Guest Blog: The Elvis Week Experience

I am thrilled that Ann Moses has written this guest blog exclusively for my blog about her recent trip to Graceland as a guest speaker during this year's Elvis Week. For those who may not have heard of Ann, or know who she is, she was the editor of the U.S Tiger Beat magazine from 1965 to 1972, sat on the stage for Elvis’ 68 Comeback Special, toured Elvis’ and Colonel Tom Parker’s offices, observed Elvis filming Change of Habit, and attended Elvis’ opening Las Vegas show in July 1969, so to most Elvis fans, she was one of the few reporters that got more access than most to Elvis in the late 60s and early 70s.

As we didn't have Tiger Beat in Britain, I first became aware of Ann through her "America Calling" column in Britain's New Musical Express (NME), and in particular, her reports about Elvis in Vegas. For anyone who was an Elvis fan, Ann was the Hollywood Correspondent who kept British fans up to date with the latest Elvis news, more so than any one else, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to see her pop up on screen in Elvis' 1970 movie, That's The Way It Is, having been a fan and follower of her column. When she published her autobiography last year, I was equally thrilled, simply because I would now discover more about her work at Tiger Beat, her interviews with some of the biggest teen idols of the period, and how she ended up in the Elvis movie, so now you know who Ann is, and how she played a part in my life as an Elvis fan, here is her story of her first Elvis Week experience at Graceland...

 

It’s been fifty years since I became a born-again Elvis fan (after falling for him when he sang Don’t Be Cruel on the Ed Sullivan Show, September 9, 1956, I strayed when the Beatles became a world-wide sensation in 1964). Being one of the fortunate few who attended one of the two tapings of his comeback special in 1968, simply titled Elvis, I could have never imagined all the things that would take place after that night.

Fast-forward to Elvis Week 2018 and here I was standing at the gates of Graceland with a VIP lanyard around my neck, as an invited guest speaker for Conversations on Elvis: Connections. Won’t you come along with me as I tour Graceland for the first time, tell my stories to moderator, Tom Brown, and the fans who are part of the reason any Elvis Week is a phenomenal experience?

Let’s start with introducing the Guest House at Graceland, the 450-room hotel which officially opened in October 2016. Before his passing in 1977, Elvis had plans drawn up for a guest house, for friends and family. These plans and his ideas were the nucleus for what turned into this five-star resort hotel, the perfect place to stay for Elvis fans. The first thing to strike me as we checked in was the Elvis music that played 24/7 in the public spaces (all of them) at the hotel. It was loud enough so I caught myself singing along as we went to our room, but I laughed when I saw other guests doing the same thing! It was infectious. The décor was unique and upscale. I loved that the floor each had an original photo, usually close-ups of his costumes, as the floor marker as you exited the elevator.

Wonder why there are no photographs of Elvis in the Guest House? As Priscilla Presley and Lisa Marie Presley were the principal designers for the GH, they knew that Elvis would never have put up pictures of himself in a guest house for family and friends. After our check-in and a great burger at E.P’s Bar and Grill, we were off to see the main attraction: Elvis’ home, Graceland. Surprise #1 on my first tour of Elvis Presley's Graceland: John Stamos narrates the tour on the tablet each person receives - and he shares that his character of Uncle Jesse on Full House was named after Elvis Presley's stillborn twin, Jesse Garon Presley.

My impressions of touring his home were just that – that it was his home, tailored for his lifestyle, a place designed for family and friends that was comfortable and lived in. I was inside many famous celebrity homes in Beverly Hills, but Graceland was unlike a celebrity home (except for EP’s love of state-of-the-art technology – like the TV room he had designed after he saw President LBJ’s set-up with three TVs and an early microwave in the simple kitchen). Many of the speakers at Conversations said the same thing “when you’re inside Graceland, you just get the feeling that Elvis will walk down the stairs at any moment.” 

The photos on the walls are of family (his parents, Priscilla, some of EP, and Lisa) – all from happier, more carefree times. As you are touring his home, there is a warmth and friendliness in the atmosphere, which let’s you envision Elvis sitting with friends and enjoying a meal in the dining room, or everyone playing pool in the billiard room, or Lisa Marie frolicking with her toys as Elvis plays the piano. 

