Nancy Sinatra gift to Elvis (updated) plus Army files

[Elton]

This thread just keeps on getting better and better!
Thanks Guys!!

[E-Cat]

how many photograph " LIFE " exist?

I assume you refer to the LIFE photo's recently being posted on this MB:

LIFE sent 1 photographer to Grafenwöhr,1 photographer to Germany
to cover his last days in Germany (Feb 25 - March 2) and LIFE sent 2
photographers to Fort Dix to make photo's from his return (March 3-5)

LIFE took in total ca 450 photo's from these events (few used for original
publication and many rejected photo's being kept off-line for many yrs).
Ofcourse more photo's exist taken by other photographers.

Oups ! Incredible..

Thnx

Yes - the Army days are "incredible" - few realise how difficult (but exciting) these years
really were in Germany......the music was changing and so was Elvis...and Parker being
pushed by RCA kept refusing any recordings... imagine how Elvis felt....no mom to talk to,
then presented a new mother (Dee) that he did not accept, Frau Pieper wasn't that
warmblooded either, so all he had left was Vernon (however busy with Dee, Minnie (who
went to sleep early) and his army buddies....and very loyal fans who treated him as their
own little hero in Bad Nauheim.

[thefunkyangel]

Don't forget he was introduced to a new friend, and no, I don't mean Joe or Charlie!

[davide]

Photo by Lee Lockwood /Time Life Pictures/Getty Images


Photo by Lee Lockwood /Time Life Pictures/Getty Images


Photo by Lee Lockwood /Time Life Pictures/Getty Images


Photo by Lee Lockwood /Time Life Pictures/Getty Images


Photo by Lee Lockwood / Elvis Presley at his press conference (Charles Kuralt seated R) upon leaving the army. (Photo by Lee Lockwood//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Life Magazine




Davide

[riley]

[E-Cat]

I have numbered the photo's as suggested

Thx David.

Below some additions and corrections regarding the sequence of the photo's:

ref: batch # 1 of numbered photo's

# 6 was taken after after # 20-24
# 7,17 belong to photo's 20-24 (waiting for Elvis to pass customs and to be transported)
# 9 (+26) are not taken upon arrival but are from the press conference
# 18,19,25,27 are all from the same location (customs) and are taken just after Elvis arrived

note: person (L) in #5 is Tom Diskin

note: fan in # 19 was the first person Elvis greeted at the press conference, see photo's below




ref: batch # 4 of numbered photo's

# 1-3 (+4?) from same moment as with fan above (Elvis is still holding the same pen)

Then - next person Elvis greeted before the press conference officially (*) started was Barbara
Ann Muray (she can also be seen in various news reels) see also photo's below (cropped)



(*) the press conference officially started when Elvis was greeted by Nancy Sinatra

ref: batch # 5 of numbered photo's

#11, 33 should be put after # 14
After Elvis held up his Achievement Certificate fans were pounding on the window, it
took minutes to calm down the fans (some alternate photo's below);



after this break the press conference continued with photo's 15-25

Note # 33: the book the girl (M) is holding is the legendary "The Elvis Presley Story" by James Gregory
Note # 33- 37 the girl who interupted this interview is the same girl as mentioned earlier

some more to follow..

[davide]

Thanks E-Cat for the notes,I'm working my way to correct the order.


From the Life Archives
All Photographs by James Whitmore
Location : 14 Goethestrasse,Bad Nauheim,West Germany.
Date : Monday February 29th 1960.

My first thoughts were that the following photographs were taken on either tuesday March 1st ,or possibly Wednesday March 2nd 1960 - but I then found a report that Elvis gave an unplanned interview to British Journalist Peter Hopkirk which took place in the living room of 14 Goethesstrasse,two days before his departure date of March 2nd which would then give us the date of Monday February 29th(There was a 29th that year) 1960. - so hopefully the photo's and interview are all from the same time,guess work more than facts,but it seems to fit.

Looking at these images, It's my belief that they were all taken at around the same time(for instance looking at the the tray on the table with the cups of tea)


Elvis packs away his military uniform.


(1)


(2)


(3)


(4)


(5)
A publicity photograph of Priscilla which was probably found in the Living room of 14 Goethestrasse.


