Elvis Festival 2012, Collingwood, ON



"When Elvis danced in the studio it created a problem. In the session I'd say, 'Elvis, can't you stand still?' And he'd say, 'No, I can't.  I'm sorry.  I start playing and the movements are involuntary.'  The reason I wanted him to stand still was because he kept getting off-mike." ~ Steve Sholes.

"In time Elvis stopped playing the guitar and merely thumped it on the side or back on the after-beat.  This often was added as an "overdub," in another session, which made it easier for Sholes and the others to record his voice."

~ ELVIS by Jerry Hopkins, Simon & Shuster, 1971.

Commemorating the 35th Anniversary of Elvis' Death ~

". . . pull on some Elvis Presley bobbysocks, Elvis Presley shoes, an Elvis Presley skirt and Elvis Presley blouse, an Elvis Presley sweater, hang an Elvis Presley charm bracelet from one wrist, put an Elvis Presley handkerchief in her Elvis Presley purse and head for school."
To handle the merchandising in the 1950s, Colonel Parker engaged the same marketing company that had promoted Peter Pan, Mickey Mouse and Davy Crockett for Walt Disney.


Elvis Festival, 2012, Collingwood



"For every item in the Presley line, Elvis and the Colonel collected a royalty of 4 to 11 per cent of the manufacturer's wholesale price.  This probably didn't come to more than two to five cents for each dollar item, but when that was multiplied by several million, it was like having another number one record."

~ Elvis By Jerry Hopkins,  Simon & Schuster, 1971.

Photos:  lbwalker

Gone ~

Canborough Road ~ East of Attercliffe, Haldimand County

"Nice working with wood again."
Murphy nodded.  Dusty unplugged her nail gun and took her apron off.  It was five past five, she knew--she had just checked her cell phone for the time--and she needed to pick Travis up.
"You still looking for extra work?"  he asked.
"Yeah."
"I bought an old three-story brownstone, the corner of Madison and Canfield.  Needs to be gutted."

The above, a few lines from Brad Smith's new book, Crow's Landing.  Brad's dialogue is authentic and entertaining.  These are real people.  The author's background knowledge and experience ~ not to mention his humor ~ makes for good reading.  Brad has worked as a "farmer, signalman, insulator, truck driver, bartender, schoolteacher, maintenance mechanic, and carpenter."  We suspect he has run into a few characters along the way.

The author's other books:   Red Means Run, All Hat, Big Man Coming Down the Road, Busted Flush, One-Eyed Jacks, Rises a Moral Man.

Meet and chat with Brad in The Neat Little Bookshop on Saturday, August 18, 1- 3 p.m.

Local author, Brad Smith, was reviewed by Publishers Weekly: "RIVALS ELMORE LEONARD AT HIS BEST."  Simon & Shuster, publisher of Smith's most recent series has labelled his writing as, ". . .fast, funny country-noir action at its best."

Elmore Leonard in an interview with Lawrence Grobel:  "My ideas come from out of my head, from real life, from the way I see what's going on with people who are walking the line, who want to get away with something, who get into a hustle.  These are the people who intrigue me ~ some guy who has been in prison and has come out, what is he going to do now when he looks around?

LG:  You're not considered a mainstream writer, but rather a genre writer. . .
"I'm not going to presume to label myself.  I write what I want to write.  I don't really worry about the reader.  I'm the one I have to please, that's the beauty of this.  But I don't want to be called a mystery writer.  I'm in that section of the bookstore, but I certainly don't write mysteries.  I don't read mysteries."  I don't even read that much crime.  I seem to be a little bit different. . ."

Eager Fans Line-up For Smith's Latest Release

Fans lined up at Flyers Bakery and Cafe for Smith's Crow's Landing, the second book in the Virgil Cain series.  Dunnville, Ontario.

~Endangered Species, Writers Talk About Their Craft, Their Visions, Their Lives, Lawrence Grobel, Da Capo Press, 2001.

Brad Smith is compared with Elmore Leonard on the cover of his latest release, Crow's Landing.  Here's what Elmore Leonard said about his own popularity.*

"I think it's based on the fact that my books are entertaining.  It must be that simple.  My readers like the references to what's going on in the world, to television and movies, they feel a rapport with these people.  It might be just the dialogue, that the story moves very, very quickly.  They like it that you can get on an airplane in the east and finish the book before you're in L.A.  Maybe that's it."

~ *Interview with Lawrence Grobel for Playboy magazine.  Published in Endangered Species, Writers Talk About Their Craft, Their Visions, Their Lives, Lawrence Grobel, Da Capo Press, 2001.