Jerry Reed 2006 Interview About Elvis & Guitar Man

Above Jerry talks about Elvis & Guitar Man.



Part one with Jerry Reed.

Jerry Reed Hubbard (March 20, 1937 – September 1, 2008), known professionally as Jerry Reed, and lovingly as the Snowman, was an American country music singer, country guitarist, session musician, songwriter, and actor who appeared in more than a dozen films. As a singer, he was known for "(Who Was the Man Who Put) The Line in Gasoline"; "Lord, Mr. Ford (What Have You Done)"; "Amos Moses"; "When You're Hot, You're Hot," for which he received the Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance in 1972; and "East Bound and Down," the theme song for the film Smokey and the Bandit, in which he also co-starred.


In 1967, Reed notched his first official country chart hit with "Guitar Man," which Elvis Presley soon covered. Presley had come to Nashville to record in 1967, and one of the songs he was working on was "Guitar Man" (which Reed had written and recorded earlier). "I was out on the Cumberland River fishing, and I got a call from Felton Jarvis (then Presley's producer). He said, 'Elvis is down here. We've been trying to cut 'Guitar Man' all day long. He wants it to sound like it sounded on your album.' I finally told him, 'Well, if you want it to sound like that, you're going have to get me in there to play guitar, because these guys (you're using in the studio) are straight pickers. I pick with my fingers and tune that guitar up all weird kind of ways.'"

Jarvis hired Reed to play on the session. "I hit that intro, and [Elvis'] face lit up and here we went. Then after he got through that, he cut [my] "U.S. Male" at the same session. I was toppin' cotton, son." Reed also played the guitar for Elvis Presley's "Big Boss Man" (1967), recorded in the same session.[2] In January 1968 Reed worked on a second Presley session, during which he played guitar on a cover of Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business", as well as another Reed composition, "U.S. Male" (Reed's quoted recollection of "U.S. Male" being recorded at the same session as "Guitar Man" being incorrect).[3] After Presley recorded "U.S. Male," the songwriter recorded an Elvis tribute, "Tupelo Mississippi Flash," which proved to be his first Top 20 hit.

Elvis also recorded two other Reed compositions: "A Thing Called Love" in 1970 and "Talk About The Good Times" in 1973 for a total of four.

Johnny Cash would also release "A Thing Called Love" as a single in 1971, which would reach #2 on the Billboard Country Singles Chart for North America. It would become the title track for a studio album that he released the following spring.

Reed died in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 1, 2008, of complications from emphysema.

GLEE Breaks Elvis Record

Elvis’ Presley’s 50-year record of 20 top 40 hits in the shortest span of time has been broken by the cast of television series Glee.
What took Presley 88 weeks only took the Glee cast 57 weeks, with their cover of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” entering the charts at number 40. The honor is one of many recently for Glee, which won best TV comedy or musical series at the Golden Globes as well as two supporting actor awards.
It was only a few short months ago that the group toppled the Beatles’ Billboard Hot 100 record, with a total of 75 appearances to the Fab Four’s 71.
The musical show, which releases its singles after each episode airs, has earned three top 10s and six top 20 hits through their releases, selling more than two million singles in the process.

CKX Hits New 52 Week Low

Shares of CKX Inc (NASDAQ: CKXE) hit a new 52-week low on Monday. The stock traded as low as $3.63 during mid-day trading and last traded at $3.64. The stock previously closed at $3.67.
CKX, Inc. (CKX) is engaged in the ownership, development and commercial utilization of entertainment content. The Company has four segments: Presley Business-Royalties and Licensing, Presley Business-Graceland Operations, 19 Entertainment and the Ali Business. Its primary assets and operations include 19 Entertainment Limited (19 Entertainment), which owns rights to the IDOLS and So You Think You Can Dance television brands, which air in the United States; an 85% ownership interest in Elvis Presley Enterprises (the Presley Business), which owns the rights to the name, image and likeness of Elvis Presley, and certain music and the operations of Graceland; and has partnered with Cirque du Soleil for the creation of Elvis Presley-themed shows and projects worldwide, and an 80% ownership interest in Muhammad Ali Enterprises (the Ali Business), which owns the rights to the name, image and likeness of, as well as certain trademarks and other intellectual property related to, Muhammad Ali.
CKX Inc (NASDAQ: CKXE) traded down 0.82% during mid-day trading on Monday. The stock has a 52 week low of $3.65 and a 52 week high of $7.06. Its 50-day moving average is $4. and its 200-day moving average is $4.60. The company has a market cap of $338.9 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of N/A.

