Radio 2 Elvis Season

Episodes

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Don't Start Me Talking...about Elvis20100101Another chance to hear about 'The King', in the words of his fans.

BBC Radio 2 celebrates the life of Elvis Presley

Elvis And Dewey20091229As Radio 2's Elvis Season continues, Paul Gambaccini tells the fascinating story of a pioneering disc jockey who played a part in the birth of rock 'n' roll in Memphis and early career of Elvis Presley.

A full two years before Alan Freed 'discovered' rock 'n' roll, Dewey Phillips was playing rhythm and blues on WHBQ to an audience of black and white listeners. His zeal for rhythm & blues and country set the stage for both Elvis' subsequent success and the rock 'n' roll revolution of the 1950s. Significantly, Dewey captivated a huge white audience with previously forbidden 'race' music.

Dewey was the first DJ to introduce an Elvis record on the radio in July 1954. On his Memphis radio show Red, Hot & Blue, he played an acetate of the first single That's All Right (Mama) cut for him by the owner of Sun Studios, Sam Phillips (no relation). Legend has it that Dewey played the song anywhere from seven to eleven times in a row and he interviewed Elvis that night.

Elvis always acknowledged his debt of gratitude to Dewey - not only for his first radio exposure but also for the influence on his musical development through hearing the exciting mix of blues and country records every night.

The programme includes extracts from Dewey's radio and TV programmes of the 50s and early 60s. Interviewees include Louis Cantor - author of Dewey And Elvis - who worked on Memphis radio station WDIA; Charles Raiteri - another Memphis radio veteran; Humes High School classmates of Elvis: George Klein and Jerry Schilling; and an archive interview with the late Memphis musician and producer Jim Dickinson.

Paul Gambaccini tells the story of the pioneering DJ who helped to launch Elvis' career.

BBC Radio 2 celebrates the life of Elvis Presley

Elvis: Gospel According To The King20091226Radio 2 presents two weeks of special programming leading up to Friday 8 January - when Elvis Aaron Presley would have celebrated his 75th birthday.

The season covers the music, the films, the brand, and Elvis Presley's personal life, including a 1970 meeting with President Nixon to discuss his desire to be appointed 'Federal Agent At Large'. Presenters include Martin Sheen, Jerry Hall, Rob Brydon and Suzi Quatro, who travels to Graceland 35 years after Elvis invited her to his home.

First up is Gosepl According To The King, in which Jerry Hall explores the importance and influence of gospel music in Elvis Presley's life. Long before he became known as the 'King of Rock 'n' Roll', Elvis was a poor kid from Tupelo, Mississippi who was fascinated by the power and the passion of gospel music.

He grew up singing spiritual music with his family in his local church and when they moved to Memphis they regularly attended all night gospel sessions at the Ellis Auditorium. As a teenager Elvis was allowed to sneak in the back door because he couldn't afford a ticket. After he became a huge rock star Elvis would regularly return to the 'all night sings' and join his favourite gospel groups on stage.

The only three Grammy Awards Elvis won were for his gospel recordings, he incorporated gospel songs into his stage repertoire and even convinced studio bosses to include gospel songs in several of his movie soundtracks. Throughout his life it was the gospel music that he turned to for inspiration and consolation: 'Elvis was never happier than when he was surrounded by his friends belting out the gospel songs he remembered from his childhood when he attended church with his parents' (Priscilla Presley)

The documentary features members of gospel groups who recorded and performed with Elvis including The Jordanaires, The Imperials & The Sweet Inspirations; musicians DJ Fontana, James Burton, Glen D. Hardin, Jerry Scheff and Ronnie Tutt. There is also archive material from Sun Records founder Sam Phillips who recorded the famous 'million dollar quartet' sessions on 4 December 1956, when Elvis sang gospel songs with Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash.

BBC Radio 2 celebrates the life of Elvis Presley

Rob Brydon's World Of Elvis: The Las Vegas Years20100102Welcome to Las Vegas, where Elvis has not left the building. Graceland may be home to his shrine but Elvis forged a lasting bond with the Las Vegas, thanks to a seven-year run between 1969 and 1976. Rob Brydon, an Elvis fan, revisits this golden period in a remarkable career.

The 1969 Memphis Sessions at American Studios in Memphis re-established Presley as a musical force, returning him to the charts and producing some of his most acclaimed work. Presley's manager, Col. Tom Parker, was planning Presley's return to live concerts with a series of shows at the International Hotel in Las Vegas later that year.

Elvis assembled a new live band for his first Las Vegas concerts. We hear about rehearsals in the summer of 1969, and the buoyant mood within the Presley camp, from lead guitarist James Burton and legendary Presley road manager Joe Esposito. On July 31 1969, Elvis walked out on stage in front of a paying audience for the first time eight years.

The band, as we hear through live recordings, were superb. Singers Myra Smith and Estelle Brown reveal what it was like performing on stage, night after night, with Elvis. Things went well and Elvis went on to perform regular shows there for seven years - a total of 637 consecutive sold-out performances in front of 2.5 million people.