This could be where the interview took place between Journalist Peter Hopkirk and Elvis.


(6-7)
Note the cup's of tea on the table in the first image-someone has taken the black tea thereafter! and a photographer's flashlight on the chair behind.

"I'll be in trouble tomorrow for talking to you" he told the Mr Hopkirk. "We're permanently besieged by teenagers"

He was wearing his uniform with two rows of medals and swelled with pride as he held up the citation he had received from the army earlier that day. It read :"Awarded to 53310761 Sergeant Elvis A. Presley in recognition of faithful and efficIent performance of duty and for outstanding service to the US Army, A.D. 1960".*

Elvis then went on to say " Hardly anyone knows about her,She's only sixteen(fourteen), but she's very mature,and intelligent. I think she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I've dated plenty of girls while I've been here,both German and Americian, but Priscilla's definitely the sharpest of them. Serious? I think I've said enough already"



(8-9)
An unknown photographer sorts his equipment in the background.


(10)


(11-12)
Original Description for photograph 12 - Elvis Presley Leaves Germany : Singer/Sgt. Elvis Presley in uniform, sitting at desk w. large army certificate of achievement document spread out in front of him, as he prepares to leave for home at the end of his tour of duty.

Army files


3rd March 1960 : Special Order 63, Headquarters, U.S. Army Personnel Center Fort Dix, releasing many enlisted men, including Sergeant Elvis Presley, from active duty



*24th February 1960 : Transmittal and Certificate of Achievement awarded to Sergeant Elvis A. Presley ..."in recognition of faithful and efficient performance of duty and for outstanding service to the United States Army."


8th September 1959 : Letter from Lt Colonel Verne L. Bowers to the Honorable Frank Kowalski, Member of Congress, explaining that Elvis Presley will not be given an early release for "good behavior".



22 May 1959 : Memorandum for the Under Secretary of the Army from General Lyman L. Lemnitzer, Vice Chief of Staff of the Army officially denying special treatment for PFC Presley to return to the United States to attend a disc jocky convention.




19th May 1959 Response from Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel to the Chief of Staff of the Army providing policy direction concerning the special services of Private First Class Presley to appear at a Disc jockey convention, May 29-31, 1959.


28th May 1958 : Message from U.S. Army, Public Information Division, releasing information about Private Elvis Presley's basic and advanced training, with approximate date of assignment to 3rd Armored Division in Germany.


24th March 1958 ; Acknowledgement of service obligation sgned by Elvis Presley on March 24, 1958, to indicate that he understands that his total service obligation (both active and reserve) is 6 years.


Found here : http://narademo.umiacs.umd.edu/cgi-bin/isadg/viewfu.pl?fuid=50899
Additional info from Private Elvis by Boxtree
Thanks Davide

[E-Cat]

Thanks E-Cat for the notes,I'm working my way to correct the order.

You are welcome David - since there are so many photo's from the same day it easily
leads to confusion, so the correct order is very much appreciated

but I then found a report ..which would then give us the date of Monday February 29th

Though the Certificate was issued Feb 24th, we can also see Elvis packing his belongings, which
places the photo's very close to his departure date.

NEW INFO (Sept 20th 2010) : I found more photo's from the same moment. These photo's are dated March 1.

[davide]

From the Life Archives
All Photographs by James Whitmore
Location : 14 Goethestrasse,Bad Nauheim,West Germany.
Date : Wednesday March 2nd 1960
Photograph's by James Whitmore

A jump in time to these complete (I hope) collection of photo's by James Whitmore of the time when Elvis left 14 Goethestrasse.


(1-2)Original description : Elvis Presley's grandmother Minnie Mae Presley being led to her car by the singer's 16-yr-old girlfriend Priscilla Beaulieu in front of his house as she prepares to see him off on plane for his return to the US.






(3) Elvis and Priscilla emerged from the house at about 11.10 am,to what appears to be no more than a few fans-
Reports describe " An incredible barrage of hysterical fans..in the garden,on the doorstep,on the wall."*


(4-5) Elvis takes time to speak with some fan's before he departs. Note the chap in the background with the flat cap who is of use regarding time sequence's and can be seen again in photo (11) behind Elvis.