Priscilla Presley Interview From Her Home In Beverly Hills

Priscilla Presley is calling from her home in Beverly Hills, and something loud and unwelcome is happening outside her windows.
“I’m sorry if I seem distracted during this, but if I pause, it’s because there is a lot of construction going on around me,” she says.
“Construction?” I ask “On your house?”
“No,” she says. “There is this unbelievable, monument-to-excess home going up. I’m beside myself.”
“Beside yourself, and beside the construction,” I say.
“Yes,” she says, with a laugh. “I’ve been here, in Los Angeles, in Beverly Hills, for 30 some-odd years. I like it quiet.”
And you imagine that those construction workers operating loud, heavy machinery nearby probably have no idea the nature of the disruption they are causing the only woman who was ever married to Elvis Presley. But she coasts along for 20 or so minutes, talking about Elvis’ life and impenetrable legacy.
Priscilla Presley still holds an active role as a consultant with Elvis Presley Enterprises, which has partnered with Cirque du Soleil in Viva Elvis at Aria. She visits Las Vegas frequently to check in and take notes on the show, which opened nearly a year ago.
On Jan. 29, Presley will be honored as Nevada Ballet Theater’s 2011 Woman of the Year during a gala dinner and fundraiser at Aria. This is the reason for the rare chance to interview the woman who first visited the city in 1962, was married at the Aladdin in 1967 and continues to keep an eye on the show that finally brought Elvis back to Vegas:
The Kats Report: How was it that you made the connection with Nevada Ballet Theater? We’ve had a wide variety of women honored over the years. Who contacted whom about you receiving this award as Woman of the Year?
Priscilla: I actually was contacted by them. I … Wow, I was so honored and very flattered by the company calling me. No (laughs), I would never call them. That’s funny.
TKR: I didn’t mean to imply that you were making calls, seeking to be named Woman of the Year by various organizations.
Priscilla: (Laughs) Hello! I want to be your Woman of the Year! No, I didn’t do that (laughs). They actually contacted me quite a few months ago and asked if I would accept, and I was very flattered.
TKR: This was connected to some degree to the opening of Viva Elvis at Aria, right?
Priscilla: Probably so, because of my involvement in the show. I got there, gosh, a few times a month to check in to see how it has evolved. Of course, the show is very important to me because it continues Elvis’ legacy of performing there, in Las Vegas, which is a place he loved very much. Plus, I’ve been a frequent visitor to Las Vegas, I have a lot of friends there, and I’m sure it came about that way, someone submitting my name.
TKR: You’re still very active in the production of Viva Elvis, aren’t you?
Priscilla: I’m active, yes. It’s Cirque du Soliel’s celebration of Elvis Presley, it’s in honor of him, it’s a celebration of his life.
TKR: What sort of changes have you suggested or enacted since the show opened?
Priscilla: Well, I’ve definitely voiced my opinion.
TKR: How so?
Priscilla: I’ve made a little list of things that I’ve felt needed to be elaborated on. Of course, the show is tighter now. It’s a little more fun. … You know, any time you put a show on, you have to tweak it to see what works and doesn’t work. We’re working on something right now that I am hoping will happen, a couple of song choices I felt needed to be, you know, changed.
TKR: Which songs were you looking to change?
Priscilla: What I wanted, I would like to see more gospel, more gospel songs in the show, because gospel was his roots. They’ve been very accommodating in it.
TKR: I’ve heard you just want more of Elvis in the show, what was true to his music and personality.
Priscilla: Yeah, we’re trying to get more Elvis, even though it’s a Cirque celebration of his life, some of the song choices and being tighter, a couple of the acts will be a little bit different. It’s the same show, but oh my God, it’s got so much life and energy, and Elvis is more in it, and everyone agrees that’s what it needed. It’s about Elvis, we all know all of his songs, and we can hear the songs, but we need to know why everyone was so enthralled by him and captivated by him. And that’s all happening, and that’s good.
TKR: How are people when they approach you today? I’m talking about the fans, especially those who remember him when he was alive. Are they still as passionate about him as they were when he was performing?
Priscilla: Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, Elvis had an incredible gift, and Elvis was very genuine, that’s been felt by fans from the inception. I was just over in England. Oh my gosh, we had a show over in England in September of last year, a tribute to him by top entertainers throughout Europe. And there were 25,000 people in Hyde Park. It was unbelievable, so magical. It could not have been more beautiful, just an ocean of people singing and holding candles, waving cell phones and lighters. It was if he was onstage himself. It was unbelievable.

