Alanna Nash | |
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Born | Louisville, Kentucky, U.S. | August 16, 1950
Occupation |
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Nationality | American |
Alma mater | Stephens College Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism |
Alanna Kay Nash (born August 16, 1950) is an American journalist and biographer.
Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Nash holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is the author of several acclaimed books. [1] [2] She is a 1972 graduate of Stephens College. [3] A feature writer for The New York Times , Stereo Review , Entertainment Weekly, and USA Weekend , she was named the Society of Professional Journalists' National Member of the Year in 1994. In 1977, Nash's job afforded her the opportunity to become one of the journalists to view the remains of Elvis Presley. In her dust jacket biography for her book Baby, Let's Play House, she was described as "the first journalist to see Elvis Presley in his casket". [4]
Nash's much-reprinted 1978 biography of Dolly Parton included material gathered from a long interview with its subject, that took place over the course of several days. The biography, Dolly, was published just as Parton reached mainstream appeal outside of the country music world, via her now-famous pop-music crossover. Nash has closely followed Parton's career since, having also written numerous magazine articles about her and reviewing a number of Parton's albums.
In 1988 Nash received acclaim for her book on Jessica Savitch, Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch, which was the basis for the 1996 motion picture Up Close & Personal , [5] as well as a made-for-television movie named Almost Golden. In the 1990s Nash began researching the life of Elvis Presley in order to write a book. Although there were already several hundred Presley books on the market, her 1995 book, Elvis Aaron Presley: Revelations from the Memphis Mafia, provided what Entertainment Weekly called "stunning allegations". As a result of Nash being able to get the collaboration of employees Marty Lacker, Lamar Fike, and Presley's first cousin, Billy Smith who lived and worked with Presley throughout his life, she provided a look at Presley not previously published. [ citation needed ]
Her research into Presley led to a second book on Colonel Tom Parker. While covering Presley's death, Alanna Nash had seen what most of the throng of reporters there at the time considered as somewhat bizarre decorum by Parker when he came to the funeral dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and baseball cap. For her 1995 book, Nash had interviewed Colonel Parker but her examination into his life kept unfolding with so many twists and turns that it led to six years of exhaustive research including travel to his birthplace Breda in the Netherlands for documents and interviews. Her book, The Colonel: The Extraordinary Story of Colonel Tom Parker and Elvis Presley, was published on July 15, 2003, to acclaim. Billboard called it a "classic of music industry reporting". Other positive reviews came from The Washington Post , The New York Review of Books , Variety , and Publishers Weekly , among others. In the UK, Mojo music magazine said her book was "the most incisive and comprehensive look at the life of the elusive Colonel available" and the reviewer for The Observer lauded the book as "perhaps the most thoroughly researched music book ever written" — before adding that "sadly most of the story has been told before. Nash simply adds layer after layer of padding." [ citation needed ]
For her reporting on Colonel Parker, Nash was voted one of the "Heavy 100 of Country Music" by Esquire magazine and earned the 2004 CMA Media Achievement Award and the 2004 Belmont Book Award. She has reviewed for Stereo Review magazine, Reader's Digest , and Amazon.com as well as others. [ citation needed ]
Peter Guralnick is an American music critic, author, and screenwriter. He specializes in the history of early rock and roll and has written books on Elvis Presley, Sam Phillips, and Sam Cooke.
Jessica Beth Savitch was an American television journalist who was the weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News and daily newsreader for NBC News during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Savitch was one of the first women to anchor an evening network newscast alone, following in the footsteps of Marlene Sanders of ABC News and Catherine Mackin of NBC News. She also hosted PBS's public affairs program Frontline from its January 1983 debut until her death the following October.
Thomas Andrew Parker, commonly known as Colonel Parker, was a Dutch-American musical entrepreneur. He was best known as the manager of Elvis Presley.
Loving You is a 1957 American musical drama film directed by Hal Kanter and starring Elvis Presley, Lizabeth Scott, and Wendell Corey. The film was Presley's first major starring role, following his debut in a supporting role in the 1956 film Love Me Tender. The film follows a delivery man who is discovered by a music publicist and a country–western musician who wants to promote the talented newcomer.
Clambake is a 1967 American beach party musical film directed by Arthur H. Nadel and starring Elvis Presley, Shelley Fabares, and Bill Bixby. Written for the screen by Arthur Browne Jr., the film is about the heir to an oil fortune who trades places with a water-ski instructor at a Florida hotel to see if girls will like him for himself, rather than his father's money. Clambake was the last of Presley's four films for United Artists. The movie reached number 15 on the national weekly box-office charts.
