Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, October 10, 1994 TAG: 9410110051
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ANN KOLSON KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
DATELINE: MEMPHIS LENGTH: Medium
In this town Saturday night, inside the Pyramid, a silvery arena rising 321 feet along the banks of the Mississippi, Elvis Presley received his due. Not the bloated Presley in the white satin jumpsuit onstage in Vegas, nor the brooding, isolated star with a reputation for pill-popping and strange eating habits, but the young, beautiful Presley who changed music forever.
More than 30 musicians - from Bryan Adams and Tony Bennett to Ann Wilson and Dwight Yoakam - sang songs made famous by The King in the first officially sanctioned Elvis tribute concert.
Since being announced this summer, ``Elvis Aaron Presley: The Tribute'' has been awash in rumor and hype. Newlyweds Michael Jackson and Lisa Marie Presley-Jackson - Elvis' only child - would sing a duet. No, they wouldn't even be there. Yes, they'd attend but not perform. In the end, the couple did attend, sitting in one of the enclosed superboxes, joined there by Michael's new mother-in-law, Priscilla Presley, keeper of the flame, president of Elvis Presley Enterprises.
Tickets for the 31/2-hour show ranged in price from $50 to $550 for 16,000 fans, benefiting Memphis' St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and the T.J. Martell Foundation, a music industry organization for children's health. There were 19 camera crews from the Netherlands, England, Belgium - three alone from Germany. Radio Singapore was there. About 75 print journalists were there, from newspapers such as Norway's Dag Bladet and Stockholm's Expressen.
Acts were changing right up until the day of the show. Country singer Billy Ray Cyrus was a late addition. Cher and Jon Bon Jovi were gone from the roster. So was James Brown. And Al Green.
All through Saturday, stars came and went without much fanfare. Talking briefly to an ``Entertainment Tonight'' reporter, Cyrus managed to get in two plugs for his latest record. Then he added, ``I feel Elvis wants me to be here today.''
Jennifer Finch said her alternative female rock group L7 represented early Elvis, ``back in his punk rock days,'' with their version of ``You're So Square.'' Finch added, ``I think people are approaching this too straight. We're approaching it like a band of four Phyllis Dillers singing his song.''
After 17 years, Priscilla Presley ``felt it was the right time'' to hold a tribute to her late husband, explained one of the many publicists on hand.
Elvis, she said in her scripted introduction to the show, was ``one of the greatest cultural figures of the 20th century.''
Attending were 45 members of the Elvis Presley Fan Club of Japan, most of them decked out in full regalia including Elvis jackets and socks - much of which had been bought that day at Graceland's gift shop. This trip to the town where Elvis made his home was not too expensive, one fan club member said - about $2,000, souvenirs not included.
This tribute concert depicting the life and times of Elvis represented a triumph of modern marketing. Something, crooner Tony Bennett said, that Elvis knew a thing or two about. The concert was shown on pay-per-view worldwide, videotaped for a possible ABC-TV special, recorded for a CD, maybe a double CD, release.
``I think Elvis would feel very proud of this,'' Carl Perkins said during rehearsals. Perkins performed a song he wrote in 1955 that Elvis recorded: ``Blue Suede Shoes.''
The tribute lacked show-biz schmaltz and cynicism. Each performer had one song to sing. ``Tonight's show is about the man and his music,'' said Elvis' Humes High School classmate and best man, George Klein. And, amazingly, it was.
Cyrus, in black jeweled trousers, belted ``One Night With You.'' Chris Isaak crooned ``Blue Moon'' as women swooned when he was shown in close-up on huge video screens. Chet Atkins, who played with Elvis on ``Heartbreak Hotel,'' sang ``How's the World Treating You'' and won the night's first standing ovation. And, appearing on video, U2's Bono (in heavy makeup and gold lame) sang a hauntingly beautiful ``Can't Help Fallin' in Love.''
``Before Elvis, there was nothing,'' said the late John Lennon, in an oft-quoted line. And for more than three hours Saturday, it almost seemed true.
by CNB