Viva Elvis! - from YouTube.com
TKR: It’s a shame he didn’t have a chance to perform overseas, isn’t it?
Priscilla: Well, that’s why I went over there. I wanted to represent him and thank all of the fans who have been a constant force of his life. He was huge in Europe, and especially in England, people who have been supporting him and going back and forth to Graceland every year. It’s unbelievable how many fans he has over there. I wanted to thank everyone, and let them know that he definitely wanted to go over there and perform for them, and that was always in his mind. They have given back so much.
TKR: This reminds me of something George Harrison said about Elvis, something he said during The Beatles “Anthology” series. There was a lot of talk about Elvis and how he was an inspiration in the development of the band, and as they became famous, George Harrison said he always felt sorry for Elvis because there was only one Elvis. Where there were four guys who could absorb the energy of that type of fame, Elvis was a singular figure. There was only one man who knew what it was like to be Elvis.
Priscilla: Oh my God, there could never have been more than one Elvis. There couldn’t have been two or three Elvises. I mean, Elvis Presley loved being Elvis Presley. He was born to be who he was. He was destined. He loved it, and I don’t think I ever knew any other entertainer or any celebrity who appreciated their fans as much as Elvis Presley did. He just always appreciated them for bringing him to the level he was.
TKR: As you’re very well aware, a lot of entertainers here in Las Vegas try to make a living capturing some version of that phenomenon. What do you think of impressionists, those who depict Elvis onstage and perform as him?
Priscilla: I think it’s keeping his name alive. It’s a huge compliment. I have no problem with that. You know, I think the ones who go a little bit overboard and make more of a character out of him, I’m taken a little aback by. But we have tribute artists out there — we don’t call them impressionists — who do a wonderful job keeping his name alive and image alive. Some of them do very well.
TKR: Every once in a while, I see an Elvis at the grocery store or walking through McCarran Airport. I’ve seen them on the streets hawking stuff. We’ve had a guy called Colonic Elvis, advertising that service, on the street. It’s amazing how many variations of Elvis we still see around Las Vegas.
Priscilla: (Laughs) It’s true. He’d probably get a kick out of it, actually. He had a great sense of humor. Someone had said that, as a real book reader, said, “I can’t tell you how many books that I read that have somehow Elvis’ name in it, how he’s attributed in someone’s life. Over 800 or some-odd books have been written about him.
TKR: And you’ve read them all, I’m sure.
Priscilla: Right (laughs). Well, everyone has a story. I can’t even read any of them. Oh my gosh, if someone ever met Elvis, or was associated with someone who knew Elvis, that makes them an expert. I can’t read any more books. This is heartbreaking to me, to see this. I very seldom go there, and I very seldom believe what I read.
Someone once said to me, “If I read one more story about someone playing football with Elvis here in Beverly Hills, I’m going crazy.” If he played football with as many people who say they played football with Elvis, he wouldn’t have had time to do any movies or make any music (laughs).
TKR: In that “Anthology” series, they actually joke about Ringo playing football with Elvis.
Priscilla: (Laughs) Well, there you go. I swear to God, I was there, and he did not play that much football.
TKR: You’ve said how fond you are of Las Vegas. Do you remember your first visit here?
Priscilla: Very well. Elvis took me, invited me to come to Los Angeles first, it was our first meeting after he left Germany (following military service) in 1960. He had me come in 1962, to stay for two nights, and he wanted to take me to Las Vegas. I’d never heard of Las Vegas, I’d just turned 17, it was in June — my birthday was in May — and that’s when he took me to Las Vegas, so I would be a little bit older (laughs).
We went on his bus, and we went to Vegas, and I’d never seen anything like it. The Rat Pack was there, the Tropicana was there, and as a young girl watching the Folies and these beautiful Tropicana girls coming down the stairs onstage, oh my gosh, in feathers and everything all over the place. The Ike and Tina Turner Review was in town, Red Skelton, George Burns, Fats Domino. It was when Vegas was so small, everybody knew each other.
TKR: It’s funny, in those days that you describe, the entertainment scene was really about star power and headliners. As successful as Cirque has been, that’s the one complaint that they’ve received, that they have taken the place of the types of headliners you described from that era. Have you seen this, that the stars have had to share the stage with Cirque?
Priscilla: Yes, absolutely they have, and Cirque is a phenomenon in itself. But it’s like Elvis said, there’s room for everyone. Everyone has their ride, and the city has to adjust a little bit. … Hopefully it’s a phase, and we’ll bring those types of entertainers back and people will appreciate them, because Vegas is full of talented artists. We can’t forget that. It is the Entertainment Capital of the World, and we cannot turn our backs on that, on the artists who are touring or the artists who have talent to share with us in the big showrooms.
TKR: I have to ask, how is Lisa Marie doing?
Priscilla: She doing great, thank you. She’s the proud mother of twin girls and is being a great mom. She’s actually recording her third album, and I’m ecstatic about it. She’s doing very well. We’re in for a big treat on this album.
TKR: Who are you still close to among Elvis’ inner circle?
Priscilla: Mostly Jerry (Shilling) and Joe (Esposito). Gosh, we’ve lost Charlie Hodge, which was an unbelievable loss (Hodge was a longtime friend, confidante and backing musician for Elvis who died in 2006). He was such a great friend.
TKR: We’re looking forward to seeing you at the event. You will stay around and say hello to a few of us?
Priscilla: Oh, absolutely. I’m thrilled by it, honestly, what the Nevada Ballet Theater means to Las Vegas, from 1972 to where they are today. It’s a very special company, and we need to support them. Yes, there are lots of star entertainers there, but we need to support the arts.


