June 30, 2006

The power of Elvis


"Bush, Koizumi pay their respects to 'the king'"

(AP PHOTO) Priscilla, far right, and Lisa Marie Presley greet President Bush and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

From the article:

Amid the ceramic monkeys, floor-and-ceiling green shag carpet and animal-head armrests of Graceland's Jungle Room, the delighted prime minister just couldn't hold back the Elvis lines.

"You're a pretty good Elvis singer," the president said, in an obvious prompt to his guest. Bush knew what was coming, having previously experienced Koizumi's tendency to burst into song when it comes to the late rock 'n' roll legend who is the Japanese leader's undisputed musical hero.

Koizumi quickly complied.

Draping his arm around Lisa Marie, he went on. "Hold me close, hold me tight," the prime minister crooned.


This is interesting footage of Elvis fandom in Japan, complete with a bit of Koizumi doing a pretty decent job of singing "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You." He recorded a CD of Elvis songs that went on to have huge sales in Japan.

No access to the GracelandCam™ today:

"Elvis.com webcams will be offline Thursday, June 29 at 5:00 p.m. to Friday, June 30 at 5:00 p.m. central time."

I'll bet there's some irritated tourists in Memphis today! Oh well, go to SunStudio or the STAX Museum of American Soul Music instead.

The great, Elvis picture site, Candid Central, has new scans of rare photgraphs:


Previous Graceland posts:

  • Christmas time at Graceland
  • Washington, Jefferson, Presley
  • tcb

    Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi wears Elvis style sunglasses during his tour of Graceland, the home of Elvis Presley, accompanied by President Bush, not pictured, in Memphis, Tenn., Friday, June 30, 2006. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak)
  • No comments: