Guitarists From The United States

"A toss-up between seeing Elvis live in Las Vegas in the 1970s and taking a dip in the thermal waters of Iceland’s Blue Lagoon ..."

"These last three years he's been so used to people tearing at him wherever he goes that he's drawn-into as hell. He's so used to being alone with a few close friends and going for drives and playing records that you can't get him out"

"Recently, someone asked the question of who had been the one individual who'd helped save the most money in the US healthcare industry in the last century. The answer – surprisingly – is Elvis Presley. On October 28, 1956, Elvis got a polio vaccination before his appearance on national TV. That event was responsible for raising immunization levels in the US from 0.6% to over 80% in just 6 months. No other single individual has had that kind of impact on healthcare in the US."

"From the first quavering notes of the song, it was obvious that there was something different about him -- you could detect his influences, but he didn't sound like anyone else. There is a quality of unutterable plaintiveness as Elvis, in 1953, sings "My Happiness", a pop hit, in 1948, for Jon and Sandra Steele, and a sentimental ballad that couldn't have been further from anyone's imaginings of rock-and-roll. It is just a pure, yearning, almost desperately pleading solo voice reaching for effect. The guitar, Elvis said, "sounded like somebody beating on a bucket lid," with an added factor of nervousness that Elvis must surely have felt. But even that is not particularly detectable -- there is a strange sense of calm, an almost unsettling stillness in the midst of great drama. When he finished, the boy looked up expectantly at the man in the control booth. Mr. Phillips nodded and said politely that he was an "interesting" singer. "We might give you a call sometime.""

"It was huge. I was terrified, I remember that I had my little white lace dress. It was very scary, invited as I was to see Elvis's show and to meet him afterwards and even more intimidating, if incredibly flattering, as he was covering one of my early country hits – If You Love Me, Let Me Know. I went with Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber backstage and Elvis was supposed to come and meet us. But something happened, he had an emergency and he had to leave. It was one of those 'Almost!' moments..."

"I have seen spectacular performers, Buffalo Bill, Enrico Caruso, John Philip Souza, Billy Sunday, Al Jolson, the Marx Brothers, Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne and Liberace but I have never witnessed a storm of excitement like the one generated by Elvis Presley."

"Dressed in a chic black tunic and bell bottoms, Elvis Presley stepped onstage last week at the International Hotel in Las Vegas and launched into the driving beat of "Blue Suede Shoes." The audience of 2,200, most of them over 30, roared and squealed in nostalgic appreciation. In spite of his updated look, Elvis hadn't changed at all in the nearly nine years since his last personal appearance. Oozing the sullen sexuality that threw the America into a state of shock in the 50's, he groaned and swiveled through a medley of "Jailhouse Rock," "Don't Be Cruel," "Heartbreak Hotel," "All Shook Up" and "Hound Dog". It was hard to believe he was 34 and no longer 19 years old. In fact, there are several unbelievable things about Elvis, but the most incredible is his staying power in a world where meteoric careers fade like shooting stars, Presley shot to the top in 1956 with "Heartbreak Hotel" and has stayed in the uppermost tax bracket ever since. When, during a news conference after the opening, a British entrepreneur offered Elvis a million pounds sterling for one appearance in London, it was Parker who answered: "Bring me a deposit tomorrow. Elvis arrived in Las Vegas a week before the show and immediately began rehearsing five hours a day-losing 10 pounds in the process. Only celebrities and big spenders were there opening night to hear Presley sing a lot of oldies and one new song, with a new message aimed at the black rock market. "In The Ghetto" chronicles the evils of poverty in a Chicago slum and could signal the birth of a social conscience for Presley. Another recent record release, "If I Can Dream," proclaims brotherhood according to the gospel of Martin Luther King, but did not appear on the Vegas program. When asked if these songs marked a new direction he might take, Elvis answered, "I go by the material. When I got 'In The Ghetto,' I couldn't turn it down."