John Katsilometes

Las Vegas Journalist Frank Lieberman Passed Away

Longtime Las Vegas journalist Frank Lieberman holds a printed copy of his interview with Elvis, which appeared in the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner on Feb. 8, 1970.

Longtime Las Vegas journalist Frank Lieberman holds a printed copy of his interview with Elvis, which appeared in the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner on Feb. 8, 1970.
The official reason for his death has not yet been determined, but Frank had suffered from a number of ailments over the past few years. For years, he underwent dialysis treatments for failing kidneys, was diabetic (a condition that caused serious infection to both of his feet) and two years ago fractured a hip in a fall at his home in Summerlin. His physical decline accelerated early in the week, when he fell once more at his house and fractured his right shoulder. He was taken to the emergency room at Mountain View Hospital, fitted with a splint and released. But Thursday morning, his son Adam and wife Karen noticed that he was in an almost comatose state and summoned paramedics to return him to the hospital, this time Summerlin Hospital, where he was admitted into ICU.
Frank was moved out of ICU to a private room Friday night but Saturday morning fell gravely ill. Karen and Adam were called about 10 a.m. and told to make it to the hospital as quickly as possible. "But by the time we got there, it was too late," Adam said during a phone conversation today. "It was about 10:30, 10:45, and he was already gone." Frank's funeral will be Tuesday at Eden Cemetery in Mission Hills, Calif.
Frank was a longtime entertainment journalist and PR rep who covered Las Vegas for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner from the early1960s until that paper folded in 1989. He decided to move to Las Vegas while working as a publicist on the film "Vegas Vacation," in 1997, and for nearly a decade was a publicist for Siegfried & Roy, leaving the duo shortly before Roy Horn was injured onstage on Oct. 3, 2003.
More recently, he had written for the Las Vegas Israelite newspaper and the online publication VegasInsideTips, where his two columns -- Let’s Be Frank and Vegas Scene -- were loaded with interesting tidbits about the Vegas entertainment industry. For decades, Frank helped set the mark for high journalistic standards and productivity in Las Vegas.
In his journalism and PR dealings, the man whose license plate on his red Chevrolet Trailblazer reads “PR GAME” had known practically every major performer in Las Vegas since the ’60s, having worked as a publicist for Sammy Davis Jr. in the early 1970s and had known or befriended such stars as Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme, members of The Rat Pack, Tony Orlando, Engelbert Humperdinck, Barry Manilow, Wayne Newton, Shecky Greene and countless others.
Frank was particularly friendly with Clint Holmes and his wife, Kelly Clinton Holmes, and the couple visited him at Summerlin Hospital on Friday, saying that he was suffering from an alarmingly low blood pressure but that their visit lifted his spirits. It wasn’t until this morning that the gravity of his condition was fully felt, too late.