All the fabulous photos which mark every period of his legacy are on full display throughout the attractions and exhibits of Elvis Presley’s Memphis, which opened in March 2017. EP’s Memphis includes the Graceland Mansion tour, Elvis’ Airplanes, Presley Motors Automobile Museum, Presley Cycles Exhibit, Archives Experience, ICONS: The Influence of Elvis Presley Exhibit, Elvis The Entertainer Career Museum, Lisa Marie: Growing Up Presley Exhibit, VIP Exhibit and Lounge, Elvis’ Tupelo Exhibit, Hollywood Backlot, Mystery Train: The Sam Phillips Exhibit, Hillybilly Rock Exhibit and Graceland Soundstage A.

While we enjoyed every exhibit, I could have spent days at the Archives Experience – looking at every fascinating piece of paper or a Presley possession. One is overwhelmed with the volume of the Archives. One of the coolest things about the Guest House, Elvis Presley’s Memphis, the tour of the Graceland Mansion and even the shuttle buses – no matter where you are, Elvis songs are playing 24/7, and when you step off the bus in the middle of Hound Dog, you hear the song continue as you walk up the entry, and then it continues wherever you go next – and it’s all synced for the entire place. It’s the most unique and perfect “attraction” for every Elvis fan. And to think they have the playlist like no other, it reminds you of the King’s legacy from his first release to his last.
 

Besides the attractions, to me, the fans themselves are like an attraction. We saw fans groups with matching tee shirts that had been around since the Heartbreak Hotel days through today. We saw fans from Scandinavian countries, Japan, Mexico, Brazil, the UK, and, of course, the USA fans. There were grandparents, kids, entire multi-generational families, women and men, boys and girls. Elvis fans come in every ethnicity and country around the world. And yet they all have Elvis in common. It’s a powerful atmosphere. And because every one has a bond with the others, it’s like a congeniality convention. No one hesitates to engage another person in an observation or conversation. Too cool!

On the day we arrived at Graceland, we knew we had a special night ahead of us: 7:00 pm Graceland Soundstage – 68 Special 50th Anniversary Celebration. But I had no idea how much of a celebration it would be. The event was sold-out, gathering over 1,500 Elvis fans in the magnificent soundstage auditorium. I had not seen the Special since it’s original air date of December 3, 1968. But it all came flooding back and the tape rolled. And all of the excitement I had felt on that night 50 years ago, I was feeling again as feelings of déjà vu overwhelmed me.

Before presenting each segment, the evening was enhanced with live, on-stage appearances recounting the making of the Special from Producer-director Steve Binder, musical director Billy Goldenberg, and writer Allan Blye. Each shared their own candid memories before introducing specific scenes. Dancer Tanya Lemani, who portrays the belly dancer in the Little Egypt scene, made a surprise appearance, dancing while donning a costume similar to what she wore 50 years earlier. Prerecorded reflections from Priscilla Presley, Elvis confidant and collaborator Jerry Schilling, songwriter Mac Davis and the late D.J. Fontana added even more perspective. The Costumes For the first time, Elvis’ trademark costumes from the original program, including that unmistakable black leather suit, were displayed onstage during a 68 Special screening.

So as each segment was aired, I found the dancing segments were nostalgic, but didn’t hold up as well as the live, Elvis-in-black-leather segments, backed not only by his buddies on stage, but a full orchestra. It wasn’t until the musical director, Billy Goldberg, told us how he had a full orchestra backing up Elvis in the background that I became aware of how much that enhanced the whole show.

Yes, I counted seeing myself five times. It was one of the eeriest feelings I’ve ever had. My folks never had a movie camera while I was growing up, so I had no memories of how I acted as a kid, but seeing myself at age 21 was so very cool! And to see myself, again, with my face superimposed with Elvis’ as he sang Can’t Help Falling in Love, was so mind-blowing and I hadn’t realized that I was singing along as he sang. But nothing at Graceland is ordinary. And this night was no exception. I had missed the Gospel celebrations earlier in the week, but on this night, we and the entire audience were astounded when, as Elvis was singing gospel songs on the big screen, below the Tennessee Mass Choir had gathered below the screen, live and rockin’ – and we were all on our feet, moving and joining in the revival-style music of this outstanding gospel choir. I had the same feeling that I had when we attended a moving service at the Anglican Church in Parys, South Africa.

