T h i s   W e b s i t e   I s   D e d i c a t e d   T o   E l v i s' s   F a n s   A n d   F r i e n d s   W o r l d w i d e !

Familly & Friends

VERNON PRESLEY1978

Having Fun ...

BILLY SMITH

Elvis"First Cousin

& His Wife, JO

Marvin Gee Gee Gambill. He married Elvis' favorite cousin Patsy.

FELTON JARVIS

Elvis Presley' Producer

Al Dvorin (1922-2004)

Tom Diskin  &  'Colonel' Tom Parker 1985

1. ELVIS PRESLEY

2. CHARLIE HODGE

3. SAM THOMPSON

4. DICK GROB

5. RED WEST

6. MARTY LACKER

7. LAMAR FIKE

8. GEORGES KLEIN

9. JOE ESPOSITO

10. SONNY WEST

11. JERRY SHILLING

12. VERNON PRESLEY

13. GEORGES NICHOPOULOS

Marthy Lacker

Memphis Ramada Inn, EP Blvd

August 15, 1978

Billy Smith

WITH EP' GUITAR MEMPHIS CONVENTION,

BROOKS ROAD - AUGUST 17, 1978

HAROLD LOYD

&

VESTER PRESLEY

Charlie Hodge - (Acoustic Guitar)

Charlie Hodge was born in Decauter, Alabama in 1934. He learned to play ukulele at a young age and was also a dab hand as a "bit of a comedian." He graduated from "The Stamp School Of Music" and along with a fellow student Bill Gaither, they formed a quartet calling themselves The Path Finders and stayed together for a year. Charlie was a great lover of gospel music and by the age of twenty, was lead singer with The Foggy River Boys, taking along with him a coke crate to stand on as a result of being only 5' 3" in height. The rest of the guys towered over him so the crate gave him that few extra inches.

Charlie's first meeting with Elvis took place in Memphis. The very popular Foggy River Boys were appearing at the time on The ABC Network Show. Elvis went back stage to meet him and the band. He never saw Elvis again until 1958 when they were both drafted into the army. They met up in Fort Hood and although never stationed together, Elvis remembered Charlie from their meeting back in Memphis. After Fort Hood, they travelled together on the same ship to Germany. Elvis had requested for Charlie to share the same accommodation with him. They talked often about home, gospel music and the people they both knew in the business. During their time in Germany Elvis was granted leave to return to Graceland when his mother became ill. Sadly Gladys Presley died during that time and after returning to the army, it was Charlie who Elvis sought solace in. This was the time that the true friendship started between both of them and he spent every weekend with Elvis and the rest of the entourage hanging out at Elvis' home at the time.

In 1960 both Elvis' and Charlie's duty ended and Elvis wanted Charlie to go back to Memphis with him to be involved with his recordings. Elvis was doing an album called Elvis Is Back and together they recorded a duet I Will Be Home Again. He also co-wrote You'll Be Gone. Elvis and Charlie where extremely close and he actually lived at Graceland for a time before moving into a house on the grounds. Elvis wanted Charlie's room to extend his own personal wardrobe! As well as being involved with recording he was given small roles in some of Elvis' movies; Clambake (1967), Speedway (1968), and Charro (1969).

During 1961-1966 Charlie got restless sitting around whilst Elvis was making his movies. They would all arrive about 8am just to sit around till 5pm before they did anything. Charlie spoke to Elvis about going out and playing the night clubs again with Jimmy Wakely. He had known Jimmy since Red Foleys TV series The Ozark Jubilee. He got the ok from Elvis, just as long as he returned to him when he wasn't working. He toured Vegas, did shows in Lake Tahoe and Reno and returning to do soundtrack work for Elvis' movies. Charlie stayed with Jimmy until 1966 working alongside of Loui Kramer and Harry James and The Orchestra. Finding it exhausting doing this and working for Elvis too, he decided to leave Jimmy to work for Elvis full time.

Charlie was part of the fantastic 1968 TV Special and appeared with Elvis along with Scotty Moore, Bill Black, DJ Fontana and bassist Alan Fortas. He witnessed and experienced the excitement of Elvis' comeback firsthand. In 1969 he was included in the line up along with The TCB Band, for Elvis' return to live performances. He appeared with Elvis until his last concert on June 26th 1977.

After Elvis' death, Charlie acted as an advisor for several films made about Elvis. He toured the world talking about Elvis and performing shows in Elvis' memory and spent fifteen years performing at The Memories Theatre in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Sadly Charlie developed lung cancer and passed away in March 2006.

Charlie ('Cholly') spent seventeen years as guitarist, back up singer and friend to Elvis. He was the guy who handed him his scarves, gave him his water (wearing it sometimes too!) and catching that flying guitar when it came in his direction, never missing once.