"The recent news about robocalls takes me back to last November. I was coming in the back door loaded down with stuff for Thanksgiving. The phone was ringing, but I told myself, “Let it ring, don’t answer it. Don’t do it — you are going to drop something, you know it." “Ignore the phone call,” I said aloud to no one, yet I knew I wouldn't ignore the call. So I put down the bags — really dropped the bags — and rushed to the phone. As I put away bags of squashed lettuce and more — thank goodness, no eggs that day. “Return to Sender.” an old Elvis Presley song came to my head. In my mind's eye I saw a tall, handsome man standing in front of me singing that song. I picked up the phone to look at it — and like a light bulb, an idea came to me. A button. That's what we need: a button, I said in my head. When the calls come in and you know it's not for you — it's not for anyone human — you could press the "star" button twice, maybe, and the call goes back. Every single time. So here's my question for the technicians and scientists out there: Why can't we return robocalls to the people who send them? We should be able to. In fact, we would all be so thankful to the technicians and scientists of the world for developing such a technology. And they don't even need a new name for it. “Return to Sender” would do. I'm sure Elvis wouldn't mind."

"i) I played a rock and roll star in the fifties... Who was that big guy then, Elvis, yeah, Elvis, well we did a movie in England at that same time ii) I knew I could never sing like him, but just did my best."

"At first I would see a kid who used to come over to the Plantation Inn Club when we were over there. That kid was Elvis Presley. He would show up every Wednesday and Friday night to see me do Calvin's Boogie and Junior's Jive. I feel that Elvis' later success actually broke the ice for civil rights, because that was the issue during that time, the fact he sent the black idiom all over the world in his music."

"About 125 persons were lined up at the showroom reservation counter early Monday, normally a slow day. Last Saturday some 500 persons were there at 10 am in hopes of getting reservations during the busy weekend. Many were turned away. Officials at the International Hotel said weekends were sold out and that bookings during the week were "tight" for Presley's first appearance before a live audience in eight years. Some Presley fans came all the way from Europe to see the show. The hotel received a letter from a woman in France with a 100 franc note enclosed as a deposit for 10 shows. The woman wanted reservations for both the dinner and midnight shows for five straight days. So far we have yet to have an empty seat in the house. He is the hottest thing that has hit Las Vegas," said Bruce Banke, an executive of the hotel. It was his first stage appearance in eight years and his only return engagement to Las Vegas in 13 years. Presley in the flesh has lost nothing. It was still all there. Gyrating legs, wide stance, a bobbing head with tossed black hair, rotating guitar, knee bends and the pounding rhythm of such tunes as "Blue Suede Shoes", "Hound Dog", "Jailhouse Rock," "Heartbreak Hotel" and one of his newest recordings "In The Ghetto" He was contracted to appear here for an undisclosed salary. Reportedly, Presley is being paid as much as Barbra Streisand who opened the resort in early July for a reported $1 million during a three-year period. Actor George Hamilton was among the first nighters along with businessmen of the Howard Hughes organization. A plane load of admirers flew in from Atlanta, and members of the news media converged here from the East Coast and Europe. Temperatures outside the International Hotel neared 110 degrees the night Presley opened inside the 2,200 seat showroom – after viewing an hour of Presley's gyrations – blood pressure were on the rise. Presley received a long standing ovation. It was one of the the rare occasions when a Las Vegas standing salute was sincere rather than rigged with a few cronies of an entertainer planted down front to stamp and scream approval."

"It was an ordeal of sorts for many of us —the compulsory monthly haircut at our boarding school in Tiruchy in the 1950s-. Few liked to have their painstakingly grown locks trimmed, let alone sheared off—and for a good reason. Elvis Presley was our much-loved idol then and most of us tried to emulate his puffed hairstyle— something the spoilsport warden frowned upon. He opined that a crew-cut suited us, and Tiruchy's sultry weather, better. So, fearing that we might be ‘scalped’, we drew upon all our reserves of charm to persuade Dasan, the surly school barber, to minimise his snipping and shearing so that we didn't look like skinheads! He grudgingly obliged us. We boys used to fervently hope that he wouldn't turn up to trim down our nicely burgeoning Elvis hairdos, but he always did, clad in a white shirt and dhoti carrying a rexine bag containing the tools of his trade..."

