I took it upon myself to inform the good people of The Irish Elvis Presley Fan Club, who were quite happy to receive the news. No doubt this organization will gladly link to the ChoiceFM Dublin site when this show joins the archives!
Today's Elvis news item is from The Las Vegas Sun. It's a story I've been sitting on for a couple of weeks now, but it is still unfolding and may even have implications for Hawaii:
Elvis managers in Memphis
look toward Las Vegas for expansion
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - The new owners of Elvis Presley Enterprises are making a first move toward an expansion from Memphis by buying an Elvis museum in Las Vegas.
But they expect to close the independently run museum and no firm outline has been drawn for what will replace it.
"There are no specific plans," Ed Tagliaferri, a spokesman for CKX Inc., said Thursday.
A statement from CKX Inc. says, however, that the overall plan is "to bring a world class Elvis-themed attraction to the Las Vegas strip."
Elvis Presley Enterprises, the business arm of the Presley estate, was sold last year to an investment group headed by businessman Robert F.X. Sillerman.
The Presley business is now part of CKX Inc., which also owns 19 Entertainment, the company that produces the TV show "American Idol," and is expanding into other entertainment ventures.
While the business in selling Elvis merchandise and marketing the use of his name and image is a worldwide undertaking, the most visible part of the Presley estate is his former Memphis residence, Graceland, and its complex of souvenir shops and museums.
But CKX has vowed to change that by opening other Elvis ventures, such as museums, in other parts of the United States and abroad.
Now, CKX says it has an agreement to buy "Elvis-A-Rama," a Las Vegas museum created by Chris Davidson, a longtime collector of Presley memorabilia.
As part of the agreement, CKX said Davidson will get the rights to open an Elvis museum in Hawaii.
Tagliaferri said no plans have been laid out for a project in Hawaii, either. But if one is put together, CKX will hold a "significant" interest in it, the company said.
CKX said "Elvis-A-Rama" will be closed and its name and Web site permanently "retired."
Now I've heard quite a bit about this CKX and its approach to the King's legacy. My sympathy here is with Chris Davidson and the slightly fanatical but loving approach that he no doubt brought to Elvis-A-Rama in the style of the more maverick days of vintage Vegas.
This may be the pre-CKX Elvis-A-Rama website. Check it out before it disappears!
From the way this CKX seems to operate, I'd image that Sonny West and his King's Ransom exhibit might be next on the acquisition list!
DALLAS - Sonny West is takin' care of business.
The former bodyguard for Elvis Presley is traveling with the King's Ransom exhibit, which features about 250 of Presley's personal belongings and is on display at the State Fair of Texas.
West, 67, re-cently talked about how he became the King's bodyguard, what Presley always carried with him and what Presley would think about his daughter Lisa Marie's career.
Question: How did you first meet Elvis?
Answer: We went to the same high school, but we were in different grades. The first time I saw him playing was at Tech High School in Louisiana in 1954. We were sitting on the lawn, and he walked over with his guitar and started playing That's Alright Mama. I thought, "He's pretty good."
Q: When did you become his bodyguard?
A: In April 1960, my cousin Red West brought me to meet Elvis. Red had defended him throughout high school where kids tried to beat him up because of his long hair. When we spoke, he asked me to be his bodyguard.
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