I have to share this funny bit: a Graceland insider told me she was surprised that the Comeback Special audience was an overflow crowd because, “they can all watch the Comeback Special in their rooms at the Guest House – it’s shown 24/7 on the Elvis Channel available anytime in each room at the Guest House. Who knew? When we were in our room, I was studying my previous articles on Elvis and the Comeback Special published in the New Musical Express in 1968. While I had continuing memories of that day/time, I didn’t want to miss any detail, like some of the ad-libs those of us in the audience heard as the special was taped, and I wanted to share all those nuggets when I participated in Conversations on Elvis.

The next morning, we woke to a slightly cloudy Memphis morning. By the time we were ready to climb on the shuttle to the soundstage, the clouds had cleared and it was sunny and very humid, which is what we expected being in Tennessee. I was feeling nervous, as I have never been too comfortable getting up in front of an audience. I have never been, nor did I want to be, the center of attention. I always preferred being on the “other” side of the camera. As I visited with the other guests for Conversations-all performers who were used to the spotlight-it came to mind that they were not all that different than me, just folks who had a special talent. And while I did not feel apart of the group with special talents – be it gospel singing, back-up singing, country music or the like – I did have a confidence inside because moderator Tom Brown had shared with me in a warm-up phone call the week before that “Elvis fans love ALL the details.” Armed with that info and becoming more comfortable as all of us chatted in the green room, I was feeling a big better.

They had wound up the segment before mine and my introduction came on the big screen. Here I was, standing backstage at the foot of the steps, and on the sound desk screen (which was huge), my face suddenly appears on the screen. They had pulled my “interview” from the documentary Elvis That’s The Way It Was, where Denis Sanders is interviewing me at my desk at Tiger Beat, and cover shots of me working with an art editor. Even though I have this DVD at home, I had not watched it for years! There I was again, now age 22 and I’m talking about what it’s like to be an Elvis fan.

And before I could even grasp that concept, I heard my name introduced over the sound system by Tom Brown. I was massively nervous walking on stage, but as Tom greeted me, I think he was going in for a hug, but it just seemed right to smack a little kiss, so that’s what I did, which prompted Tom to say, “I didn’t know I was getting a kiss,” or something like that. The most unexpected thing happened – I relaxed and as I sat down and began answering Tom’s questions, I realized for the first time in my life, I was comfortable and actually enjoying the experience of sharing my Elvis experiences. It felt so freeing!

It was truly heartwarming to recount my experiences to an audience of about 300 people, all of whom were hanging on every word. It was empowering. They laughed at the funny bits, they cheered, whistled and clapped when I told about kissing Elvis during the filming of That's The Way It Is in 1971, and sighed when I said Elvis came up and talked to me one-on-one during a break in filming on the set of Change of Habit. Note to audience: thank you for your enthusiastic response – you truly have changed my life.

Following the final Conversation on stage, we were asked to be available for autographs at the back of the soundstage auditorium. I was permitted to sell my book and autographed pictures of Elvis and me, taken following his press conference after his first live appearance at the International in August 1969. But still, it was my first experience of people lining up and anxiously waiting to see me! Unexpected and thrilling. And everyone was so sweet. They would ask, “Can I take a picture of you,” and we would say, "Get over here, let’s get a selfie,” my husband would run around the front of the desk, grab their camera and get a shot of us. It was such a blast for all of us.

 

 Ann's book is available from Amazon - or for an autographed copy go here

Winona Ryder - The Biography Revisited

In this first part of this special two-part blog article, I am thrilled to offer some background information on the making of my Winona Ryder biography that was published in the UK twenty years ago today in paperback by John Blake Publishing ... 

My love of movies dates back to the early 1960s when I first went to the cinema, with my parents, to see Carry On Constable, or at least that is my recollection of the first time I was treated to a night out at the pictures, but then twenty-six years later something extraordinary happened, I went to see a movie called Lucas. As I watched the scenes that featured a total unknown named Winona Ryder, I was moved by the vulnerability behind her huge hypnotic brown eyes. She has captivated me ever since with her public profile and each of the movies she has appeared in from the age of twelve. When I discovered in 1996, some ten years and almost twenty films later, that there had never been a biography about her, I felt compelled to write one, which then consumed the next two years of my life, and with running a Facebook fan page for the book, still does to this day. 