"Around 3,000 years ago, David became King of Israel, and he named Jerusalem the capital. Now your father echoes his great deed by again recognizing that Jerusalem is our capital, for now and forever. Your father and I are so much alike, we both love Israel, have Jewish grandchildren and similar futures ahead of us. In fact, the great King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley, could have been speaking about Donald and I when he sang ‘Let’s rock, everybody, let’s rock. Everybody in the whole cell block. We’ll be dancin’ to the Jailhouse Rock'."

"Of course, the Elvis connection is not lost on me. Nevertheless, I was a little young to appreciate Elvis. He was a bit beyond me.”"

"Elvis came out when I was a disc jockey, and I was playing country music. He came out and he was doing rock and roll, or blues, or whatever they called it back then so I played Presley’s tracks on my station all the time.SpI got a little criticism for it, from some of the old dye in the wool puritan country fans, but I thought he was great. Presley recorded one of my songs, “Funny How Time Slips Away and he even used to send me a Christmas card every year. But I never met him"

"Imagine Elvis Presley watching our show. He repeated episodes I'd even forgotten about, even remembering them word for word. And he gave me some great tips about things to do on my tour. You'll never know how much tonight has meant to me..I touched his Gold jacket..."

"Elvis Presley once said that a man is one thing and an image is another. I didn't really know what Elvis meant by saying that until I was invited to visit the Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital. As I approached it, I saw this statue of Joe DiMaggio in his Yankee uniform with his arm around a little boy. It was the most sensitive looking work of art that I have ever seen."

"In the aftermath of Elvis Presley Estate litigation flurry, the Tennessee General Assembly enacted the Personal Rights Protection Act of 1984, providing clear statutory language ensuring personality rights are not extinguished at death and their descendibility to others. Additionally, the Tennessee Court of Appeals confirmed the descendibility of personality rights under common law in another case brought by the state against the “Elvis Presley International Memorial Foundation” for their unlicensed use of Elvis's name. The foundation argued there was “no descendible right of publicity in Tennessee and that Elvis Presley's name and image entered into the public domain when he died. The court made a clear distinction between the right to privacy and right to publicity, highlighting the economic value of a celebrity’s image, and in reviewing the Sixth Circuit's previous opinion on the matter, found their prior decision was made “without considering Tennessee law. Instead, the court recognized Tennessee has an “expansive view of property” and concluded a celebrity's right of publicity is a “species of intangible personal property” protected in Tennessee. Specifically, the court found descendability of personality rights promotes "an expectation that the investment in valuable capital assets will benefit one's heirs after death, the protection of contract rights, the discouragement of consumer deception, and the policy against unfair competition.Thus, the court held "Elvis Presley's right of publicity survived his death and remains enforceable by his estate and those holding licenses from the estate."

"I love Michael Jackson, Elvis Presley, even Marilyn Monroe. They had an iconic sense of style. I hope we don't lose that."

"There was something about Presley's voice. He had a wide vocal range: he could go up and down and stay in-between, with equal ease. There was also a powerful sensuality to his voice. You would know that if you had listened to ‘It’s Now Or Never.’ Besides he had great musicians backing him up."

"They kicked off the evening at the Commander in Chief Ball, swaying to the song American Trilogy by Elvis."

"I used to work in a record shop and one afternoon I heard them playing "Blue Moon" through the speakers. I'll always remember it coming through the fog. Later, I used to stand in the front room with a plywood guitar shaking my ass like Elvis. He was a genius."