(6)


(7)


(8) Army personal can be seen in various shots helping to load the car.


(9-10) Priscilla can be in photo (9)


(11) Minnie Mae can be seen sat in the front of the car,and Elvis's bag is now stored on the back seat next to Priscilla. Vernon Presley is in this shot holding his coat with a white scarf. Umbrella's have now been put up by some fan's as the rain falls in a cold grey climate.


(12)Elvis has now been able to climb inside the car and is sat in the back next to Priscilla,with his bag in the foreground of these shots. The window has been opened to enable a last conversation with fans.


(13)


(14)


(15)


(16)


(17) The window has now been wound up, and Elvis looks keen to depart.


(18)


(19) Note the window of the car is still open from when Mr Whitmore was taking the previous shots of Elvis and Priscilla in the back seat.


(20) The wet road can now be seen,as Elvis waves from the back seat of the car. They were on their way to Ray Barracks where Elvis would be separated from Priscilla for the trip to the airport. "Auf Wiedersehen"


(21)
Probably from the same day with a fan seen in photo (11) and (20). Photographer unknown.*
*Private Elvis book
Davide

[sheila]

WHERE CAN I FIND THESE GREAT 'LIFE' PHOTOS? DON'T KNOW WHERE...PLEASE HELP!

[davide]

This is the link to the photo's. The problem is they aren't in any kind of order : http://images.google.com/images?q=elvis+presley+&q=source%3Alife

Hope this helps
Davide

[pjdlibra]

wow Davide this is rocking

thank you so muc

From the Life Archives
All Photographs by James Whitmore
Location : 14 Goethestrasse,Bad Nauheim,West Germany.
Date : Wednesday March 2nd 1960
Photograph's by James Whitmore

A jump in time to these complete (I hope) collection of photo's by James Whitmore of the time when Elvis left 14 Goethestrasse.


(1-2)Original description : Elvis Presley's grandmother Minnie Mae Presley being led to her car by the singer's 16-yr-old girlfriend Priscilla Beaulieu in front of his house as she prepares to see him off on plane for his return to the US.






(3) Elvis and Priscilla emerged from the house at about 11.10 am,to what appears to be no more than a few fans-
Reports describe " An incredible barrage of hysterical fans..in the garden,on the doorstep,on the wall."*


(4-5) Elvis takes time to speak with some fan's before he departs. Note the chap in the background with the flat cap who is of use regarding time sequence's and can be seen again in photo (11) behind Elvis.


(6)


(7)


(8) Army personal can be seen in various shots helping to load the car.


(9-10) Priscilla can be in photo (9)


(11) Minnie Mae can be seen sat in the front of the car,and Elvis's bag is now stored on the back seat next to Priscilla. Vernon Presley is in this shot holding his coat with a white scarf. Umbrella's have now been put up by some fan's as the rain falls in a cold grey climate.


(12)Elvis has now been able to climb inside the car and is sat in the back next to Priscilla,with his bag in the foreground of these shots. The window has been opened to enable a last conversation with fans.


(13)


(14)


(15)


(16)


(17) The window has now been wound up, and Elvis looks keen to depart.


(18)


(19) Note the window of the car is still open from when Mr Whitmore was taking the previous shots of Elvis and Priscilla in the back seat.


(20) The wet road can now be seen,as Elvis waves from the back seat of the car. They were on their way to Ray Barracks where Elvis would be separated from Priscilla for the trip to the airport. "Auf Wiedersehen"


(21)
Probably from the same day with a fan seen in photo (11) and (20). Photographer unknown.*
*Private Elvis book
Davide

[columbo]

WOW...these are excellent. I didn't know LIFE made that much photos.
I do have 9 different ones from Grafenwohr. I don't know the exact dates or photographer.

Here are the first two.




Does anyone have the ones from Fort Dix (Airbase / Elvis in the snow) in better quality without the LIFE logo?

Kind regards,
columbo

[E-Cat]

I do have 9 different ones from Grafenwohr

Both Mickey Bohnacker and Loomis Dean were present. In total some 140 publicity photo's were taken this day, some in color - however most remain unpublished.