Twenty years on from when it was published, I thought it would be interesting to reflect on what became a major turning point in my writing career as up to that point I had only written music reference books, with the exception of a lightly worded illustrated biography of the Rolling Stones first ten years, but now I was jumping in at the deep end to write a full length biography of my favourite actress. I also want to try and address some of the questions I am often asked about the book. Several questions persist. How and when did I get the idea to write the book, did I ask Winona to participate, how did I go about the research, who did I speak to, and when will I update the original book?

Strangely enough, I was hoping to publish a special 20th anniversary edition this month, but could not find a publishing home for it. The idea for the all new edition was to completely revise the existing book by doing a new volume which would have been divided into three parts. The first part would focus on revisions to the original manuscript that have come to light since the book was first published, the second part would have been the original biography as it was published in 1998, and the third part  was to go from where the original book left off up to the present, Stranger Things, and her latest movie Destination Wedding. But every publisher that I approached with it didn't feel that now was the right time to be republishing, even with all the additional content and Winona's renewed profile. My feeling was and still is that there is no better time to re-access her life and career. As I told the editorial and sales teams, as an actress who changed the way cinema depicts women, and has championed for so many in the industry, she deserves a really good and up-to-date biography to be available, but sadly it was not to be. The new edition would have created a completely new portrait, which among other things would have told the exclusive untold story of her first and fascinating experience with the still camera some years before she was cast in her first movie, including my author interviews with photographer and stylist, take a fresh look at her early years from her first kiss on a playground carousel to her love of skateboarding and returning to the limelight in the medium she once swore she would never do, and to question why she still refuses to conform to the Hollywood ideal of fame.      

So how did the book all come about in the first place? Well, the initial idea came from Hannah MacDonald, then the publishing editor at Virgin Publishing. I had called her to ask if she would be interested in commissioning me to write a biography of Olivia Newton-John. Hannah's reply was not really. She said she was looking for someone more current at that time, someone who was regarded as young, cool and hip, someone like Winona Ryder. What Hannah didn't know that just a few weeks before that call in June 1996, I had gone to see Winona's then latest film How To Make An American Quilt at the MGM multiplex in Eastbourne with my daughter Kim on National Cinema Day that was celebrating 100 years of cinema, when 742 cinemas across the UK showed selected films all day long and charged only one pound to see any film. There were over 150 films to chose from. As well as the current releases there were 27 previewing films and classics ranging from Casablanca to the Sound of Music, and one of the previewing films was Winona's movie. When we left the cinema I said to Kim, "It's no good, I have to write a book about her!" So can you imagine how excited I was when Hannah told me that Winona was the kind of biography subject they wanted to publish, and not ONJ. I was secretly thrilled and spent the rest of the call trying to persuade Hannah that I was the right person to write a book about Winona. I prepared a proposal, sent it to Hannah, which she presented at a number of publication meetings, but it was rejected, which although disappointing, still encouraged me to start touting it around other publishers.

Most rejected it in their belief that Winona, although ranked among the top ten box-office stars, and certainly one who encourages millions of fans, still didn’t have the profile to warrant a book. I remember one publisher telling me that most bestselling film biographies were the ones about the male heartthrobs, or if female, the ones with a reputed gay fan following, and as Winona didn’t fall into either category, I didn’t find anyone rushing to do my book. The only publisher that showed any real interest was Robert Smith who owned Smith Gryphon Publishing, and had been producing a steady flow of celebrity and true-crime bestsellers since 1990. Although he could see how passionate I was about Winona as a biography subject, and had liked the attention of detail in my Stones book, he was still unsure about commissioning me unless the book was authorised, and I already knew that wasn't going to happen. Like Robert, I was only too aware, how difficult it is to encourage someone like Winona to participate and contribute to a book project, and even though Robert shared my view that it is better for a celebrity to co-operate and/or authorise a biography to ensure accuracy, not many Hollywood stars and their publicists shared that view. Nevertheless I had a go. In fact, I approached Winona’s publicist several times with several ideas asking for Winona’s co-operation and an interview, but as I have explained in my author note, her publicist made it clear that they were uncomfortable with the idea of a biography at that stage. When Hannah moved from Virgin to Andre Deutsch, she came up with the idea of Winona writing her own film dairies for a year or so, with me editing, but even that was a no-no.