"Basically, I tried to mimic my big brothers in a sense. It was the days of peg pants, like today. Usually, when you inherit clothes from your bigger brother, the pants were longer anyway, so there was plenty of room to roll them up. So, yeah, I mimicked Elvis Presley, with his collar up and his slicked-back hair. He was cool, so we dressed as kids similar to what our big brothers did and the stars that we had seen. And I started (dressing) as Elvis (did) because, of course, he was special. My dad was with me one time in Vegas and we were allowed to go backstage where I introduced Elvis to my father. He took my dad and sat down on the couch and they sat there for about 30 minutes just talking and that. Boy, I tell you what, that was something. I'm standing there and Elvis is spending time with my dad. That day, I didn't tell him I dressed like him. He was wonderful. What a gentleman. He was close to the height of his career — one of the heights. I mean, he was always the smart one and the only person I was really thrilled by, and always appreciated his taking time out to talk to my dad, and I do to this day. ."

"My biggest musical influences are Elvis Presley and Led Zeppelin"

"As Kazuya Kosaka and other young country musicians earned wider popularity, they learned that new artists in the US, like Elvis Presley, were sweeping away American audiences. In the series “the Legacy of Western Singer" in Music Life in 1956, music writer Takatada Ihara introduced “the one-of-a-kind singer Elvis Presley who has emerged like a comet out of the blue.” Presley’s look and sound were novel among country musicians in Japan so Kosaka and fellow country artists began recording Presley’s repertoires with Japanese lyrics as new style of country & western. Taking off his cowboy outfits and changing into Presley-type suits and jackets, Kosaka released “Heartbreak Hotel” in Japanese from Japanese Columbia. Previously known as the “Japanese Lefty (Frizzell),” Kosaka now became known as the “Japanese Presley. By the late 1950s, the country & western in the mainstream Japanese popular music sounded like Elvis Presley, if not rock ‘n’ roll. Since the emergence of Elvis Presley, these writers and fans celebrated country & western musicians in Japan began playing a “new style” of music more driven by the rhythm and some sung in Japanese. Some writers called this recent western music as “western with youthfulness and taste..."

"When a polio vaccine became available in the United States in the 1950s, the March of Dimes, an organization that had been affiliated with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, made a major advertising push, with posters featuring young children who were most at risk of being infected. To boost public interest in the vaccine, Elvis Presley got vaccinated backstage at “The Ed Sullivan Show and it was seen as a patriotic thing,"

"The first time he was booked at the International, in July of 1969, some of us had our doubts. I mean, we opened July Fourth with Barbra Streisand, who'd just won an Oscar, had three pictures going. She was one of the hottest entertainment properties in the world. We knew we had something. Elvis [who was the second performer at the new hotel] was an unknown stage property who hadn't appeared live anywhere in eight years. We knew he'd be something of a draw, but my God! Elvis was a blockbuster, turning out to be an even bigger draw in subsequent runs at the International. I'm not sure how this figure was verified, but it has been reported the Maitre d' and head waiters split $10,000 in tips per night when he performed the following February."

"The Postal Service is being wasteful in spending nearly US$300,000 to promote its Elvis Presley stamp. To break even, they would have to sell more than one million stamps to collectors who do not then use them."

"Few people in my village have the slightest clue about life in America. To them we might as well be the center of the universe. I'm one of few lucky or unlucky ones (depending on how you look at it) who happened to, miraculously, have had the opportunity to live in both worlds. It goes without saying that I can also speak with confidence that my level of confusion is unparalleled. Once, I had confused Elvis Presley for Yuri Gagarin. In fact, there are people in Kokoland who still believe so. What difference will that make, anyway, when folks still believe that the Earth is flat?"

"Love me tender. love me true...."

"In 1959 (during his time in the Army), he came under the weather and military doctors diagnosed tonsillitis and suggested that the vocalist, then the biggest performer in the universe, have his tonsils removed. Presley, already more trustworthy than most modern performers in his pleasant acceptance of military duty, agreed. The problem was that no doctor nearby wanted to risk operating on the star, fearing that malpractice would leave him without his golden voice and either a lawsuit or an an angry fan could ruin any medical career and/or life. They gave him penicillin instead and fortunately everything worked out."

"Just above the lobby, the “Impact of the Bible” floor highlights how Scriptures have influenced cultures across the globe — from education and literature and art and architecture to a King James Bible owned by Elvis Presley which is just steps away from mannequins adorned with dresses by fashion designers such as Dolce and Gabbana, who have featured icons of the Virgin Mary in their brand."

