original stage which was built in the late 1930s. Although I know Lacy had good intentions about bringing me here, coming back reminds me of the welcome I received. It wasn’t the best.

I didn’t even do the second set I was getting paid for, and I only did four songs during the first set. Some of the crowd just didn’t like me and my singing I suppose—for whatever reason—and they left. I don’t know why though….I would have never done anything that would make me look bad or make my mama be disappointed in me. I guess some of these folks just weren’t hip to the new sound they were hearing or the fact that I can’t help but to move and feel the music while onstage.   They just didn’t understand. However, there were a few there that did like me.

 To show you how early it was in my career, Scotty, Bill and I didn’t even have first billing—the Duke of Paducah did.
“Ut oh! I see Lacy—I think this gal might like me or somethin’…it looks like she may attack me….  Jerry…Joe…guys….where are ya? Hurry I think she might get me…” You’d think by now that I’d be used to girls who look like they are about to jump the stage."

Luke, Lacy and I pose for a picture at the old stage---say “CHEESE!

Later that evening—oh about midnight or so, we made a venture to Wal-Mart and lo’ and behold guess what we found…

I sure did enjoy working with Ann-Margret in that. What a gal! “C’mon everybody and turn your heads to the left…” I had to not get too loud while singing…I might have drawn a crowd…well as much of a crowd that there could be at a Wal-mart at that hour. Even the woman working the check-out line had a t-shirt with me on it. I tell ya my fans ARE really everywhere, and I love them all.

The next day Luke and Lacy drove me to another spot where I performed close to where they each live. The Silver Moon Club—what once use to be a rowdy place is now a much quieter version of what it used to be only now there is no drinking or smoking allowed.

I performed here in the fall of 1955. I was received better by this crowd lemme’ tell ya—so much I came back for a second time.

The original building was destroyed by fire in the 1980s I believe Lacy said; however much of the tile and foundation is still where it once stood. It is nice that they rebuilt it so other generations could enjoy it. Those who would go on to be major stars performed here in those early days and the locals who are still around sure do have stories they could tell about one of us who either played here or at Porky’s Rooftop and the King of Clubs both of which are not far from the Silver Moon Club.   

Lacy said her and Luke, who love dressing in 1950s clothing, try to come dancing at the Silver Moon when they can on Saturday nights when Ms. Jeanie and the Guys perform. Even Sonny Burgess, one of my old label-mates from SUN Records, performs there with Ms. Jean when he isn’t traveling elsewhere for shows.  Sonny has remained in Newport, where he was raised. He has stayed true to his hometown, much like me and my beloved Memphis. There’s no place like home—even to us musicians. 

I got to spend a few minutes with Sonny after one of his shows the next night in a nearby town close to Newport. He was there with his band the Pacers. They began recording in 1955 at SUN and had many songs on the label including “Red-Headed Woman,” “We Wanna Boogie,” and “My Bucket’s Got A Hole In It,” among others.
“How about them good ole’ days, Sonny….?”


Luke also gets up onstage and performs a few numbers with them when he is there at the Silver Moon or other clubs where they perform. That boy sure can ROCK! He has his own gigs as well. He plays a mean piano—well he plays just about anything really well—Hot Dog! I was so glad we got to jam for a little….it was just like back in the old days.... ”Get it man, get it!”

I really enjoyed my stay with Lacy…she is such a sweet girl—those Memphis-born gals are something else—Luke sure is a lucky guy. I’m so glad I got to meet Luke. He is one heckuva’ a musician and boy does he have style to match. I looked in his closet at his place and I wanted his blue suit, black and white shoes and his watch—“it was shiny man!” “My boy! My boy!” He’s going to go a long way I just know it. “Don’t give up son, you’ll make it! You’ve got the talent!” 

Check out those cool  Elvis Slots

Visiting Gabe and Betty Rodriguez

THANKS GABE AND BETTY

I had so much fun in Memphis during Elvis week with Betty & Gabe that I came home to Miami with them to spend a little more time with them and get some R&R.