Click here to view Charlie's discography.

The TCB Band - a picture presentation of THE TCB BAND live in the UK October 12th 2003

THE SWEETS INSPIRATIONS

JD SUMNER

&

THE STAMPS

J O E   G U E R C I O

JOHN WILKINSON

ED PARKER

RED WEST, SONNY WEST, DAVE HEBLER

KATHY WESTMORELAND

DURING THE CONCERT IN BRUSSELS, BELGIUM

SEP 23-1979,  I was  "bodyguard"for her.

She writed on this picture "Thierry, thank you for watching on me".

LARRY GELLER

www.larrygellerauthor.com

FAREWELL CONCERT AT PEABODY 2002

                   1. CHARLIE HODGE 2. JERRY SCHEEF 3. JOHN WILKINSON     

4. MARION COCKE 5. LARRY GELLER

LINDA THOMPSON

&

GEORGES NICHOPOULOS

LIVING HOTEL

SHAUN NIELSEN

Shaun (a.k.a. Sherrill) Nielsen & Elvis

It is well documented that Elvis Presley enjoyed listening to Southern gospel quartets. Many of his close friends and associates were singers he met through gospel music. One such friend and eventual back up singer was Shaun (a.k.a. Sherrill) Nielsen.

Shaun was born in Montgomery, Alabama. He served in the Air Force and was a soloist for the Strategic Air Command Band. Some of his musical influences were Mario Lanza, Irish tenor John McCormick, Roy Orbison, Hank Williams and, of course, Elvis Presley.Shaun met Elvis in Nashville in May of 1966 during the recording of the album "How Great Thou Art". At the time he was a member of the gospel group The Imperials along with Jake Hess. Elvis had told his producer Felton Jarvis that he would like The Imperials, as well as The Jordanaires, to work on this gospel album.

Shaun has been quoted describing their first meeting as follows: "I'll never forget that night. I was standing in the corner, just being inconspicuous, thinking how many people would love to be in my place, when the door swung open, and there he was, Elvis Presley. Seeing him in movies and on TV was one thing, but seeing him in person was a whole new experience. He was wearing a cape and a wide brim jet black Superfly hat straight from Beale Street in Memphis. Elvis was blessed with incredible features. What would look ridiculous on you and me, would fit him to a tee. To say I was somewhat intimidated is possibly the understatement of the century. But he put me very much at ease when he walked right by past all the music industry moguls, stuck out his hand and said, 'Hi, I'm Elvis Presley. I've got all of your albums and you are one of my favorite singers.' I think I looked behind me to make sure he was talking to me. For a moment I was speechless, but I managed to stammer ou!
t a 'Thank you', and I didn't have any idea he knew who I was, but that was the Elvis I came to know and love."

Shaun went on to work with the Song Fellows as well as the Statesmen Quartet with Hovie Lister. In September 1973 Elvis flew Shaun and his new singing group, which included J. D. Sumner's nephew Donnie, into Las Vegas to audition for Tom Jones who was having difficulties at the time with his backup group. Things didn't work out with Jones, but Elvis decided to draw up a contract himself and hire them to be in his show and to be available at all times to sing with him off stage as well. He named the group Voice after a single-issue spiritual journal "New Age Voice" which Larry Geller published and gave Elvis.

Two of Elvis' songs that feature the tenor voice of Shaun are the introduction "O Sole Mio" added to "It's Now or Never" and the song "Softly As I Leave You", in which Shaun sings as Elvis gives a recitation. Both were powerful renditions in Elvis' live shows.

Today Shaun still performs and fondly recalls what Elvis once told him: "...God loves you, but he loves you best when you sing."

He was known as Sherrill Nielson, his original name, for many years. At some point he had his name changed to Shaun. While Sherrill is a male name, it's not very common and some people mistakenly think of it as a female name. Shaun has said that after enough instances of hearing himself paged "Phone call for Miss Sherrill Nielson", changing his name to Shaun seemed like a good idea.

Shaun was among the artists who joined the large cast of former Elvis bandmates for Elvis: The 25th Anniversary Concert in Memphis on August 16, 2002.

The Imperials

The Imperials began working with Elvis Presley in 1967 on the 'How great thou art' album and continued with him through 1971. They backed Elvis on stage from 1969 to late 1971. The members known for performing on stage with Elvis are Terry Blackwood, Greg Gordon, Armond Morales, Jim Murray, Roger Wiles and Joe Moscheo

In 1969, The Imperials opened with Elvis Presley at the International Hotel in Las Vegas, now known as the Las Vegas Hilton.

LINDA THOMPSON

Girlfriend until 1976