TOO MUCH MONKEY BUSINESS: The Elvis Forum

I recently traveled as a guest of one of our fine members here to Spain, and Germany to attend some shows he was putting on.

First, before I get into the giveaway, I'd like to talk about the shows. Every once in a while it's nice to have a reset, a refresher of sorts. Sometimes I feel like I'm such a hard core Elvis hobbyist that I forget what it's like just to simply be a fan. We rolled into Madrid, Spain for the first show that I met the tour on. Sound check went down, and then we had dinner with some local Spanish fans. This really was a cool experience. Just to see the light in these fans eyes to meet someone who knew Elvis, or performed, or recorded with Elvis was really fun. They had such energy, and a glow that was unmistakable. They loved Elvis. Period. They were in awe to meet these people, and were dying to get any kind of detail about Elvis that they could. It was such a refresher from the nit picking, and the negative vibe found in a lot of places that the hard core fans gather.

On to the venue, and time to strike up the band. This night was a celebration of Elvis, and his music. It really was a thing of beauty. The Spanish audience was classic....a great crowd. They sang loudly through most of the songs. People were fist pumping, jumping up and down, clapping, holding each other. It was great. There were several songs where several members of the audience were in tears, it really was that good. The feel, the vibe, the music, it was so great that it was emotionally overwhelming for many people in attendance. I had goose bumps myself many times. It really was an amazing show. Robert Washington was the star of the show up front. He didn't go up there and act like he was in character as Elvis, he was Robert Washington, singing Elvis' songs. There were no jumpsuits, or aviator glasses, but Elvis was in the building through his amazing music, no doubt about it. A few highlights from the night were The Wonder Of You with the crowd singing almost louder than Robert, and he had the microphone, this song brought a of of tears from the girls. How Great Thou Art was a show stopper, the place was shaking, again, more people were brought to tears. Mystery Train rocked the place, Chris Casello on guitar is a work of art, his chugging guitar style on the song reminds us of what an instant classic this song really is. Peace In The Valley completely stopped the show. It was performed by Mr. Duke Bardwell. Who knew the bass player could sing, and sing this well. I have a video here Arjan made from the next night, this isn't in Spain, but give this a look, it's simply amazing. If you only watch one video on this thread, make it this one. Hats off to Duke for a helluva performance:





I was off to the side of the stage in Spain, and made this video. It looks as though I'm on the stage taping, I'm not, I just have a small hand held HD camera, and I held my hand up in the air and taped this. I was trying to give the perspective of what it looked like from the stage. the sound is slightly muffled because most of the sound here is picked up from the stage monitors, but here's Mystery Train from Spain. It doesn't translate as well on video as it did that night, but here's a look in:



Another great performance by the band was the 1956 classic Hound Dog, done up properly with the bluesy, bump and grind raunchy ending.



It was a great tour, and it was so great to hear Elvis' music played with such gusto, and spunk. It really rocked. The show in Spain was a night to remember why I turned into an Elvis fan in the first place. The music. The music, and how great it is. Not only Elvis' master performances, but to listen to it done live - properly. A stunning concert experience.

The closing night in Bonn, Germany in a nice big room was great too (the two videos of Hound Dog, and Peace In The Valley above are from there) it really was something special to see.

So, with all of that said, Arjan Deelen, who put this tour together from the ground up, had some posters made up promoting the show, and we decided to get the entire band to sign one as a free giveaway to one member here just for this board.

One the poster are the autographs of:

Chris Casello, a damn fine rockabilly guitar player from Nashville, TN.

Sue Moreno, a beautiful woman, a great person. A performer with pin up looks, that can sing any lyric to any Elvis song - and when I say ANY Elvis song, I mean it in a literal sense, she's amazing! If you're ever going to get thrown into a bar, (there's a story there!) she's the one to do it with!

Robert Washington, the man is a star, period.

On to the original Elvis members involved:

Stump Monroe, backed Elvis 3 times on stage, and played on over 1100 Elvis Presley shows as the opening drummer. He opened all of the MSG shows, opened the Aloha shows, opened in Vegas in 69, he was there for every show, even opening Indy.

Duke Bardwell, bass player for Elvis 74-75. Heard on the Today Album (one song) and the Live 74 album from Memphis, one of the greatest concerts that ever captured Elvis on stage on tape. Yes, an award winning show that garnered Elvis a Grammy.

Finally, Mr. Bobby Wood of The Memphis Boys. This man has played on countless mega hits from many, many artists, including Sweet Caroline by Neil Diamond. He was of course the piano player on the 69 Memphis sessions for Elvis, and is heard on every track, including Suspicious Minds, Don't Cry Daddy, and Kentucky Rain. He also recorded with Elvis at STAX in 1973.

So, if you would like to have this signed poster - all you have to do is say you want in. We'll leave this draw open for ten days, then I'll make a draw video, and one winner will be picked. I'll then pay the shipping, and send it out. So, if you're in, say thank you to Arjan, and add your name here!

A look at the poster:





Good luck, and how about a little participation, even from those that hardly ever post, anyone is welcome to get in on this!

I want it !!




Just to let you know that Spain is in Europe ...

Oh, that was a stupid typo, should read Spain, & Germany. Oops. OK, you're in the draw!