To the Beach we go for some fun in the sand.!!!!

                 
SMILE BETTY

Don't be sad Betty I will see you again soon!

"Ahhh Betty honey don't you cry, come here and give me a big hug"

     
Betty & Gabe

I will see you in Memphis 2007

Back in Las Vegas with Sandi & Cathy

Jerry Schilling Book Signing
"Me And A Guy Named Elvis"

My buddy Jerry Schilling finally wrote a book about me, and it is really good!

Decided to go to Jerry's Book Signing in Vegas - which practically turned into a mini reunion.  Look at this = ran into Joe Esposito!  I noticed buddy Sam Thompson was there also! 

Visiting Cheryl Lackey

That was very interesting History

It sure was nice to take in a little history at Fort McHenry in Baltimore.  We got to see a muskett demonstration with men in full uniform.  That sure was interesting to learn about The War of 1812.  This is where Francis Scott Key wrote "The Star Spangled Banner", after seeing that beautiful American flag waving proudly.  We sure did enjoy the view.  It was perfect for a little kiss from Cheryl

Visiting Nancy Olson

FLAT ELVIS STOLEN!

Excitement was in the air waiting for the arrival of FE at Nancy's house in Linwood Minnesota, it took some time but I finally arrived safe and sound.   Could not wait to begin my visit. 

 
Nancy's oldest g-son, David and Niece, Liz hanging out with FE

 
Nancy's Dad's Birthday. We all sang
Happy Birthday Elvis Style

We started with a tour of the friends and family along with a Birthday Celebration for Nancy's 82 year old Father.  I so enjoyed meeting everyone and they sure did enjoy me, they fought over me, and wow....the food it was a regular Norse smorgasbord.  


Nancy and I at the mouth of the Mississippi, Itasca State Park, Northern Minnesota

The next day we headed for the Mouth of the Mississippi River in Itasca State Park, the same  River that runs through Memphis, it was a 4 hour journey but sure was exciting to see, not to mention the looks we received.   So surprising to see how many people are interested in me, still remember me, I am so amazed. 



         Crossing the mouth of the Mississippi



Testing the water at the mouth of the Mississippi

             
            Kids and me on the step of the State Capital

      
Check out those Golden Horses on the top of the Capital


Revisiting the Civic Center now renamed Excel Center where I last preformed in ST. Paul


Look at the actual ticket stub from my performance on April 30, 1977, What a night.

Nancy and I spending some alone time

All good things must end,  so to this trip, Nancy and I spent some time hanging out on the deck listening to some of my music before I headed back to Bev in California.   Thank you Bev for letting me visit,  it was a very memorable time for me, Nancy along with all of the friends, relatives, strangers, and yes even captors'.  Thank you, Thank you very much. 

        And that is my story!

Visiting Lori Shelton

WOW! LOOK AT ALL THOSE PHOTOS OF ME AT LORI'S WORK!

Taken on a trip to Dothan, Alabama

Peanut Elvis, FE, and Terri
You aint' nothin' but a Peanut 

  


Bet there is some good food here!

Visiting Stacy Bates

So here I am, back in Pennsylvania--this time with Stacy and her family.  I arrived yesterday but had to wait at the post office overnight until I could be picked up.  Not the kind of fanfare I was expecting. 

Stacy and her mom and sister had been out shopping so I had to wait even longer to meet everyone until they got home--Stacy works most of the day so she apologized and promised to show me as much as she could.
As she got ready to go to bed I decided to hang out with 2 girls I know--"Flat" Mama Cass (Elliot), who I met in the early 70s, and "Flat" Dolores (Hart)...two ladies who Stacy digs just as much as me.


 
 

 She introduced me to her pets--Tuggle (orange cat), Maybelline (Gerbil) and Belle (white cat) who insisted on swatting me across the room. That cat was squirrelly, man. I was dead tired after all that but Stacy insisted on watching the Netflix movie she got in the mail...Frank Sinatra's Welcome Home Special for yours truly from 1960. Boy that brought back memories.