The Memphis Mafia was the nickname given by the media to a group of Elvis Presley's friends, associates, employees and cousins whose main functions were to accompany, protect, and serve Presley from the beginning of his career in 1954 until his death in 1977. Several members filled practical roles; for instance, they were employed to work for Presley as bodyguards or on tour logistics and scheduling. In these cases Presley paid salaries, but most lived off fringe benefits such as gifts, cars, houses and bonuses. Over the years, the number of members grew and changed, but for the most part there was a core group who spent much time with Presley.
Up Close & Personal is a 1996 American romantic drama film directed by Jon Avnet from a screenplay written by Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne. It stars Robert Redford as a news director and Michelle Pfeiffer as his protégée, with Stockard Channing, Joe Mantegna, and Kate Nelligan in supporting roles.
Albert Harry Goldman was an American academic and author.
Dolly is an American variety show starring Dolly Parton broadcast in first-run syndication from September 13, 1976, to March 7, 1977.
The Colonel or the Colonels can refer to:
From Elvis in Memphis is the ninth studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley. It was released by RCA Records on June 2, 1969. It was recorded at American Sound Studio in Memphis in January and February 1969 under the direction of producer Chips Moman and backed by its house band, informally known as the Memphis Boys. Following the success of Presley's TV special Elvis and its soundtrack, the album marked Presley's return to non-soundtrack albums after the completion of his film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
"Light of a Clear Blue Morning" is a song written and recorded by American entertainer Dolly Parton. The song first appeared on her 1977 New Harvest...First Gathering album, and provided a top twenty country music hit for her as a single. As Parton has told interviewers over the years, "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" was her "song of deliverance," coming out of the pain from her break with longtime musical and business partner Porter Wagoner. Parton left Wagoner's band in 1974, in an effort to aim her career in a more mainstream pop direction; Wagoner responded by taking legal action, and the next couple of years were reportedly painful for both performers. According to the unauthorized 1978 biography, Dolly, by Alanna Nash, "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" was written as Parton felt the figurative clouds lifting, as the fruits of her sacrifices of the previous few years were becoming apparent.
June Juanico is a woman from Biloxi, Mississippi, whom the famous rock 'n' roll singer Elvis Presley dated in 1955 and 1956, for instance, when he took three weeks of vacation after having recorded his songs "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel" in the studio in New York City.
Having Fun with Elvis on Stage is a 1974 spoken word concert album by American singer and musician Elvis Presley consisting entirely of dialogue and banter, mostly jokes, by Presley between songs during his live concerts, with the songs themselves removed from the recordings. The album was created as a ploy by Presley's manager Colonel Tom Parker to release a Presley album through his own label, Boxcar Records, without using content that contractually belonged to RCA Records, so that Parker could earn 100% of the profits. Having Fun with Elvis on Stage was first exclusively sold at Presley's summer 1974 Las Vegas concerts, but RCA later claimed rights to the recording and began to package and distribute it.
Elvis Presley had many close relationships throughout his career. The strongest of all his personal relationships, by far, was that he had with his mother Gladys, as described below.
Mark Joseph Bego is an author known for his biographies on the rock & roll and show business genres. Bego has written 59 books, two of which have gone on to become New York Times Best Sellers. Bego has written biographies about notable people in entertainment, including Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Billy Joel, Patsy Cline, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Whitney Houston.
American singer and actor Elvis Presley served in the United States Army from 1958 to 1960 after being drafted to serve in the military as an active duty soldier for two years. At the time of his enlistment, he was widely regarded as the most well-known name in the world of entertainment.
Larry Geller is an American writer, hairstylist, and public speaker. He was a spiritual advisor and personal hairstylist to Elvis Presley. He "played a major role in shaping the King's iconic hair looks". Elvis hired him on April 30, 1964 during the filming of Roustabout. He became "the man in whom [Elvis] confided in matters of the spirit."
"Charro" is a song first recorded by Elvis Presley as part of the soundtrack for his 1969 motion picture Charro!, a western directed by Charles Marquis Warren. It is the film's title song and the only song featured, as Charro! was Presley's first film in which he didn't sing in character.
Elvis is a 2022 epic biographical drama film co-produced and directed by Baz Luhrmann, who co-wrote the screenplay with Sam Bromell, Craig Pearce, and Jeremy Doner. It chronicles the life of the American rock and roll singer and actor Elvis Presley under the management of Colonel Tom Parker. It stars Austin Butler and Tom Hanks as Presley and Parker, respectively, with Olivia DeJonge, Helen Thomson, Richard Roxburgh, David Wenham, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Luke Bracey in supporting roles.