BackinMemphis

EPE announced today that they will host a Super Bowl Party to benefit St. Jude on the front lawn of Graceland. Is this tacky or tasteful? You be the judge. A fun event to support a wonderful cause! Graceland will host a Super Bowl® XLV watch party and auction on the mansion's front lawn to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The event is on Sunday, February 6, 2011 at 4:00 p.m. The party will mark only the second time an event has been held on the lawn, or anywhere on the property, since Elvis’ passing. Former Shelby County Mayors Bill Morris and Jim Rout will host the event. Co-hosts for the evening include Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell and Memphis City Mayor A.C. Wharton. Festivities will include a touch football game on the front lawn with former Memphis State and NFL quarterback Billy Fletcher leading an all-star lineup to reenact the games Elvis held at Graceland more than 40 years ago. Participants will wear throwback replica jerseys from one of Elvis’ old ...

NEW CASH CD SET FEATURES EARLIEST CASH RECORDINGS Bill Miller announced that a new volume of rare and unreleased Johnny Cash tracks, "From Memphis to Hollywood: Bootleg Vol 2" will be available 2/22/11. The majority of the two-disc set  spends time on Cash's early career. The first CD will be devoted exclusively to the country legend's time in Memphis. Among the treasures from Cash's vault: a radio show hosted by Cash, 11 demos done prior to Cash signing with Sun and seven outtake s from sessions at Sun Studios. Disc two focuses on the star's tenure Columbia Records from 1958-69. It will include non-album singles, B-sides and outtakes. Miller calls some of the early Sun demos "stunning. This is Cash unplugged at his earliest. I've been a fan for over 40 years, and I've never heard anything that grabbed me like these demos did."

Elvis friend and Memphis Mafia member Sam Thompson ( brother to Linda Thompson, Elvis' girlfriend and uncle to Brody Jenner, best known from MTV's The Hills) is set to retire from his post as CEO of Public Utilities for the state of Nevada. Back In Memphis wishes Sam a very happy retirement which is well deserved!

Happy Birthday Bobby Wood! We appreciate all your contributions to American music! May all your birthday wishes come true! Bobby Wood is a session musician and songwriter most famous for his work as the Memphis Boys keyboardist. Born in a community just south of New Albany, Mississippi, Wood was one of six children in a musical family that delighted crowds as the Wood Family Gospel Group. After studying classical music through mail-order lessons, Bobby decided that genre wasn’t for him. He then mastered and went on to train others in the American folk music tradition of shape notes. For Bobby, the organ was his forte. From years of singing with his family, he developed amazing vocal abilities. Already an accomplished musician by his late teens, he set forth on Bankhead Highway to Memphis where he became Sun Studio producer Stan Kesler’s protege. In 1964, Bobby released a song on Joy Records “If I’m a Fool (For Loving You)” and shortly after Wood joined Reggie Young, Bobby Emm...

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" (...

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.

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 Muhamm...