Barbra And Elvis
The first sample of the new "Love Me Tender" duet between Elvis Presley and Barbra Streisand is available. The song is featured on the album "Partners," out on September 16th, 2014.
Hard Ball
OKC Partnership is playing hard ball. After EPE has tried to obtain a better, more affordable lease agreement and asked OKC to remove the two airplanes they own from the Graceland grounds, the Memphis based company has offered both planes for sale. Here is the add for the Lisa Marie. It does seem that it is actually for sale, this time:
ACCEPTING SERIOUS OFFERS FOR PURCHASE OPTION, AS A PACKAGE OF TWO AIRCRAFT PREVIOUSLY OWNED BY ELVIS PRESLEY - LISA MARIE AIRCRAFT:
The plane was in a hangar at Meacham Field in Fort Worth, and for months Elvis took great pleasure in flying friends out to check on progress as the interior of the plane was refurbished to his very specific design requirements (he bought another plane to make those trips - a smaller Lockheed JetStar). Elvis wanted a seating area, a conference room, and a private bedroom on the plane (with space for an in-flight reading library). He picked fabrics, decided on color schemes, chose the on-board audio-visual system, and even Ok'd the gold fixtures in the bathrooms (he counted heavily on some aesthetic input from Pricilla too).
Elvis was especially excited about the fact that the same design team had previously customized AIFROCE ONE. The craft slowly came together as an airworthy mix of modem function and Graceland elegance.
Close in size to a 707, the Lisa Marie was customized with plush sleeping quarters, a penthouse bedroom with a custom-made queen size bed, an executive bathroom with gold faucets and a gold washbasin, a videotape system linked to four TVs and a stereo system with fifty-two speakers, and a conference room finished in teak.
It could hold a maximum of 29 people, but usually there would be about eight or 10. When the final paint job was applied to the exterior, there was a prominent 'TCB' logo on the tail.
April 17, Elvis buys an ex Delta Airlines Convair 880 Jet for $250,000.
November 10, The Lisa Marie is delivered to Memphis late in the evening, joining the Jetstar
Above, The Lisa Marie, the newest craft in Elvis Presley's small air fleet, at Memphis International Airport on November 12, 1975, getting final touches before being put to use. Beside it is the JetStar.
November 27, Ron Strauss takes Elvis on his first real flight in The Lisa Marie, traveling Las Vegas.
August 7, Arrangements are made for Linda Thompson and her friend, Jeannie LeMay, to fly with Elvis' chow, Getlow to Boston, so that the dog can receive treatment for a kidney ailment.
When the dog is too ill to travel on to the West Boylston veterinary hospital where it is scheduled to be treated, the whole party remains at the Ritz for two days before continuing.
December 25, In the evening Elvis takes everyone up in The Lisa Marie.
Elwood David was the Captain and pilot of The Lisa Marie. Accompanying him in the cockpit was another pilot, Ron Strauss and a flight engineer, Jim Manny. Milo High was the pilot of Elvis' 'Hound Dog II' JetStar plane.
After Elvis' death, Captain Elwood David flew to California to pick up Elvis' ex-wife Pricilla Presley, Lisa Marie and the actor George Hamilton, a long-time friend of Elvis. He flew them back to California after the funeral, and, in what would be his last flight on the Lisa Marie, returned the plane to Memphis.
Elvis' father, Vernon, sold the plane in 1978 and it changed hands a couple of times. When Graceland opened up to the public in 1982, EPE worked with the owners to try and bring the plane home to Memphis. In 1984, the Lisa Marie was returned to Graceland. Both aircraft have remained as one of the most popular attractions ever since.
PURCHASE OPTION OF A PACKAGE INCLUDING BOTH PLANES AVAILABLE TO EXTREMELY QUALIFIED BUYERS ONLY, FOR DELIVERY IN MEMPHIS, TENN. AFTER LATE APRIL, 2015.
(Source: Elvis Australia / FECC / iSpot / ElvisMatters / Controller)