Excellent! Sounds like it was a great experience. You really brought the event to life with your writing and the videos. Thanks very much to you and Arjan for organising this. Nice work, fellas.

I'm going to have a go at sending a mass email to all members here to let them know the competition draw is taking place.

Damn, Duke sure is a fine singer!

Nice clips, thanks Rick.

Mark me down as an entrant!

Count me in !

Hi Everyone. This is my first post. I have visited a few times, but never posted. I hope to visit more regularly but have been very busy lately with work. Thanks for the email about this.
Loved reading about the show. Would love the poster on my wall. Please enter me!
: )

Been made redundant so I could do with some good luck , very nice offer please count me in .

Alan.

Rick you are a wonderful storyteller, I almost feel like I was there!

I couldn't listen to the videos as most of my things are packed away for my upcoming move, but I'll make sure to get back to this thread when I get access to a computer with sound.

As for the autographed poster, it's a great prize and very thoughtful of you and everyone involved!

PS: "If you're ever going to get thrown into a bar, (there's a story there!)"... You don't think you going to get away with leaving it at that right?

Yeah, I got six emails


Another move?

Great story, Rick. It sounds like some great nights to remember there.

Count me in please.

That email blast is a cool tool, thanks for sending it out! Let's get some more members in here posting, and more on the list for this giveaway.

That girl !

She can't settle anywhere.................

Well, the girl next door went a walkin'....


Oh my God, we're off topic already

GREAT STORY and review Rick.
Wish I had the chance to get there.
Would have been a BLAST.

Have added part of your review and also the PRIZE idea to EIN's front page today.

All the best
Piers
www.ElvisInfoNet.com

Great Piers, very nice of you, thanks so much! Glad you liked the review too.

Yes, thanks for that Piers. Looks great. Rick, you're a star now!

OK, that was a cheap setup by me ....here goes.

After the closing night in Bonn, Arjan and I came back to the hotel. We had a very early flight. It was such a rush from the tour, and we wanted to spend some time talking about things, and just hanging out. It was the last night, and though the hour was late, we had some down time to just hang out and chat. So, as we entered the hotel there was an oddly placed table with two chairs in the hallway. We plopped down there for a ten minute chat. Well, an hour later Robert Washington, Sue Moreno, and Markus Henfling walked into the same door with a bottle of wine. We all started having a nice chat, and talking about stories from the tour. Robert was in the singing mood, and we were all being silly. So, we started sampling bad movie songs. Well, as it turns out, Sue knows every lyric to every song, and so does Robert - every song. The bad movie songs were flying all over the place....it was a lot of fun. It was also about 1 AM. The night desk clerk came around the corner, and said "Not a good idea" as the singing, laughing, and jokes were getting pretty loud. Everyone said OK, and the minute he turned his back the singing continued - just as loudly as before echoing down the hall. A few minutes later he returns - again with a warning of being too loud. again, it was agreed that things were too loud. Can you guess what happened next? More loud singing..... So, he returns again, this time he says that he's really enjoying the songs, he was (like Robert) born on August 16th, and was raised on Elvis. He said that he didn't want to spoil the fun, but that the party was too loud. He offered an option. The hotel has a fire door that also works as a good sound barrier. He asked if we would mind if he opened the bar, and locked us in there to continue the party undisturbed. We of course all agreed, and were then thrown into the bar, and out of the hallway. It's now somewhere around 3:00 AM, and we were in a bar, so we were all thirsty, the one bottle of wine was long gone. I'll just say that none of us left thirsty....! The singing continued all night long, it was a great night, one to remember for many years. The bar tender took this photo at about 4:55 AM. By the way, wake up time was at 5:30. At 5 we were still in the bar, and finally had to call it a night. We all went up, packed, and made it out on time. Sleep, what sleep.....



We had a lot of fun, and had the bar tender laughing the entire time....did I say bar tender...I mean the desk clerk, the bar was closed, it was after hours, that would be illegal!

Hope you left some cash to cover.....................

What do you think I am, an ugly American? Nooo, he kept a running tab, everything was properly tallied, and paid in full. The only thing that was free was he let us use his password for internet access to check our email just as we were leaving. I asked if his password was "marching" which got a solid laugh all around, even from him. I do believe he called me a mother fucker for the one....it was a riot.

Oh, what a night it was, it really was such a night!

As always, I enjoyed reading your post here RCrofts74. Count me in as well, but if you pick my name in the drawing, give the prize to Ben who first made me aware of this place.

The Wonder Of You from Bonn, Germany. Really great stuff here. I thought I'd add this to the post.



After a big lead up, a song that will knock your socks off:

Very cool review rick cheers.

The last 2 moves were job related, because I refuse to spend 3-4 hours in the car every day.

This one is because I currently have the worst neighbours, and the worst landlord on the planet. Okay, maybe not on the planet, but definitely in Montreal.

Hopefully, I won't be moving again for a long time.

BTW, what are you doing trying to derail this thread... Get back on topic young man!

I wanted to watch the videos on my lunch hour to day, but we ended up going out so I still haven't seen them.

I love it!

You do seem to bring the fun with you wherever you go Rick!

Great stuff, Rick! Thanks for sharing! Do you still have your job?

Don't count me in on the poster. I want someone else to enjoy it.

Have you talked Stump into visiting Memphis again?