Frank Lieberman’s authentic “TCB” necklace given to him by Elvis Presley himself in the early 1970s.

Frank was especially proud of his friendship with Elvis Presley. As a reporter with the Herald-Examiner, he gained unique access to The King and interviewed him backstage soon after he opened at the International (one of our running jokes is that I held on to the copy of that piece for a year, and actually still have it). The story appeared in the Feb. 8, 1970, Herald-Examiner. It was a shining moment for Frank, and over the years, Presley became so fond of Lieberman that he gave him an authentic “TCB” (Taking Care of Business) necklace, which he wore every time I saw him. Karen was given a “TLC” (Tender Loving Care) piece that same night.
It seemed that as Frank weakened over the years, our bond became only stronger, as he shared great tales of his relationships with stars and other journalists. His relationship with Elvis and The King’s inner circle helped lead to a memorable story I wrote a little more than a year ago, which coincided with Elvis’ 75th birthday.
Frank was a significant voice in that piece, saying of Elvis, “I don’t think anybody knows, ‘Why Elvis?’ Maybe it’s this: It was his humanity. He’s saying, ‘For the amount of time I am onstage, I am with you.’ ”
The same could be said of Frank, too. I once joked that we had started a kind of “Tuesdays With Morrie” relationship, and he laughed and said, “Which one’s Morrie?” We attended shows and media events together, and over the years, we would run into each other at all sorts of performances and galas. We went, together, to Newton’s news conference announcing his show at Tropicana, and also the “Viva Elvis” press preview at Aria, where Frank was reunited with his longtime friend, Priscilla Presley. I got to wait on the sidelines for Frank to finish his chat with Priscilla -- the only journalist she spoke to that day -- so we could head back to his house, something he teased me about on the drive out of the hotel.
In a wrenching coincidence, just this morning, before I heard the awful news, I finished transcribing an interview with Presley for a Q&A piece pegged to her being honored as the 2011 Nevada Ballet Theater Woman of the Year. At the end of that conversation, I said to Priscilla that we shared a friend in one of the journalists who would also interview her.
"I'm buddies with Frank Lieberman," I said.
“Frank’s lovely!” she said. “Frank use to help me with PR when I had my little boutique here in Beverly Hills and I was designing clothes. I love Frank. He’s a great guy. I actually saw him when he was in the audience when Cirque opened ‘Viva Elvis,’ and it was so nice to see him again. What great memories.”
What great memories. If there is a fitting tribute, from a fitting person to convey that tribute to Frank Lieberman, it would be that.
You have friends in life who are maybe more like acquaintances, people you know in passing or those you’re familiar with through the cybersphere -- Facebook friends, or someone with whom you communicate via Twitter, text or e-mail.
Frank Lieberman was not a Facebook friend.
He was a real friend, someone I’d known for nearly 15 years here in Las Vegas, invaluable in so many ways I can’t begin to calculate. And I can’t believe I’m writing about him now in past tense, as my friend, and the friend of so many other figures in Las Vegas entertainment circles, died this morning in a private room at Summerlin Hospital. He was 68.

By John Katsilometes