"Some people adore goats, some people believe the earth is flat, some even believe Elvis Presley is still alive. Simon Busuttil can believe whatever he wants but when the rest of the country hears these things, they laugh."

"Wise men say, only fools fall in love"

"I was the twenty-seventh person on standby, on the last flight out of New York City to Memphis the night before the funeral. Miraculously, I got to Memphis and took a cab to Graceland- They'd stopped letting people into the house at that point but everybody was trying to get a photograph of Elvis in the casket, and there was a $50,000 bounty on it.. But the actual funeral was a spectacular thing. I still have incredibly powerful impressions of it, to drive the route and see all the hundreds of thousands of people waiting for him to roll by. It was incredible—very powerful and was about 90 degrees. Waiting in the shade, and all the signs said "God bless you, Elvis. When the hearse rolled out on the street, and it reached the speed it was going to go at, I burst into tears. It was like the long, slow walk And it was just so poignant, then all the helicopters converged on the cemetery, overhead, and there was a riot at the other gate, you know, at the back gate—people were trying to storm into the cemetery. The hearse was arriving, and I started racing, running from where we were. We started running towards where I thought the riot was coming from. On the way I encountered the hearse being led by 24 motorcycle cops. It was one of the most terrifying things I have ever seen, because these cops they were guarding Elvis. And all of the sudden there was one man standing in the cemetery right where they were passing by, and there was not supposed to be anybody there. There's one guy, and it's me. And this cop gave me a look that said, "If you move, I will shoot you right through the heart." I mean, I just froze—you know, like when your hair stands on end. Anyway, as they tried to carry it up the steps, they almost dropped it—it fell like sideways. But then there was a very strange moment when Priscilla actually left. Because you could feel Elvis. You could absolutely feel his presence everywhere. And when she left, it was almost like you could feel his real love went with her, as she rode out of the cemetery. It's was an amazing feeling. I'll never forget it. Well, you gotta have role models. He was an extraordinary guy."

"It's now or never, as Elvis Presley used to say."

"But things began to change in late October 1957, thanks to Elvis announcing the impending arrival of “a rock ’n’ roll Christmas.” The setting was a San Francisco press conference and the reference pertained to the imminent release of Elvis’ Christmas Album. Unsurprisingly, the media took the bait, waxing indignantly about the desecration of Christmas music. Even Time magazine got into the act. At the height of its influence, the magazine did one of its trademark putdowns, warning of the “most serious menace to Christmas since I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.”"

"I named this huge dinosaur Elvis inter'alia, because of its uniqueness and Pristine Pelvis."

"In fact, the overwhelming influx of white rappers has become so pervasive that hip-hop queen Nicki Minaj offered a tongue-in-cheek Instagram observation on the trend: “It’s a great time to be a white rapper in America huh?” Nicki also came with receipts — a screenshot of the iTunes Top 10 Rap/Hip-Hop songs displaying six slots filled with Caucasian spitters: the aforementioned Malone and G-Eazy as well as NF, Macklemore, Machine Gun Kelly and a certain gifted-yet-weary rhyme legend (Eminem), who is most responsible for flipping hip-hop's racial course as Elvis Presley once did with the Black musical art form known as rock and roll."

"That’s my idol, Elvis Presley. If you went to my house, you’d see pictures all over of Elvis. He’s just the greatest entertainer that ever lived. And I think it’s because he had such presence. When Elvis walked into a room, Elvis Presley was in the f***ing room. I don’t give a f*** who was in the room with him, Bogart, Marilyn Monroe.”"