Out of all the publishers I approached, Robert was the most interested, and despite turning it down to start with unless I could get Winona involved, he did eventually come back to me about eight months later, when I was about to put the book on the back burner, with an offer for an unauthorised work, and gave me a weekend to consider his offer because if I was going to accept, he needed know two days later so he could include the book as one of the lead titles in his Autumn 1997 catalogue, which had to go to print the following week, so after chewing things over, and accepting his terms and conditions, I began writing in the early part of that April, and quickly got up to speed as the manuscript had to be delivered at the end of June for publication that October to coincide with the landmark release of Winona’s twentieth film, Alien Resurrection. But about two weeks before it was due to go to print, Robert told me that he was having to dissolve his Smith-Gryphon publishing operation. The company and his entire catalogue of books would be offered for sale to other publishing houses, so my book, then titled Winona Ryder: The Unauthorized Biography, became stagnant, and was seemingly caught in the middle of a liquidation trap.  

After several offers were made to Robert's receivers, Smith Gryphon was eventually sold to Blake Publishing, who acquired the entire SG catalogue, but I still had no idea at that stage if they would publish my book or not, but as it turned out, once they had managed to rescue the book from Robert's printers, they scheduled a publication date for April 1998. The icing on the cake was the plan to publish it in hardback, now with two picture sections, rather than one, and with a new cover design. But their attempts to rush out my book didn’t really work out. WH Smith, then the biggest and most powerful bookseller in the UK were reluctant to order a hardback, and they also felt that they had not been given sufficient notice of publication, which was rather strange since Virgin’s sales teams had already been out selling the title for Smith Gryphon. Reluctantly Blake put publication back to September, and also decided to produce the book as a large format trade paperback instead of a hardback, simply because that's what WH Smith wanted and as they would be ordering more books than any other bookselling chain, Blake went along with their demands and decided to publish as a paperback edition only. The only differences would be the price and would now be in soft covers rather than a hardback. Even though I'd had my heart set on a hardback edition for April, there were advantages. with the delay and different format. I now had the opportunity to ensure that my book on Winona would be the most up-to-date published, which I think it was at that time since it ended with the story of Winona dating Matt Damon. Something that surprised Entertainment Weekly when they had been sent a proof copy for review and interviewed me for their magazine. They seemed genuinely amazed it was so up to date. The delay had allowed me to do that. It also give me the opportunity to do some fine tuning and polishing to other parts the manuscript. Not so good however was how we had to change the picture spreads due to some permission issues.

Most of the film companies were reluctant to grant permissions for some of the movie stills because the book was unauthorised, which was understandable. Although we could have licensed the stills from a number of picture agencies, my picture editor thought it was best not to since the film companies had objected to their use. I do remember calling Fox in the States to ask if we could use a publicity still from Alien Resurrection, whose response was yes as long as I got permission from Sigourney Weaver, Winona and the photographer, none of whom I had phone numbers for, and as Fox weren't about to share them with me, we didn't pursue it any further as it seemed out of our reach and a bit of a prohibitive exercise. With or without the Alien Resurrection shot, we lost a lot of images that we wanted to use. Mainly stills from Mermaids, Edward Scissorhands, The Age of Innocence, The House of the Spirits, Reality Bites, Little Women and The Crucible. It was very disappointing, but we managed to replace them with some relevant pictures, something that still had a connection wherever possible. For instance, we used Winona receiving her Golden Globe for The Age of Innocence, and Winona and Daniel Day-Lewis at The Crucible premiere in place of the actual movie stills.

In fact, I think we ended up with a selection of pictures that at that time hadn't been seen before, but then again it was in the pre-social media days and when the internet was still in its infancy, so yes, they were pretty rare for their day. Back then, I thought it made the plate section for the book far more interesting, personal and relative to the text. We actually ended up with some rather good shots. The most amazing find came from the Petaluma Argus-Courier who had shot Winona's very first publicity photo in her classroom at Petaluma Junior High in 1986. It's quite remarkable to look back on now because I don't remember there were any permission issues for the pictures in the Smith Gryphon version. Most of the photos had come from my private collection, and included some very iconic images of Winona, but I don't remember ever being questioned about ownership, but back in those days I was still a bit of a novice when it came to such things, and perhaps Robert wasn't too bothered about it either, or maybe, he thought I owned the photos or had clearance on them to use. 

In the next part of this article, I revisit how I went about the research for the book, who I managed to speak to and interview, including a scheduled but cancelled phone interview with Winona, and look at the aftermath of the publication and how the book came a Daily Telegraph bestseller and got nominated for a literary prize!

The cover for the Smith Gryphon version of my book