Some of Mickey's photo's were published without permission in Elvis Days Revisited (and again in Off Duty...).
Mickey was not happy

more about this later..

I don't know the exact dates or photographer.

those 2 photo's were also taken by Loomis Dean ....Grafenwöhr end Nov '58.

[columbo]

Hello,

I didn't know Mickey Bohnacker took photos from that specific day.
I know that the authors from "A Date With Elvis" took many photos from others without asking permission or even mention some credits.

From the PX shop and many others, Park Hotel. These are from Bohnacker but his credits was in the book. But they probably didn't ask. There are also photos from me which they didn't give me credit for, they did ask to use them. But no credits in the book.

Also the ones from Gederner See in Off Duty are published without permission.

The 9 from Grafenwohr i have are all from LIFE magazine.

Do you know this photos E-cat? it's a pity i don't have it in a better quality. It was new to me.


This photo could be shot "guess" on the same day as the ones from USA bridge etc.??




All on November '58? Grafenwohr.

Kind regards,
columbo

[E-Cat]

Do you know this photos E-cat? it's a pity i don't have it in a better quality. It was new to me.


This photo could be shot "guess" on the same day as the ones from USA bridge etc.??

Yes you are right, it was taken the same day in Bad Nauheim The exact location is between the USA bridge and Parkstrasse.

I didn't know Mickey Bohnacker took photos from that specific day.

He took a few photo's at the barracks, for example; the photo where Elvis can be seen sitting and reading the paper with his buddies arround him was taken by Mickey.I know this because I have been discussing with Mickey to transfer all his copyrights to the spearheadcollection and of course I am also interested to know the story behind each photo.

I know that the authors from "A Date With Elvis" took many photos from others without asking permission or even mention some credits.

Mickey is discussing this matter and the unauthorised use of his photo's in Off Duty with his lawyer.

There are also photos from me which they didn't give me credit for, they did ask to use them. But no credits in the book.

What is even worst is that some photo's are put in the wrong time frame and some information are just self made assumpions and are presented as unverified facts..

All on November '58? Grafenwohr.

The photo's from your contactsheet are not from Grafenwöhr '58, but are publicity
photo's from Feb '59, when Elvis was on short manoevres in Vogelsberg (just a bit north of Gedern).
The photo's in Bad Nauheim were taken the weekend after.

You can also tell by the watch Elvis is wearing, he bought the black plated watch after he returned from Grafenwöhr in Frankfurt (end Dec '58). In Grafenwöhr Elvis is wearing a white plated watch.

[pjdlibra]

Davide your threads are like presents love them all

[columbo]

Hello E-Cat,

Thanks for the usefull information.
Do you perhaps know the brand of the watch Elvis was wearing?

Kind regards,
Columbo

[E-Cat]

Hello E-Cat,

Thanks for the usefull information.
Do you perhaps know the brand of the watch Elvis was wearing?

Kind regards,
Columbo

You're welcome Columbo.
Ref the watch, Elvis owned 2 different black plated watches in Germany,
He got the first one just after he returned from Grafenwöhr Dec 58 and
he bought another in Paris (June '59). One of these watches was an
Omega watch, which he gave to Charlie.

[GERRY]

I think Nancy Sinatra was really nice looking and Elvis should have chose her rather than Priscilla. This is just my opinion.

Great work Davide as per usual.(yeah about 5 years to late)

[James27]

She was and IS a very nice and generous person. I can't say I know her intimately as a friend or close associate but I've had personal contact with her enough, through the internet, to make that assessment about her charachter. She's always helping people morally and taking care of things. It's way easier to hide behind assistents and lawyers being in her position as music royalty, but in fact she is still very active herself in maintaining her own fora, in answering her fans, in outing her feelings, being honest and direct, and that's something I respect. She's GENUINE. It's amazing she is so accessible. She and Ann-Margret are Jewels of women, really. Beautiful and talented. Wow. Check out YouTube for some of Nancy Jr.'s overlooked musical gems.

I wish David's fabulous photos were still available to see here, but all I see on his topics are white squares with red crossed circles in them, insteadof the photos, which is a crying shame. It used to be different, I don't understand. Anybody know why this is and does everybody experience this problem?

[robbie]

.