"I used to babysit for a Sergeant Phelps at the US airbase and was at work one day when he turned up at my house and told my mum that Elvis would be at the airbase that night and I should go if I wanted to see him. My mum ran to a phone box to call me at work. I couldn't believe it – I loved Elvis, I had all his records. I changed into my American jeans, lumberjacket, bobby socks and blue suede shoes and cycled the three miles to the airport base. I dropped in at my friend Muriel's and she said she would come too but I couldn't manage to give her a ‘backie’ so we skipped and ran all the way. When we got to the base there was a small group of people already there, standing at the barrier in front of two huge Cadillac cars. Muriel and I were right at the barrier, were so excited and suddenly the plane was in front of us. The door opened and there was Elvis. He was so handsome in his uniform. He waved and we started screaming. He shouted: ‘Where am I?’ and people shouted back: ‘Prestwick’. Elvis came down the stairs and looked fantastic with that beautiful smile. We could nearly touch him. Then Muriel did an amazing thing. She jumped over the barrier and threw herself on him – a couple of huge military policemen scraped her off and put her back over the barrier. The next thing we knew, he was away. We went to the café where the young folk hung out and told people we had seen Elvis. They were all laughing at us but the papers the next day proved it.”"

"The board meets every Wednesday at the old courthouse in Inverness. Last week I walked into the old courthouse and there was a portrait of Elvis Presley on the wall, greeting me. “Good morning,” I said to Elvis as I entered the building. I did a double take because he appeared to wink at me. Later in the meeting we had a visit from Paul Perregaux, a Citrus Hills resident who has qualified to run for the Citrus County Community Charitable Foundation board, the nonprofit organization that will decide how the proceeds from the lease of Citrus Memorial Hospital will be used. I asked Paul to give us some background on his life experience so we could let residents know why he was running for the office. The longtime banker pointed out that he had an Army career before he worked for the financial industry in New England and noted he was once assigned a driver by the name of Elvis Presley. And yes, it was that Elvis Presley. “He was a very nice young man” said Paul. Later that same day, back at the Chronicle office in Meadowcrest, we had a very extraordinary visit from April Royal, the widow of Phil Royal I sat for a few minutes with April and as we sat there talking, April Royal explained to me that her recently deceased friend Dorothy Jean's absolute favorite musician was Elvis Presley. Her residence at the Key Center was adorned with photos and paintings of Elvis. In July of this year, April and Phil attended the Key Center's annual auction. Phil had been on the Key Center board for 20 years and had a special relationship with Dorothy Jean Cole. At the July charity event, what comes up for auction but a large velvet portrait of Elvis Presley? According to April, Phil took one look at Elvis and said he needed to purchase the velvet masterpiece for Dorothy Jean. “I don’t care what it costs,” Phil told April. “We need to buy Elvis.” The Royals were the top bidders. Phil wanted to wait until after the Run for the Money to give the present to Dorothy, but fate got in the way. Phil died during the run at a very young 47 years old. His family and our entire community have been rocked by the tragedy. April Royal has been an incredibly strong woman during the aftermath of the tragic events. Just last week she saw the Elvis portrait at her home and decided she had to go visit Dorothy Jean. So she loaded Brelyn and Elvis into the car and went to the Key. She presented the Elvis portrait to Dorothy as a last gift from Phil. Dorothy was delighted to spend time holding Brelyn and she had a big smile on her face. And now, just a few days after that visit, Dorothy Jean Cole has passed away. The irony was almost too much to comprehend. In a very strange way, the velvet King helped me better understand what courage looks like."

"I) So, I think it started with "Lilo & Stitch" but one day when my then 2 year old son and I were listening to this podcast called "A History of Rock 'n' Roll in 500 Songs", he heard Elvis' 'Mystery Train'and he goes, "Dad, I like that song". Then we started listening to more Elvis and, as were sitting at home one day, I said, 'Do you want to see what Elvis looks like? Do you want to watch him sing?' He goes, 'Yeah," I turned on the Elvis 1968 comeback special, and my son, 2 years old, was riveted, more than "Inside Out", "Moana"... anything. He was staring at Elvis in a leather suit, seating down and singing and he could not look away. And then he got his own guitar, and he played it in his chair, as Elvis did, so he now he thinks you only play guitar while sitting. He's never gonna stand up. LOL II) So, we're in the jungle room, ... and we're looking around, and Malcolm goes, 'Dad, can I meet Elvis now?' "It had never come up while listening to 'Hound Dog.' You don't go, 'You know, son, this guy's dead, right? You want to know how he died?'" "So, I go, 'No, you can't.' And, he goes, 'Please, I want to.' I go, 'Oh, no. It's not like a permission thing.' Then I realized all his grandparents are alive and he's never had a goldfish," he continued, realizing at that moment that his son wasn't familiar with the concept of death. "He doesn't know. Like, he doesn't know. And he's about to find out in the jungle room at Graceland that everybody dies. And so how did you convey this?" "I said, 'Elvis is in heaven now.' And he said, 'Why?' "And I said, "Uh, well, sometimes when people are in their early 40s, and they have a job and schedule a lot like daddy. Uh, and some of the same issues as daddy. They go to the bathroom and they go to heaven.'""