Presley completed his four week stint on 28 August 1969. His fee for that initial season was in the region of 100 thousand dollars a week. That month the Hilton took one and a half million dollars...and that figure doesn't even include takings from the casino!

When Presley returned in January 1970 for his winter season, he and his entourage made a considerable impact on life at the Hilton International Hotel, as we hear from valet Lonnie Pope and bell boy Dan Hakata. When Elvis swept into town, he would set up in his hotel suite and establish a routine: karate, rehearsals with the band and then two shows a night - at 8 pm and midnight. After the shows, he would retire to his 30th floor suite, sit at the piano and sing the gospel songs of his childhood.

But things did get pretty intense on the road and the FBI and Presley's personal body guards were on full alert following a death threat which claimed the King would be shot on stage. Jerry Schilling, one of Presley's inner circle and Memphis Mafia, talks us through the events surrounding Presley's security.

Any programme exploring this period has to acknowledge Presley's use of prescription drugs and his escalating weight. The Presley jump suits in white, blue and orange would become synonymous with Elvis in Vegas but the bespoke jumpsuits had to adjust to his expanding midriff. Band members reveal how Elvis' personal problems affected life on stage and off.

That winter of 1976 was Presley's 15th season at the Las Vegas Hilton International Hotel and his last. Grappling with his weight and personal problems, it was while preparing to play yet another series of concerts, the Presley heart gave up in the bathroom of Graceland on 16 August 1977.

Over thirty years later, Elvis remains an iconic figure and his presence can still be felt on the streets of Las Vegas, in the bars and in the showrooms. It would be fair to say the King of Rock 'n' Roll changed the way we see the city. It's not just the scores of Las Vegas Elvis impersonators, or the hundreds of images you see in the tacky gift shops and hotels. The city's profile was shaped by him as he brought glitz and a new glamour.

And this month he is re-launched in a new Cirque De Soliel show, celebrating his life and music. This new Vegas show confirms Elvis has not left the building and reconnects the King with the city. Cirque production manager Michael Anderson and the Mayor of Las Vegas Oscar Goodman explore Presley's contribution to the city and legacy.

Rob Brydon explores the time Elvis spent in Las Vegas and his influence upon the city.

BBC Radio 2 celebrates the life of Elvis Presley

Suzi Quatro's Elvis20100107In a Memphis hotel room back in 1974, Suzi Quatro answered the phone, expecting another routine query about her tour or current hit, and heard a version of Elvis Presley's All Shook Up. A huge Elvis fan, she was surprised, amazed and a little nervous to discover that the call was actually from the King himself, inviting her to visit him at his house, Graceland.

Suzi couldn't accept the invitation and she never went to Graceland..until now. 35 years after the event, Suzi travels to Memphis to make that long-delayed visit. She explores her life-long obsession with Elvis, the connection she feels with him, and his influence on her career.

On the way to Graceland, and in an attempt to discover the man behind the image, Suzi visits Tupelo, Elvis' birthplace. She meets some of his childhood friends who share some of their precious memories, including the reason why Elvis was hopeless at fishing and the moving story behind the final resting place of his still-born twin brother Jesse.

In Memphis itself, Suzi sees the council flat that was the Presley's first big city home, his school and the places where he made his first music, and meets the girl who Elvis walked home from school every day for four years. Then it's on to Beale Street where Elvis found his musical direction, Sun Studios, where he made his first recordings, & Audobon Drive where he bought his first house.

Life long friend George Klein offers his own personal insight into the Presley psyche, before Suzi finally makes the long-delayed - and highly emotional - visit to Graceland itself.

Suzi travels to Memphis to explore her life-long fascination with Elvis Presley.

BBC Radio 2 celebrates the life of Elvis Presley

When The King Met The President20100105Dear Mr. President. First, I would like to introduce myself. I am Elvis Presley and admire you and have great respect for your office.

Martin Sheen looks at the King of Rock 'n' Roll's 1970 meeting with President Nixon. In a storyline as fascinating as any created for President Bartlet's White House, he reveals how Elvis approached Nixon to offer his services to the United States Of America.

Elvis expressed a desire to be made a 'Federal Agent at Large'. He wanted to communicate with, and report on, what he felt were harmful factions threatening America and he believed his star status would allow him a non-threatening entrance into the closed environment of these groups. He arrived at the White House gate on the morning of December 21 with two bodyguards and some family photos and a commemorative World War II pistol intended as gifts for the President.

Contributors include President Nixon's aides, Egil 'Bud' Krogh and Dwight Chapin, who were in the meeting with Elvis. We'll also hear from Jerry Schilling, one of Elvis' inner circle, who was with him in the Oval Office. He reveals why the meeting was so important to The King and how the relationship continued beyond the first meeting.

Martin Sheen tells the story of Elvis Presley's 1970 meeting with President Nixon.

BBC Radio 2 celebrates the life of Elvis Presley