"A day for people to reflect about the things that were most important to my father, like self-love and self-respecy. My father loved children, so in some way, developing around them through the school curriculum. I think the "Ali Center" is just terrific to always mention and something called "ighters Heaven in Deer Lake", Pennsylvania, where my father trained for all of his big fights, and where he lived in between his fights. The Beatles photograph, the famous Michael Jackson photograph, the Elvis Presley photographs were all taken there. It’s been totally reconditioned into its original state; so along with preserving my father’s legacy through Muhammad Ali Day, I know from my own family how important it is to create these centers to connect with the community to house all the core values of my father and what was important to him."

"I don't admire nobody, but Elvis Presley was the sweetest, most humble and nicest man you'd want to know. Singing ability, he a had everything and he was pretty, I know. And when it comes to boxing nobody has the class, the style, the wit, the speed and beauty of Ali. When it comes to singing nobody had everything like Elvis. And the last thing, he did lot for poor people, he cared for people, he had a good heart, he just wasn't a person who was great with talent but great in spirit and with God in his heart, and this is great too. I realise how good I am in my profession, I don't praise nobody if he don't deserve it, cos I am the greatest of all time in boxing, in boxing. I said boxing! I'm telling you, not just you all, the Elvis fans, so naturally you praise Elvis, he's of European race as you are, but I'm black, I'm a Islamic, I'm 100% different from you. And I tell the world Elvis was the greatest of all time. I'm a Muslim who's black who stands up for what he believes. I don't have to say what I don't feel, I'm not false I don't have to say this. I'm free. He to me is one of the greatest singers, actors and all round men of all time. With all the brothers together, none are better than Elvis Presley"

"I can still remember when you visited me in my humble home at Beatrice Cottages and we listened to Elvis and sang along and laughed together, then you revealed your soul to me, your dreams, your hopes – and I wrote your first biography..."

"You knew it was going to be a dismal night this Wednesday when just a few minutes into the debate, ABC interrupted the candidates for a long commercial break -- the first of many. By the time it was over, the audience had had enough.Makes you think that if Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas were around, they'd be sandwiched between a Viagra ad and Victoria's secret. In a real debate the candidates would face each other on the stage with no one but a timekeeper to enforce the clock. As it is, these 'debates' are commercially-staged press conferences about as connected to reality as an Elvis Presley sighting."

"I've been an Elvis fan all my life. It started in 1957, but regrettably, I never met him."

"When something is ‘out’ in the golf swing, the body has a way of trying to adapt and doing the best job it can to hit the ball - and the 'Elvis leg' is one of those examples! If you’re really narrow, the legs can kick in and you’ll start extending up to try and find some space. There’s just no room here.This is a classic poor impact position among those who have a penchant for early extension. The ‘Elvis leg’ is where players are basically trying to get out of their own way."

"I have to say I had some very good scenes with him in "Loving you", but I found myself going to every shot, every scene in which he sang because I was completely taken by listening to him sing. I could not believe the charisma. Incidentally, my uncle was the opera star Mario Lanza (married to my dad´s sister Betty) and I knew what it was like to encounter not just an actor or a singer, but somebody that you knew was going to be a legend. Mario was going to be the next Caruso and Elvis, I thought, ´he is in that class´. This man is going to live forever because that voice is not just for us, but for the people of God."